Disclaimer: I am not a baker. My mother was an amazing baker and I have many childhood and teen memories being in the kitchen with my mother baking cookies.  I recall rolling dough, portioning cookies onto a cooking tray, asking to “lick the beaters” of our hand mixer and enjoying her delicious homemade sweet treats.… Continue reading Deceptively Easy Apple Almond Puff Pastry

An interview with Bob Evans – “almost 83 years old” – born 1933 – “it’s been a good life – I wouldn’t change it for anything.” I met Mr. Evans (“please, call me Bob”) at our Ingles Markets Deli café in Mills River. Bob attended and  graduated  from Kent State University and met his wife Marilyn there. He… Continue reading Food History – Talking to Bob Evans

Ana Mitchell “Cracker Queen” and boxes of Roots and Branches Crackers   When you’ve operated a successful restaurant in Asbury Park, New Jersey patronized by the famous,  including Bruce Springsteen, and then decide to sell it, what’s your next business move?  Once Clark and Ana Mitchell sold the Twisted Root Cafe in New Jersey,  their… Continue reading Roots and Branches: On Crackers and the Zombie Apocalypse

Many of us have probably read journalist and food activist, Michael Pollan’s famous quote, “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.” But how did (depending on your age) our parents,  grandparents or great-grandparents really eat?  I had this idea to interview some seniors to ask that question.  You’ll be happy to learn that if your parent… Continue reading Food Recollections: On Coconut Cake and a Grape Nehi

We all had that first job, the start of our professional career as dietitians.  Like our first love, the first job often leaves the biggest impression and can sometimes even result in making a crucial decision about our career path. My first job as a registered dietitian was as the Chief of Clinical Dietetics at… Continue reading Words of Wisdom: Advice to New Dietitians

Several years ago on a family trip to Dollywood, Dolly Parton’s theme park nestled in the mountains of East Tennessee, we passed the Bush’s beans plant.  I marveled at the large complex but we were on a mission, to take a 10 year old to an amusement park, so we had no time to stop.… Continue reading Desperately Seeking DUKE ( A Visit to Bush’s Beans)

Stephanie Fairweather, dietetic intern at Lenoir-Rhyne University contributed this post.     What kind of grocery shopping and eating changes would a person recently diagnosed with Celiac disease need to make in life? May is Celiac Awareness Month, and Ingles Markets Dietitian Leah McGrath posed this question, challenging me to observe and experience how food buying… Continue reading Guest Post: The Celiac Challenge

For over ten years I’ve worked with celiac disease and gluten intolerance support groups, long before “going gluten-free” was a fad endorsed by celebrities.  Though I don’t have celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity; I’ve planned and attended at least twenty gluten-free events, attended multiple educational sessions about celiac disease and the  gluten-free diet and sampled countless gluten-free cookies, cakes, donuts,… Continue reading Got to be Gluten-Free

“Taste of Local”- Guest post by Ana Hoffman – University of TN Dietetic Intern. Grown in your town. Picked by your neighbor. Sold down the street. The local food craze is sweeping the nation- town by town. If you’re anything like me, you’ve seen the popular slogan, “Eat Local,” on bumper stickers of every passing… Continue reading A Dietetic Intern gets a taste of “Taste of Local” at Ingles

Becoming a dietitian is no easy feat.  It takes years of study of difficult and demanding classes (please don’t mention Organic Chemistry).  You need at least an undergraduate degree ( and soon a Master’s will be required).  You must complete an internship that can last nine months to over a year, You must pass a… Continue reading Dietitians Answer the Question: “Why did you become a dietitian?”