Manfriend Meals: Texas Caviar

Texas Caviar. Redneck Caviar. Southern Caviar. Redneck Salsa.



I've seen recipes of this variety called a lot of different names. No matter what you call it, or what combination of flavors you include, it's probably going to be ridiculously addicting.

While not a "meal", my manfriend would gladly make a meal of this recipe: Texas Caviar

A few cans of beans, several cut peppers, herbs, garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil and boom. Delicious mixed up in a bowl and no cooking required. Put it in the 'fridge for an hour and it's ready to go or leave it overnight to really marinate. We snack on it for days and while it doesn't last more than two days due to constant enjoyment, I'm not sure it would really even go bad for a few days long as long as you keep it chilled.

This is a tailgate must and a quick mix for anytime in between football seasons. It's delicious with tortilla chips, as a salsa/relish, as a side dish... practically any way.

Cheers, y'all!

I'm Still Here... I'm Just "in a Southern State of Mind"

Sorry for disappearing on everyone! I spend so much time on my computer and online for work+work that I'm spending less and less of my personal time anywhere near either these days. I'm looking for a little more normalcy these days though, so hopefully I'll be back to some enjoyable blogging soon!

In the meantime, I had to share a snippet from my friend Nikki's new blog: Southern State of Mind.

Guess who is going to download this Darius Rucker song promptly? (Me!)

"You can see it in the clothes I wear you can hear it when I talk
Ball cap, boots, and jeans and a little southern drawl
I could be up in Ohio or back home in Caroline
No matter what state I'm in
I'm in a Southern state of mind"

And yes, I'm going to be a good blogging friend and encourage Nikki to not make her blog private so that way more of you fantastic readers can readily follow along with her posts. :-)

The Hushpuppies are a Big Deal

I almost laughed out loud when I read this line from George Cox's review of Garner's (somewhat new) Shuck 'Em Shack:

Hushpuppies are not bad for a commercial product, though the Southerner in me cringes at paying $1.99 for a dozen.

I can remember going to Dockside at some point in college, one of the best locations in Wilmington for a great coastal view - paired with a bite to eat and a tasty drink. only to find out at that point they had decided to not offer hushpuppies at all. (Something about space for the fryer or it being the off-season... clearly I was in no mind for any excuses.) Everyone at our table heavily considered just leaving before ordering anything. What's a Po' Boy sandwich with a no hushpuppies? (The answer: not much.)

Same situation with the ill-fated Sunny Side Too, which also called Garner home. (I can name more than a handful of reasons this local restaurant didn't last, sadly. But I won't.)

My point is this: in Carolina, and much of the South, hushpuppies are expected. And we more often than not expect them to be yummy and a complimentary part of the Southern seafood meal.

You can read Greg's entire report on the Shuck 'Em Shack online at http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/01/14/917251/where-you-can-shuck-to-your-hearts.html.

Happy New Year!

Nick and I went to Nashville this past week/weekend for a few days, so I didn't get a chance to wish everyone a Happy New Year's Eve... or even New Year's Day. However, I don't believe January 2nd is too late to start the year off right!

We have dinner at my parents' house every Sunday, so of course tonight we had to have our traditional New Year's dinner: pork, greens, black-eyed peas, potatoes, and cake. Nom, nom, nom - it is by far my favorite meal of the year!

When Nick and I were driving back to Raleigh from Nashville yesterday, we were curious about the tradition behind the New Year's meal and found this great resource on Epicurious (thank you, Google), that I wanted to share: Lucky Foods for the New Year.

Greens and black-eyed peas (or legumes) are symbolic of economic good fortune or wealth, pork symbolizes progress, and so on. Next year, I'm adding wine to the menu since the article covers the superstition of grapes, too!

Welcome to 2011 and best wishes for a wonderful year, y'all!

Put the Boys to Work... at Hardly Working

I realize Thanksgiving has just come and gone, but Christmas dinner is right around the corner. I love Andrea Weigl's suggestion of putting the boys to work!

Thursday when I serve Thanksgiving dinner to a small group of friends, everyone will contribute. I will bake a pecan pie and a pumpkin cheesecake. My husband will cook leg of lamb on the smoker. (One tip for holiday sanity is cooking the meat outside on the grill, in the smoker or in the deep-fryer. Luckily, many men who like to cook don't mind spending the day outside, drinking a beer and minding the meat.) A friend will make stuffed acorn squash and the homemade noodles that are his family's tradition. A third will clear the table.

