Tag Archives: North Carolina

Ribbit the Exhibit , another stellar way to unWINEd in the South

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Since my mind was old enough to record memories, I remember my love of frogs.  I used to ‘rescue’ the little green tree frogs with sticky feet from my sliding glass doors.  I would cup their little smooth bodies carefully in my hands and transport them to their new home: my red Old McDonald barn with doors that “mooed” when they opened.  If I got really lucky, I might even find a bullfrog.  They loved it there.  Or, that’s what my four-year old mind thought.  After they would hop around with the plastic cows and chickens, it was time for a swim!  I would then fill my bathroom sink with water and watch their little legs kick in synchronicity!  I would hold them and wrap them in washcloths after.

Over the years, my fondness hasn’t wavered.  I am drawn to their cuteness- those big eyes, bulky bodies, their quirky sounds and harmless nature.  They’re not exactly superhero material, though their fly-catching ability and immense jumping potential is pretty impressive. Obviously, there’s something to this attraction as they’ve cornered the fairytale market for years. The idea of kissing a slimy suitor only to have him turn into a handsome prince is not just for the pretty princess, it’s a mini life hint: behind those bulging eyes and big mouth, you may be surprised at what’s in front of you, warts and all.

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All this leads me to the Ribbit the Exhibit, a spectacular display of HUMAN size frogs in a heavenly corner of the world, Airlie Gardens in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.  Set amidst 67 acres of jaw dropping lush gardens, live oaks, ponds, and Bradley Creek, are 16 copper creations by famed sculptor Andy Cobb. Having known Andy for years and my little angels adoring his many unique aquatic adaptations, this exhibit exemplifies his mega talent.

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Fred and Ginger

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fFresh catch

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Tree frog

And these aren’t just your average hop-in-the-field frogs.  They mow, dance, scuba dive, catch butterflies, and even perform a lotus pose on a lily pad.  And if you happen hoppin to be in the area, Ribbit the Exhibit will be on display until September 22, 2013.  Feel free to kiss them….you won’t be the first!

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mowin’ the garden

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lotus on a lily pad

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Brass Band

“Theories pass. The frog remains.”  Jean Rostand

“I’d kiss a frog even if there was no promise of a Prince Charming popping out of it. I love frogs.”  Cameron Diaz

Humidity Rocks!

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Welcome to North Carolina ya’ll!  Please put your hair in its upright position!  Once we stepped onto the jetway and took our first big gulp of wet air, I knew I was home.  Humidity and the South go together like bees and honey, cukes and tomatoes, flies and Chardonnay. The little angels whined, “Mommy it’s sooooooooo hot.”  Ah, bless their little hearts….and we just got here! My hair went from unmanageable to Miss Sweet Potato Queen runner-up in seconds! In the land of big hair, I fit right in.

cukes2We were welcomed with the sweet melody of Southern drawls. Even the airport security guy was nice when I freed Cowboy from his carrier.  “Excuse me honey.  Do you mind holdin’ your dawg until you can take him outside?  Thank you.(smile) He shore is a purty dawg.” He reached down and gave him a little scratch on the head. We are not at LAX.

My friends and my daughters’ friends were circling like seagulls waiting for us to pull in from the airport.  Holding mommy sippee cups filled with fruity cocktails, they embraced us as if it had been forever and a day. With a few apologies for impending rainstorms, I couldn’t thank them enough as if they had ordered it especially for us.  Rain?  Yippee!  Tears of joy! (It never rains in California, the girls don’t they warn ya’). We caught up on gossip, our lives, and tied the two coasts together as if they were connected at the hip.oak tree

I slid into the South like an old pair of loafers, ones I had hidden in the back of a closet.  The air is fresh and clean.  Cicadas hum every afternoon from the live oak trees and people stop by unannounced just to talk about the weather, leave a pie or boiled peanuts, or ask how we’re doing (and they really want to know!).  To see my daughters beam with the same excitement I had growing up by the beach here overwhelms me.  The simple pleasures are the big ones.  Riding bikes in bikinis, jumping off friends’ docks, eating fried shrimp and picking blueberries excite them more than a One Direction concert

dockNorth Carolina is where my heart is; where it will always be.  My toes dig into the soft powdery sand like roots and to me, there’s no place more beautiful.  My years away make me more appreciative everyday that I have this.  It has shaped me into the person I am. I’m doubly thankful that I can see the same joy in my daughters’ eyes.  They are me.

As I unWINEd in North Carolina, I want to give you a few sweet things to sink your teeth into about the wonderful South:

Land of Southern Belles, country ham, and blueberry pies.  Azaleas, beauty queens, pig pickins’ and front porches. Rocking chairs, and NASCAR, sweetened ice tea, ice-cold beer, and the Intracoastal Waterway.  Garden clubs, floral dresses, floral everything.  Long vowels, country music, fat tomatoes and cucumbers from your garden and summer rainstorms and bare feet. Live oak trees, bluegrass, cardinals, bushy-tailed squirrels and the Civil War.  Pee-cans, homemade preserves, and Dukes mayonnaise.’Yes ma’ams’, grits and buttermilk biscuits, and warm ocean water.  Hush puppies, needlepoint, chivalry, madras plaid and pick-up trucks.  Just to name a few…..

