The Junior League of Charleston, WV, will be partnering with Chef Paul Smith at 1010 Bridge Restaurant to host “Modern Mountain Measures,” which will be a prix fixe community dinner based on the classic recipes from our two cookbooks: Mountain Measures and Mountain Measures, A Second Serving.

The dinner will be held on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 5 p.m. The meal is $100, including gratuity before Oct. 1.
Additional drinks and copies of the cookbooks will be available to purchase at the restaurant.



At the dinner, we will be taking supply donations of baby onesies, animal pacifiers, rattles, and baby books for the children at the CAMC Women's and Children NICU. Please be sure to purchase your tickets before they increase to $115 on Oct.1.

Refunds will only be issued in the event of cancellation. All attendees are required to abide by federal, state and local COVID-19 guidelines and no guests showing symptoms for COVID-19 are permitted to attend.

It's not every day that you're in Minnesota while the state fair is going on.



In fact, for me, it was my first time in Minnesota, period. And, I was mostly just passing through, stopping to see some art, and hitting up the Mall of America.



But the fair, I learned, is one of the biggest state fair in the United States by average daily attendance and the second-largest state fair in the United States by total attendance (according to Wikipedia). 



So, I figured it was a sign that I needed to make it happen.



I only know a little bit about fairs. I've been to West Virginia's, and there's fair food, rides, agriculture exhibits and shows. 



In Minnesota, it's pretty similar, but on 10x the scale. It's the biggest fair I've ever been to; there were just swarms of people all throughout the fairgrounds riding rides, checking out seed art, and a new one to me: butter sculptures. 



They were pretty amazing, to be honest. It makes me want to buy a giant block of butter and try it myself. 



The other thing that fairs in the midwest are known for are fried foods on sticks. 



Some offerings were pretty standard, and lots of folks get excited about a bucket of cookies. But the most exciting option for me was cream cheese-stuffed green olives deep-fried on a stick and served with ranch. 



These were really tasty. All the briny goodness of olives, but with an added texture of crunchiness. 

Gourmet cookies are having a moment right now, and one Fayetteville area food truck is making it happen locally.



A few weeks ago, I went to the Gaines Estate, which is a lovely venue that hosts Monday Markets where they invite food vendors, crafters and musicians to set up.  



I went when I heard Sugar Attack Cookie Company would be there! The cookies are dished out from a food truck - they're quick, ginormous and have fun flavors. 



I went with 5 different kinds: cookies & cream, it's my party, blueberry crisp, cookie monster and strawberries & cream. 



These are big, stacked tall cookies stuffed with cookie bits, chocolate chips, buttercream and more. My favorite, though? 



The blueberry crisp! It was kinda like my favorite kind of dessert - a fruit crisp, which has the fruit, an oatmeal topping and the buttery brown sugar goodness. This was similar, in cookie form. What's your favorite cookie here?



Grade: A

As summer comes to a close, I wanted to be sure to share some of the offerings from the ballpark. With a new team came some new food offerings. 



WV Power became The Dirty Birds last year, and I only recently checked them out - when they were playing as the Mothmen! 



There are a few different food concessions, including hot dogs, nachos, pretzels, popcorn, chicken fingers, fries, burgers, and some others.



Like the baloni-roni burger, which has a burger, thick-cut slice of bologna, pepperoni and cheese. It was... interesting. 



Next time, I might try the Billy Horn Dog - mac & cheese and bacon bites. What's your favorite snack at the ballpark?

A week or so ago, the Capitol Market hosted its Bring Home the Bacon event that celebrated the perfect summer sandwich: the BLT. 



The event featured a signature BLT made with all local Capitol Market ingredients, including Kristi Ann Bakery’s bread from The Purple Onion, green tomatoes from Tug Fork Farms, bacon from Johnnie’s Fresh Meat Market, lettuce from Gritt’s Midway Greenhouse and bacon jam and pesto from The Purple Onion. 



Executive Director Evan Osborn was cooking up the BLTs to order, and attendees could purchase one, along with a drink and koozie for $20. 

The Capitol Market BLT was seriously so good. The fried green tomato added some extra crunch, the bacon jam added some sweetness, and everything was so fresh, it really took things up a notch. 



Cathy Nutter also brought some homemade pimento cheese that could be added by request. Yum! 



But that was just one part of the event.

The other half was six area cooks creating their own spins on BLTs for a panel of celebrity judges in an effort to win the coveted Golden Swine of Capitol Market award, as well as free bacon for one year from Johnnie's Fresh Meat Market.



