Griffin’s Quick Lunch is an Eastern North Carolina Icon – Sadly Griffin’s has closed…An Icon since the 40’s, it is gone.
Griffin’s Quick Lunch – Mom and Pop Diner in Eastern NC
Griffin’s Quick Lunch, just like many Mom and Pop diners in eastern North Carolina, is a landmark. Unfortunately, we are losing many of these cafes; Williamston is lucky to still have Griffin’s.
If you go to Griffin’s, you MUST try the Banana Fritters. These were first made famous at Cobb’s Corner Restaurant; sadly, Cobb’s is gone. A relative who worked at Cobb’s gave the recipe for her Banana Fritters to her son; he later bought Griffin’s, so now they serve these sweet delights. I have the recipe, but like the recipes my mother passed down, it is just a list of ingredients. I am still trying to make this recipe work. When I do, I will post it.
Biscotti is perfect for those who don’t want a super sweet confection. I like to bundle up a few Biscotti, tie them up with a festive ribbon, and take as a house gift or as my donation to the the Christmas party.
3largeeggsif mixture is too dry you may need to add another egg
2largeegg yolksreserve the egg whites
1teaspoonvanilla flavoring
1teaspoonalmond flavoring
1½cupslivered almondsreserve ¼ cup
Zest of one lemon or lime
1/2cup sweetened, dried cranberrieslike Craisins
Instructions
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Grease a large, heavy cookie sheet.
Mix flour, sugar and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. In another large bowl mix eggs and egg yolks together. Add vanilla, almond flavoring, 1 ¼ cup of the nuts, cranberries, and the zest to the eggs.
Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, stirring until just barely blended. You will have to use your hands and perhaps add another egg or you can use some of the reserved egg whites if the mixture is too sticky to form.
Using greased hands, form dough into three 4-inch by 9-inch (or thereabouts) rolls that are 2 inches thick. Mixture will be sticky and you will have to use your hands. Using a greased spatula, gently place the “rolls” on greased cookie sheet, making sure the rolls are several inches apart.
Press reserved almonds on top of the shaped dough.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until the dough will hold together. Remove from oven and cool slightly. (You must not cool the biscotti too much because they will get too hard to cut). When cooled slightly, gently slide the rolls to a floured cutting board and gently cut through each roll at an angle into 1½- inch pieces. Turn each piece on its side and place on the cookie sheet.
Bake again for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and turn each piece onto another side. If you prefer harder biscotti, turn biscotti and bake for 5-10 more minutes.
Calling all watermelon lovers!! This Watermelon Salad is a beauty. I adapted this recipe from one in the June, 2017 issue of “Our State Magazine,” the same magazine that did a wonderful story about Big Mill in their August issue.
1sweet onion like Vidalia or 1 red onioncut into very thin rings
4ouncesof Feta Cheeseor goat cheese, crumbled
Juice of 1 limeabout 3 Tablespoons
2Tablespoonshoney
¼teaspoonsalt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
This is a “make now and eat now” salad. If you dress it, you eat it. You can cut the parts of the salad early, but do not amalgamate it until you are ready to eat it.
Cut the watermelon into large chunks and lay it out on a plate lined with paper towels to remove some of the excess water. I do that when I am making watermelon skewers for my B&B guests. It keeps the watermelon from weeping into the dish.
Cut watermelon again into cubes about 1½" large. Put cubes of watermelon, pepper strips and onion rings into each salad bowl. Add crumbled cheese. For each salad, cut 1 basil leaf and 1 mint leaf into very thin strips and place on top of each salad.
Wisk together the lime juice, honey, salt and pepper.
Garnish with an edible flower like a begonia or nasturtium. Dress salad just before serving.
Instead of individual salads you can make one large salad if you prefer. Also do not dress this until just before serving.
This salad recipe is adapted from a Watermelon Salad in "Our State" magazine.
Notes
This salad needs to be made just before serving.
In eastern North Carolina, we do many things with watermelon. We also are very picky about where we buy our watermelons. Folks around here swear by Rocky Hock watermelons and cantaloupes. Rocky Hock is a small, rural area of the Chowan River – folks say the sandy soil is the reason these melons are so good.
I heard about this new gardening idea – it is called the Rain Gutter Grow System (RGGS). Being a real southern farm girl, I love farming and gardening. Once I read about this innovative growing system, I couldn’t wait to start.
Chloe’s Rain Gutter Garden in July
Basically the Rain Gutter Grow System is a self-watering container gardening system “on steroids.” Plants grow in pots or bags in either a gutter or pipe or even a kiddie pool. To see Chloe’s Rain Gutter Garden click here:
Folks in eastern North Carolina love Purple Martins and I am one of those folks. My dad taught me to treasure these special birds. Every spring he watched for his Martins to return. And now I do the same thing.
