Steer wrestling, a practice credited to legendary cowboy and rodeo star Bill Pickett, usually involves leaping onto a steer from the back of a specially trained horse. At the Madison
Put ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until puffed and golden. Remove from oven, and let stand for 5 minutes. With a flexible spatula, remove strata to
The neon sign in the window glows with the words “OLD BOOKS.” Step into the 30-year-old bookstore, past the first sections of hard covers and paperbacks, just across from wall-spanning
The neon sign in the window glows with the words “OLD BOOKS.” Step into the 30-year-old bookstore, past the first sections of hard covers and paperbacks, just across from wall-spanning
The neon sign in the window glows with the words “OLD BOOKS.” Step into the 30-year-old bookstore, past the first sections of hard covers and paperbacks, just across from wall-spanning
The neon sign in the window glows with the words “OLD BOOKS.” Step into the 30-year-old bookstore, past the first sections of hard covers and paperbacks, just across from wall-spanning bookshelves that include the likes of a 1946 biography on Balzac, and you’ll find Sugar on Front Street. Opened in 2010, the bakery is where readers gather at a few small tables and six mismatched stools along a counter to sip locally roasted coffee and taste whatever Samantha Smith is baking — scones, heirloom apple crumb cake, sour cherry pie, lemon zinger cake. The ever-changing offerings of old-fashioned baked goods are “very rustic and not glamorous looking,” Smith says. She’s modest. Her background as a professional pastry chef led her to open this place of her own. Everything is mismatched and vintage at Sugar, on purpose. “I have a problem; I like clutter,” the young baker says. “Did you see my old Toledo scale?” The hulking antique near a display case looks heavy. Smith’s warmth and enthusiasm for baking is infectious. While she works in her ponytail and apron, customers gather to watch, and they sometimes bring recipes and old cookbooks to share. Books, coffee, cakes, and conversation — this last stop on the North Carolina dessert tour, like so many of the others, sure feels like home.
Sugar on Front Street
249 North Front Street, Wilmington, N.C. 28401
(910) 254-1110 sugaronfrontst.com
Western North Carolina is at its most stunning when autumn arrives and the leaves burst into color. Before you head out leaf-peeping this fall, check in weekly to see what colors our experts are seeing at 22 of our favorite mountain spots.
We’ve picked a bushel of North Carolina apples in every form — from pies to pottery to cider — to enjoy from the first perfect, blue-sky day of October through chilly Halloween. That’s one for each day of the month!
