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.

Durham A Day: Shopping and eating

Continuing my report from a day of eating and food-trolling in Durham last week, we turn our sights to that great American sport - shopping. And eating. Maybe we should just make them one word: "shoppingandeating."

Parker and Otis, 112 S. Duke St., http://www.parkerandotis.com/. I first visited here years ago when it was Fowler's, an upscale food market and restaurant. It's still similar, although it's no longer a place to buy meat. Now it's a sprawling bistro (sandwiches/salads/baked goods/brunchy stuff) with the tables tucked in, around and through upscale kitchenware (think stacks of Le Creuset) and goofy food gifts on par with Seattle's Archie McPhee. It's a little chaotic (place your order at a counter, go find a table and your food will eventually come find you). The parking is confusing: It's on the side of the Bright Leaf Square parking lot, but it isn't officially a part of Bright Leaf Square, so good luck getting that parking ticket stamped. But still, for a certain kind of gourmet selection, it's a good place. Personally, I settled on a bottle of Bandol rose and a package of my personal favorite chocolate sin, salted caramels from Fran's in San Francisco. Did I need them? No. But need isn't what stores like P&O are really about.

Foster's Market, 2694 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd., http://www.fostersmarket.com/. Sara Foster has her food credentials firmly in place. She's a bona fide FOM (friend of Martha) with a whole list of comfortable, cozy cookbooks in place. The market is a comfortable, cozy place too. Again, it's part cafe and part store, with counter service and tables parked in, around and through. The shopping is less upscale, though. With Valentine's approaching, there are lots of candies right now, and there are always jams, jellies and other ingredients. My score: A jar of her famous Seven-Pepper Jelly. And just two driveways down busy Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard, you come to:

The Guglhupf, 2706 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd., http://www.guglhupf.com/ What's Guglhupf? What isn't Guglhupf? It's a bakery. It's very busy, very popular cafe with two floors of packed tables and art dripping from the ceiling. It's an outdoor garden decorated with whimsical sculptures. The food leans toward mittel-Europe, with decorated plates of cake, including the popular fruit tart topped with several kinds of berries over a shortbread-like crust. What really struck me at 3 o'clock on a Friday afternoon: Who are all these people and why do they have the time to linger so long over lunch? Still, when there's a chocolate treble-clef sticking out of a puff of whipped cream on your plate, it feels very European, mittel or otherwise. Long live the Guglhupf.