Gratitude has become something of a buzz word and because of that, it seems that some people roll their eyes at the concept.

If you’re looking for a gift for the holidays for that person in your life who enjoys reading about local history, folklore, and life in these mountains, or if someone you know loves whipping up different sorts of meals in the kitchen, then you need to hustle out and pick up a copy of Jim Casada’s “Fishing For Chickens: A Smokies Food Memoir” (The University of Georgia Press, 2022, 336 pages). 

The dog days of summer are here (officially July 3 - Aug. 11 according to the Farmer’s Almanac) and although we should be excited about the plethora of fresh produce to cook with, sometimes it can seem like a chore. We’ve compiled a list of summer recipes to get your creative juices flowing. Enjoy!

One of the spices I love most is cayenne pepper which has capsaicin in it. Capsaicin is shown to help increase your metabolic rate! It does this by increasing your internal body temperature which in turn makes you burn more calories. So the spicier food you eat... potentially the faster your metabolism. Think about like harissa or other spicy additives to food that can up those internal body temps! 

Juices and smoothies are a great way to eat clean and feel fresh during spring and summer. Below is a list of some easy and nutritious juice ideas: 

Elizabeth Bard’s Lunch In Paris: A Love Story, With Recipes (Little, Brown and Company, 2010, 324 pages) offers readers both literary and culinary treats.

Bard — what a wonderful name for a writer — whisks us off to the City of Light where she has fallen in love with a Frenchman, Gwendal. (Pronounced Gwen-DAL). Living in England, Bard meets Gwendal at a Digital Resources Conference in Paris, and they are soon emailing each other across the Channel. Eventually, Bard visits Paris and Gwendal again, and then many times, before she finally takes up full-time residency in the city to be with the man who has become her lover. He introduces her to his family, who live in Saint-Malo, a French port city, and the two of them fly to New York to meet her own parents and kin. Eventually, they marry.

Heading up Hemphill Road, just outside of Maggie Valley, the lush fields and bungalow homes of Jonathan Creek fade into the rearview mirror. Pulling up to a large metal gate, it opens slowly and you soon find yourself meandering a dirt road, pushing ever so carefully toward the top of the 5,000-foot ridge.

The Waynesville Public Art Commission has put together a 150-recipe cookbook to benefit future public art pieces.

The Taste of the Great Smoky Mountains Cookbook is $10 and is the culmination a month-long process of collecting recipes from area residents. Many are old recipes handed down from generation to generation. One recipe dates back to a 1966 church cookbook.

A local Dillsboro inn had four recipes featured in the Southern Living cookbook, Off the Eaten Path: Favorite Southern Dives and 150 Recipes that Made Them Famous.

The Jarrett House, a favorite Dillsboro bed and breakfast for the past 127 years, has received national recognition for its regional expertise. Pages 160 to 163 of the cookbook contain photos of the Jarrett House, an introduction to the restaurant and four of its famous recipes.

Morgan Murphy, the former travel and food editor for Southern Living magazine, toured the South in his old Cadillac, searching for the region’s best restaurants and recipes. He stopped at the Jarrett House, giving the GPS coordinates for fellow travelers, on his way through North Carolina.

“The cooking here is as straightforward and simple as their buttery biscuits. You won’t find complex ingredients or cutting-edge techniques. But what you will find is delectable Southern fare served with a smile,” Murphy wrote about the Jarrett House.

Murphy’s favorite was the chicken and dumplings. “I’d be a dumpling myself if I lived anywhere near the Jarrett House,” he wrote. The cookbook lists the ingredients and preparation instructions for the dish, including the diner secret: two kinds of pepper give the recipe a “country kick.”

Murphy included the Jarrett House’s 3-step recipe for Vinegar Pie, describing the taste as “something between a poundcake and a pecan pie without pecans. Yum.” The Jarrett House’s “easy, four-ingredient biscuits” and house apples (2 pounds sliced apples, 1 cup sugar) were also featured.

