The Ocracoke community will celebrate the summer’s fig bounty with a fig cake bake-off, live music, dancing and UNC-TV personality Bob Garner as celebrity fig-cake judge.
The second annual Fig Festival in the historic Community Square, 309 Irvin Garrish Hwy., will feature vendor booths offering fresh figs, fig preserves, local cookbooks and other fig-tastic items. For kids, there’ll be face painting and crafts. Local fig expert Chester Lynn will give an informative talk about Ocracoke’s fig history and culture, and North Carolina food connoisseur Bob Garner will sign copies of his book, Foods That Make You Say Mmm-mmm, about the “traditions, venues, and recipes of North Carolina’s most famous tastes,” including Ocracoke fig cake.
The showpiece of the Fig Festival is the Fig Cake Bake-Off. Everyone is welcome to submit a cake in one or both categories, Traditional or Innovative.
“The traditional category is for the Old Ocracoke style recipe,” said the Bake-Off’s founder, Robin Payne. “This way we stay true to the purpose of the Bake-Off, which is honoring Ocracoke culture and a much-loved dessert. Innovative is just that. Anything goes as long as it has figs in it.”
UNC-TV personality Bob Garner will attend the Fig Fest and be a celebrity judge for the Fig Cake Bake-off. Daphne Bennink also will interview him on WOVV. Time TBD.
The two panels of judges (including Bob Garner) will choose their favorites based on measures of taste, texture and figgy-ness. Ocracoke restaurateur Daphne Bennink will host onsite with a live broadcast on WOVV 90.1 FM (listen online at wovv.org) The Bake-Off winners take home a yard sign, a keepsake plaque and a year’s worth of bragging rights. Free samples will be available for everyone after the contest.
Bring your dancing shoes (or bare feet in true Ocracoke-style) for the evening’s fun. The traditional Ocracoke square dance, where you can learn how to “Dive for the Oyster” and “Dig for the Clam,” is easy to learn and fun for all ages. For the finale, the Ocracoke Rockers will take the stage to play classic rock-n-roll.
During the week of the Fig Festival, island restaurants will offer fig-infused specials both savory and sweet.
The Ocracoke Fig Festival is sponsored by Ocracoke Civic and Business Association.
Editor’s note: The Ocracoke Planning Advisory Board meets the second Thursday of each month at 5:30 PM at the Ocracoke Community Center. Meetings are open to the public. The next meeting will be August 13. For more information about the board, click here.
Yesterday evening, while Internet and cell phone service was down due to a severed cable, provided an opportunity to just watch the sunset, or photograph it with a camera. Photo by C. Leinbach
By Connie Leinbach
Locals and visitors got a forced holiday from their cell phones and Internet yesterday when their service was cut off due to a fiber line being cut.
Simone K. Alley, media relations manager for Century Link, confirmed today that someone digging on the island had cut an underground fiber cable. The outage lasted from about 4 p.m. until around 1:45 this morning and cut off smart-phones, Internet and texting.
The employee assigned to the Ocracoke area took care of splicing the hundreds of wire strands back together, Alley said. She did not know where the mishap occurred.
She said neither 911 nor land-line-to-land-line calls were affected.
“We have an overlay that protects our voice,” Alley said, adding that she did not know how many customers were affected.
Tommy Hutcherson, owner of the Ocracoke Variety Store said that the event didn’t affect the store since they have a land-line back-up into which they can plug in and carry on.
“I have to keep those (land lines) in place,” he said. “I gotta be ready for these kinds of things.”
A sampling of island businesses showed that some, such as the Slushy Stand, had land-line back-up their credit card machines .
“It didn’t affect us at all,” said B.J. Oelschlegel, Slushy Stand manager.
The newer technology can scan and store all credit card data, but then the transactions have to be completed when service is restored, said Daphne Bennink, owner of the Back Porch Restaurant.
“Technology is great until it fails,” she said. “There was a moment of deer-in-the-headlights for us last night and it took us about an hour to get that alternate system in place.”
At SmacNally’s, all credit card transactions had to be done manually then completed today, said manager Daniela Gilbert between waiting on tables.
More than 80 percent of her business is with credit cards.
“And we were packed yesterday,” she said.
Darvin Contreras, an Ocracoke student sitting at Smac’s with fellow student Matteus Gilbert, said when the Net went down, he and his friends “just chilled.”