She's right - it's not at all an up-hill battle to suggest that the man (and his buddies) hang around outside with beer, a fried turkey, and perhaps even a fire pit.

2010 NC State Fair in Review

Went a total of four times this year - all four were fantastic, per the usual.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncsulilwolf/sets/72157625109184059/

Tuesday: The boys wanted to go for dinner. Saw a cow utterly object (nice play on words, right?) to practicing in the show circle any longer by hopping over the fence and running out of the building... with about 10 folks chasing her. Classic! Kicking myself for being too engaged in watching the action to take a video or get a picture of this.

Thursday: We went again for dinner, dragged Little Sister along for the fun, too. It was Can Day, but we forgot to help out this great cause and just paid at the gate. (Darn it!)

Saturday: Saw Hoooootie! (Aka: Darius Rucker). One of the best country shows I've seen in quite some time. Included Darius songs, a Toby Keith song ("God Love Her"), a few classic country hits, and three Hootie hits. Perfection!

Sunday: Breakfast and lunch with the family - NC State fair style! Did the Turkey Shoot. I missed the entire paper target, naturally.

Got a little education in under my belt, too - courtesy of this Deep Fried (NC State Fair) blog post:

NC is ranked 2nd in egg production in the U.S.
NC produces about 25% of the nation’s Christmas Trees
NC grows 45% of the nation’s sweet potatoes…Also, I found the following items to be newly-vegetarian approved at this year's State Fair (in no particular order):Mt. Olive pickles, peanuts, fried pickles, fried Oreos, fried honey buns, Al's French Fries, candy apples, egg biscuits, hush puppies, veggie plate at the Amran Shriners tent, etc.
PS - I also just read that the NC State Fair had 1,000,000 visitors this year... a NC State Fair First!

If you've ever had lunch or dinner with me...

... then you've probably observed that everyone who does not eat pickles will give me theirs. (Love my friends!)

I am also a potato chip connoisseur. Not just any potato chips will do. I'm a big fan of the really crunchy ones - generally known as kettle-cooked chips.

I picked up lunch from Durham's Parker & Otis the other day and found something that was made JUST FOR ME (or at least it seems).



You can order them in bulk on their website: http://www.rt11.com/cfmodules/ObjMgr.cfm?Obj=OrderHere.

So much for that eating healthy thing! ;-)

PS - And don't think that I won't take a side trip on my next DC visit to go watch them make these small batch wonders of the potato chip world. That ok with you Adrianne?


FTC blogger disclosure: I was not contacted by Rt. 11 to blog about this post or compensated. But I would SO not object to a box of dill pickle potato chips. Nom, nom, nom! :-)

I Knew I Liked Her...

Carrie Underwood just seems like my kind of girl. If someone was to ask me "Who would you like to be for a day?"... I think she'd probably make a good answer.

From my pal Broadway on Air (we don't actually know each other either, but Broadway also seems like my kind of guy and I used to love listening to him on 106.1FM when they were country):

While chatting with media on the red carpet at the People's Choice Awards, Carrie Underwood told People.com what she hopes to have for her wedding day.

"[I want] a groom, good food and an open bar,"

Carrie also plans to channel her deep southern roots when it comes to her wedding day 'do.'

"I’m Southern," she says. "I like big hair and eyeliner. I want my wedding day to be me, so I’ll probably be rocking some big hair and some eyeliner."Read the whole feature here!


{Image: Baltimore Sun}

Local Raves: Lemon Poppyseed Scones from SBSTeas.com

At a recent Chix in Business Marketing Committee meeting, Barb, the owner of SBSTeas.com, brought us some of her yummy inventory: loose leaf teas and scones.

Right now, I'm enjoying the Lemon Poppyseed Scones and a lemonade and it's pretty much about the best thing ever.

They were super easy to make - just add buttermilk, lemon juice, and butter to the scone dry ingredients, mix well, spoon, and bake! 15 minutes later, you're enjoying! They really don't even need anything added to them, but anything from apple butter to jelly to honey would be delicious.

Perfect for any breakfast tailgates this year? I think so! (You can tell it's football time when I'm deciding which kinds of foods would be tailgate appropriate.)

