In case you haven’t heard, retro is trendy.  I’m bringing the retro back with Lunch Pails!  Inspired by the upcoming Fourth of July holiday along with a recent trip to Home Depot, this is an easy do it yourself idea, but even easier to call Julia’s Take Away Gourmet & Catering.  Ideal for picnics, birthday parties, bridge lunches and more…even a great twist on a business meeting that makes a statement.  It’s easy to customize tissue colors or place personalized stickers on the front, and plenty more ways to get creative and serve a yummy bite.  Contact me today for more creative, and affordable, ideas that will make you look great when you entertain!

This week, on Monday, I had my BBQ dinner pick up.  As many of you know, discussing BBQ in NC can be like talking about religion or politics!  Whether your preference is Eastern style (pretty much all vinegar with chili flakes), Lexington style (which has more tomato), or Western (more like a bbq sauce), I think they are all delicious.  I even like the SC kind (although I have a hard time calling it BBQ), which is a mustard sauce my husband grew up on.  Personally, my favorite is my Eastern style.  I admit I might be a little biased to my own, because the process of making BBQ is really what the food and fun is all about.  But there is something about that marriage of slow smoked pork and apple cider vinegar that is meant to be together, like bread and butter, or peanut butter and jelly.

BBQ is not something that can ever be rushed, that’s for sure.  I get questions often about how it is done, so I thought I would share a few pictures of the process.  We start the smoker early in the morning and let the shoulders smoke anywhere from 8-10 hours, then they are taken off and cooled slightly before pulling that delicious meat. In the excitement of pulling all the shoulders, which is not a quick process either, I forget to take a picture of the shoulders once they come off the smoker…I’ll save that for next time, or just order it to taste the yummy results.

BBQ basics, enjoying the best of food and life one shoulder at a time!

Rubbed shoulders and hickory chips; shoulders on the racks ready to go, now we’re smoking!

I’m getting used to typing again!  After a couple of weeks off, it is fun to be back.  I love travel and vacations and the feelings they bring.  I am always  so ready to get away and be somewhere different for a while, but then it really brings a nice appreciation to being home.    Like Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home.”  Now that we are home, I am looking forward to the lazy summer days I have been writing about, and the bounty of fresh produce coming in everywhere!  It has been a while since I have been at work in the kitchen, but next week I will be doing my first round of summer “Freezer Pleasers” and maybe a couple of other things.

Yesterday on my way home from the beach I stopped at the Berry Patch in Ellerbee, NC.  You have probably passed it before, as it is hard to miss the huge strawberry from the road!  I bought homegrown pickling cucumbers, squash, greenhouse tomatoes, watermelon, peaches, and some of the best strawberries I have had in a while.  As I write this, my batch of strawberry bread is in the oven, the perfect thing for a gorgeous Saturday morning that I wanted to share with you.  It is a dense bread, great for breakfast, snack, or even dessert-rewarmed with ice cream on top.  This recipe makes 2 loaves, which is always nice to have one for home and one to share.  Enjoy and the best of food and life –today!

Recipe for Strawberry Bread

3 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup vegetable oil

1.5-2 cups fresh sliced strawberries, adjust to your liking

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl.  Add eggs and oil, then mix to combine.  Stir in strawberries.  Pour into 2 greased loaf pans.  Bake at 350 for one hour, or until tester inserted in center comes out clean.  Eat!

You know it’s on the way.  Cool, dry air one day, then high 80’s and humid the next.  Summer is quickly approaching, and it feels like it around my house.

This past Memorial Day we spent a great weekend in the Mountains with friends, truly enjoying the best of food and life.  Old fashioned games were played, kids were entertained for hours by a bucket of water, adults sat around a campfire, dogs played in the field, and everyone enjoyed a great Potluck Dinner at the end of a fun afternoon.  Yes, I love a potluck, and tell me, what’s not to love?  Everyone prepares one dish, and then you come together to share a meal everyone has been a part of.  Recipes are often shared, and there are always classic favorites and new dishes to sample.  Occasionally there are three fruit salads, and that’s not as grand, but sometimes that’s just how the cards fall.

Maybe I enjoy potlucks because they are a fond memory for me, of Sundays growing up.  My mother is the oldest of five brothers, and each Sunday all the families would get together after church at my grandmother’s house.   The gathering was big, and so was the dinner!  My grandmother, Ruby, would prepare fried chicken, fried okra, dumplings, biscuits, sweet tea, and more.  The other sides my aunts brought, and we had one big potluck.  It sounds like a Southern food writers dream, but for us, it was just Sunday Dinner.  I know this had an influence on my beginning passion for food, and I am a better person for these Sunday memories.  At the time I may not have realized it, but when my grandmother died this past year at the age of 99, I realized how much she had been a part of shaping who I am, and how lucky I was to enjoy these Sunday potlucks.  What a gift she gave.

So, now that we are back from the Memorial Day weekend, there is a different feel about being home.  Lazy days of summer are just around the corner, and the slowing down of routine and schedules starts to creep in.  How fortunate I am to feel, really sense, the change of seasons and all it brings.  I hope you enjoy this time, too.