“Then we played video games,” he said.
WOVV 90.1 FM was affected, said Peter Vankevich, a station employee.
“WOVV could only be heard on the radio and not online,” he said about the station’s Internet streaming capability.
Donna O’Neal, a teller at the Yadkin Bank branch, was happy the outage hadn’t happened earlier.
“We had to hand stamp everything, we couldn’t do cash advances and the ATM was out,” she said.
Manual became the order of the day at Ride the Wind Surf Shop.
“Our credit card processing is Internet based,” said Bob Chestnut, owner. “Then we tried to use a Square device, but the phone didn’t work.”
So, he got out the old manual credit card swiper.
“Everyone got a good laugh when I got out that knuckle buster,” he said.
Roger Garrish, manager of the Sand Dollar Motel, said customers and tenants called him when the Internet went off.
“But I didn’t know what happened,” he said. “I think Ocracoke finally went into the ‘cloud,’” he said, laughing.
Amy LePage of Charlotte, who is visiting with another family and their children, noted that her kids freaked out when the ‘cloud’ went poof.
“So we all went up on the deck and had family time,” she said in a quick interview at the Ocracoke Station. “It was pretty cool.”
Jed Dixon, deputy Ferry Division director, talks about the Hatteras ferry Tuesday in a meeting in the Ocracoke Community Center. Photo by C. Leinbach
By Connie Leinbach
An underwater survey of the Hatteras Inlet near Ocracoke shows the sand is too plentiful to be dredged for a shortcut across the long route, Jed Dixon, deputy director of the North Carolina Department of Transportation Ferry Division, said yesterday (Aug. 10).
Dixon, who attended the regular monthly meeting on Ocracoke, told the six persons in attendance that the Ferry Division undertook a survey to determine if some time can be shaved from the long rout, which takes about one hour, between Ocracoke and Hatteras.
“It was from these meetings that we decided to determine if there was another channel,” Dixon said.
Dixon showed a graphic of the shoaling, or sand build-up, in the inlet.
“One million cubic yards of sand would have to be taken out,” Dixon said, pointing out the area where they had surveyed.
To give a perspective, he said that a dump truck holds 100 cubic yards of sand.
This shows the area of the inlet closest to Ocracoke where the NC Ferry Division surveyed to see if they could dredge a shortcut through the long ferry route. The bottom left shows the South Dock, or, the ferry terminal at the north end of Ocracoke. Graphic courtesy of NC Ferry Division.
Detailed results of a study conducted this year on the feasibility of a passenger ferry between Hatteras and Ocracoke will be released at the public meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 31 in the Ocracoke Community Center.
Dixon also said the division is seeking a grant from the Eastern Federal Land Grant program to help pay for potential infrastructure needed for this venture.
“This is money for transportation on federally owned land,” he said about the grant source.
Such a grant could help cover the costs of tram service, shelters and more, should the Division decided to test passenger ferries.
In 2014, due to extensive shoaling of Hatteras Inlet by Hurricanes Irene (2011) and Sandy (2012), the U.S. Coast Guard and the NCDOT made a longer, natural channel that’s further out into the Pamlico Sound the official route between the islands.
But the longer crossing time has led to increased wait times at the Hatteras dock and disgruntled visitors.
The idea of a passenger ferry from Hatteras directly to Ocracoke village has been around for years, and last year the Ferry Division, commissioned a study to determine feasibility—would it get used, how much would it cost, where would people park.
In a trial run in May of a passenger ferry (the Provincetown III from Massachusetts, which had stopped in North Carolina on its way north so that the ferry division could test it), the travel time from Hatteras to Ocracoke Village was about one hour.
As for long waits at the Hatteras ferry dock for boats to the island, Dixon said that Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays continue to be the busiest days, but that the Division in the last month has done pretty well keeping the ferries on schedule.
“We did a big publicity push for people to come early,” he said.
That means folks wanting to visit Ocracoke for the day should get to the ferry by 9 a.m. to avoid a long wait.
However, in the last few weeks there have been people waiting a long time on the Ocracoke side for the return trip to Hatteras, he noted. All late-night visitors have gotten off the island by the last scheduled run, he said.
As for seeking advertisers or sponsors for the ferries, Dixon said the division has not received any bids. He wondered if potential vendors might not have seen the bid announcements, but he said the division will reissue the request for proposals.
