December 17, 2007

Tears, Cheers, Charity, and Full Stomachs for the Holidays

Durham’s Top Chefs Share Favorite Holiday Memories and Recipes

We all have favorite holiday memories. Maybe you can think of a special gift you received or a wonderful meal you shared.  Many adults think back to leaving cookies and milk beside of the fireplace for Santa or the first time they watched "A Miracle on 34th Street" or "Charlie Brown's Christmas."  Or perhaps you can remember a warm hug from a favorite relative, a beautiful religious service, or the happy conversations and laughter of a houseful of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Memories such as these can bring a smile to your face and fullness to your heart when you recall these happy times.

Several of Durham's highly acclaimed chefs share their favorite holiday memories and recipes, which we can all enjoy over the holidays and into the New Year.

Amy Tornquist, owner and chef of Watts Grocery and Sage & Swift Gourmet Catering:

"My favorite holiday dish is scalloped oysters and we always have them for Thanksgiving and Christmas. My grandmother made them and I can hardly be bothered to have turkey without it. I like the turkey gravy, scalloped oysters, and cranberry sauce."

Click here for Amy's scalloped oyster’s recipe.

Ted Domville, chef at the new Six Plates Winebar:

"Growing up in Upstate New York, each year we would participate in a charity called Arctic League, which collects money all year and buys gifts for children who would otherwise not have them.  The gifts get bagged up and marked with names and addresses in a big warehouse and then Christmas morning my family and I would show up at   4 a.m. to volunteer and stand in line waiting for the warehouse to open.  Before dawn, each volunteer would get addresses in a part of town and bags to deliver.  When I think of Christmas, I think of standing in that line with friends and strangers, fighting the cold to spread some joy before you had your own."

Click here for Ted's tomato-thyme spread recipe.

Wilma Dillard, co-owner of Dillard's Bar-B-Que and daughter of the late Sam Dillard:

“This Christmas season at Dillard’s Bar-B-Q will be much different from the past because of the loss of a dear daughter and friend.  Mrs. Mae Pratt, the head chef at Dillard’s for the past 18 years, lost her only child on September 4, 2007, at the age of 54 from cancer.  We are all affected by her loss, so in honor of her daughter Annie Langley, we are sharing one of Annie’s favorite Christmas dishes, which Mrs. Mae would prepare for her and our customers at Dillard’s.

“Annie can still be heard today saying, ‘Mom, be sure to make some of your famous meatloaf for our Christmas dinner.’  She enjoyed Mrs. Mae’s pepper steak, Salisbury steak, and chicken-n-dumplings, but meatloaf was her favorite.”

Click here for Mrs. Mae’s meatloaf recipe.

Published by the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau. Copyright 2007 Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau,
All rights reserved. Images used by the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau are for promotional use only.