The Chicken Dumplin' Gang

I got friends who won't cook chicken on the bone.  They say things like "It's easier being a carnivore when I don't know it has bones."  Some friends just don't like handling meat that looks as if once it was alive.  I personally will never forget the time I was in the backyard at my Granny's house and my Uncle came up to kill us a chicken to cook for dinner.  He just grabbed it by the head and in a few seconds the head was gone and the chicken's body was running around.  Once it stopped they gave me the chicken with instructions on defeathering and cleaning the meat to prepare it for baking.  For sure and I would not lie about this:  I cried for that poor chicken's soul for a solid hour-- until the meal was served and I tasted its gift to us.  I knew that chicken PERSONALLY.

But one of my all time favorite chicken dishes is chicken n dumplings.  To make chicken n dumplings you have three main things to do.  First you cook the chicken and remove the cooked meat from the bones.  Next, prepare and cook the dumplings.  Finally thicken the gruel.  Sides to serve with chicken and dumplings are rolls, green beans, mashed potatoes.  I've seen it served with macaroni and cheese, scalloped turnips and sweet potato casserole.

Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Start to finish: 2.75 hours
Yield: 6 servings

For the chicken and gruel:
7 cups water
1 chicken cut into pieces
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon grains
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

For dumplins:
21/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted chicken fat or shortening
1/2 cup chicken stock, pot likker, or water.
Combine 2 cups of the flour with the salt and stir in the shortening.  Add the stock and mix until you have a stiff dough.  Knead for 30 strokes or until stiff.  Working on a floured surface and using a rolling pin, roll the dough to a thickness of 1/8 to 1/4 inch, as if making a piecrust.  Use a pizza cutter to cute 1 inch by 2 inch strips.  Dry the surface of the dumplins by adding flour.  Slip the dumplings, one at a time, into a large pot of simmering broth.  Stir to keep the dumplings separated.  Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from the heat, cover the pan and cool 30 to 60 minutes.  This resting time helps to thicken the gruel and tenderize the dumplings.  Reheat before serving.  The longer dumplings sit after cooking the more tender they are and they will keep for several days. 

Step 1: Several hours or the day before cooking the dumplings, combine the water, chicken, bouillon, salt, and pepper in a large saucepan and simmer 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked.  cover and refrigerate.
Step 2: When the chicken and broth have compeltely cooled, remove and discard the fat from the top of the gruel.  Take the chicken out of the gruel and separate and discard the bones and skin.  Set aside and cover.
Step 3: Bring the gruel back to a low boil and prepare the dumplings.

Step 4: In a small bowl prepare a cold roux by slowly whisking the 1/2 cup water into the 1/2 cup flour.  One-third at a time, pour this cold roux into the simmering dumplings.  Return the prepared chicken to the pot, bring to a boil, and remove from the heat.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

There's so much talk these days about the benefits of sweet potatoes in your diet.  There's also so much talk today about how carbs are terrible for you.  Here is a recipe I ran across and enjoyed over the weekend.  It is a classic mountain recipe and contry to its very core.  The recipe is simple and if you do as most mountain cooks and use self-rising flour, you can make these biscuits with three ingredients:  butter, 1 cup of sweet potato casserole, and self-rising flour.  The biscuit is a treasure amongst biscuits and potatoes.  You will want to serve them as I did with fresh butter and linn (basswood) or sourwood honey will do for breakfast, dinner, or supper. 

You can make them with 1 cup of leftover sweet potato casserole.  They take about 15 minutes. 

Sweet potato casserole:
1 cup cooked mashed sweet potatoes
1 tablesppon brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

For the biscuits:
3 tablespoons butter plus 1/4 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teasponns baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sweet potato casserole

Step 1:
If preparing the sweet potato casserole, combine the mashed sweet potatoes, brown sugar, butter, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon (my husband doesn't like cinnamon, so I leave this part out)
Step 2:
Preheat the overn to 400 degrees F and melt 3 tablespoon of butter in an 8 X 8 inch baking tin.
Step 3:
Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Using a pastry blender, cut the 1/4 cup butter and then the sweet potato into the flour mixture.  On a floured surface, knead the dough.  Pat out to 1/2 to 3/4 inch thickness and cut into 2 inch round biscuits.  Place the biscuits in the baking pan with the butter.
Step 4:
Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until brown on the edges.  To check for doneness, break a biscuit open an dsee that the dough is cooked in the center-- not wet and doughy.  Broil 1 minute to brown the tops.