Dixon noted that Nick Tennyson, the interim Secretary of Transportation appointed recently when Transportation Secretary Tony Tata abruptly resigned in late July, is already knowledgeable about ferry service.
In addition, the Division would again look at having Internet service (for a fee) on the longer-route ferries (Swan Quarter and Cedar Island), he said.
The next monthly meeting with Ferry Division officials will be at 1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14, in the Ocracoke Community Center. The public is welcome.
The Barrow Offshore Wind Farm is a 30 turbine 90MW capacity in the East Irish Sea. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
By Pat Garber
As Outer Banks communities and citizens prepare to fight off-shore oil drilling proposals, clean energy advocates are gearing up to see wind farms off North Carolina’s coast.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has identified three areas for potential wind farms, chosen to minimalize impacts on tourism and wildlife, which would also not conflict with military operations, fishing or shipping.
One, approximately 190 square miles, is off the Outer Banks.
The Kitty Hawk Wind Energy Area, 24 nautical miles off the coast, is what the bureau’s Brian Trevor described as “potentially one of the most viable wind resources anywhere.” At least five companies have expressed interest in developing wind projects off North Carolina.
The Obama administration has accelerated wind-energy development in response to climate change, and studies show that North Carolina has some of the most potent wind energy on the Atlantic coast.
The Interior Department has released an environmental study that supports the potential lease of 300,000 acres off the North Carolina coast for wind farms, concluding that there appears to be no significant environmental impact to offshore wind development
Zak Keith, lead organizer for the North Carolina Sierra Club, called the plan “a huge opportunity to create jobs and investment in the clean-energy sector without the risks of oil spills” from offshore drilling.
Not everyone thinks offshore wind turbines are such a good idea.
The agency took public comment at recent hearings and some expressed fear that the massive turbines could spoil views from beaches, harming tourism. The National Park Service has expressed similar concerns.
Other questions are: What will happen if the wind farms fail or are destroyed in storms? Who will be responsible for their removal?
There are also issues about how they affect wildlife.
Wind farms on land have caused large numbers of fatalities among migrating birds and bats.
Thousands of northern gannets spend fall and winter offshore of North Carolina. Photo by P.Vankevich
Whales, sea turtles and other marine life could be affected as well. It is known that certain human-made noises, such as sonar, can cause whales and dolphins to beach and die. They might also interfere with the migratory paths of cetaceans and sea turtles.
And wind farms create noise.
Europe already has a number of offshore wind farms, with 22 farms in the seas surrounding the British Isles.
Aonghais Cook, a research ecologist with the British Trust for Ornithology, studied this issue last year for the Scottish government.
The researchers were surprised to find that of the surveyed birds, 99 percent either avoided wind farms entirely or successfully dodged the blades.
But he still has concerns.
“Ninety-nine percent sounds like a massive percent, but if you’re getting hundreds of thousands of birds passing through a wind farm, the 1 percent that doesn’t avoid it is still quite a high number,” Cook said.
Wind farms also may act as barriers in the flight paths of migrating birds, causing them to take a more circuitous route, stripping them of the energy they need to successfully continue their journey. Seabirds may also be displaced from their foraging grounds, making it difficult for them to feed themselves and their chicks.
The true scale of the impact on birds can’t be known until more research is done.
Until then, said Aedan Smith of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, it is “vital that individual developments avoid the most important places for seabirds.”
One of the issues the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFW) is looking at is “take” limits, which means: how many birds can legally be killed by the turbines?
Under the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act, it is a crime to kill any of the more than 1,000 protected migratory birds, even if it is an accident. Although some deaths cannot be avoided in any energy production, USFWS wants tools to prosecute companies that fail to avoid or minimize harm to migratory birds.
Environmentalists are cautiously supportive of incidental take permits.
“American Bird Conservancy (ABC) applauds the USFWS for instituting a planning effort that could eventually result in an incidental take permit under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act,” said Michael Hutchins, who leads ABC’s wind energy campaign. “Many of our ecologically important migratory bird species–even the most common–are in precipitous decline and require additional protections.”
The National Wildlife Federation believes that wind energy is key to protecting wildlife from climate change, and is actively working to see that farms are located, constructed and operated in a way that do not threaten coastal and marine wildlife.
Shepherds Flat Wind Farm, offshore Oregon, generates up to 845 Megawatts of wind energy. Photo courtesy of Energy.gov
As they proceed forward, scientists and crews will take roughly 2,000 boat trips, mostly from Norfolk, to the Kitty Hawk Wind Energy Area over the next five years.
