Holiday Cookie Stroll
December 15
Downtown Aiken
Photography by Christine McKeel
December 15
Downtown Aiken
Photography by Christine McKeel
In the know
It is always a temptation to get out of the kitchen on a sunny day. The first time I recall dining outdoors at a restaurant was at a location by the Río de la Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina. My family had moved there in 1973 so that my dad could manage a project for General Motors. We were wined and dined (yes, even I, at the tender age of sixteen, was served wine) at wonderful places throughout the historic city. The padillas are grills located mainly in the Palermo neighborhood, near the sports arenas. The smoky aroma of barbecued meats wafted along the sidewalks. When we walked into what I remember being called a casita, or little house, there was an open fire
A conversation between local Aikenite, Rob Heilig, and The Red Clay Strays ahead of their Aiken Music Fest show on July 3: Slightly ahead of the 2:00pm scheduled time, my phone rang with a (251) area code that said “Alabama.” Just before answering, I thought of the CB chatter that opens the song ‘Roll On’ by the group Alabama. On the other end of the line was Andy Bishop from Mobile, Alabama, bassist for The Red Clay Strays, who will be our featured act on July 3rd at Aiken Music Fest. After some formalities, I cut to the chase on my most pressing question I’ve been wanting to ask them!
I’ve lived in Augusta for almost six years now. I’m hardly nomadic, but I’ve lived in quite a few places in the eastern United States: Pennsylvania, Virginia, Atlanta, Maryland. I’ve always thought that I could live anywhere. Big city, small town, whatever — as long as I have a friend or two and my amazing wife, I can make it work. Then I moved to Augusta. Maybe it is the friends we made, or the community, or the southern hospitality, but I fell in love with this town. When Chris and David over at Drop Disgusta reached out to me about being on their podcast, I jumped at the opportunity.
From the Kitchen of… Fuse Aiken: The Mushroom Medley – An Interview + Recipe with Chris Najmola You will need: 8 oz. assorted mushrooms — we recommend using Circular Farms to keep it local 2 oz. heavy whipping cream 2 oz. high quality soy sauce 1 oz. vegetable oil a bottle of your favorite red wine a sauté pan some crusty bread to sop up the sauce, or a steak to top — honestly, everyone tells us you could put it over anything This is how we do it (like the song): Start off by getting your sauté pan nice and hot. I think it’s important that nothing hits a
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