Features

Holiday Recipe – Cocktails

November 18, 2018

Add A Little Kick to Your Holiday Party

As soon as the weather starts gets a chill in the air, party invitations begin showing up in your mailbox. In addition to family get-togethers, the holidays are filled with plenty of social mingling. Whether you’re a hostess extraordinaire or bringing a drink to a pot luck style meal, a few tips can’t hurt during this busy season. So, we’ve compiled a few cocktails sure to please everyone. Just follow these simple instructions for straightforward party success!

Southern Comfort Punch via Martha Stewart
Ingredients:
6 lemons
4 navel oranges
2 six-ounce frozen lemonade, concentrate
1 six-ounce frozen orange juice, concentrate
1 liter Southern Comfort
2 liters lemon-lime soda

Directions
Step 1
-Slice lemons and oranges into thin layers
-Wrap two baking sheets in plastic wrap
-Place slices of lemon and orange on baking sheets
-Place in freezer for 2-2.5 hours, or until frozen

Step 2
-Place frozen lemonade and orange juice into punch bowl
-Add lemon lime soda
-Add Southern Comfort and a few handfuls of ice
-Place frozen fruit slices in punch

Step 3
-Drink and enjoy! Yields 12 to 20.

Hot Cider Nog via Southern Living
Ingredients:
2 cups half and half
1 cup milk
1 cup apple cider
2 large eggs
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup bourbon (optional)
½ cup whipping cream, whipped
Cinnamon stick as garnish

Directions:
Whisk together half and half, milk, apple cider, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and bourbon in a saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. When mixture thickens (about 15 min), add bourbon. Top each glass with whipped cream and a cinnamon stick. Yields 5.5 cups.

Hot Buttered Rum via Marie Claire
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Mount Gay Eclipse Rum

Batter:
1 lb. light brown sugar
½ lb. unsalted butter (softened)
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground allspice
2 tsp vanilla extract

Batter Instructions:
Beat softened butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and spices together. Place in the refrigerator up to month.

Drink Directions:
-Preheat a coffee mug
-Place 2 tbsp (large) of batter into mug along with 1.5 oz of Rum
-Place boiling water into mug and stir

And if you’re looking for something that tastes good, but still allows you to drive home, check out this mocktail recipe!

Sleigh Driver via Eating Well
Ingredients:
1 cup water
½ cup sugar
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
3 pears, diced and divided
2 quarts apple cider
1 lemon, halved and sliced
1 tblspoon ground allspice
1 cup fresh cranberries
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Directions:
-Combine water, sugar, ginger, one pear in a saucepan. Bring to a boil using medium to high heat. Strain and return mixture to pan.
-Add the rest of the diced pears, cider, lemon and allspice and heat, stirring for 15 minutes.
-Add cranberries and vanilla extract and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 10 minutes and serve in mugs. Enjoy! Yields 10 servings.

Holiday Recipe: Turkey vs. Ham

November 17, 2018

The Age-old Debate: Turkey or Ham

Plus, a couple of recipes for both to make the decision even tougher.

When preparing to cook the holiday dinner, there always seems to be a toss-up between which kind of meat to fix—turkey or ham? Fortunately at my holiday gatherings I can expect to find turkey and ham on the table, and sometimes even chicken.

But for those tables featuring only one choice, the decision can be tough. Turkey is healthier, and goes better with stuffing. But when you honey bake that ham…

Here are some recipes (via allrecipes.com) that just might help you conquer the battle between turkey vs. ham.

Maple Roast Turkey

Original recipe makes 12 servings

Ingredients
-2 cups apple cider
-1/3 cup real maple syrup
-2 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
-2 tablespoons chopped fresh marjoram
-1 ½ teaspoons grated lemon zest
-3/4 cup butter, softened
-salt and pepper to taste
-2 cups chopped onions
-1 ½ cups chopped celery
-1 ½ cups chopped carrots
-3 cups chicken broth
-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
-1 bay leaf
-1/2 cup apple brandy
-1 (12 pound) whole turkey, neck and giblets reserved

