Laser Hair Removal
& Laser Skin Services Near Awendaw, SC

Grits are a classic Southern dish of hominy meal boiled into a rich, creamy, savory foundation for a comforting breakfast, lunch, or dinner. While shrimp and grits, cheese grits, or just a simple bowl of classic creamy grits are popular recipes, Awendaw soufflé is a unique and elegant grits dish you have to try.

Often described as a cross between spoon bread and soufflé, Awendaw soufflé possesses both cooked grits and yellow cornmeal. Egg whites give Awendaw its dainty, fluffiness, while milk, cornmeal, and buttery grits bestow creaminess and an utterly comforting savory flavor. Modern twists add cheese, aromatics, chiles, or fresh herbs to the basic recipe for even more depth of flavor.

While Awendaw is a popular Charleston tradition, it gets its name from the tribal lands of the Sewee Indians, encompassing a large swath of current-day South Carolina. Consequently, the name also honors the culinary exchange between Native Americans and southern settlers; hominy is a crop native to the Americas, and the Sewee taught arriving colonists how to harvest and prepare it.

The first documented recipe for Awendaw appeared in Charleston native Sarah Rutledge's 1847 cookbook, "The Carolina Housewife," as Awendaw cornbread. Rutledge describes the recipe as having the texture of a baked custard or pudding. Awendaw remains a staple side dish in households around Charleston, served alongside fried chicken or as a foundation for shrimp or sausage gravy. Even if you're not in Charleston, you can easily make this tasty soufflé at home.

How to make Awendaw

Awendaw soufflé takes a few more steps than plain grits, but the result is a far more complex and impressive side dish. You can make Awendaw as a soufflé in individual ramekins or as a casserole in a standard rectangular baking dish. You'll need a cup of warm, freshly prepared grits. If you're making individual soufflés, you'll need more eggs than a casserole; both methods require more egg whites than egg yolks. While the grits cool, separate the egg whites from the yolks and whisk them into a fluffy white foam.

Pour the warm grits into a mixing bowl along with egg yolks, yellow cornmeal, and equal parts milk and buttermilk for the casserole. You could also swap out the milk and buttermilk for three-fourths of a cup of grated cheese. Then you'll fold in the egg whites in batches to create an aerated batter that will fluff up nicely in the oven. After transferring the batter to buttered ramekins or a casserole dish, you'll bake it in the oven.

You can add more ingredients to the batter, from chives and corn kernels to green chiles, diced jalapeños, and crispy bacon bits. If baked in a casserole dish, the finished product is denser like spoon bread, while soufflés baked in ramekins will be lighter and puffier.

The 2023 white-tailed deer archery hunts on Bulls Island, Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge will be held Nov. 6- 11 and Dec. 4-9. Hunters must possess the required state hunting license. Each hunter will check in and register before setting up camp and hunting. Hunters under the age of 16 must have successfully completed a State approved hunters education course, present a hunter safety certificate and be under the immediate supervision of an adult.

On Nov. 5 and Dec. 3 at 4:00 p.m., the Refuge Manager will meet with archers to discuss refuge hunt regulations.

The camping area on Bulls Island will remain open from 9:00 a.m. on the Sunday preceding each hunt until noon on the Sunday following the hunt. Only registered hunters will be allowed to camp. Water and restroom facilities are the only amenities provided on the island. Overnight parking is permitted at Garris Landing during the archery hunts.

Hunters must provide their own transportation to and from Bulls Island or make transport arrangements with the refuge concession Coastal Expeditions by calling 843-884-7684. Only portable hunting stands that will not injure living trees are allowed. Crossbows, firearms/ammunition, motorized equipment, poison arrows, dogs, nails, wire, paint and flagging are prohibited. Bicycles are allowed for use on service roads. All deer, regardless of sex, must be tagged. One antlered deer and unlimited antlerless deer may be taken. Tags will be provided by Cape Romain NWR.

The archery hunt on Bulls Island assists management in maintaining the deer population at a level compatible with the environment and permits the use of a valuable renewable resource.

Visit the Cape Romain site at www.fws.gov/refuge/cape-romain for a copy of the hunt permit. For additional information, call the Refuge office at (843) 928-3264. Permits are available at the Refuge Headquarters Office Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and, Wednesday – Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Sewee Visitor and Environmental Education Center, 5821 Hwy 17 North, Awendaw, South Carolina 29429.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service mission is to work with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

Visit the Service website at www.fws.gov for more information on the organization’s work.

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – A recent land purchase by the Charleston County School District (CCSD) could be the home of a joint middle and high school that would cater to students in Awendaw, McClellanville, and, possibly, Mt. Pleasant.

The $3.5 million, 107-acre property is located about 17 miles north of Wando High School off Highway 17 near Jenkins Hill Road.

It was purchased with the idea of building a school, but that process is just beginning.

