The Obligatory Thanksgiving Post

I'm not going to hit that thankful thing right away, rather meander over to it - consider yourself forewarned.

Today at work it was slooooow, and I did a far amount of reading on the interwebz.

Here's a sampling:
First, Can the Bulldog Be Saved? Good question. After reading the article, I needed to see what a Leavitt bulldog looked like, and ended up here: http://leavittbulldogassociation.com/

Then I looked at an American Bulldog for comparison. http://www.bulldoginformation.com/american-bulldog.html

I'm pretty sure that's the kind of dog my dad had - he LOVED that dog. It killed snakes.

My favorite, the Bull Terrier (the Target dog). http://www.terrificpets.com/dog_breeds/bull_terrier.asp

Tired of dogs now, I read about Demi Moore's past relationships in the Huffington Post, and about porn that women like in Slate.
Also at Slate, I perused several Dear Prudence articles, the pictures of the day, an article about Joan Didion's new book, learned the difference between macarons, macaroons and macaroni, and in 20 pies for 19 guests, found out what a Ecclefechan tart and a funeral pie was. Erm...is. Mmmmm, mincemeaty. (seems people either love or hate mincemeat pie. No mince middle ground. I am firmly in the lover of mince category.)

Keeping on the food trail, there's sweet potatoes and greens in the Durham paper. Here's how to make gluten free gravy as well as a couple of GF desserts: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/health-tips-from-the-thankgiving-help-line/

BPA in canned goods possibly a cause of diabetes: http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/hampden/study%3A-bpa-in-canned-foods-harmful

Elephants dying from drought in Zimbabwe: http://allafrica.com/stories/201111180028.html

At the LA Times (Europe section): Hugh Grant becoming the spokesperson of sorts for the phone hacking scandal; most British critics are loving Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher - if not the movie.

The Shadow Wolves were also in the LA Times.

But I think the best thing I read all day was this story on prison hospice.

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Mom is about the same. Her care rate went up about $1000 - but if they cut out a lot of her meds it will be about $500 instead. She often refuses to take them and it really doesn't matter if she takes her Plavix anymore.
A bill from UNC hospital came, says she owes about $1200. I'm not sure they submitted it to Tricare though.
Fiddle dee dee. Will deal with that on Monday.

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Who do these guys sound like?

This video is slightly creepy, but I like the song.

When I watch the video below I wonder what it would be like to look like this girl (oh yeah, she is a girl).
I think of power - the power of youth and sex appeal.

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Finally, the thanks giving part. I told you it would be a meander. One final article on the health benefits of gratitude: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/science/a-serving-of-gratitude-brings-healthy-dividends.html

A few days ago, I received an email from Local Harvest. The last paragraph said:
"A few months ago someone sent me a quotation from a Native American prayer which says, "Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way." 
So may we express our gratitude around our Thanksgiving tables, for those blessings already manifest, and for the capacity to sustain the hope that what is needed is on its way."


Well said.

Thanks ya'll for the known and the unknown blessings.

Friday Wrap-up

My next door neighbor's a nice girl. We share the garbage can and split the bill.
Her father has a brain tumor.
He's my age.
I can't stop thinking about it.
She told me yesterday that his scans don't look good, but they're getting to spend lots of time together.
In a weird way something like this is a blessing - because we have a chance to be with them, kinda wrap things up a bit. Something you don't get when they die suddenly.

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After work I wandered around Kohl's because there were not one, but two coupons - 20% off and $30 in Kohl's cash - burning a hole in my pocket. I'm not walking outta there without using them.
I avoided the Petite section since it makes me sad.

Feck off sad.

And it did, for a while.

After Kohl's I went to see Mom.

She was sitting outside with two other women, enjoying the not sweltering almost fall weather, having a conversation. Conversation is a relative term I guess, but they were all on the same page and enjoying it. Mom pulled up her pants leg and the others did the same. Then they compared whiteness.

We left their fine company and went off to her room to try on the new clothes I procured last week. On the way I discerned something was rotten in Denmark. Oh la.

