Varmint

I'm thinking of making an appetizer of a crab sautee with country ham and trout roe served with fried sunburst squash. For sides, I'm making a succotash of 4 different peas/beans (butterbeans, pink-eye, purple-hulled, crowder), corn, and a touch of cream. There will be a salad of watermelon, tomato, cucumber and local feta. Finally, I'll make a good old fashioned summer squash gratin. I also picked up a medium-sized red snapper (from the waters of North Carolina, of course) that I'm planning to roast whole. However, I may not cook the fish for us and make it for the kids. All ingredients are local, including the corn meal, the cheese, the eggs & cream, and the country ham. I'll steal some fresh herbs from my mother-in-law's garden. The crab comes from Morehead City, which is about 140 miles away, but that's as close as we can get.

And I haven't a clue of what I'll make. Phlawless is providing a pork shoulder and dessert. I'll probably roast a whole fish and make the appetizer and sides. A trip to the farmers market is in order, because we want this to be a local ingredient meal!

And you may have already mentioned this about the dishwasher, but make sure that you've set it to use the high water temperature feature. It's not as energy efficient, but the dishes do get dryer.

It's just worked in perfectly to chop barbecue. They need a bit of a well like that.

I managed to sneak over to Amada for lunch recently, and had the most excellent bacala fritters, calamari cooked a la plancha, chorizo-pampalona and a glass each of red and white sangria. Needless to say, I wasn't all that productive at my conference that afternoon. I've since tried to recreate the white sangria, and although it was incredibly tasty, it fell a bit short of Katie's version.

Phlawless is incredibly talented. Here's a dessert she came up with for a Mexican-themed dinner we had a couple years ago: Pumpkin fritters rolled in cinnamon sugar, served with goat cheese ice cream, cajeta and candied, spicy pepitas. One of the best desserts I've ever had in my life.

The Raleigh Farmers Market always has a bunch of local vendors, every day. What we lack for in unusual and organic ingredients, we make up for with consistency and quantity.

I went to Walt Disney World about a month ago and ate lunch at one of the character dining spots -- a buffet-style restaurant with the characters from Winnie the Pooh. Needless to say, this was one of the best buffets I've ever visited. The food was fresh, creative and very tasty. They offered Indian curries, a Singapore-style stir fry, and lots of other great entrees. They even found a way to make average tasting melon be much more palatable: they tossed it with a bit of honey and mint -- I learned a new secret. The desserts were also top notch, with my favorite being the coconut flan. Yes, we were there for over an hour, but with the two youngest L'il Varmints getting autographs, cooling down, and eating well (even the chicken strips were excellent), this was a great place to visit.

There's a somewhat interesting, timely, and quite flawed story in today's Raleigh News & Observer that discusses the cost and taste of purchasing locally grown produce versus the stuff one finds in most supermarkets. Needless to say, when the tasters complain about the texture of locally produced fresh mozarella versus the crappy dry Sargento brand, well, you wonder about the tasters themselves.

Wilber's is pretty much the gold standard for Eastern-style NC barbecue, and a must stop whenever you're near Goldsboro. And yes, you'll find all types of cars and people at this joint.

In 35 years of visiting MDI I can only recall one bum room, and even that was tolerable. Most lodgings are just fine. Check out the various websites (search for Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce and Southwest Harbor Chamber) and you'll find extensive, though by no means complete, lists, many with links to full descriptions and photos. Depends what you like. Lots of plain, clean, no fuss cottages (mostly tiny one and two-room cabins, though some are considerably larger), B&B's, small inns and more upscale lodgings. Cottages and cabins usually rent for one-week minimums in July and August, Saturday-to-Saturday. A few old-fashioned motels, too. ← We have always rented a house and have never had a problem. If you're going to be there for a week, I strongly recommend looking at houses from the local realtors.

The purple hulled peas from these parts are awesome. We're in pea heaven right now, with butter beans, crowders, purple hulled peas, and others all available at the Raleigh Farmers Market.

What to go, Ph!!!! This should be a great blog, as phlawless is a great cook. I've had the pleasure of shopping, cooking and eating with her, and we're all in for a treat. Why don't you come over with the family on Saturday, and I'll help you with this little endeavor?

