May11

Goodies + Wine?

Posted on by
Standard

Subscription Box Saturday: Goodies Edition

Rob and I have declared an UNPLUG DAY today, so this post was obviously pre-written. ;-) Don’t expect to hear from me for another 24 hours…

In my $7 April 2013 Goodies Box, I received…

asdfad

April 2013 Goodies Box

Look closely, do you see a $50 gift card for WINE? This was very strange to me because there was no mention that they’d be sending this! This month, there was no insert describing the products, only instructions to go online to read about the items in the box. What’s more is that this is the same gift card that came in my Girls Night In Cravebox this month, too! I’ll be reviewing all of that wine separately when it arrives. ;-)

As a Goodies Box member, I can earn rewards when I:

  • Rate items in my box. (Bot all boxes are the same!)
  • Write reviews of the items.
  • Upload photos with my reviews.

I personally like to take photos of the back of the product where you can find the nutrition facts and ingredients. Those are sometimes hard to find online and it’s what intrigues me most about new products.

When reviewing items, they used to ask the following question:

In a perfect world*, would you eat this?

* like if calories didn’t matter
~
Always? Sometimes? Never again?

However, I noticed that this month, that has changed to:

Would you buy this product?*

Yes ~ Maybe ~ No

* like if calories didn’t matter

Here are my thoughts on the items from the April 2013 Box:

Celsius Sparkling Orange Drink

(This drink claims to “energize, boost metabolism and help burn calories.”)

asd

This drink tastes like an energy drink, maybe slightly better, but I don’t drink them. But you might like it if you do! A good alternative to diet soda, perhaps.

Rating? 3/5 ~ Buy Again? No

~

Green Giant  Sweet Potato Multigrain Chips

Goodies-Sweet Potato Chips

I’m not a huge sweet potato fan, but I liked the thin chip and light flavor of these!

Rating? 3/5 ~ Buy Again? Maybe

~

Olomomo Nuts – Chai Bliss Almonds

dsa

Ingredients & Nutrition Facts were not listed on this packaging.

I love flavored almonds and I had not yet had Chai ones. I’m starting to get into sweeter over savory nuts!

Rating? 4/5 ~ Buy Again? Maybe

~

True Bar – Fruit & Nut Bar

adfad

Sort of reminds me of a Larabar

sdfad

Like many other fruit and nut bars, but a little sweeter. Notice how brown rice syrup is the first ingredient? I’m not sure what that is, anyway.

Rating? 3/5 ~ Buy Again? Maybe

~

Angie’s Popcorn – Sweet & Salty Kettlecorn

I’ve had Angies Kettlecorn before and it’s the closest thing that you will get to real fair-style kettlecorn, only pre-packaged. I know people who are hooked! Check out the ingredients – pretty minimal.

Rating? 4/5 ~ Buy Again? Yes

~

Zone Perfect – Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bar

Goodies-Zone

I’ve had a few Zone Bars before and while they don’t taste much different from other protein bars, this one really tasted like cookie dough! My only concern is the ingredients. You might not be able to read all of them, but look at all of them! I’ll eat these when they come in my subscription boxes, but I don’t think I’ll ever buy them. There are just better choices out there.

Rating? 3/5 ~ Buy Again? No

~

Do you schedule a day to unplug?

How does it work for you?

What are the “rules”?

What do you choose to do on those days?

Happy Saturday!
Cheers~
Carrie

May7

Heist Brewery Brunch

Posted on by
Standard

Brewery Stop #5 – Heist Brewery

After our tour of the Charlotte breweries the day before, we were all brewed out. But that didn’t stop us from going to brunch at Heist Brewery!

adfasda

I think this is one place Tay and Brendan knew that they wanted to take us before we even arrived in Charlotte. And they knew they wanted us there for brunch.

Now I know why!

