Brunswick Stew
Mom and Dad on their screen porch on Mallette St. Such a Chapel Hill moment for me.
As the song goes, “I’m Tarheel born and Tarheel bred and when I die I’ll be Tarheel dead”. Nice dedication to me in one of Dad’s books. And to Mom, of course.
Dad taught at UNC for 30 years! He had to wear his crazy hot robes to the UNC ceremonies. A lot of Chapel Hill was not air conditioned back in the day.
Mom in front of the janky TV where we used to watch basketball in the library. You could close the doors to hide it and there was a HUGE dictionary on top, making it all look very classy.
My “Dream Team”! UNC Basketball on the cover of Sports Illustrated!
Not basketball, but another sport. We used to attend the Durham Bulls baseball games when I was kid. This photo is from the early 2000s when Elisabeth and I visited my parents for their anniversary (and I had a rockin’ tan!). Mom had just taught herself Photoshop, so she edited Dad into the photograph so everyone could be there. (Dad had taken the picture.) Her skills improved over the years but I think this is rather touching as is!
Mom and Dad in front of their door at their Carolina Meadows house, their last place in Chapel Hill together. I think this photo was right after my Dad’s heart surgery (it went well).
I was recently invited to join a pick up basketball game that plays on Sundays. The team is named “The Texas Fury” which amuses me. I mean, have you seen the news?! I have yet to actually show up – I just like talking about being on a basketball team. It may come as news to some of you who only know me as an art girl, but long ago, before the eyeliner, there was a lot of CAROLINA BLUE in my life!
I grew up in Chapel Hill, NC, and I don’t care how artsy you are there, it’s hard not to get enthusiastic about basketball. My husband makes fun of me because apparently I talk ad nauseum about the “Dream Team” who won the NCAA championships when I was in grade school. He’ll ask me, “but who is on the UNC team now?”. My answer? “I have no freaking idea but back in the glory days there were LEGENDS: Michael Jordan. James Worthy. Sam Perkins. Matt Doherty…. I mean, c’mon!”
Growing up, we always watched the games, often on the janky TV in our library. (Mom and Dad hid it in a dictionary stand to make us look more intellectual to visitors, I think.) Someone in my family preferred the radio announcer’s game commentary to the TV announcer’s, so we would watch the TV and listen to the radio simultaneously. On game days I loved to go down to the Shrunken Head Boutique on Franklin Street and buy a Tarheel temporary tattoo that I would wear on my face until it flaked off.
I probably had one of these hideous bright blue feet on my face when the 1981-82 UNC “Dream Team” won the NCAA tournament. It was an amazing game, a 1 point win over Georgetown that literally came down to the last second. Talk about a nail biter. When it was over CHAPEL HILL WENT NUTS. Mom walked to the bathroom closet and pulled out a package of toilet paper. She handed each of us a roll and said, “Let’s go.” We were lucky to live just a block off of Franklin St, so we were quick to get downtown to the celebration. My sister and I picked a tree across from Four Corners and set to work papering it. I remember feeling very satisfied with myself after tying a big bow between two limbs. I looked up to discover someone taking my photo, it was a staff photographer for the newspaper. He told me to check the paper because the image might print. Did I check the paper? You bet this Leo did! Like every day. FINALLY my photo appeared after a few days and I got my first delicious taste of fame! A bit earlier in the season my dad got his moment, too. After UNC beat Virginia the paper read, “Spotted on Franklin Street: Professor John Shelton Reed wearing a bumper sticker saying, ‘Virginia is for Losers’.” (If you are familiar with the “Virginia is for Lovers” tourism campaign, this is pretty funny.)
My house was right next to Granville Towers, an ugly high rise where a lot of the basketball players lived. When the team returned from the championship, you bet I was there in the parking lot ready to applaud them as they got off the bus! I remember that Matt Doherty was wearing cowboy boots, something I thought was weird at the time but now I think it HOT! (Hey, I’m a Texan.) Everyone in my school bought some kind of championship T-shirt and we all wore them religiously for months. I remember running into Warren Martin at Burger King a little later. I freaked out and got an autograph on a napkin. I think I still have it.
Not only did I watch basketball growing up, but I also played. I was on a girls’ rec league team in the 6th grade. At our first meeting they told us we needed to agree on a team name. A lot of lame suggestions were put forth. I suggested, “The Fat Mamas”. That got a chuckle. Then we decided that we liked “The Big Mamas” better, so we picked that. Well, the coach got confused and wrote down “The Big Fat Mamas”. So, that’s what we were. All season. Ha ha. The calendar was entertaining, it was always something like “The Unicorns vs. The Big Fat Mamas”. I think I got maybe one basket all season, but I like to say that I’m really a defense person. That may or may not be true. However, there is a little history of my family playing the game. My Grandpa Reed played some. He told me his teammates called him “Speed Reed”, which had to have been a joke because he was 6’ 5” and huge. And, my Aunt Lisa was on a ladies’ basketball team in Vermont hilariously called “The Hot Flashes”.
So, while I don’t really follow basketball anymore and haven’t played in years, I do have an innate appreciation for the sport. I even know what an alley-oop is! For today’s recipe I figured I would share one of the most Carolina dishes there is: Brunswick stew! NC BBQ is usually served with hushpuppies, slaw, and Brunswick stew. I’ve never had much of an opinion about it, I just know that it’s supposed to be there and it’s pretty good. You could serve it as an entree rather than a side, I’d probably put it atop rice. Mom and Dad have several versions in their book, Holy Smoke. I’ve picked the one that most resembles what I grew up with. A lot of vintage recipes call for squirrel, rabbit, or whatever you can catch to be used for the protein. Barf. I just use chicken!
KING FAMILY BRUNSWICK STEW
(serves 8-10)
About 2 pounds chicken
About 2 pounds rabbit (if you don’t want to use rabbit, use 1 more cup of chicken instead = 3 total)
1 Tbsp salt
6 ears corn, kernels cut off cob
2 cups fresh lima beans
6 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, minced
3 drops pressed garlic or to taste
1/2 pound salt pork
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
2 tsps sugar
4 cups sliced tomatoes
1 cup butter
1/4 cup sifted flour
Cut the meat into serving pieces. In a large pot, add the salt to 4 quarts water and bring to a boil. Add the corn, lima beans, potatoes, onion, garlic, pork, black pepper, cayenne, and meat. Cover and simmer for 2 hours, then add the sugar and tomatoes and simmer for 1 hour more. Ten minutes before removing from the heat, add the butter cut into walnut-sized pieces and rolled in flour. Bring to a boil.
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