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Food & Drink News News Blog News Feature

Cxffeeblack, Castle Retail Group Collaboration Is More than Just “Coffee on a Shelf”

Credit: Castle Retail Group

A new collaboration between Cxffeeblack and Castle Retail Group will expand the Black-owned coffee brand’s reach, but the deal goes beyond the shelf, principals said.

Cxffeeblack’s products will now be found in Cash Saver stores, High Point Grocery, and South Point Grocery. The deal will also make Cxffeeblack the wholesale coffee provider for the in-house coffee shop at Castle Retail Group’s upcoming location, South Point Grocery at Silo Square in Southaven.

“This isn’t just about coffee on a shelf,” said Bartholomew Jones, founder of Cxffeeblack. “This is about partnership. About seeing each other. About making sure our kids and grandkids don’t have to fight the same battles we did. And most importantly, it’s about Memphis. Because Memphis is not just a place where things happen — it’s a place where the future is being built.”

The partnership “ensures that Memphis-grown Black coffee culture continues to expand,” the companies said in a statement.

“This is the kind of partnership that can change a city,” said Rick James, owner of Castle Retail Group. “Too often, we let barriers divide us — race, neighborhood, history — but at the root, our stories are more connected than we think. We’re all tied to the land, to labor, and to the pursuit of dignity. That’s what this is about.”

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News News Blog

Moms for Liberty Renews Fight Against School Lessons on Empathy, Compassion

Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice speaks to an in-person and online audience on Jan. 8, 2025, at a small recording studio near Nashville, Tennessee, as part of the organization's new national training program for parents on monthly education topics. The first session was about social and emotional learning. (Marta W. Aldrich / Chalkbeat)

In a small recording studio near Nashville, Tennessee, conservative activist Kelly Schenkoske urged an online audience of parents to scour school district websites for contracts that mention social and emotional learning (SEL).

“Social-emotional learning is far more than just kindness,” Schenkoske said. “It is a bait and switch.”

The bait, according to Schenkoske and other panelists at the recent Moms for Liberty training event, is small shifts in the school day to introduce students to lessons about virtuous qualities like empathy and compassion.

The switch, they said, is to make children sympathetic to what they see as progressive ideas, ranging from open borders and acceptance of homosexuality to gun control, action against climate change, and redistribution of wealth.

“You send your child with your value system, your own beliefs, and now they’re getting the government’s value system installed into them,” warned Schenkoske, who hosts a podcast from her California home about education and parent rights.

The two-hour training session was the first installment in Moms for Liberty U, an online course meant to drive conservative parent activism in the group’s continuing effort to sway local and national education agendas.

That it focused on social and emotional learning illustrates the staying power of conservatives’ concerns about schools’ role in addressing student well-being. These concerns stretch back years, even as research on SEL shows wide-ranging benefits for students.

Now Moms for Liberty has an ally in the White House, with President Donald Trump painting schools as centers of radical indoctrination and signing executive orders that seek to stamp out teaching about systemic racism and policies supportive of transgender youth.

The group’s future trainings will cover critical race theory, restorative justice, sex education, library content, Marxism, and more — topics that are under scrutiny by the new administration and more prominent in public conversation.

Tiffany Justice, a Florida mom, activist, and former school board member who co-founded Moms for Liberty, sees SEL at the root of everything. She hopes the administration soon will call it out by name, too.

Parents who agree with the Trump administration can “take those executive orders, that messaging, and really make it come alive throughout the entire country,” Justice told Chalkbeat.

SEL use grew in schools after the pandemic

Social and emotional learning is an educational approach introduced in the 1960s to teach life skills designed to help children manage stress, treat others with respect and empathy, work cooperatively, and recognize and regulate their emotions.

The use of SEL tools has increased as educators seek to help students rebound academically and emotionally from disruptions to schooling and children’s daily lives after the Covid pandemic emerged in early 2020.

About 83 percent of principals reported last year that their schools use an SEL curriculum or program, compared with 73 percent in the 2021-22 school year and 46 percent in 2017-18, based on a nationally representative survey by RAND Corporation and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL.

Educators say the pandemic deeply affected students’ mental health, contributing to higher rates of depression and anxiety. And national studies highlight an urgent need to provide kids with tailor-made interventions. An infusion of federal aid for education during the pandemic helped to fuel the growth in SEL adoption.

The programs vary in quality. But a large analysis of studies on SEL published in 2023 found a wide range of positive effects, including better academic performance, homework completion, and attendance, a major area of concern nationwide since the pandemic.

Though teachers sometimes complain that SEL is one more thing piled on their very full plates and could distract from pure academics, the analysis also found that programs led by teachers had more positive effects than those led by counselors or outsiders.

“It’s frustrating to see the science and impacts in schools and then to see the noise around the banning of SEL,” said Christina Cipriano, an associate professor at Yale University and lead author of the meta-analysis, which synthesized more than 400 studies over 13 years that collectively included half a million children.