Bob's summary is spot on -- I've been to the island a couple of times in the past few years and have tried several of the places he recommends. You can eat very well on MDI. And I'm definitely in the Thurston's camp when it comes to lobster pounds.

Having just returned from Philadelphia and been given the abbreviated tour of the Philly sandwich scene, I will say that perhaps the single best sandwich I have ever eaten in my life is the Roast Pork with broccoli rabe and aged provolone at Tony Luke's. I had a similar sandwich at DiNic's in the Reading Terminal Market, but the flavors in Tony Luke's version (and the quality of the pork) made this an orgasmic sandwich. If I could eat just one sandwich after a night of binge drinking, this is what I'd want. Following close behind (and I mean very close) is the Italian hoagie at Sarcone's Deli. Oh, that bread!! (Do believe the hype) I only sampled one cheesesteak at Pat's -- a "whiz with" -- which was excellent, but I've actually had cheesesteaks that are nearly this good. I was too full to sample Geno's, but at that time (including after eating a hot dog with fish cakes, a cannoli, and about a gallon of root/birch beer), I couldn't eat another bite. Listen to Holly, Chris. He'll do you right!

I actually think St. Jacques is the finest classic French restaurant in the area. It's on a different level than Vin Rouge, which I also love, but they're two totally different restaurants.

Of course, the can't miss spot on the boardwalk is Thrasher's Fries. I was just there on Saturday, and these are top-notch fries.

I applaud the Cheesecake Factory for what they do and the way that they introduce many new styles of food to the masses. I've enjoyed the couple of meals that I've eaten at the always busy local establishment, but I have never chosen to go there -- it's been someone else's decision. And although I enjoy the broad spectrum of food styles the CF offers, I don't want that in most restaurants. My poster child for this style of high end dining is Raleigh's Bloomsbury Bistro, which many consider to be one of the top restaurants in town. However, their menu contains American Southern, Moroccan, Hawaiian, Thai, Greek, Mandarin, Indian and Southwestern style offerings. My problem is that there is no consistency in the menu, making it very difficult to order each course. Here's a discussion of this restaurant. Thus, this style works at the mass-market level, but not at the high end.

Let me add a follow-up, now that I'm a bit more awake. The SFA is one of those unusual organizations where people get involved not to improve their social standing in the community or, in the case of many gastronomic organizations, to be seen with the culinary bigwig du jour. This is an organization with a heart and soul. Starting from the top, working you way through their board of directors, their staff, and all the way down to us mere members, the SFA cares about preserving the great food heritage of the American South. This organization is funded by sweat, love, compassion, and of course, a few dollars here and there. So, when you think about whether or not a particular event is "worth it," don't think about whether you could get a comparable meal for less money. You probably can. Instead, think about whether you could get such a meal surrounded by such wonderful, dedicated people that make up the SFA. People who will pay their own way to fly to New Orleans to work their asses off for a weekend or two to bring back a culinary landmark. People who will give an award to an African-American catfish farmer who had to fight the white establishment to get his business off the ground. People who take the time to record oral histories of barbecue pitmasters in Tennessee, North Carolina and elsewhere. You'll soon realize what a bargain you're getting for that experience. And you'll want to come back for more.

You asked a simple question of whether it's worth the money. A simple answer is, "Hell, yes."

Thanks for the report, Bryan. I've heard a couple of decent reports on this place. And I'm sorry all the best places can't be in Durham -- you do need to share a bit.

Carnival Corn 4 strips bacon, chopped 1 stick, unsalted butter 3 white onions, finely chopped 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped 4 c fresh or frozen corn 1-1/2 tsp salt 1-1/2 tsp pepper Fry bacon in dutch oven. When it begins to render, add butter and melt. Add onions and peppers and saute until they're limp. Stir in corn and spices, cook until corn is done -- about 3-5 minutes. Serve. Colorful, tasty, and oh so easy. Then, take a plantain and slice it lengthwise into narrow slices. Deep-fry these slices until crisp. Serve as a garnish. Keywords: Side, Vegetables ( RG1715 )

So do we get any food reports from the Steeplechase?

Don't forget about the eGCI course on potatoes!

I believe that would be Chatham and Maynard, Will.