Washington The Magazine: October-November 2014

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Top dog

Legendary hot dogs are a Washington tradition

OCTOBER /NOVEMBER 2014 Washington, North Carolina

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IN THIS ISSUE

FEATURES & DEPARTMENTS 32

22

26

26 60

38

18

14

SHOPPING

LET'S Eat

PAST & PRESENT

14

26

Cheese buscuits: Breakfast of Beaufort County Champions

44

All the way: Bill’s Hot Dogs a multilayered, delicious tradition

IN THE ARTS

Fun with food: Culinary themed items for every taste and senses

RIVER LIFE 20

From river to table: Celebrating friends, family and the river’s boutny of Blounts Creek

32

E

GAZIN

Carolina comfort: Favorite N.C. time-tested recipes

THE MA

52

Blending cultures: Southern roots, international palate

NGTON

Going whole hog: Pig pickin’: Eastern Carolina style

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Advertiser Index Cast a Line Dining Guide Word on Wine Calendar Why I Love Washington

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This photo by Larry Boyd, shows the storefront of Bill's Hot Dogs. See All the Way, on page 32.

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NOTE FROM ASHLEY

Washington's culinary treasures

I

t was only a matter of hours after announcing our family was moving from Alabama to start a new home in Washington, N.C., that the phone calls began to come.

First was an old college friend whose mother was from the Original Washington.

Others followed — residents simply calling to say welcome, a frequent visitor who had read about our move in the newspaper and wanted to pass on the charm of “Little Washington.”

They all shared a warm enthusiasm talking about our future home.

When I set the telephone down that afternoon, I was convinced of two things: 1. My family and I were going to love Washington.

2. I had to have a Bill’s Hot Dog. Now, almost three years and many more hot dogs later, I can say with confidence I wasn’t led astray on either account.

I, like so many others, have found that to experience Washington is to love Washington.

And those hot dogs are simply hard to resist.

I’ve often thought about what exactly makes a simple hot dog leave such an impression that it immediately finds itself at the forefront of conversations about a place with so much else to offer.

They’re delicious, no doubt. And that chili is unique. But I think it really boils down to much more than taste.

With a tradition as long as Bill’s Hot Dogs, “one all the way” has come to mean home. A Bill’s dog has become synonymous with lazy summer

afternoons on the Pamlico River.

The same might be said for oyster roasts, pig pickin’s, or tables covered with steamed Blue Crab.

Eastern North Carolinians love their food. More importantly, they love sharing it with friends, family and their community.

It’s all about fun and foot-stomping fellowship when the fish are frying across the river. Blounts Creek folk ambassador Bob Daw knows how to bring good people together with good food for even better times. Pull up a chair with Daw on page 23.

Cheese biscuits are a staple of the Beaufort County breakfast. Historic Washington restaurants have been serving up the morning favorite to residents and visitors for years. Start your day with the traditional treat on page 26.

The recipe has been kept a closely guarded secret since the 1930s. Bill’s Hot Dogs has been serving its simple famous fare to Washington residents and visitors much the same way that entire time. Step through the screen door and across the checkered floor at 109 Gladden Street on page 32.

There’s plenty more to whet your appetite in this issue of Washington the Magazine, from Pig Pickin’s [page 38] to historic Miss Carver’s prized chili recipe [page 44]. Whether you’re placing an order at the register or pulling up a chair at Grandma’s table, I hope you enjoy the local food and the people that truly make it special.

Ashley Vansant Publisher

would love to hear what you think about Washington the Magazine. Email us at news@ Write We thewashingtondailynews.com or write to P.O. Box 1788, Washington, NC 27889. Letters chosen for publication to us may be edited for length and clarity. All submissions become the property of Washington the Magazine.

6 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

WASHINGTON T

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Publisher

Ashley Vansant Editorial

David Cucchiara Jonathan Rowe Vail Stewart Rumley Contributors Kevin Scott Cutler Bobby Davis Kevin Duffus Beth Niser Jane Olsen Will Preslar Mike Voss Advertising Director Kathryn Powell Marketing & Sales German Llodrat Cecilia Prokos Distribution Sylvester Rogers Art Direction Ryan Webb Contact information Washington the Magazine P.O. Box 1788 Washington, NC 27889 Advertising inquiries 252-946-2144 Ext. 221 Subscriptions & change of address 252-946-2144 Washington the Magazine is published six times a year by Washington Newsmedia, LLC. Copyright 2014, Washington Newsmedia, LLC

THE SCENE

OUT AND ABOUT

National Night Out A community turned out for National Night Out, a nationwide block party that sends a message: crime won’t be tolerated. This neighborhood event drew a crowd to Beebe Memorial Park for food, fun and entertainment and a chance for people to get to know law enforcement and emergency responders.

Jonathan Rose and Lt. William Chrismon

Fire Marshal Division Chief Mark Yates and City Manager Brian Alligood

Donald Sadler and Mayor Mac Hodges

Jimbo Shriver and Beaufort County Commissioner Ed Booth

Washington Fire Services Chief Robbie Rose and City Councilman William Pitt

Katrina Hodges, Joyce Gibbs and Jean Little

Washington Police and Fire Services Director Stacy Drakeford, Alan O’Kane, Steven Hodges and Johnathan Patterson

Danny and Cindy Slade

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 9

THE SCENE

OUT AND ABOUT

Beaufort County Pirate Club Armada The Beaufort County Pirate Club, ECU’s largest chapter, came together at the Washington Civic Center on July 16 to mingle with some of ECU’s most notable figures in athletics, including Athletic Director Jeff Compher, women’s basketball head coach Heather Macy and football head coach Ruffin McNeill; and for many, it was a first encounter with newly appointed head baseball coach Cliff Godwin.

Gary Wilson and Joe McKoy

Ray Harris, Brandon Harris, Jeanne Harris

Sharon Yakubowski and Jessica Adams

Neil Woolard, Natalie McRoy, Aubrey McCoy, Kevin McRoy, Wanda Woolard

Gregg Ward, Amy Ward, Charles Hough

10 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

Linda Hough, Gary Wilson, Betty Wilson

Ruffin McNeill, Heather Macy, Cliff Godwin

THE SCENE

OUT AND ABOUT

Harold Robinson, Stephen Hornaday, Carol Hornaday

Charles Rogers and Jewell Rogers

Fred Watkins, Lynda Watkins, Cambo Rodman, Karen Rodman

Vinnie Cilluffo, Wendy Ingalls, Derrick Ingalls

Shannon White and Pam White

Phil Perkinson, Becky Perkinson, Randy Walker, Carolyn Walker

Lou Hodges, Joy Waters, Mike Hodges, Betty Rakin

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 11

THE SCENE

OUT AND ABOUT

Dining in the Dark fundraiser for NC Blind Center Many supporters of the Blind Center of North Carolina headed out to the Washington Yacht & Country Club for the Dining in the Dark fundraisers. Participants attempted to eat the main course of the dinner wearing blindfolds, a way to raise awareness about the everyday obstacles the visually impaired face.

Lee Brame and Blind Center Director Blair Bergevin

Beth Sloan, Doug Cutler and Margaret Trainer

Remanda St. Clair, Teresa and Al Whitney

Brandy Walker, Blind Center Director Blair Bergevin and Rhonda Lyons

Mr. and Mrs. Greg Golden

Russell and Denice Smith

12 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

Lindsay and Mary Beth Crisp

Jen Alligood and Mary Lou Sheppard

Kendra and Mike Lobos

THE SCENE

OUT AND ABOUT

Hope and Heroes Walk The Hope and Heroes Walk to raise fund for the Marion L. Shepard Cancer Center in Washington culminated in a pizza party reception complete with the band Never 2 Late as entertainment at the Cypress Landing Golf Club event. Nearly 300 people participated in the walk, part of a series of fundraisers that brought in over $70,000 for the cancer center.

Jo Beach and Marge Havanki

Denise Sturm, Ann Opello, Shirley McPherson, Carolyn Pitts, Marge Havanki, Jo Beach, Pippin Madson

Lisa Alligood, Mary Ellen Tyrell and Carol Ahlman

Karen and Alan Engmann, Ann Jones

Angie and Emma Shiflett

Lyle Carlson, Paul Coakley, Rob Cameron and Paul Klein

Pat Coakley, Nancy Hackett and Ainsley Rusevlyan

Amanda Sanders, Laural MacKenzie, Hailey Bolles, Leanne Balon and Anna Shadle

Louise Hoar and Kathy Russman

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 13

OUT AND ABOUT

Let's Tee it Up for a Cure Cypress Landing

THE SCENE

Club members and area residents met at Cypress Landing Golf Course for the annual Let’s Tee it Up for a Cure Golf Tournament, benefitting the Marion L. Shepherd Cancer Centerin Washington and the free programs and services it offers cancer patients and caregivers.