A Family Squabble
In March, a Purple Martin scout would come and sit on the bird house – these are special houses or gourds. Then in mid-April, if the scout approved of the accommodations, the “family” of Martins would arrive. By this time, you had better have your Martin houses or gourds ready!
The houses must be built to certain specifications – my Martins seem to prefer painted white gourds. They demand a clear flight path and a water source. Of course, they like to have a good supply of bugs. If the Martins arrive early and we have a late freeze, they will suffer because there won’t be any bugs. Click to read more about these spectacular birds.
I have always wanted to write a cookbook that told the stories behind the recipes.
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One time, I took a month off and house-sat for my friends in the Florida Keys. Well, as usual, I was sidetracked with the beauty of the area. I would make a recipe and spend all my time taking photos of the food. I do love to photograph food – it doesn’t whine or wiggle or complain that the picture makes it look fat.
Friend Jody has helped me FINALLY produce a wee digital cookbook that features some of my favorite Southern recipes; we call it Chloe Ann’s Farm Life Recipes. My folks grew up in an area very close to Big Mill B&B called Farm Life, so that seemed like a lovely homage.
While we were pulling this book together I was happy that I took the pictures. I’m guessing all these recipes will hold memories for those of us who grew up in the South.
I hope you enjoy it and I promise there are more to come.
Big kids and little kids like to dig in the dirt. When I was growing up on the farm here in eastern North Carolina, if we dug deep enough we could find a fossil. It was so exciting to get those remnants from the past and to know that right where we were digging was once under water. Click to read more about Fossils and the Fossil Museum in Aurora, NC
One of the great things about late summer is that we have luscious figs. And when they ripen, they all ripen. Candy some of them to preserve them.
Prep Time1 hourhr
Cook Time1 hourhr
Rest6 daysd
Total Time6 daysd2 hourshrs
Course: Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: candied fig recipe, candied figs
Servings: 24servings
Calories: 123kcal
Author: Chloe Tuttle
Ingredients
2cupssugar + optional 4-5 Tablespoons
2cupswater
½gallonripe figs-small figs like Brown Turkey work best. Use figs that have stems
Instructions
Day 1:
Add the sugar and water to a large cooking pot. Boil gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Wash figs, do not remove stems.
Add the figs to the sugar syrup – figs will not be totally covered. Bring to a slow boil and boil gently for 45 minutes. Don’t worry about stirring the figs. They will release more juice and then there will be more liquid. They are so fragile it is best not to stir them now, but do keep an eye on them. After 45 minutes remove pot from heat and set aside. Cover pot.
If you feel you must stir the pot, use a wide spatula and gently lift the figs. Remember they are fragile.
Day 2 & 3:
Boil gently until sugar is almost gone, checking often. For me this took several hours so I set the temperature on low.
Gently remove the figs from the pot and place them on the cooling rack set on a large cookie sheet with sides. The figs will drip.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Turn off oven. Place the cooling rack and cookie sheet with the figs in the warm oven. Leave figs for several days to dry. You can keep heating oven again to 200 degrees if needed. I did not dry my figs totally. They are so tough if you do that. I think I like them half dry.
Optional: When figs are dry enough for you, sprinkle them with the extra granulated sugar. They are already sweet but this keeps them from sticking together so much. Store figs in refrigerator in an air-tight container or zip lock bag.
Every summer I grow Basil and it thrives here in eastern North Carolina.What can you do with all this basil? Well, I make Pesto and freeze it to enjoy all year.
Fresh Basil from Chloe’s Cook’s Garden
Pesto will keep a long time in the freezer. It can be frozen in ice cube trays — handy if you only need a small amount of pesto.
Basil is also easily rooted if you want to try to keep a pot inside over the winter. I just put a stem in a glass of water, then plant in soil once it shows roots. Click to get Chloe’s Pesto Genovese Recipe
I grabbed my Edible Flower book and wandered around the yard, tasting. I eat whatever is in the yard that I KNOW is edible, including pecans, blackberries, mulberries, blueberries, tomatoes, wild cherries, figs and cucumbers.
Now I have added Edible Flowers to my “Okay to eat” list. I don’t use these flowers as a main course – they are too pretty blooming in the yard! I pick them as garnish and they add a special pop to any dish. Click to see what edible flowers grow all around you.
Hi, I am Chloe and I live on my family farm that is now Big Mill Bed & Breakfast. I post about things that happen on the farm, fun things to do in eastern NC and my crafts & recipes.
