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Archive of posts filed under the Cooking / Food category.

“Mama Dip is a blessing.”

That’s what employee–and prison inmate–Paul Scott says. Scott is one of the many inmates who have worked their way through Mama Dip’s Kitchen through a work-release program as they prepare to re-enter society upon completing prison sentences in Orange and Durham counties. We’ve written before about Mildred “Mama Dip” Council, who is a Chapel Hill [...] Read more »

Interview: Meet Foy Edelman…and other cooks from across North Carolina

Whether you have a sweet tooth or a mouth full of sweet teeth, Foy Edelman has a recipe to satisfy that guilty pleasure. With more than 220 recipes in Sweet Carolina, the native North Carolinian offers a wide variety of goodies from kitchens all across the state. You can meet the contributing cooks and listen [...] Read more »

Jefferson’s Gardens

Anne Raver of The New York Times takes a stroll through the gardens of Monticello, where director of gardens and grounds Peter Hatch reveals some of Thomas Jefferson’s trial-and-error (and error, and trial, and error) gardening history. The folks at Monticello restored Jefferson’s original 2-acre kitchen garden about thirty years ago, and have returned to [...] Read more »

See Gus Read…and Time Travel

Here’s the deal.  I’m a dog.  And I like to read and travel through time.  A few weeks ago, the fine people at UNC Press gave me this nifty time machine.  (They think the blue goggles will distract me from the fact that it’s  made out of old UNC Press books held together with duct [...] Read more »

Finger Lickin’ Good

The name Mildred Council may not ring a bell, but the restaurateur is the reigning queen of soul food in North Carolina. Council, who is best recognized by her alias, “Mama Dip,” is a UNC Press cookbook author and owner of Mama Dip’s Kitchen in Chapel Hill. As we mentioned last year, June is National [...] Read more »

We Like Excuses To Eat: May is National Barbecue Month

The month for honoring mothers, recognizing college graduates and remembering fallen service men and women is drawing to a close. While these occasions – along with blooming flowers and blue skies – take the spotlight in May, we shouldn’t forget the month long celebration for National Barbecue Month! Last year we told you the guidelines [...] Read more »

What’s Cooking? Karen Barker’s Cornmeal Vanilla Bean Shortbreads!

Elaine Maisner is a senior editor at UNC Press. Over a recent winter break, she asked her daughter, Zina—a wonderful baker—to make Cornmeal Vanilla Bean Shortbreads, from Sweet Stuff: Karen Barker’s American Desserts. Here’s their step-by-step guide to making these delicious cookies.–ellen I thought it would be fun to take pictures of Zina making these [...] Read more »

How are you celebrating National Chili Day?

So, it’s finally here, the day that comes only once a year. . . UNC Press’s Chili Night.  And this year it falls on a chilly night indeed. But why should you care?  Well, I’d say, because what’s better on a cold, windy night than warm chili?  Isn’t that reason enough?  If you need another [...] Read more »

The Anti-New Year’s Resolution Menu

It’s December 29th.  You’ve only got a corner or so in each casserole dish left to scrape at and that new gym membership doesn’t start until January 1st.  Why waste away early?  Sharpen those knives, pound that meat mallet, and get in one last real meal before the new year.  After flipping through some of [...] Read more »

UNC Press Goes West (And Likes It)

First, let’s set the scene: A little closer… Last Sunday, UNC Press held a book party at the historic Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC.  The event celebrated three of our fall 2009 titles: Foy Allen Edelman, author of SWEET CAROLINA, spent six years traveling every inch of North Carolina to collect the best in [...] Read more »

Canning Time

Speaking of the State Fair: Monday’s News and Observer highlighted burgeoning interest in canning over the past couple of years. State Fair contest entries of jams, jellies, salsas, chutneys, and an array of other preserved goodies have nearly doubled since 2007. Part of the increasing popularity may be a result of a sagging economy and [...] Read more »

Sweet Carolina and the Sweet State Fair

The call of carnies. The largest pig you’ve ever seen. The cotton candy. The midway. The chocolate-dipped bacon. The rides that click up, up, up, then, suddenly—drop—and the shrieks of the riders as they fall. And up they go again. All the many-colored lights—the fried food—the livestock clucking, hopping, mooing. And the crowds, crowds, crowds [...] Read more »

Better Barbecue Through Chemistry!

As I have written here before, I’m a Yankee Vegetarian who came to the South too late to discover the taste of North Carolina Barbecue (in any of its varieties). However, as a self-proclaimed Foodie and something of a geek, if there’s one thing that brings out my inner Alton Brown it’s some good old [...] Read more »

Road Trip, Anyone? Check out Music Festivals in Western NC!

Looking for something new, fun and relatively inexpensive to do this summer? Several counties and towns in western North Carolina offer a variety of festivals, celebrations, and cultural events that feature bluegrass music, dance, and traditional food of Southern Appalachia. The festivals in western NC are a sample of what is offered all along the [...] Read more »

Tar Heel Trek: Stokes County

Located on the Virginia-North Carolina border, directly above Forsyth County, is Stokes County, the next stop on our Tar Heel Trek. Historically, Stokes is best known for tobacco production and stringband music. More recently, it is getting attention for being the home of baseball standout Dustin Ackley. However, as a Stokes County native, I feel [...]

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