By ANDREA WEIGL, Raleigh News and Observer

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Ben Braxton's baby face stands out among the tattooed, white-coated cooks in the kitchen at Pazzo on a recent Saturday night.

Canning's comeback seems here to stay. Equipment sales are up, cookbooks are selling and home cooks, from beginners to experts, are enjoying the pleasure of a well-filled jar.

And as home cooks who took tentative first steps in this art of food preservation gain confidence, they are exploring new flavor combinations, such as herb-infused jellies and peach-ginger preserves.

Why do people choose fast food when much healthier food is available? There is a familiar explanation: Unhealthful food is cheaper.

Linda Watson wants to reduce greenhouse gases -- one pot of beans at a time.
The 53-year-old Raleigh, N.C., woman has developed a cooking method that she hopes will help people eat healthy, low-cost meals that use less energy, send less waste to the landfill and create a smaller carbon footprint. She preaches her method on her Web site, www.cookforgood.com.

The first rule for newbie mushroom hunters is this: Be persistent when asking to tag along with an experienced mushroom hunter.
I had been pestering chef Fredi Morf, a culinary-school instructor at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, N.C., to take me mushroom-hunting since last summer. At the time, I was a student in Morf's baking class.