Directions

Combine apple cider and maple syrup in a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue cooking until reduced to 1/2 cup, then remove pan from heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon thyme, 1 tablespoon marjoram, and lemon zest. Stir in butter until melted, and season with salt and pepper. Cover, and refrigerate until cold.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place rack in lower third of oven.
Place turkey on a rack set in a roasting pan. Reserve 1/4 cup maple butter for gravy, and rub the remaining maple butter under the skin of the breast and over the outside of turkey. Arrange onion, celery, carrots turkey neck and giblets around the turkey. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon thyme and 1 tablespoon marjoram over vegetables. Pour 2 cups broth into pan.
Roast turkey for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cover entire turkey loosely with foil. Continue roasting for about 2 1/2 hours, or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Transfer turkey to platter, and let stand 30 minutes.
Strain the pan juices into a large measuring cup, and then remove any excess fat. Add enough chicken broth to pan juices to measure 3 cups. Transfer liquid to a saucepan, and bring to boil. In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup maple butter and 1/3 cup flour until smooth. Whisk flour and butter mixture into broth mixture. Stir in remaining thyme and the bay leaf. Boil until reduced to sauce consistency, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Mix in apple brandy, if desired. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Honey-Orange Glazed Ham

Original recipe makes 1 – 8 pound ham

Ingredients
-2 tablespoons orange juice
-1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
-1 cup honey
-1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
-1 (8 pound) fully-cooked whole ham

Directions

Preheat an oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Stir the orange juice, cinnamon, clove, and honey together in a small bowl; set aside. Stir in almond extract if desired.
Place the ham in a shallow roasting pan. Bake in the preheated oven 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove the ham from the oven, and baste with the honey glaze. Return to the oven; continue cooking until the ham reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees F (60 degrees C), about 45 minutes longer. Baste occasionally as the ham finishes baking.

Caribbean Paradise—The St. Lucia Lifestyle

June 27, 2018

Caribbean Paradise – The St. Lucia Lifestyle

Heaven on Earth

With its ribbons of sandy beaches, swaying coconut palms, warm waters, and coral reefs, Saint Lucia is indeed paradise. St. Lucia has evolved, in recent years, into one of the region’s most popular vacation and active adult destinations. Couples are not only enticed by the island’s striking natural beauty, but by the naturally luxurious St. Lucia lifestyle.

One of the Windward Islands of the West Indies’ Lesser Antilles, Saint Lucia is situated between Martinique and St. Vincent. The Atlantic Ocean surrounds the 238 square-mile island on the east coast, while the tranquil turquoise Caribbean Sea laps its shores on the west. At the island’s heart, pristine rainforest cloaks rugged mountains. And, in the valley below lies fertile farmland. Additionally, vast banana plantations sprawl between the two. St. Lucia’s landscape also includes one of the world’s few drive-in volcanoes. Then, there’s the Pitons, signature twin volcanic cones that tower more than 2,600 feet above the sea. The Pitons are preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Climate

Saint Lucia boasts a standard Caribbean climate. Consistently warm, sunny weather is tempered by northeastern trade winds and subsequent light showers. Mid-December to mid-April is high tourist season. The island is pleasantly warm during the day and cool at night. Then, there’s the rainy season, which lasts from June to October. Heavy bursts of rain soak the central rainforest at a rate three times heavier than on the coast. The least popular season in St. Lucia is August to October, hurricane season.

The island population hovers around 160,000. It’s known for historic influences of African, Amerindian, European, and East Indian cultures. While it’s a Creole society in the broadest sense, there’s a sense of oneness that threads through the population. One will find an intriguing combination of races, cultures, languages, and cuisine in St. Lucia. Though English is the official language, a French-based Creole (or patois) is also spoken.

In stark contrast to the serenity visitors enjoy on Saint Lucia today, for nearly two hundred years, the island was the object of some of the bloodiest battles that raged in this part of the world. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Saint Lucia changed hands between Britain and France a record 14 times. So, the moniker as the “Helen of the West Indies”, was duly earned. History buffs can visit Pigeon Island National Landmark, a strategic military post used by French pirates in the 1550s and by U.S. armed forces during World War II.

Culture

This tiny island has produced two of the greatest Nobel Prize Winners, economist Sir Arthur Lewis and poet and playwright Derek Walcott. Saint Lucians love to “jump up” (dance in the street) and there is no better time to visit than during one of the island’s festivals. The renowned Saint Lucia Jazz Festival in May draws performers and audience members from around the world. Carnival in July and International Creole Day in October, though, are when the island’s free-spirited, colorful culture truly reveals itself with wild costumed street parades and indigenous music and dance.

