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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

Priddy’s General Store

by Malinda Dunlap Fillingim Sometimes a girl just wants a simple sandwich with nothing fancy on it, just bites of goodness. That’s what I wanted one summer day after hiking at Hanging Rock. My old legs were telling me to rest and my stomach was telling me to eat. I listened to both and headed… Read More →

Filed Under: Destinations, Food, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: Hanging Rock, Malinda Dunlap Fillingim, Priddy's General Store

Downtown Bakery, Murphy, NC

by Ronda L. Birtha When Margie Freel Carpenter said that she is the kind of person who looks for a bakery as she travels about, I knew exactly what she meant and why she meant it. A good hometown bakery is to a neighborhood what your favorite room is to your home: the place where… Read More →

Filed Under: Food, Restaurants, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: Downtown Bakery, Fat Tire Beer, Gooey Butter Cake, Kate Simmons, Margie Freel Carpenter, Murphy NC, Reuben Sandwich, Ronda Birtha

Coke Is It: A Love Story

by Sarah Bryan It’s a moment that a lot of Southerners have had: when folks from somewhere else single out a characteristic of our speech or behavior that is evidently outlandish to the rest of the world, but that, until that moment, we hadn’t realized was at all weird. “You carried your grandmother to the… Read More →

Filed Under: Central NC, Eastern NC, Food, Products, Southeastern NC, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: Coca-Cola, Coke, Sarah Bryan

For The Love of Cream Corn

by Ronda Birtha For people who love corn, that love is almost a religious experience. From as far back as I can remember, I have loved corn in almost all its incarnations: on the cob, off the cob, in chowder, in breads, and popped on the stove, and even occasionally in the microwave. But there… Read More →

Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: Alice Blanton, cream corn, Doris Gibby, Murphy NC, River's Edge Farm, Ronda Birtha

Apple Stack Cake

by Frances Dowell I  recently finished writing a novel set in the fictional mountain town of Stone Gap, North Carolina.  In one chapter, twelve-year-old Arie Mae Sparks is invited to a picnic by her so-called betters, and her mother insists she bring an apple stack cake as an offering. Arie Mae is torn. On the… Read More →

Filed Under: Food, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: Apple Stack Cake, Frances Dowell

New Farmers in North Carolina: Karen Refugees

by Ray Linville More than 14,000 refugees have been resettled in North Carolina in the past decade, according to the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement. As these refugee communities grow, they are beginning to transform food traditions of our state and expand the agricultural offerings at farmers’ markets and farm-to-home deliveries provided through community-supported agriculture…. Read More →

Filed Under: Central NC, Eastern NC, Food, New South, Products, Recipes, Southeastern NC, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: Asian vegetables, basil, beets, Burma, Carrboro NC, cauliflower, cilantro, CSA community supported agriculture, ginger, kale, Karen refugees, Lemon grass, lemongrass syrup, Myanmar, Orange County, pac choi, Piedmont Farm Tour, Ray Linville, refugees, sweet potatoes, taro root, Thailand, tomatoes, Transplanting Traditions Community Farm, Triangle Land Conservancy, turmeric

“Farm to Fork”ing it Every Tuesday at Blue Mountain Grill & Coffee

by Ronda Birtha When I Google “Farm to Fork” I get “About 13,700,000 results (0.24 seconds).” Thanks to Google’s new search algorithm, these top-ranking hits reflect my general location so I get an idea of how popular this trend is in my neck of the woods. Give it a try and see what your results… Read More →

Filed Under: Destinations, Food, Products, Restaurants, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: 4 Sons, Andrews NC, BBQ Beef Brisket, Billy Bruce, Blue Mountain Grill and Coffee, Brasstown NC, Cherokee County, Cherokee Purple tomatoes, David Allen's Trout Farm, Eggplant Parmesan, Farm to Fork, Fried Trout, Mary Kate Lawrence, Murphy NC, Ridgefield Farm, River's Edge Farm, Ronda Birtha

Apples and a Pioneer Cabin in Cedar Mountain

By Laura Fieselman There is a front porch, rocking chairs, and a wood-burning cookstove. But look closely and you will see there are also blowtorches, an electric food processor, and plastic mixing bowls. It is the Pioneer Cabin at the Green River Preserve, a summer camp for the bright, curious, and creative in Cedar Mountain,… Read More →

Filed Under: Destinations, Food, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: Appalachian traditions, apples, Cedar Mountain NC, Green River Preserve, Green River Valley, Laura Fieselman, Pioneer Cabin, Sandy Schenck

Heirloom Seeds and Plants: Preserving State Food Traditions

by Ray Linville Do you wish that you could grow the same vegetables that Grandma grew? The flavors that she tasted and the nutrients that she enjoyed are legendary, and many of us reminisce about how we miss the flavors of yesteryear. Because this desire to appreciate traditional foods is growing, a cultural movement to… Read More →

Filed Under: Central NC, Destinations, Eastern NC, Food, Products, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: Appalachian Seeds Farm, heirloom seeds and plants, Homowo Harvest Collection, Mountain Horticultural Crops Research, NC Cooperative Extension, NC Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Ray Linville, Saving Our Seeds, Southern Foodways Alliance

Sonker & Stack Pie

by Deborah Miller You may have heard of stack cake from the mountains  … you may know that mullet roe is from eastern NC …  but stack pie and sonker? Here are two recent media recognitions by The New York Times on dishes specific to certain areas of our state. North Carolina Public Radio –… Read More →

Filed Under: Food, Uncategorized, Western NC Tagged With: Karen Thornton, Kim Severson, Sheri Castle, sonker, stack cake, stack pie, Surry County, The New York Times, WUNC radio

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