Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, November 30,2022
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3B
Best appetizers for the holidays
A longing for Julia Reed
My favorite type of
parties to have are
appetizer parties. So
many apps can be
made ahead of time, so
as the host or hostess,
you can actually enjoy
your own party. Not
only that, when every
body can stand around
and graze, while chit chatting
and enjoying an adult bever
age, it is so much more casual
and personable than a formal,
sit-down dinner.
I recommend making a
charcuterie platter since that is
an appetizer you mostly
arrange and don’t cook. A
beautiful dish really shows off
the food. One of my good
friends gave me a rustic,
round wooden board that has
iron handles and turns around,
so guests can easily choose
what they want. It is one of
my favorite serving pieces.
The key to a beautiful char
cuterie board is a variety of
textures and colors. Several
types of cheese, different sala-
mis and/or specialty deli
meats, dried and fresh fruit,
littie jars of jam, olives of all
sorts, nuts, and some fresh
herb sprigs for a natural gar
nish. Provide a variety of
crackers, toasted baguette slic
es, pretzels, pita chips, bread
sticks, cheese straws, etc. Get
creative!
Another easy and always
welcome appetizer is cocktail
shrimp. The bigger the
shrimp, the better. You can
buy them frozen and already
cooked, or make them your
self. Just make sure you have
a big bowl of ice water to
shock them in once they are
done. These cook quickly—
probably in 1 ¥i minutes, so
don’t overcook the shrimp. I
like to serve them alongside
regular cocktail sauce, as well
as a spicy remoulade sauce for
dipping. Don’t forget to pro
vide a bowl for the shrimp
tails.
Most dips can be made
ahead of time—some even a
few days ahead of time. Just
let them sit out for an hour or
so to let them soften. Here are
some simple, yet delicious
appetizers to get your
Christmas season off to a
yummy start!
Blue cheese and port are a
natural pairing. You can make
this dip/spread a few days
ahead of time—just wait to
stir in the walnuts right before
serving.
Blue Cheese
Port Spread
• 8 ounces
mild blue cheese
• 6 table
spoons butter, at room
temperature
• 14 cup Port
• Pinch of cayenne
• % cup chopped walnuts
Combine all ingredients
except walnuts in food proces
sor. Process until very smooth.
Spoon into a bowl, cover and
refrigerate for at least a few
hours or for a few days. When
ready to serve, let sit out at
room temperature for an hour.
Stir in walnuts before serving.
HotVidalia
Onion Souffle
• 2 Vidalia (or other sweet
onion) onion
• 24 ounces cream cheese,
at room temperature
• !/2 cup mayonnaise
• 8 ounces Swiss cheese,
grated
Dice onions finely. Beat
cream cheese and mayonnaise
with electric mixer. Add
onions and grated cheese and
beat again. Pour into a 9x13
casserole dish. Cover and
refrigerate up to a day ahead
of time. Preheat oven to
350-degrees. Bake uncovered
for 15 minutes, until hot and
bubbly. Serve with crackers or
com chips.
I love endive! They are the
perfect vessel for a myriad of
“stuffings.” And they look so
pretty on a platter. Their
crunch provides such a fresh
ness—here are a few yummy
things you can add to your
endive leaves.
Waldorf Salad
• 2 tablespoons mayon
naise
• 2 tablespoons Greek
yogurt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup halved red, seedless
grapes
• 1 cup chopped apple,
such as Gala or
Honeycrisp
• 1 cup sliced celery
• 'A cup parsley, minced
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 cup toasted walnuts,
chopped
• Endive leaves for serving
Whisk together mayon
naise, Greek yogurt, and
lemon juice. In a bowl, com
bine grapes, apple, celery,
parsley, salt and pepper. Add
mayonnaise dressing and stir
to combine. Spoon into endive
leaves and top with toasted
walnuts.
Shrimp Salad
• 1 pound shrimp, cooked
and coarsely chopped
• 14 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay or
other creole seasoning,
plus more for serving
• 1 teaspoon white wine
vinegar
• 14 teaspoon
Worcestershire sauce
• 14 cup finely diced celery
• 2 tablespoons green
onion
• Endive leaves for serving
Whisk together mayon
naise, Old Bay seasoning,
white wine vinegar,
Worcestershire sauce, celery
and green onion. Add cooked,
chopped shrimp, stirring to
combine. Cover and refrigera
tor for several hours. When
ready to serve, spoon shrimp
salad into endive leaves and
sprinkle with a little bit of Old
Bay seasoning.
Spicy Remoulade
Sauce for Cocktail
Shrimp
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mus
tard
• 2 tablespoons prepared
horseradish
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 14 cup finely chopped cel
ery
• 14 cup finely minced
green onion
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
(more to taste)
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 clove garlic, finely
minced
Combine all ingredients.
Cover and refrigerate for at
least an hour before serving.
ADLEN
ROBINSON
Columnist
Dawson Duals presented Tigers
challenges, positive moments
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
The Dawson County varsi
ty wrestling team hosted the
Dawson Duals event on
Tuesday, Nov. 22, giving the
Tigers a chance to test their
skills against a large group of
schools.
