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Helping communities across the state connect their heritage arts and traditions to local development, education, and active citizenship

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Western NC

Keeping Wild Foods in Our Culinary Culture

by Ray Linville Is cooking with wild foods out of place in today’s modern society? Because it’s so old-fashioned, I was surprised by how many kids had entered the Wild Food Cooking Contest in Richmond County.  It’s the event of the spring in Ellerbe, NC, when youth and adults show off their skills for cooking… Read More →

Filed Under: Central NC, Destinations, Food, Products, Recipes, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: cake, contest, fish, fowl, fruit, game, nut, Ray Linville, Richmond County, Rockingham County, Sandhills, wild food

Official NC Food Festivals in May 2015

by Deborah Miller It’s not like we don’t have anything good to eat around here. We arise food. We talk about food. We read about food. We drive miles out of the way for a “food” experience. What choice did North Carolina have but to honor and designate some long-existing events as“Official State Food Festivals?”… Read More →

Filed Under: Central NC, Destinations, Eastern NC, Food, New South, Products, Southeastern NC, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: Deborah P. Miler, East Meets West Food Festival, Got to Be NC Festival, Ham & Yam Festival, NC Potato Festival, NC Strawberry Festival, NC Sweet Potato Commission, Sweet Potato Pie Band

Stan’s Pimento Cheese

by Evan Hatch Stan’s is one of those North Carolina answers. Like Duke’s. And Sweet. And “Yes I want slaw on that.” The question is, “What is the bestest pimento cheese ever?” It is rich. It is mayonnaisey. It is so creamy. It is from Burlington. I have not always taken a lot of pride… Read More →

Filed Under: Central NC, Eastern NC, Food, New South, Products, Southeastern NC, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: Burlington NC, Department of American Studies in Folklore at UNC-Chapel Hill, Emily Wallace, Evan Hatch, It Was There for Work: Pimento Cheese in the Carolina Piedmont, Stan's Pimento Cheese

Making Mac and Cheese Better with N.C. Mountain Cheese

by Ray Linville What’s the most important ingredient in macaroni and cheese? Except for the love that the preparer personally adds, is one item more important than anything else? The questions may seem frivolous because today the recipe at home can be quite simple – unless you’re Thomas Jefferson, who was so consumed with serving… Read More →

Filed Under: Central NC, Destinations, Eastern NC, Food, New South, Products, Recipes, Southeastern NC, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: agriculture, Ashe County, Ashley Christensen, cheese, Chef James Hemins, dairy, farmers market, Got to Be NC, Jeff Lee, macaroni, Ray Linville

North Carolina’s Official State Symbols That Taste Good, Part 2

by Deborah Miller These are the things that keep me up at night. I’m an unashamed “wonderer.”  My friends all laugh at me when I’d ask “those” questions.  You know, “why are some raindrops big and some little?” and “who ever figured out how to eat an artichoke in the first place?”  Yes, they’d even… Read More →

Filed Under: Central NC, Eastern NC, Food, New South, Southeastern NC, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: Deborah Miller, North Carolina’s Official State Symbols

Lenten Fish Fries in 2015

by Joy Salyers North Carolina historian David Cecelski helped start NC Food, delighting readers for the blog’s first five years with his explorations of state foodways and his musings about food’s connections to place, family, and all that is good in life. In 2011, he noted in a food blog post that “It’s one of… Read More →

Filed Under: Central NC, Eastern NC, Food, Southeastern NC, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: David Cecelski, Joy Salyers, Lenten Fish Fry

Cabbage

by Sally Parlier Every few months or so when I was young, my parents would get a craving for some fried cabbage, served with pinto beans, cornbread, and a tall, cold glass of milk. This was the food of their youth in Watauga County – filling, homegrown, and low cost – and still staples of… Read More →

Filed Under: Central NC, Food, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: cabbage, cabbage rolls, Holubsti, perogi, Pierogi, Sally Parlier, Ukranian Christmas

A Food Sisterhood Flourishes in North Carolina, and then some

Just in case you weren’t paying attention, North Carolina got some seriously good props this week from the New York Times. The North Carolina Food Sisterhood, to be exact, and it’s a nice change from all the athletic and political press we’ve grown used to. We’ve always been an agricultural state and women have long… Read More →

Filed Under: Central NC, Destinations, Eastern NC, Food, New South, Products, Restaurants, Southeastern NC, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: A Food Sisterhood Flourishes in North Carolina, Andrea Reusing, April McGregor, Ashley Christensen, Eliza MacLean, Jennifer Curtis, Katie Button, Kim Severson, Marcie Cohen Ferris, Margaret Gifford, Phoebe Lawless, Vivian Howard

North Carolina’s Official State Symbols That Taste Good, Part 1

by Deborah Miller Every state has its official list of chosen symbols. We all know, or should know, that our State Bird is the Cardinal and State Tree is the Dogwood. But why, and how, do such random things like dog, reptile, and even dance become official? In case you just moved to the Tar… Read More →

Filed Under: Central NC, Eastern NC, Food, Southeastern NC, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: Blueberries, Deborah Miller, milk, NC State Symbols, Strawberries, sweet potatoes

Happy Thanksgiving!

by Deborah Miller The holidays seem to turn the nostalgia dial up to eleven for many of us, especially when it comes to food.  We find comfort in the familiarity of the menu and we want them prepared the exact same way we had them at our table.  I certainly wouldn’t put my mother’s green… Read More →

Filed Under: Central NC, Eastern NC, Food, New South, Southeastern NC, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: cultural foodways, Deborah Miller, food folklore, Michael W. Twitty, Thanksgiving traditions

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