WFAEats

Dear Etta Kate:

While dining with friends, I received an embarrassing dressing down. I ordered a salad dressed lightly. Instead, a generous dish of very chunky bleu cheese was nestled into the bowl. A woman at my table commented loudly about how much dressing I was having. I replied softly that I used only a tiny bit and set the rest aside. She exclaimed, “But imagine how much fat you are eating!" just as the server delivered her meal: a fried clam cake on a huge bun, with a plate full of French fries. 

Summer may officially arrive on June 21, but everyone knows it truly kicks off on Memorial Day weekend. And that means it’s picnic season.

You can know plenty about the city you call home and still have giant gaps in your knowledge of the place.

Until today, May 16, 2017, I’d never been to Brooks’ Sandwich House. The truth? Until yesterday, I’d never even heard of it. This is despite having driven literally within a block of it, oh, let’s say maybe 50 times, at least.

But when I posted on Facebook that I was headed out at lunch in search of livermush, friends swarmed my page like honey-bees to hollyhocks. They were pretty much equally divided between two camps:

1. Liver…what?
2. Go to Brooks’ immediately.

In honor of Mother’s Day, I thought it would be fun to take a little trip back in time. So I got out my mother’s old recipe box, eager to revisit the tastes of my childhood.

It’s no surprise that for overfed Americans, eating less meat is a good idea. But a new book goes further and shows how simply lessening our consumption of animal products can drastically improve our bodies, minds, and the planet we inhabit.

As the annual celebration of poetry comes to an end, we’re pleased to share two poems from Mimi Herman, the North Carolina 2017 Piedmont Laureate in Poetry.

High Tea

The second time we dine at the Savoy,

I wear the clothes that make my father think

I am his daughter, and perhaps the boy

He thought he’d raised will have Earl Grey to drink.

The lipstick and the stockings and the heels

Disorient my father over scones

And salmon sandwiches, and so he tells

Ham or lamb? Deviled eggs or dyed eggs? Cook at home or go to a restaurant? When it comes to celebrating Easter, the culinary questions are somewhat different than those for other occasions.

It’s a serious holiday but it wears a public face full of some pretty silly food. (Also pretty, silly food.) Just look at the cookbooks and magazines: They’re covered in rainbows of candy and bunnies and other cute things. If you didn’t know better, you might overlook the fact that Easter is the most important Christian holy day.