The results of the tests will determine whether this patch of ocean would be effective for generating wind power.
Private firms will depend on the study to get financing, and an auction for the rights to build and operate a wind farm is expected in 2016.
BOEM’s William Waskes said that while leases could be awarded as early as next year, it will probably be well into the next decade before any turbines are built.
He said once leases are awarded there would be additional environmental studies and oversight.
Companies awarded contracts would be responsible for maintaining or removing the turbines.
Pat Garber. Photo by P. Vankevich
Pat Garber is the author of Ocracoke Wild (Down Home Press, 1995) and Ocracoke Odyssey (Down Home Press, 1999) both collections of nature essays, and the children’s book Little Sea Horse and The Story of the Ocracoke Ponies (Ocracoke Preservation Museum, 2006). Her book, Heart like a River: the story Sergeant Major Newsom Edward Jenkins 14th North Carolina Infantry, 1861-1865 (Schroeder Publications 2011) is based on a diary written by her great grandfather’s time fighting for the South in the Civil War. Her latest book, Paws and Tales (Schroeder Publications), is a work of fiction; a novel narrated by Kali, a sailor cat and Harvey, an island dog.
Pat has a background in anthropology, history and education, with a master’s degree from Northern Arizona University in Cultural Anthropology. She was born and raised near Richmond, Virginia.
David Hallac, superintendent of Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the Outer Banks Group. Photo by P. Vankevich
By Peter Vankevich
Ocracoke was the site Wednesday (Aug. 8) of the first of the five public scoping meetings to get public input for possible changes to its off-road vehicle management plan at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. About 20 people attended the meeting in the school gym.
Seashore Superintendent David Hallac gave an overview of the planning process and the need for public input and he had several NPS staffers available to listen to comments and answer questions in breakout sessions after his briefing.
‘Using a PowerPoint presentation, Hallac highlighted the major issues of the public process, which includes considering changes to hours when beaches open in the morning, dates for seasonal ORV routes, and locations of vehicle-free areas (VFAs). This is required by legislation passed by Congress last December as part of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act. It is intended to provide more public access to seashore beaches. Information screens are shown below.
The legislation required that within 180 days, the Secretary of the Interior is to review and modify buffers for nesting birds and turtles and do so in accordance with applicable laws and in consultation with the state Wildlife Resources Commission. In June the NPS approved a plan to modify wildlife protection buffers at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. (Seashore) as required by Section 3057 of the Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2015, Public Law 113-291.
The buffers were modified in an Environmental Assessment that was completed in June.
According to the NPS, the new rules provide corridors around buffers for many species, including American oystercatchers, Wilson’s plovers, piping plovers, colonial nesting water birds and sea turtles. The plan also maintains protections for wildlife along the seashore by augmenting the seashore’s monitoring and on-the-ground management program.
NPS public scoping meeting at Ocracoke. Photo by P. Vankevich
During the open forum, Al Scarborough pointed out that on Ocracoke, there is virtually no access to the sound. Hallac responded that Sound access is part of the planning process and he would like to hear any thoughts on it.
Several people inquired about the success of nesting birds with one man saying he had heard only 14 birds were successfully fledged this season.
“Colonial water birds, especially terns are having a very successful year and hundreds if not more are fledging,” Michelle Havens, chief of resource management for the Outer Banks Group, said.
Kimberly Farr, a biological science technician, pointed out that there is significant increase in turtle nesting on Ocracoke this season. She said, ” unless an ocean over wash is sustained, the nests are not destroyed. It depends on many factors as to whether the over wash will destroy nests.”
“About 25 percent of the turtle nests are relocated,” Hallac said. This is done primarily to save the nests from being inundated with water.
Several people suggested the permit process be modified to include more flexibility than the two current pass options, which are a weekly pass for $50 and a yearly plan for $120.
A monthly permit and a free permit for those with disabilities were mentioned. Hallac said one of the biggest complaints has been the calendar year permits (permits are good for a calendar year regardless of when they are purchased.) and most comments he has heard support having a permit good for one full year from the date it is purchased.
Emily Jones, the senior program manager of the Southeast Regional Office of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), who attended the meeting to observe and learn more.