Cipriano recalled a trip to Washington, D.C., to talk with policymakers about using science to make decisions, including about social and emotional learning. One Republican congressional staffer told her that their constituents would love everything about her work — except the name.

“You have a Control-F problem,” the staffer said, referring to the computer keyboard command that lets someone easily find a term in documents such as school district contracts to purchase SEL products and services.

Polls back that up. Large numbers of parents support the idea that schools should teach interpersonal skills and self-regulation, but far fewer react positively to the term “social and emotional learning.”

Another SEL backlash brews

Justice, now a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank with close ties to the Trump administration, described social and emotional learning as a “Trojan horse” that opens students to ways of thinking that run counter to what parents teach at home. For example, an emphasis on kindness might lead a student to feel pressure to use a transgender classmate’s preferred pronouns, she said, when that makes the first student uncomfortable and runs counter to their parents’ values.

That’s why Moms for Liberty U started its parent training series with a focus on social and emotional learning.

“We had to start here, because this is what opens the child up to the indoctrination,” Justice said. “It’s the programming mechanism that allows for gender ideology to come in, for critical race theory to come in.”

The training session, which was taped early this year, describes SEL as being tucked into dozens of programs and tools in common use in schools, from teacher-parent messaging platforms to programs designed to make recess a more positive experience. Panelists named surveys on youth well-being as another example of SEL.

Alex Neuman, a conservative author who appeared on the inaugural training panel, said the ultimate goal of SEL is “de-Christianizing education,” something he traces back to Horace Mann, the 19th century social reformer considered one of the fathers of public education.

Panelist Jennifer Kom, a psychology professor at Bethany Lutheran College in Minnesota, said SEL forces teachers to be therapists and leads children to disclose personal matters that can lead to bullying.

Their arguments were enough to convince Tennessee mom Genevieve Pahos to take her activism a step further.

Pahos was part of a small live audience at the taping. A Moms for Liberty chapter leader in Williamson County, south of Nashville, she already had heard many of the arguments against SEL, but she said the session inspired her to start filing more public records requests about SEL programs in her local districts.

“I learned a lot from some of the speakers,” she said, “about how to find out what’s really happening in our schools.”

Speaking to Chalkbeat after the training session, Justice said schools should stick to academics.

“Kids are sad sometimes; it’s okay to be sad sometimes,” she said. “But we need to help children be resilient and find their way through [sadness] by finding interest in life and success in school and giving them the confidence that they get from mastery of skills in the classroom.”

Put another way: “It ends up having kids marinating in their feelings all day. It’s very hard to focus on learning math if we’re all talking about, you know, Johnny’s dog that died.”

Researcher: Schools should include families in SEL programming

Even supporters of social and emotional learning are sometimes fuzzy on what SEL is and isn’t, Cipriano said, which can make it hard to have productive conversations across different viewpoints.

SEL is not therapy or a mental health intervention, she said. But done well, it might mean fewer children need mental health support down the road, just as teaching reading properly to all students might mean fewer students need special education services.

Building resilience — so that students can focus on academics even when bad things are happening around them — is one goal of SEL.

School leaders should think about what problems they want to solve and how they’ll support teachers, Cipriano said, not just adopt a social and emotional learning curriculum because it seems like the thing to do.

She’s working on a public database that she hopes will help school communities make better decisions about which curriculum or products to invest in. Users will be able to see what outcomes were generated by certain programs and the types of communities where these programs have been tried.

She sees lots of room for improvement — better teacher training, more rigorous reviews of existing curriculum, and better communication with parents.

“It seems to me that we have a real opportunity to engage families at the outset of implementation so they’re aware of what’s happening in the schools,” she said. “When you talk to parents and families about the strategies involved in social and emotional learning, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t want their child to be a good friend or have less test anxiety.”

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Erica Meltzer is Chalkbeat’s national editor based in Colorado. Contact Erica at emeltzer@chalkbeat.org.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

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News News Blog News Feature

Proposed Legislation Aims to Protect Mississippi River Fisheries

Jaqueline Davis fishes in the Wolf River Harbor underneath the A.W. Willis Bridge July 7, 2022. Davis has been coming to this spot for over a decade. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)

A new congressional bill aims to improve fisheries and environmental quality in the Mississippi River basin with a federally funded commission.

“This is a bill that’s way past its due,” said U.S. Rep. Troy Carter Sr. (D-Louisiana) ​who is co-sponsoring the Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission Act of 2025 with U.S. Rep. Mike Ezell (R-Mississippi). It was introduced Feb. 24 in the House Committee on Natural Resources. 

The goal is to fund grants for habitat restoration, fisheries research and the mitigation of invasive species. 

