Fanta City
by David Cecelski One of my favorite places to visit in Greensboro is Fanta City, the fantastic international mall that occupies the old Guilford Mills factory on West Market Street. My son had a soccer tournament in Greensboro this weekend, so one of the other soccer parents and I had the chance to explore this […]
Atole and Tamales
by David Cecelski After church I stopped at the flea market to buy homemade tamales and a wonderful, very traditional hot drink called atole from a Mexican woman that sells them out of the trunk of her car. Her tamales are exquisite—little works of art. She’s from Guerrero, and she makes some of her tamales in a […]
Miss Beadie’s Sweet Potato Biscuits
by David Cecelski Wash, peel and cut up 3 or 4 medium-size sweet potatoes, place in water and boil until soft. Mash up fine with no lumps. Add ½ teaspoon baking powder if you have it. While potatoes were boiling take 1 quart of self-rising flour and mix just like making bread with whatever you […]
Core Sound-style Clam Chowder with Corn Dumplings
by David Cecelski At my local fish market, I found the first big chowder clams of the autumn—they were from the White Oak River, near Swansboro. I made a big pot of Core Sound-style clam chowder with them to share with my family during Thanksgiving. It’s an old, old traditional recipe on […]
Pickled Hot Sausage
by David Cecelski When I ordered a homemade pickled hot sausage at Moore’s Grocery and Grill, my waitress picked the sausage out of the fiery red brine with tongs and brought it to me on a napkin. “They’re very popular,” the grill cook told me. My waitress was not impressed. I’m pretty sure that I […]
Cabin Branch Farm Marke
by David Cecelski The other day I found a wonderful little meat and produce market in Franklinton, a small town only 25 miles northeast of Raleigh in Franklin County. The Cabin Branch Farm Market occupies an old downtown building that used to be a Dodge/Chrysler dealership. It’s owned and operated by Yarbrough and Shauna Williams, […]
October Beans
by David Cecelski A rather grizzled old gentleman at my local farmers market had the loveliest October beans this morning. October beans, which are also called “fall beans” or “speckled beans,” are an assortment of old heirloom shell beans that usually ripen between the end of summer and the first frost. I still can’t get […]
Salemburg’s Food Bank
by David Cecelski On my way to McDaniel’s Crossroads last week, I had an eye-opening experience. I was passing through the little town of Salemburg, in Sampson County, and I saw this tremendous throng of people lined up downtown. Hundreds of people were there. Salemburg’s population is well under 500, but the line stretched down the […]
Mac’s Air Dried Sausage
by David Cecelski I’ve been working hard to finish my next book by New Years, so I haven’t visited my family’s farm in eastern North Carolina in weeks. Sitting here all blurry-eyed in the middle of piles of old historical documents, I try to remind myself that there’s a season for all things, as Ecclesiastes […]
Old School Sorghum
by David Cecelski This past weekend I attended the Old School Sorghum Festival in McDaniels Crossroads in Sampson County. It was a blast. For the last 14 years, a local couple, John and Annie Matthews, has been making sweet sorghum from scratch and taking one day every fall to celebrate the pleasures of its old-fashioned […]
Church Bazaar, Butner
by David Cecelski The Community United Methodist Church in Butner held its annual beef roast and fall bazaar last Friday. I just happened to be passing by. The church is a lovely white plank building, actually an old U.S. Army chapel. During the Second World War, the Fort Butner Military Reservation occupied that part of […]
Spaghetti Supper
by David Cecelski I was in Grays Creek, in a rural part of Cumberland County, when I saw this sign for a spaghetti plate sale at the Charity Baptist Church. I was too early to stop for dinner, but the church’s sign reminded me that I’ve had some of my nicest meals this year at […]
Ms. Alice’s Kitchen
by David Cecelski This morning I stopped at Pierce & Company in Hallsboro when I was passing through Columbus County. Pierce & Co. has been in Hallsboro since 1898. Started by a gentleman who had previously managed one of the old Farmers Alliance cooperatives, it’s an old-fashioned country store with a little […]
Fresh Spots
by David Cecelski The first time I knew the spots were running was just west of the Northeast Cape Fear River, on US 117 in Pender County. I saw a young boy sitting in a red pick-up truck in a yard full of nets and boats. Next to the truck, a sign […]
Chicken and Dumplings
by David Cecelski When my mother was a little girl growing up in eastern North Carolina, she looked forward to the times that a car or truck accidentally killed one of her family’s chickens. Much to their misfortune, the birds sometimes wandered onto the dirt road that ran in front of their house. A chicken’s […]
Kure Beach Fishing Pier
by David Cecelski Last week we went to the Kure Beach Fishing Pier for ice cream after exploring the salt marsh creeks between Fort Fisher and Bald Head Island. My brother and his family live down that way and I can’t imagine visiting them without at least one trip to that old pier. It’s the […]
West End Grill
by David Cecelski I stopped at an elegant little soul food cafe in a small town in the southeastern part of the state today—the West End Grill in Kenansville. It’s old-fashioned country food. They serve big plates of fried catfish, fried pork chops, chitterlings, chicken (baked, fried, and wings), barbecued ribs, and down home, eastern […]
Tomato Gravy
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]