Marcus McDonald, Rudy Dovich, Tim Staiger and Ron Parsons

Shirley Mann, Louise Hoar, Dee Noll and Alberta Paris

Mary Hadden and Pat Zeising

John and Betty Zawitowsky, Patricia and Paul Coakley

Tom Hadden and Bill Zeising

Judy and Louis Rodrigues, Tom and Diane Ross

Will Tyson, Chris Whitehead, Randy and Karen Woodson

14 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

Fred and Cynthia Barrett, Doley and Ken Erickson

Toni Reiner, Jo Beach, Pat and Lyle Carlson

THE SCENE

OUT AND ABOUT

Let's Tee it Up for a Cure Washington Yacht and Country Club Let’s Tee It Up for a Cure expanded this year with simultaneously golf tournaments at Cypress Landing and Washington Yacht & Country Club. Here, WY&CC members and guests played a round to raise money for the Marion L. Shepard Cancer Center

Trish Litchfield and Susan Klein

Fred Fletcher and Bill Slade

Marilyn Bram and Marge Biedinger

Suzanne Lieph, Ruth Maiolo, Doug Bidle, Dennis Cloutier

Pat Holscher and Pam Anderson

Becky Ward and Ryan Carpenter

Marilyn Bram and Annie Griffin

Donny Crocker, Jackson Crocker, Scott Crocker

Russell Smith and Forest Sidbury

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 15

WHAT’S IN STORE

Fun with food Photographed and Written by WILL PRESLAR

Salty (and peppery) Life Want to add some coastal décor to your kitchen table? Nauti Life has nautical themed salt and pepper shakers that will do the trick. They cost $9.95 for each one.

Pirate Heat The perfect gift idea for all of the Pirate Nation whether you are in the tailgating field or at the grill in the backyard. Pirate Nation Hot Sauce has three dangerously hot flavors of Bold Gold, Pirate Poison and Purple Pain. Make sure you get your hands on these before the next game at Inner Banks Artisans Center for $24.99.

16 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

Get Served It's fine metalware you don’t have to polish and you can cook in. Too good to be true or is it Beatriz Ball? Stewart's Jewelry Store has a collection of unique hand crafted metalware that can be used for any occasion. This salad bowl runs for $114 and the silver utensil set for $50.

Crepe Cup A great addition to any kitchen counter is this hand crafted bottle carrier from Riverwalk Art Gallery.

Mrs. Carolyn Sleeper spent extra time on this design of a stoneware cup with a handle made of Crepe Myrtle that is connected by hand twisted copper wire. It cost $50.

Door Anchors Tired of your kitchen door slamming unexpectedly?

Here’s an elegant solution that will please the eyes and fit a purpose. They are hand painted doorstoppers that are available at the Lane Gift Shop of the Turnage Theater for $30 a piece.

Culinary Classics Written by a Washington local and featured in Our State Magazine is Carol Mann’s Bountiful cookbook. It has southern classics with beautiful artwork throughout the pages. You can find it in the Inner Banks Artisans Center for $29.95.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 17

WHAT’S IN STORE

For the Birds Perfect for the kitchen window.

A hanging cup and saucer from “Once Upon A Time” can be found at Little Shoppes for $8.

Use it as a bird feeder or as decoration in the kitchen.

Handy Towels A hand towel with some attitude? Cottage Junkies has a few that most can relate to.

Each one is $14 and you’re guaranteed to keep your hands clean and have a good laugh!

For a Feast An elegant addition to any kitchen is this Mottahedeh designed platter and bowl set.

The platter cost $70 and the Bowl is $55. They are available at Stewart's Jewelry Store.

Seahorse Storage What better way to collect corks for Pinterest projects than this wire sea horse? Fits perfectly in any corner of a kitchen counter and would be the perfect addition to a summer home. You can find this one and other designs at Nauti Life for $29.95.

18 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

Washington Harbor District is a center for recreational, historical & cultural activities including working artist studios, lively festivals, farmer’s markets, unique shops, casual and fine dining.

Shop, Dine & Play!

Shop local. eat local.

Spend local. enjoy local.

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OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 19

RIVER LIFE

Butch Harden douses his collards with pepper vinegar. The collards were grown and cooked by neighbor Soldier Ham; the pepper vinegar made by Harden with homegrown peppers.

20 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER /NOVEMBER 2014

From river to table

Troy Best cooks up cornbread and Bob Daw, fish, as Linda Boyer samples the goods in the background.

Celebrating friends, family and the river’s bounty on Blounts Creek

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Story and PHOTOGRAPHS by VAIL STEWART RUMLEY

own on Blounts Creek, sits a little shack.

Hold up just a moment. To say it’s a shack is to do it an injustice. It’s quite sturdily built with a front porch and swings in front; out back, another covered porch and deck; inside, an immense collection of music memorabilia — guitars strung up on the walls, album covers bearing the likenesses of Elvis Presley and Willie Nelson — and fishing gear — rods and reels hung from the ceiling — all elevate its one-room status from shack to what the sign on the front

door proclaims it to be: Bob Daw’s Man Cave.

Daw may be a retired executive, but he’s really a fisherman and musician, as the décor may clue a person in to those facts. When he plays music, he plays with passion. And when he goes fishing, he’s catching. Striper, flounder, trout, white perch, bream — you name the fish, Daw’s got a hook with its name on it.

For Daw, there’s only one sound in the world better than the snap and bubble of fish frying in oil and that’s the zzzzippppp zzzzippppp of fishing line peeling off the reel when he’s got

a big one on the hook.

The end result makes for some mighty fine eating at the Man Cave.

Fish fries at Daw’s home away from home (the home he shares with his wife Phyllis is just 50 yards away) are festive occasions, filled with friends, family, music and good eastern North Carolina eats. But the star of any gathering is always the fish: fresh caught from local waters, cleaned on Daw’s dock that stretches over a sea of cattails from the Daws’ gently sloping yard to Blounts Creek.

When it comes to cooking fish, Daw has it down to a science.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 21

After the good eating at the Man Cave, local musicians play a few foot-stomping tunes for an appreciative crowd.

“First of all, you have to use peanut oil,” Daw says. “It’ll get hot and stay hot and it don’t burn. You can cook twice as many fish with peanut oil than you can regularly.”

On this particular night, Daw has battered up his fish, layering it in a plastic container with breader, salt and pepper, before shaking it up. He holds a thermometer in the oil, waiting for the temperature to climb to its ideal. At his side, and manning two other gas burners, is his buddy Troy Best, spooning batter into oil.

“He makes the best thin cornbread you’ll ever taste,” Daw brags about his friend.

This gathering is part family — Phyllis’ sister Beth and her husband Butch, Daw’s cousin Ted and his wife Fay — and part friends — Best, fellow musicians and neighbors from the Campground at Blounts

22 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

Creek.

“He does this 10 or 12 times a year,” said Phyllis Daw. “In the winter, he tends to have more (fish fries) because of the stripers in season.”

Striper (also known as rockfish and striped bass) is on the menu this night, as are flounder, trout, white perch and croaker.

Accompanying food is homemade eastern North Carolina standards: collards from a Campground neighbor who grows them on his farm in Snow Hill, coleslaw, potato salad and Best’s cornbread, fried into pancake-sized rounds.

When the oil is hot, Daw gingerly drops the breaded fish into an explosion of bubbling oil.

“You got to wait ‘til it’s at 350, not before,” Daw said. “And it’s done when it floats.”

Batch after batch of fish and

cornbread fill the waiting trays.

With each batch rising from the oil, generous samples are passed out.

The conversation flows from fishing to cooking to children to music and back again, until Cousin Ted gives the blessing, plates are filled to overflowing and everyone finds a place at the tables outside.

Then silence reigns at the Man Cave, broken only by the chirp of crickets, the croak of frogs and the rumble of the sliding glass door open and closed as people go back for seconds. Later, the night will be filled with the strum of guitars and the pluck of the banjo, with voices rising in harmony. But until then this comfortable silence — shared with friends and family — is a celebration in itself, of mouthfuls, and bellies full, of the bounty of eastern North Carolina’s land and water.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER OCTOBER /NOVEMBER 2014 2014 || WASHINGTON WASHINGTON THE THE MAGAZINE MAGAZINE •• 23 23

Bob Daw’s recipe for fried fish Bob Daw

Home-Style Cole Slaw Collards Anna M. Crisp Mrs. Jesse B. Respess Church of God of Prophecy

Terra Ceia Christian School

Blount's Creek

1/2 cup mayonnaise; 1/3 cup milk; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1 (16 ounce) package cabbage coleslaw mix; 1 teaspoon white vinegar; 1/4 cup sugar.

