Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation Los Angeles

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This year, more than any other year I've taught in South Los Angeles, I've never had so many students come to school hungry. My 2nd grade students were coming in cranky and tired and I had no idea why until I asked them. One of my girls broke down crying saying all she had for dinner were potato chips. It hit me and it hit me hard this year, there are way too many kids growing up hungry. 85% of our student population is on reduced/free lunches here at my school. A large percentage of those students actually rely on their two meals at school and usually go home hungry with little or nothing to eat at home. I've never told Dylan this, but I'd bring extra apples and oranges or our delicious dinner leftovers to school because I know I would have a little one run in with a hungry stomach. We've got some major battles to fight for our youth.

I love everything about Share our Strength and their commitment to ending childhood hunger. It was great seeing our community of eaters, volunteers, chefs and restaurant owners come together to support Share Our Strength at this year's Taste of the Nation Los Angeles.






Susan Feniger and Cochinita Pibil Tostaditas


Horseradish Dusted Braised Short Rib on Smoked Potatoes and Quinn Hatfield


Crème Fraîche Cheesecake with Blueberry Compote


Marcel Vigneron and Thai Shrimp Skewers with POM Spherification


Marinated Hamachi with Cucumber Vinegar, Avocado, Granny Smith Apple and Crispy Chocolate Hazelnut with Chocolate Mousse



Chilled Porcini Soup with Mirabelle Coulis, Foie Gras Chantilly/Espuma and Macedoine Salad, Uni Dressing, Maine Lobster


Albacore Onion




Shortrib Tortelli “Caramelles” with Sweet Corn, Chanterelles, Summer Truffle


Carne Deshebrada with Fresh Guacamole, Chipotle Sauce and Mole Poblano Con Pollo


Cochinita Pibil


Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho


Grilled Pork Sliders,Onion Bacon Jam, Violet Mustard


Charred Beef with Grated Radish


Duck and Fennel Sausage with Grape Apple Slaw


Braised Octopus


Braised and Grilled Piedmontese Beef Cheeks with Lime Hoisin Glaze, Summer Corn Foam, Micro Cilantro


Leffe Blonde


St. Germain Champagne Cocktail


Devon Espinosa


Michael Voltaggio

Giving back never tasted and felt so good. See everyone next year!

The People's Cocktail Competition at Drago Centro

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For four weeks straight, Drago Centro and Michael Shearin, Drago Centro's Sommelier and Beverage Director hosted The People's Cocktail, a weekly cocktail contest held over Twitter. Each Monday they would tweet out a secret ingredient and you have until Friday afternoon to tweet in your recipe. Over the weekend, Michael Shearin and head bartender Jaymee Mandeville worked on the submitted recipes and by Monday afternoon a winner was announced.



Last week, all four winners came together for a final battle for a spot on Drago Centro's summer cocktail list. I ain't gonna lie. I was terrified going up against guys with monikers like SazeracLA, Rumdood and LushAngeles. What did I get myself into???





So thankful my husband Dylan emailed our friends in the area to stop on by. There was a lot of waiting around but with good friends and a stiff Aviation, it was easy to relax and have fun.



My best friends, my husband Dylan and my brother Jeremy. They knew I was nervous but both of them were so encouraging. Love you guys!

Once all the judges arrived, it was time to make cocktails.



Week 1 Chuck Taggart
Secret Ingredient: Blueberries

• 2 oz. Woodford Reserve Bourbon
• 20 blueberries
• .5 ounce Amaro Ramazzotti
• 1 barspoon (tsp) Trader Tiki’s Cinnamon Syrup
• Lemon peel for garnish
  

In a mixing glass, muddle the blueberries thoroughly in the whiskey. Add the Amaro and syrup, ice and shake for 15 seconds. Double-strain over ice into a large Old Fashioned glass, and garnish with a large swath of lemon peel.

Week 2 Ron Dollete
Secret Ingredient: Fernet Branca

• 1 oz. Fernet-Branca
• 1 oz. Krogstad Aquavit
• 1 oz. Cointreau
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.




Week 3 Matt Robold
Secret Ingredient: Gin

• 2 oz. Bols Genever
• .5 oz. Scotch
• .25 oz. Simple Syrup
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters.

Stir with ice for 30 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.





Week 4 Jeni Afuso
Secret Ingredient: Lemon

• 1/2 fresh peach
• 1 oz simple syrup
• 2 oz Rittenhouse 100 Rye
• 1 oz lemon juice
• Club soda

Muddle the peach with simple syrup. Add the rye and lemon juice. Shake with ice, strain into a tall glass over ice, and top with club soda.




When it was my turn to make my cocktail, all I was left with melted ice and some shaky knees. I don't know how I did it, but I threw out four Momo Rye Fizz's within minutes and even made several drinks for my friends who came.

