We sailed into Green Turtle Cay in the Abaco Islands in 1978 and I met Hank Cochran that day. Hank was lounging on the back of his Grand Banks 50, aptly named “The Legend.”

Photo of Hank Cochran by Chloe Tuttle

Garland Perry “Hank” Cochran was born in Isola, Mississippi in 1935. Hank moved to Nashville in 1960, and with Harland Howard he wrote “I Fall to Pieces.” Patsy Cline recorded it in November of 1960 and, as we know, it became a big hit.

Hank wrote many songs including “She’s Not You,” “Don’t You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me?” “Little Bitty Tear,” “Why Can’t He Be You?” and “Make the World Go Away.” Hank Cochran, Chloe Gurkin McHorney Tuttle  and Captain Joe 1979
(Photo by Joy Greyer)

Hank invited us to go fishing one Sunday afternoon – we didn’t get back until Wednesday. But that was Hank. It was fun to watch his creative process – it would just happen. Someone would say something, or a thought would come to him. He wrote it down on anything handy, and soon it was a song. He told me heartache made writing easier. He surely knew how to do that.

Hear no evil, See no Evil and Speak no Evil… photo of
Chloe Tuttle, Captain Joe and Joy Greyer
(Photo by Hank Cochran using Joy’s camera)

When I met Hank, I had no clue I was meeting such a character.  That same day I also met a wonderful woman Joy, who would became a cherished lifelong friend. We weathered many wet days that winter in the Bahamas, the guys played lots of Crazy Eights and Hearts. We took many trips to Miss Emily’s Blue Bee Bar.

Back then I was cleaning conch and making slaw.  Now I am an Innkeeper growing blueberries and making jam. What a great life, eh?

Some times when I am here on the farm that is now Big Mill Bed & Breakfast, my mind wanders back to my sailing days. I remember places I went but mostly the people I met. And Hank Cochran, The Legend, the Man…is high on that list.

The world lost Hank on July 15, 2010. He left behind a legacy in country music. We will miss you, Hank. And you made it to the Rolling Stone.

Big Mill Bed & Breakfast 252-792-8787

Did you know that bees are responsible for every third bite of food that we eat?
Bees are fascinating little creatures and they are in trouble.

Sunflowers at Big Mill B&B

The Great Sunflower Project was begun in 2008 by the biology department at San Francisco State University to study the wild bee population. In 2009, lots of us were given free lemon sunflower seeds to plant in our gardens. We were to monitor the bee activity for a certain amount of time each day. There were 50,000 participants!

Bees love our Bee Balm

Well, something ate my lemon sunflowers … bummer … so I couldn’t participate. But this year, they have expanded the flower list to include bee balm, tickseed, cosmos, purple coneflower and rosemary. So I am fired up and ready to go!

Coreopsis (tickseed) in the Big Mill Garden

Why don’t you join in this Hunt for Bees? All you have to do is plant one of the flowers listed, get comfortable in your garden, watch the bee activity and record it. Any size garden will work – even container gardens!  The bonus, of course, by planting these flowers, you increase the odds of attracting hummingbirds and butterflies too.

Learn more about the project at Great Sunflower Project.

PS — Share your Great Sunflower Project photos over on Big Mill’s Facebook Page!

Let’s create a buzz!           

Bzzzzzzz …  I used to keep bees, but that is next year’s project. Innkeeper at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast 252-792-8787

Well, we did it….Big Mill is now on Facebook!

Photo by Guy Livesay

For oh so long, I have resisted — but now that we are on Facebook, it is quite fun.

We do hope you will “LIKE US” over on Facebook.  And while you’re there, be sure to write on our wall to keep the conversation going. We’ll be keeping you up to date on local attractions, special events and other happenings going on in and around eastern North Carolina’s Inner Banks. And, as always, I’ll post links to new recipes and other items of interest there too.

Better hurry on over … before I come to my senses.   😉

Big Mill Bed & Breakfast 252-792-8787

Not for the squeamish …. 

(Truthfully, if you want to remember all farms as Green Acres, maybe skip this post)

It seems my meat-eating city friends seem to think sausages commit suicide or that hogs retire to Florida before becoming bacon. So be forewarned  – this is what really happens just before the bacon becomes bacon.

Some years ago, cold weather on the farm here in eastern North Carolina meant hog killing time and that happened at first light on a cold, cold morning usually in January or February.

(Brother John backside with boots-a hammock hangs here today.
The big old truck in this photo is still running)

The hogs were about nine months old and weighed about 200 pounds.  No boar hogs were slaughtered – only females and castrated males; this part they didn’t explain to me. My dad, Ops, couldn’t kill his own hogs.

My brother John told me that sometimes they fed coal to the hogs – he said it made their intestines smooth. Hmmm. I remember that they poured burnt cylinder oil on the hogs.  I guess that was for dry skin.