1 ham hock or slice of ham; 1 gallon of water; 1/2 teaspoon red pepper; 1 tablespoon salt; 4 tablespoons bacon drippings; about 5 pounds collards.

In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, milk, vinegar, sugar and salt; mix together until smooth and creamy. Add the coleslaw mix and toss until well coated. Chill for at least one hour before serving.

Cook ham hock until tender. Add red pepper, bacon drippings and salt. Cook collards until they are tender enough to stick a fork in them. Winter collards cook much faster than spring or summer collards. Take collards up, drain, add about one teaspoon salt and chop up. Skim bacon drippings off top of stock and spoon over collards.

One bag of House Autry medium-hot breader; Fish fillets; Salt; Pepper; One gallon of peanut oil Fill bottom of plastic container (with lid) with House Autry breader then cover with fish fillets.

Lightly salt the fillets and pepper to taste. Cover with breader. Add successive layers until container is filled (or you run out of fish). Seal, then shake to coat. Heat peanut oil to 350 degrees, then place breaded fillets in the oil. Bob says to cook them until they float.

Note: If you prefer to, you can shred the cabbage yourself. Use about 10 cups of shredded cabbage.

You may also shred a few carrots if you want.

24 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

LET'S EAT

Pulling apart a King Chicken cheese biscuit, one experiences a soft, moist center, which Lilley says is credited to the flour’s butter flake.

Cheese buscuits

26 26 •• WASHINGTON WASHINGTON THE THE MAGAZINE MAGAZINE || OCTOBER/NOVEMBER OCTOBER /NOVEMBER2014 2014

Juana Diaz has been making cheese biscuits at King Chicken for about the last year. She arrives at 4:30 a.m. each day to bake the biscuits for the Beaufort County masses.

Breakfast of Beaufort County champions

T

Written by JONATHAN ROWE | PHOTOGRAPHS by BETH NISER

here are many different choices one can make for breakfast, but one historic and popular selection from the Beaufort County menu is that of the cheese biscuit.

Whether it be students en route to school, the workforce heading out for the work day or anyone else making a pit stop in the morning for

a bit of breakfast, cheese biscuits are one of the most sought-after items.

Few businesses in the community can say they make the biscuits, but for a couple dollars, biscuit lovers across the county can sink their teeth into a soft, delectable product of dough, buttermilk and cheddar.

Popular morning hangouts and makers of the coveted cheese biscuit include Slatestone Grocery, Mom’s

Grill and King Chicken.

King Chicken, owned by Granville Lilley, has made cheese biscuits for decades, Lilley says, but for the last 28 years, what is arguably the most popular hangout in the entire county has made them just like Lilley’s grandmother — what he refers to as a cathead cheese biscuit.

Prior to almost three decades ago, Lilley’s father, who founded the

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 27

King Chicken cheese biscuits are baked for 25 to 27 minutes. Owner Granville Lilley says he used to use a block of cheese but went with a shredded cheese because it melts easier.

historic Washington restaurant, had his employees baking and selling flat cheese biscuits, Lilley says.

“In the early days of King Chicken, my father made a flat cheese biscuit,” Lilley said. “He patented that after some company like Biscuit World or something like that. But then, we decided to go to with what we call a cathead cheese biscuit because that was what my grandmama made, and we’ve never changed since we went with this kind.”

Lilley says the famous cheese biscuits he sells, to his knowledge, cannot be found anywhere else. Not only are they popular and coveted among residents, but travelers who have passed through or visited the area and have been lucky enough to 28 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

stumble across the baked Beaufort County tradition have come back for more.

“That (cheese biscuits) is an eastern Carolina thing, there,” Lilley said. “You get out of eastern North Carolina, you don’t find cheese biscuits — not like that. We freeze them and sell them frozen, too. We pack them in a layer of ice and then wrap them in foil and then in tin foil and pack them in a cooler. We’ve had some carry them as far as the state of Washington and we’ve had some carry them as far as Naples, Florida. We have a guy that comes out of Virginia and gets a cooler full and carries them back to Newport News, Virginia and sells them up there on the street he lives on.”

King Chicken has had a number of employees tasked with baking and serving the biscuits to the restaurant’s patrons. Its current cheese biscuit guru, Juana Diaz, starts her day at 4:30 a.m. and prepares to feed the masses by rolling out the dough and firing up the oven.

“She has only been making cheese biscuits about one year,” Lilley said. “She’s good though.

We got four women that can make cheese biscuits, but she is, now, our main biscuit woman.”

Diaz starts with a 25-pound bag of flour with butter flake — made in eastern North Carolina — and four and a half gallons of buttermilk, which are placed into the mixer and churned for 10 minutes. After

Each King Chicken cheese biscuit is filled with a half-cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese and molded into a six-inch round of dough.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER OCTOBER /NOVEMBER 2014 2014 || WASHINGTON WASHINGTON THE THE MAGAZINE MAGAZINE •• 29 29

Diaz empties a 25-pound bag of flour and four and a half gallons of buttermilk into King Chicken’s mixer, after which she pulls out the dough and begins rolling it out to cut the biscuits and fill them with cheese.

mixing, the dough is pulled from the mixer and laid out on the back counters where it is rolled out into an 18-inch circle with an oldfashioned rolling pin. The dough is cut into four- to five-inch circles, flattened out, filled with a half-cup of cheese, placed onto metal baking pans, 20 at a time, and baked for 25 to 27 minutes.

“She uses buttermilk and a butter flake flour,” Lilley said. “It’s got a little butter flake in it that makes the biscuits soft and hold together good. These girls are good, now. You can see, there’s plenty of cheese in that booger bear. To begin with, we used a square of cheese to put in the dough, but now we’ve

30 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

gone to a shredded cheese because it melts better. It’s got to be a sharp cheddar shredded cheese.”

One 25-pound bag of flour makes seven pans with 20 biscuits on each pan. Lilley says his employees go through two and a half to three bags of flour each day, Monday through Thursday.

Friday through Sunday, they can go through four to six bags per day.

So that means, on weekdays, King Chicken makes, bakes and sells up to 420 cheese biscuits to hungry biscuit-lovers and on weekends, up to 840 biscuits.

And it doesn’t stop at cheese, Lilley says. There are a number of items he offers his patrons to add

to their hot, cheesy biscuit — link sausage, smoked sausage, patty sausage, country ham, bacon — and none are more popular than a chicken cheese biscuit, according to Lilley.

When a patron orders the chicken cheese biscuit, his employees deep fry a half of a chicken breast, after which, the meat is pulled from the bone and stuffed into the biscuit.

According to Lilley, the cheese biscuit he sells, whether plain or filled with a variety of breakfast meats, are his most demanded item during the morning rush — a truly historic, coveted item of interest on the Beaufort County menu.

King Chicken cheese biscuits are brushed with melted butter after they are pulled from the oven.

OCTOBER /NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 31

All the way Bill’s Hot Dogs a multilayered, delicious tradition

The finished product: one hot dog “all the way.” The chili — a spicy, creamy concoction — is uniquely Bill’s and like no other chili.

32 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER /NOVEMBER 2014

Since the late 1930s, visitors and locals alike have flocked to Bill’s Hot Dogs on Gladden Street in downtown Washington. The recipe founder Bill Jackson used for his chili remains unchanged—and a closely guarded secret.

I

Written by VAIL STEWART RUMLEY | PHOTOGRAPHS by ASHLEY VANSANT

t’s the most closely guarded secret in eastern North Carolina, likely in the entire state. Passed down from one generation to the next — at most, a single person and, perhaps, their spouse know it at any given time. Many have tried to solve this riddle to limited success. It’s a mystery, an enigma, a recipe that’s been steeped in secrecy for going on a century. It’s what makes Bill’s Hot Dogs so lip-smackin’ good — the chili.

“It’s got that pop. It’s got a different taste — all the other hotdogs ain’t got it,” said Linwood Roberson. “In my book, this is the only place that you can get a good hotdog.”

