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… Read more
On the Farm
Oh, there is absolutely nothing quite so tasty as that first homegrown tomato… … and a tomato sandwich is even better! 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. Chloe's Farmhouse Tomato Sandwich Oh, there is absolutely nothing quite so… Read more
A good friend and frequent guest at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast emailed me the other day to let me know how much she missed my blog articles. I was chagrined when I realized how long it had been since I posted something! Rest assured, these hands have not been idle! In fact, I don’t… Read more
It’s berry picking time in Eastern North Carolina …and all the Big Mill Bed & Breakfast guests can be certain they will feast on “just picked” strawberries in the months of April, May and June. We have two U-Pick Strawberry fields here in Martin County and our local produce is the best. Folks say berries from… Read more
It snowed on the farm…so we made snow cream. And when it snows in eastern North Carolina, we go all to pieces. If the weather man predicts snow, we buy all the milk and white bread in every grocery store. Well, I buy heavy cream, popcorn and artichoke hearts. Then we hunker down and wait… Click to get Snow Cream Recipe
It’s Christmas here at my favorite Bed and Breakfast in North Carolina … I am the resident fur person and that is my opinion. You know I have been around a lot, being a cat and all that. So when I picked Chloe’s B&B, it was after much thought and I love it here. I even… Read more
Summer nights bring back memories of childhood on the farm. You could heard the frogs, the crickets and you could smell the tobacco curing. It was a sweet, wonderful smell not at all like the smell associated with cigarette smoke. I can still look out the window and see tobacco growing. You can too, if… Click to read more about growing tobacco then and now
Hurricanes bring out the spirit of hunkering down and staying put, so when Hurricane Hanna blew through eastern North Carolina, those of us here at Big Mill Bed and Breakfast hunkered down. After the wind stopped several of us wandered out to check out the damage. In the orchard we found bushels of pears lying… Read more
Every country inn really does need an old pickup truck. Ours is “Old Red” and she is part of the landscape…literally, because some days she won’t move. Old Red has a 1968 Ford 390 engine in a 1979 Ford body. She has an automatic stick shift in the floor, and starts running wideopen in ANY gear. Folks… Read more
Oh, but I love to pick up pecans. And I like to play with limbs and sticks in the yard; but mostly I like to roll in the sunshine and throw out a few sage remarks while Chloe picks up the pecans. (I am not sure if she enjoys this as much as I do.)… Read more
