by Malinda Dunlap Fillingim If you ever find yourself starving for food or fellowship in North Carolina, find a church that’s hosting a dinner on the grounds, otherwise known as a potluck or covered-dish supper. You won’t leave hungry. I came across a bound index card collection of recipes compiled by the women of Wilmington’s… Read More →
A (Wet) Day on the Farm-Greenlands Farm
by Malinda Dunlap Fillingim Thereâs no place better to be than on a North Carolina farm, even on a rainy day. Thatâs how I felt about my recent visit to the 18-acre Greenlands Organic Farm in Bolivia, right off Midway Road in Brunswick County, NC. The rain did not damper my appreciation for the petting… Read More →
My Life in Pie
by Malinda Fillingim I knew something was wrong when my step-father, Carl, the Marine from Walnut Cove, told me he was taking me to a restaurant in downtown Swansboro looking over the White Oak River. We never went out to eat unless we were out of town, or something bad had happened. I couldnât think… Read More →
Recipe for Belonging
by Malinda Fillingim Back in 1972, when I first moved to my step-fatherâs hometown of Walnut Cove, I was a lonely 13 year old surrounded by people who had grown up together and whose families had lived in the same community for generations. I had to find my own path and create my own sense… Read More →
My Turkey Lesson
by Malinda Fillingim Although I was the teacher, I was the one who had a lesson to learn. As the fourth grade teacher at Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School in Hollister, I had an open door policy when it came to parents and tribal leaders who wanted to observe or volunteer in my classroom. Tribal leaders and… Read More →
Kitchen Memories
by Malinda Dunlap Fillingim One of my favorite past-times is finding old kitchen tools and utensils in thrift stores. A museum of culinary history awaits me each time I hold an old spider pan, French fry cutter, pewter pitcher, or in a recent visit at the Habitat For Humanity Thrift Store in Southport, an old… Read More →
Plum Granny Farm: Old Land, New Passion
by Malinda Dunlap Fillingim When Cheryl Ferguson graduated from South Stokes High School back in the mid 1970âs, chances are she wasnât planning on returning to her familyâs King homestead farm to live as an adult and become a USDA Certified Organic small family farmer. But thatâs exactly what she did. The land, now called… Read More →
A Different Taste of Life
by Malinda Dunlap Fillingim Recently, I was able to participate in a Burmese feast. Students and others brought dishes representing the rich cuisine of the Burmese people. I delighted in the best sticky rice I have ever eaten, enjoyed sugary potatoes, drank something I think was coconut based, and consumed foods with layered textures. This… Read More →
My Grandmotherâs Garden
by Malinda Dunlap Fillingim Itâs a shame I have such clean hands. I really miss them being dirty, real dirty, so dirty I have to wash them with the garden hose even before going inside to wash them again and again until my fingernails are discovered under layers of dirt. Dirty hands came easily as… Read More →
The Queen of Clean Goes Sanitary
by Malinda Dunlap Fillingim In my 1941 first edition of Jonathan Danielsâ book, Tar Heels: A Portrait of North Carolina, I read with delight his sentence in the âFrying Pan and Jugâ chapter, âNorth Carolinians donât eat out unless they have to.â This was the case in my house while growing up. We never ate… Read More →