We arrived at about 11:30am, knowing there would be a wait…

What I found interesting is that in North Carolina (or maybe just Charlotte or even that particular county), alcohol cannot be served until noon. Forget the fact that, in MN, we pay 9.5% sales tax {plus more in certain cities} on alcohol or that we cannot buy alcohol in stores on Sundays. At least we can have a good Bloody Mary on a Sunday morning! ;-)

Looking around, it was odd to see people dining in the bar area drinking coffee and orange juice. However, when the clock struck 12:00, a bell was rung and servers with readied trays began delivering bloodys, mimosas and brews throughout the room. It was quite festitve! I decided on a Bloody, which doesn’t come with a beer chaser in the south. Rob decided to try a Craft Beer Cocktail. That’s something I’d never seen before! Check out the menu:

Heist-Cocktails

I know some wine connoisseurs don’t like to use good wines to make mixed drinks. What do you think about Heist using their beer to create cocktails?

While we didn’t take a look at the regular menu, Brendan said we could still order from it. But we wanted to see what all the hype was about regarding the brunch here, so we stuck with the buffet.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get many photos of the food! It turns out that it’s hard to take photos with an iPhone while you are carrying a plate. But let me tell you, it was worth the wait!

But here’s a list of a few of the things I can remember on that buffet line that day:

  • Scrambled Eggs
  • Sausages
  • Cheesy Grits
  • Biscuits & Gravy
  • A huge wheel of melty Brie
  • Chocolate Donuts
  • Muffins
  • Hard Boiled Eggs on Toast with some sort of meat
  • Pasta topped with Chicken Wings
  • Omelet Station – I had one made personally for me and it was one of the biggest ever!

But the best thing for brunch could be found at the Waffle Station. These waffles are the best ever! They are made with meringue and sooooo fluffy. I don’t normally order waffles, but I wanted to try these because Tay said it was absolutely necessary. And she was right. Best. I’ve. Ever. Had. I didn’t know that waffles could taste like that!

And of course, there were more items that I can’t remember, nor did I have enough room to try!

Oh yeah. We enjoyed some sangria with our brunch as well as sampled their Oatmeal Stout – one of the best beers of the trip! It’s a good thing we don’t live there because that place could be very dangerous… {In other words, we kinda liked it.}

We left Charlotte that day, after such a wonderful long weekend with friends. Aside from the small flatbread Rob and I split at the airport, knowing we wouldn’t be home until after 9pm, we didn’t eat a single other thing. Such is the way with brunch sometimes. ;-)

What is your favorite brunch food, drink or place to enjoy it?

Have you had anything unique for brunch lately?

Cheers~
Carrie

May6

Charlotte Breweries

Posted on by
Standard

Did you know that National Beverage (containing alcohol) of the United States of America is Bourbon? Yes, Bourbon. We learned this on the Beer Trolley Tour we took in December. We were told that “They” are trying to get this changed to craft beer. There are more craft beer varieties and breweries in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world!

And guess what? Next week is…asdfad

When we visited our friends in Charlotte, North Carolina, it was North Carolina Beer Month!

TripC-NC Beer Month

And, boy, did we celebrate! Tay and Brendan took us on a tour of the city’s breweries. I never knew that North Carolina was such a brew-happy state! First, we sampled some great local beers while dining out… First at Mac’s Speed Shop, then at Mellow Mushroom. {Not to mention the beer we stocked up on for back at the house!} The Mellow Mushroom Beer Menu stated,“North Carolina boasts more craft breweries than any state in the American South.”

Let us compare with some of those other southern states, shall we?

asdfadf

Each numbered black dot represents a brewery! It looks like there are at least 80!

Now check out Alabama:

asdfda

Not quite as many, you think?

Even Tennessee and South Carolina have considerably less:

asdfad

Quite a difference, don’t you think?

Hooray for North Carolina! While breweries are popping up quickly everywhere across the country, it seems North Carolina breweries do really have their mark on the map. We had the opportunity to stop at five of them!

Brewery Stop #1 – Four Friends Brewing

Our first brewery stop was on our second night in Charlotte after dining (and consuming a few beers) at Mellow Mushroom.

This taproom reminded me of the ones that we have visited in Minnesota… Kind of off the beaten path, nothing too fancy, just a garage opened up for tasting. The dog above was just one of the dogs we saw, met and petted. Most of the breweries we visited were very dog friendly. We LOVE this!

