MOSH THE
“The month of August had turned into a griddle where the days just lay there and sizzled.” – Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees
This year’s poolside trend is outrageous water floats: shaped like pizza slices, flamingos, swans, even margaritas, ye olde donut-shape has fallen to the wayside. You can find a selection of the fun water accessories locally at Overton’s on Wake Forest Road.
Are deer gobbling your petunias? JC Raulston Arboretum Director Mark Weathington will lead an hour-and-a-half long tour through the gardens Aug. 1, where he’ll offer insight on which plants deer eat last and other helpful tricks. Free for members, $5 for non-members; jcra.ncsu.edu/events
Why not... Download the new NCMA app for self-guided museum tours...get your dog a summertime ’do at Woof Gang...splurge on a pied-a-terre or getaway car emblazoned Moon & Lola keychain inspired by old-school hotel keys...add Cary-made Neomega infused avocado oils to your antipasto platter...freeze fresh herbs in ice cube trays for pretty drink complements...then up your cocktail game further with Durham Distillery’s new cucumber vodka...drive to the beach for a sandwich at Wilmington’s Chops Deli...Put on your birding hat and head to Jordan Lake’s Vista Point to spot one of the resident Bald Eagles...Grab a scoop of Howling Cow’s homemade Cherry Brick Road ice cream at N.C. State’s Talley Student Center....
NO SLOUCH Chapel Hill-based cookbook author and cooking teacher Nancie McDermott’s latest title, FRUIT, celebrates quintessential Southern fruit recipes. Along with scuppernong pie, Ocracoke Island fig cake, and pawpaw ice cream, she’s got a sweetly uplifting blackberry slump. BLACKBERRY SLUMP For the blackberries 1/2 cup sugar 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 1/2 cups blackberries 1/2 cup water For the dumplings 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces 1/4 cup whole milk
22 | WALTER
To make the berry compote, combine the sugar, flour, and salt in a medium saucepan or a small Dutch oven. Stir with a fork to mix them well. Add the berries and water and stir gently. Place over medium-high heat and bring the berries to a gentle boil. Adjust the heat to maintain a lively simmer and stir well. Cook, stirring often, until the berries are surrounded by a thickened, shiny sauce, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
To make the dumplings, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, and stir with a fork to mix them well. Toss the butter into the flour mixture. Using your hands, press and squeeze the butter to incorporate it into the flour mixture, working it until you have a dry mixture with pea-sized lumps. Add the milk and stir well to make a very soft dough, like biscuit dough only more moist. Return the berry compote to the stove and bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Adjust the heat to maintain the boil. Using two teaspoons or a tablespoon, scoop up the dough and drop it onto the bubbling surface of the berry compote, making walnut-sized dumplings. When all the dumplings are in, reduce the heat to maintain a very gentle simmer and cover. Cook undisturbed for 15 minutes, or until the dumplings
are dry and firm and cooked through. If you aren’t sure they are done, remove and pull apart a large dumpling. Remove from the heat and serve hot or warm. Consider adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, or a generous pour of cream, half-and-half, or evaporated milk. Note: While a slump is best served as soon as it is ready, you can cool it and keep refrigerated for one day. To serve, reheat gently, adding a few tablespoons of water to the sauce, which will have thickened. Serves 4 - 6 From FRUIT: A Savor the South® cookbook; Copyright © 2017 by the University of North Carolina Press.Used by permission of the publisher; www.uncpress.unc.edu
courtesy Overtons (SWAN); Moon and Lola (KEYCHAIN); Thinkstock (FLOWER,EAGLE,); Simply Recipes (BALCKBERRY SLUMP)
OH DEER
SWANNING ABOUT