A total of eight teams con
vened at the Ford Phillips
Center for an all-day event
that would measure the
endurance of each wrestler.
Due to a number of for
feits, the Tigers finished last
in total points.
For Dawson, a day full of
ups and downs was high
lighted by wins by seven
wrestlers, including multiple
from Landon Glander, Luke
Lowe, Colton Schuette and
Alex Stewart.
The Tigers started the day
against Chestatee, with
Schuette going up first and
winning to get Dawson
ahead early.
But the host team strug
gled from then on and were
unable to score against
Chestatee again until the
final match, when Stewart
picked up a win.
Next up was White
County, against whom the
Tigers had more success.
The opening few matches
saw Dawson stay competi
tive and close, with Glander
earning a win in his match.
After a pair of tough per
formances by Mason
Rosenburg and Jesus Arroyo
in defeat, Lowe would get
the Tigers back on track with
a win.
While senior Noah
Roberson came close to
grabbing a win but fell short,
Stewart picked up his second
win of the day later on.
The third opponent for
Dawson was Ridgeland.
After Glander’s second win
of the day, Arroyo would get
the win he had been fighting
for all morning. Lowe would
win again before the Tigers
picked up two additional wins
on forfeits.
The final match of the day
for Dawson was against
Coahulla Creek.
Lowe won his third match
of the day before Lonnie
Barrett picked up his first vic
tory of the Dawson Duals.
Later on, Schuette and
Rosenberg won to round out
the afternoon for the Tigers.
FROM 1B
Influence
Valor,” Sonnichsen said.
“We would do extra work
after practices and he would
always end this segment with
a motivational speech and a
[Bible] verse. Meeting with
the coach practice after prac
tice, I had come to the real
ization that I wanted to be
more like him.”
In addition to increasing
his work ethic through
Kijanko, Sonnichsen also
used his influence to chart
his own collegiate path.
After initial uncertainty, he
took the chance to continue
both his football career and
spiritual journey at Taylor
University — a program
Kijanko coached at for many
years and where the family
has a scholarship in their
name.
That decision to embark
on a path far away from
home served as a template
for Dameron. Both have
credited Kijanko as being a
positive influence.
“He has a strong character
that has always pushed and
motivated me to be who I am
today,” Sonnichsen said. “I
will always be so apprecia
tive for the things he has
done for me.”
“He’s made me a better
football player but more
importantly he’s made me a
better man,” Dameron said.
“Something that will forever
stick with me is when he
spoke about being a man of
honor — to take 100%
accountability for your
actions and to lead by exam
ple. Probably the greatest
lesson I have ever learned in
my life.”
On the other end, Kijanko
expressed admiration at both
players for their efforts on
the field and growth as men.
“Their work ethic is what
really got them where they
are right now,” Kijanko said.
“They want more than just
the physical, football experi
ence. They are looking for
more as far as developing
into a whole person.”
Through their hard work,
Dameron and Sonnichsen
have both earned playing
time on their respective
teams as freshmen and have
positive structures around
them as they transition into
adulthood.
It is no longer clear to me
as to when I read first the
words of Julia Reed. But it
is quite vivid as to when I
moved from being a reader
of hers to being a fan.
For years, I had devoured
her articles in New York
fashion and Washington
news magazines. It was, however,
the several pages that Vogue dedicat
ed to her wedding - she married late
in life but did it grandly in her
Mississippi hometown of Greenville
— that captured my loyalty.
Until then, I had no idea that she
was one of us. A Southerner as pure
as the glimmering cotton bolls that
dot the fields of her beloved Delta.
I could never get enough of Julia
Reed’s stories. She became “my
Southern writer” because Southern
writers always have at least one to
whom we look for entertained inspi
ration.
Julia’s South was vastly different
from my South. She was the proge
ny of old Nashville money, wedded
to Delta prominence, influence and
wealth. My South is a gathering
together of pole beans, moonshine
and river baptisms.
Hers was composed of perfectly-
aged whiskey, expensive crystal, sil
ver and a decades-old family retreat
on the Gulf Coast.
While my childhood was spent on
a creek bank with a heartful of day
dreams and an armful of books, Julia
often visited her maternal grand
mother in Nashville’s exclusive
Belle Meade where she and her
cousin, Frances, would play in a
room reserved specifically for Louis
Vuitton luggage.
I never knew anyone who traveled
with a complete set of Vuitton lug
gage from Paris. I still don’t.
When Frances died too young and
Julia poured her grief into a story for
Garden and Gun magazine, I cried
with her.
My favorite Julia book was The
House on First Street: My New
Orleans Story. In it, she detailed the
stately old house that she set about
to restore while running head-on
into the thieves, liars and lazy folks
we all encounter when taking on too
much of a project.
My South I knew intimately. The
simplicity. The purity. The tattered
Bibles. The set of white Corning
Ware dishes trimmed in
blue that Mama proudly
used for supper every night.
Julia’s South was one I
knew not at all. And I loved
learning everything about it.
