The author gives a memory filled overview of the favorite foods in North Carolina from the past and the ever changing availability of other ethnic foods and new favorites as our palates change.
This gives a quick look at favorite food and food companies found in North Carolina such as Pepsi, Hardee’s, Texas Pete, Food Lion, Mount Olive Pickle Company, Livermush, Sweet Potatoes, etc.
The author gives the history of such foods as corn, popcorn, peanuts, potatoes, molasses, pigeons, ketchup, opossum, mustard greens and chocolate. She talks about how our North Carolina ancestors ate seasonal food.
The author talks about President George Washington in 1791 on his Southern Tour stopping at Col. John Allen’s plantation in Craven County, NC and having breakfast and being at a public dinner in New Bern, NC.
Shortages , Substitutes, and Salt: Food during the Civil War in North Carolina
The author talks of the suffering and hardships from the lack of food in North Carolina during the Civil War. He uses Civil War letters to demonstrate the lack of food for the soldiers.
The author talks of learning to read old writing when the writer writes his words as they sound. Reading historical records can be much like breaking a code. An example of entries from a 1795 journal from western North Carolina is given to translate.
The author talks about the many types of apples found in North Carolina and their different uses. Many old time or ‘heirloom’ apples have disappeared; but apple historians are finding examples and bringing them back into production. There is a place that is has an heirloom apple collection open to the public called ‘Horne Creek Living Historical Farm’ located in Pinnacle, NC, north of Winston-Salem.
The author talks about the creation of the CMA (Colored Merchants Association) in Winston-Salem, NC, which tried to help the small black independent grocery stores to compete with Chain Stores by using group buying power to match the lower prices the Chain Stores. It worked for a while until the Depression closed many stores.