It aims to support the growth of the fishing industry throughout the basin, as well as reinforce partnerships between local, state and federal agencies involved in the management of the river and its tributaries. The commission would be federally funded, and draw down on federal dollars to support restoration projects and fisheries management. 

Eroding marshes along the Mississippi River in southern Louisiana provide crucial habitat for fish, seen June, 2024. Credit: Tegan Wendland/Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, Aerial support provided by SouthWings.
Eroding marshes along the Mississippi River in southern Louisiana provide crucial habitat for fish, seen June, 2024.
Credit: Tegan Wendland/Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, Aerial support provided by SouthWings.

“The Mississippi, a mighty, mighty estuary, is not only a major tool for moving commerce back and forth, but it’s also a place where people make a living, fishing on the river,” Carter said. “This bill endeavors to make sure that we are protecting that asset.”

While commercial fishing has declined in recent decades, and updated research is necessary to establish the exact value of recreational, commercial and subsistence fishing in the Mississippi River, one study valued it as a billion dollar industry. 

The river has long faced challenges, such as industrial and agricultural pollution, habitat destruction and prolific spread of invasive species. Part of the difficulty in addressing these problems comes from the sheer size of the basin, with its geography covering over a third of the continental United States. 

Floodplain forests like these, along the Mississippi River outside Lansing, Iowa, on Aug. 1, 2024, provide crucial habitat and flood protection. 
Credit: Tegan Wendland / Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk

“For decades, states have struggled to find dedicated resources to adequately manage large river species that cross many state, federal, and tribal jurisdictions,” Ben Batten, deputy director of Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and chair of the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Association, said in a press release. 

Large river species, such as invasive carp, are a problem the new commission would address, building on the work of the interstate cooperative, a multistate, multi-agency organization formed in 1991 that has focused on reducing invasives. The four varieties of carp originating from Asia – silver carp, black carp, grass carp and bighead carp – have spread at alarming rates and harm existing fisheries. 

Communication amongst the numerous jurisdictions in the basin —  states, cities, towns and tribal entities — can be difficult. Collaborative groups encourage more cohesive policy between basin states, such as the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative and the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association, and there have been efforts to pass a river compact. 

The United States and Canada share a partnership through the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. The Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission would be part of the Department of the Interior, and include other agencies, like the U.S. Geological Survey, Fish and Wildlife Service and Army Corps of Engineers. 

Due in large part to a lack of standardized testing, and often limited resources, health experts and government agencies often offer conflicting advice as to whether fish from the Mississippi River are safe to eat. Fish advisories warning against consumption of fish in one area may not exist in neighboring states, varying from one side of the river to the other. 

The bill authors request $1 million to launch the commission in 2026, then $30 million each year for the following three years

While many fish the Mississippi River for sport rather than to eat, some rely on the river as a source of food. 

Weeds grow in an area that is making it difficult (or impossible) for boats to get through in Bay City, Wis., on Monday, July 18, 2022. Frank and Cathy Dosdall have lived in Bay City their whole lives and have watched their harbor go from a vibrant waterfront to a place where no one can swim, play or fish. They’re really excited about this Army Corps dredging project in hopes that it can bring the Bay City beach back to what it used to be. ] Elizabeth Flores • liz.flores@startribune.com ORG XMIT: MIN2207191222160020

General health advice for eating fish caught from the Mississippi does exist, such as throwing back the biggest and fattiest fish, washing them before fileting, and broiling or grilling the catch to avoid certain pollutants. 

Halle Parker contributed to this story. This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation.

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Film Features Film/TV

Memphis Flyer Podcast March 6, 2025: Cloudland Canyon

Chris McCoy talks with Kip Uhlhorn and Alex Greene of Cloudland Canyon about their new live score to the short films of Stan Brakhage. Plus, Spring Arts Guide and Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat.

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News News Blog News Feature

Homeless Encampment Bill Moves Through Legislature

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

A bill that seeks to keep Tennessee’s highways clear of encampments, tents, and personal items has been recommended for passage to the Senate Calendar Committee.

Senate Bill 0217 would require the Tennessee Department of Transportation and other agencies to regulate “the collection, storage, claiming, and disposal of personal property used for camping from the shoulder, berm, or right-of-way of a state or interstate highway, or under a bridge or overpass, or within an underpass of a state or interstate highway.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), was recommended for passage today through the Senate Transportation and Safety Committee. Taylor said he had experience in trying to clear areas of personal property and called it the “most complicated thing [he] had done as an adult.”

“What this bill does is simply allow TDOT to go into communities like Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, or any other community and to go ahead and pre-plan how they’re going to deal with homeless encampments and go ahead and work with social services networks in that community,” Taylor said.

Taylor said this network will include law enforcement, so that all the duties will already be spelled out when an encampment needs to be removed. He also said this bill does not criminalize homeless people.

