Sylvia Sidney: The Straws Have It

Photograph by Mortimer Offner

Sylvia Sidney was intelligent, honest, tough, and funny. She scared a lot of people, but I loved being around her. "I don't bullshit," she told me, "and if you don't, we'll get along fine."

And we did.

Sylvia liked Southern people--for the most part--because they always came to see her with a gift: something to eat; something that smelled good; something to throw on the couch for the dogs she loved like children. "It's okay to show up," she said, "but people like you--Southerners--arrive."

It was how I was taught.

A good interview requires trust and honesty and comfort. Always be honest with the people you're interviewing, but the comfort usually arrives through food and drink. Take them out to eat, or bring them something you've made.

Cheddar Cheese Straws are at almost every Southern wedding or bridge party or bitchy Bingo round, but when I first came to New York, they were foreign to most. Later some companies began to sell them in stores--it was not unlike biting into the paper cob of a roll of  toilet paper, with cayenne added.

The Straws opened up Sylvia Sidney (who would ask for refills in the tin I first sent her), and many other people who would have preferred some root-canal work to being asked about their lives.

The great Nathalie Dupree introduced me to White Lily Flour through her books and her television appearances. White Lily is generous with providing recipes, and this one, for their version of Cheddar Cheese Straws, is easy and delicious. It would please Carrie Nye, because it takes very little effort, and you can socialize as you're preparing.

CHEDDAR CHEESE STRAWS

Ingredients:

•	1 1/2 cups White Lily® Enriched Bleached All Purpose Flour
•	1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
•	2 cups (8 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese, at room temperature
•	8 tablespoons butter, softened

Instructions:

1.	HEAT oven to 375°F. Combine flour and cayenne pepper in small bowl; set aside.
2.	COMBINE cheese and butter in food processor or with an electric mixer until smooth. Add flour mixture. Mix until well combined.
3.	MAKE straws using cookie press with star attachment, or roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness and cut into 1 x 2-inch strips.
4.	BAKE 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

Serving Size (1/24 4 straws), Calories 100 (Calories from Fat 60), Total Fat 7g (Saturated Fat 0g, Trans Fat 0g), Cholesterol 20mg, Sodium 60mg, Total Carbohydrate 6g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 0g), Protein 3g; Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 0%, Vitamin C 0%, Calcium 0%, Iron 2%.