Roberson, who hails from Vanceboro, and his son Derrick watch as the ladies behind the counter fill their order. It’s a Friday afternoon and the lunch rush is in

full swing at Bill’s. The orders come fast and furious — “Four all the way;” “Two, mustard and chili, no onions;” “Two all the way, light chili” — punctuated by the slap of the screen door as another customer comes to grab lunch.

Behind a shield of Plexiglas, three women are lined up, decades behind the counter honing their movements into a flawless routine. At the center, the elder stateswoman throws open a stainless steel countertop well, pulling out buns as steam billows into the close air. Mustard, onions, chili — in three short movements, she slops it on and passes right, where another woman fills the bun with one of Bill’s signature red hotdogs. In a blink, the finished product is passed left, behind the back of the first woman, to the waiting hand of the third. Roughly three-quarters of a second OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 33

©Looking Glass Productions, Inc., \ All Rights Reserved.

34 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

From left to right: Lori Woolard, Mildred Hamilton and Karen Ayers behind the counter at Bill’s Hot Dogs. Hamilton has been filling orders “all the way” for 38 years.

later, the hotdog is wrapped and in a bag — an order of six takes her less than five seconds to wrap — then she’s sliding down the counter to ring up another order. Cash only.

It’s been this way for as long as anyone can remember.

From its humble beginnings in Bill Jackson’s service station, Bill’s Hot Dogs has become an institution, a Mecca for hotdog lovers across North Carolina and beyond. They come in droves, some making Bill’s hotdogs an everyday occurrence; some, like Derrick Roberson, a Winston-Salem resident, who says no visit back home is complete without a trip to Bill’s.

“At least once a month, I come get a box of 20 and head back on my way,” Derrick Roberson laughed.

He’s not alone. Owner Jay Boyd can tell one story after another of the lengths people will go to get Bill’s hotdogs (an elderly couple that drives down from Virginia once a month to fill a cooler with hotdogs then turns around and drives home) and the far away places where they turn up (the owner of a Canadian hunting lodge who pulled a stash of Bill’s hotdogs from his freezer, much to the shock of a visiting North Carolina native and a friend of Boyd’s). Bill’s hotdogs are known far and wide, partially because they’ve been around forever, but mostly because they’re unforgettable.

No other dog is like them — and no other dog ever has been.

Jackson opened Bill’s Hot Dogs in 1928 in a storefront near the intersection of Market and Main streets, then moved it to its current downtown location in the late 1930s. He and his

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 35

Bill’s Hot Dogs staff works quickly to fill an order during the lunch rush.

36 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER /NOVEMBER 2014

wife, eventually sold the stand to their neighbors Parker and Lynn Gerard.

It passed to their daughter Bonnie.

Her husband — Boyd — became the owner when she passed away. And just as Bill’s Hot Dogs has passed from founder to neighbor to daughter to husband, so has Bill Jackson’s original chili recipe.

Boyd grew up in neighboring Pitt County, but he’s no stranger to Bill’s hotdogs: on visits to his grandparents’ house at Whichard’s Beach, they’d often make the trek across the river to Bill’s. Never in his life, he said, did he think he’d one day be the owner of Bill’s Hot Dogs and the guardian of its chili recipe.

Now every day but Sunday, Boyd makes Bill’s chili at the original store on Gladden Street in downtown Washington, then at the newer store at Washington Square Mall. Often, he goes about it alone, making enough chili to supply both stores for the day.

Other times, his wife, Ashley, helps him out. In all the years, the recipe has not changed.

“We still use all the same ingredients,” Boyd said. “Nothing’s changed. It’s the original recipe.”

While the consistency has earned the loyalty of hotdog fans everywhere, Boyd believes the Bill’s tradition is just as much of a draw to people as the actual hotdogs.

“You come in, you get mustard, onions and chili on a hotdog and nothing else,” Boyd said. “It’s just amazing that a place that’s never done anything else but hotdogs is so well known and still going. It makes you want to keep everything the same.”

Knowing they’ll never get a hold of the chili recipe, customers regularly make offers to buy the chili on its own — in quarts, in jars — but Boyd believes the only way the chili should ever leave the store is on a bun.

Lunchtime at Bill’s. People line up to place orders at the downtown Washington hotdog stand.

“They tried to buy it from Bill Jackson and he wouldn’t sell it, so I’m going to do the same thing and I’m not going to sell it either,” Boyd said.

Keeping that tradition, and the tradition of low prices (hotdogs are only $1.25), is important to Boyd.

Though the cost of supplies has steadily risen through the years, Boyd keeps prices low as a service to Bill’s customers.

“The main thing we thrive on is to keep it like it is: keep it familyoriented and prices low,” Boyd said.

The philosophy keeps people coming back for more: Boyd said he has no idea how many hotdogs he sells every year, but it’s a lot. On any given day, the ladies behind the counter — many of whom have been slinging Bill’s hotdogs for decades — tackle a seemingly endless line and a hungry crowd with speed and efficiency.

“Sometimes, we don’t know where the end of the line is,” Boyd said. “We come in on Saturday and the line is out to the end of the street — that’s

why we put more benches out there.”

In that line are people who grew up on Bill’s hotdogs: there’s Hatteras Brooks, a young man who’s been visiting Bill’s downtown store for 15 of his 20 years; there’s the elderly gentleman who reckoned he’d been a fan of Bill’s chili for nearly seven decades; there’s father and son Linwood and Derrick Roberson, who stocks up on Bill’s hotdogs until his next visit; there are men and women passing down a family tradition — introduced to Bill’s hotdogs by their grandparents, now do the same for their own grandchildren.

Bill’s Hot Dogs is all about tradition, and it’s biggest one — Bill’s chili recipe and it’s creamy, spicy, deliciousness — will always remain a secret, no matter how many people attempt to unravel its mystery.

According to Boyd, that’s because the ingredients aren’t what you think.

“There’s a lot of people who think they know it, but they’re not even close,” he laughed.

OCTOBER /NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 37

GOOD SPORTS

The cooking’s done, now all that’s left to do is serve up the barbecue.

Going whole HOG 38 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER OCTOBER /NOVEMBER2014 2014

A plate of good eastern North Carolina eatin’. Foods traditionally served at pig pickin’s include collard greens, coleslaw and melt in your mouth hush puppies. (Ashley Vansant Photo)

Pig pickin’: Eastern Carolina style

F

Written by MIKE VOSS | PHOTOS BY BROWNIE FUTRELL & ASHLEY VANSANT

rom family reunions to tailgating at football games to weddings, a pig pickin’ often is a part of these and other events in eastern North Carolina.

Simply put, a pig pickin’ is the slow cooking of a whole hog — snout to curly tail. More than just the roasting of a swine, a pig pickin’ is a time for fellowship, camaraderie and socialization. While the barbecued

pig may feed the body, the convivial atmosphere of a pig pickin’ provides nourishment for the soul.

While a pig pickin’ may be held any time of the year, they are more prevalent in the cooler months, when the warmth emanating from the pig cooker — whether a converted 55-gallon barrel or a custom-made $30,000 barbecue rig — draws people close as they warm their hands on cold nights or

mornings. The unmistakable aroma of the cooking pig also draws people to the pig cooker.

In eastern North Carolina, it’s a pig pickin’. Other places refer to a pig pickin’ as “rolling a pig,” “pig pull,” “pig roast” and “cochon de lait,” a term used by the Cajun population. There are cultural and culinary differences among those terms. In some locales, such as Hawaii, pigs are roasted in pits dug OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 39

Barbecue is serious business for those on the competitors circuit. Regardless of whether a pig wins a blue ribbon, backyard barbecue is always a winner for any eastern North Carolinian.

into the ground.

In eastern North Carolina, pigs are cooked over wood coals (hickory and oak are the most common), with propane gas or over charcoal.

Barbecue purists prefer wood coals to charcoal or propane. Wood coals and charcoal provide a better taste, according to some pig pickin’ experts. Using propane helps maintain a consistent temperature during the cooking process, others contend.

The appeal of a pig pickin’ is its communal atmosphere, with several people taking part in the pig-cooking process, usually overseen by a chief cook. While men usually serve as chief cooks, there are women who more than know their way around a pig pickin’. In this part of the country, the pig is placed meat-side down over the heat source.

40 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

Cooking time, depending on the size of the swine, varies, but about eight hours is the cooking time for a 120-pound pig. At some point during the cooking process, the pig is flipped so the skin-side is down.

Once the pig is cooked, most cookers want the skin to shatter like a broken mirror when the pig is turned again. Many cookers take as much pride in producing that cracklin’ skin as they do in the flavor of the roast pork they produce.

