Do you think you have the best barbecue sauce in the Carolinas? Well, prove it!

Enter our barbecue sauce recipe contest. You win $100 and bragging rights.

Go HERE for details on how to enter.

Elizabeth Caldwell of Zebulon won 7 blue ribbons in this year's N.C. State Fair cooking competitions, along with 2 red ribbons and 1 white. (See list of entries below). She was kind enough to share two of her blue ribbon recipes with us here.

The first is a pound cake recipe handed down from her mother. This year is the first time she entered the recipe. The second is a "Baby Ruth" candy recipe she entered this year for the third time. "Baby Ruth" won nothing the first year, 3rd place the second year, and 1st place this year.

Click below for recipes.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've "bought" nine jars of peanut butter.

OK, I'm using the verb "bought" loosely. I actually got all nine jars free when Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods put Planters peanut butter on sale for $1.50 at the same time a .75/1 coupon was issued by the manufacturer. With double coupons at both stores, that equals FREE peanut butter.

It's a coupon clipper's dream when sales and cents-off coupons align so perfectly.

But what to do with all that peanut butter?

Last Thursday, I judged the peach recipe contest at the N.C. State Farmers Market as part of Peach Day. I wanted to share the winnning recipes.

Jessica Phillips of Raleigh placed first with her Peachy Cheesecake Cupcakes and secured a $75 prize. And in the children's category, 9-year-old Evan Farris of Apex placed first with a Summer Peach Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, winning $25.. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. (Below is a photo of Farris' winning peach cake.)

Click READ MORE to see the recipes.

Here is chef John Fleer's Sweet Tea Fried Chicken recipe, as it appeared in "Fried Chicken: An American Story," by John T. Edge.

This is what Kathleen Purvis, the Charlotte Observer food editor, had to say about this recipe: "We didn't believe his claim that this chicken is actually better cold than hot - until we tried it. And we agree: This is great cold fried chicken, perfect for a picnic. It's elaborate, but if you've got the time, it's worth it."

Click READ MORE to see the recipe.

I have been putting off attempting chef Bill Smith's honeysuckle sorbet ever since I saw the recipe in his book, "Seasoned in the South," several years ago. Even though the instructions are simple, I was convinced that there was some special magic to it; that even my best efforts would fall flat. I was wrong. It's really rather simple. And you should try before all the honeysuckle blossoms are gone. I'll share the recipe below. Or get to Crook's Corner before the  honeysuckle blossoms falter, and you can order some there. And if you missed my recent story about Crook's Corner winning The America's Classics award from the James Beard Foundation, go HERE to read it.

Smith's only word of advice: make sure there is no green leaves in the mix or it will taint your syrup. (I have a photo below showing how much honeysuckle I picked. My only advice: only pick the blossoms that taste good.)

Crook's Corner Honeysuckle Sorbet

4 cups, tightly packed but not smashed honeysuckle flowers, leaves and stems discarded

5 1/3 cups cool water

1 1/3 cups water

2 cups sugar

Few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Speck of cinnamon

PLACE blossoms in a nonreactive bowl, glass or stainless steel, and cover with cool water. Weigh down with a plate. Let them stand on the counter overnight.

MAKE a syrup out of sugar and water: boil together in a small saucepan until all the sugar is dissolved and it begins to look lustrous and slightly thick, 3 to 5 minutes. Add lemon juice to prevent sugar from recystallizzing. Cool syrup completely. Strain honeysuckle infusion, gently pressing the blossoms so as not to waste any of your efforts. Combine the two liquids and add the merest dusting of cinnamon. Churn in an ice cream maker, per instructions. This does not keep for more than a week or two.

Yield: 2 quarts

 I don't think this took me more than 20 minutes to pick.

Corn is on sale at Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods this week. It's not local but it does put you in the mood for summer. (And if you go to Lowes to buy the corn, pick up a dozen Eggland's Best Eggs for $1.79, use the 35 cent coupon and get a dozen eggs for $1.10, which is a very good price.)

I used to spurn corn custard until I ate it at a food writing conference at the Greenbrier many years ago. That corn custard was a revelation. When I'm in search of a vegetable recipe, I often pull down my copy of "Vegetable Love," by Barbara Kafka with Christopher Styler. This is a recipe that could make a nice entrée with a fresh green salad or a lovely side dish for pork tenderloin or steaks.  And it only costs 95 cents per person if you are serving four people an entree. Enjoy!

Click READ MORE to see the entire recipe and cost breakdown.

I've been intrigued by this cooking technique since I heard about it on one of the radio cooking shows, likely The Splendid Table, but I'm not sure. You roast your meat on a rack above a baking dish. The juices drip down on the vegetables below, seasoning them for you. It sounds delicious and easy. This recipe for Easy Roasted Chicken Breasts with Root Vegetables calls for split chicken breasts, which are often on sale and this week cost 97 cents a pound at the Harris Teeter. This dish costs $2.37 per serving.

This recipe comes from the editors of Cook's Illustrated: "The Best One-Dish Suppers." I'm also giving away a copy of this cookbook. You know the drill, leave a comment below this post before noon Friday, May 13th. I'll chose a winner at random. Make sure the email associated with your N&O userid is valid or you could lose out.

Click READ MORE to see the recipe and cost breakdown.

I've been craving this dish: Spicy Shrimp Kebabs. These shrimp with sugar snap peas or snow peas on a kebab stick are the perfect picnic food. Or you can serve it on a bed of mesclun greens for an easy warm weather dinner. I don't remember which Silver Palate cookbook this recipe came from since I got it from a friend after just such a picnic at the N.C. Museum of Art.

But Harris Teeter, which is doing Super Double coupons this week, has bags of frozen shrimp buy one, get one free. So that should make this a frugal feast! Enjoy.

Don't forget that there's a cookbook giveaway on the blog, go HERE for details and to enter.

Click READ MORE to see the recipe and cost breakdown.

This recipe is from Foster's new book, "Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen." Check out my interview with her in today's paper.

Carolina Rice Pudding Brûlée

Humble rice pudding gets a serious makeover with the addition of flavorful, fat-grained Carolina Gold rice and a glassy, sugared brûlée crust. From "Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen: Soulful, Traditional, Seasonal," by Sara Foster (Random House, 2011).

Cooking spray or melted butter
3 cups milk
3/4 cup Carolina Gold or other long-grain white rice
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
6 tablespoons natural cane sugar or granulated sugar
PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease six 4-ounce ramekins and place on a rimmed baking sheet.
BRING milk, rice, vanilla bean and reserved seeds and salt to a low simmer over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Raise the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender and the mixture is thick and creamy, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and discard the vanilla bean.
ADD heavy cream and granulated sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. Cool slightly, then stir in the egg yolks, butter, nutmeg, and cloves.
DIVIDE pudding evenly between the prepared ramekins and bake for about 10 minutes, until slightly puffed but still soft in the center. Remove from the oven.
PREHEAT broiler or prepare a small kitchen torch. Sprinkle each pudding evenly with about 1 tablespoon of the natural cane sugar. If using a broiler, place under the broiler in the upper third of the oven until the sugar caramelizes, rotating the baking sheet to evenly brown, 1 to 2 minutes. If using a kitchen torch, torch each pudding individually to caramelize the sugar, being careful to keep the torch at the distance recommended by the manufacturer. Serve warm.
Yield:
6 (4-ounce) servings