March 2021
Homemade pizza tips and a little maple-almond glaze
Hi all —
Here’s my (try as hard as I can) monthly round-up for those of you who want to learn / keep up a little more with me and the work that I do. Hope you enjoy.
Writing, writing, writing
Before I wrote mostly about food, I wrote mostly about visual art and music, and a project that published in late February returned me back to the arts. In the works since July of 2020 and my first freelance audio production, Natalie Daise on What We Call Holy is a multi-media experience over at The Bitter Southerner, and the collaborative nature of the process, from working with the artist herself to the whole editorial team, kept me all warm and fuzzy inside during the winter doldrums.
But it’s finally Spring, which has me looking ahead for summer family travel to Hilton Head for Travel + Leisure, finding any excuse to make homemade pizza with spring veggies thanks to these tips from Kyle Jacovino on Saveur, and planning some eating out patio lunches thanks to a Resy Charleston assignment.
The rhythm of alternating between writing and recording is in full swing now, and as I’m typing this, I’m hearing the first thunder of the season, reminding me of the rhythm of the seasons too. Happy to be here with you on this side of last year!
My pizza will never look like this beauty from Kyle Jacovino in Savannah, GA.
Photo: Andrew Thomas Lee.
Episode Updates
Speaking of Kyle, if you want to know more about Savannah’s pizzaiolo, I debuted an episode with him too. Don’t worry — we had pizza first.
And if you like OG Charleston content, then John Zucker of Cru Cafe is one of the best OGs in town. We had a great time chatting catering and one seriously decadent Mac and Cheese. (And his link has the recipe!)
I don’t *just* speak to chefs on The Southern Fork, but do my best to cover the whole wide world of the Southern culinary realm, so I was thrilled to introduce you to Amethyst Ganaway on Episode 214, an up and coming food writer you need to follow.
Other podcast episodes I like right now: For an uplifting listen, I loved TED Radio Hour’s “It Takes Time” episode, probably because one of my lifelong lessons is patience. On the complete other end of the spectrum, I also enjoyed a fascinating Fresh Air conversation with a card cheat, who explained the dexterity and cool head needed to deal from the bottom of the deck. He kind of sounds like Christian Slater’s character from Heathers too, so added bonus.
On my mind: always a million things, especially at 3 a.m. But after a year of millions of folks beating the drum like me, there is now a Neighborhood Restaurant and Bar Grant Program. If you have a favorite local haunt, please encourage them to look into it.
Best thing I cooked this month: I made a lemon cake with Maple-Almond Glaze from Back in the Day Bakery Made with Love. The Maple-Almond Glaze was actually a tweak from a Maple Vanilla Glaze, but it worked beautifully! If you love baking, you will love this book, if you don’t have it already. I pull it off my cookbook shelf often when I need to bake something special.
Until next time,
Steph