At Four Friends Brewery, I had my first Jalapeño Beer!

asdj;laf

Tres Hombres Jalapeno Beer

Nothing else looked interesting to me that night, so I almost just ordered a glass. Everyone warned me that I should sample it first. I loved it! And I did order a glass. {…With one of the brewers in the background, tee hee!} Some said that the jalapeno was a little too much for them, but I found it very well balanced. If you’ve ever read my posts on cooking like a Homesick Texan, you’ll know that I like heat in terms of spice, not necessary overbearingly-hot. And this is exactly what this beer offered. Plus, I had never had a jalapeno beer before… Why not try my first one in North Carolina, of all places!?

Rob says that this place was the least commercialized of the ones we visited and felt more like you were stopping at a friend’s place, who just happened to have a back warehouse where he made beer. ;-)

~

The next night, we continued our beer tasting tour of Charlotte…

Brewery Stop #2 – Birdsong Brewing Company

asdfasd

I like the bird logo. Can you point it out?

Birdsong Brewing is located in the NoDa (North Davidson Street) area of Charlotte. The nice back deck was crowded with folks sipping brews. Inside, we pulled up seats to the tasting bar and listened to some music by a guy strumming a guitar with Eddie Veddar’s voice. I found the ambiance quite relaxing, something people might not associate with a taproom or brewery.

But look again closely at the photo above… They had a Jalapeno Beer, here, too! Why hadn’t I been introduced to these before Charlotte? However, here, I went with the Lazy Bird Brown. I just wanted something different from the IPAs, porters and stouts I’d been enjoying as of late.

Look at the photo above for a third time. I wondered why a brewery wouldn’t offer flights (small pours of samples of some/all of their current beers). It seemed a little strange to me. However, before I emptied my glass, the bartender flipped the sign over to read “flights.” My guess? They were out of sample glasses! Once washed, they can offer them again.

With our glasses empty, we had no problem sauntering over to the next brewery, as it was right next door!

Brewery Stop #3 – NoDa Brewing Company

Appropriately named, considering it is located in Charlotte’s historic arts district of the same name, no?

Building Mural at NoDa

Building Mural at NoDa Brewing Company

This place was packed! We threaded our way through the crowd to the bar to find this overwhelming beer menu!

NoDa beers

Beers on Tap? Beers in the bottle? Kombucha? Guest taps? Where to begin! Eventually, I chose the CoCo LoCo, a porter made with organic coconut. While I would never turn it down, there’s something a bit better about the Kona Brewing Company Koko Brown I had in Hawaii. Maybe it’s just location, but coconut does really take me back to Hawaii, not usually North Carolina! {On another note, the Koko Brown has proven to be a somewhat lucky poker beer for me since I’ve found it on tap and in bottles in Eagan!}

We spent much of the time outdoors, although it had just rained, sipping our brews in the cool air away from the crowds:

Rob and our lovely hosts Tay and Brendan

Rob and our lovely hosts Tay and Brendan

~

We hopped in the car to make the five-mile trek to hit the last brewery (of the night).

Brewery Stop #4 – Triple C Brewing Company

asdfads

Sure, it looks like the night is just beginning as we make our way to the door. However breweries and taprooms in Charlotte generally close at 8 or 9pm. I think this is a good thing. Most don’t serve food. And people need food before and/or after consuming a few too many beers.

The first thing I noticed at Triple C was the TV screen connected to their beer menu:

asdfad

Since Charlotte is the home of NASCAR, it’s only natural that they’d be televising races right next to the beer menu! Since there were two IPAs on tap, Rob and I decided to order one of each for comparison.

asdfa

Greenway and 3C IPAs

You can’t tell because of the color of the table behind them, but these two IPAs were very different in color. Which one did I like better? I have no idea. We were having too much fun… listening to this band {which happened to include an old friend Brendan hadn’t seen in a while!} and sitting at this long table….

asdfsad

… And taking blurry, cheesy photos of ourselves!

