Meet Miles

Miles McMath on serving 2,000 meals a day.
Published October 4, 2012 in the Memphis Flyer

Originally from Birmingham, Miles McMath, 41, is one of Memphis' most regarded chefs, even though you may have never heard of him. He's quietly turning St. Jude's Kay Café into a model of efficiency and wellness, while racking up awards, participating in local charity events, and raising a family.

The recent second-place winner in the Cochon Heritage BBQ competition, McMath once owned three restaurants in north Mississippi: Timbeaux's, Boiling Point, and Junior's. He sold them in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. "There was a chef who needed help in New Orleans and I always loved it there, so we moved there to help out for a year before the kids were old enough to go to school," he says.

When McMath returned to the Mid-South, it was to help launch a new seafood restaurant. However, before he could sign a management contract, a friend from culinary school told him about the renovation of Kay Café at St. Jude. "I talked to my wife about it. It would be a Monday through Friday job, which would be good for the family, and I could still cook pretty good food there," he says. When he started in March 2008, Kay Café was just a set of drawings. Today, he is the director of culinary operations with a staff of 80.

McMath lives east of Hernando, Mississippi, with his wife, three children, and a lot of animals. There are three pigs, laying chickens, meat chickens that he calls freedom rangers, 60 Angus cattle, and wild deer. "We don't eat much meat we don't raise ourselves," McMath says. He and his wife have two acres of land. His father-in-law keeps the cattle and pigs on another eight acres. His wife's extended family has another 35 to 40 acres with even more cows.

McMath says it's a community where everyone knows everyone else, and they share everything. "Everyone has a special thing they do. A friend grows watermelons so no one else plants watermelon, my father-in-law does peas, etc."

He says his family is very committed to eating seasonally, and they have been known to go "forever" without eating bacon. McMath recently "processed" 25 chickens. "It had been six months since we ate any chicken. The kids watched most of it, and it didn't bother them at all," he says. "We have a lot of conversations about where food comes from."

"I use everything," he says of the chickens. "The gizzard, heart, feet — everything except the head."

The first thing McMath made was chicken tenders for the kids. "We have never eaten at McDonald's. That's just not what we do," he says, admitting that their grandparents have been known to take them to Sonic for an ice cream or two.

Feeding his kids is easy compared to feeding the employees, patients, and visitors at St. Jude. That adds up to 2,000 meals a day, plus catering. "There aren't many places where you have the same customers every day," McMath says. "It can be a challenge."

Plate by plate, the food is ever-changing at Kay Café. To an outsider, it pretty much looks like the best cafeteria ever. (Kay Café is not open to the general public.) There's a sushi station with grass-fed beef, a grill area with the usual suspects (hamburgers, chicken tenders, hot dogs), a bakery with fresh bread and pastries, a basic salad bar, a seriously fancy salad bar, a deli with homemade spreads like sunbutter and homemade pickles, wood-fired pizzas, and so much more.

McMath uses vegetables grown on site at St. Jude and is doing a special focus on sustainable seafood right now. He's got food trucks coming on a regular basis and is also looking to partner with local chefs, like Ryan Trimm of Sweet Grass, to serve restaurant-quality dishes in the café. "I want to promote local restaurants to patients and families and give them a taste," he says.

Ninety-five percent of patients at St. Jude are outpatient. However, there is an average of 50 beds with really sick kids. McMath says they have a room-service menu, but these kids can pretty much have whatever they want. "They want comfort food from home, wherever home is. We have an arsenal of ingredients and staples in the kitchen, and we spend time with parents to get specific brands, etc.," he says. Right now, they have an enamel pot full of beans on the stove at all times to soothe the stomach of one Chinese patient. "His mom gave us the recipe and it took us a couple of days, but Rick Farmer nailed it," McMath says.

Farmer and Luahn Thomas both recently left L'Ecole Culinaire to work as executive chefs in Kay Café. Of the seven certified executive chefs in Memphis, four of them work at Kay Café.

