Spencer is home to the Black Walnut Festival and a handful of wonderful local restaurants. One of the newest additions to that lineup is The Hungry Moose, located at 215 Church Street. The Hungry Moose features BBQ, including pulled pork, brisket, chicken leg quarters and sausage. Sides include baked beans, french fries, cole slaw, mac & cheese, red potato salad and "salt potatoes." I went for a chicken leg quarter with sides of mac & cheese, salt potatoes and house BBQ pulled pork. Plus I got one container of each of the BBQ sauces - which is a good variety. The chicken was fine -- cooked well enough, but not especially memorable or juicy enough to stand out. The mac & cheese leaned dry and felt like it needed a little more sauce or creaminess to bring it together. The salt potatoes were literally small potatoes, simple and straightforward, but not much going on beyond that. Grade: B

While driving through Ripley, I spotted this funky little camper off on the side road. CampGrounds Espresso offers espresso, tea and refreshers, plus some small snacks. I ordered a lemonade refresher with peach and cherry. These are flavors I absolutely love, the texture was on point, and it lived up to its "refreshing" name on a particularly warm day. Grade: A

Here's my latest column in the newspaper:

The word “Vidalia” finds its way onto tons of product labels — Vidalia onion dressing, Vidalia onion salsa, Vidalia onion chips, and, the original, Vidalia onion.

(Not to be confused with “Vandalia,” which is known as one of the potential names for the geographic area that eventually became West Virginia.)

But what does it mean?

The Vidalia onion traces back to the 1930s in Toombs County, Georgia, around the town of Vidalia. Farmers there began to notice that onions grown in the region were unusually sweet and mild compared to typical pungent onions.

The key was the soil and water. The region has low-sulfur, sandy soil, which limits the compounds that normally make onions “hot” or sharp. The result is a naturally sweet, crisp onion.

By the 1940s and 1950s, farmers began selling them more widely. Their popularity expanded drastically after the opening of the state farmers market in Vidalia, which helped distribute the onions throughout the Southeast.

The crop gained national attention in the 1970s and 1980s as grocery chains began marketing them as a premium seasonal item. The term “Vidalia onion” became marketing shorthand for “sweet onion,” where food companies were using the phrase on products without any connection to the town itself.

It began to function like a genericized brand name, in which a brand becomes so dominant or familiar that people use the trademark as the everyday word for the product.

Such is the case with Kleenex for tissues, Band-Aid for adhesive bandages, Xerox for photocopying, Velcro for fasteners and Google for “search online.”

“Vidalia onion” simply signified “sweet onion.”

That changed in the 1980s, when Vidalia onions were brought under a federal marketing order, which helped protect the origin with oversight from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Vidalia onion” can now only be used for onions grown within that defined region and meeting USDA standards for production and handling.

It’s not the first time geography has been locked into a food name. In France, Champagne must come from the Champagne region, and Roquefort cheese can only be made in specific caves in southern France. In Italy, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma are tied to specific provinces and traditional methods, and balsamic vinegar of Modena follows strict regional rules. In Greece, Kalamata olives are similarly tied to their place of origin.

In the United States, Idaho potatoes are protected through a state-based certification system, and Florida oranges remain tied to their growing region as a matter of agricultural branding and regulation.

Because these food names have a protected status and must adhere to certain requirements, their quality remains consistent and the local producers are able to maintain an economic advantage.

The name “Vidalia” has strong consumer recognition and immediately communicates flavor expectations.

That’s why we now see “Vidalia onion flavored” or “Vidalia onion inspired” for products that have a sweet onion flavor profile — even if they have no connection to the Georgia town.

It was a small Georgia town where farmers discovered that the land itself changed the flavor of an onion. Much like Appalachia, food is rooted in place and is shaped by weather, terrain and water. In both Vidalia and Appalachia, the soil has always been part of the recipe.

The Bullock Distillery was organized in 2017 by Dusta Tanner, John Bullock and Tighe Bullock when the trio remodeled the historic building at 121 Washington Street, West, in Charleston. The distillery opened its doors in 2021 and produces a variety of spirits: bourbon, gin, moonshine, vodka and more. They have been offering cocktail making classes in their space for a while now, but I just recently was able to attend my first one with Erin. We started with a little tour of the facility and learned some background about the distillery. Like: The Bullock Distillery draws its water from Bullock's Cave on Falling Spring Mountain in Greenbrier County. Then, we learned some of the basic barware that we would be using - the jigger, the strainer, the Boston shaker, etc. I learned you're always supposed to keep the back of the spoon against the back of the jar when stirring. Finally, we started on our first of three cocktails for the evening. It was the "Johnny Jump Up" and featured gin, blackberry sage simple syrup, lemon juice and lavender bitters. The second wasn't the "Honey Fire Smash," but we didn't have an alternate title, so it featured vodka, honey lavender syrup, lemon juice and lavender bitters. Our finaly was "Forsynthias," which featured bourbon, banana bread simple syrup and black walnut bitters (plus a toasted walnut!). Each class has different cocktails -- I'd love to make a collection of them all!

The Country Store in Seth is a locally operated grocery store and deli located on Coal River Road in Boone County. It functions as a combination grocery store, prepared foods counter and convenience market all in one. Ham salad? Potato salad? Pasta salad? You're speaking to my roots right there. They also have hot foods, like chicken tenders, jojo potatoes, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes and more. They have lunch & dinner specials, depending on the day. So, you can get an entree with sides for a good deal. I did chicken tenders, mac & cheese and mashed potatoes, and it came with a roll. Plus a BBQ dipping sauce. It was a pretty standard, basic meal without many extras. Nothing outstanding, but all satisfactory. What's your favorite thing here? Grade: B