“This serves not only the state and the local community, but this serves the homeless folks as well.” Taylor said. “When they identify a homeless encampment that needs to be cleared, there’ll be nonprofits and social services available to the people in homeless encampments. We all have empathy, but whatever has driven somebody to have to live under a bridge, their lot in life is not getting better by living under a bridge.”

Taylor said the bill will help communities develop a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to tackle this issue in a way that’s beneficial to both the city and the homeless. Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) asked if the bill outlines how their belongings will be stored, to which Taylor responded that the decision would be left to the board.

“I understand the intent. I have a similar thing happen in my district. I just am concerned without the direction from the legislation, the homeless peoples’ items and things need to be considered; that we’re putting the discretion to be able to take stuff away from homeless people in somebody’s hands where it might not have been before,” Campbell said.

Lindsey Krinks, co-founder of Housing for All Tennessee and Open Table Nashville, noted citizens’ concerns for the bill — specifically, the disposal of homeless people’s belongings.

“What this bill doesn’t tell you is that the campsite removal costs will be passed down to local governments; we’re really concerned about that,” Krinks said. “We all want to see the number of people living in encampments decrease, but the way we do that is not to play a game of Whack-A-Mole. It’s to break the cycle of homelessness through providing housing and support to people.”

Krinks said the bill does not address homelessness nor the deficit of housing or shelter. She noted that the bill’s “aggressive” deadline of removal 30 days after receiving a complaint does not allow people to secure permanent housing.

Taylor said this bill will address these concerns as the agencies and TDOT will help people get connected to the services they need. He said continuing to let people live in encampments without services does not provide them with extra support.

“If you support homeless people and want to get them the services they need and help them live in dignity, then you would support this bill, because we’re able to make that connection when we clear a homeless encampment between a person in need and social services they need to connect them,” Taylor said.

The bill passed the committee with seven ayes and one nay. 

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Fun Stuff News of the Weird

News of the Weird: Week of 03/06/25

Animal Antics

A Starbucks employee in Mobile, Alabama, had to have stitches and rabies vaccinations on Jan. 10 after a pet Aotus monkey jumped out of a car at the drive-thru window and into the restaurant, according to Lagniappe. The monkey ran up the employee’s arm to her head and started biting her until a co-worker grabbed it and threw it back out of the window. Mobile Police Department public information officer Blake Brown said the monkey’s owner Tammy Elaine Gardner drove away from the restaurant before police arrived. The wounded employee said Gardner, who had another monkey in the car, later returned to the restaurant to check on her but wouldn’t give her name. “The owner of the animal could face charges,” Brown said. The Starbucks location has banned Gardner and her monkeys from the drive-thru. “She’s welcome to come inside if she leaves them in the car,” the employee said.

Wait, What?

Jose Israel Teran Jr., 21, was taken into custody on Jan. 19 in connection with a road rage incident in San Antonio, KSAT-TV reported. In that confrontation, Teran allegedly shot a man in a semitruck while driving north on I-35. But it was Teran’s earlier criminal activity, on Dec. 30, that really had law enforcement’s attention. He was accidentally added to a family group text string that day, in which members were discussing a 9-month-old baby’s upcoming baptism. Teran replied to the text, “That’s a nice Caucasian baby how much you want?” He went on to ask, “Are you not interested in selling? I’m willing to start the bid at 500k.” The baby’s father called Teran, who explained that he purchases babies for their organs and could pay in cash or bitcoin. Teran told police he thought the group thread was spam, but he was charged with the purchase and sale of human organs.

Truth Is Stranger Than Netflix

A 3-year-old girl who was visiting Fraser Island in Queensland, Australia, on Jan. 17 was bitten by a dingo, ABC reported. The Queensland Park and Wildlife Service said the girl was bitten on the back of a leg as her family strolled the beach. The family said they were regular visitors and had scanned the beach for dingoes, but “dingoes are quick and it happened suddenly,” said head ranger Linda Behrendorff. Other people came to assist in fighting the dingo off using a kayak paddle. The toddler didn’t go to the hospital and is expected to recover.

Questionable Judgment

A housekeeping crew on a P&O Cruises Australia ship took passengers by surprise in December when they paraded by the ship’s swimming pool wearing their all-white uniforms with pointy white hoods, News.com reported on Jan. 22. The eight crew were dressed as upside-down snow cones, but passengers were horrified and were quick to document the incident on social media. “We were like, ‘Are we seeing this correctly?’ It was so bizarre,” said one cruiser from Melbourne. Lynne Scrivens, communications director for the cruise line, said the housekeeping crew are from all over the world and had never heard of the Ku Klux Klan. “They are limited with what resources they have on ships,” she said, explaining that they make do with what they can find for costumes. P&O Cruises Australia issued an apology following the event: “The crew members were horrified.”