No matter what time of year you visit, you’ll find Saint Lucia pulsating with the energetic rhythms of calypso, cadence, zouk, steel pan, soca, and reggae music. On Friday nights, residents and tourists alike stream into the fishing village of Gros Islet for a raucous weekly street party that gets going around 10 p.m. and lasts till the wee hours of the morning. Bars throw open their doors and pump loud music into the street, while snack vendors sell fried fish, barbecue, and hotcakes. Revelers dance under the stars with a can of beer in one hand and a juicy barbequed chicken leg in the other.

Local crafts of basketry, pottery, woodcarving, and jewelry made from seeds are integral to the local economy and to the St. Lucia lifestyle. Browsing is half the fun at the bustling Castries Central Market and Vendor’s Arcade and at the Choiseul Arts and Craft Centre.

Food & Drink

Saint Lucian cuisine takes full advantage of the island’s abundant fresh seafood and exotic fruits and vegetables. In general, local chefs cook in the Creole style, interpreting African-derived dishes with inventive French flair. The national dish is salt fish and green fig-a stew of dried, salted codfish and boiled green banana. Other regional delicacies are boudin (spicy blood sausage), lambi (conch), and colombo (curried chicken or goat). Locally grown produce includes bananas, passion fruit, papaya, limes, guava, coconuts, plantains, breadfruit, and seven kinds of mangoes, as well as okra, avocados, cucumbers, pumpkins, yams, christophenes (a white, watery vegetable), and callaloo (a leafy green spinach-like vegetable). Fresh lobster is widely available in season, which lasts from August through March.

In addition to Creole cuisine, restaurant fare and resort buffets run the gamut with Asian, French, Mexican, British, and American offerings, as well as fast food burgers and pizza.

Refreshing fruit juices abound and islanders are rightly proud of their rum. Saint Lucia Distillers produces an assortment of both dark and white rums at its factory in Roseau Valley. The distillery hosts guided tours showing how rum was made in the past and how it is produced today using modern techniques. Local bartenders concoct delicious rum punches and cocktails with fresh fruit juices and liqueurs, completing the Caribbean St. Lucia lifestyle.

Nature

Nature lovers and active adults enjoy the St. Lucia lifestyle likely more than most. St. Lucia boasts a wide range of land and sea adventures on the island. The sand on the beaches here ranges in hue from volcanic black to golden honey. Reduit Beach on Rodney Bay is the most popular (and crowded) of the northern beaches for sun worshippers. Scuba divers and snorkelers favor Anse Chastanet and neighboring Anse Mamin, while wind surfers flock to the swelling waves and winds of Anse de Sables, near Vieux Fort to the south. The underwater world of Saint Lucia is a wonder to behold, with pristine coral reefs sheltering sea horses, octopus, sea turtles, and a multitude of exotic fish species, including peacock fish, needle fish, frog fish and batfish.

Saint Lucia’s rain forest covers some 19,000 acres of lush valleys and peaks. The National Trust and the Department of Forestry offer 29 miles of trails (some more strenuous than others) that lead hikers through the tropical rain forest. The scent of wild orchids fills the air and there are swimmable waterfalls and more than 30 species of birds, such as the Saint Lucia oriole, white breasted thrasher, Lesser Antillian peewee, and Saint Lucia wren. If you’re lucky, you’ll spot the national bird, the Amazona Versicolor (or Jacquot), a colorful parrot that was once an endangered species and is now protected.

Botanical Paradise

The island boasts extraordinary botanical gardens as well. The perfectly manicured Mamiku Gardens wind around the hilltop ruins of the Baron Micoud Estate House (circa 1766) in the village of Micoud. At Diamond Botanical Gardens and Waterfall in Soufrière, visitors soak in curative thermal mineral baths that King Louis XIV of France commissioned in 1784. Rumor has it that Joséphine Bonaparte bathed here as a young girl.