As a healthy alternative, you can omit the 3 tablespoons of butter from the pan.  Dust the pan or bottom of biscuits with flour.  If you are concerned about saturated fats, replace the 1/4 cup butter with canola oil.  Cut the salt.

Whatever Happened to the Fried Apple?

I have never met a fried apple I didn't like.  Here in the Appalachian mountains we have the amazing benefit of delicious apples.  This season has been particularly good-- perfect climate for this food that purports to your eating one per day keeping the doctor away.

Even though Fall is a great time for getting apples, the best apples to cook with are June apples.  These apples are picked green and their sourness adds to the perfect flavor of fried apple.  The types of apples we love around these parts are the following, but not limited to Granny Smiths, Winesaps, Macintoshes, Jonathans and Rome Beauties.

Fried apples are eaten as a side dish as a vegetable.  This is where the Yankees get it all mixed up.  They are not dipped in butter and fried in a pan.  Fried apples are not candied or glazed.  You don't want to caramelize the apples or slow cook them.  They are, for lack of a better term, braised.  Most cooks fry their apples at low heat on top of the stove in a covered cast-iron skillet.  Cooking the apples covered releases moisture, steams them, and melts the sugar.  Because apples release liquid after they start to cook, many cook them covered first and then uncovered.  Covered cooking draws moisture while uncovered cooking evaporates it, and for fried apples both steps enhance the dish.

Adorn, Not Scorn, the Biscuit!

Lord knows I have eaten my share of biscuits: buttermilk biscuits, canned biscuits, biscuits twice fried in a pan with honey and butter, gravy biscuits, ham biscuits, jelly biscuits, plain old butter biscuits-- there are as many biscuits to love nearly as folks to eat them.

But I'm a modern mountain woman and with all of this Atkins, low carb, paleo hot mess that is permeating our culture, the biscuit has taken a sort of back seat to things like, oh, a lightly cooked lean steak.  But back in the earlier part of last century, the biscuit (and cornbread too, but that's for another day) was a staple-- the biscuit powered the men and women that raised large farming families and it sustained generations of carb-addicts who never once had a problem with troublesome belly fat.  Well, it did need to be said.

Biscuits were the staple, of course and women could whip them up in no time flat.  Some people have asked me if mountain people just don't like sliced white bread.  Well the answer is, they generally love it.  But years ago, there were no bakeries in these parts.  So people had to make their own bread which resulted in biscuits and cornbread because they were easy to make with baking soda and didn't require the yeast of the bakery breads.  Even the lard was rendered on the farm (but later turned to butter, then Crisco, then oil).

When my daddy went to school, he and his brothers and sisters would be embarrassed of their biscuits-- having biscuits to eat meant that your family couldn't afford sliced bread.  Today in the South the tables have turned and sliced bread at a proper southern meal is akin to blasphemy!  Gimme a cat head biscuit (biscuit as big as a cat's head) or a slice of cornbread any day over that yeasty, fancy, northern bread (not that there's anything wrong with that, of course).

The best way to eat biscuits is hot and fresh out of the oven.  But did you know the biscuit is a gift that keeps on giving?  Yep.  After the biscuits are left over, the best way to make them is to prepare them in a frying pan with sorghum, honey and butter-- these are homemade honeybuns!  Much better than those freakish things with a shelf-life of 50 years.  My roof isn't even rated to last that long!

Here's a link to a very easy to understand recipe for baking buttermilk biscuits from a website I trust.

Just in Time for Halloween: Ghost Cake with Flaming Eyes

We did this one last year and everyone loved it!  It has a cool effect when you light up the cakes "eyes!"

