* Unless yo' mama was Barbara Tropp. Barbara was such a great chef and scholar, contributing many of my favorite dishes to my life. The eggplant here was originally in a Pleasures of Cooking some 30 years ago. It was a very popular dip in my 30 year catering business, served with our sesame crostini. One of my favorite catering memories is of a group of conservative bankers huddled around a bowl of this at one of the events we did! <br />Needless to say, it needed replenishing soon after! <br /> <br />I liked the idea of making celery sticks that had a unique flavor of their own, and I seem to have settled on star anise having a particular affinity with celery, so I gave them this star anise treatment, and then added Barbara's eggplant to partner. <br /> <br />

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