One of the best things about cooking in the summertime (aside from the amazing evening sunlight) is bringing your garden inside to make your table look better and dishes more tasty! Not only does it make your home and heart more alive – it also saves your wallet! Here are a couple tips from my Dining for Friends lunch this past weekend.

• Holy Hydrangea! Cut them for centerpieces and use their leaves to display food. Hydrangea leaves also make an amazing backdrop for food display – like deviled eggs or cheese plates! You can also use fig leaves!
• Add baby vegetables to your cheese plate! I used baby squash, radishes and cucumbers to my pimento cheese tray for a color kick – and fresh bite. I also used tender baby vegetables in a pasta salad with lettuce and lemon vinaigrette!
• Plant an herb garden and share your wealth with neighbors. Between the houses on my block, we have about every herb you’d need including about six varieties of mint. Everyone is open to sharing – what’s what neighbors are for, right?

What are your favorite ways to bring the garden indoors?

Because this pound cake was so incredibly good, I must skip to the dessert portion of the menu! As you know, I rarely bake – but nothing beats pound cake and summer berries. This combination was a staple on summer vacations at my grandmother’s house. I also have fond memories of eating it toasted for breakfast! Oh the days with time to swim off calories…

This recipe is a new twist with fresh rosemary – and it is terribly addicting! Luckily, everyone took home a piece of cake so I didn’t eat half of it myself. If you’re looking for something new, I highly recommend trying it.

Buttermilk Rosemary Pound Cake from Some Kitchen Stories

Ingredients

• 3 Cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/4 Teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon of salt
• 1 Cup of butter
• 3 Cups of white sugar
• 6 Eggs
• 3 Teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
• 1 TBSP of fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 Cup of buttermilk

Directions

Preheat oven to 325° F. Butter 1 9-inch or 10-inch loaf pan or bundt cake pan.  Mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar. Mix in the eggs, one at time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the lemon juice, vanilla extract and chopped rosemary. Gently mix in flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Do not overmix. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 90 minutes. Do not open oven door until after one hour. When cake begins to pull away from the side of the pan, it is done. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Serve with fresh seasonal berries!

I heard someone say recently, “you can do anything, but not everything.” I tend to agree. Keeping that at heart this weekend, I had to pass up an opportunity to spend Sunday in Hillsborough at the annual Farm to Form Picnic with my friends from Massey Creek Farm and Lucky 32. But, I hear they had a great time without me – and represented Greensboro well. Hopefully next year I can make it – and other Greensboro farms and restaurants can add to our crew.

In lieu of my day with friends, I put together some sliders using their signature ingredients for my Dining for Friends Lunch. I used the same recipe as my Cuban Pork Loin but replaced the red wine vinegar for apple cider vinegar and added red pepper flakes instead of black peppercorn. It worked perfectly (thanks for the advice Mom!) and was really simple. I made this the day before and heated the pork right before assembling.

Pick up these local treats and enjoy them this Memorial Day weekend!

BBQ Pork Sliders with Lucky 32 Voodoo Sauce

• Massey Creek Pork Roast
• 2 tablespoons, olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup, apple cider vinegar
• 2 big pinches, red pepper flakes
• Lucky 32 Voodoo Sauce
• Loaf Rolls – or Anna Mae Rolls
• your favorite coleslaw

Using a dutch oven, heat olive oil. Season pork generously with salt and pepper. Sear on all sides in olive oil until brown. Add an inch of apple cider vinegar and red pepper flakes (don’t inhale when you do this!). Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for about an hour – or more until falling apart. Add voodoo sauce to taste. Serve on rolls with your favorite coleslaw recipe.

I found the color of this Blueberry Infused Vodka Lemonade particularly striking when I found it on Apartment Therapy a couple of weeks ago. With a collection of half full (that’s right) bottles of vodka in my cabinet, I decided to put them to good use for my Dining for Friends lunch this weekend. I used frozen blueberries from the freezer and infused a large batch of vodka in the fridge for about two days. And added Whole Foods Organic Lemonade and a sprig of mint. I made my lunchtime drink a little less potent considering my (mostly) ladies lunch would need to stay civilized. You can adjust to your clock.  A garnish of fresh mint will take your drink to a new level – consider planting your own pot of mint this summer!

Enjoy a batch of these purple cocktails this holiday weekend!  Follow the recipe for Blueberry Infused Vodka here. 

Another beautiful weekend in Greensboro has passed us by filled with outdoor celebrations and friends. I spent Friday night with friends in the Greensboro Children’s Museum Edible Schoolyard at their annual Green Acres Gala. It was a perfect evening to spend in the garden and walk through downtown with movie playing and fireworks shooting over the baseball stadium. A special shout out to my friend Jim King who won my cooking class in the Green Acres auction – I can’t wait to brainstorm menu ideas with you!