After the judges, Caroline from Caroline on Crack, Lesley of The Tasting Table, Shauna of The Minty, and Chef Celestino Drago from Drago Centro had time to sip through all the cocktails, they announced Drago Centro's Peoples Cocktail Winner. It was a very close finish, but I was able to push past the big boys and win it with my Momo Rye Fizz. Hooraaaaay!



We spent the remainder of the night celebrating at Caña Rum Bar. Lots of party punch went down. It was truly a great night.

Thanks for reading!

Cakes and Bakes with the Fabulous Baker Boy!

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Peaceful. Quiet. Serene.

Every baked treat that is created in the fab kitchen comes from a place of passion, pride and the utmost quality. Every bite you take will take you back to that place of love and comfort.Come … Eat some cake!

Juwanda's (the baker) recipes have been created and developed over a long period time. Most of them come from the parties that he had planned and cooked for, the chefs in the various kitchens of his career, the invaluable skill and taste that his parents have cultivated in him and of course his kitchen Gods and Goddesses.

The Fabulous Baker Boy loves cooking, baking and feeding people and wants to change the world one heart and tummy at a time.

Go on! Have some cake and eat them too!

New Starbucks: Reopening at Plaza Singapura

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The newly reopened Starbucks at Plaza Singapura.

Starbucks has reopened at Plaza Singapura with a bigger floor space and a more defined layout for various activities. The newly extended shopping mall itself which has taken up the neighbouring Atrium@Orchard now has its visitors spoilt for choice when it comes to cafe hangout with familiar brands like Canele and Dome as well as a couple of new Japanese entrants. It also boast a more upmarket line-up of tenants like Kiehl's, Gap, etc.

Bottle Tree Village and Jalan Mempurong

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The tranquil scenery of Jalan Mempurong.

Sembawang Park

Sembawang Park, a 15 hectare tranquil park developed in the 1970s and maintained by the National Parks Board, is situated at the Northern tip of Sembawang Road. One of the few parks in Singapore with a natural beach, the Wak Hassan Beach, this park is a heaven for city dwellers who are tired of the never-ending concrete buildings and sky-scrapers. It's a popular spot for campers as well as families who wish to spend an idyllic day by the beach. One can dine at the Beaulieu House, built in 1910, which was the residence of Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton (Commander-in-Chief British Eastern Fleet, 1940–1942). A wide range of fauna and flora awaits visitors, ranging from the spectacular Cannon Ball tree (Couroupita guianensis) to the many species of birds which have made the park their nesting grounds
While fellow-sketchers focussed on the local landmark of Masjid Penempatan Melayu Sembawang, I decided to turn my attention to the tranquil scenery of the road that leads to the mosque and subsequently the beach overlooking Johor Bahru, the road that is named Jalan Mempurong.

Bottle Tree Village and Jalan Mempurong

The Bottle Tree Village is located at the end of Jalan Mempurong and is known for its Bottle Trees (Brachychiton rupestris) flown in from Queensland, Australia. Apart from these, other Australian flora can be spotted in the surroundings.

Brooklyn Youth Chorus - Saturday Receptionist

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Saturday ReceptionistBrooklyn Youth Chorus
(Brooklyn NY)
The Brooklyn Youth Chorus, a choral program for children ages 7 - 18, is seeking a Saturday receptionist.

POSITION OVERVIEW: The individual in this position serves as the primary customer service representative for BYCA on Saturdays. Hours are from 9am to 4pm.

Responsibilities:

1. Responsible for opening and closing the office on Saturdays when the program is in session (September - June, closed on holiday weekends).

2. Greets families, choristers and other guests to make them feel welcome and comfortable.

3. Answers phones, takes messages and directs callers to appropriate staff.

4. Communicates messages between faculty and students.

5. Keeps seating area clean and inviting.

6. Monitors heat or AC, as needed.

7. Monitors chorister behavior in the lobby at all times.

8. Receives payments and gives receipts for cash.

9. Contacts plumber or electrician in the event of an issue that needs to be addressed immediately.

Qualifications:

1. Comfortable navigating Access database, outlook, and general internet/computer software.

Background check required.

To apply, send resume highlighting administrative and customer service experience to:
Elizabeth Woodhouse
179 Pacific Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201ewoodhouse@brooklynyouthchorus.org
Website: http://www.brooklynyouthchorus.org

J. Crew Sales Associates

To contact us Click HERE
Company: http://www.jcrew.com/index.jsp

Apply Here: http://jobview.monster.com/getjob.aspx?jobid=116377377&WT.mc_n=Indeed_US&from=indeed

Please apply directly at the J.Crew Rockefeller Center Store:
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112

and/or

Please apply directly at the J.Crew Madison Avenue Store:
347 Madison Ave.
New York, NY 10017Responsible for serving customers and selling merchandise. Provides courteous service to customers in a timely manner to generate sales and drive conversion by engaging customers with superior service and attention.