Neighbors helped neighbors. Each week my folks would get up really early and go and help other farmers kill hogs. They, in turn, came and helped us.

(That’s my mother, Chloe, in the middle with the hat)

As a child, it was alright for me to go in the pasture with the mules and cows, but not with the hogs. But the best fishing worms were in the hog pens. I did sneak in to get those Rocky Mountain crawlers. Don’t tell anybody.

When it was our turn to have the hog killing, I was very excited. I could stay home from school. The food was phenomenal: fried chicken, country ham, sausage, collards, succotash, sweet potatoes, corn bread, biscuits and so many desserts.

(My dad, Johnnie Gurkin, is on the right foreground in the photo above. Uncle Jimmy is at the end of the table and Henry Peel is leaning on the picket fence)

My dad couldn’t kill his own hogs – someone else had to do that job. We killed 20 hogs each winter.

(Stuffing sausage. Brother John is walking away on the right.
That is also my back door here at Big Mill Bed and Breakfast  252-792-8787
That well-bench is still there, only now it has pansies growning on it.)

Uncle Charlie was the sausage man-he seasoned all the sausage. Aunt Annie had a sage bed and grew sage for everyone. Ops liked sausage to be HOT so lots of red pepper flakes were added to our sausage  The ground up pork, fat and seasonings were stuffed into casings of small intestines (chitterlings) and hung in the smoke house to dry. Fresh sausage was called green, as opposed to dry.

Just beyond this scalding vat is the hole where the chitterlings were cleaned. It is now my glorious organic garden. It grows tall sunflowers and lots of wonderful fruit and vegetables that we serve to our guests here at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast.

Hogs were killed, bled, scalded (to remove bristles), cut up, salted, cooked or cured. Five families lived here so we needed the food. The smoke house and all the buildings in these photos are still here. So are the lard paddles and scrapers and the large crocks that were used to store the salt pork.

Same farm, same family, same trees, same outbuildings, same house. Heritage is a precious thing.

These wonderful black & white photos were taken almost
60 years ago by my brother-in-law Barney Conway, Sr.

Kermit never looked so cute…and green!

Photo by Guy Livesay

Wildlife in North Carolina magazine’s 2009 photo competition had over 7,000 entries. This photograph taken by Guy Livesay, who lives right here in eastern North Carolina, was a winner! Other winning photos can be seen in the January, 2010 issue.

Many a late afternoon here at Big Mill you might see Guy and other photographers wandering around looking for that perfect photograph. Some of the folks are snapping shots of brides, graduates, babies — often with Old Red Truck taking center stage.

Photo by Guy Livesay

But Guy can be seen patiently waiting by a zinnia, sunflower, cleome or azalea for just the right shot of a hummingbird or butterfly or bee – any of Mother Nature’s creatures are beautiful in the photos of a gifted artist like Guy.

Photo by Guy Livesay

With these wonderful photos each perfect creature momentarily stands still for us to see. When you come to visit Big Mill B&B, be sure to bring your camera. These birds and butterflies will pose for you.

Note: You can see more of Guy’s work at Livesay Photography.  If you see a bridge, a pack house or an old red truck in their photos, chances are that the photo was taken here at Big Mill.

Big Mill Bed & Breakfast 252-792-8787

Merry Christmas from Chloe Ann and all of us here at Big Mill

I still have this outfit.

Life on the farm is always magic at Christmas time. Today I walked to the woods (too wet for Old Red Truck) and found holly with berries. When I was growing up my dad and I would go into the woods to gather holly, pine and cedar. We had such fun. We hope all our friends, family and wonderful guests have a very merry holiday. You have made every year a special year,  we will remember for a long time. Thank you.

Love from all of us at Big Mill: Chloe Ann & Miss Moses – Moses is gone, but she is still in my heart Big Mill Bed & Breakfast 252-792-8787

Cracklins:  Pork fat and skins that are deep fried
in rendered lard until they are crunchy.
(From the Eastern North Carolina lingo dictionary)

Cooking Up Cracklins

Cracklins used to be common fare on southern tables. Sometimes you have to go back to your roots and eat the food of your heritage. My folks and the neighboring farm families had hog killings in the winter and they made cracklins/cracklings. So in cold weather we ate cracklin bread. Rest assured we don’t eat like this all the time.