Recent Alarming Headline

A plastic surgeon in Taipei City, Taiwan, is being called the “bravest man in Taiwan” after he shared on social media that he had performed his own vasectomy, Oddity Central reported. Chen Wei-nong recorded the surgery for educational purposes and presented the 11 steps necessary to complete the procedure. “It was a strange feeling to touch and suture my own urethra,” he wrote. He reassured followers that the surgery was performed outside of work hours and under the supervision of a urologist, and while he experienced some discomfort following the vasectomy, he felt fine the next day.

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.

NEWS OF THE WEIRD
© 2025 Andrews McMeel Syndication.
Reprinted with permission.
All rights reserved.

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Astrology Fun Stuff

Free Will Astrology: Week of 03/06/25

Dario Bronnimann | Unsplash

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The world’s darkest material is Vantablack. This super-black coating absorbs 99.96% of visible light, creating a visual void. It has many practical applications, like improving the operation of telescopes, infrared cameras, and solar panels. I propose we make Vantablack your symbol of power in the coming weeks. It will signify that an apparent void or absence in your life might actually be a fertile opportunity. An ostensible emptiness may be full of potential.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Among their many sensational qualities, rivers have the power to create through demolition and revision. Over the centuries, they erode rock and earth, making canyons and valleys. Their slow and steady transformative energy can be an inspiration to you in the coming months, Taurus. You, too, will be able to accomplish wonders through the strength of your relentless persistence — and through your resolute insistence that some old approaches will need to be eliminated to make way for new dispensations.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Centuries before European sailors ventured across the seas, Polynesians were making wide-ranging voyages around the South Pacific. Their navigations didn’t use compasses or sextants, but relied on analyzing ocean swells, star configurations, cloud formations, bird movements, and wind patterns. I bring their genius to your attention, Gemini, because I believe you are gaining access to new ways to read and understand your environment. Subtleties that weren’t previously clear to you are becoming so. Your perceptual powers seem to be growing, and so is your sensitivity to clues from below the visible surface of things. Your intuition is synergizing with your logical mind.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The Maeslant Barrier is a gigantic, movable barricade designed to prevent the flooding of the Dutch port of Rotterdam. It’s deployed when storms generate surges that need to be repelled. I think we all need metaphorical versions of this protective fortification, with its balance of unstinting vigilance and timely flexibility. Do you have such psychic structures in place, Cancerian? Now would be a good time to ensure that you have them and they’re working properly. A key factor, as you mull over the prospect I’m suggesting, is knowing that you don’t need to keep all your defenses raised to the max at all times. Rather, you need to sense when it’s crucial to assert limits and boundaries — and when it’s safe and right to allow the flow of connection and opportunity.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The authentic alchemists of medieval times were not foolishly hoping to transmute literal lead and other cheap metals into literal gold. In fact, their goal was to change the wounded, ignorant, unripe qualities of their psyches into beautiful, radiant aspects. The coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to do such magic. Life will provide you with help and inspiration as you try to brighten your shadows. We all need to do this challenging work, Leo! Now is one of your periodic chances to do it really well.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Cosmic rhythms are authorizing you to be extra demanding in the coming days — as long as you are not frivolous, rude, or unreasonable. You have permission to ask for bigger and better privileges that you have previously felt were beyond your grasp. You should assume you have finally earned rights you had not fully earned before now. My advice is to be discerning about how you wield this extra power. Don’t waste it on trivial or petty matters. Use it to generate significant adjustments that will change your life for the better.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In North America, starlings are an invasive species introduced from Europe in the 19th century. They are problematic, competing with native species for resources. They can damage crops and spread diseases that affect livestock. Yet starlings also create the breathtakingly beautiful marvel known as a murmuration. They make mesmerizing, ever-shifting patterns in the sky while moving as one cohesive unit. We all have starling-like phenomena in our lives — people, situations, and experiences that arouse deeply paradoxical responses, that we both enjoy and disapprove of. According to my analysis, the coming weeks will be prime time to transform and evolve your relationships with these things. It’s unwise to sustain the status quo. I’m not necessarily advising you to banish them — simply to change your connection.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Buildings and walls in the old Incan city of Machu Picchu feature monumental stone blocks that fit together precisely. You can’t slip a piece of paper between them. Most are irregularly shaped and weigh many tons. Whoever constructed these prodigious structures benefited from massive amounts of ingenuity and patience. I invite you to summon some of the same blend of diligence and brilliance as you work on your growing masterpiece in the coming weeks and months. My prediction: What you create in 2025 will last a very long time.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Bioluminescence is light emitted from living creatures. They don’t reflect the light of the sun or moon, but produce it themselves. Fireflies do it, and so do glow-worms and certain fungi. If you go to Puerto Rico’s Mosquito Bay, you may also spy the glimmer of marine plankton known as dinoflagellates. The best time to see them show what they can do is on a cloudy night during a new moon, when the deep murk reveals their full power. I believe their glory is a good metaphor for you in the coming days. Your beauty will be most visible and your illumination most valuable when the darkness is at a peak.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn-born Shah Jahan I was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 to 1658. During his reign, he commissioned the Taj Mahal, a magnificent garden and building complex to honor his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. This spectacular “jewel of Islamic art” is still a major tourist attraction. In the spirit of Shah Jahan’s adoration, I invite you to dream and scheme about expressing your devotion to what you love. What stirs your heart and nourishes your soul? Find tangible ways to celebrate and fortify your deepest passions.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Over 2,100 years ago, Greek scientists created an analog computer that could track astronomical movements and events decades in advance. Referred to now as the Antikythera mechanism, it was a unique, groundbreaking invention. Similar machines didn’t appear again until Europe in the 14th century. If it’s okay with you, I will compare you with the Antikythera mechanism. Why? You are often ahead of your time with your innovative approaches. People may regard you as complex, inscrutable, or unusual, when in fact you are simply alert for and homing in on future developments. These qualities of yours will be especially needed in the coming weeks and months. 