We did do just one more brewery… but for brunch the following day. Come back tomorrow to read about our Heist Brewery Brunch!

All I can say is that after this fun beer tour, Rob and I think we are ready to do this one in The Cities. Well… almost.

What is your favorite local brewery and why?

(It just make our must-do list while traveling!)

Cheers~
Carrie

May4

Barkbox vs. Pawalla

Posted on by
Standard

Subscription Box Saturday: Doggie Box Edition

If you read this blog often, you will know how much I… ehem… my pooches, love their BarkBox. Last month, I received a deal to give Pawalla, another pet subscription box company, a try. The special came via email from a deal site I subscribe to called Barking Deals. I thought it’d be fun to compare, although it might not be fair to do so after just one month.

First, let’s start with BarkBox.

This month’s BarkBox included:

asdfasdfa

Groom Mitt Bath Mitt (disposable doggie cleaning cloths), Etta Says! Duck Jerky Treats, SafeChew Biggie Bone Stuffable Dog Toy, Licks Liquid Vitamins, Fetch & Glow Glow-in-the-Dark Balls, Etta Says! Crunchy Duck Chew

This is the first box to arrive since the addition of Shamrock to our family. Since there was only one, I had to find a time to give Sophie the Duck Chew without Shamrock knowing. I tried to stuff the Biggie Bone with peanut butter to distract him, but for some reason, he wasn’t too keen on PB. Do you know a dog that doesn’t like PB?! Maybe he was just weirded out by the sticky texture. Maybe it’ll change with time. Of course the Duck Jerky treats were loved and a no-brainer. The Licks Liquid Vitamins were just a tasty food topper for the pooches. The Bath Mitts have not been used, but I have a feeling they will be sometime during this raining “spring” up-and-coming. The dogs were not excited about the Glow-in-the-Dark Balls at all, but I hoping they will be when we go up to the lake. They float!

Pricing:

I signed up with BarkBox when they were pretty new. I had a great deal if I paid for a year up front. I don’t believe they have a year subscription at the moment, but here are the costs currently advertised on their site:

  • $29/month for an ongoing, monthly shipment.
  • $23/month for a 3-month prepaid subscription.
  • $19/month for a 6-month prepaid subscription.
  • All programs include free shipping.
  • You can earn additional free months!

You can also get $5 off your first month by using this referral link!

Subscribing:

To sign up, you choose one of the subscriptions above along with your dog size:

  • Small & Cute (0 – 20 lbs)
  • Just Right (20 – 50 lbs)
  • Big & Bold (50+ lbs)

This helps them determine the sizes of treats and toys to send. We have the Small & Cute box, although Benny weighs more than 20 lbs. I know that he’ll eat any treats and doesn’t play with toys anymore at his 17 years of age, so when we signed up for this box, I knew those would go to Sophie.

Here’s a look at past BarkBox treasures:

Singles with dogs, check this one out!

Elton Jumped Out of This Box

The Box I Wrapped Up for Christmas

The BarkBox compared to Paw Box

Smoothies, Antlers & Pumpkin, Oh My!

The First Box

~

Now for the Pawalla Box:

Barking Deals offered two different options and they allowed me to choose both! These were the great deals I received:

  • Barking Deal One-Month Standard Pawall Box – $16
  • Barking Deal Three-Month Pawalla Mini Box – $28
  • I had to pay an additional $2.99 shipping for each order when I enrolled on the Pawalla site.

Pricing:

Currently, regular prices for the Pawalla boxes are close to those of BarkBox:

  • $30 monthly for the Standard (Deluxe) Box or $28/month for a prepaid 6-months subscription.
  • $20 monthly for the Mini Box or $18/month for a prepaid 6-month subscription.
  • Shipping is apparently free.

Subscribing:

To sign up, I needed to identify if I had a dog or a cat (Yes, there is a cat box, too!). Then I had to select:

Weight:

  • Less than 25 lbs
  • More than 25 lbs

Age:

  • 0-12 months
  • 1-7 years
  • 7+ years

Since we added Shamrock to the family, I thought that this was our chance to get him his own box, especially since they had a 0-12 month category. Therefore, I went with the Three-Month Mini Box for him and chose the 7+years category for the One-Month Standard Box.

