My Smoky Pilgrimage to Helen’s BBQ

Fewer than 10,000 people live in dusty Brownsville, TN. It would be easy to blow right past downtown if you were, say, trying desperately to find anything at all worth listening to on the radio. But even if you did, you still wouldn’t miss the town’s biggest attraction, Helen’s BBQ, which sits a mile removed,…

Southern Food Road Tour: Susan Spicer and NOLA Edition

New Orleans, LA – In just two and a half hours, Susan Spicer, one of the most celebrated chefs in the South, is going to personally give me a lesson in how to make biscuits at her new, New-Orleans themed restaurant Rosedale. It’s hard to overstate how excited I am about this brand new development….

Southern Food Road Trip: Glock Sidetrip in Indiana

I have limited experience with guns, but I did grow up in Kansas, so I’ve shot skeet and been to a gun range and fired shotguns and various pistols with more gun-oriented friends out in the country. John here is amazing, as you will see; someone to have with you when concealed carry is called…

Southern Food Road Trip: Bettie’s Caramel Chocolate Pecan Pie

Humboldt, TN – My AirBnB hostess here, a ferociously charming woman named Christine Warrington, recently moved back home after making her international fortune, with designs on taking out the sitting mayor. Her very first Machiavellian move? Finding a caterer, of course, since the most effective Southern schmoozing is done over a plate. Christine introduced me to Tim Hayes, owner…