Where to Stay

Most of Saint Lucia’s hotels, resorts and inns are tucked away on secluded coves, unspoiled beaches or jungle-covered hillsides. Luxury villa communities, complete with onsite gourmet restaurants, pampering spa services and access to golf courses, are a popular lodging option. Top ranked resorts include Cotton Bay Village, where town house and villa rentals come with complimentary butler services. The romantic open-air villas and suites at Ladera feature four-poster beds and views of the famous Pitons volcanoes. Then, there’s Emerald Vista Luxury Residences, an active adult haven on the southeastern side of the island. Both exhilarating views and Caribbean breezes greet visitors and residents daily. No matter where you stay, you’ll find Saint Lucia to be a soul-satisfying feast for the senses.

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Howl at the Moon

June 20, 2018

Howl at the Moon Party on Bald Head Island!

By JASON Frye | Photography by JACK UPTON AND MILLIE HOLLOMAN

I’m an hour early when I show up for my first Howl at the Moon party. I’ve heard they’re popular and I don’t want to miss out on any of the action. A number of carts and bicycles are already parked around Beach Access 39 on East Beach, so I find a spot, back in and make my way to the beach.

Word spreads quickly on Bald Head Island, no matter if it’s word of a party or a turtle nest boiling, and I wonder how many of these cart owners are here for the Howl—folks who got wind of a party that’s a legend among residents, frequent visitors who plan their stays around the event, and the lucky vacationers who’ve found themselves in the right place at the right time.

I find my answer when I see a small mountain of flip-flops forming on the slopes of the dune at the mouth of the beach access. I kick mine off, add them to the pile and step into the sand to join the fun, even if it hasn’t officially started.

Howl at the Moon parties have become something of a phenomenon on Bald Head Island. For years, residents and property owners held sunset/moonrise get-togethers that floated from location to location, but in January 2011, these informal gatherings became official. While Maritime Market Café Chef Greg Guthrie was heading home in the light of the almost-full moon, inspiration struck. He called his father-in-law Claude Pope, owner of the Market, and said, “Let’s have a party.”

Less than 24 hours later, Chef Guthrie hauled a giant pot of chili onto the beach, the 42 original “Howlers” brought liquid refreshment and everyone shared. Huddled together on the windswept winter beach, they celebrated the sunset and howled when the moon rose.

Just like that, a tradition was born.

Today is perfect for a beach party. It’s July 3rd and the island is bustling. For the 60-odd partygoers already on the beach—early, just like me—there’s nothing but blue sky, warm water and knee-high waves. Jennifer Day and Nicole Dreyfuss, sisters-in-law from Ohio, have claimed a table and stand watching their families play on the beach. They’ve both kicked off their shoes and are exploring the sand with their toes.

“The thing we love about being on the island is that we really do unplug,” Day says. “We make no plans while we’re here. We wake up every morning and see where the day takes us.”

Day and Dreyfuss clink their drinks together and laugh, glad that today took them to East Beach to Howl at the Moon.

As we talk, the party has grown around us. A couple-dozen more people have kicked their shoes onto the slopes of Mt. Sandal and spread out blankets and half-circles of chairs. An energy is building. When Chef Guthrie and the Maritime Market staff emerge with two giant kettles of soup and what look like canoe paddles to stir them with, the excitement level jumps up a notch.

In the space of a few minutes, people have started to arrive in earnest. Toddlers, teens, couples and families add their shoes to the pile. Kids sprint in every direction to explore the evening beach, some gravitate to the pair of caged turtle nests, some straight into the water, some to the kites set up down the beach, all with a parent or two in tow.

The party has grown to 100 before the sponsors can even set up their keg of beer, and from the looks of the stream of people pouring out of the beach access, there’s no sign of the crowd shrinking any time soon.

The Howl at the Moon parties go on every month of the year at the full moon and twice a month if you’re lucky enough to be on Bald Head Island for a Blue Moon (go ahead and start planning now for the July 31, 2015 Blue Moon Howl, which promises to be a doozy). During the winter months, Howl parties draw smaller crowds (although never less than that inaugural 42), but during the summer, especially during the week of July 4th, the crowds swell to well over 500.

This crowd looks to be a record and I ask Claude Pope, the unofficial master of ceremonies, how many people he thinks are here. He surveys the crowd, somehow tallying them. “400,” he says, “but don’t stop counting yet.”