Saturday I woke up early to hit the Greensboro Curb Market and pick up goodies for my Dining for Friends lunch. With only $15 in cash, I picked up a huge loot of fresh vegetables, fresh breads and berries. I used my market loot to finish off a locally inspired lunch menu for some very generous friends who helped raise much-needed support for Triad Health Project. We spent Saturday afternoon squeezed in like sardines on my purple picnic table – laughing, eating and discussing everything from arts to bugs. The blueberry infused vodka lemonade helped my afternoon snooze.

After spending Sunday afternoon eating Chinese Dumplings from a food truck while shopping the Hand to Hand Market, I wondered – who thinks there is nothing to do in Greensboro? Too much, I say. I’ll post the recipes from my lunch this week!

Dining with Friends Lunch Menu 

• Blueberry Infused Vodka Lemonade
• Massey Creek Farm Pork Loin + Lucky 32 Voodoo Sauce Sliders
• Farm Fresh Deviled Eggs
• Market Pasta Salad
• Pimento Cheese and Crudites
• Rosemary Pound Cake with Market Strawberries

Walking up the path to Cheryl Barnett’s home in the Kirkwood neighborhood feels like magically traveling over four state lines where railroad crossings are for Whistle Stop Cafes and mayonnaise is more a ‘way of life’ than a sandwich spread. Cheryl Barnett is an Alabama raised ‘momtrepreneur,’ with big Southern dreams and a healthy obsession of pimento cheese. And she is the force by the suddenly popular MyThreeSons Gourmet.

I got to know Cheryl while sitting in her traditional living room, walled with oil paintings of her three sons, as she took me back to the place where her pimento cheese obsession began many years ago, in Tallassee, Alabama. It was there that she met her best friend on the first day of fourth grade and was welcomed into the Emfinger home as an extended family member. She frequented their home throughout grade school for many reasons – friendship, family – and Mrs. E’s pimento cheese – the so-called condiment that would turn out to be her destiny.

Mrs. E made everything look easy and Cheryl grew up with the domestic dream of being just like her. After finishing her undergraduate degree at the University of Alabama, Cheryl moved to North Carolina to attend dental school and Mrs. E sent her “recipe” north. Throughout the next 10 years Cheryl followed Mrs.E’s recipe – she became an orthodontist, started a family and a practice, created a home in Greensboro – and made pimento cheese in her kitchen for her three sons.

But just as in cooking, Cheryl ran into challenges. Ten years ago she was forced to retire due to chronic back injury. Determined to set an example for her sons, she started the pimento cheese factory she always dreamed of. She recognized an teachable moment – when faced with challenges she decided to pursue her lifelong passion. MyThreesSons Gourmet Pimento Cheese was born.

MyThreeSons Pimento Cheese tastes like home – like the good summer days of running through rainstorms barefoot and homemade bagged lunches packed for school. It is made just like your mother’s with sharp cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, pimentos and special spices just up the street in the Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship.

MyThreeSons’ growth has been tremendously fast – from a few local Fresh Market stores to covering the state (and most of the South) in four major grocers. You can find Cheryl’s Pimento Cheese in Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Harris Teeter and Lowe’s Foods Grocery Stores.

In celebrating mother’s day this past weekend, I was taken by Cheryl’s story – that the recipe for being the perfect mother isn’t only about making the best pimento cheese - it’s about being a dreamer and a doer. I’m sure Mrs. E would agree.

After a dinner discussion with many pimento cheese experts – I found that everyone is a pimento cheese expert! “There are as many varieties of pimento cheese as the people who make it,” says my new friend Emily. From traditionalists to those who brave new twists, there are few that don’t find memory on this Southern treat.

With summer in mind, I created a different version of nachos on the grill using MyThreeSon’s newest pimento cheese – Spicy White Cheddar. While Martha Pearl
in “My Mother’s Southern Kitchen” might call my grilled pimento cheese nachos a sacrilege – I’m a risk taker and think this recipe is delicious twist on an Alabama turned Greensboro treat.

Grilled Spicy and Smoky Pimento Cheese Nachos

• 16 ounces blue corn chips
• 2 ears fresh corn, husked
• 1 sweet onion, cut into large slices
• 1 red pepper, cut into large pieces
• 1 container, My Three Sons Spicy White Cheddar Pimento Cheese
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 3 radishes, julianned
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• 1 avocado, chopped
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• hot sauce or pickled jalapeno, to taste

Preheat your grill to medium heat. Husk corn and cut onion and red pepper into large slices. Toss corn cobs, onion and red pepper in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill vegetable trio until charred. Allow to cool to touch, chop onions and pepper, and remove corn kernels from the corn cobs.

