This week, downtown Raleigh is teeming with toe-tapping, banjo-playing bluegrass enthusiasts. Wide Open Bluegrass, held Sept. 28 and 29, is the urban bluegrass music festival that closes out the International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass week. The festival features the best of the traditional music community, including IBMA and Grammy Award winners and top-notch […]
Summer may officially start next week, but across the state the boys of summer have been filling stadiums with cheering fans for months. Agriculture figures pretty prominently in baseball from the uniforms to the snacks to the field. Check out a few facts below: Most uniforms are cotton-based. Cash receipts from cotton production in North […]
Help the Easter Bunny find his eggs and learn a little about North Carolina agriculture. This activity sheet is out just in time to serve as as a placemat for the kids’ table at Easter dinner, or as fun springtime activity for your preschool and elementary-age children. Ham, strawberries, eggs and sweet potatoes are a few […]
A Got to Be NC barbecue sauce recently received a long-distance accolade. The Smoking Joint, a BBQ competition team from Australia, was named Grand Champion in the Melbourne Kansas City Barbecue Society festival last month using Bob’s Smokin’ Southern BBQ Sauce dry rub. The team has placed a rush order for more rub, as they […]
Televisions across the country will be tuned in on February 4th to watch the Philadelphia Eagles take on the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 52 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. And whether you’re watching to see Tom Brady try for his sixth Super Bowl win, the commercials, or Justin Timberlake’s half time show, […]
J January’s chill calls for warm, “stick-to-your-bones” type meals. It’s no wonder that National Soup Month falls during what’s often the coldest month of the year. The recipe below utilizes fresh and local Swiss chard or kale, which are both cool-season vegetables. Include local sausage, bacon and potatoes to make it a North Carolina soup […]
On Feb. 20, the department will host produce buyers from Lowes Foods and US Foods at the Grower/Buyer Exchange. The event, organized by the department’s Marketing Division, is geared to N.C. fruit and vegetable growers interested in selling their products to retailers and food service companies. Growers can schedule personal, 15-minute meetings with category buyers […]
Pies are a holiday dessert staple. We found the holiday recipe below on Facebook and it uses pecan toffee made in Chapel Hill. This simple recipe will impress your guests and just might be the hit of any holiday gathering. Since 2006 the Graves Family has been selling their toffee, which is a secret family […]
Gifts from the kitchen and homemade treats are usually a hit for holidays and can be dressed up with a fancy container, gift bag or festive platter to add to the gift. Peanut brittle is a delicious treat that is quick and easy to make. North Carolina produced 342 million pounds of peanuts in 2016 […]
Last month, a handful of N.C. food bloggers celebrated “Pork-tober,” also known as National Pork Month, by highlighting farmers, farmers markets and recipes featuring pork. The results? Delicious. Our state ranks second nationally in pork production. Duplin, Sampson, Bladen and Wayne counties are our top hog-producing counties. Hogs accounted for almost $2.3 billion in cash […]
September is National Chicken Month. North Carolina ranks 3rd nationally in broilers, contributing nearly $3.5 billion of total farming cash receipts. According to the N.C. Poultry Federation, the poultry industry’s economic impact for NC is $36.6 billion. More than 5,700 farm families produce poultry and eggs in our state. Which is great news, considering the […]
Krispy Kreme has been getting a lot of attention recently. Last week it was announced that North Carolinians prefer Krispy Kreme to Dunkin Doughnuts according to a recent public policy poll. Which means more of us agree on our favorite doughnut than we do our favorite type of barbecue. We are proud that Krispy Kreme […]