Responsibilities:
Customer Focus

• Project a helpful, warm and friendly demeanor
• Deliver above and beyond service
• Act in the best interest of the customer
• Extend J.Crew discretionary services to customers and clients

People and Self Development

• Learn product knowledge utilizing all company tools including store meetings
• Be receptive to feedback to improve performance
• Understand and reflect current fashion
• Attend and participate at store meetings

Drive and Produce Results

• Maintain a 5% selling cost
• Maintain store standards in presentation, cleanliness, and organization
• Participate in achieving store Key Performance Indicator’s and other company goals
• Complete tasks in a timely manner with minimal supervision
• Live quality and adhere to code of ethics
• Minimize potential for loss by adhering to proper policy and procedure

Communicate Effectively

• Check in with managers at the beginning and end of shift for updates and direction
• Engage customers and store team in a professional manner
• Provide solution-oriented feedback to store teams in an effective, constructive manner

Decision Making

• Seek creative solutions to challenges
• Adapt as necessary to the needs of the customer and the store environment

Foster Teamwork and Develop Partnerships

• Establish and maintain open lines of communication with management team and peers
• Help train new associates
• Support new initiatives
• Interface with all levels of management and associates in a manner that promotes learning and mutual respect

Qualifications:

• High School diploma or equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to successfully perform essential functions of the job.
• Must be 18 years old
• Strong eye for fashion
• Good verbal communication
• Ability to communicate effectively in order to relay product knowledge and services
• Ability to multi-task and service multiple customers
• Ability to work a flexible schedule including holidays, overnights, weekends
• Physical requirements: lift/carry/move 40 lbs minimum including fixtures and product
• Ability to move around sales floor and be accessible to customers

Hoss Intropia - PT Associates

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Company: http://www.hossintropia.com

Apply Here: http://us.fashionjobs.com/job/Part-time-or-full-time-sales-member,890294.html

Contract type

Temp/Seasonal

Availability

Part time

Salary

10.00 per hour

Description of job

Achieve sales and build customer loyalty while raising brand  awareness? Develop and optimize the sales results of the shop

Achieve sales plans set by head office

Implement visual merchandising directives given by the head office? Inventory management (maintaining organized records of all  receiving)

Proper management of business and administrative procedures, including: accurate daily reporting of sales, management of Human Resources procedures,managing scheduling and payroll for store staff, etc.

Maintain clear communication with the head office

Lead by example and be inspirational to your team! Demonstrate best techniques for selling and clientele relations

Must be organized, responsive, dynamic, and reactive? Good knowledge of the brand and its positioning? Fashion savvy
Ambassador of the brand

Strong computer skills, especially in Microsoft Excel and Point-of-Sale systems Retail math

RESPONSIBILITIES:
Understands the business of fashion and retail brands and is able to work with levers and KPI's to drive business performance

Leads and inspires by example, regularly encourages bold solutions and celebrates the success of others? Is innovative at looking for ways to maximize the brand and business.

Cultivates an environment that embraces and encourages  different points of view

Seeks ways to build relationships with customers to create regular Hoss clients and develops associates to build  client relationships

Exemplify the highest level of customer service standards while providing a friendly and enthusiastic environment to  all customers and clients

Maintain presence through effective sales floor leadership ensuring staff coverage in all areas of the store

Maintain the visual and operational standards of the store and company at all times, replenishing sizes and quantity of merchandise on the floor when needed? Train and motivate all associates through the brand programs in sales, customer service and product knowledge

Ensure brand standards are met from a merchandise and visual standard perspective as well as maintenance of store environment

In partnership with General Manager and/or Store Manager, manage store operating procedures (Inventory procedures, cash and media controls) to minimize store losses  
  

Profile

REQUIREMENTS:Outstanding Customer Service
Teamwork Oriented
Clientling
Become familiar with product information understanding features and benefits of your product
Commitment to building customer relationships and loyalty through personal interaction and the maintenance of a client
Demonstrate knowledge of store products and services and use  this knowledge to build sales

Flexibility & dependability with schedules including nights and weekends
Retail experience: 2 to 5 years
Education: high school and college

Ability to be mobile on the sales floor and store for extended periods of time in a fast paced environment Proven ability to work with retailing operating systems, and handle PC
Achieve sales and build customer loyalty while raising brand  awareness
Develop and optimize the sales results of the shop
Achieve sales plans set by the head office
Manage, train and constantly build sales team
Implement visual merchandising directives given by the head office
Inventory management (maintaining organized records of all  receiving)
Training through the brand programs in sales, customer service and product knowledge
Ensure brand standards are met from a merchandise and visual standard perspective as well as maintenance of store environment

SKILL SUMMARY: Possesses drive, is goal-oriented, has an entrepreneurial outlook
Enjoy meeting and interacting with customers; demonstrates an energetic and positive attitude
Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, handle multiple priorities and learn new procedures
A team player who possesses the ability to work in a learning environment
Ability to communicate effectively with customers, peers and management? Lead by example and be inspirational to your team!