Southern Giveaway

Just a quick post here:

A Southern Accent is hosting a cute *super southern* giveaway on her blog this week - check it out!

She's giving away the following books:
Suck Your Stomach In and Put Some Color On!: What Southern Mamas Tell Their Daughters that the Rest of Y'all Should Know Too

Puttin' on the Grits: A Guide to Southern Entertaining

Enjoy!

Quick Poll: Vinegar Cucumbers

Quick Poll: Vinegar Cucumbers

Is this a southern thing or have those of you to the North and West been served these on a regular basis, too?


{Image: Apples & Butter blog, which is also a great new read!}

A New Venture & BBQ Tonight!

Brandon and I are no culinary experts, but we know our BBQ... so we've started a blog about it!

Join us TONIGHT at The Pit in Downtown Raleigh for a fan viewing of their Throwdown with Bobby Flay from the Food Network!

http://www.ncbbqtour.com/2009/05/our-first-event.html

A Throwdown of Epic Proportions

How crazy is it that it's been almost a year since sweet tea vodka was making its first introductions into the lives of Southerners everywhere? (Albeit, it took quite a bit longer to make it to every county in the closed states.)

Well it just wouldn't be summertime without tailgates, cookouts, and days on the water with sweet tea vodka now and it looks as if it's going to get quite interesting this year. I can't wait to try some of this myself and see if it lives up to the hype!

Anyone else had the opportunity to try Firefly's newest competitor in the sweet tea vodka arena?



Many thanks to my good friend Tyler for the scoop!

PS - Maybe I should've titled this post "The Sweet Tea Smackdown"?

{Double Post} Tervis Giveaway on Swagger's Facebook "Public Profile"

Swagger Gifts is giving away one of the most coveted accessories in blogland... and no, it has nothing to do with Lilly Pulitzer.

It's the Big-T (24 oz.) Tervis Tumbler (MadMariner.com calls them "Terrific")!!!

These bad boys keep your cold drinks cold, hot drinks hot, don't sweat, you can't break 'em, AND they are dishwasher safe. I'm drinking lemonade out of my "Pi Beta Phi" Big-T as I write this... and getting pumped about investing a whole set of these for the days on the beach, lake, tailgates, and boooooat.

Click on the picture above and go directly to Swagger's post on facebook to comment to win - it ends this Friday (so do it by Thursday night, just to be safe).

When you "Become a Fan" of Swagger on facebook, you'll receive weekly updates on each new giveaway. You should also subscribe to the blog, too - that's where the winner is announced!

Local Produce - YAY!

Ok, it is terrible that I might need to rely on a delivery service to provide me with local, fresh produce when I pass the NC Farmers Market multiple times a day.

That being said, this will still ensure I get to support local agriculture even with my "I don't have time to grocery shop" schedule - The Produce Box.

I would love to join any of the local CSAs, but I don't have a few hundred bucks to shell out right for all of my seasonal produce in advance. This is a great pay-by-week alternative for me! I was so excited to find out via the Lineberry Alliance mailing list tonight that someone from our neighborhood is coordinating this for us.


Image: The Produce Box

The Return of the MegaTicket

It's back!

(Source: WQDR)But ya know, I wish these kids would release the info more than a week before the pre-sale renewal date. Can we give a girl on a budget a chance to decide if she want to save up money for the ticket? /rant

Via today's Monday morning email from WQDR:The QDR Country Megaticket is back powered by Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q!
Go here for all the dates, acts and prices.

Also, listen to win your season pass for summer fun free at Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion by correctly guessing in order all 6 of the Megaticket songs played backwards on QDR!!! And just for you--late this week check your e-mail for a chance to buy your season pass for summer fun before anyone else with a special QDR Country Megaticket E-Card!And here's the info from LiveNation:2009 QDR COUNTRY MEGATICKET POWERED BY SMITHFIELD’S CHICKEN ‘N BAR-B-Q

Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion proudly announces the 2009 QDR Country Megaticket Powered by Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q, a six-show “package” featuring some of the summer’s hottest country shows at Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion. Available only online through megaticket.com, the 2009 QDR Country Megaticket Powered by Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q gives you the opportunity to buy your tickets first for the 2009 stellar lineup of country shows at Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion.