Some cookers baste the pig with a sauce during the cooking process; others sauce the pig after it’s cooked. In eastern North Carolina, the preferred sauce is made with apple-cider vinegar, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and, in some cases, a little sugar. There are some cookers who make their

At any good eastern North Carolina pig pickin’, the side dishes have just as much a say in quality as the pig itself.

Here a few pig pickin’ standards, guaranteed to make it a memorable — and finger-lickin’ — experience.

Brunswick Stew Eleanor Edwards

Indian Corn Sticks

1 (3 to 4 pounds) chicken; 1 dozen large tomatoes or 2 (# 2) cans; 1 quart fresh lima beans or 1 package frozen; 1/2 dozen ears of corn or 1 package frozen; 1/2 pound okra or 1 package frozen; 4 large Irish potatoes, diced; 1 large onion, chopped; 2 strips bacon, cut in small pieces; salt, butter and pepper; 2 quarts water.

1 cup cornmeal; 1/2 cup all-purpose flour; 3/4 teaspoon salt; 1 cup milk; 1 egg; 2 tablespoons lard, melted.

Beaufort County Grange #1233

Sarah Braddy Tri-Community Ruritan Club

Mix cornmeal, flour and salt. Add milk, egg and lard. Beat until smooth. Fill well-greased corn stick pans almost to top. Bake at 425 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Makes 10-12 corn sticks.

Cut up chicken and boil with two quarts of water until tender enough for bones to be removed. Add tomatoes, lima beans, corn (cut from cob), okra, potatoes, onion and bacon. Season with salt, pepper and butter to taste and cook until thick.

Pig Pickin' Cake

Hush Puppies Louise Stoop

1 yellow cake mix (prefer Duncan Hines Classic Yellow); 1 cup oil; 3 eggs; 1 can mandarin oranges with juice.

Terra Ceia Christian School

1 cup cornmeal; 1/4 cup flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 egg; milk, enough to mix well.

Mix and drop into deep fat and cook until brown on all sides.

Lay on paper towel in bowl until ready to eat.

Ed Modlin First Presbyterian Church, Washington

Mix above ingredients and pour into three greased nine-inch pans. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Cool layers and turn out onto cooling rack.

Icing for Pig Pickin' Cake: 1 (16 ounce) Cool Whip, thawed; 1 (3 ounce) package of instant pudding, either vanilla or pistachio; 1 (#2 can) crushed pineapple, well drained.

Mix pudding mix into crushed pineapple, then fold in Cool Whip. Ice cake and refrigerate.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 41

This pot of Brunswick stew will feed plenty of people. The recipe calls for chicken, tomatoes, beans and corn, okra, potatoes and onion — a great mix that complements barbecue.

42 42 •• WASHINGTON WASHINGTON THE THE MAGAZINE MAGAZINE || OCTOBER/NOVEMBER OCTOBER /NOVEMBER2014 2014

sauce three days before a pig pickin’ and let it “age” on their back porches.

Now that the pig is ready to be picked, where does one start? Take your pick. Some folks go for the ribs. Others go for the loin.

There are those who prefer picking from a shoulder or a ham. And some people go for a piece of crunchy skin first. There is no wrong way to pick a pig.

Usually, some of the meat is chopped, the better for making barbecue sandwiches and feeding the young ones attending the pig pickin’.

There is more than roasted pig served at a pig pickin’. Traditional accompaniments include hushpuppies, slaw, baked beans, boiled potatoes in a light tomato sauce (tomato potatoes) and Brunswick stew.

Of course, no pig pickin’ in eastern North Carolina would be complete without iced tea and banana pudding. And there are as many recipes for pig pickin’ cakes as there are recipes for barbecue sauce.

The pig pickin’ has long been associated with politics, especially with candidates out stumping for votes — a reference to when a candidate would stand on a stump and make his or her case for votes. In 1983, when running for governor of North Carolina, Rufus Edmisten was overheard saying, “I’ve eaten enough barbecue. I am not going to eat anymore. I’m taking my stand and that is it.”

In its truest from, according to the North Carolina Pork Council, the pig pickin’ is a celebratory event. It’s not unusual for people at a pig pickin’ to argue whether the word “barbecue” is a verb or noun. Usually, the arguing stops once the pig is ready for pickin’.

When it comes down to it, a pig pickin’ is nothing more than an outdoor party — Southern style.

Now, pass that roasted pig meat, hushpuppies and Brunswick stew this way, please!

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 43

PAST AND PRESENT

Carver’s Drive-In, home to a infamous Beaufort County dish, Mrs. Carver’s Chili, made by Elsie Beavers Carver, pictured here with her husband, Royal Smith Carver.

Miss Carver's Chili For Hot Dogs Elsie Lois Carver Beaufort County Arts Council 2 lbs. lean ground round steak; 1 1/2 tsp. onion salt; 1 Tbsp. chili powder; 1 (16 oz.) can tomato puree.

Brown meat. Add other ingredients. If mixture is too thick, rise the tomato puree can out with a little water and add to mixture. Simmer on low heat.

44 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

Miss Carver's

historic hangout

Chili remembered as prized menu item

I

Written by JONATHAN ROWE | ImageS CONTRIBUTED By CARVER FAMILY

n the heyday of soda shops and drive-ins, places where generations past met socially, one of Beaufort County’s most remembered and famous was Carver’s Drive-In. One item sold by the business was Mrs. Carver’s Chili, which is still revered and coveted among county residents.

The business that created and spread the fame of what was Mrs. Carver’s Chili was built and opened by Royal Smith and Elsie Beavers Carver in the late 1930s. Carver’s Drive-In started out as Carver’s Service Station and eventually became a destination for soda-lovers, according to Mrs. Carver’s daughter-in-law, Phyllis Carver. Royal, a Navy veteran of World War II, brought a soda fountain back to Washington from a Naval ship and installed it in the business, allowing the sale of Cokes and other fountain beverages. The Carver’s business also sold gas, kerosene and some groceries.

However, in the late ‘50s, it was transformed into a sandwich shop per Mrs. Carver’s request to her husband, Phyllis Carver says.

“From the beginning, I remember they had the fountain service because they put that fountain in there from a ship they had gotten it from,” Phyllis Carver recollected. “I remember hearing her say it: ‘Roy, I want you to make me a sandwich shop.’ So he did, and oh, she made great sandwiches.”

Phyllis Carver says Elsie baked her own hams and boiled her own chickens to make chicken salad for sandwiches. Elsie also sold hot dogs, on which she would add what relatives and residents say was her No. 1 item — Mrs. Carver’s Chili. And originally

Carlton Carver, Mrs. Carver’s grandson, remembers visiting and playing outside his grandmother’s business, at which she sold chili dogs made from her famous chili.

to accommodate children who visited the shop, she began selling chili dogs.

“Her chili was her No. 1 item,” Phyllis Carver says. “The kids would come in there, and they would have a dime and wanted to be able to buy a hotdog, but you couldn’t buy a hotdog with a dime. You had to have 15 cents.

So what she did is she would put some of that good ol’ chili on a hot dog bun for 10 cents.”

Phyllis Carver says Mrs. Carver used a simple, but effective recipe for her chili, consisting of ground chuck or ground round, chili powder, tomato puree and onion powder. Mrs. Carver would brown the meat, pour off any grease, which was virtually none, Phyllis Carver says, and then add the other ingredients.

“That woman did not use hamburger,” Phyllis Carver said. “And she didn’t have to put in anymore salt or anything—the onion powder took care of that. It was just some of the best chili you’d ever, ever want to

taste, and she became famous for her chili — and her Cokes.”

The popularity of the drive-in was best illustrated by the hordes of teenage patrons who would come to hang out after school as well as the fact that almost every high school boy around had been employed at the drive-in at some point or another, according to Phyllis Carver.

“They’d come down there, and when school was out, you better know those teenagers were there,” Phyllis Carver said. “She just had a little bit of walkout help, and I’m not exaggerating, just about every high school boy I know about had worked there at some time.”

Mrs. Carver’s operation of the shop was unfortunately halted due to an accident in the kitchen, said Carlton Carver, Elsie Carver's grandson.

According to Carlton Carver, in 1965, on what became her last day at work, Mrs. Carver was burned by hot grease and had to be hospitalized.

“The most famous thing of all was her chili and her chilidogs, which were a hot dog bun that contained some of her famous homemade chili,” Carlton Carver said. “On her last day of work, she claimed to have used 95 pounds of ground sirloin to use in her chili. The most notable thing about her chili was she wanted it to be made of lean meat.”