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): No cars drove through London’s streets in 1868. That invention was still years away. But the roads were crammed with pedestrians and horses. To improve safety amidst the heavy traffic, a mechanical traffic light was installed — the first in the world. But it had a breakdown a month later, injured a police officer, and was discontinued. Traffic lights didn’t become common for 50 years after that. I believe your imminent innovations will have better luck and good timing, Pisces. Unlike the premature traffic signal, your creations and improvements will have the right context to succeed. Don’t be shy about pushing your good ideas! They could revamp the daily routine.

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Fun Stuff Metaphysical Connection

Metaphysical Connection: The Depths of Pisces Season

Photo: Vvictori | Dreamstime.com

March is here and that means we’re halfway through Pisces season, a time we’re encouraged to shift our focus inward, as water signs like to do. Mysticism and dreaminess are at the core of tender-hearted Pisces, a mutable water sign. Their emotions flow and shift constantly, making it difficult for them to settle on a permanent decision. Pisces are incredibly imaginative and often find themselves daydreaming. But don’t underestimate them, once they commit to a feeling or idea, they can swiftly break free from anything that holds them back. As the last sign of the zodiac, they carry the wisdom of an “old soul” and have much to share.

A sensitive water sign, Pisces is represented by two fish, often called “the fishes with wishes” due to their powerful imagination and creative spirit. If you’re seeking kindness and empathy, look no further — Pisces is the most compassionate sign of the zodiac. Ruled by Neptune, the God of the Sea, these dreamy fish are spiritual and intuitive. 

With this mutable water energy, it’s no wonder that the tarot card associated with Pisces is The Moon. With Pisces as its ruling sign, this card represents visions and illusions, madness, genius, and poetry. At its darkest, this card can be daunting, warning of hidden enemies, mental illness, and addiction issues. However, at its best, The Moon signifies genius, mental breakthroughs, astonishing creativity, powerful magic, and intuition. I often refer to it as my “Van Gogh card.” 

Like Pisces, The Moon card is associated with the subconscious and often highlights idealism, suggesting that things are not as they may appear. It also represents our secretive side or “shadow self.” The dog and wolf on the card represent how our wild side blends with our tame side. This theme of unity can also be found in the towers, which symbolize the practical life most of us lead, while the path between them reminds us of the more meaningful life we desire. This is true to the nature of Pisces, who are always dreaming of something more fantastic than what is in front of them. The water on this card symbolizes the subconscious. The crustacean emerging from it represents “coming into consciousness” and the possession of psychic abilities, which is often true of those born under Pisces.

When The Moon card appears, it can indicate a time of emotional and mental trial for the querent. They may act on impulses that seem logical at the time, only to later question their actions with confusion. It’s a period when their mind plays tricks on them, making it an unsuitable time for decisions that require rational thought and clarity.

The Moon card can also signal a tumultuous period for relationships, marked by whirlwind romances that are intense but unreliable. For families and friends, it’s a time of emotional ups and downs.

This card represents the eerie, dreamy realm where the most powerful and dark magic and artistic talents reside. It symbolizes the extreme personalities who walk the fine line between artistic genius and madness. Here we find the wild, unpredictable individuals who create groundbreaking works with pen or paintbrush. These are the musicians with intense mood swings, battling dark depressions and charming manic episodes. They have no inhibitions and often disregard societal norms, resulting in behavior that can be both inspiring and unsettling, even sometimes dangerous. Yet, the art, poetry, and music they produce is nothing short of magic. The Moon is certainly a double-edged sword. 

The realm of this card is where seers, mediums, and spiritual leaders find themselves after extensive fasting, prayers, and meditation — finally achieving that holy vision. It is the enchanted forest of fairy tales, the mythic wasteland where heroes encounter spirits, oracles, sphinxes, and their own shadow selves. This otherworldly domain is unpredictable, and its influence on us is profound and transformative. Don’t be afraid of The Moon, but tread intentionally through its waters. 