The Hartbargers have owned the Jarrett House for 36 years; in that time, Southern Living has visited the restaurant and written articles about it periodically, which the restaurant has kept for display. According to Jim Hartbarger, Southern Living has always offered an extremely positive response.

Hartbarger said the Jarrett House was chosen over other restaurants “because of its age and standards. It was a no-miss situation.” When Murphy came to visit the restaurant last year, he sat down for lunch and interviewed the staff, making sure he had a story to accompany the recipes.

“Southern Living has always been good to us. It’s an honor, and we’re really proud,” Hartbarger said.

By Tessa Rodes • SMN Intern

Ramp Biscuits

4 cups Flour

1 tablespoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Salt

2 Heaping T Baking Powder

½ cup Shortening or oil

2 cups Buttermilk

1 cup uncooked Minced Ramps

Sift flour, salt, baking powder and soda together. Cut in shortening until mixture looks like grapenuts, add ramps and enough buttermilk to make a soft dough ball, make sure ramps are well mixed in dough. Turn out on floured surface.

Knead dough from north to south, east to west adding flour if too sticky, the more you knead the lighter the bread, flatten the dough and cut out your biscuits or just leave as flat bread or "pone."

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place biscuits on a lightly greased pan, lightly caramelize a small about of ramps in a bit of butter, strain out ramps and brush the top of your bread with the butter, place in oven for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Pry a biscuit open to see if it is done, if not return to oven for a few more minutes baking time.

Baking time depends on your oven and the thickness of the biscuits... when the bread is done the ramps will be too. Serve immediately with real butter for best experience.

Note*** If you are using baking mix use 4 cup mix, ½ cup shortening, 2 cup buttermilk, 1 cup minced ramps and follow package directions.

You may also use self-rising flour, shortening, buttermilk and ramps. Whole milk can be substituted for buttermilk follow directions.

For heavier bread leave out the shortening and use old fashioned buttermilk, this is a better recipe for diabetics.

Killed Ramps and Branch Lettuce

1 quart of ramps with tops

1 quart of branch lettuce

1 package of bacon

Fry bacon crisp and set aside to drain. Chop ramps and branch lettuce coarsely and place in a heat resistant bowl.

If you don't have enough bacon dripping to make ¾ cup, melt enough lard into dripping to make ¾ cup.

Pour hot dripping over chopped ramps and branch lettuce. Add salt and pepper to taste and top with crumbled bacon.

Must be served hot.

Note*** If you can find it you may add some "crows foot greens" to the ramps and branch lettuce. They will add a bit of zip to the flavor.

You may substitute regular green onions and leaf lettuce or spinach, but isn't nearly as good.

Fried Potatoes and Ramps

6-8 Medium White Potatoes

2 Cup New Ramps or 3 cups chopped with tops

1 package of bacon

Salt and pepper to taste

Fry bacon crisp, set bacon aside to drain. While bacon is cooking peel and slice potatoes into 1/8 inch thick slices. Place in cold water to prevent drying out.

After bacon is removed turn down heat a bit, drain your potatoes and pat dry with paper towel. Place potatoes in skillet with hot bacon grease, add salt and pepper to taste, brown gently then add ramps and cover with lid. Let simmer for 8-10 minutes or until ramps are clear.

Place ramp and potato mixture in bowl and sprinkle the crumbled bacon on top. Serve hot!

Ramp Cornbread

1½ cup white cornmeal

½ cup flour

1 t salt

3 t baking powder

2 T sugar

2 eggs

1 cup milk whole or butter

¼ cup oil

1 cup finely minced ramps

Sift dry ingredients together, add ramps, combine eggs, milk and oil. Fold into dry ingredients beat until smooth. Preheat oven and well oiled 8 inch iron skillet to 400 degrees. Pour mixture into hot skillet and bake for about twenty minutes until top is golden brown and a piece of spaghetti inserted into the center come out clean.

Serve hot with plenty of butter and a big glass of buttermilk or whole milk as desired.