After Mrs. Carver’s accident, the business was run by others, according to Phyllis and Carlton Carver, but her chili remains highly sought after among Beaufort County residents who remember enjoying it first-hand as well as those generations the recipe has been shared with.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 45

ADVERTISER INDEX 692 Olive, 58 Alexis Davis, Century-21, 25 Allstate Insurance, 64 Apollo’s Steakhouse, 48 Backwater Jacks Tiki Bar & Grill, 48 Beaufort County Community College, 67 Brenda Evans, Century-21, 51 Coastal Carolina Regional Airport, 46 Coastal insurance, 43 Coldwell Banker Coastal Rivers Realty, 19 Coldwell Banker Towne Point, 49 Cottage Junkies, 56 Dr. Lee Lewis, DDS, PLLC, 64 Eastern Dermatology & Pathology, 5 Edward Jones, 59 Electronic Solutions, 58 Executive Personnel, 64 Eye Care Center, 43 Farm Bureau, 65 Feyer Ford, 2 First Bank, 19 Gail Kenefick, 8 Gerri McKinley, 25 GoldenWay Home Care, 49 Gregory Poole, 65 Lone Leaf Gallery, 25 Patio & Hearth Shop, 58 Pair Electronics, 58 Ridgewood Rehabilitation, 8 Scott Campbell, Century-21, 8 State Farm, 5 Stewart’s Jewelry Store, 7 Tayloe’s Hospital Pharmacy, 5 The Rich Company, 3 Vidant Health, back cover Washington Harbor District, 19 Washington Yacht & Country Club, 48 Zaxby’s, 49

CAST A LINE

Best light tackle of the year Written by CAPT. RICHARD ANDREWS

F

or light tackle enthusiasts seeking speckled trout, puppy drum, flounder, and striped bass, fall can be the best season of the year. During the late summer/early fall transition on the river, the speckled trout fishing typically gets very good (usually around mid-late September), and the puppy drum and flounder fishing remains about the same as it is in the summer, with the flounder bite typically falling off around mid-late October. The striper bite also picks up a bit, as they are much like speckled trout in that they prefer the milder water temps of fall and spring. One of the most interesting attributes of our local fishing is the seasonal variability which occurs during every transition of the year, particularly in October and November.

On a perfect day fishing in the fall, we expect 15-75 speckled trout and a handful of puppy drum and flounder to go with them. Specs, drum, and flounder constitute the most sought after species and being able to catch all three species in the same day is what fishing the Pamlico is all about; however, the variety doesn't end with just those three. We often catch bluefish, spanish mackerel, grey trout, sheepshead, spadefish, black drum, and several others while fishing the more saline waters of the Pamlico Sound.

For the speckled trout, we often fish with topwater baits or soft plastics on a jig head when trying to locate fish. These baits enable us to move faster and cover a wider area of water when locating hungry schools of fish. Once the fish are located, we'll often keep catching them on what we're using if they continue to work or switch to popping corks or suspending twitch baits such as Mirrolures if the fish are being more particular.

Fall slot drum fishing should be excellent. The three-year-old class of fish is dominant in the estuary this year. Most of those fish range in the 23-27 inch class, making excellent light tackle targets. In the

fall, the puppy drum have a tendency to school up better as the water temperature drops, so if you can find them, you might catch more than one.

Capt. Richard Andrews is a resident of Washington and the owner of a local year-round guide service offering fishing excursions on the Pamlico and nearby rivers. He can be reached at 252-945-9715 or richard@ tarpamguide. com

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 47

DINING GUIDE

48 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

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OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 49

WORD ON WINE

Red vs. white Written by Virginia Finnerty

T

he never-ending battle — red vs. white Wine is meant to go with food and food is meant to go with wine. So what will you have with dinner?

White wine with fish and poultry, red wine with meat, right? But maybe you’re a diehard red wine drinker and can’t stand the white stuff or vice versa. Or maybe you are a seasonal wine drinker, white while it’s hot and red the rest of the year.

Well … it’s not so simple. Even though there was a time when food-pairing rules were simple (and maybe even a little naïve), they did not take into account the thousands of different foods, infinite combinations of flavors, preparation methods and ingredients. Nor did they make allowances for our inborn sensitivities and intolerances to tastes present in foods and wines, making those guidelines outdated. For example, the bitterness in strong black coffee or tannic red wine that would not appeal to those with very sensitive taste buds might be preferred by others with a more resilient palate. Today’s guidelines must be flexible to accommodate the enormous range and varieties of wines and foods as well as individual likes and dislikes.

Food and wine are alive; the interaction of ingredients and flavors should create a delicious whole. When they come together in your mouth the dynamics of each change and the result is completely unique to each individual and each amalgamation. Whichever way you look at it the bottom line is that when food and wine come together, a variety of chemical reactions occur that can either combine well and give you a blissful experience or clash and create a most unpleasant result.

Flavors can be enhanced or annihilated — the intense flavors of a big, rich wine can wipe out the delicate taste of seafood dishes such as scallops, flounder and sole. Much the same way Beef Bourguignon can render a light-bodied Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio or Sancerre flavorless.

Characteristics can be amplified or minimized — if you eat very tannic foods such as strawberries, walnuts or mesquite smoked salmon when drinking a very tannic wine such as red Bordeaux, Cabernet or a Barolo, the

50 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

characteristics of the wine will be amplified making the wine so dry and astringent most people would not be able to drink it. On the other hand, you can also diminish the characteristics of a wine. Fatty and/or protein rich foods such as steak and cheese can make a very tannic wine that would normally not be one to be enjoyed on its own taste soft and smooth.

Unappetizing, undesirable flavors are created — an unpleasant aftertaste is the result of drinking red wine with sushi. According to Wine Folly, a study was conducted in Japan to understand why fish and red wine don’t pair well; the results of the test indicated that the tiny amounts of iron found in red wine latch on to the fish oils and stick to the taster’s palates causing a fishy metallic aftertaste.

Some general guidelines to help you get the most enjoyment of whatever wine you are drinking: High alcohol percent Amon Ra Barossa Valley Shiraz 2012 - $150.36 / Bridlewood Central Coast Reserve Syrah $26.30 • Do not enhance delicately flavored foods • Pair well with sweeter foods Tannic Gina Gallo Signature Series Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $46.44 / Louis Martini 2012 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon $ 20.00 • Taste drier and more astringent with spicy dishes such as Mexican or Thai foods • Lessen the bitter taste of salty foods • Are softened by fatty and/or protein rich foods Acidic Lucien Crochet 2012 Louire Valley Sancerrre $43.95 / White haven 2013 Sauvignon Blanc,Marlboro New Zealand $21.80 • Amplify the saltiness in food • Pair well with acidic foods • Offset the fattiness in food Sweet Mia Dolcea 2013 Moscato di Asti $27.89 / Picquitos moscato 2013 Valencia,Spain $17.80 • Salty foods minimize its sweetness and amplify its fruitiness • Pair well with equally sweet foods • Enhance salty foods When you find yourself with a great meal and a great wine that just do not pair well, don’t despair! As long as they are both good, eat one first and drink the other after or vice versa.

Yet, even though general traditional rules usually work well when pairing food and wine as well as how certain components of food interact with different styles of wine, you still must judge for yourself as far as what works for you through first-hand experience.

A good French saying to remember: À chacun son gout — Each to their own!

Virginia Finnerty is owner of Pamlico House Bed & Breakfast and proprietor of its inhouse wine store.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 51

LET’S EAT

Carolina Comfort 52 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER OCTOBER/NOVEMBER /NOVEMBER2014 2014

Macaroni and Cheese Preperation

Favorite N.C. time-tested recipes Written by KEVIN SCOTT CUTLER

E

Food PREPARATION By JANE OLSEN | PHOTOS by VAIL STEWART RUMLEY

astern North Carolina is known for many things, including favorite dishes that evoke memories of dinner at grandmother's house, church socials and family reunions.

We all have that one recipe that we reach for when we need a little comforting; like a hug from a loved one, a heaping helping of chicken and dumplings or a slice of fresh-baked cake can lift our spirits and evoke memories of happy times.

It may be a treasured family recipe or one shared by a friend; it may even be one lifted from the pages of the Washington Daily News, which features local favorites in its Pamlico Pantry recipe column. So whether it's an old favorite or a newfound treat, cooking and consuming something special is soothing for the soul, if not necessarily good for the waistline.