“We’re investing in the future and also creating a situation where we hope to have a community school for that area,” said Jeff Borowy, the Chief Operating Officer for CCSD.

On Wednesday, District 2 Constituent Board members, parents, and community members will learn more details about what programs the school could provide, attendance numbers needed to make it come to life, and more.

“We’re going to get a little more definition about some of the programs that it potentially could offer. What we do know, at least what we’ve been told before, is that the school will probably have a population of 1,000 children and it will be a middle school/high school,” said Pamela Jouan-Goldman, the chair of the District 2 Constituent Board.

Many parents in the area say this school is a long time coming.

In 2016, CCSD permanently closed Lincoln Middle-High School due to low attendance numbers. Since then, elementary and middle school students attend St. James-Santee Elementary-Middle School, and high school students attend Mt. Pleasant high schools including Wando High and Oceanside Collegiate Academy (OCA).

“I’d say its about 25 to 30 miles each way,” said Nida Singleton.

Singleton lives in McClellanville and takes care of her nephew who attends OCA. Fortunately, his schedule is adjusted to begin the school day at 11:30 a.m., but when he attended Laing Middle School last year, the early mornings and long drives took their toll.

Singleton still drives to drop him off and pick him up each day.

“Getting up early, getting home late, still having activities and homework and all that, and it’s just a lot coming from McClellanville.”

She works two jobs and had to adjust her schedule to accommodate for travel to and from school. She says she’s hopeful the proposed school will come to fruition.

“I wish my nephew of my future kids could go to something closer.”

One concern with the feasibility of the school is attendance. In order to make it happen, around 1,000 students would need to be enrolled. Borowy says the target is 500 each for both the middle and high schools.

As it stands now, the likelihood of just the Awendaw and McClellanville areas meeting those requirements is slim due to the population in those areas. However, there’s a possibility that some students could come from Mt. Pleasant.

“It will be extremely difficult to create a zoning situation where we’ll be able to capture 500 students in either of the school schools without progressing very far south into Mt. Pleasant,” said Borowy.

He says that possibility will be discussed over the coming months with District 1 and District 2 constituent boards.

Another option being looked at is offering a magnet program at the school. That would allow students from all over to attend the school to supplement attendance numbers.

For now, basic details are being presented and more information, as well as public feedback meetings, will be offered in the future.

AWENDAW — Elliott Summey, head of South Carolina’s largest airport, used the town of Awendaw’s natural resources for personal gain during his private company’s work on an unfinished park here, a new lawsuit by the town alleges.

The lawsuit echoes the findings in “Sand Man,” a report last year by The Post and Courier-led Uncovered investigative reporting collaboration.

That report revealed how Summey’s company, Jackson Development, mined millions of dollars in sand and dirt from the park site, then left Awendaw in the dark about how much money he made and how much money taxpayers should have received in royalties.

Filed June 10, the town’s 16-page complaint went a few steps further.

Among its allegations:

Summey, a former Charleston County Council chairman and son of North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey, said his attorney has been trying to resolve disputes through arbitration and mediation.

“Now that the town has filed a lawsuit, this will allow all the facts to be presented in a fair, transparent and public manner,” he said. Summey declined to discuss specific allegations raised by the lawsuit.

Awendaw Town Attorney Toya Hampton acknowledged that “passions are running high” about the park. “The Town is standing up for its rights under the agreement through the lawsuit.”

The lawsuit didn’t specify an amount it’s seeking.

The lawsuit is the latest chapter in the controversial project.

In 2009, Charleston County Council voted to use Greenbelt money to buy 290 acres off Doar Road. On council then, Summey was a deciding vote. Three years later, Summey created Jackson Development — and scored a deal to mine the land’s sand.

The deal called for Jackson Development to spend $500,000 to help Awendaw build a park. Once it hit that $500,000 mark, Summey’s company was supposed to pay Awendaw an additional 50 cents for every cubic yard excavated from the site — and more if the price of dirt rose, which it did significantly over the coming years.

The town hoped to use these royalties to finish the park.

But Summey’s company turned over far less royalty money than the town expected, about $150,000.

And while the site has a large lake from the sand mining operation, the park itself remains unfinished. The town recently unveiled a new plan featuring disc golf, an amphitheater and space for overnight camping. But it remains unclear how the town will pay for this work.

With the park project in limbo, Summey and the town have been battling over the royalties.

According to the town’s agreement with Jackson Development, Summey’s company was supposed to hand over detailed receipts, canceled checks, invoices and other documentation about his mining progress.

But Summey and his contractor, Robert Collins Co., failed to do so, the lawsuit alleged.

Amid this vacuum of documentation, Awendaw Town Council in October 2020 hired the Greenville-based Wyche firm to challenge Summey.

Summey, meanwhile, left his County Council post for a job as chief executive officer of Charleston International Airport, earning more than $318,000 in salary and perks.