While I look forward to the break the next few weeks will bring from working in the kitchen on a regular schedule, believe me when I say I will be ready to cook again for you within a few weeks!  My summer schedule will be erratic, but I will be doing some “Freezer Pleaser Meals” and an occasional Dinner Pick Up or two, and of course catering.  Luckily, my blog will not be changing and I am thrilled to continue this.  I have received so much positive feedback from many of my subscribers, so thank you for your support.  I truly enjoying writing, and sharing my thoughts about life and food, however random they may be.  Who knows what stories the summer will bring!

Enjoy, the best if food and life, and all the summer season is about to bring your way!

You know how in Trivial Pursuit you get the game piece that is a pie shape, and the object is to fill it by going to different places on the board, answering questions, until it is full?  Wouldn’t it be great if we thought about our lives more like the game of Trivial Pursuit?  What I mean is, the game is fun and exciting, you can’t wait to roll again, see where you’re going next!  A lot of times the answers are wrong, just like in our lives at times.  So, you move on, wait for your next turn, and you try again for your piece of the pie.  Of course, life is not a game, but we should try to make it as fun as possible.  Somtimes it can be entirely too short, and we never know exactly when the game might end.

Speaking of pieces of the pie, next week I am making Tomato Basil Tarts.  A lot of you are new to my cooking, so let me tell you… this dish has always been one of the most popular things I have ever made- period!  It is different than any other tomato pie I have ever had, and the chef who taught me this recipe always called it a tart.  For traditions’ sake, I continue to call it a tart as well, even though I have adjusted the recipe a little over the years.  One summer a few years back, I made this before I had my commercial kitchen. It took me, literally, two days to bake all the pies I needed in my small home oven!  Luckily, I can now accomodate lots & lots of orders , so be sure to try this during next week’s Dinner Pick Up.

I am finding it hard to believe summer will be here shortly.  School will be out, kids will be coming and going, hot (humid) days will be here before we know it.  The Farmer’s Markets will be busting with produce, and home herb gardens like mine will be green and full!  I will write details about my summer schedule, and Summer Freezer Meals, in the next couple of weeks.  Until then enjoy the best of food and life, and I hope to see you soon in the kitchen.

PS- after my last “Tribute to Lorine” post, I had to say congratulations to Candice for winning American Idol last night, I know my friend Lorine is proud!

This is one of my posts that has less to do with the best of food, and more to do with the best of life.  It’s about how meeting strangers, who quickly seem to become someone you know, can change your day.  Two weekends ago I met Lorine, and it was just one of those moments that has stayed with me, and I have thought about her every day since.  For a little added humor, I should tell you how we met.

Lorine lives in St. Helena’s Island, just outside of Beaufort, SC.  This is also where one of the American Idol finalists, Candice Glover, is from.  My family was visiting in Beaufort, and it happened to be The American Idol Finalists home town parade and concert at the same time.  The city was going “Candice Crazy”, to say the least!  As luck would have it, we went to the parade that afternoon, and out of the hundreds of people there, fate had it that we were in a spot beside Lorine.  Lorine knows Candice and her family, and somehow we started talking and didn’t stop.  Her sweet Gullah accent was so smooth and deep, and for whatever powers that be, she just made such an impact on me.  Funny, I don’t even know her, yet I feel like I had a glimpse into her life and she into mine, in that brief time at the parade.  When we were leaving I asked her if by any chance she was on Facebook, and I was actually quite surprised when she said she was.  Earlier I sent her a friend request, and although we might end up as FB friends, I’m not sure she will ever know how much of an impact she made on me.

That afternoon made me realize, again, that what we do, and how we treat others, influences not just us, but those we encounter.  It might just be the line at the grocery store today, or it could have been the Winston-Salem Centennial Parade this past weekend, you never know who you’ll meet and their influence on you, or you on them.  Thanks for reminding me of this Lorine, you rock, and I hope our paths do cross again.

Until I see you again, enjoy the best of food, and life!  This week there is no dinner pick up as I have a “full plate” with catering jobs.  I will update later this week about a simplified May 23 pick up, just in time to help with your Memorial Day plans.

Ok, so maybe I should have put the word “useless” in the post title- “Fun, uesless, facts for a Friday!”  But then again, are any facts really useless?  My Father-in-law, named Jack, always has lots of information.  We call these “Jack Facts”, and even though it isn’t a genetic connection, I think I have picked up on this as I love this kind of silly trivia!

So, in case you need something more to do this May, here are some fun things that might spur an idea for you.  But first, let’s talk about this…when did May become the new December?  Everyone who has walked through my kitchen doors, and that has been quite a number of you recently, is talking about how busy this month is!  May feels like a Holiday month, and I know many of us are looking forward to the lazier days of summer that will be here before we know it.  Maybe when you need a break from everything this month, you can look back at this post and choose something to slow down with, so here is some more food for thought.

Did you know May is National Hamburger month?  Go bust out your grill!  May is also National Salsa month, probably not ironic since Cinco de Mayo is this weekend!  In addition, it is also National Asparagus Month, National Barbecue Month, National Egg month, National Salad Month, and National Strawberry Month.  I liked it when I saw the last one, since I will be strawberry picking this weekend!  The National Barbecue one got me thinking we should smoke some pork shouulders soon for a dinner pick up, just in time for early summer entertaining and weekends away.

