103 replies to this topic

[toolprincess]

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my foodblog. I'm a bit nervous so I hope you'll bear with me. First to address a few things that might be helpful as start our journey.

• Toolprincess - a longstanding web moniker derived from my love of gadgets and tools (not just kitchen related)

• I don't have a sous vide so no sous vide stories or Modernist Cuisine this week. (unless it's unintentional)
• I am obsessed with local places whereever I go and I love to find the best local dive...hotdogs, hamburgers, tacos, BBQ, even cafeterias.
• I love to cook but eat out way too often
• I do not give as much attention to fresh, local, or natural as I probably should - i.e. I do use canned foods, boxed mixes and things with high fructose corn syrup at times but I'm no Sandra Lee either.

So now we have the preliminaries out of the way.

I'm Laurie. I just got engaged a month ago. My life is fun but full with an aging mom who needs care, a fiance, a busy job and a soon to be stepson who is 8.

I hope you enjoy my blog!!!

[Genkinaonna]

Hi Laurie!

Can't wait to see what you have in store for us this week! I've never been to North Carolina but I've heard it's really beautiful there. What would you say are the local specialties and favorites, things you wouldn't find elsewhere?

Congratulations on the upcoming wedding plans! And as for the mixes, we won't tell if you don't!

[toolprincess]

It's a busy day, we are having our engagement photos done later and I am off to get my hair "coiffed" for the occasion (just a regular haircut but coiffed sounds so fun!).

Breakfast during the week is a very hit or miss affair but today I made us a quick cheese 'n eggs, toast and breakfast sausage links.




I am not a photographer. excuse the image quality!

[kayb]

Whereabouts in NC? I'm headed over that way in August to Asheville and again in September to Charlotte. Nice state!

[LindaK]

Laurie, thanks for blogging in the midst of such a crazy schedule.

Looking forward to hearing about your local favorite eateries--esp. bbq. Maybe because I first tasted the real stuff in east Carolina, that style bbq is my personal favorite.

And of course, please share photos and stories about your kitchen gadgets!

[toolprincess]

I'm in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel hill area. Also known as 'the Triangle'. Home to the Research triangle park, UNC Tarheels, Nc state Wolfpack and Duke Blue Devils. I'm a Wolfpack fan and NC State alum. I live in a suburb of Raleigh called Apex. I work in Durham in the RTP. I'm a rare species in this area a native North Carolinian. I grew up about 2hours to the northeast in a rural county. NC is beautiful and dear to my heart.

[toolprincess]

When you speak of NC you have to address BBQ. There are 2 schools Eastern style and Western style. Eastern style is usually whole hog chopped and flavored with a mixture of vinegar and spices.

[LindaK]

When you speak of NC you have to address BBQ. There are 2 schools Eastern style and Western style. Eastern style is usually whole hog chopped and flavored with a mixture of vinegar and spices.

That's what I love!

edited to add: NC is indeed a beautiful state, including some of my favorite beaches, the Outer Banks.

[toolprincess]

Sorry for the choppy posts!
Western style BBQ sometimes also called Lexington style is made with a red sauce and is sweeter. It is also served with a 'red slaw' that incorporates the BBQ sauce.

Obviously I'm biased being from eastern NC!

The other things Nc is known for are Krispy Kreme, Pepsi, and Cheerwine.

[toolprincess]

Whereabouts in NC? I'm headed over that way in August to Asheville and again in September to Charlotte. Nice state!

Asheville is awesome. Lots of great eats and beautiful scenery. If you are ever in the Triangle let me know, would love to meet some of my fellow egulleters! I'm convinced Fat Guy and I are gonna cross paths one day at Oak Island- my favorite beach spot.

[Peter the eater]

Congrats Laurie, and thanks for taking the time + energy to show us your food this week.

Three questions:

• Will you barbecue?
• What's Cheerwine?
• Wasn't Spud (shortest guy ever to win NBA Slamdunk contest) Webb from NC State?

[toolprincess]

Congrats Laurie, and thanks for taking the time + energy to show us your food this week.

Thank you and thank you everyone for the well wishes!

Three questions:

• Will you barbecue?
  
  Will I BBQ (as in grill?) or will I BBQ as in make my own BBQ or will I eat BBQ?
  
  
• What's Cheerwine?
  Cheerwine is a cherry-flavored soft drink produced by the Carolina Beverage Corporation of Salisbury, North Carolina.Cheerwine has a very sweet cherry flavor, is burgundy-colored, and has an unusually high degree of carbonation compared to other soft drinks.
  Read more here and here.
  
• Wasn't Spud (shortest guy ever to win NBA Slamdunk contest) Webb from NC State?