And then...I had to do the thing I said I NEVER WANTED TO DO AGAIN (hello?! Is anyone listening?) and change my mother's Pull-ups. We both felt better when that was over.

She tried on two pairs of pants and two shirts, which is like an Olympic event for her. The third pair of pants - we're saying they fit because the other two did.

Say cheese came out something like sprayed knees.

That ship has sailed = he's healed?

Okay, you are going to think I am SO mean, but she reminds me of a troll doll in this picture. (I LOVED my troll dolls - so there.) But even more way cuter.  See?














She wanted to leave the room and walk about in her new finery. We sat for a few minutes in the living room without the TV (no one is ever in there), holding hands.

"Light of God, light of God," she said out of the blue.
"I'm going..." (to sneeze I think)
"The ladle thing. How'd he look?"
"I don't know. I was done one one one."

Then it was time for her shower and my release back into the real world.

I was heading like a horse towards the barn for Only Burger when I realized the cats were out of kitty crack, which necessitated a drive in the opposite direction to Phydeaux.  Burger King is right next door. I am now regretting my dinner choice.

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Check this out: http://www.jeanniejeannie.com/2011/08/29/the-art-of-clean-up-sorting-and-stacking-everyday-objects/

PTO

PTO = paid time off. Taking most of my ten days from OJ (old job - no, wait, New Job, almost Old Job).

Today, several of us went to the NC Museum of Art to catch the 30 Americans exhibit before it exits (stage right) on September 4.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Kehinde Wiley

Iona Rozeal Brown

Hank Willis Thomas

Afterward we wandered over to the new building for lunch at Iris. These flowers were on the table:

Our waiter K*^e, who spent most of our time together acting like he was in a zombie movie, got a little (key word) animated when he asked us if we knew what they were called. We did not.

"Billy Balls", he informed us.

Score one for zombie K*^e! (The real name is Craspedia.) 

While we are on the subject of host/wait staff, one of the aforementioned had the Amish beard-only thing going on.  

I don't get it and as a Libra, the distinctly unbalanced look disturbs me.  

Gah - do both or nothing! When this person came over to ask if everything was okay - we all starred in horror at his empty upper lip. 

Or maybe that was just me. 

I mean, a 'stache sans beard is fine, but a beard alone is a thing to be shorn. 

AND - another male facial hair thing I don't get - the semi-beard, or what I call the George Michael look. 

W. 

T. 

F. 

Again, no halfway with me - grow the beard (and the mustache) already or shave. It takes just as long to manicure that stubble, maybe longer. Do women like this?! 

And don't EVEN get me started on the soul patch. Good lord. 

ANYWAY...from there we drifted to on-line dating and the hilarity of profile surfing, as one will. 

Here's one: if you [a woman] are "sassy mouthed and hard-headed - move on." 

You know what - I AM sassy mouthed, hard headed, and proud of it. And you sir, probably have an Amish beard.  

Monsoon

For the past few days in the afternoon the sky has opened up and drenched us with an inch or two of rain in about an hour.

Here's the view from my car around 2 PM today in the Sam's Club parking lot:

University Ave. was flooded in front of Kmart and a couple of cars were stalled in the small lake that appeared. I was able to turn around in time and go back from whence I came. 

Crazy. 

Behind Sam's Club

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Okay, what you are about to see is a ONCE A YEAR meal. Or needs to be (heh).

That my friends, is the Breakfast Burger from Only Burger (say it with me - Best Meat on The Street!).
There's a fried egg, fried green tomato and pimento cheese cloaking the burger.
I prefer the Carolina (chili and coleslaw).

Now I'm off to watch Deadwood again (LOVE that show. Love love love love it. No, really, I mean it. I love that m*$%&^#@*ing show)

Oh, discovered another great show by the writers of The Wire and Homicide (both also much loved by me) called Treme. Set in New Orleans three months after Katrina. Terrific music plus character actor heaven.

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Oh wait (sorry people who get this blog in an email - do you get an email every time I edit something? Gack.).