Demonstrate best techniques for selling and clientele relations? Must be organized, responsive, dynamic, and reactive? Good knowledge of the brand and its positioning? Fashion savvy?

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Club Monaco Prince Street Positions

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Company: http://www.clubmonaco.com/home/index.jsp

Apply Here: http://polo.hodesiq.com/job_detail.asp?JobID=3356464&User_ID=

Club Monaco is the international retail brand known for its consistent and enduring view on women’s and men’s style and design. Today, Club Monaco is rapidly growing retail brand that continues to deliver cool modern style, while occupying a unique niche within the fashion and retail industries. In 1999, Club Monaco became a subsidiary of the Ralph Lauren Corporation.
Club Monaco is hiring for the holidays! We’re seeking Part Time Seasonal Sales Associates that are enthusiastic and fashion forward. Associates will receive competitive discounts and wages. Ideally seeking employees who are available 20 to 25 hours per week during the holiday season.
Responsibilities • Maximize personal sales at all opportunities
• Provide a friendly and welcoming environment
• Handle multiple customers at fitting rooms by following all policies and procedures
• Demonstrate effective phone etiquette through customer service
• Follow through with customer experience by utilizing thank you cards, business cards, and maintaining client book
• Ensure ease of customer experience through visual presentation and overall store maintenance
• Clean, vacuum, fold, size, steam, replenish as assigned
• Maintain a professional appearance consistent with established dress code and image guidelines


Skills• Excellent interpersonal skills supporting both a team environment and customer service
• Excellent English communication- verbal and written
• Excellent time management skills
• Strong attention to detail
• Ability to recognize and react to changing work demands
• Goal oriented: ability to stay focused on creating winning results

Barney's Cashier & Stock Associates

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Company: http://www.barneys.com/

Apply Here: http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?Job_DID=JHM2C076B6F1F23JNPH&siteid=cbindeed&ipath=EXIND

Description
Barneys New York, the world’s leading luxury retailer, is committed to providing the best of everything: merchandise, customer service and innovative people with creative ideas. We are currently seeking part-time support associates for the Barneys Co-op store in Soho. We are seeking both Cashiers and Stock Associates.

We are seeking dynamic and energetic individuals who are conscientious and detail-oriented. Retail experience will enhance candidacy.

Cashier Responsibilities:

• Provide customers with exceptional service
• Complete transactions accurately and according to policy
• Observe and support activity on the sales floor

Stock Associate Responsibilities & Qualifications:

• Accurately receive and stock merchandise
• Keep an organized and tidy stock room
• Maintain the stock room and selling floor

• A minimum of one year of experience in an apparel stockroom
• Ability to lift 40 pounds unassisted
• Computer literacy

 Requirements

Detail-oriented and conscientious

Proven ability to multi-task and work in a fast-paced environment

Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends

Get a taste of bubbles, bub

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There's nothing like a Grande Dame, at least among Champagne fans. The Wine Shop of Dilworth is offering a Champagne tasting -- yes, real French Champagne, hence the capital "C" -- that ought to make you sit up and take notice.

For $25, you'll be led through a tasting of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin by Rich Buchanan of Moet Hennessy. This is a sit-down, tutored tasting, so you will learn a lot. And the five wines he'll be pouring are definitely special: Veuve Clicquot nonvintage brut, Veuve nonvintage brut rose, vintage 2004 brut and brut rose and that special lady, Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2004. And because those are Champagnes that deserve to be tasted with wine, there also will be appetizers prepared by local chef Thomas Carrig.

This tasting is 6:30-8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, at the Wine Shop Dilworth, 2442 Park Road, and you definitely need a reservation. Call 704-377-5373. And I'd do it soon.

Stop fussing about N.C. barbecue - fuss about S.C. instead

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"Like everything in South Carolina, we cook barbeque cantankerously. We smoke our meat with hundreds of opinions and often with a sense of injured pride." 

That's the opening line to a new blog post on the state of barbecue in the U.S. Eatocracy.com, the food-related website from news network CNN, has been running the series of blog posts from the Southern Foodways Alliance in advance of this week's annual Southern Foodways Symposium, where the subject is (once again) barbecue.

