Best overall soup went to Jeffrey's of Lake Norman, for a cream of parsnip. Accepting the honor from Marcia Webster (left) and Margaret Martens (right) of Davidson Housing Coalition were Kerri Williams and young Nicholas Riddle, son of sou-chef Joshua Baxley. (Bill Giduz photo)

Jeffrey’s of Lake Norman restaurant in Mooresville walked away with the big prize Saturday at the eighth annual Souper Bowl, a soup cook-off among local chefs that raises money for the Davidson Housing Coalition‘s HAMMERS emergency home repair program. The event drew more than 400 diners to Davidson College’s Lilly Family Gallery for food, music and a silent auction.

Everyone who sampled the soup helped pick winners, in  categories from most creative to best vegetarian. Read the full story

By CAMILA DOMONOSKE
DavidsonNews.net

Valentine’s Day is just 6 days away – have you made your reservations? A variety of local restaurants are offering fixed-price menus and special items for the Feb. 14 day o’ romance. Meanwhile, forget cheese – The Wine Cellar in Cornelius is pairing arts and crafts with their wines this week, featuring jewelry and leather work by local artisans. And, The Wine Cellar, Summit Coffee and Flatiron Kitchen + Taphouse all feature local musicians this weekend. See below for details.  Read the full story

An employee of The Egg at Davidson served during last year's Davidson Housing Coalition Souper Bowl fund-raiser. (Bill Jin photo)

The Souper Bowl, a soup cook-off among local chefs that raises money for affordable housing – has become a tradition on Super Bowl weekend in Davidson. This year’s competition is Saturday, Feb. 4, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Davidson College’s Chambers building, Lilly Family Gallery. The lunch includes food, live music and a silent art auction.

The annual event is a benefit for Davidson Housing Coalition, which helps create and preserve affordable housing and prepare people for financial stability and home ownership. Read the full story

Baja Soul Taqueria has brightened up the interior in the form iPub/T1 Tapas space. It opened Jan. 25.

Baja Soul Taqueria has taken over the former iPub/T1 Tapas space in Birkdale Village. Meanwhile, a couple of doors away, signs have gone up on the former Positano’s restaurant, where Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar is renovating. In Davidson, Restaurant X is now taking Valentine’s Day reservations. And several local restaurants are holding fund-raising nights this week for the Access to Success Foundation and Kicks From Cats, which sends shoes and supplies to needy children in Nigeria. Read the full story

Joanne Weir

TV chef Joanne Weir will be at Davidson College on Wednesday, Feb. 8, for a talk and Mediterranean lunch. Ms. Weir is host of the public television series “Joanne Weir’s Cooking Class” and a new series titled “Joanne Weir’s Cooking Confidence.”

She’ll be here to meet fans, talk about cuisine, and offer a Mediterranean luncheon she has inspired. The event will continue from 11 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. in Davidson College’s Vail Commons dining hall.

The cost of the luncheon is $9.75. For information call 704-894-2600 or email crmombert@davidson.edu.

Historic Brattonsville historical interpreters cut the hog up the old-fashioned way. (Tanner Latham/WFAE)

“I dig pig,” says Tanner Latham of WFAE-FM. He recently led a group of co-workers to Historic Brattonsville, in York County, S.C., for an old-fashioned hog-butchering – once a common sight in hog country at this time of year. Historical interpreters demonstrated the skills and activities of an 18th-century hog butchering.

Among those in on the action was Dan Huntley, sometimes known as Dan the Pig Man – a barbecue maven who has sold his wares at the Davidson Farmer’s Market.

Organizes gave “visitors a look at how 18th Century locals would have used as much of a pig as possible. There was obviously the salt curing and smoking,” Mr. Latham writes on the WFAE-FM blog, WFAEats.

Read more: Jan. 20, 2012, “Cuttin’ Up in Brattonsville.”

WFAE is a news partner of DavidsonNews.net.