Too much to do

This weekend was a blur of house cleaning and volunteer work for Historic Charlotte, getting the gallery space ready for Artevation. But in between all the work and charity events I did find time to eat. Friday was spent filling nail holes and cleaning the space, which was easily made up for by a birthday party for Shakespeare hosted by Collaborative Arts; the fine people that bring you the Shakespeare on the green. We got some munchies and beer as the actors did a few scenes from various plays and then asked for money and, more importantly for me, volunteers. I have always wanted to do stagecraft.

Saturday began with a quick run to the market, where it is officially asparagus season, and the Mrs. couldn't be happier. So we picked up our veggies for the week and then hit the Harvest Moon Cafe for some pork carnitas, which were quite tasty with back beans and a beautiful cilantro creme, as well as a pulled pork sandwich that I would easily trade an organ for. I am not from the south so I am not married to the vinegar sauce and this was far from it. It was a sorghum molasses sauce similar to Texas style but sweeter, but it was subtle enough to let the flavor of the pork through. The rest of the day was spent painting. For dinner we decided to go back to The Liberty. It was packed, so we found a spot at the bar and checked out the "new" menu which looked an awful lot like the original menu. I got a Hercules and we ordered some blue cheese chips and devils on horseback. The DoH were excellent and the chips could have been, if they weren't so stingy with the blue cheese sauce. For my entree, I really wanted a burger, but as predicted the county caught them and they are now only cooking to medium. I was heartbroken. It was fine, just like every other burger in Charlotte. The Mrs. ordered a strawberry-goat cheese salad that had, I'm not kidding, three slices of strawberry. I'm not sure I can give them another chance. We will see.

Sunday we got up and decided to have some brunch at Foskoskies, which keeps being labeled as Plaza-Midwood, but is actually in Shamrock Gardens. It is a little off the beaten path but well worth the effort. The Mrs. got the special, which was strawberry pancakes with a dollop of strawberry ice cream on the side. This easily countered the miserable showing at The Liberty. They were light and slightly mooshy from the syrup and ice cream. I ordered the biscuits and gravy, a subject which I consider myself somewhat of an expert. These were the best i had ever put in my mouth. The Biscuits were just the right texture, soft with a hint of al dente, and the gravy was not your average gravy. It was spicy and tart that complemented the sweetness from the biscuit perfectly. It was probably Anduoille sausage and a hint of Cheyenne that gave it the heat. I made dinner at home Sunday. I roasted a chicken and sauted some asparagus and scallions; with some couscous on the side we had dinner.

Catching Up

So I have been so slack in posting and a lot of that has to do with being so busy. A quick sum up of the last two weeks or so is in order.

Easter weekend -

My In-laws were in town and we hit most of their favorite places like Crepe Cellar and Solstice. On Friday we decided to take a trip to Asheville. The ladies wanted to check out a yarn producer in the area and I wanted to eat, so, win win. The yarn place was a bust so we headed into the city and decided to try Laughing Seed, a place I have heard much about and was really excited to try. We had puppies with us which meant we had to wait for one of four puppy friendly tables. It was a bit of a wait but It was beautiful out and as i found out totally worth it. We started with the pakoras. They were delightfully light and crunchy with a great full flavor. To drink I started an IV drip of the IPA from Green Man, a local brewery.Hey, I wasn't driving. For lunch I had the Mercury Not Rising, which is an herb seasoned seitan patty on a bun with veggies and dill pickle mayo. It was delicious, but the fries made the meal, Jalapeño-onion fries to be exact, but don't eat the pepper pieces, ouch. For dessert we shared a slice of coconut cream pie that was near perfection.

Thursday - April 8th

Grateful Growers has been hosting a series of pork cooking classes and we really wanted to go to all of them but were only available for last weeks. It was on pate and terrines. And, since we had no ideas about either, we were really excited. It was held at Friendship Trays a local charity that runs a food delivery service to the needy who can't get out as well as a cooking school and caterer. When we arrived there was an array of meat spreads and bread. Everything was amazing. There was a classic pate from Julia Child, a country terrine as well as a pate devised by one of our teachers Reg. Then we were split into two groups and got our hands dirty. Our first lesson was on preparing the classic Pate and Regs Pate, and then we switched and learned from Cassie the country pate. It was a lot of fun and we got to take some home with us, which is even better. And, while I will not be eating pate all the time, I would be willing to try one for our next party.

