The December 2018 Issue

At Christmastime, this historic Raleigh neighborhood proves that there’s truly no place like home for the holidays.

At this multigenerational family farm, neighbors share home-cooked meals, volunteers line up Christmas trees, and familiar faces greet customers year after year.

Once abandoned, this historic theater in Surry County is thriving again, with musical and culinary offerings for young and old.

A husband-and-wife team crafts every piece of art by hand at their studio in Carteret County — and they’ll teach you how to do it, too.

It’s Christmastime in the city: Amid the busy bustle, ice-skaters find moments of peace and joy while circling outdoor rinks. Here they come around again, gliding into another holiday season.

For more than two decades, diners have found a warm welcome at Ashten’s Restaurant & Bar.

Sometimes St. Nick needs an assistant to help keep his spirit alive for a child — at least for one more year.

Hurricanes are a fact of life along the North Carolina coast. Every summer and fall, seaside residents watch the weather forecasts and hope for the best. Occasionally, they simply hope to survive.

While the staff at the state Museum of History creates a new exhibit about our childhood obsessions, North Carolinians reflect on the kids they were, the adults they’ve become, and the toys that shaped them.

This year, one lucky Fraser fir from Avery County is headed to the White House. There are hundreds of contenders on Larry Smith’s tree farm, and he grooms each one to be a star.

In Winston-Salem, neighbors gather together to celebrate lovefeast the way they have since the first Moravian settlers arrived here centuries ago: with hot coffee, sweet buns, stirring music, and the warm glow of candlelight.

As war tensions ratchet up, the Marine Corps needs a training ground on the East Coast, and the military finds what it’s looking for near Jacksonville.

Buns flavored with spice and a hint of orange star in the Moravian tradition of lovefeast. And that keeps one bakery in Winston-Salem very busy at Christmastime.

A chef known for his stellar seafood says that the Christmas tradition he treasures most is a decidedly landlocked creation: ham and beans.

Whether elegantly glazed, pinned with pineapple, or shellacked with Cheerwine, ’tis the season for fancy hams.

In North Carolina, the holiday season doesn’t really get rolling until the sausage balls arrive. Yet, even here, the origin of the recipe remains a mystery.

Bring on the snickerdoodles. The lemon squares. The thumbprints and pinwheels. A cookie walk in New Bern boxes up Christmas magic.

Hanukkah had become a ho-hum holiday for an Asheville professor, until a gathering of friends — and a batch of crisp latkes — awakened his spirit.

In Forsyth County’s Greek community, a traditional New Year’s Day cake is a reminder that family is the source of good fortune.

For a Venezuelan family in Charlotte, Christmas cooking goes on all month, and then some. But one special tamale-making ritual really brings home the holiday.

Christmas 1923 was Katharine Reynolds’s last at Reynolda House. The holiday was a private time for this family of public prominence, yet through menu cards and mementos archived at the estate, we glimpse a time of splendid celebration and one woman’s generous spirit.

A new generation has discovered the festive wonders of Grandma’s punch bowl. And holiday spirits have never been brighter.

Dessert or drink? Hard to say when recipes once called for lime sherbet, cups of sugar, and jars of cherries. But there’s nothing quite like classic punch to quench our thirst for the festive.

During the holiday season, these delightful desserts deserve a special place on our tables.