Candace Lately

Huntington Edition: Mountain Mama's Kitchen

9:02 PM

Mountain Mama's Kitchen, located in Huntington, serves up homestyle food in a rustic environment.

And, surprisingly, a lot of it now is seafood: homemade fried jumbo shrimp dinner, salmon nuggets, shrimp alfredo, etc.

When I was there, I ordered an oxtail alfredo with sweet potatoes and mac & cheese. The kitchen was a little disorganized and running behind when I was there, but I was happy to wait for this unique dish. It's not a combo you see often - and I don't see oxtails in general anyway. Oxtail is rich and tender and can be quite delicious when done right.

This version was OK. I do like the bed of creamy pasta, though I think it needed some more punch of flavor to hold up to oxtail. The oxtail was good, but the greasiness leeched out which was not so pleasant coating everything. Both sides and the cornbread were solid.

Grade: B

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Beckley

Beckley Edition: East Beckley Bodega/Kiayla's Grandma Kitchen

5:19 PM

East Beckley Bodega/Kiaylas Grandmas Kitchen

Bodegas are a thing in larger cities; they're small grocery stores and often in Spanish-speaking communities.

So my interest was piqued to find East Beckley Bodega in Beckley - even more so to find out they operate a small kitchen called Kiayla's Grandma's Kitchen.

I thank Door Dash for this discovery. The store itself had some empty shelves but did have some more unique snack items that aren't always easy to find.

The store did have a few pastry goods like slices of cake available for sale, but I was there a bit later in the day so not sure how well they would have held up at that hour. Regardless, I put in an order for a cheeseburger and mac & cheese.

So, overall, it was decent. I was kinda like a backyard bbq burger, which is totally fine, just a bit unwieldy. The bun was a bit too soft to handle this monster of a burger, super thick cut tomatoes and onions made it a bit difficult to eat. The burger itself could have benefited from some more seasoning, but I was happy they were generous with the portions.

The mac & cheese was clearly homemade with some baked cheese pieces in there and the pasta was broken down a good bit from the cooking. But with a ton of cheese, how could I not enjoy it? Not bad.

Grade: C

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Clendenin Edition: Elk River Baking Company

10:25 PM

Clendenin is booming. There's some development happening there, and one of my most recent visits included a stop at Elk River Baking Company.

This little bakery has expanded to offer breakfast, lunch and dinner since I've been there.

They had a case full of little treats. From chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies to one that immediately caught my attention: the pecan toffee cookie.

So that one was delicious, with that buttery toffee flavor. Plus a fruity shortcake bar and some little odds and ends - all super tasty. Homemade, rustic and quite tasty.

What have you tried?

Grade: A

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Charleston Edition: Ruth's Big Apples

8:49 PM

'Tis the time of year for caramel-covered apples. And I've heard about Ruth's Big Apples recently, so I reached out to see if I could purchase one of my own. She offers a variety of different kinds: Apple pie, pumpkin spice, m&m, Reese's, peanut, turtle, toffee coffee, Oreo, as well as regular caramel and chocolate.

I don't think that I learned until I was an adult that you are supposed to cut pieces of the apple instead of just biting directly into it. But, as I cut off pieces of this apple, I quickly devoured each one. It had a thick caramel coating, plus tons of chocolate and nuts. It's a great combination of sweet and salty. It was over-the-top delicious.

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Business

Maple Syrup Producers in West Virginia

10:00 AM

I wanted to pull together a collection of maple syrup producers (like honey). So let's go!

The United States produced 4.16 million gallons of maple syrup during the 2018 harvest. This does not reflect industry potential as it was a weather-related, poor production year. According to the USDA, of the 13 states involved in maple syrup production, West Virginia produced the least amount with 8,000 gallons in 2018. (For reference, Vermont produced 220 gallons of maple syrup for every 1 gallon produced by West Virginia.) While 2018 data shows West Virginia as the smallest producer, industry sources cite the state’s maple tree inventory and a large amount of untapped trees as a huge resource and viable growth commodity. Maple sap and syrup offer strong links to the local and cottage food movement and agritourism. For instance, the recent creation of “Maple Days” supports the maple industry and has the potential to spur more growth. [SOURCE]