I just returned from a one way trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina, to judge a cooking contest for Lowcountry Literacy. It was a well organized event, with many capable volunteers. It was interesting, as always, to see what the chefs created.

Maybe I’m a funny judge, but I really don’t like it when contestants use very special ingredients that the other contestants don’t have. (In this case, each one was allowed to bring several ingredients — including their own stock.) But really, the challenge is to use what is there. That’s what I have to do at home, for instance.

Surprisingly, we saw three crepe desserts, two of them “Suzettey” — i.e., with orange liquor. I wonder if they are coming back. Not one of them tried a pastry (although to be fair there was no refrigeration on the floor — they would have had to run it back to the space set aside for the volunteers, where there was a freezer and a refrigerator.

Saturday I went to our farmer’s market and really binged, buying all sorts of wonderful produce. Frustrated at not having time to use any of it, I just tucked a blueberry/raspberry cobbler in the oven. Its my old lazy girl cobbler, which is a simple thing to assemble and make. I always start to crave it when the fresh fruit starts coming. Granulated or brown sugar can be used. Self-rising flour is a must. A like a larger baking dish rather than a smaller because I like the crispy edge where the butter comes up around. Yum.

Lazy Girl Cobbler

1 stick butter
1 cup each milk, self-rising flour, and sugar.
2 cups berries or peaches

Preheat oven to 350@. Put the butter in a baking dish and let it melt in the oven. Meanwhile, whisk together milk, self-rising flour and 3/4 of the sugar. Add the other 1/4 cup of sugar to the berries and toss gently. When the butter is melted (about 5 minutes) remove the dish, pour in the batter, and top the batter with the fruit and any juices. Bake until brown and cooked through — half an hour to 45 minutes, depending on the dish.

I did buy fresh eggs at the market, and sauteed them in butter for dinner last night after I returned from Hilton Head at nearly seven. They were just perfect and Jack and I sopped them up. I had mine sunny side up where Jack’s I turned over easy. He doesn’t love the runny yellow like I do. Fresh eggs taste so much better than store-bought. The yellow holds together more and makes it a beautiful painting in the pan.

I’ve been working on biscuits lately, including an article published yesterday in the Charleston Post and Courier, that gives ideas an recipes.

Whenever I write about biscuits, I am flooded with emails and phone calls from people saying they are so grateful to have some information on them. There are dozens of kinds of biscuits, since no two families make them the same way.

The truth is, however, that biscuits take practice. Considering this, an earnest biscuit maker will spend less time making batch after batch, until they are perfect,then they will on a baseball or football game where their team loses! After all, they are just flour, fat and a little water. The easiest fat is Crisco, followed quickly by lard — but duck fat can be fun and so can butter.

Angel biscuits are the easiest to make and practice on, because they contain yeast, which keeps them tender and more roll-like. Once you can make an angel biscuit, you can move on the other ones. Angel biscuits freeze beautifully, too, and the dough keeps at least a week in the refrigerator.

So go read up on Nathaliedupree.com, and let me know what you think!!

My mother was a terrible cook for the most part. Before she had children, she said, she cooked a lot for dinner parties and my father’s guests. But after us (the three monsters) she lost heart, and after my father left, she really lost heart. I used to wonder, what is there to eat if you don’t eat chicken on Sunday, spaghetti on Monday, Tuna Fish Casserole on Tuesday,Dinty Moore Stew out of a can on Wednesday so Mother could go to Church (alternates were a turkey frozen dinner and chicken pot pie.) Thursday was something like chipped beef on toast, Friday fish sticks, Saturdays pork chops maybe, and then it was Sunday. When I found out there was more food in the world than that I was amazed!!

The Charleston Food and Wine Festival was a success if numbers count. In some ways, it was not as much a success as we wished. We would have liked to have had the lines flow smoothly, people be able to eat and drink at the right times, and have everyone happy all the time. Tylor Florence and Tom Collichio were a BIG hit — and so was the Culinary Village, except that was where the lines were the worst, on Saturday, right at lunchtime. An unanticipated calamity in that people were kept, waiting, and wanting…Food is a control issue, and when people can’t eat, they get unhappy. But Charlestonians seemed to take it in stride, and only a few complained. What a gracious city.

One of the most interesting events was the discussion between Mimi Sheraton, former restaurant critic for the New York Times, Jenifer Lang, Rozanne Gold (she has a column on entertaining for Bon Appetit)and Rozanne’s husband, Michael Wiseman, who started Windows on the World (both times) and The Rainbow Room, working with Joe Baum. Their subject was the rise of American Food in New York, and they zipped right through it. George Lang had pneumonia and was unable to be with us. But Jenifer had all these great slides reminding us of the old and the greats, from The Quilted Giraffe to The Forum of the Twelve Caesars.

Curtis Aikens flew in just for Sunday and gave a spirited demonstration, full of laughter.

Chef Walter Royal of the Angus Barn in Raleigh did a fantastic job of the gospel brunch on Sunday — with a fantastic cheese grits souffle, among other things like oyster pie and quails. Amazing food.

The barbecue on Sunday night was another great hit. The band added to the spice of the food — people were dancing in the aisles on the non-too-level floor of the big tent. What fun. And What ribs!

Next year I’m sure more kinks will be worked out — this is only the second year.