photograph by Matt Hulsman
Since her first television appearances in the late 1970s, guiding Charlotte residents through her recipes on WBTV’s daytime show Top O’ the Day, Barbara McKay has hosted seven regional and national TV shows, authored six award-winning cookbooks, published magazines, and created a lifestyle brand defined by effortless elegance. Behind all the shiny titles and cameras, though, the Shelby native’s most treasured role is mother. Her most recent book, Coming Home: Recipes and Reflections from a Lifetime in the Spotlight, was inspired by her children, Elizabeth and Michael, who encouraged her to write a memoir and recipe collection that celebrated and chronicled her life.
McKay’s book brims with enthusiasm and provides an honest, heartwarming, and, at times, heart-wrenching account of her life, both on and off camera. There is a story behind each of the 127 easy-to-follow recipes in the book. Many honor the people who have made an indelible mark on McKay: The recipe for her watermelon mango salad is accompanied by a touching account of how nourishing relationships with local farmers — in this case, Simpson’s Produce on Kings Drive — can be.
A salient truth lies beneath McKay’s stories and recipes: Even a successful person isn’t exempt from adversity. McKay takes readers through her journey with infertility, a divorce, a life-altering accident, and a cancer diagnosis. Through it all, her wit, wisdom, unwavering faith, and a strong support system help her realize that even hardship can yield outcomes that are delicious.
North Carolina is known for many things, but nothing more important this week than the qualities of endurance, resilience, and hope.
By day, this adventure park in the Triad is a fall festival to die for. By night, the undead come alive for Halloween tricks. Welcome to one man’s vision of year-round merrymaking.
North Carolina’s border dances across the mountains as it traces four different states. Life here can be more remote, but good neighbors are never far away.
The Blue Ridge Parkway stands out among America’s national parks: Unfurling across six Appalachian mountain chains, it connects dozens of rural communities and binds together generations of families through shared memories.
