Some 25 residents gathered in the private dining room on March 8 for a talk and demonstration by the accomplished local food writer and cooking instructor Sheri Castle. A lunch featuring recipes from her New Southern Garden Cookbook was served by the Carolina Meadows kitchen staff. Sheri is as good a storyteller as a cook, and for over an hour she regaled us with tales of her Appalachian childhood, along with cooking tips, information about various legumes, and inside stories about the cookbook business. The menu included tomato pie, Brunswick stew, cornbread, and biscuits with “chocolate gravy.” The consensus favorite was the scrumptious tomato pie.

The food service staff should be commended for organizing this event and for providing the lunch. There was general agreement that something similar should be done again.