Birmingham, AL recipe tester wins praise for unique dishes

By Chanda Temple
For several years, Jasmine Smith worked in the background to help her chef friends on big food events. She did so in her spare time because, well, that’s just the kind of friend she is.
Then, in 2023, a friend aware of Smith’s culinary skills, wanted to put Jasmine out front and suggested Smith be one of the presenting cooks during the inaugural Birmingham Food Plus Heritage dinner at Pepper Place in Birmingham, AL.
Smith accepted the invitation and served up dishes that impressed the crowd.
As a recipe tester with Dot Dash Meredith in Birmingham, Smith knows what will make a recipe sing. So, she assembled the perfect chorus to make an opening act to remember. First up was a breakfast grit fritter, complete with hot Jimmy Deal sausage, spices, cheddar cheese and McEwen and Sons yellow stoneground grits. A lot of people loved it, telling her it tasted like breakfast in one bite.
Next up were her wings. The Texas Native, who has been in Birmingham for four yeas, pulled from her Caribbean roots and made a guava glazed wing that was delicious. Her grandmother, who is from St. Thomas, always had a guava tree in the yard, so this was a special nod to her. The dish had the right balance of sticky sweetness that had attendees going back for seconds.
Smith rounded out the ensemble with a purple cabbage coleslaw that was inspired by her mother. Smith said that when she was a child, she ate a lot of cabbage, so she was in familiar territory with this creation. But instead of a mayo-based coleslaw, Smith opted to gp lighter and do a cumin-based vinaigrette coleslaw.
When it was all over, there were applause in the forms of belly rubs and empty plates. Meanwhile, a humble Smith stood off the side, standing under under the Birmingham sky, taking it all in, for she was happy she took on the challenge of trying something new.
“Imposter syndrome does come up, but, …  I had to remember that they would not have asked me if they didn’t believe in me,” Smith said. “So, I was like, ‘I’m going to make this work. I’m going to figure this out.’ ”
Stay tuned for details abt the 2024 Birmingham Food Plus event, which will take place in September. Tickets will go on sale in July.
For more information about Birmingham Food Plus, visit http://www.bhamfoodplus.com.

Woodlawn, Alabama cafe has all the tea

By Chanda Temple
Imagine sinking your teeth into a slice of buttery heaven.
The moistness. The golden glow. The home-baked happiness. They are all there in the five flavor pound cake from Herban Soul Cafe in Woodlawn, AL.
This cake is so good that folks swear someone’s grandmama or auntie made it. But the young person behind it is tea house founder and self-taught baker Alexis Kimbrough, who uses a family recipe that has been passed down through the years.
“People don’t believe I made it,” she said. “But they like it. They say it takes them back to their childhood.”
This dense cake is the perfect blend of vanilla, rum, almond, coconut and lemon flavors. If you are looking to go back to your childhood, you’ll find it in this cake with every bite.
Kimbrough  has been selling the cake slices since 2022 when she started doing pop-up events around Birmingham, AL. The cake became so popular that she kept offering them. Eventually, she moved into her brick and mortar, where she sells it as well as her different teas and other foods. The shop, which is open Wednesday – Saturday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., also participates in several health and wellness events every month. Her shop is located at 5530 First Ave. South.
And speaking of teas, she highly recommends her cold “Soul-Full Punch,” which is vibrant and fruity with a touch of spice. It’s made with hibiscus, orange peel, dehydrated apples, Elderberry, peach and strawberry black tea, and aswagandha. It tastes like Kool-Aid but without all the sugar.
It’s good for your soul and your tastebuds.
Her website is http://www.herbansoulcafe.com.

Magic City Art Connection offers art that heals the artist and the art buyer

By Chanda Temple 

When things got tough, Atlanta artist Lauren Lane turned to painting. 

Through strokes of vibrant oranges, greens and blues, she painted through the worries and pains of family health challenges, a difficult workload and the self doubt of “Is my art good enough.” 

Never one to break, she placed her trust in God. And He delivered. 

“I was like, ‘Yo, this is something that I really love to do, regardless of if people connect with it or not,’ “ she said. “This is something I have to do because this is something He put inside me. So, I had to get to a place where I was willing to be a contribution instead of it being perfect or needing people to validate me.” 

After taking an eight-year sabbatical from painting, she returned to it in 2023. She calls her first piece, “Embrace the Wait.” It features a woman in a blue head wrap and bold gold earrings. It reminds her of how bamboo grows: it takes several years for bamboo to take root before it produces. And that is how life can be, too.

“I needed time to create in my own private area to show (my art) to other people,” she said. 

There is also a large painting of a woman in a multi-colored coat, which was inspired by Joseph and his multi-colored cloak from the Bible. Like Joseph, Lane was going through a difficult time, and she wanted to create something to help people realize that there is beauty even in the midst of struggle. She calls the painting “Inner Peace.”

“You can find peace that transcends understanding if you are willing to trust the process,” she said. “I created these because I believe that our people needed more work that is empowering and images that make us feel good and make us joyful.”

