I want to take you deeper into Charleston to some of my favorite places that get me sidetracked and hopefully will do the same for you. Peter and I hopped on our bikes, headed uptown to the up and coming, chic neighborhood of Cannonborough and started checking off my list. First stop Sugar, a quaint neighborhood bakery that knocks you backwards with made from scratch treats and the smell of cake right out of the oven from the moment you open the door. The owners, Bill and David, two architects from New York have transformed what was once a vegetable stand into a bite size dream shop filled with small- batch cookies, cakes and cupcakes. My favorite is the Lady Baltimore cupcake, made only on Thursdays, with sherry soaked figs layered in between the delicate cake and fluffy meringue icing that melts in your mouth.

We then headed downtown on King street and stopped in at Glazed, probably one of the first everything natural and local donut shops in the country.  They make their own dough daily; use local goat cheese and herbs from their own garden. With flavors like Maple Bacon (from Nueske’s) and Sweet Potato with Brown Butter Glaze and House Spiced Pecans, how can you go wrong? Pepper Jelly Glaze with Cream Cheese Filling, it doesn’t get any more southern than that!

As we were riding up Church Street, looking at the architecture of one of the many historical neighborhoods and ran into Goat, Sheep, Cow, an adorable neighborhood cheese shop. Another place that makes great use of a small space, packed with the best selection of imported and local cheese and anything you might want to accompany it. There is a small area of select wine, charcuterie, local jams, and honey, crusty baguettes and crackers.

The Gin Joint, is what I would image to be a late night hipster spot, (we were there before 10 pm), where classic cocktails are made true to their name. The bartender, Jerry, twirls, shakes, splashes, dashes, and pours from mystery bottles on the shelf behind him…at a frenetic pace, while usually in conversation with four or five customers at the bar…. Smoky Maple Old Fashion made with Black Walnut Bitter, a Sazarac made with Pappy Van Winkle bourbon, at my request.  They serve snacks and small plates at night but it has also become a spot for Sunday morning brunch with everything from Shrimp and Grits, Buttermilk Biscuits with Redeye Gravy to Housemade Soft Pretzels, this is a place not to miss day and night.

This is my fourth cookbook and probably the one most dear to my heart because it has so many family recipes and memories. Working on the books is an extension of being in the kitchen and a different outlet for creativity. Collaborating with the photographer, co-author, prop stylist, food stylist, editor and designer are similar to working in a restaurant with the chef, sous chef and front of the house co-workers. Seeing the process through from beginning to end is the same satisfaction and commitment of working a busy night in a restaurant or catering a large party.

There are many things I enjoy about this process; here are a few of my favorites, first coming up with the concept. My new book, Sara Foster’s Southern Kitchen was inspired from my grandmother’s collection of recipes, (most of them hand written on small pieces of paper) and my love of southern ingredients. Cooking locally and seasonally is something I grew up on and having a backyard garden made it easy. Many of these recipes are rooted in southern tradition but made modern and my own with simple techniques and cultural influences.

Putting together the table of contents is probably the hardest part of the book but it ultimately becomes  the outline for the book. It allows you to start developing and testing the recipes to get them just right. Often, this means testing each recipe 5 or 6 times, which can be really fun, filling and demanding.  Testing is actually different from cooking as most of us know it. You have to be very precise in your measuring and timing, I like to have other people test my recipes because they’re not familiar with them. They’ll use different equipment with different stoves and ovens.  And of course there is the tasting. Everyone has a different sense of what tastes right for them.

I work with a co-author on my books because I like having someone to bounce ideas off. Also it allows me to focus on the food and the recipes, which is the part of the book I enjoy most, and have the most experience with. My co -author  for this book is Tema Larter. Tema and I have a conversation about a recipe, or I  tell her  an antidote, then she writes the headnotes, sidebars, chapter introductions and more. There is also quite a bit of editing which is key to outcome of the book.

I am responsible for photography and styling. This means I  find a photographer I want to work. I usually pull shots from magazines and collect them for a year or so before shooting, then I go back and see which photographer’s work I’ve pulled most often. For this book I worked with Peter Frank Edwards, a great photographer from Charleston.  Next I decide what recipes will look the best in photographs, prepare and style the food for the photographs, pull props (dishes, plates, glasses, silverware, linens, etc. that will be seen in the shots). I have a huge prop closet because I like to collect. And, lastly, I’ll work with the photographer to set up the shot. I  work with another stylist, Wendy Goldstein that helps with food and props, and makes the day go smoother.

Here’s a short video Peter shot while we were working on the book.

At this point we turn the book in to our editor and go through a series of edits, usually to shorten the first assembly. Once we have the final edition we can start the layout and design. The publisher is  responsible for this process, but I like to get involved because, of course, I have a vision. This  is the first time you get to start seeing it as a complete book and not just recipes. Choosing  color palettes, fonts, styles and photos make the pages come to life.

I look forward to using my cookbooks for years and years with the pages of my favorite recipes eventually stained with oil, butter or sauce. I know everyone has their own favorites and you want to be able to see and feel them lying on your counter as you refer to them.

We will be posting recipes from the book over the next few weeks, so check back with us in our recipe section.

Spring Lettuce, Radishes and Flowers from Bluebird Meadows Farm

Radishes and Swiss Chard from Piedmont Biofarm

and thanks to all the farmers that have made it to the market all winter long, one of my favorites

WeatherHand Farm for it’s great chicken , chicken livers and goat shanks

I’m was even more impressed when I was invited to my neighbor’s  house for dinner and  Catherine made dessert  from The Foster’s Market Cookbook, the Buttermilk Cake with Fresh Strawberries and Cream.

