Peace out for now

Hey ya'll - I'm having surgery tomorrow, so I won't be blogging for at least a week or so. Nothing major, just repairing some degenerative damage to my right wrist. I've had Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis since age 5, and a lot of my joints have deteriorated to the point of needing repair. I didn't expect to be having this surgery so soon, but I guess it's another way for the universe to reiterate to me that everything in life cannot be planned out. I'll be off work until next Monday or so - I'm going to try to relax in my time off, and not stress about all the stuff I'm not able to do. Anyway, I'm practicing typing with my left hand, but fine motor tasks in general are going to be kind of difficult for the next few weeks.

Any suggestions for good books to read/movies to watch while I'm recovering?

PS - Check out this awesome bag my grammy and Val made me! I have got to learn this cable stitch for myself...once I've got the use of two hands again.

Duck Rabbit Brewery

On our way back from the Outer Banks, we decided to take a small detour to visit one of Sal's favorite NC breweries, The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery. Sal had some sort of divine inspiration on the way up to Kitty Hawk, and decided to see if Farmville, where Duck-Rabbit is brewed, was anywhere near our travelling path. He checked out their website, and lo and behold - it was an easy detour on our way back to Wilmington. Filled with anticipation of a brewery tour and stocking up on cases of beer, we headed back home with our sights set on Farmville.

Driving into Farmville was a little like entering the town where I grew up, but actually slightly more run down. There was at least one stop light, which is a big deal for a small town, but other than that, we didn't see a whole lot that inspired us to hang around. We followed the directions I wrote down from Google Maps, but even I started to wonder if I had missed something somewhere. We turned right onto an apparently dead end road near an industrial site - nope; I was right. We pulled up in front of 4519 West Pine Street and started laughing. To say that the building was unassuming would be an understatement. Not exactly what we expected, but we decided to give it a go anyway.

So glad we did. After wandering around the outside of the building, we finally decided to try the brown door in the front. We pushed it open and yelled hello (we know from experience to loudly introduce your presence in small towns or sketchy residences in case the owner is a trigger happy gun owner). We didn't hear anything, so we followed the sound of voices and made our way through the office into what turned out to be the huge brewing center/warehouse of The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery.

There we discovered Paul and Ryan, the two men behind Duck-Rabbit, hard at work creating an experimental brew. We apologized for barging in, but they were completely welcoming, even though they were obviously in the middle of some labor-intensive beer making. They invited us to look around until they were finished, and gave me permission to take some photos. When they were done, Paul took the time to tell me a little bit about Duck-Rabbit and what they do. Here's what I learned:

Paul Philippon, the founder, was working on a Ph.D in Philosophy at the University of Michigan when he started doing some home brewing. Seeing that the job prospects kind of suck in the world of Philosophy, he decided to start his own brewery and produced the first Duck-Rabbit beer in August of 2004. He chose Farmville for it's inexpensive real estate and the possibility to expand if needed. His partner in crime, Ryan (on the left in the photo), got a job simply by calling him up and asking if Paul needed help. He did. Duck-Rabbit now distributes to four states, having just added Georgia this week. They produce four standard brews: Milk Stout (YUM!), Brown Ale, Amber Ale (Sal's current fave), and a Porter, plus seasonal a variety of seasonal offerings.

The brewing set up was pretty cool, with giant drums holding from one to three batches of beer. One batch of 520 gallons produces about 270 cases in 2 weeks. That seems like a lot of beer, and must be a ton of work for two guys, but it really isn't that much as compared to say, Miller Brewing Co. that produces something like 3.1 million cases per year. Needless to say, Duck-Rabbit kicks the behind of Miller, taste wise.

If you want to pick up some Duck-Rabbit beer for yourself, don't plan on getting it at the brewery; they don't sell it there, much to our disappointment. You can, however, pick it up in Wilmington at Tidal Creek, as well as a bunch of other places locally and all over the state.

Many thanks to Paul and Ryan for their hospitality, and for taking the time to teach us about brewing. Next time we drink a Duck-Rabbit beer out of our new pint glass, we'll be able to picture exactly where, and by whom it was created. Mmmmm. Beer.

On the road again.

The month of February is a busy one for us. As you know, I was in Florida last week - Friday we're going to Charleston, and this past weekend we visited the Outer Banks. We were really fortunate to have received a generous gift of a free weekend at the Hilton Garden Inn at Kitty Hawk. We love the Outer Banks, and hadn't been up that way for over 9 years (a travesty!), so it was a great getaway.

As usual, we tried to get the local flavor when looking for somewhere to eat. Last time we were there, Sal and I had to search hard to find somewhere to eat during the off-season. On this trip we could have eaten at any one of the fast food places that have unfortunately popped up around town, but of course, we have more sense in our heads than that. We opted for the RunDown Cafe the first night, a cool little place within walking distance of our hotel. Both of us opted for the mahi, which was delish.

The next evening we decided to try the Outer Banks Brewing Station, which had the obvious draw of locally brewed beer. I'm telling you, if the Mack-Daddy Stout wasn't $19 for a growler, I would have brought home a kegful. Sal tried the Compass Rose ‘Secret-Spiced’ Ale. I immediately identified the secret spice, which was confirmed by our waitress, but I won't reveal it here in case you want to solve the mystery on your own. Email me if you're curious.

Okay, so fabulous dinners abounded, but the best meal of all had to have been the breakfast we got from Duck Donuts. Holy goodness. Right across the street from the Hilton is this little, unassuming place that serves made-to-order hot cake donuts that you can have dipped in the icing and coating of your choice. Oh my lordy, you have no idea. I'm actually not a huge donut fan in general, but I could probably eat these every day for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. I tried to just order one, but the super cool woman who runs the place, Paulique, gave me two (but only charged me for one) because they were "small." Total price: $3.08.

