Pack, Pack the Knives and Go: Padma video

If the last season of "Top Chef Masters" had been as fun as the Padma Lakshmi mashup video, I might still be watching . . .

N.C. blogger/author wins at IACP

The International Association of Culinary Professionals announced winners of its awards last week. Along with the James Beard Foundation, the IACP gives annual awards for books and food writing.

Among the IACP winners this year: Jonathan Bloom of Durham, author of the book "American Wasteland," in the Food Matters category. Bloom tied with Deborah Krasner, author of "Good Meat." Bloom also has a blog, Wasted Food.

Authors Matt and Ted Lee of New York and Charleston won the American category for "The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern."

To recognize the 25th anniversary of IACP's book awards, five books were named to the Culinary Classics category, for books that made meaningful contributions to the field of culinary literature: "A Book of Mediterranean Food," by Elizabeth David; "On Food and Cooking," by Harold McGee; "The Classic Italian Cook Book," by Marcella Hazan; "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," by Julia Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle; and "The Joy of Cooking" (1975 edition) by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker.

For the full list of IACP winners, go here.

Chew on these: Blue lobsters, N.C. seafood, hurricane kitchens and coffee songs

While you're shaking off the weekend haze, here are a few interesting links that popped up over the weekend:

Yes, that's a blue lobster, a rare phenomenon that's documented on Eater.com. They turn up occasionally, and this one is headed to an aquarium.

My colleague Andrea Weigl has a fascinating column about the difficulties of determining the source of her supposedly N.C.-caught seafood. (I should have linked to it last week, but it got a bit busy around here, between the Target food prices and the importance of letting everyone weigh in with their thoughts on Miss Cheerwine.)

On the practical side, when you need hurricane advice, turn to a Floridian. Food writer Jan Norris has an excellent roundup of practical hurricane-season kitchen precautions that applies to any power outage, even a winter storm.

And just to get you tapping your toes, Seriouseats.com has a roundup of 12 songs about coffee. I'll warn you, though: Frank Sinatra's "The Coffee Song" is compulsively catchy. I have it on my iPod, but I have to listen with caution. Once it starts, it's hard to get the darn thing out of your head.

Photo: CBC

Let us now praise 4 GREAT Southern cookbooks

And yes, we'll give one away. Read to the end to find out how.

The thing that keeps me endlessly interested in writing about Southern food is how it takes so many guises: It can be as down-home as a Paula Deen-knitted afghan, and as cutting-edge as sous vide pasture-raised pork. It can be soul food, it can be tea room food. And it's still all good.

And this year, we have a particularly fine crop of cookbooks from authors right here in North Carolina. Consider, and definitely consider buying:

"Cooking in the Moment: A Year of Seasonal Recipes," by Andrea Reusing (Clarkson Potter, $35). Quite a year for the chef of Chapel Hill's Lantern. She got the James Beard medal as Best Chef Southeast, and she turned out this terrific book. She writes more as a food lover than a chef, with a natural and warm style. The result is both a cookbook and a vibrant portrait of the food culture in the Triangle. Even better: She's cooking with the food that's all around us, right here and right now. There is serious inspiration to be had here.

"Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen," by Sara Foster (Random House, $35). The owner of the Foster's Market cafes in Durham and Chapel Hill has written several cookbooks. This feels like her most personal book yet, and much more Southern. Like the food in her cafes, the recipes are good-times dishes with comfortable style. Lots of tips for working with ingredients and changing up the dishes. Lots of great pictures, too, for those who need to see it before they'll cook it.

"The New Southern Garden Cookbook," by Sheri Castle (UNC Press, $35). If you're a CSA member or a farmer's market regular, you need this. It's broken down by ingredient, from apples to zucchini. This is the book for those times when you stumble on really great figs or green garlic, or a dozen others. The recipes are a mix of old favorites, like "kilt" lettuce (an Appalachian version of a wilted salad) and more contemporary tastes, like garlic custard, collard pesto and smoked tomatoes.

"Tupelo Honey Cafe," by Elizabeth Sims with chef Brian Sonoskus (Andrews McMeel, $29.99). It's as much a celebration of the "Foodtopia" of Asheville as it is about the sweet cafe near Pack Square. This is not one of those "postcard to me" chef books with food you'll admire but not make. The recipes here are completely doable and kitchen-friendly. For proof, see the recipe below for Warm Pimento Cheese And Chips.

OK, a giveaway: I've got a copy of "Tupelo Honey Cafe" to share. Send me an email with "Tupelo Honey" in the subject line and I'll pick a winner at random. Deadline: 9 a.m. June 9.

Warm Pimento Cheese And Chips From "Tupelo Honey Cafe," by Elizabeth Sims.

8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon stone-ground mustard
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1/2 cup finely diced roasted red bell pepper
Tortilla chips

Combine all the ingredients except the tortilla chips in a large bowl to mix. Transfer to a microwaveable dish and microwave about 20 seconds, or until hot. Or put in a baking dish in a preheated 350-degree oven about 15 minutes, or until heated through. Serve with the tortilla chips.

Barbecue fans, check out Saveur's special issue

Carolina barbecue makers get plenty of attention and some gorgeous pictures in Saveur magazine's June/July special issue "A Tribute to Cooking With Fire."

Executive editor Dana Bowen, a North Carolina regular, writes a tribute to great N.C. barbecue places in "East Vs. West," and John T Edge covers pitmasters and customers in North and South Carolina in his story "BBQ Nation." Kansas City, Texas, South Chicago and East L.A.'s barbacoa get attention, too, as well as barbecue books and barbecue competitions.

The issue is $5 and is on newstands now. If you're a barbecue fan, it's a keeper.

In the meantime, we have our own barbecue project coming up next week, on the dwindling art of wood-cooked barbecue. Stay tuned for that.

Meet the new Miss Cheerwine

This is the picture Salisbury-based Cheerwine sent out to announce the appointment of the first Miss Cheerwine, "a brand ambassador that will travel throughout the South for a fun-filled summer, meeting fans and representing the iconic drink at concerts and events."

Miss Cheerwine is Spencer Cummings, 23, an N.C. native who now lives in Chattanooga, Tenn. She was chosen for "embodying the effervescence found in every can and bottle."

Yes, she was chosen for her sparkling personality. I guess we haven't come such a long way, baby.

CNN gives a shoutout to Jim Noble

Chef Jim Noble's good works at King's Kitchen gets featured on CNN. Way to go, Jimmy.