You'll need this gear:
Pastry brush
Oblong baking pan, 13 x 9 x 2 "
Large mixer bowl
Electric mixer
Rubber scraper
Wooden picks
Wire cooling rack
Tray 16 x 12 ", breadboard or aluminum foil-covered cardboard
Ruler
Small mixer bowl Sharp knife
Spatula

You'll also need these ingredients:
1 package (18.5 ounces) yellow cake mix
1 1/3 cups water
2 eggs
1 package (7.2 ouces) fluffy white frosting mix
1 cup water
2 sugar cubes
Licorice string
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Step 1:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously grease baking pan with shortening, using pastry brush.  Sprinkle a little flour into the pan and shake gently from side to side until flour coats the bottom and sides.  Empty out remaining flour.
Step 2:
Prepare the cake mix as directed on package. (When you break the eggs, crack each in the middle and pour out the egg.  Then save the 2 best shell halves.  Wash these halves and turn upside down to dry.) After mixing, pour the batter into the greased and floured pan.
Step 3:
Bake in 350 degree oven 35 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool the cake 10 minutes on rack, then remove from the pan to tray.
Step 4:
After the cake is cool, measure across one short edge of the cake and mark the center with a wooden pick.  Measure 4 inches down each long edge and mark with picks.  Prepare the frosting as directed on package.
Step 5:
Cut the cake between the center wooden pick and side picks in a curve to make a rounded top for the ghost's head.  Slide the cut corners down the sides to about the center of the cake.  Turn the corners so the cut sides are up.  To make arms that look as if they're reaching out for you!!  Attach the arms to the sides of the cake with some of the frosting, using a spatula.
Step 6:
Frost the cake with the spatula.  Place the 2 egg shell halves round sides down on cake for eyes.  Place 1 sugar cube in each shell half.  Make a mouth out of licorice string.
Step 7:
Just before serving, pour 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract over each sugar cube.  Ask someone older to light them for you.  Lights off-- it'll be spooky!

Vinegar in Your Laundry

Many people already know that white vinegar in a little bowl will remove odors of smoke, mold or mustiness. You can place a container in the closet on the floor or shelf if those unpleasant odors happen to be permeating your clothing and things. What many people are not aware of is putting white vinegar in your wash water at the beginning of a laundry load will soften and FRESHEN the items being laundered. The scent of vinegar disappears by the end of the wash cycle and everything in the wash will smell very clean. You don't need much vinegar: a half cup is a gracious plenty, a full cup is nearly too much. Make sure you add your usual detergent, too.  Forgetting that will make you think I give bad advice!

White vinegar is helpful if your clothes are full of a stubborn smells like permanent smoke scent.  Oh, and if you've ever forgotten your laundry by leaving it in the washer too long and it goes sour the white vinegar solves that problem too.  It's also great for pet smells and pet bedding and stuff like that, and for washing linens anytime.

They say commercial fabric softeners can create a coating on cotton fabrics, causing them to lose their absorbency, which is the last thing you want to happen to your towels.  The white vinegar will help the towels and sheets stay soft and fluffy without the negative side effects. One last word of caution-- vinegar may permanently set in stains so don't use it if you have stains you're trying to get out.

Traditional Mountain Breakfasts

Does the Fall leave you longing for a traditional mountain breakfast?  Even if you don't find your roots in Southern Appalachia, the draw of misty cool mornings looking out at the expanse of a valley or nestled in the comfort of a holler while gossipy the morning away sitting at the family table, drinking coffee, juice or milk and eating a boatload of food that will last well into the dinner meal-- is quite a draw.

I have compiled the top FIVE mountain breakfasts that you can choose to revive for your next morning gathering (what in the world is this "brunch" business, really?).

Number 5: Red-eye gravy (made from drippings of country ham), country ham, cat head biscuits, fried apples, fried potatoes, sliced heirloom tomatoes, eggs, and fresh milk.

Number 4:  Fresh fruit, hot homemade biscuits, molasses, sausage casserole to serve with sweet cornbread and black coffee.

Number 3: Apple pie, fried green tomatoes, dinner rolls, sausage patties, and fresh juice.

Number 2: Spiced applesauce, biscuits and gravy (from bacon grease), scrambled eggs, pork chops, grits, orange juice and coffee.

Number 1 traditional mountain breakfast is (drum roll, please): Fried apples, home fries, fried eggs and bacon, buttermilk biscuits, hot butter, and sourwood honey.

My recommendations from childhood.  Granny Watkins' house was a great place to meet up with my cousins and there would be food on the table until dinner time.  Isn't it interesting how there was always enough for everyone?