Create a tray for the nachos by overlapping two sheets of aluminum foil. You can use cookie sheet as a mold if you need a guide. Place the aluminum foil tray directly on the grill and top with a layer of corn chips. Add a third of the Spicy White Cheddar Pimento Cheese on top of the chips, then the grilled vegetables and top with the remaining Pimento Cheese. Close the grill and allow the cheese to melt and warm the nachos.

Once the cheese is melted, carefully pick up the tray and transfer the nachos to a large platter. Top the nachos with scallions, tomato, radishes, avocado and hot sauce. Feel free to add any other toppings you may enjoy – local chorizo, bacon or seasoned grilled beef would make an excellent addition!

I love colorful salads – and I hate mayonnaise! So, these are perfect for Springtime picnics and parties you want to plan and prepare for in advance! I love both of these salads equally and they are a nice contrast to the expected! Enjoy these recipes this spring/summer while broccoli and fresh herbs are in plenty!

Grilled Broccoli and Bread Salad - there is so much broccoli at the market right now. Enjoy it grilled!

French Potato Salad – showcasing the season’s best fresh herbs! Plant your own or pick them up at the market!

Thanks to all who came out for this weekend’s Strawberry Pancake Picnic at the Greensboro Curb Market! We served over 600 pancakes to many smiling faces and raised much needed dollars for the Curb Market’s marketing budget. We mixed up our local pancakes using Old Mill of Guilford Whole Wheat Pancake Mix with local eggs, Homeland Creamery buttermilk, strawberries and a delicious Custard provided by Lucky 32.

Special thanks to my friends Beth (who traveled all the way from DC to relive our childhood marathon pancake eating days), Meghann and Heather for joining the Off Mendenhall Pancake Flipping Team. And, thanks to my friend Jay Pierce at Lucky 32 for chipping in behind the scenes to cut all 20 gallons of strawberries and provide the custard (recipe below!)! It takes a village of passionate Curb Market supporters to make special days at the Market happen – as always, kudos to Elizabeth, Donna, Charlie and David for keeping the gears greased.

Save the date for Saturday, June 16th for Blueberry Day! 

Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen’s Boiled Custard, Quaintance-Weaver, Inc.

• 1 quart whole milk
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 5 each eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoons butter

In a pot, heat milk to a low simmer. In a bowl, whisk together sugar, corn starch and eggs. Slowly temper the eggs by beating in about 2 ounces of warm milk.

Repeat process until all milk is combined with the eggs. Return mixture to the sauce pot and cook over very low heat for 3-5 minuets, or until mixture coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and add vanilla, then add butter in small pats, stirring until incorporated. If need, strain mixture to remove lumps.

Makes – 6 cups

With an extremely busy work load these days, I planned last weekend’s birthday party around things I could put together simply and in advance. I made three different salads that I served at room temperature with burgers. This Heirloom Tomato, Avocado and Red Onion Salad was the easiest. I sliced everything right before guests arrived and splashed them with lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Since you eat with your eyes first, this was an easy win! Find the craziest heirloom tomatoes at the market this weekend and make your own!

Back to the grind!

Before we dove into giant burgers topped with gruyère cheese and bacon, balsamic and onion jam on Saturday night, I mentioned to my friends that my dining room table would look the same on May 9th as it did on May 5th. I’m reporting that it still remains the same – ready for many parties ahead with the same laugher, joy and love. Despite last night’s embarrassing and heart-breaking news, everyone is still accepted and loved in my quaint North Carolina neighborhood. Greensboro voted against the Amendment – and for that we should be proud. And, as my friend Larry says, “we shall rise another day and look fabulous doing it.”

I made these sky-high burgers filled with local goodies from the Greensboro Curb Market. Garlic scapes, local beef and bacon! If you haven’t played in the kitchen with garlic scapes from Cornerstone Garlic – you need to! And, you really can taste the difference when you make burgers from local farms and it costs just the same! Check them out this Saturday when you come down for Strawberry Day!

Gruyère Burgers with Bacon, Balsamic and Onion Jam

• 1 1/2 pounds Meadows Family Farm ground beef
• 1/2 cup garlic scapes, minced
• 2 splashes worchestire sauce
• 1 cup gruyere cheese
• salt and pepper

Bacon, Balsamic and Onion Jam

• 4 thick slices bacon, chopped into ½-inch pieces
• 1 large  onion, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
•  ½ tsp. Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper

To make the jam, cook the bacon and transfer to a plate. Cook the onions with salt and pepper on medium in the bacon fat until caremelized.Once brown, add balsamic vinegar and reduce – then return the bacon. Taste for seasoning. This will take some time – be patient!

Make the burgers by combining beef, minced garlic scapes, worchestire sauce, salt and pepper. Cook on the grill until medium and top with cheese. Serve with jam and any other toppings you like!