Alabama food stylist Sally Wicker McKay and her mother, Amy Wicker, are winning hearts and bellies on Hallmark Channel’s new baking contest, “Baked with Love Holiday,” which airs on Monday nights at 8 p.m. CST.
Sally Wicker McKay and her mother, Amy, are competing on the Hallmark Channel’s Baked with Love:Holiday on Monday nights at 8 p.m. CST. (Photo: Hallmark Channel)
The show, which debuted on Monday, Oct. 27 and is hosted by Emmy-award winning actress, producer and entrepreneur Tamera Mowry-Housley, features two cooking challenges per episode. The judges are Irish Chef Anna Haugh and New York Times cooking producer Vaughn Vreeland.
On Oct. 27, the mother/daughter team won the hometown Christmas pie challenge with their peach pie, which Anna said was “really nicely baked. The spices are so important. That’s what gives it length of flavor and complexity. It’s brilliant.”
Sally, who is based in metro-Birmingham, said the peach pie recipe is something they’ve made over the decades for family gatherings.
“We may look calm on the exterior but the wheels are always turning in my head,” Sally said on the show.
Tamera Mowry-Housley hosts “Baked with Love: Holiday,” as Judges Chef Anna Haugh and New York Times Cooking Producer Vaughn Vreeland help pick a winner each week. (Photo: Hallmark Channel)
Breast cancer pushed Denetra Johnson to do two things: enroll in community college and go to church more.
It all started on Oct. 29, 2011 after her doctor called and said she had triple breast cancer. What followed next was all Denetra had to hear: “I think we got it in time.”
Denetra cried at first. Then, she told her family and started working on a plan.
“I said, ‘Well, I’m fixing to do some thangs now,’ ” Denetra recalled. “It’s time for me to grow up, … get stronger, be a thriver and a survivor.’ ”
One week before Willie Williams was to host an event at his art studio in North Birmingham, his catering fell through.
Unable to contact another caterer, he wondered what he was going to do. He found his answer after tasting the sandwiches Lauree Blair of Cutie Chutes had prepared for a Yelp Elite event that was being held at Willie’s Studio 2500 just days before his own event.
“Divine timing kind of hooked us up,” Willie said as he talked about Lauree. “You’d think she’d have just regular sandwiches. But she took it a step further and made them unique.”
Think gourmet sandwiches made withmaple Dijonaise, maple glazed ham and Swiss cheese, warmed inside croissant bread that’s encrusted with honey on a griddle. There was also a pretzel bun filled with Lauree’s homemade Buffalo chive spread, Blazin’ Buffalo chicken, butter lettuce, Vermont white cheddar, marinated tomatoes and hickory bacon.
Today is her 42nd birthday and Labor Day, and she had originally planned to be off. But after thinking about how much people enjoy visiting Alicia’s Coffee shop in downtown Birmingham, she decided to be open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Alicia’s Coffee is located at the A.G. Gaston Motel in downtown Birmingham. They offer more than 60 flavors of beverages, breakfast and lunch. This is their Harlem Renaissance, which is made with almond syrup, vanilla syrup, their cold brew, cane sugar, cold foam and topped with a dash of cinnamon. (Photo by Chanda Temple)
“Sometimes, it goes back to ‘What are you willing to sacrifice?’ ” Naimah said. “Are you willing to sacrifice being off on a holiday and just being at home? Or, can you get up, get out in the community and open up the doors?”
“You have to be able to make a sacrifice to get the things you want in life.”
Roc Harrell, left, and Naimah Elmore are the co-owners of Alicia’s Coffee. (Photo by Chanda Temple)
People’s postures shifted and their eyes widened every time a dish by Aniyah Brown hit the table.
Perhaps it was the plump shrimp bathed in warm tones of coconut curry sauce. Or maybe it was the roasted chickpeas nestled against butternut squash and peppers in a satisfying sauce. Then again, it could have been the twice-fried chicken, accented with chopped mango and green sprigs.
Each entree was bright and bold, making you feel as though you’d found gold at the end of the rainbow.
But in reality, it was Aniyah’s vision of what a supper club dinner should be: a treasure you didn’t know you needed but one you were lucky you found.
Alabama chef and TV personality Martie Duncan has some pretty dedicated friends and followers.
Three and a half hours before kick off of the Nov. 30, 2024 Iron Bowl, which is the biggest SEC football showdown in Alabama, several of Martie’s fans lined up inside of a historic store in downtown Huntsville, AL to get her newly-released cookbook, “The Alabama 100: Best Recipes, Restaurants & Road Trips.” The book highlights noteworthy dishes and restaurants from across the state.
Martie Duncan took time to select just the right images to go on the cover of her new cookbook. Everything from fried chicken and gumbo to orange rolls and brioche can be found in her book, which is available via various retailers across Alabama. (Image provided by Martie Duncan.)