The Experience:

About 10 days after placing the order, I got an email from Pawalla with the subject title: “We hope you are enjoying your Pawalla Box!‏” I had not yet received the box, nor a tracking number, so I sent over a reply. They must have received several of those because it was followed up with a “Whoops!” email that they’d jumped the gun with this adorable photo:

dog

Ten days after that, I received an email for each box with tracking numbers. They were coming via FedEx SmartPost, which I had never heard of before. I did a little research and found out that it’s a less expensive, slower method whereby Fedex delivers it your local post office and it’s up to the postal service to deliver from there. I guess that once it is delivered to the post office, that date is considered the delivery date.

I will tell you that it took approximately one month from the date of order to receive these shipments. And they didn’t even arrive on the same day. However, I am willing to cut Pawalla some slack here. First, when a company offers a Groupon or other deal, they often have a huge influx of customers/orders. In addition, they just offered such services at such an inexpensive cost. So here goes the increase of staff to fulfill these orders, but with less money to do it with. Totally get it.

The first box to arrive was the Standard Box, which is actually referred to as “Deluxe” on the Pawalla site.

Opened Box

The Deluxe Pawalla Box contains 7 to 9 items.

Included

Canine Caviar Venison Canned Dog Food (2), PetLou Monkey Stick, Natural Balance Healthy Bones Treats, Locomotion Dog Treats, Pet Greens Semi-Most Tasty Lamb Treats, Grizzly Pollock Oil

Shamrock took to the Monkey Stick Squeaky Toy right away! He runs around the house with it at least once every day. Sophie, on the other hand, went right for the treats:

asdfasdf

I read up on the venison canned dog food:

Venison

It’s interesting that they note that this food is meant to be a topper because they aren’t balanced for long-term use. I’ve been reading about this problem with natural-food dog diets in the book In a Dog’s Heart by Jennifer Arnold. I did put a dollop in each of the dogs’ dishes throughout the week, while keeping the remaining in seal-tight container in the fridge.

Another note in the book In a Dog’s Heart, is that dog food and treats that don’t have preservatives will likely go rancid quickly. The author had a whole kennel of sick dogs throwing up for days before they figured out that it was due to the natural food donated by a local company.

However, people think that since eating natural and preservative-free diets is healthy for us humans, that the same is the case for dogs. It’s just a fine line. So I just made sure that these were the first treats to be eaten, knowing that the shelf-life might not be as long as the other treats in the box and in our pantry:

PawS-Preservatives

I noticed later there is garlic in these treats. Isn’t garlic bad for dogs?

We haven’t used the Pollock Oil yet, which is very similar to the Licks Liquid Vitamins we received in the BarkBox, but they will be a nice food topper when the other stuff runs out. And the other treats, of course, will go to good use, too.

~

A day or two later, the Mini Box arrived.

Nutritionist

It’s interesting that Pet Nutritionists pick out the items in the box. I question the unbalanced canned food and the preservative-free garlic treats here.

Shamrock was immediately interested

Shamrock was immediately interested!

But most of the contents were repeats of the Standard Box! Why ask what age the pets are if you are just going to send the same stuff? While there were a couple more items in the Deluxe box, I think it’s just the size of the box that makes it look deluxe, you know, with all of those compartments.

asdfadfa

Three of the items were repeats from the Deluxe Box. The only different item was the Oatmeal Shampoo.

asdf

Shamrock immediately recognized the Monkey Stick and promptly pulled it from the box!

However, we really don’t need two of the same toy, so I traded him with the first one and plan to give the new one to another dog lover.

~

The verdict is still out on which box we like better. We still have 2 more months of the Mini Pawalla Box on its way!