Sal mixed it up by choosing a strawberry icing/chocolate sprinkle combo as well as a chocolate icing/rainbow sprinkles one. I kept it simple and went for a double dose of the chocolate/coconut. You know how I love the coconut. We took them back to our room and ate them on our oceanfront balcony with a cup of coffee. Seriously? These donuts were beyond believable: warm, gooey, sweet and perfect. Mmmmm. We may plan a trip back just to see Paulique.

FYI...

...the following posts were posted a little late due to the fact that wireless connection I had been logging on to has suddenly become password protected. Durn. Consequently, I may be a little less frequent in the blogging until I find a more convenient solution.

Local and tropical

This past weekend I went to visit my family in Florida. In addition to spending a much-needed relaxing weekend with some of the people I love most in the world, I also got to snag some of the fruits and veggies that were in season down there. My mom and grandmother and I headed into St. Petersburg for the Saturday Morning Market at the bright and early hour of 10:30. I love sleeping in. The market is always a fun conglomeration of yummy smells, delicious looking produce and odd folks. Not to mention cute dogs.

Anyway, a lot of the produce turned out to be from far, far away, but there was a sampling of local goods. I went straight for the tomatoes; choosing a large, deep red guy destined for a tomato sandwich, and a mixed bag of cherry and grape varieties.

My mom picked up some peppers and heavenly smelling strawberries, while my grammy chose a pineapple that lived up to the sign that boasted it was Super, Super, Super Sweet! Grown in Chile, or somewhere thereabouts, but definitely worth a sample.

The most exciting (and, it turns out, aggravating) find of the day was a local coconut. Say that 5 times fast. We somehow managed not to gorge ourselves on all the delicious baked goods and fudgy things the market had to offer, and headed home to make some lunch from our purchases.

I ended up flying back with a suitcase packed with tomatoes and a coconut, plus a carryon bag of oranges and tangerines. The fruit was a gift from my mom’s friend Nilima, who scaled the trees in her yard to provide me with some real Florida citrus. I do declare that it was the juiciest, most delicious fruit I have ever tasted. My mama made me a fresh squeezed tangerine/orange juice for breakfast on Sunday, and it was so good I could have drank a gallon. Thanks, mom and Nilima!

The coconut ordeal

I loooooove fresh coconut, flaked coconut, and pretty much anything coconutty. So finding this locally grown coconut at the Saturday Morning Market was like hitting the jackpot for me. The coconut proprietor offered to husk it and put a hole in the top so I could drink the coconut milk, but I had bigger plans for it, so declined. Somehow there was a miscommunication and I ended up taking it home unhusked as well. I figured I would get it to my mom’s house, husk it, and take home the inner nut in my luggage. Weeeeellll, easier said than done.

It took three of my loving, patient and skilled family members to crack that coconut. An internet search on how to husk a coconut turned up some pretty hilarious videos, but nothing that was truly helpful. My mom took the first go by using a screwdriver and hammer. That made a pretty good crack, but didn’t really get through the fibers.

Then my uncle Steve took a saw to it, and created a pretty good incision all the way around. My grammy finished off the job by tearing away all the husk and leaving the cute little coconut inside. And, last, but not least, Sal cracked the nut when I brought it home. Grammy suggested maybe going for the Baker’s shredded coconut next time I get a hankering.


All of their hard work was truly appreciated though. I ate a bunch of fresh coconut pieces when I got home, put some in my oatmeal, and Sal shredded the rest for drying. I’m thinking coconut chicken, Polynesian salad, toasted coconut ice cream…ooh, the list is endless! My family is awesome.

Lazy Mayo

Okay, here's how I made mayonnaise recently. I checked online to find an easy recipe, and found this site. If you have the patience of a saint, and/or a bunch of time on your hands, by all means, make that mayo. It looks beautiful and gourmet, and probably tastes amazing. I was looking for a way easier option though, so I just took the ingredients he listed, altered the portions to my needs and whipped it up in the blender. Here's how it went down:

Ingredients:

Egg yolks of 2 large eggs (You can freeze the whites for later or use them to make Apple Peanut Butter cookies.)
1/2 cup of olive oil (I plan to use Canola Oil next time - the olive flavor really comes through)
1 Tbs. white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt

Pour the oil, then the egg yolks and the other ingredients into a blender (I used a small 1.5 cup sized attachment) and blend until it looks like mayonnaise. Taste it and see how you like it. Add a little salt or a smidge more vinegar if you like.

Voila. Mayonnaise.

Local eating in the news - again!

Ironically, we stopped our subscription to the Star News in order to reduce our waste. I typically check online about once a week to see if there's anything interesting going on, but I totally missed this article. Luckily, Trace kept us in the loop by posting it on Cricketbread. Very good stuff.

Do you ever have one of those weeks when life just completely slips by you? I try so hard not to have that happen - to at least step back and appreciate some part of each day just for the little moments it contains - but man, has time passed me by lately. I have not germinated, nor planted any seeds. I have not even purchased the peat pots and light rigging I need to do so. I have not added the mayonnaise making post I promised Trace (will make amends immediately). Okay, that's really it - maybe it just feels more like I'm way behind because the seed planting part encompasses a lot of work that I'm going to have to squeeze into my regular work week, since we're going to be gone the next three weekends. It's very doable, I just need to DO it.

Photo: Trace in the produce department of Tidal Creek. Published on the online version of Encore