In her fifth cookbook, Martie shares recipes for the Pimento Cheese Tomato Pie from Helen in Birmingham; Lucy Buffett’s Famous Seafood Gumbo from LuLu’s in Gulf Shores; and Crab Cakes from the 360 Grille at the Marriott Shoals Hotel, just to name a few. She also gives cooking tips.
“I love the simplicity of all the recipes that Martie features. And when I see her on TV, everything that she cooks is easy to follow,” said Misty Robinson of Hazel Green. Misty and her family drove to Huntsville on a bone-chilling Saturday morning to get the book, which features 100 recipes and 253 restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, bars and a few dives.
And Charity McLin drove in from Athens, AL to pick up a book for her mother and one for herself. Like Misty, she has other books written by Martie, and she said she is drawn to the books to try recipes for the foods she loves.
“She writes great books and the recipes are always easy to follow,” Charity said. “I can’t wait to get home and look through it.”
A Food Network Star finalist and award-winning cookbook author, Martie drove more than 5,000 miles across Alabama, worked with 3,972 images shot for the book and tried 1,012 dishes to produce content for the 239-page book. And if people don’t want to cook, they can just use the book as a reference on where to go to try some the most delicious food in Alabama.
“This book is more of a travel guide and incorporates so many more restaurants than I’ve ever been able to do in any book ,” said Martie. “Even though we focus on 12 main cities, there are other towns and cities mentioned in the book.”
Birmingham’s Martie Duncan will have several book signings in December 2024. (Photo provided by Martie Duncan)
Kenya Pickens graduated from culinary school in 2007 with dreams of dishing out delicious dinners.
But after working at a country club for only a few months, she lost her job. Devastated, she thumbed through the Yellow Pages, calling businesses and asking, “Are you hiring?”
More than a week later, those calls led to two job offers: being a server at a steakhouse and working at a bakery. She took both. Although Kenya had not studied baking, she settled in to learn a new skill.
Eventually, she became so good at baking, that she stepped out on faith and left the bakery in 2008 to sell her own desserts. She made five cakes a week and sold slices at barber shops, beauty shops and a discount meat market. In 2015, she started selling at Birmingham-area farmers markets while she still worked full-time jobs in various industries. Her days were long and her weekends were longer. But she knew that one day, her dedication would pay off.
Kenya Pickens opened Velvet Kake bakery in 2021 in Clay, AL, selling cakes, cookies and more. She’s grown her following to include fans of traditional and vegan desserts. (Photo Source: Kenya Pickens)
On Dec. 1, 2021, she moved into her own storefront, Velvet Kake, in Clay, Ala. and became a full-time baker. (She got the name because she sells so many red velvet cakes. Her mother, Evelyn Sherard, works in the bakery with her.)
Today, Kenya sells about 30 cakes a week.
“I should have given up a long time ago, but I kept going because I had something to prove,” said Kenya, 38.
Curly Contessa wrapping paper was created by Birmingham graphic artist Kristin Farmer. It features watercolor images of five women with natural hair. Farmer created the images. (Photo credit: Special)
By Chanda Temple
Birmingham graphic designer and watercolor artist Kristin Farmer has launched a holiday wrapping paper line that embraces girls with curls.
Known as Curly Contessa, the wrapping paper features five watercolor images of African-American women with natural hair. Farmer, who’s natural, painted the women. She included herself in one of the images.
Farmer rolled out the wrapping paper this month. And already, consumer interest has been rolling in for her.
Martell and Melody S. Holt of Holt and Holt Entrepreneurship in Huntsville, Ala. (Photo by: Chanda Temple)
By Chanda Temple
How good are you at what you do? Are you so good that if a consumer approached one of your competitors, the competition would send them your way because they knew you were the best?
It may seem like a far-fetched concept but there’s nothing wrong in wanting this for your business. It only helps you grow, according to Melody S. Holt of Holt and Holt Entrepreneurship, which she runs with her husband, Martell, in Huntsville, Ala.
Such advice is what she shared this weekend as one of the speakers at the Sixth Annual Hair and Health Expo in Birmingham. She opened up her speech with “Are you hungry for success?” Turns out people were. Here are six nuggets she served piping hot …
Burgers, bundt cakes and broken pieces are a good combo for a birthday.
By Chanda Temple
For the last few years, I’ve treated my birthday like any other day.
No fanfare. No cake. No song and dance.
While friends offered to take me out, I dismissed the invites, saying, “Thank you. You are so sweet, but I’m working on my birthday.” It wasn’t that I dreaded getting older, it was just that I looked at my birthday as another day. No biggie.
This year, I took a different approach. I saw my birthday as the big deal it was. I welcomed it with open arms. That move has been the best decision I’ve made so far in 2017.
