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.

Farmers Market and Modernist Art

Finally, a chance to get to the market. With plans from the last few weeks being foiled by weather, work or both. The Mrs. and I finally got a chance to get back to the Yorkmont Farmers Market. And, although there was little in the way of veggies to be had from our local farmers it was good to see them all and catch up.We got some eggs and sweet potatoes; picked up some meat, including some fresh salami. The real reason we were there was to get the low down on ordering a half cow. We have a chest freezer begging to be filled and some friends who want to split the order with us. We finished or shopping on the wholesaler side if the building, picking up what we needed for a broccoli soup from Orangette . To finish off our visit we stopped by the Harvest Moon Grille and got some breakfast from Cassie. The Harvest Moon is a small food trailer operated by Grateful Growers and serves meals created from local products, including their pork. I had an egg and pork wrap with diced potatoes and herbs, and the Mrs. got an egg sandwich on focaccia.

Sunday was our fist chance to go check out the Bechtler Museum. Since the weather was agreeable we decided to ride bikes and enjoy the day. I am not a huge fan of Modernist art but there is almost always something to like in every museum. My real reason for wanting to go is slightly less altruistic.

At the time of the opening of the museum I was reading a book on art forgery called, Provenance. The artists represented in the book are all represented in the Bechtler collection, so what i really wanted to do was contemplate whether or not the art was genuine. Is that wrong? But, while listening to the stories about the art from the little talk box, I leaned the Bechtler family were personal friends of most of the artists; therefore the possibility of them being fakes is low. With that said I did enjoy the museum quite a lot and will definitely be making return trips as the collection is rotated. The Mrs., however nearly had a nervous breakdown when we entered a room of sculptures by swiss artist Jean Tinguely that were composed of found objects, old wood, animal skulls and electric motors that apparently move when switched on. Unfortunately, they all had large "Do not touch" signs over their switches. It was very hard for her to not turn them on. And, who could blame her? As we finished up we had an interesting conversation about the use of the term "Modern art" and its misuse in place of "Contemporary art" and whether we should use "Modernist art" instead to differentiate.

From there we finished the day anxiously awaiting the USA vs Canada hockey game.