A couple of years ago we began carrying the American Profile and Relish magazines in the newspaper. American Profile is in the Friday paper, Relish, which is devoted to food, runs the first Wednesday of the month. These two products are a little more hometownish that the Sunday Parade magazine.

Earlier this year American Profile solicited readers from across the country, asking them to submit their favorite recipes for a cookbook to be put together and offered for sale. An advance copy of the book, Hometown Recipes for the Holidays, arrived this week. I went looking for the recipe(s) that came from this area.

Connie Brooks of Hayti makes a dandy Holiday French Toast. Her recipe for this breakfast is included in the book. I'll share it with you here, but there are 249 additional recipes you'll want to try as well.

Mrs. Brooks tells the reader, "I came up with this recipe several years ago when I had some leftover eggnog. Now it's a family favorite. I start making it around Thanksgiving when eggnog appears on grocery shelves. My children are grown, and the grandchildren are enjoying the tradition."

Her ingredients are:

4 eggs

4 cups of eggnog

1/8th teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

8 slices of bread

Butter (optional)

Confectioners' sugar (optional)

Maple syrup, warmed, (optional)

Having assembled all of those, here are her directions for making the tasty treat.

Mrs. Brooks says this recipe will serve four to eight people, probably as in four grandkids or eight adults.

Editors of the book make some suggestions for each recipe from their test kitchens. The tip offered for Mrs. Brooks' recipe said to try a little cinnamon-raisin, sourdough, wheat, or French bread slices for a little variety. Adding, This recipe is a great way to use leftover eggnog during the holidays."

We'll have copies of the book available soon, what for the announcement. Even though it is a softcover book it would still make a good gift item.

* * *

From the mailbag

I'm just guessing that the downtown renovation work got Vivian Helton, the DDD's unofficial, but much appreciated historian to look through the files for news about improvements to the downtown area from the past. What she discovered was Whit Thrower's column, Dunklinana, titled "Plank Sidewalks." Here's an excerpt.

"At one time if was a considerable mark of affluence to have a well boarded walk that stood high above the muddy streets and in the downtown section the sidewalks were a major civic project.

"Serving a good purpose, they also were a major hazard. Many was the time when Mama or one of the older girls came limping home after catching a high heel in a crack between planks and Pa would come out with the awfulest words when he stepped on a loose plank and durn near broke his leg.

One very valuable role wooden sidewalks plays in their day was their enforcement of the accepted quote of the times that a 'woman's place was in the home.'

"Besides the hazard of catching a heel in a crack there was a space between the planks and the ground that made an ideal rat barracks and quite a few tool advantage of the free housing.

"… one time when we were shooting marbles near this walk (we) spied a sack under a loose board. Upon investigation we pulled out the sack that contained $5 in silver dollars. Later it turned out that one of our good farmers was holding out on the old lady and had hidden a little spending change there to buy a bottle of his favorite without any chance of it being missed from the egg money."

That's the sort of thing that went on back in June 1954. Good thing there's none of that these days.

* * *

Good news

This space is turning out to be quite popular based on feedback that has come my way. Turns out readers want to hear about the things that are going right, whether or not the bid media wants to tell them about that news is another subject.

"Employers added a surprisingly strong 166,000 new non-farm jobs in October, well ahead of forecasts in an early sign that consumer incomes may be better supported than thought heading into the fourth quarter, according to a government report on Friday." (Reuters)

And, for a double dose of good news, the Labor Department reported that productivity grew at a rate of 4.9 percent during the July-Sept quarter. In fact, "surged" was the exact term used to describe the growth spurt.

Bud Hunt is the publisher of the Daily Dunklin Democrat.