SWEET-N-HOT CABBAGE

Setting the Scene:

TRUE NATURE is set in Louisiana. In the following excerpt, Kailen is touring

historic New Orleans. The tour guide takes her along historic St. Charles Avenue, to the

zoo, and over the Mississippi river before stopping in a small restaurant to sample the

famous fare the city is known for.

Excerpt from TRUE NATURE:

Kailen stared in awe at the tree-lined avenues they traveled on, admiring the

ancient oaks that stretched their long branches across the streaming traffic in a timeless

embrace. The green trolleys rattled and hummed down the tracks, clicking with a steady

rhythm as their wheels passed through intersections, and falling strangely silent for a

moment as they paused on their journey to pick up a passenger or two. She thought she

would come back later in the week to ride one.

Passing the park with a zoo, she watched the many families enjoying the weather

there with each other. She saw one family with a little girl sitting on her fathers’

shoulders holding a bright red balloon while they strolled beneath the green canopy and it

made her ache as she thought of home briefly.

As the tour made it out to another of the great bridges that spanned the mighty

river, she felt a stirring of nostalgia, really beginning to understand how old this city

really was.

Heading out again, the tour briefly stopped at a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant

to eat lunch. She watched as a seemingly endless palette of colors and smells were

offered to whet her appetite, and she ended up eating more than sheshould have, but

enjoyed every bite.

The food here was so much different from that which she grew up with, the new

textures and flavors triggering taste buds she did not even know existed. Again, Kailen

fleetingly thought of her family back in the Appalachia, knowing that they would

probably not believe that she was eating food like this.

Sweet-n-Hot Cabbage

Ingredients:

head cauliflower

head cabbage

good-sized onion

large tomatoes

Cooking By The Book