Emily Guenther is a co-owner of The Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

The Proof Is In The (Banana) Pudding

Martha Foose (Photo: Courtesy Martha Foose)

Except for a few years when I was little, I’ve never met a banana pudding I didn’t like.

Growing up, I went from liking bananas to hating them. I couldn’t stand the taste or the texture. But tastes change. As time went on, I still preferred the custard to the bananas in the pudding, but I gradually became more accepting of the other half of the dessert’s name.

Over the years, I’ve taken banana pudding for granted. But now I want to know more about it. And I knew if anybody could tell me about banana pudding and its place in Southern cooking, it would be the James Beard Award-winning author and chef Martha Foose, whose cookbooks include Screen Doors and Sweet Tea. Plus, she lives in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Foose told me that Gulfport, Mississippi, on the Gulf Coast is a “super major” banana port. “If it’s got ‘Chiquita’ on it, it’s coming up from the coast,” she says.

As for the origin of banana pudding, Foose says, “Once bananas got their stronghold, and polite society figured out ways to put them in their mouth without it looking like a banana, that’s kind of how banana pudding started gaining popularity.”

She believes banana pudding originally was a “back of the vanilla wafers box” recipe. But banana pudding recipes changed over time. Like when the “fluffy dairy topping” products like Cool Whip and Dream Whip were introduced. This enabled dairy toppings to stay whipped instead of dissolving in desserts like banana pudding.

“Banana pudding is one of those things that keep evolving. There’s a big whipped cream vs. meringue school. I’m a total meringue school. I like meringue. You’ve already got extra egg whites from putting the yolks in the custard if you’re making it homemade.”

Plus, she adds, “I don’t like dairy on top of dairy. The custard is dairy enough.”

Then there’s the “controversy” over vanilla wafers in banana puddings. “There are two schools of thought on the whole Nilla Wafer vs. vanilla wafer.”

Nilla Wafers are the Nabisco brand. The “common man’s” wafers are Jack’s Vanilla Wafers and the cheap generic food service type of vanilla wafers, she says. The food service varieties were the ones used in banana puddings in elementary school cafeterias. They’re “a little more yellow and squishy, where Nilla Wafers have got a little more snap to them.”

There are other options than just using vanilla wafers in banana puddings, Foose says. “If you want to go completely crazy at Thanksgiving, use ginger snaps.”

She adds, “Now the big in-vogue thing is for you to use those little Pepperidge Farm Chessmen.”

These domino-shaped short bread cookies, which are imprinted with chess figures, can be arranged on top of a banana pudding “like a little chessboard.”

Another controversy is the “sweetened condensed milk school of thought” as in “It needs to be in banana pudding,” Foose says. “I think, ‘No.’ Banana pudding should be like it is.”

Foose also isn’t a fan of big pans of banana pudding. She likes the individual serving dishes. Otherwise people are going to pick out the cookies or pick out the bananas. Then you just “end up with a swamp.”

As for the bananas themselves, Foose says the Cavendish banana is the most popular commercial variety. “It’s the quality that makes it shipped the most,” she says. “It’s one that can be shipped green. And its skin is sturdy enough. All those things.”

But Cavendish bananas might not be so prevalent in banana pudding as in the past. “They’re having problems with blight,” says Foose. “They’re trying to find a replacement mass market banana. They’re trying different varieties.”

If you want to whip up your own banana pudding, Foose includes a banana pudding recipe in her Screen Doors and Sweet Tea cookbook.

As for me, I’ve personally never made a banana pudding. I rely on restaurants to do that.

Also, banana puddings, to me, are like barbecue. They all have their nuances that make them different.

Here are my impressions of just a few (there are plenty more) made-from-scratch banana puddings in and around Memphis. 

Cole Hix at One & Only BBQ (Photos: Michael Donahue)

One & Only BBQ: I think Millie’s Banana Pudding is“magnificent.” It’s an over-the-top banana pudding, which is almost like a pie. Everything, from the bananas to the vanilla wafers, tastes fresh. According to the menu, it’s “house-made daily with fresh meringue.”

The menu also states that “last year alone, our guests devoured over 8,000 half-pans of Millie’s Banana Pudding.”

Ashley Anderson at Mortimer’s

The banana pudding at Mortimer’s reminds me of eggnog at the holidays. There’s no bourbon in it, but I conjure up a taste of that brown water when I eat this delightfully delicious banana pudding. It makes me wonder what banana liqueur would taste like in a banana pudding. I’m sure that’s been done a billion times. The closest I’ve come to that is probably in bananas Foster.