Anyone Know About Mesquite Flour? Buy Some from Natural News and Let Us Know!

I had never heard of mesquite flour until today.  Evidently it comes from a desert plant and is a little-known specialty food used only by two groups of people: 1) People who live in the desert and whose ancestors used it as food, and 2) People in the raw food / vegan foods community who are bringing it into the mainstream American consciousness.

Allegedly, you can use mesquite flour in all sorts of ways in the kitchen. It's like a low-glycemic flour that's rich in protein and micronutrients. You can make healthy, low-glycemic breads, pancakes and tortillas out of it (as native Americans have done for as long as history has been recorded). It bakes and mixes just like wheat flour, but without the wheat allergens.  It is also gluten free which is a big deal for lots of folks I know.

I've also heard of people using it in raw food recipes and smoothies. This is a highly versatile and very nutritious ingredient that has yet to catch on.

Nearly all of the mesquite flour produced in the world comes from Peru. It's grown quite successfully in the high desert areas of this fertile country. Then it's ground, packaged and exported to the United States (and other countries) where it's incorporated into a number of high-end health products.

You can buy two types of mesquite flour: Organic and conventional. The conventional stuff is obviously sprayed with pesticide chemicals, and I certainly can't recommend eating that so only organic is good.

On the organic side, Natural News has acquired a medium-sized shipment of organic mesquite flour at a very considerate price that they're passing on to their readers. Normally, a 16-oz. bag of organic mesquite flour sells for $20 or so online.

Right now, while the inventory of this shipment lasts, Natural News has a supply of organic mesquite flour from Peru available at just $9.95 per 16-oz. bag. This is the price you might typically pay for "conventional" mesquite flour, except ours is organic (which is usually twice the price).

Once again, NaturalNews buying power has enabled them to make this available to us at an amazing discount. And it gets even better: When you buy three 16-oz. bags of our organic mesquite flour, the price drops to just $8.96 per bag (a 40% savings over the regular price in our store).

Click here to take advantage of these specials right now.

This is probably the best price you'll see anywhere on 16-oz. bags of organic mesquite flour, so if you've never tried this ingredient before, there's no better time that right now to pick some up and see what it's like.

Mesquite flour has a sweet, nutty taste. It has a texture like wheat flour, but perhaps a bit more grainy. It's about 17% protein, making it ideal for those who wish to avoid high-carbohydrate foods. It also has a significantly lower glycemic index than regular white flour... or even wheat flour, for that matter.

Now I know it costs more than wheat flour. So the best way to use this is to stretch your supply by mixing it 50 / 50 with your traditional wheat flour. If you're making recipes for kids (like pancakes in the morning), use even less mesquite powder at first: Maybe 20% in the recipe, until they get used to it. Then you can slowly increase the percentage over time.

Mesquite flour actually tastes really good. I've been known to just chew on the seed pods for fun. People living on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii may also be familiar with mesquite pods because they grow there in large numbers (they were brought by ranchers to provide a high-protein food source for the cows!). The pods in Hawaii also taste really amazing (sweet!) because they're often grown near ocean water. The increased mineralization, it turns out, makes the mesquite pods taste even sweeter, almost like a cake.

To quote Natural News "Here's a natural food, straight off a hardy desert tree, that can replace wheat and other processed grains in our diets. In fact, I have no doubt that if the Latinos and American Indians still living in the Southwest of the USA would go back to their traditional diets -- which included mesquite flour -- they would see a sharp drop in diabetes, a disease that is right now devastating the Latino and Native American communities.

Mesquite flour alone isn't a cure for diabetes (or any disease), but it can be part of a dietary strategy that emphasizes natural, unprocessed foods straight from nature while avoiding liquid sugars and other highly refined foods which we now know greatly increase the risk of type-2 diabetes."

I'm ordering some today and will fill you in on my recipes and whether or not the kids like the taste.  Order some with me and let me know how you like it!  I'm excited.

Organic Mesquite Flour 16 oz. bag for just $9.95
Click here to order from the NaturalNews Store.

What the Heck Is a Kitchen Expo? And Why Should I go?