McMath says he doesn't get to do a lot of actual cooking anymore, but he tries to cook something every day. "Cooking used to be 90 percent of my job. The administrative part can be draining, but I can always go cook when I get fed up," he says.

Outdoor addition prompts Midtown resident to use space for good causes

Published September 27, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal

Adding an outdoor kitchen to their Midtown home gave Kathy and Kelly Fish more than a place to cook out. It also gave them the perfect place from which to help their community.

Originally from Rochester, N.Y., Kathy Fish has lived in Memphis for 36 years, and says she loves Memphis and the people here. She is a financial planner who built her own business, Fish and Associates. "It's an all-women financial planning and wealth management firm," Fish explains. "We're like personal CFO's (chief financial officers) that oversee investments."

The more successful she became, the more she wanted to give back to the community. Fish holds quarterly volunteer activities for her employees and clients and has served on numerous boards. But with the completion of the outdoor kitchen, Fish has found a fun way to give back to organizations close to her heart.

The outdoor kitchen was something Fish wanted for a long time, but she waited until she could have it exactly the way she wanted it. It took about 10 months to construct and was completed in October 2011. It includes a bar area that seats six, complete with a refrigerator, stove and dishwasher. Adjacent to the bar and flanking the swimming pool is a seating area with a sofa, two chairs and a coffee table, as well as a gas-fueled concrete fire pit with four lounge chairs. The L-shaped kitchen also includes a formal dining table for eight and a cocktail high-top table for four. There's also a large chaise longue and a granite bench.

"We could probably seat about 30 out here," Fish says. "It's really the best use of the backyard. I like to entertain, and we were always going in and out, in and out."

Fish jokes she could live in the backyard and rent out her house. "It turned out exactly if not better than I envisioned it. We spend so much time outside now."

Fish grew up in a family with eight kids, so entertaining is no big deal to her, and she loves to host parties. At one party, Fish decided she should use her amazing new space to do something positive for the community. She ran the idea by some guests, and her friend Jackie Nichols, who is the executive producer at Playhouse on the Square, loved the idea.

So in June, Fish, who will be the president of Playhouse's board next year, instituted "Happy Hour with a Heart," also known as "Cocktails for a Cause" on the first Friday of the month, and made Playhouse the first recipient. Local actor Bill Andrews served as bartender, and after a couple of hours, there was $500 in the tip jar for the theater.

With the success of her first party, Fish made it a monthly event. She decided to recruit a celebrity bartender for each event, and she always creates a signature cocktail. Fish also provides beer and wine and a few munchies. In July, the recipient was Project Green Fork, on whose board she once served and which is run by her good friend, Margot McNeeley. Ben Smith, chef/owner of Tsunami, which was the first restaurant to be certified by Project Green Fork, served as guest bartender, and the cocktail was called "Rosemary's Baby," a mixture of Hendrick's Gin, St. Germain, Champagne and fresh rosemary. Fish even had free nail polish refreshers for guests courtesy of the Nail Bar.

She tells people to show up on their way out for the night, have a cocktail or two, and donate what they can to the organization. "That way we aren't competing with other events," Fish explains.

She invites her friends and also asks the organizations to invite their supporters. "There are so many great organizations in Memphis, and this is a great way to learn about them," Fish says.

"Cocktails for a Cause" raised $750 for Project Green Fork.

Next up was Friends for Life, on whose board Fish served for 10 years. "They do such great work in the community," she says. Amanda Kohr, who works in development at Friends for Life, was the bartender, serving a take on a Cosmopolitan Punch with lemon vodka, craisins, grapefruit juice, lime juice, Cointreau and Champagne. "Cocktails for a Cause" raised $1,000 for Friends for Life.

Then she did Choices: Memphis Center for Reproductive Health, which is run by her good friend, Rebecca Terrell. The bartender was physician Jeff Warren.

"I wanted people to have a choice of cocktails, so I created two," Fish says. The most popular, called "Rose Colored Spectacles," included currant vodka, citrus vodka, lime juice, apple juice, cranberry juice, bitters, and Champagne. "I love topping everything with Champagne," Fish says. That event raised $970.

