Last week — after a 15 year battle — Reverend Kennedy of Laurens, South Carolina made headlines when a judge declared his New Beginnings Baptist Church to be the rightful owner of "The Redneck Shop", a store that sold Ku Klux Klan and confederate memorabilia. One of the original owners had sold his portion of the store to Kennedy after falling on hard times and experiencing a religious reawakening.

On Tuesday, federal agents arrested four men ranging from ages 65 to 73 from the north Georgia towns of Cleveland and Toccoa on charges of an ambitiously designed domestic terror plot. The men are accused of trying to procure 10 pounds of ricin — an extremely lethal biological toxin — as well as explosive devices and illegal firearms. Kim Severson, Atlanta bureau chief for The New York Times, reports on the latest.

The FBI, police and citizens of the city of Jackson, Missippi are debating whether the white teenagers who robbed and murdered James Craig Anderson, a black man, were motivated by racism. The case has prompted many to consider race relations in the state, and it's troubled history with race. The suspects' lawyers say it was just an act of teenage stupidity, but prosecutors say the killing was a premeditated racial killing. The U.S. Justice Department has begun an investigation into the case. Kim Severson has been reporting on the case for our partner, The New York Times.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has just released a report that named principals and teachers in Atlanta's public schools who had been modifying tests and tampering with answers to improve results. The report found cheating in 44 of the 56 schools its authors examined, and 178 teachers and principals who cheated. The news will tarnish the reputation of Atlanta’s outgoing Superintendent Beverly Hall, who was named Superintendent of the Year in 2009. The large number of teachers involved has led some to call this America’s biggest teacher cheating scandal.

The Morganza Spillway was all over the front pages this weekend. You probably saw a picture of it – the big wall of the levee with its gates open, spewing muddy Mississippi water at thousands of cubic feet per minute. The decision to open those floodgates has diverted the surge of the Mississippi, and probably saved Baton Rouge and New Orleans from flooding. But all that water has to go somewhere, and salvation downriver came at the expense of folks upriver. When the gates were opened, it set into motion a slow moving disaster; one that's arriving in the homes of the Cajun communities in the Atchafalaya Basin. 

Federal and state emergency officials in Alabama believe that the deadly tornadoes two weeks ago left as many as 10,000 residents homeless. In Tuscaloosa, the urban area hit hardest, people are scrambling for the few remaining apartments — and for low-income residents, affordable housing is almost impossible to find. Officials are concerned that many of the poor, working class and elderly residents could be homeless for good.

Hundreds of people have been confirmed dead after devastating storms ripped through the south on Wednesday. Thousands of residents are without power, while they continue to look for survivors and dig out from the wreckage. A spokeswoman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said yesterday that the death toll, which had reached 15 in the state, is fluid and is likely to rise. To get more of the news happening in the areas affected, we speak with Kim Severson of The New York Times, who is in Georgia. 

 

For this week’s food segment, we sit down with our friend Kim Severson, food writer for our partner The New York Times, and star of such past Takeaway cooking segments as “The Girl Scout Cookie Smackdown” and “Food Writers Compete to Feed Six for Fifty Dollars.”

Today, we take our inspiration from the Girl Scouts. Across much of the country, Girl Scout cookie selling (and for some, eating) season is winding down. And if you’re like us, that means you’ve stockpiled boxes and boxes of Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos, and Samoas.

Watch a video of the girl scout cookie smackdown!

It’s Thanksgiving Day! We're talking turkey and all the fixins’ that go with it. What is the proper way to carve a turkey? What do you do if your guests show up late? And how can we stay away from that dreaded canned cranberry sauce? Here to help solve some of these dilemmas, as well as give some helpful tips, are food writers Kim Severson and Julia Moskin from our partner The New York Times.

• Sports Takeout: Ibrahim Abdul-Matin looks ahead to the day's football schedule and looks back at some memorable Thanksgiving football games.
  
• Turkey Takeout: New York Times food writer Kim Severson shares some tips that will help you make the best Thanksgiving Turkey.

• Washington Takeout: Washington Examiner White House correspondent Julie Mason says that the first family's decision to stay home for the holidays has the Washington press corps on high alert.
• Business Takeout: New York Times finance reporter Louise Story reports that the president's plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions is worrying some in the private sector.
• Turkey Takeout: Food contributor and New York Times food writer Kim Severson answers listener questions on cooking Thanksgiving turkey

New York Times food writer Kim Severson tells us about a series of food sites that apply the wikipedia approach to recipes. Wikia, Foodista and others allow anyone to post and edit all sorts of recipes, from cold curried crab soup to chicken parmesan. We also hear from Barnaby Dorfman, founder and CEO of Foodista. Call it the crowdsourcing of dinner.

We want your help with a recipe! Our dish is simple: a grilled cheese sandwich. But we want you to help us make it interesting.

