Friday, January 30, 2015

Church BBQ Dinners in North Carolina - Millford Hills Methodist in Salisbury, NC


Milford Hills United Methodist Church BBQ Dinner

One really popular fundraiser dinner in North Carolina is a BBQ dinner. North Carolina is pork barbecue country with various versions in the east (coastal) and piedmont or central. Central is called western NC barbecue, but it's not the mountains. No telling what you'll get if you order barbeque in the mountains here.

Today I had a delicious BBQ plate of western barbecue from Millford Hills Methodist Church in Salisbury, NC (which likely is the original home of western style barbecue though Lexington takes the credit).

Mr. Ralph Ketner who founded the Food Lion stores and still works at Catawba College well in his 90s gets the yearly dinners for the faculty and staff in the Ketner building (yes - he did have it built - thanks). He's just a really nice guy like that.

Here you see a very traditional North Carolina barbecue dinner. There's chopped pork, dip (thin vinegar sauce), red slaw (a tad spicy), a bun, and then versions of pound cake. This piece I think is Cheerwine cake which is the local soft drink sold in my county (Rowan County) and slated to be in all 50 states soon (the drink - not the cake).

Other areas may have slight differences. When I lived in Raleigh, the church had small boiled potatoes as the side. Brunswick stew is another common side dish but in the coastal area usually.

I think this was Millford Hills Methodist Churches 51st year of their annual BBQ dinners. They are always on a Friday at the end of January. If you live close by or are passing through Salisbury, NC, I can tell that you get a generous and very tasty traditional North Carolina barbecue meal at the church.

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