Pawalla claims the following about their boxes:

  • 4-5 premium full-size products (7-9 for the deluxe box)
  • Treats, a toy and surprise item(s), no wet food {Wait. Didn’t I receive wet food in the Deluxe Box?}
  • All natural or organic
  • Hand-selected and reviewed by a Pet Nutritionist
  • Free shipping

BarkBox claims the following:

  • “Every month you will receive a box in the mail with four or more carefully selected products and presents for your dog – anything from toys, bones and all-natural treats to hygiene products and innovative new gadgets!”
  • “A portion of proceeds from each box will go to help doggies-in-need.” (In fact, 10% from every box goes to a rescue group!)

What is not mentioned here about BarkBox is the quality of the products. They are very careful to include only products that are safe for your pets – free from dyes, materials or ingredients that are harmful. Each product is labeled carefully, so I can attest to this.

One other thing I love about BarkBox is that I get a newsletter every month from Scout, their resident pooch who tests out all treats and toys. (Not a bad gig!) The newsletter often includes links to a whole slew of cute dog photos and GIFs. They make my day when I’m feeling blue! My husband said the other day that he had heard that watching fish swim about in a fish tank can help reduce stress and lower blood pressure. As Sophie and Shamrock were playing for a half-hour straight, he said he thought the same thing could be said about pooches playing. No wonder why cute doggie photos cheer me up!

What cheers you up or helps you wash away stress?

Cheers~
Carrie

May3

How Mellow Are Those Mushrooms?

Posted on by
Standard

While BBQ sauce is something I didn’t grow up with, and it took until approximately 15 years after college to find one I like, mushrooms are another story. I did grow up with them.

And I hated them.

However, they were the canned kind. The slimy ones that have that distinct smell. Ewwwwww! Whenever we’d have frozen pizzas in our house, my mom would amp one of them up, even if it was already a pizza with “the works” on it. She’d add fresh onions, fresh green peppers, canned mushrooms and extra thick slices of cheddar cheese on top. It was for this reason that I always thought I hated mushrooms! Although, thinking back, adding that fresh stuff and extra cheese was such a creative and easy way for a full-time working mom to better a frozen pizza. Too this day, I love fresh onions, fresh green peppers and thick slices of cheddar cheese!

I’m not sure when in my adult life that I discovered that I absolutely love mushrooms. All I know is that the discovery was made when I had fresh ones… when they were sauteed in olive oil and imparted such a wonderful earthy, sometimes even meaty, flavor. To this day, I’ve been known to ask that they’d be added to pasta dishes, even if they aren’t already in the dish. They happily oblige at Sul Lago, a fave local restaurant of ours, where they stock more than just your average button.

And when I order pizza now,  I always order mushrooms as one of the toppings. But I always ask, first, if those mushrooms are fresh!

~

Side note: A couple of years ago, at a local pizza place, I asked if they had fresh mushrooms. The server said, “Yes, we can do that!” When my pizza arrived, it had raw mushrooms on the top. The server was so proud. She said, “Good. They put the mushrooms on fresh at the end for you!” I didn’t have the heart to tell her what I really meant. ;-) Now I ask if the mushrooms on hand are fresh or canned.

~

So, when we were visiting friends in Charlotte, North Carolina, last weekend, and they mentioned that their favorite pizza place was called Mellow Mushroom, Rob and I were on board! Yes, this place is a chain, but mostly in The South and nowhere near where we live. Anyone want to sponsor us so we can open up a franchise hear in the Midwest? ;-)

Mellow mushroom

Mellow Mushroom has a sort of psychedelic feel, even though they don’t serve that kind of mushroom!

The first thing that was of note to us was their extensive beer list:

asdf

I first tried the Triple C Brewing Cajun Stout. I liked the little kick of cayenne in the finish. It was unique, but not overpowering. There were a lot of new-to-us beers to try that night! In fact, I learned something new. Check out the note on the side:

ha;dlj

We soon learned about all of these craft breweries in North Carolina! Stay tuned next week….

There were also unique-to-us southern cocktails on the menu:

If

Cocktails with Moonshine? If I wasn’t too busy trying beers, I would have tried the Reggae Moon or the Bloody Moon!

The four of us started with an appetizer:

Muffaletta

Muffaletta Cheese Bread - French bread topped with freshly made three-olive tapenade, melted mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and baked.