I end up fielding a lot of heat and flash around N.C. barbecue, but our brethren in South Carolina are just a few miles down the road and have barbecue opinions that are just as heated. I myself have made many stops at Sweatman's Barbecue near Florence, strictly in the interest of paying due diligence to understanding that mustard-based sauce. As the SFA blog post says,"The whole state is a big messy spill of sauces."

I'm headed out on the road Tuesday, first to New York for the James Beard Foundation Leadership Awards, which I chair, and then on to Oxford, Miss., for the Southern Foodways Symposium. I'll tweet all the way and will bring back as much wisdom as I encounter.

In the meantime, give the Eatocracy.com post a read and see what you think. N.C. barbecue brings heated debate. Anyone want to join in with an opinion on S.C. 'cue?

Who's got the sexiest fried chicken?

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My recent book travels included a precious 24 hours in Nashville, one of the few Southern towns I haven't had the chance to visit.

Big problem, though: No car. I had a shuttle from the airport to downtown, but no way to get from downtown to the one restaurant in Music City that I really wanted to visit.

That, of course, would be Prince's Hot Chicken. In the South, there are two poles in the fried chicken world. One would be Price's Chicken Coop, right here in Charlotte. The other would be Prince's Hot Chicken, in Nashville.

As an aficionado of Price's, I felt I owed it to myself to try Prince's. When it comes to fried chicken, Prince's is a bird of a different feather. It's chicken that's dipped in a hot sauce, rolled in spicy flour, deep-fried, then coated with more hot spice and sprinkled with more red pepper. It's served on a slice of white bread that soaks up the spices -- wouldn't want to miss any -- and topped with pickles.

There's more to the legend, of course. Supposedly, the endorphin rush causes addiction. And, um, there are claims of hotter reactions, including to the libido. Never heard that about Price's.

So I skipped all other arrangements for my trip to Nashville to focus on trying to get a ride to Prince's, in a neighborhood too far from downtown to take a cab. I begged and sent around inquiries, and I thought I had a ride secured. All day Saturday, from book talk to book signing to book-tent duty, I kept trying to hook up. Didn't work. They were tied up, or their schedule never meshed with mine.

I expected to walk away from Nashville, denied glory. But then I looked at the line of food trucks stationed outside the Southern Festival of Books, on War Memorial Plaza. At the end of the row, there was an unassuming white bus: Bolton's Hot Chicken.

Part of the Prince's story is that hot chicken is so addictive, versions of it have spread all over Nashville. Since this was the closest I would get, I decided to at least start my hot-chicken education. I got an order of chicken on a stick, "medium hot," (which earned me an "allllll right!" from the guy inside the bus. Medium is a long way past mild, apparently.)

I sat down with Angela and Paul Knipple, authors of "The World in a Skillet: A Food Lover's Tour of the New American South" and old Tennessee hands. The chicken was on the required slice of white bread.

 "It's to soak up the  spices," Paul explained. "Otherwise, you end up in serious pain." As he said this, he was weeping - he had foolishly put a finger near one eye. Meanwhile, his wife Angela didn't show concern for him or slow down in attacking her chicken.

"This is ice cream for Angela," he said. "It's Parris Island for me."

Bolton's version of spicy chicken was chunks of white meat, threaded on a stick, battered and fried, and covered with a bright red coating of what tasted like a mixture of cayenne and seasoned salt. Good? Very. It wasn't Prince's (or Price's, for that matter). But it was seriously hot, with a lot of flavor. I might have been able to tackle extra-spicy.

As for that addiction thing, I haven't stopped thinking about it and plotting ways to return to Nashville, this time with my own car keys.

Have you been to both Prince's and Price's? Let me know how they compare.

Even more cookbooks for your gift list

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What's harder than deciding which cookbook to buy? Deciding which cookbook to review. In Sunday's Observer, I picked four (for the record, I didn't suggest my own book, "Pecans: A Savor the South Cookbook" - writer Pam Kelley made that decision).

In Wednesday's Food section, fellow writer Andrea Weigl and I named our seven picks. But we knew that it wouldn't be enough and that we both would have our own favorites. So here are a half-dozen more that are my picks, plus a recap of the ones we're already suggested.

Even Santa should be able to find something to cook:

Comfort Me With Offal, by Ruth Bourdain (Andrews McMeel, $19.99). Will the real Ruth Bourdain please not stand up? The joke is more fun if we never know who is behind the food-writing parody "Ruth Bourdain" - a mashup of impossibly elegant Ruth Reichl and always profane Anthony Bourdain. RB started as a Twitter account, but the book stretches the joke past 140 characters. It's a sendup of foodie-world pretensions, like a guide to "nose to tail" eating that includes probiscus monkeys and a chart to decide if you're a celebrity chef ("does the inside of a QVC studio feel homey?") Rock on, Ruth, whoever you are.