Fish creates an event listing on Facebook to promote the cocktail hours and tries to create buzz leading up to them. "I like to hint at the cocktail or have people guess who the bartender is going to be," she says.

In October, she will promote the Community Foundation's Give 365 program, and in November she will focus on the Memphis Food Bank. "Then I'm taking a break," she says.

Fish has really enjoyed the events and has met a lot of new people through them. "I'd love to see people do this in other parts of the city. It's an easy way to fundraise for an organization you believe in," she says. "It doesn't have to be elaborate. We just have a great space that is conducive to it."

Composting reduces garbage, saves money, boosts the garden

Published September 18, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal

Instead of putting trash in the landfill, many Memphians are putting it in their yards — as compost.

Midtowner Theresa Rich and her family started composting two years ago to make their garden more fertile and to reduce the amount of trash they produce. "Composting is a cheap, easy way to organically fertilize your garden," she says. "Another bonus from our compost is that it volunteered many of our tomato plants we grew this year."

Rich's husband built their first compost bin out of hardware cloth and wooden stakes. "It is round, about 2 feet in diameter and 2 feet tall," she says. "He built another last spring that is 2 feet by 3 feet. They are covered with a round plywood top to keep the critters out."

The building of compost bins coincided with the building of their chicken coop. "We compost the bedding of the coop when we clean it out, but it cannot be placed directly in the garden because it will burn the plants up. It needs to sit for about a year," Rich explains. They compost the chicken waste along with toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, used paper towels, coffee filters and grounds, newspaper, dryer lint, all fruit and vegetable scraps, yard clippings, leaves and eggshells.

"We water the bin when it gets dry and leave the top off when it rains to get it wet," Rich says. "We use a pitchfork to turn it about once a month."

The Riches save old coffee cans for compost collection inside their home.

"When they get really funky, we replace with another one we would have recycled," she says.

Since they started composting, Rich says, the family has decreased its trash by a bag per week.

"That doesn't include the yard waste we no longer bag to be picked up," she says. "We don't have yard waste every week — maybe a bag a month."

Scott Henley, who lives in East Memphis with his family, has always had an affinity for do-it-yourself living. He learned to work on and fix things from his grandfathers.

"They were more apt to tackle a repair job themselves rather than call in a repairman, and they both had gardens that I helped tend when I was a kid," he explains. "They always composted leaves and some kitchen scraps."

When he and his wife bought their first home in 1995, Henley planted a garden. At the time, he was working at the Squash Blossom natural foods store, a job that validated his desire for holistic and simple approaches to everyday necessities. The owner of the store gave him his first composter, and he has been composting ever since.

"Currently, we have a closed bin that rotates for speeding up the process," Henley says, "and it provides almost enough for our small veggie garden, mainly in the spring and fall."

Henley describes compost as recycled food waste and plant scraps from the yard that are piled up or mounded for a period of time until they are broken down by bacteria and organisms to become organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. The bacteria feed off the waste and convert it into usable nutrients for plants in the form of humus or compost. The compost is added to the soil at the time of planting and sometimes later on to add nutrients during the growing season.

"Basically, anything that is plant- or vegetarian-based is OK. No meat or grease or dairy. Eggshells are OK, as well as fish bones. No yard waste with doggy doo or chemicals added," he says. He added that compost starters/enhancers, which introduce the ideal bacteria and microbes to speed up decomposition of organic matter, are available.

There are tumbler-style and stationary-type compost bins available at hardware stores and wholesalers like Costco and Sam's, Henley says.

"They keep the mess to a minimum, but also limit the size of the pile. If you build your own, you can build any type of simple three- or four-sided structure or fence, then pile up scraps and periodically turn the pile with a pitchfork to aerate," he says.

Turning over the organic matter regularly aids in decomposition by mixing and aerating the actively composting material with the newer uncomposted matter.

"The tumbler makes turning easy, while a pitchfork is best for turning over a simple compost pile," Henley says.

Small temporary holding bins for use in the kitchen can also be bought.

"They have vented lids to keep down mold," Henley says. "I personally wouldn't do full-scale composting in the house, but I'm sure somebody does it."