April 9-11

And finally, a weekend of drinking and driving. To celebrate the impending birth of Mr. Chelsea's first child, a few of the men folk decided we needed to take a visit east, to the coast and all beer related sites in between. So we woke up early and headed to the coast on a splendid Friday morning. Our original plan had been to visit Mother Earth in Kinston and Duck Rabbit in Farmville. Both of which were unavailable due to a brewers conference in Chicago. So we quickly changed plans and headed toward Fayetteville and a brewpub called Huske Hardware House. I had just read an article on them and was eager to check it out. We arrived a little early for lunch, and opening for that matter, so we strolled around downtown Fayetteville dispelling our preconceived notions of a town usually referred to as Fayett-nam. Once inside we quickly weighed our options and I headed for the Rusty Nail Pale Ale and a Cuban Burger. While we made polite conversation with our waitress, we asked if we could get a tour and yes, yes we could. Shortly after the Brewmaster stopped by the table and we had a great discussion. When we finished our fine but lackluster meal we got the nickel tour of a very clean and organized brewing area. Then again, it is surrounded by glass, so it has to be clean.

I suppose at this point I should say this was also a working trip for a friend of ours who is trying to start a hop farm called the Cone and Bine Hop Farm. And to round out the gang was Mr. Painter who is one of Mr. Chelsea's oldest friends and an all around good guy. He served as our moral center for the trip, and with Mr. Hop along, boy did we need it.

Our next stop was a quick one at Duck Rabbit, just to see it. I wish we hadn't done that. I love their beer and their facility did not make me want to drink it. I'm sure it's fine inside but I didn't need to see that. On to Washington, and the beer and wine slash book store, where I not only got beer but a lovely bottle of Fererria Tawny Port, to pick up some Mother Earth for the evening, when we arrived in Kill Devil Hills; Which we did without incident. As soon as we arrived it was time for dinner at Outer Banks Brewing Station. I started with a Lemongrass wit that was spectacular and, I have since learned, got a silver at the world beer cup. Unfortunately it was all down hill from there. The food was ok, we had some wings and various burgers and sandwiches. My second was their Abbey which was middling and to finish the night we each got their Ice beer. We were quite excited to try this since none of us had tried an ice beer before, although, I was a little leery that it only came in at 11%. It was ok but lacked real definition, nothing stood out about it. So, back to the room, grab some beer, and watch stars on the beach.

Saturday I woke up feeling fine. Which was kind of a surprise. Unfiltered beer and I don't usually play well together. We started the day at the Grits cafe with a giant breakfast and moved on to the Wright Bothers memorial to kill time until we could get back to drinking. It was cool enough, and the scale of the thing definitely gave me pause. When we were finished we loaded back into the van and headed for Weeping Radish.

Weeping Radish is a brewery, butcher and seasonal cafe run by a German couple who specialize in German beer and sausage. Unfortunately, the cafe part was closed for the season. Mr. painter was not amused, he was promised food. However, there was beer and, after some small talk, plates of food started trickling out. We each started with a flight of all of their beers, six in all at the moment. The group consensus was that the Schwarzbier was one of the finest beers we had had. Thus we settled in for a near constant flow of beer. This flow was only halted occasionally for samples of Pretzel, fresh apple sausage, and Sweet potato liverwurst, as well as a gander at the brewing facility and numerous potty breaks. After about three hours we decided to finally pay our tab and move on. On our way out the door we added cases of bottled beer and countless sausage to out tabs and threw them in the cooler. On the way back to the hotel room we made a quick stop at Chips, the local beer and wine purveyor, to stock up. Here I found another bottle of port. this time the rare Dows Crusted Port.

Dinner that night involved a 2 mile walk and a fine meal of no real consequence.

Sunday we headed home with one last stop on the agenda. We made our way to Raleigh to check out Natty Greene's, another brew pub. This is their second location. The original is in Greensboro. This stop served double duty, since we met Mr. Painters brother there. As far as I'm concerned, outside of the adventure of it, we didn't need to go anywhere else. The beer was superb and the food was excellent. I had a Belgian dubbel that was very crisp and a stout that was smokey and thick. But, since I was driving the last leg I had to quit there. I will be back.

Luckily, we made it home in one piece and full of memories to keep for our lifetimes.