(Oh, if you DO want to get this as an email tell me. there's a lottery - only 10 people (boo hiss Blogger) can be so designated. And if you are on the list and DON'T want to get it - please let me know and I will swipe your email off that list so fast your head will spin. But you won't know why. Unless you remember this.)

So as I was saying - Oh wait...I forgot to tell you about the amazing tattoo I'm supposed to get of a raven on my right shoulder. I saw it in a dream a few mornings ago; the tattoo was so fantastic - like an Audubon illustration - and then it ruffled its feathers and croaked at me. 

And it was time to get up. 

I can't stop thinking about it.

Okay, you can go now.

Yum Yum Supper Club IV

Yesterday = busy. Walk at 7:30 AM, followed by CSA pick-up, (eggs, cabbage, fingerling potatoes, yellow squash and cucumbers), dash over to Foster's to connect with those who braved the heat to walk at 8:30, home for a quick second, off again to watch the "X-Men" movie, then it was time for Yum Yum!

I'd heard about YYSC; I know (in a loose convoluted way) some of the people involved (they are relations of the people I worked for for many years), but this was my first YY experience and I was really excited.
It did not disappoint.

I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked as the camera ran out of battery juice, alas no dessert picture; it was a lovely flaky lemony pastry cup filled with blueberries and topped with chamomile cream. The weather got windy with a bit of rain right at the end, but it brought a welcome cool down.

My favorite beer, (as discussed in Fullsteam Ahead), was served with the appetizers - Cream Ale Shandy mixed with lemonade, deliciously refreshing in the heat. I resisted the urge to chug-a-lug about twenty, since I was driving. Good call on my part I think.

All the food for YYSC was grown, cured, smoked, and otherwise prepared by Boxcarr Farms (and friends) of Cedar Grove, NC. They do the always incredible small plates at 3Cups' First Fridays.

I'm looking forward to the next one!

Bull City art

Outside Motorco

First Course

Clean plate club!

Second Course

It was hot out there (photo by DF)

Talk about HOT - here's where all the cooking was done. (photo by DF)

Fellow Yummers (photo by DF)

Third Course (that's a big slab o' smoked ham)

One of five beers served - this went with the ham

Hard Day's Night

Yesterday was busy. And hot.
Walk at 8:30, followed by a delicious breakfast at Foster's, then out to Hillsborough to drop off some real estate flyers and pick up the CSA treasure of the week (broccoli, red cabbage, cukes and honey.)
Home for the second shower of the day and there was barely time for a brief rest before volunteering at Drag Bingo aGaga.
It was packed last night, they raised over $11,000! We cooked [well, Dewey cooked - we wrapped] every hot dog in the place and my hamstrings are paining me from all the bending over to fill cups with ice.

Allison had a good time - she won one of the door prizes, the last bingo game, AND had her picture taken with Mary K Mart, AND Claire in her sparkly disco Lady Gaga inspired outfit. (That picture is hopefully NOT blurry since it was taken on a REAL camera and Allison will send me a copy.)
I mean really, does it get any better than that?!
I think not.

The fabulous Claire

The also fabulous Mary K Mart and Allison

This morning we had breakfast at Guglhupf, then she went off to her conference and I went home to rest.

And now I am making kale chips dammit! Because it's 100 degrees out there and I need to turn on the oven. It's just how I am.

Fullsteam Ahead

Finally!
Allison is visiting from DC and as she is a fellow beer liker, last night we made the pilgrimage to Fullsteam Brewery in Durham. They use local ingredients to brew up some tasty beer - like sweet potato lager or hogwash smoked porter, (good but strong smoky flavor; not sure I could do a full pint of that.)
We had half pints so we could share more beer. :)
We also tried the sparkling pear (9% alcohol!), the cream ale - which was my favorite, and summer basil farmhouse ale (had the taster size of this one).
Outside, The Sausage Wagon was waiting for us with a bratwurst with caramelized onions and homemade stone ground mustard that cleared my sinuses! Oh so good.

The Pie Pushers truck was across the street at Motorco. Several people had some of their wares inside Fullsteam and they looked delicious. Motorco is where Yum Yum Supper Club, (provided by the fine folks at Boxcarr Farms - they of the First Fridays deliciousness at 3Cups), will be next week!