We decided we would also try share two medium pizzas. To decide, Tay and Brendan told us that their latest favorite was the Holy Shitake Pie. After we read the description, it was a no-brainer that that one would be our favorite too!

holy

Holy Shitake Pie – Olive oil and garlic base with Shiitake, button and Portobello mushrooms, carmelized onions, mozzarella and Montamore cheeses and drizzled with garlic aioli and black truffle oil, garnished with fresh chives and shaved Parmesan. Duh!

Brendan also suggested that to even things out that we order our second pizza with protein. Good idea. We decided on:

meat

The Mighty Meaty – Red sauce based with mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, ham and Applewood smoked bacon.

Oh. Dear. God. Were these pizzas delightful. Tay had mentioned that the crust was out-of-this-world. However, when she said that it was a whole wheat, I knew Rob would be skeptical. In fact, if I’m using whole wheat pasta, I don’t tend to tell Rob, because he’ll have the preconceived idea that he won’t like it. So I was ecstatic when he agreed with me that this is probably one of the best pizza crusts that either of us had ever had! We can’t stop thinking about that Holy Shiitake Pie.

We thought back to what our favorite pizza place would be in the Twin Cities and nothing in particular crossed our minds! Isn’t that sad?

We want more! (I keep thinking of that AT&T commercial where that little girl wants MORE!) All I can say… is that Tay and Brendan have great tastes and really know where to take out-of-town guests!

What is your favorite local pizza joint?

Name something you eat now that you didn’t like as a kid.

Cheers~
Carrie

May2

BBQ – A Confession

Posted on by
Standard

I have a confession to make….

…

I don’t like barbecue sauce.

I know. Gasp. I live in America. For many Americans, it’s the essence of summer. {Although I’m not feeling very summerish around these parts with snow in May.} And since I write a blog titled Season It Already!, you’d think I’d have the best sauce to recommend!

I could blame it on the fact that I didn’t grow up with it. Our cookouts included hamburgers, hotdogs, potato chips and potato or noodle salad. If we were really lucky, we’d have a yummy steak on the grill.

But that probably isn’t why I don’t like barbecue sauce. I mean, my brother, who grew up in the same household as I did, loves it. And there are plenty of things that I didn’t really grow up eating that I adore now: asparagus, spinach, shrimp, scallops and black beans, just to name a few.

I’d  rather have a burger or fried chicken any day over barbecued chicken, barbecue pulled pork or baby back ribs slathered in the sauce. I don’t detest the stuff completely. I just choose not to order or eat it. I guess it’s kind of like me and ketchup. And that I loved as a kid, but I rarely use it now.

So when pondering why I don’t like the stuff I came up with the following:

  • It’s often too sweet.
  • If not, it’s too tangy. {Likewise, I prefer my cucumbers plain rather than marinated in that vinegary concoction people seem to love.}
  • I don’t like the smokiness. {I don’t like smoky flavors in general. Okay, now I’m really wondering if the title of my blog is appropriate.}

All of that being said…

I found one that I really enjoyed last weekend!

We were lucky to be visiting some friends in Charlotte, North Carolina. Immediately after picking us up from the airport Thursday evening, they took us to one their favorite barbecue joints: Mac’s Speed Shop – Beer, Bikes and BBQ.

First, Rob fell in love with the beer list.

Mac's

Mac’s Speed Shop Draft Beer List – April 2013

While he sipped some beers that he’s never/rarely been able to enjoy on tap {i.e Southern Tier Crème Brûlée Stout!}, I stuck to trying the local ones. {Little did I know that we’d be checking out some of these breweries throughout the weekend! More on that to come.}

While the rest of the crew ordered Pulled Pork BBQ, I chose the Beer Can Chicken:

bEER cAN

Beer Can Chicken (1/4) with collard greens, mac & cheese and Texas toast

This chicken was moist and juicy. I loved it! The sauce on the side was the VTX Chipotle. I chose it because it was said to be spicy, but it was still too smoky for me. The collard greens and mac and cheese here were just an afterthought compared to that perfect chicken.