The cooks were able to buy fresh produce from the market, and they were also able to bring any extra goods from home. 

I was really lucky to be able to be a judge - and taste all of these incredible BLTs. 

Hernshaw Farms - "We combined Hernshaw Farms Dried Lion's Mane Focaccia baked in Villa DiTrapano olive oil, General Steak & Seafood Bacon topped with J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works Mushroom and Herb Salt and glazed with Hill n’ Hollow Maple Syrup, with a Gritt's Farm Mater, The Wine Shop at Capitol Market mozzarella, Ohmygreens (one of our fierce BLT competitors) Cantaloupe greens, my wife's Basil (plant originally from Bostic Greenhouses) and balsamic glaze making for a banging BLTM!!" 



I stole the description from their Facebook page, because as you can see, there are lots of local ingredients! Aside from this sandwich being absolutely massive, I was obsessed with the bread. They were up early making it; it was fresh and absolutely delicious. I kept stealing bits of it from my sandwich throughout the rest of the competition. They took home the win for using most local ingredients. 



Dakota Farmer - "BLT Tramezzino - Grilled Charleston Bread Blue Monday, Homemade Pesto Aioli, Heirloom Tomato from John Crihfield Farms & Greenhouses, Homemade Calabrian Chili Tomato Jam, J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works Smoked Salt and Pepper, Balsamic & Pepper Glazed Thick-Cut Bacon, Fontina, Baby Gem Lettuce, Dressed Arugula, Antipasto Skewer, Fueled by: Stone Brewing Hazy IPA from The Wine Shop at Capitol Market"



I stole this description from Facebook, too, and, man, do I wish he had a restaurant, because I would order this BLT again. And ALL of my fellow judges agreed - we gave him the top overall honor, so he took home the golden swine and the year of bacon. It had the perfect mix of textures and salty and sweet and refreshing. The little skewer was like a palate cleanser, and then the sandwich just absolutely blew us away. Even the dressed greens on the side helped give balance to everything. 



Kayla Young | Eggs Will Roll - The queen of egg rolls came out of retirement to make a BLT eggroll with an aioli AND a spring roll with another sweet, peanut dipping sauce. I know Kayla got her bacon from Johnnie's and the lettuce and tomatoes from Gritt's. 



This one was so creative - and we got two different versions! PLUS homemade sauces. They were each creative in their own ways, but this one definitely was! 





Amanda Leigh Ivy - "Croissant bread, Pickled Fried Green Tomatoes, House Bacon, Home Grown Frisee, Dukes, and a Crabby Patty" - stolen from Facebook



Talk about another creative BLT! I've never seen bread in this croissant fashion before, and I definitely wasn't expecting a crab cake - but they make everything better. 



Mike & Lincoln Scarberry - This duo made a classic BLT with a special sauce and slice of avocado. 



If there was a category for best classic, this would be it. It nailed all the essentials with a bit of creative twist. This one was juicy and messy - in the best way. 



Ohmygreens - "Ohmygreens brought home the win for Most Creative at the Capitol Market ”Bring Home The Bacon” challenge. Our BLT was Charleston Bread, Gritt's Tomato & Lettuce, The Butcher Shop Bacon with a fresh Mango Chili Glaze, Micro Cilantro & Avocado Aioli. Paired with a crostini topped with grilled brie from The Wine Shop, Bourbon Glazed Peach & Micro Cantaloupe."



Stole the description again here from Facebook, but the last certainly wasn't the least here. This one really packed in the flavor all in one sandwich - between the glazes, the layers of flavors with the greens and the side that included a grilled peach was almost like dessert! 



If you didn't get a chance to check it out this year, be sure to mark your calendar for next year. And if you need even more of a reason, check out these mouthwatering photos from Rafael Barker. 

Multifest brought about a whole bunch of new food vendors on the boulevard that I hadn't tried.



Luckily, I was able to check three off my list while the festival was going on a few weeks ago.



A Family Affair

A Family Affair was clad in green tenting and was offering fish dinners, wings and fries. I went with a fried fish sandwich with mac & cheese. I like my fish to be thick and battered and deep-fried, and this is more of a cornmeal crusted. The mac & cheese, though, was bomb. It was just a touch sweet, which is my weakness.



Tae's Place

Tae's Place was doing lamb chops and nachos. I went with some brisket nachos, which had these long strips of brisket. A little tough to eat, but tons of toppings! 







Jenni Pink Sweet Treats  

Jenni Pink Sweet Treats had popcorn, brownies, and all sorts of sweet treats. I went with a turtle brownie, which was a delicious, deep little brownie with caramel on top. Delish.