Cafe Culture: A Return to Bohemia
By Brett Webb-Mitchell

There are those of us in Chapel Hill and Carrboro who remember when the Bohemian society was well established in this Southern oasis.
Carrboro-ites ordained themselves the “Paris of the Piedmont,” and Chapel Hill was considered downright funky. This was the Carrboro and Chapel Hill that I fell in love with when I was doing my doctoral work in the ’80s. There was the Rathskeller and its greasy food in its dark basement locale; the Intimate Bookstore and its rough wooden floors with books piled on top of each other rising from the floor; and a group of women selling home-grown flowers in the entrance to one of the banks. Hippies and artists strolled the streets of Carrboro, while musicians practiced their craft in cheap, old ramshackle mill houses.

Many of us mourn the loss of the free spirit culture in this college town. More “Wisteria Lane” neighborhoods and their copycat families – anything but the single life – spring up every year, and everywhere. But such sorrow is premature. I recently spent almost an entire day at Foster’s on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, pleased to find what I thought was gone forever.

With free Wi-Fi service and electrical outlets aplenty, I found a seat along one wall. From a distance I suppose we resembled modern-day rabbis in a yeshiva, studiously reading our electronic copy of Holy writ. Some were students writing final papers; others catching up on e-mails with a latte in hand. Still others were reading the latest website news, downloading music or watching YouTube. A wicker basket at the end of a long table held hard copy news, wrinkled, yellow, torn, and well-read, from The Independent to the Chapel Hill News.

Each day since I have settled into my seat, computer open, letting the noise of the café atmosphere become white noise, drawn into my own intellectually stimulating cocoon.

I am engaged in a conversation of a group of women of various ages discussing their book-of-the-month seated around a long wooden table. A young couple from Calais utters fluent French as they share sips from a common cup of a cappuccino. Two women from China are learning Spanish with a tutor over their Cokes.

At night, I sit by senior citizen diners from New York City originally who live in a nearby retirement community. Next to them is a group of lesbians, with a rainbow-colored boa stretching down three tables, known as TALES (Triangle Area Lesbians). Across the restaurant a group of evangelical Christians is engrossed in a theological debate over pizza.

On another day, a Town Council member meets a constituent over a wrapped sandwich while nearby two young moms try to carry on a conversation about raising babies while their tots crawl out of their unbelted strollers. Under the outside pergola tired Census takers take an afternoon break from their work, while two middle-aged women share gossip as one of their dogs eat scraps from the table. An African American woman and Asian American man, wearing Obama-Biden T-shirts, sit next to a young man whose T-shirt reflects his displeasure in President Obama. A former U.S. senator sits down to a chicken sandwich while an also-ran Senate candidate sits next to me on the padded pew. A student athlete leans close and whispers to his date while a table full of deaf gay men use sign language to order dinner.

For a while, amid the smell of freshly roasted coffee, there is no disconnection from body, from presence, from city, from culture. In this café, we are rooted in time and place by our love of diversity of these towns, rediscovering the timeless Bohemian nature of Chapel Hill-Carrboro.

Brett Webb-Mitchell is director of the religious non-profit School of the Pilgrim and an ordained clergy person in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Contact him at Brett@schoolofthepilgrim.com.

In the summer we serve an heirloom tomato and basil salad, dressed with no more than good-quality olive oil like Pasolivo , salt & pepper. It’s so simple and one of our most popular salads.

 
I love the colors in this sage.  There are so many varieties of “everyday” herbs, each with their own distinct flavor.

Thyme is a really flavorful garnish, and I love to use it on grilled steak or chicken with a drizzle of olive oil.

I encourage you to plant potted herb gardens if they don’t have space in the yard.  You can put them right in with other flowers and succulents for a pretty mixed pot. They not only look beautiful, but taste great.

1.  Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
2.  Cook the pasta al dente according to the package directions. (It is usually 1 or 2 minutes less than the cooking time on the package.) Drain the penne through a colander. Put the drained pasta in a large bowl and toss it with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.
3.  Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Add the flour and cook and stirring constantly about 4 minutes until the flour is slightly cooked.
4.  Slowly whisk in the milk and cream and bring to a low boil, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens slightly.
Reduce the heat to low and stir in the Cheddar, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan and spinach until the cheese melts and the spinach wilts. Remove from the heat and stir in the marjoram and hot sauce.
5.  Add the cheese sauce to the pasta, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat the pasta.
Spoon the pasta into the prepared baking dish, scraping all the sauce from the bowl. Sprinkle the top with the remaining Parmesan and place in the oven to bake about 45 minutes or until bubbling around the edges and slightly brown on top. Remove the pasta from the oven and let stand for about 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm.

Other variations: Just a little goes a long way, and remember when adding meat, always cook it first. This is a great way to use up leftovers. Mix and add different types of cheese.
Add chicken, or ground beef, we call this one “ Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese”, chorizo or breakfast or Italian sausage, Pepperoni, bacon or ham.
Vegetaratian Options: Roasted or Sun-dried tomatoes, sautéed zucchini, eggplant or yellow squash, roasted butternut squash, roasted garlic, baked sweet potatoes, green peas or mushrooms,

Last week, my husband Peter brought over the first piece of equipment for my new cooking station in the Chapel Hill store.  It’s a small cabinet with a gas tank and Viking 4-burner stovetop, and–the best part–it’s on wheels.  I think it will allow us to be more accommodating for different sized crowds.  I’m hoping to get everything up and running by early March, but there is still so much to do.  I’ll keep folks updated with the progress, so check back for more pictures.

Also, you can sign up in the store (look for the big sign sitting on top of my new stovetop) to receive information and a schedule for the classes.  We’ll draw a name from the bunch and that person will win a free class!  Or send an email with your name, phone number and email address to mkgoeldner@fostersmarket.com.