Good Lord. It looks like we are neither in nor out of the woods. We must tread carefully through yet another holiday season. Around here, at least, people are adapting as best they can. The restaurants and clubs seem fairly festive with masked up clientele. It’s always a funny time of year here for the restaurant business anyway. The university, our main industry, is closed between semesters — so many regular customers are celebrating the holidays elsewhere. At the same time, more locals venture out since things are less crowded, and people are also deciding on where they will perch for basketball season. A lot of us are very superstitious about this last point. I took me several years to find a new spot to watch games after The Flying Burrito closed. It had always been my Tar Heel good luck venue. (I now go to the Orange County Social Club, which doesn’t serve food, but the neighborhood is full of places that do takeout and you’re allowed to bring your supper in with you.)
First, a reminder that both of our farmers markets will have special holiday afternoon sessions this week, Chapel Hill on Tuesday and Carrboro on Wednesday. There will be greenery and wreaths and such as well as the normal seasonal offerings. And, in keeping with this seasonal theme, the unseasonably warm weather allowed me to sit outside when I visited the Carolina Brewery to sample their Santa’s Secret Ale along with my supper. They have a Christmas brew every year. When I was still working at Crook’s Corner, I used to always run down the street to have a pint to celebrate our closing for the holidays each year.
I’ve been too busy to sit down for dinner very much at all lately, but happily there are lots of take-outs and eat and run places around. I’ve often mentioned here my own displeasure at my own home cooking, so this is lucky although it could also lead to bankruptcy if I don’t shape up soon. A new arrival is Bouquet Garni, a Senegalese food stand in the Blue Dogwood market on Franklin St. You may sit down and eat, but I was in a hurry so I got lunch-to-go. It included perfect sweet potato fries. Another time, I went by my friend Antonio Jimenez’s Doña Lilia food truck. He parks evenings in front of the Love Overboard Kennels on Rosemary Street in Carrboro. My chicken quesadilla supper was large enough to provide the next day’s lunch as well. Please keep in mind that if you too are really busy, that many of our restaurants have honed their takeout skills under the lockdown and are happy to help you with your holiday entertaining.
Finally, next month I’ll be in Mexico leading food tours of Oaxaca, so my next submission will be that of a foreign correspondent. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
I think that everyone is looking for something cozy these days, so for our holiday recipe here’s my father’s Sweet Potato Pie.
(makes one pie)
- 1 nine inch pie shell
- You can make your own, but friend and cookbook author Nancie McDermott assures me that it’s ok to buy one if you prefer. Weaver Street Market has excellent, house-made ones.
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups peeled cooked sweet potatoes, mashed
- I prefer to bake mine, but you may also boil them. Either way, don’t peel or cut them until they are cooked. Two pounds are probably enough.
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cups sugar
- 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- ¼ teaspoon lemon extract
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Combine and mix well all of the dry ingredients except for the sugar. Using the paddle attachment of your mixer, beat the sweet potatoes until they start to look fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Next, add the sugar, incorporating it completely. Follow with the spices, milk, butter and lemon extract. Combine well. Pour this filling into the pie shell and bake until the edges of the crust are brown and the center of the pie is fairly firm, about 45 minutes. Allow to cool before slicing. Almost everything is better with whipped cream.
Again, Happy Holidays!
“Just The Bill, Please” is a regular column on Chapelboro.com penned by local culinary legend Bill Smith. Born and raised in New Bern, Bill Smith spent 25 years heading up the kitchen in Crook’s Corner — and over the years, he accumulated the accolades to match his incomparable takes on classic Southern food.
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