Dogs and children welcome

Pick your local brewed beer!

When we left, several people were looking up at the sky. So of course, we did too. This is what we saw:

Tonight - Drag Bingo!
Durham - I love you.

A Few Things

I took two videos of Mom today on my phone, she was being hilarious and cracking herself (and me) up, but they are too big to email to my email. Should have done it on the camera. Plus you can't hear her. Shoot.

The view heading into Chapel Hill Wednesday night for dinner at Butternut Squash with a good friend...
(they have the BEST sweet potato fries in the world)

Flowers next to Only Burger and the vines growing on the roof of the walkway - same place.

First Fridays at 3Cups tonight - that means Boxcarr Farms. They outdid themselves again:

Cucumber and potato vichyssoise with yogurt cream, fresh pasta with broccoli rabe and spring onions, tamarind-glazed pork belly over braised green tomatoes with green garlic broth. 

oh my god - so good.

They are doing the Yum Yum Supper Club's next dinner (week after next), it is going to be amazing.

What Five Dollars Will Get You

Woodcrest Farm, site of several canning and cheese making adventures, is now offering ~$10 a week melange of organic produce, meat, free range eggs, and honey (not necessarily all at the same time).
I'm splitting the box with a friend - making it just $5.00 each!

This is my haul from yesterday (our first): HALF of a red leaf lettuce (it was monstrous!), half the swiss chard, half a kohlrabi (related to cabbage), snap peas, and half a dozen eggs. You couldn't get that for $5.00 in a store.

If you read this blog and are in the Chapel Hill/Durham area - give them a call and sign up (click on their name above). It's a great deal. They will also do an all meat/egg box, although that is more than the $10 average price.
I can't wait until the tomatoes come in!


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This is what a whole kohlrabi looks like:

I'd never had it before.
It tastes like a cross between cabbage and a mild radish. The texture is more radish than cabbage; it reminds me a little of jicama, but not as sweet.

Jicama

I like it.

SPENT

The local public radio station, WUNC, did a piece last week on Durham's Urban Ministries and a game they have on their site called SPENT.You can play it here: http://playspent.org/

It is not a fun game, it's stark and relentless and real. Like homelessness.

Carolina Chocolate Drops

Durham's own Carolina Chocolate Drops won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Chocolate_Drops

Some Pictures from Around The Way

Took these on one of my last unemployed days.

More Durham Good News

The Herald-Sun - TROSA Grocery opens

I can't say enough good things about TROSA. I always use them when moving - or just unpacking. They are the best deal in town and every single person has been friendly, personable and polite.

Last year they opened a grocery store in an area of Durham that sorely needed it. Hopefully, this will be the start of revitalizing another area of Durham.

Actually, even in the trendier parts of the Bull City there's an issue of walkability. Maybe you can get to a bus stop or great dining - but there's no grocery store.

My old apartment in California gets a whopping 92. Here, a 38. What's your score?

Number 35

Last night I met a friend at a photography opening at Through This Lens in downtown Durham. Aside from the exhibit - ChemoToxic, there were some great prints of Durham by K. Brown that were just lovely. The photos have a surreal quality and showed Durham, which gets maligned sometimes in comparison to Chapel Hill, in a really lovely light - both literally and figuratively.

Durham is clawing her way up in the world. Downtown has been revitalized, old tobacco warehouses are being turned into lofts, and restaurants - really good restaurants - are popping up all over and making the most of the bounty of the Piedmont.
In the January 7, 2011 issue of the New York Times there was an article on The 41 Places To Go in 2011 - and right there, between number 34 - Iraqi Kurdistan and number 36 - Kosovo, was number 35 - Durham, NC!

After buying some note cards (affordable art), my friend and I braved the arctic chill that had descended and walked around the corner to Dos Perros - one of the great newish restaurants in town. I had the Kale, Turnip and Bread Soup (so good), the Sweet Potato Empanadas with Chipotle Fig Sauce (repeat performance for those), and finished off with the jalapeno-lime sorbet. 