Kitchen expositions have a bad rep.  They can be cheesy, overwhelming, and horrible if you've never been to one before.  But I'm planning to go to a series of ones that are coming to my area in the southeastern U.S.  Why?  Well, back when I was just microwaving chicken "fingers"  (what genetically-modified chickens have fingers for goodness sake?) I didn't need the type of kitchen cutlery and cookware that I need today when much of what I buy is at local markets and isn't available in frozen, precooked and easy to heat up and swallow forms.

Most kitchen expos have everything AND the kitchen sink (can't help it, you walked into that one) and this makes picking one that best fits your needs challenging.

The first thing to consider is there are different strokes for diff'rent folks-- not every kitchen expo is created equal.  There are weekend shows (regional, cross-country, or local) or they can be in showrooms with a permanent retail location.

Typically, the weekend shows have the latest and greatest, best products, and they have a variety of product lines to make it more of a one-stop shop.  The weekend shows can put you in direct contact with the manufacturer so you might get better prices because you're cutting out the middle man.

Keep your needs in check.  Know what you want before you go in.  Write down questions so you don't become the victim of too much visual stimulation and clam up while wandering aimlessly.  Find out who's going to be at the expo and visit their websites before you go, check out any professional services providers as well-- knowing which to avoid and which looks good.

You'll get, at a minimum, at a kitchen expo:
1) A place to meet and exchange info and talk to other consumer/customers.
2) A preview of upcoming trends and products.
3) Free workshops
4)  Hands-on experience with products
5)  New products and information about trends in those products
6) Access to trade pros who will answer your questions.

I highly recommend the National Kitchen and Bath Association's Web site, www.nkba.org.  You'll see samples of products such as newest in cabinets and counters, displays of windows, kitches, appliances, and furnishings for the kitchen.  Just remember to come prepared so it isn't too overwhelming.

Please Pass the Veggies. For Dessert?

My husband and I have been struggling to get enough veggies into our little ones' mouths.  There is something in the way a raw vegetables tastes, or the feel of a boiled vegetable that literally turns the kids into prune faces.  I have started toying with the idea of tricking the little sweet tooths by sneaking vegetables into their sweet treats.  Like carrots, zucchinis make a healthy addition to sweet dishes like cookies and cakes. The zucchini adds much needed fiber and vitamins, and encourages the chewiness of the cookie.

Tomorrow I'm going to surprise kids with a batch of homemade cookies. The chocolate chips, raisins, and flaked coconut will completely distract them from the zucchini. To make a batch of these moist and tasty cookies for your family today, read more



Zucchini Cookies
From Sunset magazine
Image Source
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in zucchini.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add to zucchini mixture.
5. Stir in nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, and coconut.
6. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto buttered cookie sheets.
7. Bake until lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes, and transfer to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.

Makes 5 dozen cookies.
Nutritional Information: CALORIES 106(48% from fat); FAT 5.7g (sat 2.9g); PROTEIN 1.3g; CHOLESTEROL 15mg; SODIUM 93mg; FIBER 0.6g; CARBOHYDRATE 13g

Getting the Kids Started on Composting

Spending the last three years in the "city" is no excuse for my not having taught the kids the lesson of composting.  Now that my family is planning a cross-state move to a rural area in North Carolina, I find myself dreaming of all of nature's wonders I can share with the kids.  One of those wonders is gardening.  I have to be committed to a garden in the country because it will become the virtual classroom of my kids.  It seems kids and adults alike often believe that the Earth can't take care of herself on her own, that her management depends on how much we humans take from her.  And we know that the truth is we are part of the problem and the only messes we really ever clean up are the ones we create and we don't really ever do that great of a job with that.

Ever noticed how in the woods it isn't piled as high as the trees with dead leaves? That's because every year the leaves rot and bugs and worms and bacteria help turn the old stuff into nutrients to grow new plants.  This is what I plan to accomplish in the safety and comfort of my own kitchen. How? Compost!

Creating a kitchen composter ain't so tough. Here's how you can start:

1. First, you need a plastic bin or wooden box.
2. Fill the box with damp — not soaking wet — paper and cardboard shreddings. This is called the worm's "bedding."
3. Add your worms. Be sure they are red worms (red wrigglers). You can order them online or find them at a local bait shop. Don't use earthworms — they won't survive!
4. Chop up your leftovers from dinner — bread, pasta, fruits & veggies and bury them under the bedding.
5. Let the composting begin!
6. As the worms magically turn your trash into "castings," you can scoop some out to fertilize your garden.