The lawsuit raises new questions about Summey’s mix of public and private ventures.

Summey has created about 20 private corporations, according to state and court records. Most appear to involve real estate ventures, with the notable exception of Jackson Development.

The lawsuit alleged that Jackson Development was a “corporate fiction ... used by Summey as a means of evading legal obligations,” and that Summey should be personally liable.

The lawsuit also discussed a large berm Summey and his company built on the site.

Running parallel to Doar Road, the berm was supposed to protect a nearby neighborhood from dust and noise. A permit from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control required that the berm be made from topsoil from the park site.

But according to the lawsuit, Summey and his company violated the permit by packing the berm with concrete, asphalt, rebar, items of clothing and other trash, earning at least $100,000.

Doing this violated DHEC permit requirements and will force the town to spend at least $150,000 to fix new drainage problems created by the berm, the lawsuit alleged.

According to a DHEC inspection report in 2020, Summey’s company was supposed to remove the berm.

The lawsuit also claimed that Summey and his company sold timber from the Awendaw tract without paying the town.

It concluded by alleging Summey misused and converted the town’s resources “for personal gain to fund Defendants’ own businesses at the expense of the Town and its residents and taxpayers.”

The Awendaw project’s problems have had a ripple effect beyond Elliott Summey.

A North Charleston city employee, DeLisa Reynolds, alleges that Mayor Keith Summey retaliated against her after one of her family members posted a negative comment on Instagram about Elliott Summey’s work in Awendaw. She has filed formal complaints with the city of North Charleston and the S.C. Human Rights Commission.

Thirteen years have passed since Charleston County voted to buy the Doar Road property with public Greenbelt money. But the park site remains empty, save for a few dirt roads, a power pole, a water well and a large berm overlooking a lake.

Beyond what happened and didn’t happen in Awendaw, the project highlights a weakness in the state ethics laws.

In The Post and Courier’s October report, Summey said he was told by the State Ethics Commission that he didn’t have to report the money he made in Awendaw, prompting a government watchdog to say that it was “appalling that millions of dollars are not really accounted for.”

Editorials

Reach Tony Bartelme at 843-937-5554.

AWENDAW, S.C. (WCBD) – The Awendaw Planning Commission voted to move forward with a proposed neighborhood that’s caused many residents in town to call for a time out.

This comes after a nearly two-month-long fight from Awendaw residents who say the proposed 200-home White Tract Development would be detrimental to the town and its resources.

It is slated to go on Bull Island Road a few miles away from the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge.

Neighbors are concerned about the negative impacts on wildlife and the water quality of the refuge. Due to the lack of a sewer system in town, each home would be built on an individual septic tank. The concern is that the septic tanks would eventually leak impacting the water quality and wildlife both above and below the surface.

“It is a travesty. The oysters will die. The shrimp will die. The fish will die. and the birds and other animals that depend on them will die,” said Susan Cox, an Awendaw resident who has been one of the frontrunners of the opposition to the plan since the beginning.

Other concerns brought to the table in the original public hearing for the development held in March are traffic safety on the two-lane road, water drainage concerns, the small lot sizes in the proposal, and more.

Many of those concerns and more were brought to Monday’s public hearing.

Of the more than 60 community in attendance at the meeting 16 people participated in the public comment section. Nearly every one brought up the concern that the plans for the proposed neighborhood do not line up with the towns conceptual master zoning plan passed in 2006.

According to the master plan, a 50-foot buffer is required on developments like this, but Pulte Home’s plan includes only a 20-foot buffer.

Peter McGrath, an Awendaw resident and environmental lawyer, says the plans are legally invalid.

“When it was approved, they had a 50-foot buffer. They also had a different road, and they sold a piece of the land since. So, this plan is very, very different and that’s what we tried to point out to the board….I’m surprised they passed it,” said McGrath.

Another concern brought up by a representative of Awendaw-McClellanville Fire Department is the lack of first responders. The department is understaffed and would need many new firefighters to accommodate hundreds of new homes in the area. The representative also said there is only one EMS worker for the area.

A representative of Pulte Homes, the applicant for the development, was present at the meeting and said since the March meeting, he and his team have been talking to environmental groups and neighbors to work on making the plan more accepted.

“What was evident is that folks in this room had something to say and in the time between meetings, we’ve been listening,” said the representative of Pulte Homes.

Now that the preliminary plat has been approved with conditions, the town’s planning commission and Pulte Homes will work to make the necessary changes.

Meanwhile, people in town are planning to take legal action to try and stop the development in its tracks.

“There will be a lawsuit. Unfortunately,” said McGrath.

“There will be action on many fronts. Because this cannot be allowed to stand,” said Cox.

Town residents including Cox and McGrath have created an organization called Save Cape Romain to bring awareness to the situation.

News 2 reached out to the town for comment but have not heard back.

This is a developing story. Stay with News 2 for updates.