Matt’s riding for MS in Tennessee, and I’m going to help sponsor him. He’s put in hours on my web site, helping me set it up and providing technical tips, so this is the least I can do for him. (Well, I did try to sell his house for him with a sexy craigslist ad! Close, but no cigar.)

Here’s his pitch: Support him if you feel like it. (Aw, shucks: He’s worth it and will do your dollars proud. I’ve got friends with MS, so it’s a cause I readily support. Even $5 is welcome. Bucks is bucks, and it’s tax-deductible.)

Earlier this year, I foolishly signed up to ride
a bike 150 miles across Tennessee in support of a
Multiple Sclerosis cure.
I have been doing my part to reach this goal by
putting in two or three hard hours a week on the bike.
(Since the start of the year, I have ridden over 1,100
miles.) I’m hoping you’ll help me with the other part
of the goal: money.
Please give a few bucks to the National Multiple
Sclerosis Society in my name…

http://matt.steinhoff.net/ms150/

The MS 150 is September 13 and 14, 2008 and my
very modest fundraising goal is $500.
If a good cause and my suffering across 150 miles
of hilly and hot Tennessee is not enough to get you
to come up with a few bucks, name your price. I’m not
above circus tricks and begging to get a buck.

- Jan

I’ve had the pleasure to work with a Texas publisher, Savory House Press (Barry Schlacter, publisher/owner/author, is my buddy, and a peer journalist at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram – at least for now).  

Together we produced two small gift-able cookbooks you might want to check out:

Sweet Southern: A Heritage of Beloved Desserts

Along with dozens of recipes, there’s a lot of info packed into Sweet Southern that you’re not going to find without some time-consuming research. All the “dinner-on-the-ground” favorite desserts — cakes, pies, cobblers and more — are here, (Red Velvet Cake, Hummingbird Cake) as well as some unusual regional ones (the Apple Stack Cake from Appalachia, the Lady Baltimore Cake from Maryland, and Chess Pie, popular in the Kentucky region).

I explain the brief histories of the desserts, and tell how they’ve migrated around the region and of course, around the country, to delight scores of diners and bakers.

Florida Morning Glory: A compilation of recipes from B&Bs

This is a collection of recipes sent to me by all the great charming inns and quirky bed and breakfasts around the state. Look for recipes from from all regions: the Inn at Little Charlotte and Casa de Solana (St. Augustine), the Mango Inn (Lake Worth), the Harrington House (on beautiful Anna Maria Island), and the historic Curry Mansion (Key West).

They’re little cookbooks — comb-bound, and they make good Secret Pal gifts, or small stocking stuffers for the cooks who speak “Southern.” Even if they don’t, most will wish they did after reading them. They’re only $5.95, so buy one of each - one to give and one to keep. (Just click on their titles to get to the publisher’s page, and you can order from there.)

I’ve got three or four more books in the works, including one with recipes from Florida chefs, so watch this space!

The web site for Savory House Press, offers a number of other books like it; most are Texas-centric — Barry wrote most of them! Note the Beer Guide, also available here, so you brewski lovers, take a look.