Print Recipe

Cracklin Corn Pone Bread

Cracklins used to be common fare on southern tables. Sometimes you have to go back to your roots and eat the food of your heritage.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time33 minutes mins

Total Time43 minutes mins

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cracklin cone pone bread recipe, cracklin corn pone bread

Servings: 16 pone bread

Calories: 88kcal

Author: Chloe Tuttle

Ingredients

• 1 cup pork cracklins
• 2 cups fine ground cornmeal I use House-Autry
• 2 Tablespoons self-rising flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pinch of sugar optional
• 1 cups warm water add more if needed

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease the pone pan with some really sturdy grease like Crisco or lard.
• Chop cracklins. If you don't like brown flecks in the bread, then grind the cracklins.
• In a large mixing bowl stir together the cracklins, corn meal, flour, salt and sugar. Add the water slowly, stirring until the mixture is the consistency of pancake batter.
• Pour into pone pan, filling to the top. Bake until edges are brown and bread is crusty, 35-45 minutes. As soon as the bread is cool enough to handle, pop the pones out of the pan. Serve immediately while bread is hot.

Nutrition

Calories: 88kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 179mg | Potassium: 63mg | Fiber: 1g | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 0.6mg

This bread is made in a cast iron corn pone pan

The corn meal is also important. When I was growing up I rode my bicycle down our dirt road to the Big Mill to get a paper bag full of fresh ground corn meal; usually from our own corn. Miss Sadie James made the best meal; I can’t find any meal of that quality now. My dad Ops taught me how to take the raw meal in your hand, squeeze it and it should clump together like clay. If not, then it was ground too fast and the stone heated the meal too much.

Cracklin bread ready to eat

If you really want to try eating cracklins and you aren’t planning to attend any hog killings, you can buy them in some grocery stores like Piggly Wiggly. Buy the cracklins without skins, your teeth will thank you.

I did find a Cracklin’ Bread Recipe in the White Trash Cookbook, but don’t think cracklins are just for us down home folks anymore.

Come see us at Big Mill Bed and Breakfast, 252-792-8787

We won!  BedandBreakfast.com, the foremost online Bed and Breakfast directory has released their 2009-2010 winners for the “Best Bed and Breakfast of” series.

And we won — Again!

This is better than winning the lottery. Winning the lottery is totally by chance.  But winning a BedandBreakfast.com award is an honor given by our guests. The winners are chosen from guest reviews… all 85,000 reviews.

In 2007-2008 Big Mill was selected as one of five “Best of the South” Inns. For 2008-2009 Big Mill’s innkeeper was selected as one of 10 Best Innkeepers of the Year.

It seems only fitting that during this holiday weekend full of celebration and time with family, I share this fun news with all our wonderful guests.  Above all, we are most thankful for YOU!

Big Mill Bed & Breakfast 252-792-8787

 Oh, there is absolutely nothing quite so tasty
as that first homegrown tomato…

Homegrown tomatoes on the farm at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast, Williamston, NC

… and a tomato sandwich is even better!

Tomato sandwiches are always better with Duke’s Mayonnaise

There are many versions of this classic sandwich, but the down-home plain and simple sandwich made with white bread and Duke’s mayonnaise is the award winner.

Print Recipe

Chloe's Farmhouse Tomato Sandwich

Oh, there is absolutely nothing quite so tasty as that first homegrown tomato…… and a tomato sandwich is even better!

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Total Time5 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: farmhouse tomato sandwich, farmhouse tomato sandwich recipe

Servings: 1 sandwich

Calories: 363kcal

Author: Chloe Tuttle

Ingredients

• 1 medium-size ripe preferably homegrown, tomato
• 2 slices bread
• 2 Tablespoons Duke's Mayonnaise
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

• Wash and cut the tomato into thick slices. Spread the mayonnaise onto both slices of the bread, one side only. Make sure to spread the mayonnaise to the edge of each slice of bread.
• Place the tomato slices on one piece of bread. Add salt and pepper. Cover with the second slice of bread, mayonnaise side down, of course.
• Cut the sandwich into two pieces and enjoy the best tomato sandwich ever. How to cut the sandwich is debatable-corner to corner or straight across the middle? We all have an opinion.

Notes

This recipe was featured on the Bountiful Kitchen, a part of Inn Cuisine.

Nutrition

Calories: 363kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 474mg | Potassium: 393mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1025IU | Vitamin C: 16.8mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 2.3mg

When I was a child I delivered baskets of tomatoes with my Schwinn bicycle to the restaurants in Williamston. Some were 3 miles away and I had to ride part way on a dirt road and partly on U.S. Highway 17. Surely couldn’t do it today.

Here in the Inner Banks of North Carolina, Hellman’s Mayonnaise is sold to transplants. And don’t even consider Kraft Mayonnaise.

Just remember, if it ain’t homemade, it has to be Duke’s.

If you don’t believe me, ask Eddy Browning, food columnist for the New Bern Sun Journal. He heard tell of various barroom brawls in this great mayonnaise debate. Eddy does advocate for homemade mayonnaise, so stay tuned. We will have that recipe on Chloe’s blog soon.

So it is just normal here in eastern North Carolina to see a display of Duke’s with six shelves, lest we run out ….. forsooth.

‘come and check out our Tomato Sandwich at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast in Williamston, NC, 252-792-8787