Just the other day, I was telling my friend that I miss the good old days when you knew whether or not you’d won something as soon as you twisted the lid off a product.

When my grandfather owned his country store in Goshen, I used to pop the top off Coke bottles and find out if I’d won a free Coke or something just by looking under the top.

These days, all you get is something like LJK9BF7V. Maybe that means I won a brand new Corvette, but I’m too lazy to go online or call or do whatever it is I’m supposed to do to decipher the code.

Now I’m starting to sound a lot like my co-worker, Kevin Kittredge. Maybe I should give him this topic for his next “Grrrrrr!” column.

There is a point to all this whining, though — I just got the coolest e-mail from the folks over at Duke’s mayonnaise. This summer, they’re having an “Under the lid” promotion. All you have to do is remove the safety seal and look under the lid to find out if you’ve instantly won $100 in free groceries or a free 32-ounce jar of Duke’s mayo.

The cash would be awesome, but I would be tickled pink to just win a free jar of Duke’s. Lots of Southern cooks swear by Duke’s mayonnaise and wouldn’t use any other brand (I’m betting that Edna Lewis did NOT use Hellman’s). So while we’re all planning our macaroni salad, potato salad, deviled eggs and other mayonnaisey dishes for Fourth of July cookouts, maybe we should sneak a peek under that lid!

Photo source: www.dukesmayo.com

Today’s Extra section includes my article about the late chefs Malinda Russell and Edna Lewis.
If you haven’t had an opportunity to read it, click here.
Researching the lives of these two extraordinary women was quite fascinating, and their influences on the world of cuisine are astonishing.
I’m curious as to whether any of you had heard of Russell or Lewis before now? And what were your impressions about the influence of black cooks on the culinary scene before you read this post or the article?
I ask because I found that I knew very little before I began this project. And it seems a little sad that many others are as uninformed as I was.
Also, do you own any cookbooks by black authors? Have you seen any black chefs in or around Roanoke?
Thanks for taking this little quiz. And if you don’t read the article for any other reason, read it for the killer coconut cake recipe at the end!