Tasting North Carolina
When I started this blog in 2008 it was because I was feeling totally alone in a strange place, a strange life, and I missed home. I needed tastes of my childhood to help me remember who I was and why I had chosen this path. In the years that followed the blog became a haven during jobs that I hated or when I felt creatively stunted. And as I continued to live in the Northeast it became a way to stay connected to my home state, to assert my North Carolinian identity. Through all this, the cumulative eight years I spent in Maryland, I always knew I wanted to come home. And as Biscuits and Such grew and became a part of my routine and a part of me, I didn’t ever stop to consider how it would change when I was no longer a displaced Southerner trying to find pieces of home in a Northerner’s world.
These days I’m surrounded by the things that I love and missed. If I wanted to I could eat grits and biscuits every day and I wouldn’t even have to make them. I no longer have to recreate home because I am home. And in a lot of ways, because of that, the blog has changed. I’ve felt uncertain of its direction, uncertain of its purpose. I’m sure you’ve noticed it, this hasn’t really been a settled space in months. The process of moving, taking time for the holidays, and settling in has given me a lot of time to think about what I wanted out of this website. Asking myself the age old question (that I usually hate), what’s next? We are in a new house that we love, we have new jobs (that I’ll talk about soon enough, I’m sure), we’re feeling happier than we’ve ever been. I want that enthusiasm and love of this place to seep into every part of my life, especially Biscuits and Such. I want this blog to become more than a tribute to the South I remember, I want it to become a celebration of the South that is.
So, with that, I’m excited to launch a new project, Tasting North Carolina. My goal is simple, over the next few years I’d like to create and share a recipe that is representative of each of North Carolina’s 100 counties. This is a huge undertaking, and I’ll admit to feeling a bit intimidated. I don’t know much about most of the counties in North Carolina, but that’s what excites me about it. It will involve research, travel, and learning the stories of the state that I am so happy to call home. I envision the foods to be a mix of regional cuisines, specialty dishes, and old favorites. Because North Carolina has so many counties I’m hoping that I can pull some unique and hyper-regional dishes and recipes to share here on the blog. I’ll be posting them all with links to a main roundup where you can follow the progress and revisit favorite recipes.
I want to showcase each part of this wonderful place, and I invite you to help me do it. If you have a recipe that you think would be perfect for your county or a county in NC that you love, please email me (elena@biscuitsandsuch.com). I am so excited to launch this project and I hope that you will join me! We’ll be kicking off tomorrow with a seasonal favorite from Onslow County- oysters!