Feature Story Sustainable Seafood: On The Bubble Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
Efforts to make sustainable food more visible and available are increasing. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments
get outta town Kendall Lukas Visits Wilmington, N.C. Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
Kendall Lukas has stars in her eyes and history under her feet as she explores the neighboring port city of Wilmington, N.C. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments A Lowcountry Life From Ballet Shoes To Bikinis Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
Poland native Maria Dobrzanska Reeves uses her dance discipline to achieve success in Charleston. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments essay Splashing Through Childhood Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
Author Ron Daise looks for joy and finds it in remembering his children in their youth. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments homestyle Cooking in the Great Outdoors Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
More on Megan Westmeyer and Jennifer Smith’s visit to Swimming Rock Fish Farm Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments from the editor Water World Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
I love being in water. I love that clear, cool swishing feeling around my ears. In fact, on a warm, sunny day, I like to go outside and get as hot as possible and then dive into a cool pool. For me, it’s refreshment at its finest. Read More 1 comment(s) / read/add comments distinctively charleston Beach Music Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
You can see the shrimp boats from your restaurant table, so that shrimp pasta on the menu has to be fresh and local. Right? Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments just dogs Water Babies Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
We celebrate what we treasure in the Lowcountry and beyond that gives us an interior smile. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments from the editor Maxximum Style Thursday, May 1, 03 49 p.m.
My 14-year-old niece visited Charleston with her parents in March. She’s from Moscow, Russia, and I had not seen her in more than 10 years. There’s a big difference between 4 and 14! Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments feature story Holy City Style Thursday, May 1, 03 49 p.m.
When Nancye Starnes decided to move out of Memphis, she drew up a list of “must haves” for her new hometown: it had to be a walkable city, located on the water, and sizeable enough to support a vibrant performing arts community. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments just dogs Citadel Charmers Thursday, May 1, 03 48 p.m.
Move aside – bulldog coming through. In January, the American Kennel Club announced that the Bulldog, one of the most recognizable and iconic purebred dogs, has muscled its way into the 10th spot on the organization’s annual list of the most popular breeds in America. Read More 2 comment(s) / read/add comments delectable delights Beyond Cookie Cutter Thursday, May 1, 03 48 p.m.
Prime ingredients, Nostalgic tastes and creative bakers transform Lowcountry cookies into high-style confections. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments A Lowcountry Life Working for Peanuts Thursday, May 1, 03 48 p.m.
Anthony Wright, the man known throughout the Lowcountry and across the nation as Tony the Peanut Man, never intended to make his living selling boiled goobers. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments get outta town Kendall Lukas Visits Charlotte, NC Thursday, May 1, 03 48 p.m.
I had never been to Charlotte … not really. Well, I’ve gotten my kicks at Carowinds because that was part of being a kid in the Carolinas, and I’ve been to concerts at the open-air Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre because it’s a large complex for big-time acts. I’ve visited my sister at UNC Charlotte and have flown through the city’s major transit airport many times. But as for the metropolis of Charlotte, I’d only ever viewed its high-rises from afar. This time I took an up-close look at the interior and found a lot of reasons to relish in North Carolina’s top travel destination. Read More 1 comment(s) / read/add comments distinctively charleston Turning Heads Thursday, May 1, 03 48 p.m.
Bessie is almost 50 and looks as good today as she did in her youth – maybe even better. After all, back then she was hanging from a pole. Now she runs circles around the rest of us, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments homestyle Café Comfort Thursday, May 1, 03 46 p.m.
Banquettes are big. Heidi Walker, Allied ASID, of Walker Design Group, is currently working on three different kitchens that have banquettes. For this kitchen in a young couple’s home on Sullivan’s Island, Walker created a café atmosphere by building on the existing element of the laminated floor. “This promotes a casual impromptu gathering space,” she says. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments ESSAY Lowcountry Style Thursday, May 1, 12 00 a.m.
If you want to experience real Lowcountry style, you need to come to the Hebron Saint Francis Senior Center. Its members are long time Johns Island residents, a hardscrabble group of African-American women who meet every Wednesday for devotion and quilt making. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments homestyle Jewel Box Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
Although one of the smallest rooms in a house, a powder room is nonetheless important since most of your guests will pay it a visit. Jennifer Rhodes, ASID, principal designer of J. Rhodes Design, took the popular concept of making this room a “jewel box” and ran with it, creating a luxurious surprise in this 3-foot by 7-foot Daniel Island room. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments distinctively charleston Treasure Hunt Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
For some it’s a hobby; for some it’s an obsession; and for some it is all about the experience. Under a table, out of a box of old papers or tucked in a dark corner, you see it. It might have been neglected, someone no longer valuing it, but you know its true worth. Your heart speeds up and suddenly you realize … you found a something you must have.
Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments feature Story Let’s Go! Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
It is official – spring has sprung! As winter wanes, so does our brief tolerance for being cooped indoors. We have a bridge to walk, nature paths to bike, bass to catch, and azaleas that need planting. So dangle off the dock, put the top down, grab the gear out of the garage, or get the dogs ready for a ride. It is time for Lowcountry residents to play outside! Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments get outta town Kendall Lukas Visits Aiken, SC Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
Today Aiken is somewhat old-fashioned, but it is cosmopolitan in its direction. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments feature Story Exceptional Educators Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
Three Lowcountry teachers go beyond the call of duty to make a difference. We see it splashed across the headlines every day. South Carolina schools are struggling. In fact, it’s even become an issue in the upcoming presidential election. And with good reason. Our schools are struggling, dropout rates are hovering in some districts around 50 percent, and the heated debate about the emphasis on testing continues. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments essay The Art of Walking Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
The word “art” usually brings to mind pictures of such objects as paint brushes, canvases, pigments, and marble statuary. It does not call up, necessarily, the image of the walker or the bliss and freedom of the path – beaten or unbeaten – that unfurls ahead. But to walk, to enter truly the experience of locomotion merged with one’s surroundings, alert to air and leaf and salamander, is to practice a high and much-forgotten art. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments letter from the editor Go-Go Girl Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
"Go” has practically become my middle name. I’ve always been a fast mover, even when my body isn’t really up to it. A quick climb up three flights of stairs will remind me of this every time. Lately I feel like I’m constantly on-the-go: work; household chores; child rearing; trips to the grocery; trips to Target; trips to the vet to care for Bugsy, my dear aging Westie. It seems that ”going” has become an American pastime; if you’re not crazy-out-of-your-mind busy then you’re not doing something right. I disagree. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments delectable delights Spring Fling Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
Mother Nature delivers the first flush of spring in asparagus, onions and peas.
Spring enters life so beautifully,
With love within her tears of rain;
She whispers softly in my ear
Her presence in the world again. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments
Recipe box Prime ingredients, nostalgic tastes and creative bakers transform these cookies into high-style confections. Videos
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Prime ingredients, nostalgic tastes and creative bakers transform Lowcountry cookies into high-style confections
Cookies have come a long way since their origins as oven temperature “little cake” (or “koekje” in Dutch) testers: virtual edible guinea pigs used to ensure that the heat was right to bake their larger and (then) more revered cake cousins.
That was hundreds of years ago. But in less than five years, cookies have literally been breaking new and delicious molds in the Lowcountry with the advent of three enterprising, passionate and successful cookie businesses that have more than cookies in common. They’re all driven to deliver the perfect sweet treat – one that tastes as beautiful as it looks and one that matches the high-style demands of a discerning batch of Lowcountry residents.
Judith Moore/Photo by Leigh Webber
Soft and Round
“Mom had to throw me out of the kitchen when I was a kid so she could make dinner,” jokes Judith Moore, founder/CEO of Charleston Cookie Company LLC and a self-professed “hobby baker.” All grown up now and five years into leading the business she founded after ditching 300 pounds of cookie dough in a quest to create the company’s first cookie (Chocolate Chip Pecan), Moore’s products have expanded to include a 15-strong, seasonally revolving line of cookies and confections.
No matter what she and her staff create in their James Island-based kitchen, Moore focuses on four things: looks, flavor complexity, soft cookie texture and quality ingredients. She demands a cookie that’s rounded on the top, layered with top-notch ingredients, soft and chewy, and prepared with absolutely no preservatives and no margarine. It’s butter only for Moore.
“Even though there are all these trends toward healthy food and organic food, it doesn’t seem to effect what people want in a cookie. They want high fat, high sugar and seriously good chocolate.”
Tamlyn Willard/Photo by Rick McKee
Lime Pluck a’ Plenty
Growing up in Jupiter, Fla., Sublime Pies & Cakes Owner Tamlyn Willard developed a penchant for the lime-rich salsas and flavors she and her family ate regularly with fish and vegetables. Later in life, her savory interpretations of lime would turn to sweet. “I was about 17 when I started making key lime pies. Every time I went to a party over the years, people would ask for it and tell me I should sell it.”
And sell she did, winning awards along the way. Just six months after opening her business in 2003, the American Pie Council handed her first place in the key lime pie division and first place in the open category for her key lime cheesecake.
The initial product line has morphed to include several cookies including Double Chocolate Key Lime, Tropical Cookie, Espresso Fudge Cookies and an Oatmeal Raisin that she describes as “beyond typical.”
But, like Moore, Willard and her staff demand quality. “We are fanatical about using only real butter, no fillers, no liquid (ugh!) hydrogenated stuff. It’s a real, homemade cookie. We really pride ourselves on making that cookie where you can eat just one and you’re satisfied.”
David Graham & Tres Pausey/Photo by Rick McKee
Iced Cut-Outs
More a businessman than a baker (though he admits to being a “huge sugar fan”), cookies started turning Three Smart Cookies owner David Graham’s head when he found Two Smart Cookies while living in Savannah. “It’s owned by a couple of ladies. They make the best cookies you’ve ever tasted. So, I told them, if you guys ever want to franchise, let me know,” explains Graham.
Fast forward to spring 2007; Three Smart Cookies, owned by David Graham and Tres Pausey, stocked with the recipes and “book of knowledge” on running the business from the original store, was well underway in downtown Charleston. Though the bakery produces several types of cookies, their biggest seller is the iced cut-out, a sugar cookie with an almond-flavored, “soft” icing.
They literally come in hundreds of colors and shapes.
“It’s really the trend,” says Graham. “People will come in and say, ‘Oh my gosh, this would be great for a baby shower or for party favors.’ So we put an iced rattle cut-out in a bag and match the colors according to whether it’s a girl or a boy. These are fun, the colors are bright, and the possibilities are endless.”
Home at the Range with Holly
Named (in French) for their resemblance to palm trees, these sweet treats are perhaps better known as elephant ears. Simple and quick to make with store-bought puff pastry sheets, palmier cookies are not unlike a glorified jelly roll. In this recipe, the pastry is rolled with a layer of brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts for a festive, stylish, and delicious cookie that will impress without too much fuss or time in the kitchen.
Lowcountry Living is a bi-monthly magazine of The Post and Courier, 134 Columbus St., Charleston, S.C. 29403-4800. Copyright 2007 by The Post and Courier.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without express written permission from The Post and Courier. Printed by R.L. Bryan, Columbia, S.C. Click here to email the editor
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