Author: Debbi Covington

Easter is my favorite holiday! It’s better than Christmas. It’s better than Thanksgiving. It’s even better than my birthday. Such a special holiday requires a special meal. Dinner during the day is a very Southern thing. Even though “dinner” is eaten at lunchtime, it’s a bigger deal than “supper.” Supper implies a less formal meal. For example, if I say I’m having a little “supper party,” you’ll figure that it’s nothing grand, not too much effort will be expended. If friends are invited over for a “dinner party,” they’ll expect something more upscale than a casserole. And yes, we eat on dinner plates, not supper plates. Holidays are big deals. They’re always dinners.

For the record, I’m a carnivore – a meatasaurus, even. I’d grab a cold piece of steak out of the fridge way before digging into a bag of potato chips or eating a piece of chocolate. So, when director VW Scheich and his wife Uyen Le asked me to participate in their upcoming feature film, “Carpe Vegan,” I wasn’t sure just what I had to offer.

Have you seen Mel Gibson’s film The Patriot? The movie was filmed entirely in South Carolina. It’s based on the life of Francis Marion, also known as The Swamp Fox, who was one of the great militia leaders of the American Revolutionary War.

Okay, so this is an admitted rip off of Taco Tuesday. I see no reason why we shouldn’t eat Mexican food twice in the same week. Tex-Mex spices like cumin and chili powder also offer a tummy-warming depth of flavor that’s most appreciated on cold evenings. Winter weeknight suppers can be so repetitive and boring – at least they have been at our house. The lack of fresh veggies and herbs from the garden and no interest in standing outside in the cold over the grill doesn’t help our dining dilemma either.

“Can y’all come over for supper on Friday night? I’m serving my next column.”€ How’s that for a formal invitation? One of my new year’s resolutions is to have more dinner parties in our home. We tend to have large events and I never feel like I have an opportunity to participate in a real conversation with any of our friends. Our dining room table only seats six, which is actually a great number for an intimate supper.

What a wonderful day! Were you in town for the Great Blizzard of 2018? It was a gorgeous and incredibly cold event. Beaufort, SC hasn’t seen a snowfall like that in over 25 years. I spent my serendipitous snow day happily ensconced in our warm home doing what I love best -€“ cooking.

Baby, it’s cold outside! Winter has arrived in Beaufort, SC. When the temperatures drop, I hibernate. Cooking soups and sweet treats are fun on cold days. On cold nights, I don’t want to do anything except try to stay warm in front of a roaring fire. The recipes this week are great make-ahead dishes and they’re comfort food.

What a crazy-busy time of year we’re in the midst of! While we’re all rushing around in an attempt to make the Christmas holidays perfect for our friends and families, we often don’t take the time to catch our breath and enjoy this happy season. At least that’s how things are at my house. Between the parties, decorating, community events and family stuff, I find that Vince and I are either eating out way too often or eating junk food too late at night.

Throughout history, every society has celebrated the end of the harvest. Many have set aside a day of thanks. In 1941, Thanksgiving Day became a national holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. It’€™s the one day of the year that we Americans can consume an abundance of food without a second thought about calories! The recipes this week are all Thanksgiving side dishes. Team a couple (or all) of them with a roasted turkey for a modern twist on a traditional Thanksgiving menu. All you’ll need to add is a pumpkin pie topped with sweetened whipped cream for a grand finale. Happy Thanksgiving! (Photography by Susan DeLoach)

My husband Vince and I love Greek food! Whenever we travel, we always look for authentic Greek restaurants. One of our all-time favorite Greek dishes is Spanakopita. It’s a vegetarian pastry made with spinach, feta cheese, phyllo dough and lots of butter. I started to wonder if I could find a similar recipe that featured chicken.