Indeed, Spud is 5ft 7in. and is 1 of 2 players to win the Slam Dunk competition that stand under 6ft tall - the other being Nate Robinson (5ft 9in) who was trained by Spud for the competition.

[blue_dolphin]

Love the ballpark bull!

Did you see today's travel section article in today's NYT on Durham Dining?
Any thoughts on the places (Scratch, Toast, Rue Cler, Revolution & KoKyu) mentioned? Or the "wildly popular" Saturday farmer's market in Durham?

Thanks for blogging!

[kayb]

Visited Durham a few years back, ate at a restaurant that was in what used to be a filling station or garage or some such, not far from the Duke campus. I don't remember the name, but it was good. We also had barbecue; I have to preface my comment by saying I'm a West Tennessee girl and therefore firmly in the Memphis barbecue camp but, sorry to say, I was underwhelmed with the Carolina style.

[toolprincess]

Visited Durham a few years back, ate at a restaurant that was in what used to be a filling station or garage or some such, not far from the Duke campus. I don't remember the name, but it was good. We also had barbecue; I have to preface my comment by saying I'm a West Tennessee girl and therefore firmly in the Memphis barbecue camp but, sorry to say, I was underwhelmed with the Carolina style.

hmm maybe Rockwood Filling station? It closed last year. where was your barbeque from?

[toolprincess]

Love the ballpark bull!

Did you see today's travel section article in today's NYT on Durham Dining?
Any thoughts on the places (Scratch, Toast, Rue Cler, Revolution & KoKyu) mentioned? Or the "wildly popular" Saturday farmer's market in Durham?

Thanks for blogging!

I have been to Toast and it was very good. Unfortunately (for me) it is about a 15 min drive from my office and parking is hit or miss so to go there I have to have time for a "leisurely" lunch.

I have not been to the bakery or Rue Cler. There is another French restaurant in Durham called Vin Rouge which I have been to and it is very very good ...in fact I've been looking for an "excuse" to go back.

My 2 attempts to go to Revolution were sans reservations and it was PACKED, and since I was in downtown to see a show we didn't have time to wait. As the article states I think it might be more about the atmosphere than the food. It certainly seemed very hip and trendy.

I had not heard of that food truck but have been eyeing another truck that I've seen in Durham ..Bulkogi and I am hoping to hit it this week for the blog.

As for the wildly popular farmers market, I haven't been to the one in Durham. There is the State Farmers Market (the original I guess in downtown Raleigh, the Western Wake Farmers Market, The Carrboro Farmers market (featured in October 2008 Bon Apetit), and Durham which are the bigger ones as well several community farmers markets. Hopefully, I'll be able to hit 1 or 2 on Saturday. I also participate in a CSA which fulfills and fills my veggie quotas so I don't visit the markets as frequently.

ETA: Thanks for pointing out this article. How fortuitous!

Edited by toolprincess, 26 June 2011 - 08:36 PM.

[toolprincess]

Whew long day. Grabbed some dinner pre-photo session with friends (who also served as dog wranglers during the photos).

Went to a local place called Salem Street Pub. Nice relaxed place, decent food, close to home..the kind of place where one could become a regular.

We had beers and wings and burgers and fish n chips and one chicken wrap.


Shotgun Betty Hefeweizen brewed locally by LoneRider Brewing Company (Ales for Outlaws)


Teri-Hot wings. A mix of teriyaki and hot sauce. Good flavor but not much heat.


Chicken wrap and YuengLing


Fish n Chips with Wasabi Tartar Sauce (very yummy)


The "My wife said it would never sell" burger. Peanut butter, bacon, and honey burger. Generally also comes with cheddar but I had tried it previously and didn't really care for the cheese so this time I ordered it without. Very yummy but very rich(?), filling(?)...I am not sure what the correct word is for this one but I have had this twice and each time could only eat half, also it's a decent sized burger. (edit) Also, I had some buffalo wing sauce on my fries...pretty good but would probably pass on this next time.

Edited by toolprincess, 26 June 2011 - 09:00 PM.

[haresfur]

Chicken wrap and YuengLing


Fish n Chips with Wasabi Tartar Sauce (very yummy)

I got a bit mixed up on you photo captions and the fish confused me. Then I though that "Yueng ling" would be a great name for beer-battered fish!

Thanks for the blog. Looking forward to more - the food looks great.

[kayb]

Oh, I wish I could remember the name of the barbecue place. It's one of those "It's an institution" type places that everyone in town knows. I want to say Bull's, but I think I'm just channeling the movie.

Rockwood Filling Station sounds right; that's been several years ago, and I don't even remember what I ate, but I do recall thinking it was good.

