Allison Carter

I'm Allison Carter, and I've been perfecting my grandmother Dorothy's buttermilk fried chicken recipe for over 18 years now. Growing up in Asheville, North Carolina, my earliest memory is standing on a wooden stool in Dorothy's tiny mint-green kitchen, watching her hands work magic with nothing but flour, salt, and patience. The smell of hot Crisco still makes me seven years old again, sneaking pieces of crispy skin when she turned her back. My turning point came during the State Fair of 2014 when my peach cobbler took third place - I cried harder than when I lost my first tooth. These days, I live in Portland, Oregon with my wife Sarah, our surly teenager Maya (age 14), and two rescue cats who think they belong on every counter. When I'm not testing my 47th variation of chocolate chip cookies, you'll find me at Powell's Books hunting for community cookbooks or teaching Saturday morning classes at the community center. My guilty secret? I still talk to my sourdough starter every morning - his name is Gary, and he's been with me through three moves and two breakups since 2016.