I love growing okra – it reminds me of late summer on the farm

With all the great summer produce, sometimes we just want to make something that takes us back to the farm and to Grandmother’s cooking. In coastal North Carolina, this recipe is an expected summer treat.

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Okra, Corn and Tomatoes – A Southern Recipe

Author: Chloe Tuttle

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 of fresh mature corn
• • 1 teaspoon sea salt or regular salt
• • Pepper if desired
• • ½ 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.
• 
  Yield: 7-8 one-cup servings

Click to read more about this Southern Recipe …

When I was growing up we had mules: Big Red, Little Red, Rock, Kit and Mary. There were other mules before my time, but I don’t remember their names.

The living room in the Mule Room Suite has great views of the lakes

We have spiffed up our mule Mary’s quarters and we call her home the Mule Room Suite. Much discussion went into what to call it. A good friend wanted me to call it a shed, but on this farm sheds only have 3 sides. Click to read more about the Mule Room — past and present …

The most easterly Barn Quilt on North Carolina’s Quilt Trail is on the Pack House barn at Big Mill B&B in Williamston, NC. I just love it!

Barn Quilt in eastern NC at Big Mill B&B in Williamston

I used to go to Quilting Bees with my mother when I was a child. I would play under the quilt all by myself. There were no other children.

The ladies made such beautiful works of art. Mother would sew the pieces of fabric together and let me help. When it was all pieced together, we put it in the frame along with the backing and the batting. Then Mother’s friends would come for several days until the quilt was quilted. My father used to make cotton and wool batts for his mother to quilt. I wish I had gotten him to show me how.

In 1976, everyone had caught Bicentennial Fever and felt patriotic so Mother (also named Chloe) made a quilt of red, white and blue. Click to read more about Barn Quilts and Miss Chloe’s LaMoyne Star …

Bill’s Hot Dogs in Washington, NC is an institution

Bill’s Hot Dogs in Little Washington, NC

It doesn’t matter if you like hot dogs or not — you just have to eat a Bill’s hot dog if you are in Washington, North Carolina. Bill’s has been open as a hot dog “stand” since 1928 and it hasn’t changed much; not that I can see.

Located on Gladden Street in “Little” Washington, NC, it is just a short distance from the Pamlico River. Bill’s is an institution for most everyone who has ever lived in Washington or eastern North Carolina. For the locals, this is Road Food at its best. Click to read More about Bill’s Hot Dogs in Washington, NC

Big Mill B&B is going to be part of the Tar River Quilt Trail

Kim Young & Chloe Tuttle examine Quilt Block for Big Mill’s Barn Quilt

How did the Big Mill B&B barn quilt idea and project happen? In essence, I read about the American Quilt Trail and I wanted to be part of it. I picked a favorite quilt pattern – one that my mother made. And I joined the Tar River Quilt Trail, it is now the Tar-Roanoke River Quilt Trail.  This pattern is being painted on plywood and will be installed on the side of my Pack House Barn here on the farm. Click to read more about Barn Quilts in North Carolina …

Somerset Place Plantation in Creswell, NC, is off the beaten path.

Somerset is isolated. That is one of the reasons it is so haunting.

In 1860, Somerset Place Plantation near Creswell, NC had 328 slaves, making it the third largest plantation in North Carolina.  At one time it encompassed 100,000 acres of land and swamp sitting on the shores of Lake Phelps right in the Great Dismal Swamp of North Carolina, which meant drainage ditches, canals, mosquitoes and basically not an easy life. To read more about Somersest click here

Molasses is a staple in the south – we use molasses for everything and Molasses Pudding is a southern tradition.

It seemed like everybody’s grandmother made Molasses Pudding and it was always a treat. In some parts of the country, it might be called Molasses Cake, but southerners call it Molasses Pudding. Once you add the Bourbon Sauce, it does seem more like a pudding.

Friend Nancy and I set out to recreate this old-fashioned southern recipe and we did it! We added the Bourbon Pecan Sauce to spice it up. Southerners love molasses and use it everywhere.

Print Recipe

Southern Molasses Pudding Cake

This tasty pudding is an old southern classic

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: molasses cake, molasses pudding, molassses, southern comfort food

Servings: 8 pieces

Calories: 392kcal

Author: Chloe Tuttle

Ingredients

For the Pudding

• ½ cup raisins dark
• ¼ cup Bourbon
• ¼ cup molasses
• 1 egg if doubling recipe use 1 large egg
• 4 Tablespoons butter ½ stick butter, melted
• ¼ cup buttermilk
• ¼ cup white sugar
• 1 cup self-rising flour
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

For The Bourbon Sauce

• 4 Tablespoons butter 1/2 stick butter
• ¼ cup white sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 3 Tablespoons cream
• 1/3 cup Bourbon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 
  Grease a 1½ quart glass baking dish using something like Baker's Secret cooking spray
• 
  Put raisins and Bourbon into small deep Pyrex dish or measuring cup and microwave for 30 seconds. Set aside to steep.
• 
  In medium mixing bowl stir together the egg, molasses, melted butter and buttermilk. Add the sugar, flour, baking powder and ground cinnamon. Stir to mix. Drain raisins and add drained raisins to the batter mix. Stir to combine.
• 
  Pour batter in to baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a straw inserted into the center of the batter comes out clean.

TO MAKE BOURBON SAUCE

• 
  In a small saucepan on low heat add the butter, Bourbon, brown and white sugars, cream, Bourbon and salt. Heat on low until all is dissolved. Continue to keep warm and add chopped pecans. Pour over each piece of Molasses Pudding.
• 
  This makes 1 cup sauce.
• 
  Serving Suggestions
• 
  Serve warm or hot or else it will be grainy. Do not cook too fast or too long; sauce will become grainy.
• 
  Serve hot with warm Bourbon sauce drizzled over each piece of pudding cake. If wanted you can add dollop of whipped cream.

Notes

This recipe is a favorite of southern cooks.

Nutrition

Calories: 392kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 59mg | Sodium: 199mg | Potassium: 302mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 475IU | Vitamin C: 0.5mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 1.1mg

Read more about Molasses and Chloe’s Molasses Pudding Cake

There is a small wood frame church in Swan Quarter, North Carolina, that was truthfully moved by the hand of God.

Church Moved by the Hand of God traveled by itself to sit on this lot.

In 1874, members of this small congregation in eastern North Carolina tried in vain to buy a piece of land from a Mr. Sam Sadler in order to build a church. This lot was perfect –it was higher land than any other lot in town.

Mind you, almost all of Hyde County is barely above sea level, so a higher lot was important. Mr. Sadler vehemently refused to sell.

The congregation then accepted a gift of another lot behind the courthouse and soon they had a basic structure for the church. It was a simple wood building on piers called the Methodist Episcopal Church South.

Folks began worshiping in this new church. On the eve of the dedication, September 16, 1876, a big storm was brewing out in the Pamlico Sound. By the next day, September 17th, a full force hurricane hit all of Hyde County; Swan Quarter was under 5 feet of water. Click to find out what happened next – it’s quite amazing!

My love affair with knitting started years ago when I adopted my sheep, Maggie Belle and Yorick

I was a graduate student at East Carolina University in  fiber arts, with a specialty in spinning and natural dyeing. I had lots of wonderful hand-spun yarn, but I never learned how to knit until friend Jody taught me a few months ago. Click to read more about Chloe’s hand-spun yarn