LocalHarvest.org Offers Help to Visitors and Newcomers

Nature's Way Farm & Seafood, found on localharvest.org

CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture), U-pick farms, and local farmers markets offer the best of the local fruits and vegetables one can get in any given locale.  We move around a lot, mostly because of my wanderlust, but it seems we find ourselves hunting for a place where we can get truly farmer-grown produce.

There's a site we use, localharvest.org and you just put in your location (you can even filter by what type of product you are looking for) and viola! you have lists and descriptions of farms, farmers markets, u-pick and community cooperatives.  We frequent Tidal Creek Co-op here in Wilmington, but do find that it can be cost prohibitive.

Local harvest is great.  That's also where I found about about Nature's Way Farm & Seafood in Hampstead, North Carolina.  They are a national award winning goat dairy making a variety of farmstead cheeses including chevre, blue, feta, gouda, mozzarella, romano,cheddar and pepperjack.They have placed in the top three in several categories at the American Dairy Goat Associations National Cheese Competion for 3 years 2007-2009. They also make goat milk soap,shampoo & lotion. One of the partners is also a commercial fisherman and they sell his catch at the farm. They also sell raw goat milk for animal use and they also sell a few milk goats and kids (baby goats, lol).

Techniques for Slow Food Style Blueberry Pancakes

I found some of the most delicious blueberries off of Gordon Road in Wilmington, North Carolina at Davis Farms.  They have their own blueberry bushes and you get to pick your own blueberries.  They also make ice cream with their blueberries and strawberries, but that is for another post.  I wasn't sure if I was just going to eat my blueberries in the car on the short drive home or if I was going to make something wonderful with them.  Having weekend guests always gets my creative juices flowing about the spread I'll present them with when they wake up in the morning groggy from a night of frolicking and laughter.

I started with a recipe adapted from Martha Stewart’s Original Classics Cookbook
Yield: Martha says this makes 9 6-inch pancakes; I got about 16 4-inch ones, which are closer to the size I like
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or slightly less table salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tablespoon extra for brushing griddle (butter isn't entirely necessary but richer with the extra butter.)
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen and thawed (I used the blueberries from the local u-pick farm.)
1. Preheat an electric griddle to 375°F, or place a griddle pan or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the eggs, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons melted butter, and whisk to combine. The batter should have small to medium lumps.
2. Test the griddle by sprinkling a few drops of water on it. If the water bounces and spatters, the griddle is hot enough. Using a pastry brush, brush the remaining 1/2 teaspoon butter onto the griddle. Wipe off the excess with a folded paper towel.
3. Using a 4-oz. ladle, about 1/2 cup (for a 6-inch pancake), pour the batter in pools 2 inches apart. If you wish to make blueberry pancakes, arrange a handful over the cooking pancake, pressing them in slightly. When the pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around the edges, about 2 1/2 minutes, flip over. If any batter oozes or blueberries roll out, push them back under with your spatula. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.
4. Repeat with the remaining batter. You can keep the finished pancakes on a heat-proof plate in the oven at 175°F. Serve warm.

In fact, even though it is Wednesday, I think I'll use the leftovers and make some blueberry pancakes for myself.

Crab Boil, Wilmington, NC Style

Now I love a good fried seafood meal as much as the next girl.  And I have to admit I was skeptical when our weekend guests said that a crab boil would be a relatively quick and delicious meal that would feed seven.  Even so, my husband braved the tourist traffic in Wrightsville Beach and headed to Mott's Landing to pick up the needed stuff.

These are the ingredients we used:  sweet white corn, onion, new red (small) potatoes, shrimp, and crablegs.  We started out with a huge pot and boiled water with Old Bay, set it to boil.  We added potatoes, corn, onion, crablegs, and shrimp in that order.  It turned out to be beautiful and plenty of food for all of us.

