Buttermilk Skillet Pancakes

Pancakes are, you could say, my culinary Achilles heel. They always turn out awful. Too undercooked, burnt, too gooey, too chewy, not fluffy enough, whatever. I hate making pancakes. I’ve yet to...

Buttermilk Pie

Strictly speaking, siblings are one of life’s greatest joys. Fifteen years ago I was spinning a completely different tale, but these days I have nothing but appreciation and gratitude for my...

Front Yard Garden

For the first time in my adult life I have garden that achieves the holy trinity of personal gardens- it’s well located (our front yard), it has great soil, and it’s big enough for everything I...

Chocolate Strawberry Bread Pudding

This weekend we piled into the car and headed along a familiar path up 1-95 to DC. A surprise birthday party for Brit was an occasion we wouldn’t miss for the world, especially because it meant...

Southern Gin Cocktail

A few weeks ago I was invited to Chapel Hill for the launch of the Our State Magazine April issue, an issue that focuses on food in the great state of North Carolina. The party was at Crook’s...

Saveur Magazine Best Food Blog Award Finalists

When you start a blog it’s only natural that you look to other blogs around you, amazing ones, to model yourself after. Actually that’s true of everything in life, not just blogs. You look for...

3/100: Polk County Lemon & Chardonnay Seafood Sauce

One of the many things that makes North Carolina an amazing state is it’s ever-changing terrain. From the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains in the Western corners of the state to the rolling piedmont...

Southern Brisket

Easily the best thing about living at the beach is that people are excited to come and visit you. And the best thing about having formerly worked at a Jewish cultural institution is that some of...

Slow Cooked Winter Vegetables

Last night we had the great pleasure of hosting new friends for dinner. Ryanna, her husband Nick, and their son are emblematic of the community we’ve found in Wilmington, and talking with them over...

Banana Almond Muffins

I am a firm believer that it’s important to hide your crazy early on in relationships. It would never have worked if I’d introduced myself to Dan by saying “Hi my name is Elena I’m a hypochondriac...

2/100: Nash County Sweet Potato Chess

I’ve made no secret about the fact that chess pies are the greatest pies that exist. I mean sure, almost nothing beats a good apple pie and mountain pie is my special birthday treat, but as a...

Chocolates + Almonds

So as some of you may know, and may care, I am training for the Wrightsville Beach marathon this March. Since I’m basically just extending my training from the 21 mile trail race I did in January,...

Almond Grit Cakes with Clementines & Honey

One of the very best things about the internet is the community. It has it’s ups and downs, definitely, and sometimes having a public blog that is open to criticism leads to reading, well,...

Winter Chili

I’m the first one to admit that over the course of the past year or so I’ve gotten obsessed with running. I really love the act of running (most of the time) but I also have found myself...

1/100 Onslow Oysters

It was incredibly hard for me to decide what county, what recipe, what food group I was going to choose to launch Tasting North Carolina. I grew up in Durham County, have spent countless summers...

Tasting North Carolina

When I started this blog in 2008 it was because I was feeling totally alone in a strange place, a strange life, and I missed home. I needed tastes of my childhood to help me remember who I was and...

Smoothies for Breakfast

On my sister in law Megan’s recommendation I downloaded Scott Jurek’s Eat and Run for the trip to Orlando. I’m 3/4 of the way through it and frankly, I have mixed feelings. I plan on doing a full...

Vegan Grits & Stewed Vegetables

2012 was a year of big changes for me, especially in the eating/activity departments. While some of those changes were chronicled here, most of it happened outside of the blog. Dan and I...

Sparkling Old Fashioned

Last week while we were all home in Durham for the holidays we threw a bridal shower for my sister, Lauren, who is getting married in May. The shower was held at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill...

Grits Bowl

This past Sunday, on our way out of Durham, we stopped in to Watt’s Grocery for brunch with my friend Julia. I’d not been to Watt’s (cue long list of amazing Durham restaurants we can start trying...

a year in review, 2012

2012 was, certainly, a doozy. personally, we’ve: - moved 408 miles south - celebrated our third wedding anniversary - changed states, homes, jobs - watched my sister, lauren, get engaged LIVE on...

Best of 2012

2012 was an awesome year for us, personally and here on B&S. Here are some of our favorite posts: Best Series Cast Iron Chronicles Best Appetizer Green Olive Pimento Cheese Best Sourced Recipe The...

Roasted Chestnuts

Merry Christmas! We are in Durham with family and friends, soaking up our first real Carolina Christmas together. We’ve had a wonderful week and it’s only looking up. Tomorrow we’re throwing my...

Sea Salt Snickerdoodles

I know at times it can seem as though this blog’s central message is “I don’t like any dessert that isn’t pie,” but that is only mostly true. I’ve been known to sort of like a cake or two and there...

Hibiscus Moon

Continuing on our quest to bring you delicious and festive holiday cocktails I proudly present the Hibiscus Moon (the best part of this is picking names, right?). A combination of hibiscus tea,...

This week I am coming to you once again from the fair city of Baltimore. I’m up here doing photoshoots and (more importantly) to see my Esther put on a show at the second annual Esther Fest, a...

White Yam & Candied Bacon Casserole

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year in Moutainhome, Pennsylvania, with Dan’s cousin Nathan, his fiance Jess, and the two dogs (Chase and Kaylee). It was relaxed, fun, and full of delicious...

Pumpkin Julep

Happy Thanksgiving Week! This past Friday we loaded up in our trusty blue hatchback and headed north for a week-long Thanksgiving journey. Our first stop is Alexandria, Virginia, where we’re...

Slow Roasted Pork & Cranberries

Well friends, we did it! We’re moved in to the new house and 95% unpacked, which is basically a miracle. We got in to the house last Wednesday, had the POD unpacked by Friday, had a lot of...

Skillet au Gratin

We did it! We moved! Monday morning we watched as our POD got taken away and then we hit the road, passing through the outer rings of Sandy as she passed over Virginia. We made it safely to Durham...