St. Helena Bazaar features cookbook, church mice

A new Lowcountry cookbook -- and a new church mouse -- will be on sale next weekend at The Parish Church of St. Helena Bazaar.

Put on by the Women of the Parish, the bazaar benefits charities in Beaufort and around the world.

"Shrimp, Collards and Grits: Recipes from the creeks and gardens of the South Carolina Lowcountry" by Patricia Branning, who lived in the Lowcountry for 25 years, will feature original art by Nancy Rhett and other local artists, tales of area history andrecipes from Lowcountry cooks.

Recipes in the cookbook include Tidalholm Seared Scallops, Yemassee Shrimp Pie, Supper by the Shore Seafood Casserole and Beaufort River Pluff Mud Cake.

Branning and her husband, Cloide, will donate the proceeds from bazaar cookbook sales to the Women of the Parish. "It's our way of giving back just a little to a place that gave so much to us," Branning said.

Branning and her family attended the Parish Church of St. Helena in the 1970s when they lived in the Arthur Barnwell House on Pleasant Point, across the river from Beaufort. The house is the subject of Rhett's original cover art.

The crew working on St. Helena's famous handmade "church mice" have made a new mouse this year. So far the choir-robed rodents have been joined by a conductor mouse, a crucifer mouse and a bishop.

Each new mouse is available that year only, and mouse manufacturers warn that both new and traditional mice often sell out early.

The annual bazaar is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 7. There will be a bazaar preview from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Friday. Nothing is sold Friday (though silent auction bids are accepted). The preview is for fellowship and an early look at bazaar offerings.

In addition to the cookbook and the church mice, bazaar shoppers will find baked goods, candy, frozen foods, books, crafts and gifts, jewelry, plants, Christmas decorations, a pet boutique, silent auction and bargain box.