April 2022

Celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern may have said it best: “Everything happens in the kitchen.” The kitchen is the room that receives the most foot traffic. It’s where meals are shared, where important conversations take place, where memories are made, and where family and friends gather. A kitchen can sell a house, and a good kitchen…

Ask a child what they want to be when they grow up, and the answers are usually ambitious and exotic. Astronaut. Paleontologist. Professional athlete. When you are young and blessed with a vivid imagination, anything seems possible. Laura Goodwin’s childhood dream was equally ambitious, to be sure, but a tad unusual. “I remember learning when…

Innovation in the kitchen is the end product of a seemingly endless search for the faster, smaller and more efficient. There’s always a way to build a better mousetrap, after all, and that is a substantial reason why our country has been an economic powerhouse for so many years.  The idea that the gadgets listed…

The 40th anniversary of the Azalea Festival in 1987 launched the tradition of honoring an artist who captured the essence of the festival. The images selected as the official artwork are as varied as festival lovers themselves. Dreamy, fuzzy, romantic, joyful, whimsical and thoughtful could describe the works represented here, most with at least a…

It’s reunion, wedding, party and the all-important political campaign season. For anyone who wants to host a get-together but not be the one to prepare the food, what are the options? Besides catering and delivery, another popular choice is to hire one or more food trucks, also called mobile food units.  A food truck by…

The first thing you notice is the enthusiasm. And, hard on its heels, the command of very technical subject matter. Following that comes the missionary zeal, the sense of a life mission to make a difference — a positive difference — in the overall health of the planet and its inhabitants. Wes Carter, a Wrightsville…

It was turkey season, and I was returning home from a scouting trip driving through one of those lonely, almost-abandoned Southern mill towns. The main street looked like something from an old Western movie — a place once thriving, now lost in time. On the roadside, a tanned and weathered farmer in faded coveralls stood…

Located on Wilmington’s historic Market Street, New Hanover High is the oldest existing high school of the eight in the county’s school district. Construction began in 1919 on the original building designed by William J. Wilkins. The school opened its doors to students in the fall of 1921 and graduated its first class in 1922.…

After a two-year break, the Cape Fear Garden Club’s Azalea Garden Tour returns with 13 gardens open to the public for self-guided tours over the weekend of April 8 – 10, 2022.  Where Flowers Bloom, So Does Hope, the 69th Azalea Garden Tour, begins at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, April 8, with the free ribbon-cutting ceremony…

With its Kitchens that Cook, this issue is a favorite of mine every year. Expect to be wowed by the variety of kitchens that range from St. James to Topsail Island, and from Wrightsville Beach to historic Carolina Heights. No matter what your taste, you’ll see the freshest designs — and be sure to check…