Sunnyside Oyster Bar is an eastern North Carolina tradition and folks from all over the country come to taste these special, just-shucked oysters. OPEN NOW September, 2026, at 5:30 every night.
A few years back, my friend Marion and I hiked up Jockey’s Ridge – the tallest living sand dune on the Atlantic coast. Back then, I made it to the top without much fuss. These days? I’d probably need a week and a good pep talk … but I’d still give it a go.
There is a very small window of time when Sweet Corn, Okra, and Tomatoes are in season at the same time – Probably just a few weeks in late summer.
It always reminds me of late summer on the farm when we were harvesting or “putting in” tobacco. Those were long nights when my dad and Walter sat into the night poking wood into the fire to cure the tobacco.
If you have an overabundance of okra, let some of them stay on the plant until they are dried out. You can then make the cutest Okra Santa Christmas ornaments.
Corn, Okra, and Tomatoes Recipe
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 97kcal
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet onion or 2 small onions peeled and chopped
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 2 cups fresh tender okra (about a double hand full)
- 6 large ripe tomatoes or a 28-ounce cans whole, peeled tomatoes - canned tomatoes are fine
- 3-4 ears fresh mature corn
- 1 teaspoon sea salt or regular salt
- Pepper if desired
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large saucepan. Cook chopped onion for a few minutes until transparent, not browned.
- While the onions are cooking, blanch the tomatoes for half a minute. Drain and cool tomatoes. Peel, remove the cores and cut into chunks, making sure that you save the juice. If using canned tomatoes, cut the tomatoes into large pieces, saving the juice.
- Wash the okra. Cut stem ends off and cut into ½ inch round pieces.
- Shuck corn and cut corn off the cob. Older or mature corn works best for this recipe.
- Add the tomatoes and juice, okra, corn, salt, pepper and water to the cooked onions. Cook covered over medium to low heart for one hour or until the ingredients are all done.
- Serve with homemade cornbread.
Nutrition
Calories: 97kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 353mg | Potassium: 447mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1490IU | Vitamin C: 26.4mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 0.6mg
Summer in coastal North Carolina means great watermelons. If you want a unique watermelon recipe, here it is – Watermelon Punch
Refreshing Watermelon Punch
When I was growing up on the farm, my father planted three long rows of watermelons – each one stretching at least a city block. It was a sight, and it meant we had more watermelons than most folks could imagine.
By July and August, we’d drive the pickup truck straight into the field and load the back full of those big, striped melons. Then we hauled them to the house and laid them under the old pecan trees, the same ones still standing here at Big Mill B&B Extended Stay today.
Every afternoon, no matter how hot it was or how much work we had left, we’d stop, slice open a watermelon, and eat until we were cool and sticky with juice. Whatever we didn’t finish went to the cows and the mules – nothing was ever wasted on a farm. We didn’t feed the watermelon to the chickens. Mother said it hurt their faces.
I first tasted Gazpacho in the sixties when I was a young student living in Spain.
Gazpacho is perfect for hot summer days.
It happened in a little café in Toledo, Spain, and I can still picture it – the café itself, the handsome young man, and the Gazpacho that made such an impression on me.
My own gazpacho recipe grew from one in Craig Claiborne’s New York Times International Cookbook, my favorite cookbook. And here’s a fun bit of trivia: Craig Claiborne, longtime food editor of the New York Times, was born in Sunflower, Mississippi.
Gazpacho
Gazpacho - Chilled Tomato Soup
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 151kcal
Ingredients
- 4 cups tomatoes with cores removed 2 1/2 to 3 pounds* or 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups peeled cucumber cut into large chunks
- 1/2 cup cucumber diced into small pieces for garnish (reserved)
- 1 green pepper seeded and cut into chunks
- 1 small clove garlic peeled and minced
- 5 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar or white vinegar wine vinegar is more distinctive
- 1 1/2 slices bread or 2 slices French bread
Instructions
- Place tomatoes, 1 1/2 cups cucumber, green pepper, garlic, olive oil, vinegar and bread into a blender. Blend until pureed.
- Pour through a kitchen sieve and press with the pestle to extract the liquid. Discard the seed and skins - they make great compost.
- Chill and serve in flat bowls with the reserved, diced cucumber as garnish.
Notes
*You can also make this gazpacho with one 28-ounce can of whole tomatoes.
