It’s an increasingly common conundrum for restaurant owners and managers: You need someone to cover a shift or two—a prep cook, a bartender, a server, a dishwasher, a host. So, you put the word out on a group message to the network of hospitality workers that you’ve built over the years.

It’s hard to slap a label on Helen, the downtown Birmingham restaurant owned by repeat James Beard Award semifinalist Rob McDaniel and his wife, Emily. “It’s hard to say what it is, because Helen doesn’t really fit any category,” says McDaniel, who was the executive chef at the acclaimed SpringHouse restaurant near Lake Martin for 11 years before opening Helen in June 2020.

Miller Mobley has been all over the world. As a photographer, he’s met some of Hollywood’s biggest stars including Tom Hanks, Robert DeNiro, George Clooney, and Nicole Kidman. He’s taken portraits of icons Dolly Parton, Anthony Bourdain, and Taylor Swift, and he even shot the cover for Michelle Obama’s memoir “Becoming.” But after years of living and working in New York, Mobley decided it was time to come home. So four years ago, he packed up his family and made the move back to Birmingham. With the move home, Mobley was inspired to challenge his creativity. 

It’s that time again, when we make resolutions for how we’ll live in the new year, and perhaps assess how we did with the goals we set 12 months ago. As a culinary writer, my thoughts naturally turn to what and how I plan to eat and drink this coming year, while also providing readers some food for thought. Here are five goals for 2022 that can tie into locally driven and sustainable food habits:

The upcoming year will mark a new milestone in Jones Valley Teaching Farm’s growth, as its $8 million upgrade fully comes on line with a new educational center and other improvements designed to enhance the nonprofit’s overall mission of providing nutritious food to people who need it most.

For most people accustomed to walking in off the street to dine in brick-and-mortar restaurants, ordering lunch or dinner from a food truck is about as exotic as it gets. But some Alabama restaurants go to unusual heights or dish from decidedly different locales. You can eat in a jail, or nosh between firing rounds from a pistol or paint gun. If the water floats your boat, try a bobbing bistro in a lake. Or graze on a steak before the barn doors close.

It may seem counterintuitive to folks who live up north and out west, but Southerners believe the best way to ensure a bounty of luck and money through the coming year is to start it off with a humble meal. A pot of greens and their potlikker, a little seasoning pork, a mess of field peas, and skillet of cornbread are the traditional foods here for New Year’s Day. It’s a double-helping—a connection to the past but also a talisman for the next 12 months.

Everyone knows to leave Santa Claus some milk and cookies on Christmas Eve. It’s a snack to help the jolly elf on his worldwide journey. Leaving cookies for Santa has been a common custom in the United States for nearly 100 years, rooted in Depression-era lessons from parents that children should share with those in need and show gratitude for gifts received in a time of privation, according to History.com.

He calls it “French Toast.” But that doesn’t even begin to describe the mélange of flavors from the version Chef Luke Joseph serves during weekend brunch at Automatic Seafood and Oysters in Birmingham. Brioche baked in-house is coated in a custardy glaze and pan-cooked. It’s soaked in a sauce of burnt butter and reduced orange juice that’s infused with flame-kissed orange peel. Golden raisins, chopped pecans, and a healthy dollop of slightly tangy cultured cream complete the dish ($16).

Hey Day Market, a new food hall planned for the Loveliest Village on the Plains, will enhance Auburn University’s food and hospitality degree programs while expanding culinary options in the city itself, developers say. The university and Ithaka Hospitality Partners, the Auburn-based consulting and management company that will operate Hey Day Market, announced the project earlier this month. The on-campus food hall, slated to open in fall 2022, is part of the new Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center complex, which will become the crown jewel in Auburn University’s Hospitality Management Program.

Roasted ham is a holiday crowd-pleaser. Coated with a glaze of sticky dark-brown sugar and studded with whole cloves that perfume the pink meat, ham dresses up Christmas feasts or provides a delicious morsel for Yuletide parties. We’re not talking in this case about old-school country ham, the salt-cured cousin to Italian prosciutto and Spanish jamon Iberico that is preserved by hanging for a period to air-dry. For Christmas you want a wet-cured ham, soaked in a sweet and saline brine or injected with it. Often the meat is hot-smoked over hickory or other hardwood.

Ask Southern food lovers to name an Alabama-made smoked sausage, and most will mention the Conecuh brand. It’s sold in most major groceries in Alabama and is regularly name-checked by chefs and home cooks alike on menus and in published recipes. Conecuh Sausage even has a Facebook fan club. But a few other meat houses in the southern part of the state produce sausages that more than hold their own with their better-known counterpart. These links come from an 80-mile stretch that we’ll call the Lower Alabama Smoked Sausage Trail. Start in the town of Beatrice at Monroe Sausage, cut south to U.S. 84 and head east toward Conecuh in Evergreen, Snowden’s in Andalusia, and finally Kelley’s just off the highway in Elba.

As the weather grows colder and the holidays call for great cheer, brewers release winter warmers and their special Christmas beer. Usually, these brews are made strong enough to chase an evening’s chill. They’re often as dark as the prolonged nights that lead into the winter solstice. Sometimes they’re spiced, like holiday baked goodies. But they’re always meant to be festive.

A hopper drops small circles of dough into sizzling-hot oil at Sons Donuts in Birmingham. Gears in the fryer steadily nudge the floating rounds down the line, a metal plate flipping them at the midpoint. The cooked bite-sized doughnuts emerge at the end, ready to be dipped in flavored sugar, slathered with glaze, squirted with pastry cream, or topped with a house-made vanilla marshmallow.

Charcuterie boards are perfect for holiday celebrations. They are versatile, providing a nosh for cocktails and conversation or serving as the evening’s culinary centerpiece. They are adaptable to the gathering’s theme and guest list. And, they’re downright trendy right now.

Everyone has at least one food lover on their gift list, someone who loves cooking, dines at all the right restaurants, or takes pride in supporting Alabama farmers and craft producers. Here are some ideas for food-related Alabama-made holiday presents, from locally-roasted coffee, fresh-picked produce, and old-fashioned grits to custom pottery for serving them:

The national recreational-vehicle dealer Camping World, Baumhower’s Victory Grill, and the University of Alabama’s basketball program are teaming up for a full-court press against food insecurity. They plan to feed 5,000 people in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham in the last half of 2021 as part of the Plating Change Initiative, which was launched a year ago by Camping World founder Marcus Lemonis.

From now until 2021 ends, it’s prime time for pies. Holiday gatherings are the perfect excuse to serve a variety of seasonal favorites, from custardy pumpkin and rich pecan pies, to densely sweet chocolate and pleasantly tart lemon baked treats. Here’s a list of some of our favorite pies to enjoy from Thanksgiving until the new year, and some of the better places around the state to get them.

To cook or not to cook? That is the Thanksgiving question. Some of us are gluttons for the opportunity to prepare a glorious meal. Some families or friend groups have this pot-luck thing down. But for those who can’t or won’t—for whatever reason—here are some restaurants and caterers in the southern half of Alabama that sell Thanksgiving takeout. (We also list options for the Birmingham area and the northern half of the state.)

Why spend days cooking Thanksgiving dinner when you can order up a full feast for your family or friends? If you need or want a break this year, here are some places across the northern half of Alabama with holiday takeout that will satisfy any taste. (We also share takeout ideas for the Birmingham area and the southern half of the state.)

Here are some places in greater Birmingham where you can order up a fried or roasted turkey, enough fixings to feed your crowd, and all the pies and treats you’ll need to satisfy any sweet tooth. (We also have Thanksgiving pickup options in both the northern and southern halves of Alabama.)