Look out Kurdistan - we're gaining on you!

I Heart Durham Again

Somehow I missed the Only Burger truck phenom. (Food trucks are the new trendy food thing.)
But that's okay, because now Only Burger is also in a building (do you know how hard it is to type with a purring cat using your arm as a pillow?), right next to Rick's Diner.
They just came in second place on the Food Network's “The Great Food Truck Race”.

Very small inside, a couple of booths and a couple of tables. Couple more outside. It's hopping at lunch.
Long, patient line. On the recommendation of someone waiting for their food, I started with the basic burger and fries. The onion rings looked amazing, but they were 86'ed by the time it was my turn at the counter. Next time. The fries were great, hand cut, almost shoestring, with salt and pepper. Burger was delicious, nice and drippy.

Art on the wall. For those of you who are not Durhamites, that's our beloved Lucky Strike tower and and a pair of Duke Blue Devil hands holding Duke Chapel.

Progressive Dinner

Last night, the FU We're Over Fifty gals (group name has been changed to protect the not-so-innocent) had a progressive dinner.

At first, the idea shook us up a bit - to the tune of eleven pages of comments since the middle of September. Peace talks in Northern Ireland have had less discussion.

We were concerned: How would this work? How will we get food from A to B? Wouldn't that be a lot of driving? If I have potatoes for home C, how will I get them there? Wait, how would this work again?

It came off without a hitch, (except for me forgetting my purse at home B, necessitating a retrieval trip from  gracious hostess of said home); the food and even more importantly - the company, was great divine.

And all twelve us us managed to get from one house to another with only a minimum of misplacement.

photo courtesy of E.D.

Hostess A: appetizers and wine. Tiny chicken dumplings, shrimp and lobster morsels, baked kale & Gruyere, hummus, and crudites in the lovely home of B. Her granddog, a delightful pug, was visiting. So was her grandcat, but she is much more shy, and did not make an appearance.
S., the timekeeper (and thinker of progressive dinner event), said it was time to move on, so we did.

Hostess B: cheese and salad (and more wine). Two adorable cats, Tigger and Dragon, greeted us from the staircase, looking for all the world like little feline velociraptors. A delicious assortment of cheese, a great rice salad with fruit and yogurt and a green salad. Another beautifully decorated home. Some of us stood around the kitchen island looking at decorating "porn" (Kitchen & Bath magazine) Once again, we had to leave too soon.

Hostess C: The home of S. & T. was filled with fairy lights, good humor, five chihuahuas, and many found treasures. This was the serious sit down portion of the meal. Roast beef, an Indian inspired chicken dish with vegetables and quinoa, side dish of rice, beans, veggies, scalloped potatoes with sun-dried tomato pesto, and fabulous home made rolls. And more wine. The hostess' husband served as the in-house chef and made the delicious roast beef and gravy  Groaning, we pushed ourselves from the table and headed to our final destination.

photo courtesy of E.D.

Hostess D: coffee and dessert. Unbelievably I passed on dessert, but everyone else said it was the lightest cheesecake they'd ever had (with a gluten free crust!), and the chocolate mousse pie was divine. There was a fruit tart and biscotti as well. Another beautifully decorated home, more adorable animals (two cats, one dog).


We can't wait until the next one!

I Heart Durham II

Tonight I went with friends to Duke's Page Auditorium to hear a Persian classical music concert.
Wow. Amazing stuff.
The music had flavors of Greek, Roma, Turkish, and Indian woven through it. It reminded me of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project. 

Salar Aghili the singer, is like Iran's Pavarotti, at least that's what I imagine. So far I haven't found a video that captures, as Rosemary put it, "his pipes." His voice was pure, sharp and hit me in the solar plexus.

All the musicians were incredible. The woman (his wife?) in the video link above was also in the ensemble, playing the same tambourine/drum. Her solo totally kicked major butt.

Hossein Behroozinia, (actual playing doesn't start until about 2 minutes in) who is apparently a Barbat (Persian lute) rock star was also in the musical line-up.


One more reason to love living in a college(s) town.

