Sea Witch: Chincoteague Island's Laura Davis
There are a very few people out in the world that you watch in wonder. They take life by the reins. They are free spirits who fly about, doing what they want when they want to. They have a beauty all their own and seem to make their own magic out of ordinary everyday things.
“It’s a sweet life living by the salty sea.”
Laura Davis, food blogger from Tide & Thyme, is one of those people and she lives right here on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Born in Beverly Beach just outside of Annapolis, she was raised a barn rat with her electrician dad and bus driver mom, who was also a stable owner. At a very young age, Laura learned how to work hard and earn everything she had.
“I had some white britches and blue ribbons, but mostly I mucked out horse shit.”
It was a herd of women who worked and boarded their horses at the barn. Early memories of campfire cookouts with them, along with her mom’s famous potato salad (which Laura still uses today), shaped her early love of food and family.
Laura, however, points to growing up bayside and crabbing with her dad on the boat every weekend during the season as the mark of her culinary beginnings. She recalls the slime and stench of salt eels and chicken necks, but then there was the warmth of the sun on her face and her dad and the steamed crab dinners after a long day with the trotlines out on the water. On those nights, the air was filled with love and spices and stories. Laura and her dad still celebrate and cook together every couple of weeks during crabbing season, keeping the tradition alive for themselves and for the next generation.
Growing up, Laura and her family had a getaway place out in Tom’s Cove on Chincoteague Island. In 1999, the family moved to Chincoteague permanently, and while in this small town Laura is technically a “come here”, many of the townspeople overlook that and treat her like a “from here” or, in local speak, a “’Teaguer.”
“‘Come Here’ might be on my tombstone, but this place is in my soul.”
In November 2005, Laura married Teaguer Jonathan Davis. In those early newlywed days, after sampling John’s mom’s handmade egg rolls, she started experimenting with recipes in her free time and found herself consumed with a manic passion for fixing food with her hands. She was smitten, and followed the white rabbit down into the foodie world.
In 2007, she bought the domain name for Tide & Thyme. She loved to write and wanted to share her food infatuation with folks. Laura loved writing her “online diary,” but she was a little timid and hid it from John at the start. After their first boy, Andrew, was born in 2008, blogging became a way to recharge herself after long days and nights with a sleepless baby. In the process, Laura learned more about who she was and who she wanted to become.
“I might have gone to cooking school, but would I be who I am today if I had?”
Over a decade later, Laura is the go-to guru on The Shore for local libations, food recipes, stories, and more. She weaves local life on the water with local tradition and cooking in a way that keeps you coming back for more. Her regular cooking segments on television’s Delmarva Life show her at work living her best life as her salty self. You can taste her delicious scones and macaroons at The Main Street Shop on Chincoteague Island, and you’ll find some tastes and treats from her at this year’s Meet at the Table event, October 19 down at Chatham Flower Farm.
“Sometimes I’m sorry I can’t do a restaurant, but I’d have to be there all the time and I couldn’t be at my boatside bistro sharing my craft with my friends and folks ‘round town. I wouldn’t have the life I have on the water.”
Mostly you’ll find Laura in her kitchen, on the boat, or knee deep in the marsh. She’s picked this fall’s pickleweed for her own kitchen and her collaboration beer with Black Narrows Brewing—be sure to drive the causeway to Chincoteague and get out for a taste of this special brew for the late fall/early winter.
Laura’s already brewing up ideas and goodies for the seasons ahead. Maybe one day soon she can be convinced to publish a Tide & Thyme cookbook, sharing some of her Shore magic and salty stories. She’s a true Delmarva treasure and we’re so lucky to have her.
Read more from Laura Davis at tideandthyme.com and @tideandthyme on social media.
Pickleweed
There are many different names for Salicornia, such as Pickleweed, Sea Beans, Saltwort, etc. Salicornia, or Pickleweed as we say it ‘round these parts, belongs to the same sub-family as succulents. It can be eaten raw, blanched or cooked. It’s always present in the marsh, but should be harvested between the months of March and September. In the spring and summer, it shows itself in various shades of green and then at the start of fall it lights up the marsh with its eye catching pink and red hues.
Tide & Thyme food blogger Laura Davis suggests harvesting the plant when it’s green for salads and sides and pickling. She and the Black Narrows Brewing family picked the red for their collaboration brew. Try your hand at some foraging, taste and see what variation you like for your recipes at home.