“Our primary interest is to protect the natural, cultural and historical resources in the park,” she said. “By natural resources that means the wildlife, and we also want to balance that with the visitor experience. Not every visitor wants to be lined in a row of cars. Some people who come to the Outer Banks want to have a natural beach experience.”
She said her group wants to make sure people can enjoy the beach.
“Cape Hatteras may have the biggest challenges in trying to manage the visitor experience and try to keep the different user groups happy and be able to protect the sea turtles, shorebirds and other wildlife,” she said.
Hyde County Manager Bill Rich praised Hallac and the NPS for being so responsive to the issues, the county has presented to them.
The remaining public meetings will be:
Monday, Aug. 10, 6 to 8 p.m. –Cape Hatteras Secondary School, 48576 Hwy 12, Buxton.
Tuesday, Aug. 11, 6 to 8 p.m. – Hilton Garden Inn, 5353 Virginia Dare Trail, Kitty Hawk.
Wednesday, Aug. 12, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. – Embassy Suites Hampton Inn, 1700 Coliseum Drive, Hampton, VA 23666
Gisela Zastrow in her Ocracoke garden. Photo courtesy of Katja Zastrow.
By Connie Leinbach
Islander Gisela Agnes Zastrow, 76, died Saturday, Aug. 1, in the Outer Banks Hospital in Nags Head.
Born in Ruhland, Germany, in 1939, she grew up in post WWII Berlin, Germany.
Her family’s love of reading helped them survive the difficult years.
“Books took me out of all the horrors we saw around us,” she said. “In my home reading was like eating.”
In 1970, Gisela moved to St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband and two daughters.
She and her family started coming annually to Ocracoke beginning in the early 1970s. The family purchased a home on the island in the early 1980s, and Gisela became a permanent Ocracoke resident in 2000.
“She loved living on Ocracoke and loved her house and her garden,” said islander Frances Miller.
The family discovered Ocracoke after Gisela researched seaside vacation venues other than Florida.
“She’d gotten some brochures of the island and we rented the house that is now Kathleen O’Neal’s Island Artworks,” said her daughter Katja. “It had no phone or TV, and she loved that.”
Gisela was a member of the Ladies Lunch group that meets Saturdays in various island restaurants.
A chemist by training, Gisela found her great passion to be teaching reading to inner city youths in St. Louis after the family had moved there.
“She worked in a brewing chemistry lab in Germany, but she was really interested in social service,” Katja said.
In St. Louis, Gisela started as a volunteer in her children’s school, but in 1978 began work with the local chapter of Reading Is Fundamental.
Despite the misgivings of some about the worth of the endeavor, Gisela created a RIF program for the youth in the St. Louis Juvenile Detention Center. The program became immensely successful and nationally recognized. “They absolutely loved her,” Katja said. “She built up a whole program,” touching the lives of thousands of at risk youth. In 2000, she received the Anne Richardson Volunteer of the Year award from Reading is Fundamental (RIF).
She battled severe migranes and other health issues her entire life. A recovering alcoholic with over 20 years of sobriety, she was passionate and dedicated to helping and mentoring others in their path to wellness.
Gisela had a lifelong passion for books, teaching, nature, reading, gardening, art, history, music, cultures and foreign lands such as Turkey and Egypt.
A photo of Gisela at the Berlin Wall in the 1980s depicts her spirit and conviction.
Gisela at the Berlin Wall. Photo courtesy of Katja Zastrow.
“As soon as she heard that the Berlin wall was coming down, she flew there to take a hammer to the wall,” Katja said.
Islander Dave Tolson, who knew Gisela since the 1970s, helped her when she needed small things done around her house and who checked on her frequently since she lived alone on the island.
“She was pretty strong-willed, and she told it like it was.” Tolson said. “She was a character.”
Gisela is survived by her daughter Bettina Zastrow and her husband Lance McGinnis, and their three children Karl, Wilhelm and Klaus, all of Nyack, NY; Katja Zastrow and her husband Christian Teelucksingh of Washington, DC; and her former husband, Dr. Klaus Zastrow.
A memorial celebration will be planned here for later in the fall.
Click here for the link to a story on Gisela’s RIF work published in 2000 in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Ruth Toth with the new edition of the Café Atlantic Cookbook. Photo by P. Vankevich
By Peter Vankevich
Café Atlantic was a fixture on Ocracoke for 25 years before it closed at the end of the 2013 season.