Enjoy these recipes, borrowed from the Daily News' Pamlico Pantry collection of cookbooks published by area churches, schools and nonprofit organizations.

Pimento Cheese Spread Tom Blount First Presbyterian Church 1 pound extra sharp cheddar cheese; 1 1/2-2 cups real mayonnaise; 2 teaspoon Colman's dry English mustard; 1 (4 ounce) jar diced pimentos.

Hand shred cheese on grater/shredder into a large mixing bowl. Add dry mustard. Add mayonnaise slowly while stirring and continue until mixture is of a spreadable consistency. Drain liquid from pimentos and add pimentos to mix.

Continue stirring until pimentos are evenly spread throughout.

Note: Quantity of mustard may be adjusted to suit individual taste. Likewise, mayonnaise may also be adjusted to provide desired consistency.

OCTOBER /NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 53

Chicken and Dumplings

Macaroni and Cheese

Chicken and Dumplings Mary Woods Tri-Community Ruritan Club 2 1/2-3 pound fryer; 2 quarts water; 2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon pepper; 2 cups flour; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 3 tablespoons shortening; 3/4 cup buttermilk; flour.

Place chicken in Dutch oven; add water and salt and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until tender. Remove chicken from broth and cool. De-bone and skin chicken and cut into bite-size pieces. Set aside. Combine flour, soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cut in shortening.

Add buttermilk, stirring with fork until dry ingredients are moistened. Place dough on well-floured surface and knead lightly. Bring broth to boil and add pepper. Pat dough into 1/2-inch thickness. Pinch dough off into 1 1/2-inch pieces and drop into boiling broth.

Reduce heat to medium-low and cook about eight to 10 minutes or desired consistency. Stir in pieces of chicken. Serves four to six.

Macaroni and Cheese Deb Ainsworth Washington Pediatrics 16 ounces penne; 3 tablespoons butter; 3 tablespoons flour; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon ground dried mustard; 1/2 teaspoon white pepper; 3 cups milk; 6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese; 4 slices processed American cheese.

Cook penne in boiling salted water for about eight minutes. It should be firm. Meanwhile, melt butter in medium saucepan. Whisk in flour to form a roux. Add salt, mustard and pepper.

Slowly add milk to create a white sauce.

Bring to a boil over medium heat and thicken.

Decrease heat to low and add cheeses.

Remove from heat. Pour over cooked penne.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. To be fancy, prior to baking, top with Italian bread crumbs and paprika.

Note: Jane used white cheddar in this recipe and it was delicious.

54 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

OCTOBER /NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 55

Corn Pudding Mae L. Morgan

Hummingbird Cake Carol Cutler

Sweet Potato Pie Sue Graves

Beaufort County Grange #1233

Bath Christian Church

Saint Peter's Episcopal Church

1 can cream-style corn; 3 eggs; 1/3 cup sugar; 1 cup milk; 2 tablespoons cornstarch; 4 tablespoons butter.

Mix well all ingredients. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes.

Cake: 3 cups self-rising flour; 2 cups sugar; 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or more); 3 eggs, beaten; 3/4 cup cooking oil; 1 3/4 cups bananas, mashed; 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained; 1 cup pecans, chopped; 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Corn Bread Sadie Fowle

Mix flour, sugar and cinnamon. Add eggs and oil. Do not beat. Add other ingredients. Bake in three greased and floured cake pans at 350 degrees for 23 to 28 minutes. Cool before frosting with cream cheese frosting.

4-5 medium to large cooked sweet potatoes, peeled (about 2 1/2 cups); 1 cup milk (canned, whole or half-and-half); 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 1/2 cup brown sugar; juice of 1/2 lemon; 3 eggs; 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; pinch of salt; 2 tablespoons melted butter; 2 pie shells.

First Presbyterian Church 1 cup cornmeal; 1/2 cup all-purpose flour; 3 tablespoons sugar; 3 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 2 eggs; 3 tablespoons shortening, melted (can use oil); 1 cup milk.

Sift together first five ingredients. Add eggs, shortening and milk. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes in a greased eight-inch square pan.

Cream cheese frosting: 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese (do not substitute low fat); 1 (16 ounce) box confectioners sugar; 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional); 1 stick butter or margarine; 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Allow cream cheese and butter to soften.

Cream together. Slowly add confectioners sugar. Add vanilla (and pecans).

Mix all in blender, food processor or mixer.

Taste for sweetness due to variance in potatoes. Pour into two prepared pie shells.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Yield: two pies.

OUT AND ABOUT

Every Thursday Night BCTMA Jam Session • Union Alley Coffeehouse• Open jam Thursday night from 6:30 to 8:30 and every Saturday morning from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Musicians and fans are encouraged to attend and play. There is no admission fee.

Every Saturday Morning BCTMA Jam Session • Union Alley Coffeehouse• Open jam Thursday night from 6:30 to 8:30 and every Saturday morning from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Musicians and fans are encouraged to attend and play. There is no admission fee.

Oct. 9 and Nov. 13 Senior Dance • Washington Civic Center• 7 p.m. Adults ages 50 and older enjoy a fun filled night of dancing and music.

Oct. 17 Music in the Streets • Downtown Washington• 6:30-8:30pm. Enjoy a wonderful evening with your friends and neighbors in Historic Downtown Washington. No matter what your musical taste, you will find entertainers to delight you in this monthly musical event. Downtown Washington comes to life, shops stay open late and the restaurants are glad to see you. For more information, call 252-946-3969.

Oct. 17 & 18 Smoke on the Water • Downtown Washington• The smell of downeast barbecue fills the air in Downtown Washington on the Pamlico River. This family festival features barbecue and chili cook-offs, run,

CALENDAR Beaufort County Arts Council juried Fine Arts Show, music, children’s activities, and artisans’ market! For more information, call 252-944-6136.

Oct. 16 -18 BCAC’s 50th Annual Fine Arts Show • Washington Civic Center• This annual show showcases artwork in five categories: oils/ acrylics, graphics/open mixed, three-dimensional, watercolors and photography. Entries will be available for purchase. Award winners will be on display through the end of the year. Call 252946-2504 for more information.

Oct. 25 Humane Society Dinner and Auction • Washington Civic Center• For more information, call 252946-1591.

Oct. 26 William Florian — Those Were The Days • Washington High School Performing Arts Center• Curtain time is 3 p.m., $25 for single ticket; free ticket with Beaufort County Concert Association membership.

To purchase tickets online, visit www. gobcca.org.

Oct. 31-Nov. 1 Historic Washington Ghost Walk • Downtown Washington• Join Terry Rollins as he leads you down the haunted streets of the Original Washington and through its three centuries of history. The ghost walk begins promptly at 8pm; please meet at

Harding Square near the Visitor Center. $10 per person. Cash only.

No reservations required. For more information, call Terry Rollins at 252-4028595.

Oct. 31 Terror at the Turnage • Turnage Theater• Call 252-946-2504 for more information.

Oct. 31 and Nov. 28 Art Walk • Downtown Washington• 5-8pm. This free-to-the-public showcase of local visual art runs from 5 to 8 p.m. in downtown Washington’s galleries the last Friday of each month. The monthly event features art in galleries open to browsers, collectors or the plain curious, with refreshments and live entertainment thrown in for good measure.

Nov. 1 5th Annual Darleen's Flamingo 5k • Belhaven • 5 p.m. The Annual Event will be an evening glow run. Net proceeds and donations benefit the Shepard Cancer Foundation in Washington, NC in honor of Darleen Smith. http://www. flamingo5k.org

Nov. 8 PAL Banquet • Washington Civic Center• Call 252-923-9482 for information.

Nov. 8 Annie Moses Band • Turnage Theater• 8 p.m.

The Annie Moses Band presents Rhapsody in Bluegrass: The Art of American

Music, a panoramic exploration of America and her music. Featuring favorites from Aaron Copeland, George Gershwin, Bill Monroe, and other quintessential American legends. Rhapsody in Bluegrass fuses Appalachian bluegrass, Celtic fiddle, beloved classical themes, and roots music to create a beautiful and transporting concert experience.

Nov. 15 29th Annual PTRF Oyster Roast • Washington Civic Center• 6 to 11:30 p.m. Enjoy live music, massive quantities of steaming oysters served under the stars, beer on tap, soft drinks and chili,. Also, a SILENT AUCTION featuring many unique and creative items. Oysters are served from 6 p.m. ‘til about 8 p.m. Call 252-946-7211 for information.

Nov. 17 Broadway star Susan Egan • Washington High School Performing Arts Center• Curtain time is 3 p.m., $25 for single ticket; free ticket with Beaufort County Concert Association membership.

