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Pauline residents have a new option for groceries and a chance to meet the people who make them Friday, Nov. 18.

Farmfare, the much-anticipated locally-sourced grocery store, opened at 5089 Highway 215 in Pauline Nov. 2. A grand opening is planned for Friday.

The store is co-owned and operated by Paula Towe and Jubilee Farms founder Jacob Towe. While the word is still spreading about the grocery store's opening, its owners say customers are excited to have a nearby option.

"People are very grateful to have something close. They can just come in and get a tomato or an onion and be really happy that they don't have to go (out of town) because everything is 30 minutes from here," Paula Towe said.

Farmfare offers a variety of fresh produce, meat and dairy as well as dry goods like tea, snacks, sauces and seasonings from South Carolina and North Carolina farms that have partnered with them.

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"Our fruits and vegetables come from a variety of local farms as well as some from the lower part of the state," Jacob Towe said. "We've got locally made cheese, local meats and soon we'll be getting some trout from North Carolina."

Farmfare has partnered with 20 farms and producers including Viktar's Bee Farm of Boiling Springs, Spartanburg County School District Six's farm, Hampton Acres of Pelzer, Allen Bros. Milling Co. of Columbia, White House Farms of Georgetown, and Little River Roasting Co., whose coffee they sell by the bag and fresh ground in-store.

The week of Nov. 7, the store had sweet potatoes from the District Six farm, artisanal cheeses from Forx Farm of Anderson and Ashe County Cheese of West Jefferson, North Carolina, pomegranates, spaghetti squash, and Ludacrisp apples among other options. Towe said the fresh offerings will change weekly, depending on what is available.

Customers will be able to meet some of these producers during Farmfare's grand opening event and ask questions about their farms and products from 2-6 p.m. Towe said the grand opening will also have outdoor games and food and drink vendors.

"Our slogan is bringing growers and eaters together and we've already seen that in the couple of weeks we've been open," Jacob Towe said.

Farmfare is open from 2-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.

Jacob Towe, owner of Jubilee Farms of Pauline, established his pasture-raised livestock farm in 2018.

During his first few years as a farmer, Towe, a regular at Hub City Farmers Market, quickly discovered that getting his products in front of consumers is difficult and time-consuming.

"One of the biggest hurdles for farmers is actually getting the product to market, especially for small farms, and being able to make a profit while selling their products at a fair price in a way that doesn't take up all of their time," Towe said.

This fall, the Pauline farmer aims to create another sales avenue for local farmers while addressing a need in his community by opening a locally-sourced grocery store.

To be considered a food desert, a rural area's closest grocery store must be more than 10 miles away; Pauline doesn't qualify with three of its closest grocery stores — the Food Lion in Roebuck, Walmart Neighborhood Market on Cedar Springs Road, and Ingles on South Pine Street — being 6.7, 6.8, and 7.7 miles away, respectively, or a 10-12 minute drive.

However, while the community isn't considered a food desert, residents still have a limited variety of foods, particularly healthy foods, available within the community. Some dry, canned, frozen and refrigerated items are available at the Dollar General and other convenience stores in Pauline.

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"There are all of one and a half other places (to get food in Pauline). We have a Dollar General, which is great and grand and wonderful, but I don't think that anybody ever accused Dollar General of carrying healthy options," Towe said. "There's not really any other options right now, so hopefully (the grocery store) will better serve the community."

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The planned grocery store is an extension of one of the core beliefs of Jubilee Farms; namely, that quality food should be available to everyone.

The grocery store, which Towe said may be named Farmfare Local Grocery, will offer forest-raised pork, pasture-raised beef and chicken, and eggs from Jubilee Farms as well as products from other local farms and some kitchen staples.

"The goal of the store is for it to be a fully-fledged grocery store, not just a produce stand or meat market," Towe said. "I want it to be a place where people can come and actually do their shopping for the week and know that everything that they buy in the store was produced as local as possible and is as high quality as can be."

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The grocery store will be of benefit to not only Towe's farm but also to other local farmers who usually have to drive into the city or further to get a similar selling experience at a farmers' market. It will also allow access to fresh, locally produced food during the week for people who aren't able to visit farmers' markets over the weekend.

"It's an opportunity to bring consumers and producers together," Towe said.

The grocery store will be located at the intersection of Highways 56 and 215, across from Philadelphia Baptist Church (3119 SC-56).

Towe said he is currently in the process of officially leasing the storefront, which already bears a banner announcing the coming grocery store. The building will require some electrical and cosmetic work, Towe said but should be ready to open in early October.

"Right now, we're mostly just trying to get the word out. We're launching a website here in the next few days and social media along with that," Towe said.

Samantha Swann covers food and restaurants in Spartanburg County. She is a University of South Carolina Upstate and Greenville Technical College alumna. Contact her with your burning restaurant questions, recipes, and new dinner specials at sswann@shj.com or on Instagram at @sameatsspartanburg.

Back in 2010, the year after Kim Nelson founded her company, Daisy Cakes, in a commercial kitchen near her home in Pauline, South Carolina, she was selling about 2,000 cakes a year.

To her, that was pretty decent business.

But after she made an appearance on the hit ABC show “Shark Tank” in 2011, where she made a deal partnering with investor Barbara Corcoran, she sold 2,000 cakes in just 24 hours.