 "Southern Comfort," by Allison Vines-Rushing and Slade Rushing (Ten Speed Press, $35). Both chefs who moved back to Louisiana after a foray in New York, the Rushings are unabashed lovers of bold, hearty, homey Southern cooking. These are the kind of recipes you'd make on a Sunday afternoon when you want to hang out with a bunch of friends and eat something good.

"Fred Thompson's Southern Sides" (UNC Press, $35). Sometimes the side dishes are the best things on the plate. Raleigh food writer Thompson pulls from his family history and his own extensive experience for these 250 recipes. (Disclosure: Fred and I both have books from UNC Press.)

"Burma: Rivers of Flavor," by Naomi Duguid (Artisan, $35). I wrote a column about Duguid's Burma trek earlier this year, but her cookbook is definitely worth a deeper look. For global eaters, it's an exploration of a cuisine that is still a surprise, with a range of new flavors and techniques.

"Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts: Quicker Smarter Recipes," by Alice Medrich (Artisan, $25.95). Medrich has always been one of our most innovative and creative food writers. She's not a baker so much as someone who loves all things sweet and knows how to lead your tastebuds in new paths.

"How to Cook Everything: The Basics," by Mark Bittman (Wiley, $35). Every year, I get questions about which book to buy for a beginning cook. This would be an excellent choice: It has more than 1,000 photos, including steps, and like his earlier "Everything" books, the recipes are accessible without being dumb. You can start here and learn enough to go a long way in the kitchen.

RECAP: What else have we suggested?

Sunday:
"Bouchon Bakery," by Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel (Artisan, $50).
"Fire in My Belly: Real Cooking," by Kevin Gillespie with David Joachim (Andrews McMeel, $40).
"Pecans: A Savor the South Cookbook," by Kathleen Purvis (UNC Press, $18).
"Buttermilk: A Savor the South Cookbook," by Debbie Moose (UNC Press, $18).
Wednesday:
"Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking," by Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubert (Gibbs Smith, $45).
"Great Meat Cookbook," by Bruce Aidells (Houghton Mifflin, $40).
"Barefoot Contessa Foolproof," by Ina Garten (Clarkson Potter, $35).
"Fix It & Freeze It, Heat It & Eat It," by Southern Living (Oxmoor House, $19.95).
"The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook," by Deb Perelman (Knopf, $35).
"Japanese Farm Food," by Nancy Singleton Hachisu (Andrews McMeel, $35).
"Flour Water Salt Yeast," by Ken Forkish (Ten Speed Press, $35).

Barbecue: Are those fighting words?

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Washington Post contributor Jim Shahin had some choice words for Charlotte barbecue recently. Stopping in Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, he contemplated our city while getting a barbecue sandwich from Brookwood Farms Carolina Pit BBQ:

"I was in an airport, ordering faux Carolina ’cue, and I was lost. Technically, I suppose, I was in Charlotte. But the city is itself lost, barbecue-speaking. It does not adhere to one of the state’s famously partisan styles, whether Eastern or Western.
"As a city within one of the great barbecue regions, Charlotte is regarded as a barbecue embarrassment. If Charlotte were a relative, it would be the one everyone wished didn’t come to Thanksgiving."

Is that fair? Is Charlotte that much of an embarrassment? Does someone from Washington -- the  flattest flavor spot between Baltimore and New York -- have any experience at knowing what tastes good?

Share your opinion here and we'll pass them on to Shahin. A few ground rules: Keep your response concise; don't use profanity; and keep the personal insults to a minimum. Although Shahin did call our city an embarrassment. So the personal insults have already started to fly.

New York to Mississippi in 50 bites

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Sometimes covering food can be a mad dash from one kind of food event to another without much chance to chew it over. Between a book ("Pecans: A Savor the South Cookbook"), a volunteer job (chair of the James Beard Foundation's Leadership Awards) and a lively interest in Southern food (well, that's just me), I've been to three cities in nine days.

I went from Nashville's Southern Festival of Books to New York's Hearst Tower for the Leadership Awards to Oxford, Miss., for the annual Southern Foodways Symposium. In other words: More mad dashes  through Atlanta Hartsfield Airport than anyone should have to make in a week.

I'll bring more blog posts and columns out of those activities in the next few days, but in the meantime, a quick roundup:

In the pictures above, the young lady with the salad bar strapped around her waist was part of the hors d'oeuvres before dinner at the James Beard Foundation Leadership Awards. Yes, she dropped microgreens into your hand so you could taste the variety of them. I wouldn't want to eat a salad like that, but it was an eyecatching display.