Nutrition
Calories: 151kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 43mg | Potassium: 343mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 925IU | Vitamin C: 31.1mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 0.8mg
Fresh tomatoes grown on the Farm
The basket in the photo is a treasure. It was a gift from Miss Sadie, who owned the original Big Mill grist mill. Long ago, she carried this very basket up town every week with three dozen eggs to trade for coffee, sugar, and anything she couldn’t grow herself. The cotton seeds are still tucked inside — her clever way of keeping the eggs from breaking.
I grew the tomatoes in my Big Mill Cook’s garden, tucked into the orchard where our livestock once grazed beneath the apple trees. It’s a place full of stories, and this basket is one of my favorites.
Big Mill Bed & Breakfast Extended Stay 252-799-8787
Sweet cucumber pickles are as southern as iced tea.
Chloe’s Sweet Cucumber Pickles are worth the trouble.
Not just any pickles either – they must be homemade and preferably homegrown. It is alright if someone gives you the cucumbers, or you pick them up fresh from your local Farmers Market.
We all have a sweet pickle family recipe that has been passed down and it usually involves days of work for our pickles to have just the right crunch. This recipe involved three days. Some of the older recipes take an entire week. It involves soaking in lime and rinsing and soaking and rinsing again.
This year I had to add some extra help so I coerced Cynthia, a B&B guest to help with the washing and slicing. She is a natural.
Southerners work pickles into all kinds of dishes – pickle relish, pickle juice, and chopped pickles show up in everything from chicken salad to potato salad to deviled eggs. And of course, I’ve got a homemade pickle relish recipe too.
My mother, Chloe, had several pickle recipes, but this one is my favorite.
FYI – I also have a pickle fork in several different sterling patterns. It’s a southern thing. And we all have to have a deviled egg plate, that too is a Southern thing.
This easy Strawberry Bread recipe uses self-rising flour.
Strawberry bread is a springtime treat for folks in eastern North Carolina. You can make this bread any time of year, but it just seems so special when strawberries are in season, and and you can pick them yourself. It also is a great treat in the middle of winter when you are thinking about those warm spring days.
Fresh strawberries are the best
I was outside getting ready to take a picture of these berries when a rainstorm made me take cover in my Old Red Truck. While I waited out the storm, I took this photo – the lighting was perfect. It is one of my favorites. Local berries, of course.
Old red truck is gone, But fresh strawberries are still abundant in eastern North Carolina. I miss Old Red Truck.
Remember the Mom and Pop restaurants that were in every town?
Well, we still have ’em here in eastern North Carolina. A few have closed since I did this video but many are still here and they’re worth a trip. Take a ride with me to find the best local food east of Raleigh. I’m delighted to premiere this Big Mill B&B video:
We’ve featured the “must see” spots for off-the-beaten path diners and dives throughout Eastern NC. We begin in Williamston and end up in Morehead City, stopping in some little towns that don’t even have a stoplight. Buckle up! [continue reading…]
No matter what you think about bears, when someone says, “I saw a bear,” you listen. If you want to see a bear, then you must attend the Black Bear Festival in Plymouth, NC, June 5 & 6, 2026
Bears in North Carolina are usually black with a cinnamon color muzzle
Increasingly, we are seeing bears here in eastern North Carolina. They are mostly in the coastal regions – bears love our coastal Pocosin habitat.
In one of the articles I read, eastern North Carolina was said to have the highest Black Bear population of all the states. There are over 8,000 black bears in the Albemarle region, the largest concentration in North Carolina.
All 100 counties in North Carolina have reported black bear sightings. A 500-pound bear is not at all uncommon and bear biologist, Colleen Olfenbuttel, confirmed that they are seeing “an increased frequency of 700+ pound bears.” All 100 counties in North Carolina have reported black bear sightings.
Click to read more about Black Bears and the Black Bear Festival in eastern NC
Strawberry Picking Time
Strawberry picking is a spring tradition in eastern North Carolina. Guests at Big Mill B&B Extended Stay have several great options nearby. For pick-your-own strawberries, visit Griffin’s Farm Market on US 17 in Washington, NC – about 15 miles south of Big Mill – or SouthSide Farms in Chocowinity, roughly 25 miles away.
If you prefer fresh, already picked berries, Ross Farms, 1536 Garrett Road , Williamston, NC, is just 3 miles from Big Mill and offers beautiful, ready to enjoy strawberries. Read more about strawberry picking in eastern North Carolina
