The August 2020 Issue

Grab your cast-iron skillet for this slightly smoky variation of an in-season favorite.

Summer tomatoes don’t need much dressing up, but we’ll never say no to goat cheese and fresh basil.

Take advantage of creamy, in-season butter beans to make this summer side.

Celebrate peaches in all their summer glory with this refreshing gazpacho.

In Caswell County, a cabin built from old tobacco barns reflects one family’s farming history in every way you might expect — and many you wouldn’t.

No matter where life may take you, the heat of a Tar Heel summer leaves a sweat stain on your memory.

Cheesemaking is part art, part science, and wholly an expression of place. Meet the people — and the cows, goats, and buffalo — who are working magic to turn milk into a sliceable, meltable, totally irresistible taste of home.

Every porch has a history, a tale told through its architecture and owners. In Transylvania County, one special porch has seen more than a century of change, its story forever tied to the creation, ruination, and rebirth of Lake Toxaway.

Finding the right chair for the front porch is an essential part of living the good life in North Carolina. But it takes time, patience, and maybe a failure or two.

The brilliant greens of our forests and valleys, the chirping of cicadas, the cool relief of our breezes: Settle in on porches across the state to soak up the sights and sounds of North Carolina, one gentle rock at a time.

We look for comfort within the walls of our spiritual homes — our churches and temples, our synagogues and mosques. One writer finds it in the stillness of three sanctuaries rising from the Triangle area, beckoning us to look up.

Pigeon fanciers feed, tend, and protect their birds from the time they’re chicks — only to release them into the world with the faith that their companions will come back to roost.

Thanks to the grit of its drivers and the thrill of its events, the sport started by moonshiners shifts into high gear. Born on the dirt tracks of the North Carolina Piedmont, stock car racing becomes a national pastime.

Paul “Hardrock” Simpson of Burlington lived his life in the fast lane, and never passed up an opportunity to jog.