To purchase tickets online, visit www. gobcca.org.

Nov. 21 – December 7 Festival of Trees • Turnage Theater• Partnering with the Shepherd Cancer Center Foundation, the Beaufort County Arts Council will be presenting the Festival of Trees (FOT). The gallery will be set up with a dozen trees sponsored by area businesses and will be a virtual winter wonderland, complete with characters from ECU’s annual Nutcracker production.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 57

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58 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

BUSINESS BUILDING

Blending Cultures

Challah, a traditional Jewish sweet bread, was the first yeast bread Midgette learned to cook and is her personal favorite.

60 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER /NOVEMBER 2014

Midgette says she’s not much of a cake designer, but she regularly bakes for weddings and functions.

Written by DAVID CUCCHIARA | Photographs by BETH NISER

Southern roots, international palate

R

achel Kathleen Midgette is not a purest. A baker by trade, she’s made a living exposing rudimentary southern tradition to ethno-culinary creativity, developing her own take on eastern North Carolina staples like the pecan pie and banana pudding, while conversely infusing signature northern dishes with a southern twist.

“We put butter on our challah,” Midgette joked.

A sweet, braided yeast loaf known as “The Bread of Life” in Jewish culture, challah was the first bread added to her repertoire when she first ventured out of her pastry comfort zone. Now, Midgette, who goes by Rachel K, is on her way to opening her very own bakery, one based on the gastronomic philosophy of “blending” eastern North Carolina

baking with foreign ideas, all while appealing to the locals’ taste.

“It’s so cliché, but I always tell people, we love what we do,” Midgette said. “The people who are working in the bakery with me, we eat this stuff too. It’s not like we’re just turning it out to make a profit.”

Like most entrepreneurs, Rachel K Bakery is a product of humble beginnings. In 2010, with the support of her husband,

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 61

From cupcakes to bagels, everything Midgette makes is quality and right out of her kitchen.

Midgette has her own spin on the Pop Tart with her blueberry tarts, made from 100 percent farm-grown jam.

62 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER /NOVEMBER 2014

Midgette quit her day job working for an economic development commission in Raleigh to take on baking full-time. That summer, she began selling cookies, challah and her signature chocolate croissants to patrons at the farmers market in downtown Washington. All her goods were baked in her kitchen, which is certified by the Department of Agriculture and equipped with three top-notch ovens, as the market offered a practical opportunity to assess the demand and hone her craft.

Quickly, locals began to catch on and regular customers helped the 35-year-old baker sell product. A year after quitting her job, Midgette extended her reach from the Washington farmers market to the Uptown Greenville Umbrella Market, where her goods took the place of a local bakery that had just closed.

“We have a good mix of people who grew up around here and people that have come in from other areas, so that really creates this great market for us,” Midgette said. “People are being exposed to new things and others, we’re showing them foods from their childhood.”

While Midgette prides herself on an eclectic palate, her childhood was similar to that of her patrons and provided a delectable foundation to build on. It was an old fashioned southern household where dessert, Midgette said, was served with every meal, although that may be a slight exaggeration. From Saint Patrick’s Day to Easter, every holiday Midgette and her mother worked baking cookies, cakes and pies, all made

Rachel Kathleen Midgette has been baking and selling goods out of her USDA-certified kitchen for four years.

from local ingredients. No artificial sweeteners. No store-bought mixes.

It’s a recipe for success the Rachel K Bakery still abides by today.

“When I say traditional southern stuff, I’m thinking from scratch,” Midgette said. “We don’t use mixes.

We start with flower, sugar, salt, milk, butter and eggs. We don’t use margarine, we don’t use artificial sweeteners. Everything we use is very traditional and we do it all by hand.

The only mixer, we use it to knead the bread. Other than that, everything is shaped individually.”

Midgette’s opportunity to bake regularly finally came in September

of 2013, when Christina MacMiller, the owner of Perfect Perks, brought her on board, uniting her stellar pastries with gourmet roast coffees.

Then, after 10 months at Perfect Perks, Midgette decided to take the final step toward her dream of someday owning a bakery. She took a chance.

She made a bid for the old City Hall building in downtown Washington, one that has been vacant for decades, with the intention of transforming it into her very own coffee shop and bakery.

“The timing was right,” Midgette said. “If it had happened two or three

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 63

years ago and came up for sale, it would have never been on my radar. I thought we’d never be able to afford it. It just fell into place.”

The historic space will serve as a vehicle for Midgette’s ideas. While she plans to serve the basics — coffee, bagels, breakfast sandwiches — the bakery will offer southern takes on international staples.

For example, Midgette will take a Banh mi, a Vietnamese sandwich made with sliced pork, onions and pickled vegetables, and swap out the sliced pork with eastern North Carolina barbeque, while using all locally grown vegetables to give it a localized identity.

Midgette also plans on serving Bialys, a Judeo-Polish recipe she brought back from New York, which resembles a flat bagel that has sautéed onions and poppy seeds in the middle.

“I steal from any culture I possibly can,” Midgette said. “I’m not a purest by any means.”

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Y’ALL COME BACK

Why I love Washington

New discoveries everyday

I

Written by MIKE BEHAR

have lived in North Carolina for 40 years but had never been to Washington until two years ago. I had only heard people talk of "Little Washington."

My thoughts tend to be sarcastic, thus I thought the town must not be much or it would be called "Big Washington." I could not have been more incorrect.

Washington is a special place.

When my wife Ann and I were deciding to relocate for business purposes, we decided to drive through town on the way to the beach. We ate downtown, walked in stores and were impressed at the amount of people downtown during a hot August afternoon. The diversity of stores was amazing as were their assortments. Great restaurants, clothing stores, a wine shop and too many others to name.

Washington is a mix that not many towns have. A beautiful setting on the banks of "The River." A walking path along the river that is not only pretty, but one that is used by many people every day. A nice park, boats, an Estuarium. Beautiful churches that cater to the spiritual needs of their congregations.

Any town can have a wonderful location, but the people of this community make Washington a great place to live.

After relocating, I was invited to attend a Committee of 100 meeting and was amazed at the turnout. Attendees from all walks of life, meeting to make the county a better place. Need to talk to the police, city manager, a banker, an insurance or real estate agent? Lots of them attend every meeting. Our neighborhood is gorgeous and the neighbors quickly introduced themselves, brought us welcoming packages and invited us to visit.

The community is blessed with a vibrant and active arts council that brings in entertainment that is fun, engaging and though provoking. The entertainment prices are reasonable and several are done at no cost at all. The community came together to bring The Turnage Theater back to life. How lucky are we?

How about the Boys & Girls Club? The facility is second to none. The children learn, play and work on computers after school. The staff there is first class and put the children first every day. Active volunteers help this facility

66 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

Mike Behar

grow and flourish. Get involved by just showing up!

Speaking of children, how great is it to have Beaufort County Community College in Washington and East Carolina University around the corner? What great assets for future educational needs that include major college sports and a world-class hospital able to handle any emergency.

My children were educated elsewhere, thus the only thing I know about the Washington schools are what I hear at work or from my neighborhood children, teachers and former teachers, but Ann currently teaches in Pitt County and hopefully will find something closer to home and be able to make a positive impact on our children with time.

Ann and I look forward to being involved in the people, places and things we have yet to experience and make Washington a better place to live.

Mike Behar is the general manager of Hampton Art, Inc.

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Online Degree, Diploma and Certificate Courses

Six associate degrees, two diplomas and nine certificates, including Information Technology, Computer Programming, Criminal Justice, Medical Office Administration, Business Administration, Criminal Justice, Accounting, Web Development and Design, Early Childhood Education and more...all online.

For more information about these online programs, call Daniel Wilson at 252-940-6233.

Ed2Go Management and Leadership Online Courses

Courses in Business Fundamentals, Leadership, Team-building, Supervision and Management, Business Analysis and many more, completely online through BCCC. Call Justin Rose at 252-940-6262 for a complete listing of Ed2Go classes.

Online Entrepreneurship Training in Partnership with HP

Over 20 free online courses for new and existing business owners through BCCC in partnership with Hewlett Packard. Learn Online Selling, Finance Basics, Marketing, Hiring Staff and many more.

For complete information about this and other Small Business Center programs and seminars, call Lentz Stowe at 252-940-6306.

To learn more about all the great learning opportunities at BCCC, go to our website at www.beaufortccc.edu or call Admissions Director Daniel Wilson at 252-940-6233.

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