Cathy Palmer and her family in East Memphis started composting as an experiment to reduce their garbage.

"We had several trials on exactly how to do it, especially on what kind of container to put it in. We're too cheap to actually buy a composter," she says. Their solution is a large garbage can with a lid. The lid has a large hole cut in the top.

"We just throw our veggie scraps in, along with grass clippings and some leaves," she says. "Every once in a while, we roll it around to mix it all together. We use it for gardening, mixing it with soil during the planting stage."

Their garbage is significantly reduced.

"With two kids, we never, ever fill up our green bin. In fact, it is usually less than half full on garbage day," Palmer says. "Recycling helps, too."

In the kitchen, the Palmers use a small compost container. "It is a stainless steel pail that is about 1- to 2-gallon capacity, Palmer says. "It also has a filter in the top to keep the odor down, but it mostly helps keep the gnats from getting in there."

The container sits on the countertop, so when they cook, they just toss scraps into the bin.

"We take it outside 1-2 times per week," Palmer says. "It can get gross in there, so sometimes we use compostable bags to keep the mess down. But they are expensive, so we usually opt to just clean the thing regularly."

The Palmers' garden is minimal. "We just grow outdoor flowers, plants and herbs," she says. "We've grown some vegetables in the past, like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and lettuces, but haven't recently due to traveling in the summer."

Palmer likes using compost because it cuts back on the potting soil she has to buy. "I just use a little potting soil, dirt dug up from the corner of the backyard, and the compost. We mix it all together and plant. It saves money and works well," she says.

With the proper collection containers, composting is pretty simple. "I like the idea of putting nutrients back into the soil rather than a landfill," Palmer says. "Once we made it a habit, it became easy to do."

More information

Composting tips: Treehugger.com.

Green materials to compost: Vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags and leaves, fresh grass clippings, plant trimmings from your garden, houseplants.

Brown materials to compost: Dry leaves, straw and dry hay; wood chips and sawdust from untreated wood; dried grass clippings; shredded paper; egg and nut shells; hair and animal fur; paper; shredded newspaper (printed with soy ink to be safe); paper towels and paper tubes.

Do not compost: Meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, oily foods or grease, bones, cat and dog waste, diseased plants and seeds of weedy plants, anything treated with pesticides.

Composting tips: Chop your materials into small pieces, which will break down faster. Always cover your layer of green material with a layer of brown material to cut down on flies and mask any odors. If you want fine compost, run over it with a mulching lawn mower.

B.Y.O. (Build Your Own) Sandwich at Bleu

Published August 30, 2012 in the Memphis Flyer

Many fast-food-style delis allow customers to basically build their own sandwiches. Bleu, located in the Westin Hotel, has taken this idea and put an upscale spin on it with the B.Y.O. sandwich. At lunch, customers can follow an easy eight-step process to create the sandwich of their dreams. A quick glance at Step 1: Choose Your Protein and you know already that you're going to have a great sandwich. Among the choices: Black Angus beef, marinated chicken breast, ahi tuna, fried catfish, portabello mushroom cap, or sliced sirloin. Aw, yeah. From there, you choose the way you want your protein cooked and what you want it served on. (My personal favorite is a grilled cheese bun.) Then it's time to choose a fancy sauce and a fancy cheese, if you so desire. Step 6 allows you to add any three of the following: iceberg lettuce, arugula, sliced pickles, cole slaw, Bermuda onions, jalapenos, caramelized onion, sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes, and roasted red peppers. Step 7 — premium toppings — is arguably the best, even if it costs an extra $1. Choose to add avocado, fried egg, applewood-smoked bacon, onion rings, or fried tomato. Step 8 is all about the sides: hand-cut fries, potato salad, fruit cup, sweet potato fries, or cole slaw. The trick, of course, is to not get carried away or overthink it. And if at first you don't succeed in building the best sandwich ever, you can always try again. — Stacey Greenberg

Bleu, 221 S. 3rd (334-5950)

bleumemphis.com

Midtown man finds tomato-growing perfect outlet for his green thumb

Published August 28, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal

Jeff Green, 49, has lived in the same shotgun house in Midtown since 1989. He started a garden right away when he moved there, trying out different crops, such as peppers, cucumbers, snap beans and tomatoes. After one bite of a tomato that first year, he says, "It tasted so awesome. I found out right away that this soil grows tomatoes."