At the actual awards dinner, the honorees this year were Kentucky poet and farm activist Wendell Berry;  Malik Yakini, executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network; Tensie Whelan, president of the Rainforest Alliance; Kathleen Merrigan, U.S. deputy secretary of agriculture;  and Jason Clay, senior vice president of market transformation for the World Wildlife Fund.

Disclosure: I chair the awards, but my role is procedural. As the foundation's request, I helped to shape and define the award and write the bylaws, and I work with the advisers who do the nominating and voting. But I do not nominate or vote.

Right after the awards dinner, I headed on to Memphis, to rent a car for the drive to Oxford, Miss., for the Southern Foodways Symposium. I've been attending SFA every few years since the second one, about 14 years ago. It's stunning to see how much this group as grown, from 100 people that first year to 350 and not-quite-too-large this year. We almost overwhelmed tiny Oxford, although the people around town have gotten used to us by now.

This year's focus was barbecue and pitmasters, but the real star was the state of North Carolina. That's Sam Jones (above left) of the Skylight Inn in Ayden chopping barbecue at an event on Woodson Ridge Farms outside town. Ed Mitchell also was there with a lovely version of Brunswick stew. But they weren't the only N.C. chefs feeding us. In such a meat-centric gathering, chef Ashley Christensen of Poole's Dinner (et al) in Raleigh managed to bring down the house with an all-vegetable lunch. It was like nothing I had ever eaten: Deviled-egg salad on fried sourdough slices, creamed cider-braised greens, poblano peppers stuffed with kuri squash, coal-roasted sweet potatoes with coffee/sorghum butter, smoked tomato pie topped with cornbread and whipped corn cream, marinated White Acre peas, a mustard green salad with crispy okra and charred onions, and pumpkin hummingbird cake. Seriously, Ashley -- do you ever stop?

One morning's breakfast was the incredible pastrami from Neal's Deli in Carrboro, served on biscuits as big as your hand by Matt and Sheila Neal themselves.

And there were more N.C. folk: Writer Mark Essig of Asheville gave an eye-opening talk on the history of pigs, novelist Monique Truong ("The Book of Salt" and "Bitter in the Mouth") stunned the audience with a beautifully written "love letter:" to Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge that also was a rumination on her childhood as the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants in Boiling Springs, and UNC Chapel Hill professor and novelist Randall Kenan read his own piece on . . . well, OK, it was on hog sex. But it was great. You had to be there.

Finally, the Craig Claiborne Lifetime Achievement Award went to Ben and Karen Barker (below), who recently closed their legendary Magnolia Grill in Durham to spend more time with their family. There was a time when fine dining in North Carolina pretty much was Magnolia Grill. From what I saw, ate and heard this weekend, Ben and Karen are leaving our state food legacy in safe and very lively hands.

Who's got the sexiest fried chicken?

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My recent book travels included a precious 24 hours in Nashville, one of the few Southern towns I haven't had the chance to visit.

Big problem, though: No car. I had a shuttle from the airport to downtown, but no way to get from downtown to the one restaurant in Music City that I really wanted to visit.

That, of course, would be Prince's Hot Chicken. In the South, there are two poles in the fried chicken world. One would be Price's Chicken Coop, right here in Charlotte. The other would be Prince's Hot Chicken, in Nashville.

As an aficionado of Price's, I felt I owed it to myself to try Prince's. When it comes to fried chicken, Prince's is a bird of a different feather. It's chicken that's dipped in a hot sauce, rolled in spicy flour, deep-fried, then coated with more hot spice and sprinkled with more red pepper. It's served on a slice of white bread that soaks up the spices -- wouldn't want to miss any -- and topped with pickles.

There's more to the legend, of course. Supposedly, the endorphin rush causes addiction. And, um, there are claims of hotter reactions, including to the libido. Never heard that about Price's.

So I skipped all other arrangements for my trip to Nashville to focus on trying to get a ride to Prince's, in a neighborhood too far from downtown to take a cab. I begged and sent around inquiries, and I thought I had a ride secured. All day Saturday, from book talk to book signing to book-tent duty, I kept trying to hook up. Didn't work. They were tied up, or their schedule never meshed with mine.

I expected to walk away from Nashville, denied glory. But then I looked at the line of food trucks stationed outside the Southern Festival of Books, on War Memorial Plaza. At the end of the row, there was an unassuming white bus: Bolton's Hot Chicken.

Part of the Prince's story is that hot chicken is so addictive, versions of it have spread all over Nashville. Since this was the closest I would get, I decided to at least start my hot-chicken education. I got an order of chicken on a stick, "medium hot," (which earned me an "allllll right!" from the guy inside the bus. Medium is a long way past mild, apparently.)

I sat down with Angela and Paul Knipple, authors of "The World in a Skillet: A Food Lover's Tour of the New American South" and old Tennessee hands. The chicken was on the required slice of white bread.