Tyler Clancy, owner of Clancy’s Cafe in Red Banks, Mississippi, says his “secret ingredient” in his banana pudding is sour cream. “We put sour cream in it to kind of give it that cheesecake richness,” Clancy says. And it’s so delicious. Perfection. This is where I began topping his banana pudding with vanilla ice cream. Believe me, it doesn’t need it. It’s great as it is.

Central BBQ: I love the crushed vanilla wafers on top of this delicious, creamy banana pudding. Something about it made me recall the taste of the old banana-flavored popsicles I used to love back in the 1950s.

Raven Winton at Makeda’s Homemade Cookies Downtown

Makeda’s Homemade Cookies: Of course, this cookie palace isn’t going to use vanilla wafers in its banana pudding. This super creamy pudding is topped with yummy butter cookies. On the bottom is a “crust” made of crushed butter cookies.

The Cupboard Restaurant: This is the banana-iest pudding I’ve run across. It’s loaded with bananas. I think there are more bananas than vanilla wafers in this banana pudding, which is only available on Fridays and Sundays. 

I remarked to my server Leodis Williams about the amount of bananas in The Cupboard’s pudding. He replied, “You’ve got to have a lot of bananas, or it wouldn’t be banana pudding.”

Nate Renner delivered the final word — for now — on banana pudding. He told me about the banana pudding at a Tennessee potluck he recently attended. He asked me with more than a trace of disgust in his voice, “Would you believe people would serve you warm banana pudding?”

Banana pudding should be cold, he said. “It should never be warm. Ever.” 

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Dance Like a Cupcake 

Photos: Alannah Williams

Growing up, Alannah Williams watched her younger brother Joshua struggle with many food allergies that prevented him from eating certain foods her family and friends enjoyed. This devastated her — having to constantly watch her brother being left out.  

Now, Alannah has her very own business, Dance Like a Cupcake, which provides her customers with sweet treats, including her popular gourmet cookies, that don’t contain eggs, dairy, sesame oil, or nuts for those with food sensitivities — or those who are living a healthier lifestyle.  

And she’s doing it all at the age of 18. 

Alannah comes from a military family, and for a while they lived in Seoul, South Korea. In Korea, they make most of their food with sesame and peanut oil, two of her brother’s allergens. So, at 10, she was determined to bake something allergen-free, and that is how Dance Like a Cupcake originated overseas. Once her family moved back to the States, specifically to Memphis, she revived her business.  

Though Joshua is the biggest motivation behind Alannah’s business, its quirky and catchy name was inspired by her childhood friend. “I started when I was 10 and one of my friends came to an event that I was selling at. She had food allergies, too. She asked for a cupcake, and I gave her one. She was so happy because it didn’t have any allergens that she started dancing,” Alannah says. “So, anytime anyone eats my dessert, I tell them to dance like a cupcake because of how good it tastes.” 

Alannah’s bakery has been in business since 2016, but she faced a few hardships in the beginning. “I think the biggest [challenge] would be my age because people don’t take me seriously, or they didn’t take me seriously when I started,” says Alannah. “And the second [challenge] would be the stigma around vegan desserts. They think it doesn’t taste as good or it’s too healthy.”  

She did not let the criticism stop her because Dance Like a Cupcake has made a huge impact in her customers’ lives — especially those who have food allergies. “Just listening to her story about her little brother, I think that there’s definitely a population of individuals who would like to enjoy those type of sweets, but not have to worry about this type of ingredient that [they] can’t eat,” says Brian Ford, a loyal Dance Like a Cupcake customer who lives in Colorado. “My wife and daughter have food allergies, so that’s another thing that kind of drew me to her because they can’t eat certain things with different ingredients in them.”  

Most of Alannah’s customers see her business as not only providing people with healthier treats, but also educating and making more individuals aware of people who have food sensitivities. “When businesses like this come and bring things to the table that we aren’t used to, we should embrace that. We should embrace the information, the knowledge that businesses like Alannah’s have because they are willing to share,” says Jasmen Richmond, a Dance Like a Cupcake customer and nutrition educator. “Not only is she selling a product, but she’s also giving back and supporting the growth of our community.” 

For young bakers, ages 8 to 22, wanting to learn how to master vegan desserts, Alannah even offers an internship program. “It’s really [about] being creative, helping out Dance Like a Cupcake, and getting to know other people in the community,” says Alannah. 

Right now, Alannah does not have a physical location, so she sells her desserts at events and several restaurants around Memphis, like City Silo and Cxffeeblack. And she ships her gourmet cookies nationwide through her website (dancelikeacupcake.org). She plans to branch out soon.

Alannah’s most supportive customer is, of course, her brother Joshua, the one who inspired it all. “I really like the fact that my older sister created a business in my image, thinking about me and my allergies. And about all the other kids around the world who can’t really eat desserts like me,” says Joshua. 

His favorite cookie, he says, “has to be oatmeal raisin. I love the oatmeal raisin cookie, especially with the glaze on it.”