Gift from Heaven

When the UPS man dropped off an unexpected package at the back door, I was more than curious. After tearing into the box like a child on Christmas morning, I found the gift of Pickled Okra. Jeff Murrie, a student in my class in Charleston, told me after class he was going to mail me a bottle of his special okra. After telling me how to use the pickled okra juice in dirty martinis, I was intrigued, to say the least.
Jeff's okra may very well be the best I have ever tasted. Here's a toast with my martini to Jeff!

Fun in Chapel Hill

I have just returned from a wonderful trip to Chapel Hill, NC. I taught a sold-out fried chicken class at Southern Season on Sunday afternoon. I was truly in awe of the store and the cooking school is one of a kind. The store is a cook's dream with 60,000 square feet of all the things I love. This is a photo of my class. They were champs at frying chicken. We didn't have a single piece burned or undercooked!

I enjoyed a delightful dinner at Crook's Corner with prolific food writer and cookbook author Jean Anderson. We had the treat of Chef Bill Smith sitting with us for much of our meal. Every forkful was unbelievably delicious. The meal was one of the best I have ever had. I brought home a copy of Bill's book to add to my recipe collection.

After a breakfast of country ham and biscuits at Mama Dip's, I completed my trip, stuffed and happy.