 "It's to soak up the  spices," Paul explained. "Otherwise, you end up in serious pain." As he said this, he was weeping - he had foolishly put a finger near one eye. Meanwhile, his wife Angela didn't show concern for him or slow down in attacking her chicken.

"This is ice cream for Angela," he said. "It's Parris Island for me."

Bolton's version of spicy chicken was chunks of white meat, threaded on a stick, battered and fried, and covered with a bright red coating of what tasted like a mixture of cayenne and seasoned salt. Good? Very. It wasn't Prince's (or Price's, for that matter). But it was seriously hot, with a lot of flavor. I might have been able to tackle extra-spicy.

As for that addiction thing, I haven't stopped thinking about it and plotting ways to return to Nashville, this time with my own car keys.

Have you been to both Prince's and Price's? Let me know how they compare.

One Great . . . fast breakfast

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One of the great things about being the recipe clearinghouse is that readers are always making sure I remember old recipes. You lose it, I look for it and then I get to take a second look.

A few weeks ago, a reader was looking for an oatmeal recipe that her sister had found in the Observer years ago. All she remember was the date -- sometime around 2007 -- and that it involved sticking oatmeal in the refrigerator overnight.

I can't always work miracles to find missing recipes. We switched from paper clip files to an electronic version in 1985, the same year I started working here. If it's before 1985, you're out of luck. But after that, if I have a clear phrase or a distinct word, I can usually track it down.

That worked in this case. And when I looked at the recipe, I set aside for my own uses, too. At this time of year, I'm just as likely to eat oatmeal for a late dinner as an early breakfast. Thanks, reader.

Overnight Pineapple Oats

From "The Short-Cut Vegetarian," by Lorna Sass (Quill, $16). You could probably use  nonfat milk if you don't keep rice or soy milk (or almond milk) on hand. And you'd never miss 1/4 teaspoon of cardomom.

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 (8-ounce) can unsweetened crushed pineapple
1 1/2 cups rice or soy milk
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 or 2 sliced bananas
1/4 cup toasted nuts (I'd go with pecans, but that's me)

COMBINE  oats, pineapple, milk, cardamom and salt in a glass or plastic bowl. Stir well, cover and refrigerate overnight. The next day, stir in the banana and top with nuts.

YIELD: 4 servings.

Say Thanks with Sweet Stationary

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I wrote a short article on fun & beautiful stationary centered around giving thanks for friends and family around the Thanksgiving holiday for Shecky's. While Thanksgiving has passed, just about all the cards can be used throughout the year. You can also give the box set as a present to a lucky giftee...and to make the gift extra special...why not scribe a note to the giftee on why you are thankful for them in your life? It will skyrocket the gift to the next level. Below is an excerpt to the post written for Shecky's.
Thanksgiving is a time when most give thanks to the people and moments that have enriched their lives throughout the year. Many family and friends gather over a delicious spread of food, fun and laughter, but while there are many highly regarded traditions that take place during this time of the year, there is one tradition that I look forward during this time—going around the room, right before dinner and sharing what I am most thankful for! This year, I thought it’d be nice to take this tradition a step further and thank my loved ones with a handwritten note. Here are six sweet stationary gift sets to say “thanks” to someone who has made an impact (small or large) on your life at some point this year! See my stationary picks here.

source: sheckys.com

HoneeBee Gifts buzzes around SouthPark Magazine (blvd. section & more!)

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For the December issue of SouthPark Magazine, I was able to go beyond my normal contributor duties of working on the blvd. section. I also wrote the "Lost Art of Dinner" article on the roaming dinner and activity club, Relish Carolina and my do's and don'ts of gift giving was featured by Olivia Fortson in the Swirl section. In addition, the blvd. section was expanded due to the holiday season and I was able to get even more creative with the section by interviewing a local mixologist  Nicholas Glass with Delta's Restaurant, bakery (Polka Dot Bake Shop) and stationary shop (Paper Twist). In addition I worked directly with the photographer setting the holiday scene for blvd. section of the publication.  It felt great to have an expanded role with one of my all-time favorite magazines...how lucky am I?!  Anyhoo, be sure to pick up the December issue of SouthPark Magazine and shameless plug...be sure to check out--blvd. section beginning on page 17Do's and Don'ts for gifting on page 22The Lost Art of Dinner article highlighting Relish Carolina on page 42Some of the articles can be found online throughout the month. For example The Lost Art of Dinner is up now but you can also pick up copies of the magazine  here.  

SouthPark Magazine is a speciality publication under the Charlotte Observer family. It is Charlotte's premier luxury lifestyle magazine and highlights various topics including fashion, travel, philanthropy and more.

 source: southparkmagazine.com