Since it was a favorite restaurant of many, owner Ruth Toth compiled a cookbook of its recipes which was published in 2006.
A few years ago it went out of print.
“After we ran out of copies, many of the island store owners asked if we would reprint it,” Toth said about the new edition.
She decided to do a soft-bound edition including 20 new recipes that were added to the restaurant’s menu since 2006.
Some of the new recipes are Caribbean shrimp cocktail, rosemary chevre with fig preserves, Florentine fish chowder, crab puffs with sweet chili and mustard sauce, baked flounder in parchment in Dijon butter and coleslaw.
New desserts include chocolate bread pudding, pumpkin pecan spice cake, Boston cream pie, plum blueberry tart and the traditional Ocracoke fig cake.
Back in the 1980s, Ruth and her husband, Bob, were searching for career changes and the thought of opening a restaurant appealed to them. Ruth had worked for 14 years at the Ocracoke School and Bob, 25 years on a dredge boat for the NC Ferry Division.
Ruth had worked in restaurants on-and-off since she was 16 when her first job was in the dining room of Blackbeard’s Lodge back then run by Jackie and Doward Brugh. But Bob’s experience was pretty much limited to ordering off a menu.
They designed the building, and once constructed, the restaurant opened in 1989. Bob had no choice but to be a quick-study and to learn the restaurant business.
“I remember Bob saying he would do anything except cook,” Ruth writes. “Three months after that Bob was on the line full time, and 17 years later, on any night of the week, Bob prepares the lion’s share of meals that leave the kitchen.”
“I’ve been blown away with the response and I’m on my third request with the printer for more copies,” Ruth said.
Books are available in several locations, including The Village Craftsmen, Zillie’s Island Pantry, The Island Ragpicker, Ocracoke Restoration, The Community Store, Books To Be Red, The Variety Store and the Ocracoke Preservation Society.
Cover art and illustrations are by island artist Len Skinner.
Sunflowers along Sunset Drive. Photo by C. Leinbach
By Henry Schliff
Sunflower seeds are the gift of the beautiful sunflower that has been cultivated for its ornamental beauty and culinary uses for more than 5,000 years.
Sunflower seeds are low in cost (one sunflower can yield up to 2,000 seeds), and are considered as one of the world’s healthiest foods.
The following are just a few of the many healthful benefits of sunflower seeds:
An excellent source of vitamin E. Just one quarter cup supplies 80 percent of alpha-tocopherol, which is the most active form of vitamin E. Vitamin E is a powerful anti-oxidant that is used by the body to destroy free radicals that cause inflammation that can lead to arthritis, heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
An excellent source of selenium, which has been shown to aid in the repair of the DNA of damaged cells which helps to reduce the risk of cancer.
A good source of magnesium, which promotes healthy bone growth and has been shown to reduce the symptoms of asthma, lower blood pressure and prevent migraine headaches.
They contain high amounts of linoleic acid, which helps to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and promote HDL (good) cholesterol.
They are high in fiber and an excellent source of high quality protein: 100 grams provide about 21 grams of protein.
They contain high amounts of B-complex vitamins and folic acid.
Sunflower seeds can be found in many grocery and health food stores. They contain a high percentage of healthy fat, and therefore the hulled seeds, which are the easiest to use, need to be kept stored in the refrigerator or freezer to prevent rancidity.
Toasted sunflower seeds (see the following recipe) make a tasty, healthful snack. They make a delicious addition to breads, muffins, and cookies; add crunchiness to salads, texture and a nutritional boost to hot and cold cereal.
They provide added flavor to stir-fries and sautéed vegetables. Their use in cooking is only limited by your imagination.
One of my favorite ways to use toasted sunflower seeds is in hummus in place of store-bought tahini (sesame seed paste).
Sunflower Seed Hummus
½ cup raw hulled sunflower seeds
1½ tsp. warm organic coconut oil (olive oil can be substituted)
½ tsp. honey
1 cup cooked garbanzo beans (homemade or canned, drained and rinsed)
3 Tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
½ tsp. soy sauce
2 Tbs. filtered water
To make the Sun Butter – Sunflower Tahini
Preheat a large skillet for three minutes. Add the sunflower seeds and spread them out evenly along the surface of the pan. Toast the sunflower seeds over medium heat, stirring often, until they become fragrant, and some of them become lightly browned. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the seeds onto a sheet pan to cool for 5 minutes. Place the warm toasted seeds into a food processor. Process the seeds for a few minutes until they clump together into a paste. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula and continue processing until the paste becomes more liquid and soft, scraping the bowl as often as+ is needed. Add the warm coconut or olive oil and honey and process again briefly to combine everything well. Note: Sun butter is a delicious alternative peanut butter. Add additional honey and oil for desired creaminess and flavor.