Little did I know, the Pulled Pork BBQ didn’t actually come with any barbecue sauce on it. Apparently, in Carolina, they like to cook their meats low and slow to infuse a smokiness into the meat and the sauce is added later. If only this photo would have turned out a little clearer. I was more focused on visiting and catching up with our friends than taking stellar photos.

Pulled pork

Pulled Pork BBQ with onion rings, mac & cheese and Texas toast

The pulled pork was excellent. It reminded me of a great one that we get at Costco, but better, of course, because it was just cooked. This is a bit of smokiness that I don’t mind! {Are you confused yet?}

And that photo doesn’t depict the batter/breading on those onion rings well enough. My husband knows that I’m not a fan of onion rings. He always wants me to try his and I decline. They just aren’t worth it to me. I love onions, but I want to taste onion, not just batter with something slimy in the middle.

But I grabbed one of these onion rings off of his plate.

Why? Because you could see the spices in the batter! It looked really good – like the coating on good fried chicken {which he has never had, so he doesn’t know what he is missing!} And that is exactly what these tasted like! These are onion rings I would not only eat, but I would order.

Then there was an accompaniment of sauces on the table that you could pour onto your meat. I tried a couple, and found one that I liked so much that I dumped more and more on my plate for which to dip my chicken!

Mac's

This Carolina BBQ Sauce has won me over!

I texted that photo to my friend Jen, and knowing full well my disdain for the sauce, her response was, “There’s hope for you yet!”

What makes it Carolina BBQ sauce and why I liked it, I have no idea. Okay, so I have some idea. When I google “Carolina BBQ sauce”, it appears that the Carolina stuff is mustard and vinegar based as opposed to many ketchup and molasses based sauces.

However, one of the other sauces we tried at Mac’s was the SC Mustard Sauce, which was very different and much more mustardy. So now I’m a little confuzzled. I think what I liked about this sauce was not only that it was balanced {not too sweet, not too tangy}, but also that it had a little kick at the end! {Or maybe it was just all ambiance and the fact that I was in Carolina!}

I was so turned around by that sauce that while we were out shopping one day around Charlotte, our friend Brendan pointed out this sauce and said that if we are going to take one back with us, we needed to get this one:

I bought a bottle of bbq sauce!

And so I did. Jaw dropping yet? This one looks like it will be different than the one I loved because it is sorghum-based, so I think it’ll be sweeter. Still, this Carolina trip opened my mind. I’m willing to try. When we cook with it, I’ll post the results! Aren’t you proud of me?!

Thanks, Tay and Brendan for a wonderful introduction to Charlotte!

What is your favorite BBQ Sauce?

The sharing of brands, styles and recipes is encouraged!

Cheers~
Carrie

May1

Paleo Penpal

Posted on by
Standard

Yesterday was Foodie Penpal Reveal Day. I posted on the tasty package full of goodies that I received. However, the gal to whom I shipped doesn’t have a blog, so I offered to have her post what she received.

Before shopping and shipping I always ask if my recipient has any dietary restrictions and/or allergies and if there is anything they typically love or hate. This month, I learned that Brissa is a follower of the Paleo lifestyle. It was fun for me to learn more about the practice! I’ve also been following a few blogs lately written by Paleo followers and those giving Whole30 a try. I stole some of their favorites and ideas to send her. ;-)

~

Hello!

My wonderful April Foodie Pen Pal was Carrie from SeasonItAlready.com.

She wrote an awfully nice card with instructions on how to make some amazing spicy almonds!

In my goodie box I received: an assortment of teas, coconut milks (I am a Paleo lifestyler), organic tomatoes, some of her homemade spicy almonds, and coconut butter. Yum! I’ve been keeping my almonds in my tote and pop them out any time I need a snack! Thank you for this again, Carrie, it was thoughtful of you to learn something new for me in regards to Paleo! -Brissa <3

Paleo PP

~

You are welcome, Brissa!

Readers, are any of you following a Whole30 or Paleo regimen?

If so, what is your favorite compliant food?

Cheers~
Carrie