Good looking fish and chips. I so miss being in a place where they sell Yuengling. I bootleg mine from Memphis whenever I go.

[Kim Shook]

Hi, Laurie - I'm very excited about your blog! I grew up spending every summer of my life at my grandparents' farm in Reidsville (just west of Greensboro) and still visit my grandmother there and my mom and stepdad live in New Bern, so I come close to you often. Can't wait to see pictures and hear stories!

[toolprincess]

Hi, Laurie - I'm very excited about your blog! I grew up spending every summer of my life at my grandparents' farm in Reidsville (just west of Greensboro) and still visit my grandmother there and my mom and stepdad live in New Bern, so I come close to you often. Can't wait to see pictures and hear stories!

Kim - small world! A dear friend of my mother's lives in Reidsville so I made quite a few trips there during my childhood.

I currently have an aunt who lives in Beaufort, so in the New Bern area.

[toolprincess]

Unfortunately not much to report so far today. My work computer suffered a "catastrophic" failure and I have spent much of the day waiting at my desk for the computer guys to come and rescue me.

Back up and running now (thank goodness).

Breakfast was the "go to" of my childhood for a quick snack, on the road breakfast, or afternoon snack for the farmers at the country store..... "NABS" and a soda. In this case a Diet Mountain Dew (I'm looking at you Shelby)

Lunch was a Mini Tuna Sandwich from Jersey Mike's which I ended up grabbing at about 3:15 (sorry no pictures).

[baroness]

I can't help noticing your breakfast plates - are they Fiestaware?

[toolprincess]

I can't help noticing your breakfast plates - are they Fiestaware?

Yes I love fiesta! I have a set in the blue and yellow and a number of dishes and bowls in other colors.

[baroness]

I can't help noticing your breakfast plates - are they Fiestaware?

Yes I love fiesta! I have a set in the blue and yellow and a number of dishes and bowls in other colors.

I finally surrended to a long-held love last year and now have 10 place settings, each in a different color, plus quite a few pieces in Black. SIGH.
Now they have introduced Marigold for their 75th anniversary - and I am trying to figure out what I could possibly "need" in that color....

[catdaddy]

Sorry for the choppy posts!
Western style BBQ sometimes also called Lexington style is made with a red sauce and is sweeter. It is also served with a 'red slaw' that incorporates the BBQ sauce.

Obviously I'm biased being from eastern NC!

The other things Nc is known for are Krispy Kreme, Pepsi, and Cheerwine.

Yeah! A Carolina foodblog!

I grew up in Durham and spent almost 20 years in Morehead City, where they are rightfully proud of their whole hog BBQ.

I encourage you to visit the farmers market in downtown Durham........it gets better and better every year.

I like your list of in state food products and would add Bojangles Chicken 'n' Biscuits.

Looking forward to the rest of the week.

[toolprincess]

Sorry for the choppy posts!
Western style BBQ sometimes also called Lexington style is made with a red sauce and is sweeter. It is also served with a 'red slaw' that incorporates the BBQ sauce.

Obviously I'm biased being from eastern NC!

The other things Nc is known for are Krispy Kreme, Pepsi, and Cheerwine.

Yeah! A Carolina foodblog!

I grew up in Durham and spent almost 20 years in Morehead City, where they are rightfully proud of their whole hog BBQ.

I encourage you to visit the farmers market in downtown Durham........it gets better and better every year.

I like your list of in state food products and would add Bojangles Chicken 'n' Biscuits.

Looking forward to the rest of the week.

Yes a visit to Bojangles is planned!

[toolprincess]

Fiance is cooking dinner currently (and he never cooks - but if he gets a notion who am I to hold him back?) so here's some cookbook porn to tide you over.





As you can see I am treating "y'all" just like family and didn't even straighten up the messy shelves before taking photos.

[chemprof]

I'm in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel hill area. Also known as 'the Triangle'. Home to the Research triangle park, UNC Tarheels, Nc state Wolfpack and Duke Blue Devils. I'm a Wolfpack fan and NC State alum. I live in a suburb of Raleigh called Apex. I work in Durham in the RTP. I'm a rare species in this area a native North Carolinian. I grew up about 2hours to the northeast in a rural county. NC is beautiful and dear to my heart.

Whoo Hoo! Go Wolfpack! I'm also NCSU alum and W-S native. Looking forward to your blog.

[Kim Shook]

Breakfast was the "go to" of my childhood for a quick snack, on the road breakfast, or afternoon snack for the farmers at the country store..... "NABS" and a soda. In this case a Diet Mountain Dew (I'm looking at you Shelby)

Oh, yeah! Nabs and a tab - the 'diet' lunch of my teen years! We actually took a box of Nabs to England with us on our trip last month. Just in case!