Several different packages are available for a limited time only, and orders will be accepted online beginning Monday, March 2 at 9am, several weeks before individual show tickets are available. The 2009 QDR Country Megaticket Powered by Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q includes the same seats to all six shows.

For more detailed information click on the FAQ button towards the bottom of the page. You can also call us at 919-831-6400 for additional questions.

Renewal Presale begins Wednesday, February 25 at 9am.

General Public On Sale Monday, March 2 at 9am.If I can find the specific info on shows, dates and pricing, I'll be sure to update with those details since there was no FAQ button at the bottom of the page I looked at in Firefox.

Update: Here are the details from WQDR's webpage...WQDR counts down to the hottest summer ever—with the 2009 QDR Country Megaticket powered by Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q!

Here's a peek at who is heating up your summer:
* George Strait with Blake Shelton & Julianne Hough - 5/16/09
* Brad Paisley with Dierks Bentley & Jimmy Wayne - 6/6/09
* Toby Keith with Trace Adkins - 7/11/09
* Rascal Flatts with Darius Rucker - 8/2/09
* Alan Jackson - 8/22/09
* Kenny Chesney w/ Miranda Lambert & Lady Antebellum - 8/30/09

Renew yours or be a first time QDR Country Megaticket buyer click here now for info and make sure you join the QDR Posse while online for special on-sale dates just for you! The QDR Country Megatickets are your season pass for summer fun! Win them before you can buy them—The QDR Country Megaticket back for your partying pleasure! Exclusively on 94.7 QDR!Ok, NOW, who's in?

PUMPED

While everyone is celebrating last night's UNC victory over Duke, let's be honest... both are tops... one was going to win. More importantly, let it be known that NCSU beat Wake!

And in even MORE fantastic news, look what came out today:

(Click to enlarge.)
Heck to the yes.

I have been agonizing over whether or not to renew my tickets. I know what most of you are thinking "umm, there's nothing to consider - get them already", but it's just that it's SO much money. Totally worth it, but still, so much money.

Scout.com and GoPack.com are reporting four weeks of opening at home (ie: half of the season will be warm weather tailgating!), 3 of those being evening games (tentatively), and NCSU vs. UNC on home turf on a holiday weekend.

I think the decision has already been made. Goodbye $900.00 - Hello season two in the end zone seats!

(Image: GoPack.com)

Southern Favorites: Carolina Cup

Oh fair Carolina Cup... how you've alluded me all through undergrad (always being the same weekend as sorority initiation). Rest assured, I will be prepped to the t's and tailgating with my favorites alongside a horse race that many will never see this year though.

Saturday, March 28th, 2009 - mark your calendars people!

I was SUPER excited to see a Facebook update today from the Carolina Cup Racing Association with the following note:'Cupperwear'!!!!!!!

Time to start thinking about what you're going to wrap yourselves in at the Cup this year! Stayed tuned for my latest picks for this season's hottest Cup outfits!!!!!!!!I have a feeling that will make for some fantastic Southern blog posts as we follow along with the mini-series.

PS - In addition to facebook, you can also find them on MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube. Nice job on the social media marketing, y'all!

Southern Favorites: Cooking with Beer

I'm thinking this should be a perpetual recipe post as I know many of you include beer (either as a cooking aid to the chef or actually in the recipe) in many of your Southern concoctions.

I literally laughed out loud when I read "Life is Reed-iculous"'s post today which featured an Eastern NC favorite: Roasted Chicken a la Natty LightSend on your favorites to be featured!

PS - Yes, thanks to this post, I just added the following label to my blog: "beer".

Southern Favorites: Biscuits

I am a biscuit fan - big time. I was beyond upset when my $15.00 Bojangles combo at Bank of America Stadium this past weekend for the UNC vs. WVU bowl game did not include a biscuit. (Seriously - wtf?!)

Naturally, I think this Biscuit of the Month Club highlighted in an email from Garden & Gun (it's one of my inbox favorites - make sure you get on the list) sounds a-may-zing.

I'm also super excited about the forthcoming The Flying Biscuit Cafe to Cameron Village - which I've been told actually does some of my favorite southern staples like biscuits, gravy, and grits (not to be confused with G.R.I.T.S) right! I'll be sure to post an update as soon as it opens and I give it a try myself.
(Image Source: GoGoRaleigh.com)Anyone tried either of these southern favorites?