A Research and Eating Trip or An Eating Research Trip

We had a terrific Thanksgiving with family in Memphis and took some time to head down a little further south (Mississippi) to do some research for a forthcoming book project of Sara's. She is going to combine some of the best of Old and New South food traditions, so we started checking out some of the "old" traditions. We made a couple of delicious stops In Oxford, MI (Big Bad Breakfast for great tasty southern breakfasts and the local Four Corners Chevron station for late night fried chicken, what you see is called "chicken-on-a-stick") and one in Taylor,MI (Taylor Grocery for everything Catfish). The pictures give you a pretty good idea of what it was like.

Thankfully, Our 18th Thanksgiving

The staff, as usual, rises to one of our most fun special days at the market. The island was full of color, aromas, and abundance as the day before Thanksgiving marked another joyous day for us all. Once again we broke our record for pre-ordered pies. We are also very proud of the fact that, as always, any left over food went to the Durham Rescue Mission.

Sara on Martha

I received an email this morning with a question about a recipe I demonstrated on Martha's show a few years ago. I went to www.marthastewart.com and did a search for Sara Foster and found the recipe along with a few video recipes, many more recipes that have been published In Martha Stewart Living  and segments from the show. I thought I would share a few with you, as Martha says; " have a look".

http://www.marthastewart.com:80/recipe/quesadilla-three-ways?xsc=stf_MSLO-RECIPE 

( If this link does not work, go to marthastewart.com and search Sara Foster)

Fall Farmer's Market

One of my favorite things about Lake Placid is the difference in the seasons and Farmer's Market from North Carolina.  I made a recent visit to the market in Lake Placid and was surprised to find the abundance of offerings. From all types of winter squash; Queensland, Buttercup, Blue Hubbard, Acorn, Spaghetti, Butternut and Pumpkins to new crop maple syrup, fresh chickens, ducks, eggs and cheese. One vendor had mounds of peppers, lettuce, greens, carrots, broccoli and fingerling potatoes. Another booth was filled with Fresh baked cookies, scones, bread and flour less chocolate tarts. It always amazes me how resourceful the farmers are and how there is always something delicious in the market. I encourage you to check out your local markets, even though the summer is long over.

The Chapel Hill Market looks so great!

An unusual chain of events was the root of this posting. A very satisfied and loyal customer of the Chapel Hill Fosters Market decided to take a moment and send an e-mail to SHAPE Magazine and express her satisfaction with all things Fosters. As a result the editors contacted Sara and asked for some pictures of the market to be included in an article about the market. Peter was dispatched to take the pictures. This pictorial display contains just a few of the great shots he got. We wanted to share them with our readers and give a huge "well done" to Christine (the GM) and her team for making Fosters/Chapel Hill such a great experience.....

A fun Lake Placid weekend with an old friend....Paella 101

The last weekend of June an old friend and mentor, chef/restauranteur Jonathan Waxman and his lovely daughter, Hanna, paid Peter and I a visit for the weekend in Lake Placid. Jonathan was bringing Hanna to camp for two weeks in Lake George, NY.
I asked him to teach me his version of PAELLA and it was a fun time in the kitchen, as well as, a fabulous dinner on the porch. We water skied, walked the lake, dragged Hanna around the lake on the RAVE and took naps when it rained......it was a delight.
Jonathan has a great cookbook out you might want to check out: A GREAT AMERICAN COOK. is the title. He has a wonderful restaurant in NYC called BARBUTO, I eat there every time I'm in the city......you should try it when your there!

Hittin' the BBQ trail for Cottage Living..I loved it!

Last week end I went to Tryon, NC with Cottage Living and the North Carolina Department of Tourism to the 15th Annual Blue Ridge BBQ Festival. I took my entourage, Mary Kirk and Jesse (she's in the pic with me in yellow) for assistance and support. Loren from Cottage Living was there along with Sarita, Tammy and Katie. We ate lots of BBQ, peach cobbler, fried dill pickles and chocolate covered strawberries on a stick. I was one of the judges at the “ anything but contest”, which was anything barbecued except pork... my favorite was the bbq salmon. I also did several cooking demos, one a recipe for BBQ beans that won the contest, sponsored by Cottage Living and NC Tourism.We all loved the recipe. Here I am with the winner Rachel Wright (she's next to me in B&w pic).