Green says once you figure out your dirt, the rest is easy. Since figuring his out, he has focused on growing heirloom tomatoes, with a few peppers here and there. "Other crops can easily take over and destroy the tomatoes. It just takes one watermelon to ruin everything," he says.

Green, who has a degree in landscape architecture from Louisiana State University and grew up helping his granddad with his tomatoes, is proud of what he's created at his home in the Tucker-Jefferson area near Overton Square. "It's all organic. All heirloom. All Midtown," he says.

To fertilize, Green has three compost piles he feeds coffee grounds, eggshells and vegetable scraps. "I also supplement with horse manure. It's 'hot,' so it has to simmer down for a year before I can use it in the garden."

Heirlooms are his tomatoes of choice because they are stout. "Heirloom means they've lasted at least 25 years," explains Green. He thinks they are easier to grow without a lot of care. "I also like that they aren't genetically modified. They're old school," he says.

Green jokes one year he accidentally made a "super tomato" when the Lemon Boys cross-pollinated with the cherries. "We made a Little Lemon Boy," he says.

Over the years, Green has expanded the number of plants he grows. In 2006, he and his neighbor took down the fence that separated their yards to make more room. In 2008, his neighbor started reading seed catalogs and decided to start the tomato plants inside his home from seed. (Before that, Green would order small plants and put them directly in the ground.)

Green says ordering seeds can be expensive, up to $5 per packet. He spends money only on a few new varieties each year. "We have a lot of volunteer plants, and we actively save our own seeds. Saving seeds means saving money," he says.

This year, they planted 56 varieties in the ground (seven rows with eight plants each) and six more varieties in buckets. Green has a chart to show where each one is planted. His favorites are Lemon Boys, which are low-acid, bigger, yellows; Yellow Pears, which taste and look like tiny pears; and Chocolate Cherries, which are purple.

Green says they have developed a system that requires no weeding and the garden practically waters itself. "We have a drip-irrigation system. We fill a rain barrel with water twice a day, which drains into a hose system. There are a bunch of holes in the hoses to flood out the garden, so it waters itself," he explains.

Green occasionally sprays the leaves as well, but not in the heat of the day. "You need to wait for the sun to set or you'll hear the leaves sizzling," he says. "Early this morning the tomatoes were thanking me, too. Just wiggling and saying thanks."

He uses a rain barrel to catch rain and water off his air-conditioning unit, but he also recommends filling rain barrels with tap water. "Even if there is no rain, tap water needs to sit in the sun so the chlorine can evaporate and so it can warm up," he says. "The plants take it a little easier if it is warmed up."

To combat weeds, they have incorporated a weed barrier filter fabric on the ground. "We slice holes in the fabric for the plants. There are no weeds and it holds the moisture down," Green says.

They reused the same filter fabric this year from last year, since it was in good shape, but suspect it may be the cause of a fungus that has attacked the leaves of their plants. "It hasn't affected the fruit, but it has kept production down," says Green.

To fight off the mystery fungus, Green has been spraying sulfur and lime. "We're going to have to get evil on some fungus," he says. "It just jumped on us this year." Fungus has never been a problem before. "Some years, it just cranks up. I've seen people on TV talking about it this year," he explains.

Green plans to till the entire garden before planting next year.

Despite the fungus, Green has had plenty of tomatoes, more than he could eat. In the past, Green had to compete with a family of squirrels for the tomatoes. This year, he said he wanted to plant enough for them both. "It worked, but this year we had about 30 squirrels living in the yard," he says with a laugh. Thankfully, the squirrels left one of Green's favorites, the Chocolate Cherries, alone. "They didn't recognize the purple as food," he says.

