by David Cecelski     My visit to the Early Girl Eatery here in Asheville has me thinking about tomato gravy. It’s a very old Appalachian recipe. It’s usually made with cooked-down tomatoes (fresh or canned), a little flour, a spoonful or two of grease, and salt and pepper. It’s sort of an all-purpose… Read More →
Ugawa
Our farm’s ditches are full of purple passion flowers now. On these humid, 100-degree days, most of the growing things in our fields and gardens are struggling to hold on for dear life. They’re wilting or turning brown or just looking very, very haggard. But not the passion flowers. Here in the dog days of… Read More →
Sweet Corn and Biscuit
by David Cecelski This is the first basket of sweet corn that I’ve got out of my garden this summer. I’m not going to have a whole lot of sweet corn this year, probably only 75 or 100 ears, but I’m grateful for what I have. So far I’ve had enough to feed everybody at… Read More →
Wild Plums
by David Cecelski When my cousin Edsel pulled his pick-up into my pasture this morning, he told me that he had seen a wild plum sapling sprouting in a meadow on the back road to Core Creek. The day was hot, we’re in long drought—our field corn is only 3 or 4 feet high and… Read More →
Saxapahaw General Store
by David Cecelski Last night my wife and children and I went to hear my son’s guitar teacher perform at the Saturday evening outdoor music series in Saxapahaw, an old textile mill village in southern Alamance County. Our neighbor was great, as always, and we also got to enjoy some good food. Saxapahaw has changed… Read More →
Davis Shore Light Rolls
by David Cecelski On my way to a family reunion this week, I found homemade light rolls at the Davis Shore Provisions General Store in Davis Shore, an old fishing village on Core Sound. I couldn’t believe my eyes.  When made right, those soft, white yeast breads are as warm and sweet as a baby’s… Read More →
Colington Island Crabs
by David Cecelski On Colington Island, just west of Kill Devil Hills, you can get a glimpse at what the old fishing villages on the Outer Banks were like when I was a child. A lot has changed there, of course. But in between the luxury condominiums and gated communities, you’ll still find a lovely… Read More →
Brenda Avery’s Preserves
by David Cecelski This week I found the prettiest homemade preserves at a produce stand in Jones County. The stand is on US 41, three miles west of the county seat, Trenton. The artist behind the preserves is a charming, 59-year-old woman named Brenda Avery. She’s been running the stand for 15 years, mostly selling… Read More →
Styron’s Fish House
by David Cecelski These are photographs of Quality Seafood’s fish house on Cedar Island, 35 or 40 miles east of Beaufort. Bradley Styron and his family run the business on Cedar Island Bay, a secluded body of water surrounded by endless miles of salt marsh and inland seas.  I’ve heard plenty of jokes about Cedar… Read More →
La Rosa de Saron
by David Cecelski     I was about to pass out from the heat the other day when I found a lovely Salvadoran place called the Tienda y Restaurante Rosa de Saron. Named for a flower mentioned in the Song of Solomon, the Rosa de Saron —Rose of Sharon—is in the little community of… Read More →