Lane and her colorful paintings and prints will be on display this weekend at Magic City Art Connection at Sloss Furnaces. She’s in the middle of the row that leads to the Welcome Center in the back at Sloss. 

Admisson is $15. 

Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 pm 

Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Made for This: Dre Foster makes good on cooking up Birmingham restaurant for dad

Dre Foster and her father, Andre Craig, had always talked about owning a restaurant. But he died in 2016 before they could make the dream a reality. Today, Dre is pushing to make their dream a reality as she works to open The Preservery Birmingham restaurant in the city's Five Points South area. (Photos: Special)

Dre Foster and her father, Andre Craig, had always talked about owning a restaurant. But he died in 2016 before they could realize their dream. Today, Dre is pushing toward their goal as she works to open The Preservery Birmingham restaurant in the city’s Five Points South area. Pictured is Dre’s sweet potato cheesecake with toffee bits, maple bourbon syrup and maple mascarpone. On the right is her five spice duck with braised baby bok choy, a corn fritter cake and pickled watermelon radish. (Photos: Special)

Starting today, “Made for This” is my new series that highlights people answering the call to do what they were born  to do. To be considered for a profile, please email me at chandatemple@gmail.com with details on why you were “made” for what you are doing today. 

By Chanda Temple

Dre Foster and her dad often talked about running a restaurant. He loved to cook and so did she. So, in Dre’s mind, they’d be perfect partners after she retired one day.

But the dream of father and daughter running a business never happened. In 2015, Dre’s father, Andre Craig, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He passed the day after Thanksgiving 2016. He was 57.

Dre was devastated and left with a new look on life: Life is short and she could no longer ignore what had been eating at her all these years. She was made to run a restaurant.

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Your gifts will make room for you

By Chanda Temple 

Have you ever received news so good that it eft you weak in the knees? That happened to me today after receiving a text from a friend.

Her text: “I just saw this. Very cool to see you guys on this list.” She was referring to Birmingham News photojournalist Tamika Moore and me making the “50 Black Southern Belles in Lifestyle: African American Tastemakers of the South.”  After reading  her message, I was like, “Wait! What! Really?”

Untitled design (8)

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Motivation Monday: Birmingham artist offers African-American themed Christmas wrapping paper

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)

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.

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Motivation Monday: Don’t be better. Be the best.

Martell and Melody S. Holt of Holt and Holt Entrepreneurship (Photo by: Chanda Temple)

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  …

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How Coca-Cola is helping women get in the game of running a successful business

Eyvon Austin

Coca-Cola knows a lot of its consumers are entrepreneurs, which is why it started an online program in 2011 to give female business owners resources to help them break through barriers in business. Coca-Cola rep Eyvon Austin was in Birmingham today to discuss the program, which has a goal is to empower 5 million women around the globe by 2020.  (Photo: Chanda Temple)

 

 

 

By Chanda Temple 

In between a DJ cranking out beats and hair stylists creating coiffures at the Sixth Annual Natural Hair and Health Expo today, several hundred attendees were getting down to business – the business of being in business for themselves.

“If you are not at the top of your game in business, find someone who is,” said Eyvon Austin, programs director of supplier diversity for Coca-Cola North America. She was one of several speakers present to discuss how to be better in business. One way of doing that, Austin says, is to check out Coca-Cola’s STEP program (Supplier Training and Empowerment Program). It offers free, online training and resources to help women business owners with leadership, financial management, advocacy and more. The plan is part of the company’s bigger initiative, the 5 by 20 campaign, which aims to empower 5 million women around the globe by 2020.

“We hope that by providing these free tools and resources, it will give the next entrepreneur an opportunity to say,  ‘Hey, I can make this. I can do this,’ ” Austin said. “And then that empowers them to give that same level of empowerment to others.”

During part of her presentation, Austin discussed six ways women can transform their leadership in business. A main point: It comes from within.

Coca-Cola was one of the sponsors for the Sixth Annual Hair and Health Expo at the BJCC on March 11. (Photo by: Chanda Temple)

Coca-Cola was one of the sponsors for the Sixth Annual Hair and Health Expo at the BJCC on March 11. (Photo by: Chanda Temple)

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Coca-Cola’s STEP program gives female entrepreneurs a leg up in business

Coca-Cola's 5by20 program is a global initiative focused on bringing economic empowerment to 5 million women by 2020. The program focuses on business skills training, loans and financial services, and building peer networks and mentoring. (Image: Special)

Coca-Cola’s 5by20 program is a global initiative focused on bringing economic empowerment to 5 million women by 2020. The program focuses on business skills training, loans and financial services, and building peer networks and mentoring. (Image: Special)

 

By Chanda Temple

I’ve always loved Coca-Cola. It’s refreshing, bubbly and goes great with a good burger.

But after learning that the company offers a global program focused on helping new female entrepreneurs address barriers in business, my love for the red and white soda brand just deepened.

Cue the crush music.

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