My work in the world of food gives me countless reasons to love my job, every single day. I love to cook, eat, and travel, and I thrive on the opportunity to learn about kitchens and culinary traditions, farming and ingredients, marketplaces and celebrations; all about people and how food figures in everyday life. In the process of learning about ...
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Apple Pear Persimmon Pie
This year I followed through on my long-time intention to find out about the many National (fill-in-the-blank-with-an ingredient or dish) Day which occur throughout the year. Intention? Perhaps not, since I did not act up on it for a long time. But then, I did! Early in January I looked up resources on these declared days, and wrote some onto my ...
Leeks and Cabbage
We love going to Crook's Corner, a beloved, long-time favorite, highly-praised restaurant here in Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA. From the giant pig on the the rooftop to the inspired monthly art exhibits, warm welcome and superb service, cool bar, and excellent old-school and new-school Southern cooking, Crook's is a happy, generous, comfortable ...
Black Bean Soup : Easy, Tasty, and Pantry-Friendly
We knew snow was coming on Tuesday of this week, but the word was 1 to 3 inches here in my part of central North Carolina. Turned out to be much more than that --- ten to twelve inches around here, though it varied considerably from place to place. My friend Kathleen Purvis writes about food and cooking for the Charlotte Observer, and in her neck ...
Arugula Salad with Fuyu Persimmons and Parmesean
Having fallen in love with persimmons years ago, I pulled a recipe for "Persimmon Salad" from a weekend section of the Wall Street Journal back in 1912. I kept it in my Persimmons folder throughout the work on my latest cookbook, "Fruit: A Savor the South Cookbook" Though this recipe did not make it into the book, it's made it into our family menus ...
Brie and Apple Soup
January is National Soup Month, and I love doing the heavy lifting of bringing home an array of wonderful soups to Nancie's Table. (Kidding --- it's easy and fun to share soup and more with you here).This unique and ridiculously delicious one comes from my friend Perre Coleman Magness, whose blog "The Runaway Spoon" I have been following with ...
Italian Sausage Soup with White Beans and Collard greens
So many good things come from my visits to the farmers' market --- and the fresh, local produce and products are only the start. This substantial, supremely satisfying soup recipe came home with me on a bright, golden-colored piece of paper, shared with me at the Carrboro Farmer's Market by my friends Portia McKnight and Flo Hawley, the ...
Fruit-Filled Quick Bread with Frozen Peaches
With the flame-colored trees taking their final bows and bare branches filling the skyline, peaches might be the last thing on your mind. They came to mind for me this weekend, as I looked into my jam-packed over-full freezer in search of space for holiday-season ingredients and creations. Not an inch of space to spare. And taking up half the ...
“Victuals” by Ronni Lundy ( say “Vittles”!): A Rich and Beautiful Cookbook
This handsome, eloquent, meditative and luminous cookbook came from the hands, heart, and mind of my friend Ronni Lundy. She wrote her heart out telling stories and making observations on her home region, the Mountain South. Much mocked, misunderstood, maligned, and marginalized over time, the complex and beautiful Southern Appalachian region ...
Our Very Special Christmas Tree of 2016
Christmas is my favorite holiday for more reasons than I can count, and for once not even focused on the edible aspects of the celebrations. Don't get me wrong --- I adore the cookies (making/baking/eating/sharing) and the fruitcake (not ironic; I really do!) and the eggnog (even in an occasional over-the-top latte) and the signature confections ...