The shellfish boil comes primarily from southern Louisiana where the primary shellfish is crawfish, but there are other regions in which the shellfish boil is a great local favorite.   South Carolina offers one that is very much like a Louisiana boil, usually involving shrimp, corn on the cob, sausage, and red potatoes and is considered part of "lowcountry cuisine." Known variously as Frogmore Stew, Beaufort Stew, a Beaufort boil, a lowcountry boil, or a tidewater boil, they tend be a bit milder than their Louisiana Cajun and Creole cousins. Our meal was more similar to the South Carolina one, except we forgot the sausage (which is fine with me because I'm not a huge fan of sausage anyway).  While shrimp are most often used, crabs and or crawfish may be included if available. This is also a bit different from a Louisiana boil, which usually involves just one kind of shellfish.

I almost forgot two very important ingredients-- the juicy lemons we squeezed over the entire dish and the melted butter into which we dipped these tasty treats.

The Farmer's Daughter

Two thumbs up for The Farmer's Daughter just outside of Erwin, Tennessee.  If you are within 50 miles of this place I strongly encourage you to check it out on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

Imagine, if you will, any summer midday, Friday, in a lush valley in Eastern Tennessee.  Rolling hills and a few blind curves from Erwin, there is a pasture that once probably grew tobacco or soybeans that has turned into a major local attraction for church groups and tourists alike.

This is The Farmer's Daughter.  It's only open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and it is almost uncomfortably out of the way as a lunch destination.  This is why when I drove into the parking lot and saw a line of folks on the front porch waiting for the doors to open for lunch, I was a bit surprised.  And you could tell they were hungry because the rumor is that no one eats breakfast when they know they're going to The Farmers Daughter for lunch.

Now that's not to say that they don't have a great breakfast.  They offer bacon, sausage, country ham and pork tenderloin (choice of three).  You get your eggs to order, hash brown potatoes, baked apples, stone ground grits, biscuits, sausage gravy, strawferry jam, apple butter, maple syrup, honey, coffee and tea, sodas, mild and orange juice with free refills.  They also will make pancakes by request.

Ages 5 & under eat breakfast for free.  Ages 6 - 11 eat for $4.95 plus tax.  And 12 and over $8.95 plus tax.

I can't attest to the breakfast because I went solely for lunch.  The lunch menu changes so it's hard to know precisely what you're going to get when you go-- which kind of makes it like eating Sunday dinner at your Mamaw's house.

The food is served "family style" which means the dishes all come out onto the table and you pass the food around.  You get free refills of food, so it is truly an "all you can eat" experience.  This Friday they offered fried chicken, country ham, steak n gravy, bbq pulled pork, chicken livers, alaskan whitefish, pacific codfish, and/or catfish/cajun.   I should say that EVERYTHING cooked at the farmers daughter is locally bought (where possible) and prepared in the homestyle way by country cooks.  There are no shortcuts with these meals.  I'll tell you what I put on my plate.

In order to accommodate all of the tastes of my family members, we selected country ham and fried chicken as our meats.  I didn't try the country ham, but it was naturally too salty for my taste.  The fried chicken was amazing.  The best fried chicken I ever ate.

Some sides I would like to point out include the overall winner for taste and "crossover" eating for my kids-- the fried green tomatoes.  They also had yellow and heirloom local tomatoes, sliced and juicy.  One of the most interesting dishes was the cornbread salad-- cornbread and fresh diced veggies mixed together into a delicious cold paste.  Really outstanding.  The also served carrot souffle.  I was so glad when I noted that it wasn't too "yammy" tasting and actually retained the carrot taste with only a modicum of sweetness.  The green beans were yet another local variety-- we got biscuits and cornbread both served in unlimited quantity.  Everything was so good that even the REAL mashed potatoes seems a bit lackluster in light of the midday fireworks going on inside my mouth.

For dessert I had apple cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Everyone else at my table had the chocolate cream pie.  The Cobbler was not overly sweet, the local apples used to make the cobbler were diced, so one could enjoy eating the cobbler in very small bites.  The crust for the chocolate cream pie was other-worldly.  I have no idea how it was made, but it was a perfect crust.

There were a few negatives about the restaurant, although there are few and none of them with much merit.  1) styrofoam is not my favorite choice of dinnerware.  It would have greatly improved my dining experience to have better ware from which to dump my delicious food, and 2) they're only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday!  I would eat here eight days a week!

Across the parking lot was a wonderful dry goods store that you would certainly not want to miss after driving out there.   We purchased some fudge, candies, pure peanut butter, and dehydrated soups.