Once, I was on a
Mississippi Riverboat cruise
- the American Queen -
which stopped in Greenville for a
day of literary visits. It was thrilling,
of course, to see the town that
Hodding Carter, William Alexander
Percy, his nephew, Walker Percy,
and Shelby Foote had decorated
with fame.
“Are we going to see where Julia
Reed was raised?” I asked the tour
guide, hopeful and excited. She
replied that the family preferred pri
vacy.
I was disappointed but I under
stood. Once, I wrote Julia a letter
and included a copy of my first book
about Southern women. She replied
with several handwritten pages on
engraved, heavy stock stationery. I
still count that letter among my trea
sures.
Two years ago, Jon Alverson, the
proud Publisher of Greenville’s
Delta Democrat-Times, texted me
about 9 p.m. one Friday night.
The succinct message hit my
heart. “Julia Reed died. On my way
to the newspaper to work the story.”
She had publicly announced a
diagnosis of cancer but anyone who
was familiar with her and the way
she irreverently thumbed her nose at
anything she did not like — such as
death — believed she would live to
write myriad books and hundreds
more essays.
It was sorrow in many ways - the
thought of her parents ’grief, how
her beloved beagle, Henry, would
mourn and my own selfishness at
my entertainment that had disap
peared like a vapor.
I’m grateful to still have my South
with its delicious characters, abun
dance of life stories and oddities.
By my oh, my, how I miss hearing
about Julia Reed’s storied South.
Ronda Rich is the best-selling author
of What Southern Women Know (That
Every Woman Should). Visit www.
rondarich.com to sign upforherfree
weekly newsletter.
RONDA RICH
Columnist
FROM 1B
Basketball
tougher test in Model before playing
against an even tougher East Forsyth
team the next night.
Jaci Wilson led the girls team with a
14-point performance, using her accu
racy in the paint to finish off the
quick-passing motions of the Lady
Tigers offense. She also used her
height to have a strong defensive per
formance.
Abby Samples-Slaton continued
her hot scoring start to the season with
13 points while Kirklyn Porter con
tributed 10.
Every active player on the roster
scored for the Lady Tigers against
Towers.
“We have a lot of kids who can
score,” head coach Will Anglin said.
“We try to play fast and we can score
inside and score outside. I thought the
kids handled business, moved it
around and took what the defense
gave them.”
Head coach Todd Cottrell and the
boys team faced a Model side with a
significant height advantage that
proved to be a challenge early on.
While the Tigers scored most of
their first-half points from distance,
the collective defensive effort gradual
ly wore the visitors down.
This allowed the Dawson offense
take chances on the inside, with sever
al players finding success right under
the rim.
Juniors Trey Harvey and Caden
Reed led the charge with 21 points
each while Ethan Parker scored 12
points after a big second half.
“The biggest thing I wanted to see
from our guys is to continue to play
with confidence, poise and compo
sure,” Cottrell said. “If we compete,
we have a chance to be decent.”
The Tigers would need that compo
sure early on, facing a towering center
on Model who stood at 6-foot-9.
While that center had early success,
Dawson’s consistent defensive pres
sure on him and the rest of Model’s
team eventually forced the visitors to
mix up their gameplan.
Between the defensive effort and
timely jump shots from Harvey, Reed
and Joshua Priest, the Tigers took a
35-33 lead into halftime.
The third quarter proved to be deci
sive in the outcome of the game, with
Dawson’s defense forcing mistakes
out of Model, allowing the Tigers
offense more time on the ball.
This resulted in Dawson outsourc
ing Model 20-8 in the third quarter to
lead 55-45 heading into the fourth
quarter.
The Tigers would continue to find
offensive success, hanging on to win
71-65.
“We knew once we had the lead
that we had to protect it,” Reed said.
“After we had that spark in the third
quarter it was time to hold onto that
lead.”
The boys team would lose the fol
lowing night to East Forsyth 87-64 in
a game played at the University of
North Georgia.
The DCHS varsity teams will pick
back up on Friday, Dec. 2, with a non
region visit to East Jackson before
hosting their region opening games
against West Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 6.
FROM 1B
Sweany
that moment.”
Sweany also built a strong work
ing relationship with the football
staff over the years, helping capture
moments that went beyond the
action on the field — most notably
those involving the late coach
George Moser during the 2021 sea
son.
Though Sweany originally meant
to step down after her daughter’s
graduation in 2022, her friend and
DCHS Director of Football Terry
Haymond helped convince Sweany
to stay on this past season.
“I have the utmost respect for
coach Maxwell and his staff,”
Sweany said. “I think the world of
him and I love our boys.”
During her years with the football
team, Sweany also became recog
nized throughout the community for
her Sole Photography studio, which
works with families and businesses
all around Dawson County.
Two years into her time with
DCHS football, Sweany decided to
take the full leap into photography
as her occupation and left her long
time job at Sawnee EMC.
While her days on the football
field may be over, she is more than
eager to continue her work with the
people of Dawson County.
“I’m not going anywhere,”
Sweany said. “It’s cool to be a part
of so many different parts of the
community. I’m honored to be a
part of so many peoples’ lives.”