Here's the initial recipe. What would you add to it, and how would you prepare it? Bonus points for outlandish ingredients! Let us know in the comments. We'll pull together your contributions and create a full listener-created recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of bread [please specify]
• 2 slices of cheese [please specify]
• [Add your extra ingredients below]

Preparation:

• Put the cheese between the bread
• Put the sandwich on a skillet
• Cook until both sides are brown.
• [Add your preparation suggestions below]

New York Times writer Kim Severson is reporting on a new trend among college students, no it's not the latest technological gadget or So You Think You Can Dance drinking game, it's...threshing. And spreading manure, milking cows, gathering eggs, and harvesting crops. Yes, the newest trend among college students is interning on the farm. To get to the root of this back-to-the-land movement, Kim Severson joins The Takeaway.

For more, read Kim Severson's article, Many Summer Internships Are Going Organic in the New York Times.

Are you singing about Splenda? Or nuts for Nutrisweet? Ecstastic for Equal? Slaphappy for Sweet 'N Low? Seems like everyone has an opinion on coffee shop sweeteners. Are you ready to add one more sweetener to your non-sugar repertoire? Welcome Truvia, a stevia-based sugar substitute that was approved by the FDA in December. With sugar substitutes raking in over $1.2 billion a year, you can expect new competitors in the market, but are they any good? Why are the fans so brand loyal? And whatever happened to plain old sugar? The New York Times food writer Kim Severson joins us in an exploration of the fierce competition for our tastebuds.

For more, read Kim Severson's article, Showdown at the Coffee Shop, in today's New York Times.

Feed six people for fifty dollars? No problem. No problem that is until you realize what your competition is serving. When the New York Times asked two of their food writers to create menus for dinner parties on a strict $50 budget both of them quickly realized they couldn't offer chicken and salad, not when their competition was dishing up tilefish ceviche in handmade tortilla chips or cheddar gougeres and Jean-Georges desserts. In this culinary Thunderdome, it's Julia Moskin versus Kim Severson and they are battling it out for best budget dinner party. The judge? Frank Bruni, the feared New York Times food critic. They join The Takeaway for a reenactment.

The story of their dinners, Comrades at Arms: Two Food Writers in a Kitchen Smackdown, is in today's New York Times.

Recipe Files: Kim's Tacos de Carnitas
Adapted from Tara Duggan, The San Francisco Chronicle
Time: 2 1/2 hours

• 3 pounds pork shoulder, either butt or picnic
• 7 strips orange zest
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large onion, chopped, plus finely chopped onion for garnish
• 1 1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 cinnamon stick, preferably Mexican canela
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed dried oregano leaves, preferably Mexican
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 24 small corn tortillas, warmed, for serving
• Chopped cilantro for garnish
• Salsa for garnish.

1. Trim any thick fat from surface of pork. Cut meat into 1-inch cubes, discarding any that are pure fat. Put pork in a large pot. Add enough water to cover by 2 inches, orange zest, garlic, chopped onion, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, bay leaves, oregano, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and the cloves.
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Skim off any scum that forms on surface. Simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours, until pork is very soft; add water if necessary to keep meat submerged. Season with salt, then continue to cook until water has evaporated, about 30 minutes. Cook a little longer to fry meat slightly; cook even longer if you prefer crisper meat. Stir often and add a bit of water if meat sticks or seems about to burn.
3. Remove bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Spoon a few tablespoons of carnitas onto each tortilla. Top each taco with cilantro, finely chopped onion and salsa. Serve.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Julia's Tangerine-Vanilla Floats

Adapted from "Sunday Suppers at Lucques" by Suzanne Goin with Teri Gelber (Knopf, 2005)

Time: 10 minutes

• 6 large scoops vanilla ice cream
• 3 cups freshly squeezed tangerine juice (from about 12 tangerines) or orange juice (see note)
• Seltzer

Divide ice cream among 6 medium-size glasses or cups. Add 1/2 cup tangerine juice to each cup and top off with seltzer. Serve with a straw.

Yield: 6 servings.

Note: Fresh orange juice can be used instead of tangerine juice, but it should be very sweet and not too acidic. Try adding superfine sugar to taste.
Want more recipes? Click here.

Over the past few years a rash of food-related illnesses caused by everything from tomatoes to spinach to peanut butter has sparked nationwide concern over food safety. Conventional wisdom has always said you can assure your food is safe by buying organic. But New York Times reporter Kim Severson did some digging and she found that organic certification has nothing to do with food safety.

For more, read Kim Severson's and Andrew Walker's article, It’s Organic, but Does That Mean It’s Safer?, in today's New York Times.

Trouble viewing this video? Check out the YouTube version (click "watch in high quality" for best quality).

Over the past few years a rash of food-related illnesses caused by everything from tomatoes to spinach to peanut butter has sparked nationwide concern over food safety. Conventional wisdom has always said you can assure your food is safe by buying organic. But New York Times reporter Kim Severson did some digging and she found that organic certification has nothing to do with food safety.

Listen to the full Takeaway segment with Kim Severson here

Advocates for everything from healthier school lunches to more humane treatment of farm animals to sustainable agriculture see an ally in the future President, but so far there's not much evidence that Obama himself is interested in reforming the U.S. food system. Kim Severson of The New York Times joins The Takeaway to talk about what foodies want from the new administration.