The Shot

James Beard Foundation Celebrates 30 Years in Style

Plus: Virginia Tech gets pardoned turkeys; Atlanta renovates historic cemetery; and go-time for non-profits

 

It’s Thanksgiving week in the South, or is it? Take this handy G&G quiz to see if you’re throwing a truly Southern Thanksgiving, no matter where you’re slicing your bird. 1. Did you buy Duke’s Mayonnaise two-for-one last week? 2. Do you or a relative have a layover at the Atlanta airport any time before Sunday? 3. Have you Googled “deep fried turkey safety tips” or “clever pimento cheese appetizers” in the last two days? 4. Is one of the things you’re grateful for the fact that Ole Miss is playing Mississippi State on Thursday?

If you answered yes to even one of these, congratulations! You are celebrating a Southern Thanksgiving, even if it’s only Southern at heart. To help you celebrate, we’ve prepared this cocktail of holiday happenings and called it The Shot:

HBD, JBF!

Photo: COURTESY OF INTERSPORT

Chef Carla Hall, a Nashville native, will be featured on the TV show.

The James Beard Foundation has set the bar for elegance, excellence, and innovation in the culinary arts, but who knew that crazy kid was actually a millennial? Yes, the James Beard Foundation is turning 30, and like all young Americans, it’s turning its birthday into an excuse for a giant selfie, with this one set to air November 26 on ABC, which we are 100 percent watching. “30 Years: A Celebration of the James Beard Foundation” will give us the story of how the James Beard awards became the Oscars of cooking. Look for G&G faves Marcus Samuelsson, Emeril Lagasse, Carla Hall, and, we hope, a definitive answer to the constant kitchen question: “Food tweezers, yea or nay?”

Meet the Cluckers 

Drumstick and Wishbone, the National Thanksgiving Turkeys, had a date with destiny Tuesday, and escaped with pardons by President Trump at the White House. After spending several luxurious nights at Washington’s Willard Hotel, Drumstick and Wishbone will now officially move to Gobbler’s Rest in Blacksburg, Virginia, on the Virginia Tech campus. On Sunday, Tater and Tot, who were pardoned by President Obama last year, will graciously host an open house for the public to meet Hokie Nation’s newest free birds. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by between noon and 5 p.m., but hold the gravy jokes.

Thanks + Giving

Photo: COURTESY OF THE YELLOW RIBBON FUND

The Yellow Ribbon Fund’s annual toy drive for the children of wounded service members.

For non-profits based in the South, Thanksgiving is prime time for the work they do in their communities. The Yellow Ribbon Fund, based in Bethesda, Maryland, supports injured military service members and their families, including those being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington, D.C. YRF is gearing up for its three annual Christmas parties for patients, including their annual toy drive for the children of wounded service members.

Farther south, Hosea Helps in Atlanta will serve its 48th annual feast for the homeless and hungry on Thanksgiving Day at the Georgia World Congress Center. This year’s event will serve Thanksgiving dinner to 10,000 people, along with providing medical services, clothes, and a hair salon. Volunteers can register at 4Hosea.org.

And the Green Heart Project in Charleston, South Carolina, is all about getting at-risk school kids involved in gardening, learning about vegetables, and having fun working and playing outside. G&G’s CJ Lotz gives friends Green Heart’s Bloody Mary gift box, a roundup of local “mix-ins and fixin’s” including the project’s own pickled okra, a way to give back that’s so delicious, we’d literally raise a glass to that.

History Teacher

Photo: Courtesy of the Historic Oakland Foundation

The African-American Burial Ground at Atlanta’s historic Oakland Cemetery.

Atlanta’s historic Oakland Cemetery is famous for the 27 Atlanta mayors, six Georgia governors, and multiple Civil Rights leaders buried there. Less well known are the African American Grounds, where several thousand people of African-American descent, including former slaves, were laid to rest in the decades when the cemetery was segregated. For the first time in more than 100 years, the Historic Oakland Foundation has begun a major renovation of the African American Grounds to ensure that this section of the cemetery remains as beautiful as it is historic.

The Foundation is also reaching out to the decedents of African-Americans buried there to learn more about their stories and to add to the public’s understanding of ourselves, our neighbors, and the history that we all share and are still working to understand.

Parting Shots

This week, the team at The Shot is: Nodding along to: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s ode to the Big Green Egg, including the new must-have item in Southern real estate—custom-built egg holes. … Passing along: Those deep-fried turkey safety tips we mentioned earlier, courtesy of Chief Fire Marshal Mike Julazadeh of the Charleston Fire Department. … Retweeting: Moon Pie’s response to @uketrout’s question: “Are there any @MoonPie stuffing recipes for turkey?”


… And finally, we’re thankful for: The many gifts in our lives and that, as bad as a Monday ever gets, at least we’re not the Georgia Dome, which was reduced to a pile of rubble Monday morning almost before the sun came up. But mostly, we’re just thankful.

Until next week, friends.


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