"southern states" news and stories

The term "California roll" may prove to be something of a misnomer as students in southern states rapidly embrace school-cafeteria sushi.

This fall, Schwan's Food Service, the frozen food powerhouse and one of the nation's leading distributors of school pizza, rolled out a new line of fully cooked, frozen sushi. According to company spokesman Chad Stelter, schools in Florida and Tennessee are among the most enthusiastic early adopters.

While pizza has long been the backbone of Schwan's school menus, the company is gradually expanding its product line.

"We sell breadsticks and egg rolls," Stetler says. "But the topic that kept coming up in focus groups was sushi. So we took a look at it."

Schwan's tested eight different rolls across the country, staging a roadshow that included a stop at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Tampa. "We have no idea what the acceptability will be," school nutritionist Maggie Giunta told the St. Petersburg Times before the one-day event. As it turned out, the students were big fans –- although their excitement was apparently tempered by adolescent nonchalance.

To celebrate the holiday season, Whataburger is offering its customers 12 menu items on the house.

But don't cancel dinner plans just yet: The dozen freebies will be meted out one at a time over a three-week period.

Diners who register at Whataburger's Web site will receive 12 coupons good for fries, drinks and breakfast taquitos via e-mail between Dec. 1 and Dec. 24. As spokeswoman Natalie Silva explains, each coupon expires at the end of the day. The promotion will culminate on Christmas Eve with a coupon for a free burger.

According to a 2007 report by the Corpus Christi Caller, the burger chain considered rolling out the deal two years ago, but canceled its plans when e-mails were leaked in advance of an official announcement. "The '12 Days of Whataburger' were just too good to be true," the paper lamented, explaining why electronic coupons already in circulation wouldn't be honored.

While standard civil rights histories give the most ink to the 1960 demonstration at a Greensboro Woolworth's, that lunch counter wasn't the site of the state's first sit-in -- and now there's a historical marker to prove it.

Durham, N.C., this week celebrated the formal unveiling of a marker on the site of the now-defunct Royal Ice Cream Parlor, more than 52 years after a group of black students known as "The Loyal Seven" challenged its segregationist policies.

Two of the protesters and a relative of the Royal's owner -- who organizer Eddie Davis describes as having "a different kind of sensibility" than his Jim Crow-upholding ancestor -- attended the ceremony. "It was sort of a reconciliation, bringing about unity and respect," Davis says.

As 2009 comes to close, so do this year's food festivals. Here is a selection the end-of-the-year picks, a couple of which involve the warm caress of alcohol, as often required to survive Jack Frost's lengthy stay.

Annual Holiday Ale Festival, Portland, Ore., Dec. 2-6: This sudsy soiree bills itself as the premiere winter-beer tasting event. With more than 50 craft quaffers, such as Bear Republic Brewing Company Barrel-Aged Old Baba Yaga, Hopworks Urban Brewery Kronan the Barbarian and Alameda Brewhouse Papa Noel's Special Reserve, we're inclined to believe it. On Dec. 6, don't forget to attend the sixth annual Beer and Brunch Event. Among the menu items will be Belgian-style favorite La Fin du Monde and cheeses galore from the Willamette Valley Cheese Co.

Indio International Tamale Festival, Indio, Calif., Dec. 5-6: This celebration of a quintessential Mexican food, started in 1992, will offer customary festival attractions, carnival rides and a parade. But what's not to love about a plethora of Mariachi bands and a tamale-eating contest?

While visitors to Richard Charlton's Coffeehouse, the first major reconstruction on Colonial Williamsburg's Main Street in nearly half a century, will be treated to 3-ounce servings of coffee, tea or hot chocolate, spokesman Jim Bradley says it's unlikely the restaurant's first patrons would have been satisfied with such dainty samples.

"Outside one of the rooms, which was probably a private dining room, we found just piles and piles and piles of broken wine bottles," says Bradley.

As it turns out, taverns weren't the only places where sociable Colonists could enjoy stiff drinks and politically charged conversations. Contrary to standard American histories, taverns functioned more like highway rest stops, complete with government-controlled prices, lackluster food and a sketchy clientele. Locals typically preferred to do their drinking in coffeehouses, which were all the rage in England when King George III was in charge.