Including the Popes, there are around 220 people who reside on Bald Head Island year-round. Of those full-timers, a contingent hasn’t missed a Howl at the Moon party yet. John Fisher is one of the regular attendees and I find him with a group of full-timers. After I introduce myself, they treat me like long-lost family and talk over each other to tell me their stories about life on Bald Head Island.

“If you live out here, the party’s mandatory,” Fisher says with a smile.

“Even in the winter,” someone adds.

“Especially in the winter,” says Larry Lammert, former Mayor of Bald Head Island.

“That’s when we’re out here wrapped in parkas and ski masks and everyone is so bundled up you can’t recognize them.”

“All joking aside,” says Fisher, “for us old-timers, this is just another excuse to get together and celebrate the place that drew us together.”

“Besides,” he continues, “there’s nothing prettier than the moon in winter. Except maybe the moon tonight.”

Fisher’s lived on the island since 2005, but he first visited as a Boy Scout in the mid 1960s, so he’s had plenty of opportunities to see the moon over the island.

“Camping here as a kid was one of the first times I felt a real connection to a place,” he says. “When it was time to retire, my wife and I visited Bald Head and we both felt that connection. Now I live in a place I love, surrounded by great people and a beauty I can’t describe.”

We lift our glasses to Fisher’s impromptu toast and all look skyward, first west, over the dunes where the sky is a brilliant yellow fading to deep blue overhead. Following the dome of the sky east, we find no moon yet, but a bank of clouds on the far horizon promises that when the moon does rise, and casts its first rays on us, it’ll be through a veil of clouds.

I take my cue and move off through the crowd, where Claude catches my eye. He waves, opens his hands wide as if to show me the sea of people I’m standing in. He mouths “700” and gives me a thumbs up.

In the dunes, the mountains of shoes are higher than a Boy Scout’s pup tent.

The moon’s risen and is getting close to breaking free from the cloud cover when I stop to talk to Jay Walker and his teenage daughter, Katie. They’re down from Roanoke Rapids, N.C., for a visit with his brother.

“We’ve been here a lot and I’ve seen a lot of moonrises on this island,” he says, “but this party, it’s something else.”

Katie shifts on her blanket. “Will we…will people really howl?” she asks me, shyly.

Throughout the evening, I’ve heard the question asked more than once. Sometimes it’s from children, but more often than not it’s from adults, the people who most need to live in the moment, the very people who need to howl at the moon.

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The BBQ Battle

May 10, 2018

*Updated. Originally posted January 22, 2014

The BBQ Battle: East vs. West Memorial Day Challenge

When it comes to BBQ, most of us usually think pulled pork, on a bun, with a side of coleslaw and served at an outdoor event. And for the most part, BBQ is just that. However, the BBQ battle continues to boil between the East and the West, the competition stemming mostly from the sauces used when making BBQ. And, both regions pour the loyalty on thick. Western BBQ is tomato based with definite tang, while eastern BBQ has a vinegar base with cayenne pepper to give it a nice kick. This Memorial Day, please them all and take your own mini-poll. May the best BBQ win….

Eastern Carolina BBQ

2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons molasses
1 Tablespoon ground dry mustard
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, mix cider vinegar, molasses, dry mustard, butter, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire and brown sugar. Bring to a boil. Mix 4 teaspoons cornstarch with 4 teaspoons cold water and slowly add to the sauce; simmer 1 minute. The sauce will thicken a little but will remain mostly thin as this is the type of sauce it supposed to be (it will also thicken a bit more when it cools). If you think the cornstarch became clumped in any way within the sauce, strain before pouring into a squeezable bottle. Serve over pulled pork.

Western Carolina BBQ

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
1 40-ounce bottle of ketchup
2 1/2 cups water to rinse the inside of the ketchup bottle
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 cups white distilled vinegar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup yellow mustard
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2-4 Tablespoons of natural smoke drippings or liquid smoke to taste

In a large stock pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the ketchup; rinse the bottle with the water and add to the pot. Stir in the tomatoes, vinegar, sugars, molasses, mustard, lemon, salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 3-3 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Using a hand held immersion blender, food processor, or blender, purée the sauce in batches. Place a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl and strain the sauce, pressing on the solids with the back of a ladle. Add the smoke flavorings to taste.