Ocktoberfest

Today started out with a walk and hanging out afterward at Foster's Market (a Saturday tradition).

Later I met up with friends at Guglhupf for
Oktoberfest
September 25, 4-10 pm
Join us for "Rocktoberfest" at Guglhupf with live music by 'Die Nierentische' (a great band from Germany), lots of food and fun! Oktoberfest is a traditional German celebration dating back to 1810 in Munich, Bavaria. Enjoy this festive day with delicious cuisine, paired with outstanding beers and wines. Our traditional German street fare that day will include:

• Weisswurst, Thueringer (smoked sausage), Bratwurst, Zwiebelkuchen
• Potato Salad, Cucumber Salad, Red Cabbage, Sauerkraut, Brezels
• Apple Strudl, Cherry Strudl, Berliners, Apple Fritters
• Beers: Franziskaner, Spaten Oktoberfest, Spaten Doppelbock, Gaffel Koelsch, Duck Rabbit Märzen

What fun! We got there early enough for a good parking spot. Several people had already arrived and set up a table. Great food, great company.

It was hot. Again.
I am not normally a complainer about the heat in NC, because we usually only have maybe three weeks tops of disgusting heat, but this summer was more like a Florida summer, sticky and hot for what has felt like forever. No rain either, so drought is back. 

Thankfully tomorrow is supposed to be cooler and bring rain. Yay rain!

Success!

After reading about the BLT from at Merritt's Store and Grill on Kathiey's blog back in June, I have been on a mission. Fawn and I tried, but alas, we arrived too late. Epic fail.

Today however, was mission accomplished. I took Kathiey's advice and got a double.
It was delicious!

In my mind there are three sandwiches that are meant to be on white bread. Meant to be like a commandment handed down by God.

They are:

1. BLT
2. Ham
3. Meatloaf

Do you know some people have never had a meatloaf sandwich?!  That is just wrong in all sorts of ways.

I love meatloaf, perhaps because my mother's was excellent. Part of the joy of having meatloaf was leftovers for sandwiches. White bread, mayo, slab of onion, thick slice of meatloaf, and a wee sprinkling of salt. My mouth is watering. I have an excellent turkey meatloaf recipe from Picnix Bistro, a restaurant in San Francisco that's probably long gone now. Send me an email if you'd like to try it.


In other news, I had my haircut today. I know. Quick, call the BBC.

Got there a bit early so I took a stroll down Trinity and hung a right on Watts. It was so charming. Sounds of children playing in the park, cute craftsman bungalows with big deep porches and gardens spilling out onto the crumbling jagged sidewalk.

Then, a nice surprise, CP called and suggested dinner. I met her at the Wooden Nickel and had the best fish and chips I've had in a long time. Afterward, up the street for Margarita pie at Gulf Rim, where a cute tow-headed girl at the next table spit water on my feet and then shared her Play-Doh.

It was a good day.

I Heart Durham

Tonight my friend Rosemary, she of the cat show, and I went to the Craven Allen Art Gallery to an opening for Michele Maynard (lovely textile collages), and perchance a hunk of horseradish cheese.



Which they didn't have. Dangitbreath!

Saw some adorable paintings of technicolor onions. Doesn't sound charming at all, but they really were. Wish I had the disposable income (wish I'd taken a picture!). (I did not get the job BTW).

On the way to Craven, we spied this rather intriguing truck:



That's right people, a Taqueria/Indian food truck.




Shut your piehole.

We made a pact to stop on the way back. It's in the parking lot of Nice Price Books on Broad Street, should you wish to take a little trip. 5 PM - 9 PM Monday through Friday, all day Saturday and Sunday.
The nice man in the book store, when asked if the food was good, said it was the best thing to happen to him since he started working there. High praise indeed!

I believe Rosemary and I would agree with him.

Michael, the truck operator, made my food spicy, per my request. The Indian tacos were just so-so, but the Aloo Palak (potatoes and spinach) and Eggplant Bhurtha were delicious. Rosemary had a Chana Masala (chickpeas) that was wonderful. More than enough food for two meals.

And that is just one of the reasons I heart Durham.