“That was with the phones blowing up and the website crashing,” she said.

Nearly 10 years later, Daisy Cakes, which delivers specialty, homemade-style cakes nationwide, is on track to sell about 20,000 cakes this year, even with the chaos of COVID-19 causing industry events to be canceled.

The company has also partnered with online marketplace Goldbelly and opened a second location in, of all places, Las Vegas, which allows it to ship with greater ease to the western half of the country.

“When I first went to Las Vegas, I found a kitchen and an area I liked, then thought about it for 18 months, and at last decided I was done pondering,” Nelson said, phoning from an airport terminal while en route back to Nevada. “I basically decided to jump out of the airplane and figure out my parachute on the way down.”

Even though Nelson’s new environment is nothing like the Vegas lifestyle of sparkling lights and casinos — in fact, she describes her new spot as “a normal neighborhood of schools, offices and grocery stores” — it was still a jarring cultural shift for someone who’d spent her entire life living in Spartanburg.

The story of Daisy Cakes began many years earlier, when Nelson sold her first cake at just 10 years old. As with many families, Nelson’s lineage carried with it not only stories and traditions, but also recipes, culinary techniques and an inherited understanding of how care and love can be imbued in something as seemingly basic as a chocolate cake.

To this day, Nelson still uses her mother’s original enamel pot to make lemon curd (and she won’t let anyone else touch it, either).

She keeps her business just as close, too.

“Nobody is going to run your business the way you’re going to run it,” Nelson said. “I’m a firm believe that it’s much better to take the risk than have the regret.”

Crust:

Filling:

In bowl of electric stand mixer (with paddle fitted if you have it), combine cream cheese and sugar until smooth, then add eggs and blend, scraping sides, until creamy. Add remaining ingredients, blend, scrape the bowl down again, and then mix on high until smooth and fluffy.

Pour filling onto the crust, bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Turn off oven and let the cheesecake rest in the oven for 1 more hour. Do not open the door ever until the hour is up!

Remove the cheesecake, let it cool completely before removing from springform part of the pan and keep chilled before ready to serve.

Serves 10-12 people

Some people can easily tick off the 10 best burgers they've ever had. As Southerners, sure, we could do that, but we'd rather wax poetic on the best grits we've ever had. Lowcountry shrimp and grits, how we love thee. Laid-back grits bar brunches. Those creamy Anson Mills rice grits with key lime braised Sea Island red peas, Cuban romesco, basil-arugula salsa verde, and crispy chicharrón at the Havana Beach Bar and Grill in Rosemary Beach? We're still dreaming about them months later.

While everyone has their go-to brand for making grits at home, here's a new favorite to add to your culinary arsenal: Colonial Milling. Milled on their pink granite stone mill in the tiny town of Pauline, South Carolina, farmer Jon Stauffer and his team make some of the best grits and cornmeal you've ever tasted.

As GoUpstate.com recently reported, Stauffer started Colonial Milling around two-and-a-half years ago, and his grits and cornmeal have subsequently exploded in the local area. Stauffer credits his wife Michelle — who also homeschools their son and works as a part-time nurse — for helping on the farm and leading online business efforts for the company's success.

"It's amazing grits. It tastes like freaking popcorn," Jaime Cribb, head chef at The Kennedy in Spartanburg, said in the article. "I've heard countless reactions of, 'Man these are the best grits I've ever had,' or, 'Where did you get these?' or, 'I didn't know grits could taste this good.'"

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Thankfully, you don't have to be in the Spartanburg area to taste these non-GMO, heirloom grits and cornmeal. Colonial Milling ships nationwide, and you can order them online here.

A Clemson University junior was one of an elite group of 36 students from around the nation to compete in the Jeopardy! National College Championship.

Pauline Bisaccio, who went to Fort Mill High School, is studying biochemistry and psychology with plans to take a gap year after graduation to work as an EMT and study for the MCAT, the medical school exam.

She hopes to become a trauma surgeon.

Clemson University posted an interview with Bisaccio on Twitter in which she said her best advice for anyone who wants to be on college Jeopardy is to just go for it.

“I applied for this show on a whim because I got a random email about it one day my sophomore year,” she said.

She learned in September she had been chosen and flew to Los Angeles before Thanksgiving to tape the show.

Her episode airs Thursday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m. on ABC and Hulu, when she will compete against Chance Persons, a physics and chemistry major at Creighton University, and Neha Seshadri, an economics major at Harvard. The winner will move on to semifinals, airing Feb. 17-18.

A champion, who will win $250,000, will be named Feb. 22. Second place gets $100,000, and third $50,000.

Four contestants have made it to the semifinals so far. They are from Stanford, Louisiana State, Brandeis and the University of Minnesota. One of those winners so far, Emmey Harris of the University of Minnesota, graduated from Dutch Fork High School in Irmo.

Bisaccio said, “The Clemson Academic Team helped me prepare for the speed of the game, and my classes really helped me prepare for the content of the game.”

She said she watched “Jeopardy!” to prepare.

Actress Mayim Bialik is the host of the college championship. Bialik also hosts nightly “Jeopardy!”, splitting the duty with winningest “Jeopardy!” champion Ken Jennings.

Bisaccio and Harris are not the first South Carolina residents to appear on a “Jeopardy!” show this year. Columbia lawyer Clark Dawson appeared on the show in January.