Green also sold several pints of his tomatoes to a few local restaurants. "Places like Tsunami and the Beauty Shop like the little different colored cherries. The orange and black are pretty rare," he says.

He's willing to share his tomatoes with anyone who is interested. "People stop by, I share with neighbors, and I take them around town. My folks always get a bunch, too," he says.

Green eats a handful or two a day. "I just walk around and graze," he says. "I tried canning, but I don't know what I'm doing there. I freeze some and I've made a little salsa."

His goal has always been to see how many different varieties he can grow. Next year, he plans to challenge himself with Naga Jolokia, better known as Ghost Chili Peppers, certified as the hottest peppers in the world. "If I can get them to live, I'll bring them in over the winter and plant them next summer," he says.

However, the four starter plants he has have already been attacked by bugs. "It seems like every plant you want to grow really bad, the bugs want to eat really bad," he says.

Green keeps bugs at bay with diatomaceous earth. "It's really sharp," he explains. "Bugs can't crawl across it without getting cut up."

He also uses diluted dish soap to keep bugs away.

For slugs, he has invented his own traps. Made from a plastic drink bottle, a screw and a little Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, they are highly effective. "Cut the bottle in half, turn the top upside down and place it in the bottom. Secure it with a screw, and then fill with a little bit of beer," Green instructs. "Put in on an angle near the ground so it creates a ramp. They won't work that hard for the beer."

Sierra Club, longtime environmental organization, spurring change, getting things done

Published August 21, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal

Scott Banbury, conservation chairman for the Sierra Club's local Chickasaw Group, describes the organization as the oldest environmental group in the nation.

"It's the largest truly authentic grass-roots democracy left in the country," says Don Richardson, the sustainability strategies chairman.

The Chickasaw Group of the Sierra Club represents more than 1,000 members in Memphis and West Tennessee. Nationally, the Sierra Club boasts more than 1.3 million members. The group advocates for policies that protect the natural environment, provides opportunities for people who want to develop leadership skills to help their community while enhancing the environment, offers hikes and outdoor recreation for people of all ages, and supports environmental candidates for public office.

Local environmental issues the group addresses take many forms. In the past, members worked hard to keep police stables, roads and memorial parks out of Overton Park; they helped force the Velsicol chemical company to dig up backyards and clean up pollution along Cypress Creek in North Memphis, and they are responsible for initiating the regionally important lawsuit that prevented developers in Brunswick from building housing developments in a flood plain.

Current hot topics include pollution issues and coal burning at the TVA Allen Fossil Plant, proposed plans to build a road through Shelby Farms Park, and raising community awareness about radioactive waste being allowed in two local landfills.

In April 2011, the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors approved an agreement to phase out 18 units at dirty coal-fired power plants and install modern pollution controls on three dozen additional units, thanks to more than 15 years of pressure from environmental groups (including the Sierra Club), southeastern states and the EPA. The agreement — which includes the affected states of Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee — represents the largest ever reduction in air pollution in the southeastern United States.

This agreement permanently retires an unprecedented 2,700 megawatts of coal-fired electricity and will drastically reduce TVA's emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon pollution. The Clean Air Task Force estimates that coal-fired power plants in the region cause more than 1,800 premature deaths and more than 2,400 heart attacks each year in the four-state region, and are a major source of area air pollution woes.

According to Rita Harris, Sierra Club National staff in Memphis, the TVA Allen Fossil Plant tops the annual Shelby County Terrible Ten list of polluters in our area that contribute to unhealthy air quality. Harris uses the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory database for compiling her annual list.

The group believes this agreement to be among the greatest environmental achievements of late. "We'd like to see power generation replaced with efficient and clean energy sources, such as wind and solar," Banbury says. "If we used less energy, there would not be a demand for coal-fired plants." The group's Climate Action team is a part of a statewide coalition to address this issue.

Additionally, the group has an upcoming forum to discuss a proposed road construction project through Shelby Farms Park. "In 1998, we first opposed a sprawl-creating 16-wheeler truck roadway that excluded public input, and now it's an issue again," Richardson says. The group is concerned about the ongoing impact that the road would have on the Wolf River, the Lucius Birch State Natural Area, and surrounding mixed-use development.

