Poke Salad

Poke Salad

This is the poisonous “Pokeweed”. My Grandmother, Mom, and North Carolina family used Poke to cook “Poke Salad”. In the Spring, Pokeweed grew wild in yards, fields, near creek banks, and springs. They would gather it before it sprouted berries, clean it, boil it and 

Fried Green Tomatoes at 1205 6th Ave. West

Fried Green Tomatoes at 1205 6th Ave. West

Sliced Green tomatoes (thick) Flour & Corn Meal Mixture Salt Pepper Crushed Cayenne Pepper Lard or Bacon Grease I don’t ever remember eating fried green tomatoes growing up as a kid, only after I was able to prepare them myself. Green tomatoes were set aside 

Sweet Potato Cobbler

Sweet Potato Cobbler

The Rev. Mildred Twitty, Pastor of St. Paul AME Zion Church, learned to make sweet potato cobbler from her mother in Polk County. She often makes this dessert for church dinners, where it is always popular. Some years her family and friends are lucky enough 

Using Local Recipes

Many of these local recipes are shared in the old time way, just as cooks traditionally shared recipes. They list the basic ingredients and tell what to do with them, but without some of the details one might find in today’s cookbooks. The recipes assume that the person