Final Preparation
Add the remaining ingredients and process again until the mixture is soft and creamy adding additional water if necessary. Serve with raw vegetables, apple slices and pita chips.
Henry Schliff has been the chef of a French, Italian, and Mexican restaurant and was most recently the owner of the Orange Blossom Bakery in Buxton. He is the author of two cookbooks
Members of Marine Aircraft Group 49 detachment Delta arrive in Ocracoke on their way flying two Phrog helicopters to Marine Air Station Cherry Point, Havelock.
By Text, photos and video by Connie Leinbach
John Manning was wistful as two Marine CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters fired up their jet engines at the Ocracoke airport for their final flight to the Marine air base in Cherry Point, Havelock.
“That’s the last time these two will be making that noise,” he said as the helicopters, built 53 years ago for the Vietnam War, arose carrying 17 military personnel. “I was in Vietnam when they were in use. I’m really gonna miss these things.”
Manning, maintenance supervisor at Howard’s Pub, along with several islanders, visitors and children watched the departure.
“How cool was that!” said Laurie Garrish, who brought along grandson Graydon, 1, as the choppers disappeared down the coast. “I’m addicted to these things. I come out every time I see them.”
Major J.C. Spencer, the flight leader and one of the pilots, call sign “Pookie,” said the group flew the CH 46 choppers, also known as “Phrogs,” from their Norfolk base and stopped on Ocracoke for lunch at Howard’s Pub.
Maj. Orlando Corchado and Flight Leader Maj. J.C. Spencer.
They then flew them to the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point to be decommissioned.
“They are being phased out and will be replaced by Ospreys, (or V22)” Spencer said.
Willy M. Orosmane, Maintenance Chief Master Gunnery Sgt., said today’s group was the last Marine Corps squadron assigned to these helicopters.
There are four other CH46 helicopters in Cherry Point, he said. They’re part of Search and Rescue—to help rescue people in the ocean.
Those will be replaced on Sep. 25, and the Coast Guard will continue with search and rescue, Orosmane said.
Maj. Orlando Corchado, said one of these Phrogs is on view in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Udvar Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.
As transports, the helicopters have been used for decades to deliver troops and cargo, Corchado said.
Maximum flying time on one tank of gas is about three hours, said Gunny Sgt. C. T. Roney.
Cpl. Carl Dewing and Cpl. Tara Dewing in the back of one of the helicopters before take-off.
The 16-member Marine crew was from the Marine Aircraft Group 49 detachment Delta, said Sgt. Salvatore Cialino, an aerial gunner.
“We’re all ‘Wild Geese,’” he said about the name of their detachment.
Additionally, Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Lindsey E. Skelton of the Navy Public Affairs Support Element East, accompanied the group and took photos.
“It was less scary than I thought,” she said about the ride to Ocracoke.
As for stopping in Ocracoke, Maj. Gary Ewers said they needed a restaurant close by the airport.
“I looked all over the coast and Howard’s Pub was close by and could pick us up,” he said.
The Phrog cockpit, which is open under the controls.
“None is as good as this,” Cialino added.
Ann Warner, Pub owner, said military flight crews are frequent patrons.
Most of the Marines thought that these Phrogs were still the best and didn’t like that they were being decommissioned.
“The air frame has 50 years of service, but it still goes strong,” Roney said.
He explained that the Phrog fuselage is about the same size as an Osprey’s, but Osprey wings fold on top of the fuselage and can be stored in a smaller space.
Part of the Phrog cockpit is open as is the fuselage rear end.
“It gets natural air conditioning,” said Roney.
A few crew members sat on the edges with their legs dangling over as the choppers took off to the cheers and waves of the spectators.
“That was amazing!” said Leslie Cole.
Anmargaret Warner contributed additional reporting.
The crews pose for a final photo before their final flight.Part of the military patch collection on Howard’s Pub walls, the patch at bottom right show the Marine Corps Phrogs unit.Ocracoke kids get a tour of the chopper.