"There's no reason to spend an exorbitant amount of money to build a road that only a few people will use," Banbury says.

The Sierra Club has a program meeting the third Thursday of every month. Those interested in hearing more about the Shelby Farms road should attend the forum at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library.

"We're local up. We're engaged locally, on the state level, and nationally. If you want to impact the community, the Sierra Club is for you, Banbury says.

Anyone interested in joining the group can attend the informal gatherings from 5:30-8 p.m. the first Thursday of the month at Otherlands Coffee Bar. Political chairman and outings co-chairman Mark Plumlee says the gatherings are as popular as the hikes and outings. "They are very friendly and unstructured," he says. "It's an easy place to come and ask questions."

Annual dues begin at $15 and include national and local membership.

The Sierra Club is a training ground for leaders. "We inspire people and give them the experience they need to start new initiatives," Banbury says. He and Richardson note that many local groups over the last dozen years came into being because of Chickasaw Group members, such as the Wolf River Conservancy, Friends of Shelby Farms Park, Chickasaw Bluffs Conservancy, Friends for Our Riverfront, Greater Memphis Greenline, Sustainable Shelby, Coalition for Livable Communities (pre-Livable Memphis) and Citizens to Preserve Overton Park.

"We empower individuals, build team leadership skills, and inform the public so that they can take action," Richardson says. "Our job is to give someone the confidence to stand up and say, 'The emperor has no clothes.'"

"If you are passionate about an issue that we're not covering locally, then do your thing, and we'll support you," Banbury says.

"We're not married to a limiting list of campaigns or causes," Richardson says. "We're an ongoing talent pool of people who help get things moving."

The Chickasaw Group has been active since 1978. Sue A. Williams, lead volunteer and group chairwoman, explains: "We're still influencing public policy and quality-of-life issues, usually behind the scenes, but with increasing extreme weather and other eco-economic concerns, the local Sierra Club is becoming more valuable than ever."

While many of the activities revolve around serious business, the group also knows how to have fun. Regular outings are scheduled, such as river floats, cleanups, hikes, and Downtown walks. The next outing is the annual Equinox Sunset Bluff Walk, which takes place at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 22 on the Memphis riverfront.

More information:

tennessee.sierraclub.org/chickasaw

facebook.com/Chickasaw.group

Shelby Farms Parkway (Kirby Parkway) & Shelby Farms Park Update Thursday 6 p.m., Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, 3030 Poplar. The Sierra Club holds a panel discussion about the proposed Shelby Farms Parkway in Shelby Farms Park. The panel will include updates on the latest Environmental Impact Statement and justification for the parkway, highlight open issues about the parkway’s plans and provide updates on the Shelby Farms Park Master Plan, including park access/entry points, bike/ped connectivity and naturalist programs.

Programs contact: Susan Routon at mailto:susan.routon@gmail.com or 901-413-3888.

Monthly First Thursday Gathering: September 6, 5:30 p.m. Otherlands Coffee Bar, 641 S. Cooper. Sierra Club members, activists and friends meet in a casual setting to talk about issues and interests. First Thursday contact: Mark Plumlee at mark.chickasaw@gmail.com or 901-679-4622.

Salt & Pepper Shrimp at Evelyn & Olive

Published August 16, 2012 in the Memphis Flyer

There's an unwritten rule at Evelyn & Olive, downtown's Jamaican and Southern-style restaurant and wine bar: Everything tastes better with a little Boom Boom sauce. Made from chili peppers, garlic, mayonnaise, tomato, and pickle, it's a cross between traditional hot sauce and remoulade. Not too spicy and full of flavor, it definitely makes every dish sing a little louder. My favorite pairing is with the Salt & Pepper Shrimp. Very lightly breaded and fried, the crispy white shrimp serve as the perfect vehicle for the Boom Boom sauce. Listed as a starter, the Salt & Pepper Shrimp is a great way to start the meal with friends. However, the generous serving can also make a great entrée, if, like me, you find it hard to share.