Today, May 3rd, is offically “Raspberry Tart Day”, but I’m sure you knew that already!  May 19th is Devil’s Food Cake Day, and probably one of the most popular is May 25th, “Wine Day”.  Truly, I could go on with more, but you are probably reading this in a line somewhere and have things to go do.  Email me anytime if you want more foodie facts.  My calendar lists facts about each month, and I also have a cookbook called “Food Fest 365”, with 365 facts similar to the ones above, and recipes to go with it.

Have a great weekend, I look forward to seeing a lot of you next week in the kitchen.  My Dinner Pick up is on May 8th, and this will benefit Hope du Jour.  Join me in “Dining in” Wednesday if you can’t dine out on Tuesday.  The updated menu is listed in the link on the side.  I am almost sold out of the Shrimp & Corn Chowder, so if you are planning on ordering this do it soon!

And, until I see you, enjoy the best of food and life!

In case your email does not reflect the updated version I just posted, please note the recipe for Mint Tea calls for 8 cups of water, not sugar!  Wow- now that would really be some sweet tea!

So much to love about spring!  This week something monumental happened in our yard, like it does each year.  Small sprigs of mint appeared in my garden, amidst the lemon balm and those other gorgeous growing things, weeds.  But the mint- what a truly welcome and refreshing thing that is.   At our house, mint becomes something so much more.  Not only is it a great tea, or the taste of the South, it’s the smell of memories, life lessons, and home.  My mom has grown mint and made mint tea my whole life, or at least almost as long as I can remember.  Now I make it, and my children have grown to love it as well.  I regularly send one of the kids out to pick the mint, we’ll make tea, and before they go to bed the pitcher is gone.  Gone, in no time, just like Spring days with warm afternoons and chilly mornings, that fade into muggy summer nights.  Barefeet, lazy days, crickets chirping, lemonade stands… we make mint tea until Fall arrives and takes the mint.  Giving us a rest, until it grows again the next Spring, and we make mint tea once again.

“Tea’s the season” to enjoy it, and I hope you’ll try the recipe below.  It’s the simple things, that are often the best things about food and life, so enjoy!

Sweet Mint Tea

8 cups water

2 family size Lipton tea bags

3 sprigs of fresh mint, about 3-4inches long

about 3/4 cup sugar, adjust to your preference

Bring water almost to a boil in a teapot.  During this time, place the tea bags and mint in your tea pitcher.  I like to crush the mint a little in my palms to release some of the fragrance and oils.  When water is ready, pour it over tea bags in your tea pitcher and let steep several minutes.  Remove tea bags and mint, being sure to squeeze the liquid out of the mint.  Add sugar and stir into tea while hot, chill and serve over ice.  Enjoy!

Many people in this world collect things.  For me, it seems I have unintentionally collected cookbooks since I was in my early college years!   I love them, and pour over a new cookbook for days.  Although I don’t often use cookbooks for a recipe unless it is baking related, I reference cooking times and various things in my cookbooks all the time.  They are a great inspiration for me, and I consider them among my most special posessions.

When I travel places I try to purchase a cookbook significant to that area.  Sometimes I even remember to write something inside the cover about the year, trip, or who I was with.  A lot of times I have chosen Junior League cookbooks as they seem to reflect passed down recipes from the area.  When travelling to other countries I find the small, spiral bound local ones are the best.  It is like a neat culinary journal of my life and travels.  My cookbooks are also a place where I tuck in sentimental things.  Notes from my children, a card from my dad,  a tag from a special gift at the Holidays, an annniversary card from my husband…different things can be found and I never know what will fall out.  For me, it is a neat way to remember these things from time to time, and I randomly put things in various cookbooks.

Of course, I have my favorites and a handful of books I seem to choose more than others.  However, I often pick out a “cookbook of the week” to use for new inspiration, and I thought I would share this idea.  I hear from people quite often who seem to run out of dinner ideas, or say they cook the same things again and again.  If you’re one of these people, I hope you will find new inspiration from your cookbooks.  Recently I featured a French menu from Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook “Around My French Table”, which is a great cookbook that makes French food less daunting to any level cook.  At Easter I adapted a recipe from “Simply Montana”, purchased in my younger days when I lived in Bozeman, MT, for my Lemon Sour Cream Muffins.

This week I have chosen the cookbook “Sea Island Seasons”.  In looking inside the front cover, I purchased this on my first trip to Beaufort, SC, in 1997, where my mother in law still lives.  It was published by the Beaufort County Open Land Trust, and it is the only cookbook I know of that has a chapter of recipes titled “Men”.  In this chapter all the recipes were contributed by men, including one from Strom Thurmond for Pecan Pie.

I hope you might find some new inspiration in any of the books I have mentioned, and hopefully you will go to your own collection and find an old friend in them again.  If not, there are always Wednesday Dinner Pick Up’s to count on!

Enjoy the best of food and life…and this week may you find it in a cookbook.

Part of my collection!