Stop by and say heyyy!  I’ll have a cocktail waiting.  And thanks to the humidity and my perpetual glow, I’m two years younger just writing this!bikes

Sending warm hugs and humid kisses,

Tammy

“In my mind I’m going to Carolina. Can’t you see the sunshine, can’t you just feel the moonshine? Ain’t it just like a friend of mine to hit me from behind? Yes, I’m going to Carolina in my mind.”

-James Taylor (NC native) “Carolina in My Mind”

 

“Spend the afternoon.  You can’t take it with you.”

~Annie Dillard

(Hot)Dog Days of Summer

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As if we needed another reason to celebrate summer, July is National Hot Dog Month, recognition for something so great, it’s not just a one-day event; it’s 31 days of pure nitrate goodness. On July 4th weekend alone, over 150 million hot dogs will be downed. That’s enough hot dogs to stretch from Malibu to North Carolina 5 times! And 750,000,000 will be consumed in the U.S. each year! (Los Angeles being the number 1 city).  There’s no denying our love for the pup.

I’m a fan of the hot dog.  It’s entwined in my childhood memories, perhaps my DNA and I’m proud to say that I’ve passed it down to my two daughters. They count down the minutes til we hit our favorite place to get the best hot dog: Trolly Stop in Wrightsville Beach NC.  About the size of a small kitchen, they churn out over 1,000 plump dogs a day in the summer.

The Trolly Stop Wrightsville Beach NC

The Trolly Stop
Wrightsville Beach NC

People wrap around the shack of a building like a giant hug waiting patiently in the hot sun for clearly the best hot dogs on the planet (I’m biased, but right).  What seals the deal is the bun.  The buns are steamed then the hot dogs are carefully laid upon these soft pillows.  Once the condiments adorn them, it’s a matter of minutes before the fireworks go off in your tummy.

553795_10150744611875140_46004845_nI love that there’s an actual National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (NHDSC) a ‘governing body’ that offers insight, statistics, facts, recipes (and more!) about the rolled-up wonder meat. For those of you talented crooners who didn’t make the American Idol cut, there’s Hot Dog Idol! Feel the love and express your admiration in a song. There are no recording contracts, but there is a $250 grand prize to your favorite grocery store to buy what else?  Hot Dogs! Log onto: http://www.hot-dog.org/.

Wanna know what’s in them?  Doesn’t matter! Turn the other cheek er… bun. The pork versions contain everything except the oink. MSG and spice and everything nice. (Just for fun: read the ingredients on your favorite protein bar).

There have been loads of claims on the actual origin of the hot dog.  Germany?  St. Louis? New York?  Let’s just be thankful they did! How much do you love the hot dog?Let’s count the ways. In Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest this 4th of July on Coney Island, Joey “Jaws” Chestnut woofed down 69 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, his seventh consecutive win.  He’s a real Weiner! Uhm…winner.  And did you know that when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth made their first visit to the United States in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt welcomed them to his Hyde Park estate by hosting a picnic and served them hot dogs? (wonder if he used this tactic for getting us through the Great Depression and WWII).

Beer has typically accompanied the hot dog on most of its outings.  They look good together. They go together like peas and carrots. But I thought I’d do a little wine pairing with the hot dog- ya’ know, dress it up a bit.

2011 Esperto Pinot Grisio $10

2011 Esperto ville Venetzie
$10

With simple condiments such as mustard, ketchup, perhaps some relish, pair it with a nice cold Pinot Grigio such as the 2011 Esperto ville Venetzie. Its light, delicate notes of mandarin and white peaches compliment and don’t disappoint. It stands up to the tanginess of the mustard. Perfect for the simple dog.

If you’re a fan of chili on your dog, maybe even some onions, try it with the 2010 Francis Coppola Blue Label Merlot.  This Merlot is medium bodied and has multiple layers of fruit flavors, spicy notes, and earthy, mineral nuances.  It won’t compete with the strong taste of the chili and onions.  You’re able to distinguish all the flavors nicely.  I would recommend eating this dog at dinner, maybe on something other than a paper plate.  Light a candle while you’re at it.

2010 Francis Coppola Blue Label Merlot

2010 Francis Coppola
Blue Label Merlot $17

One of my all-time favorite dogs is the Surfer Dog.  It has spicy mustard, melted cheese, and bacon bits sprinkled lightly on top (I’m salivating).  I enjoy this piece of culinary heaven with a 2011 Rodney Strong Sonoma Chardonnay.  This Chardonnay has toasty hints of oak with lemon and apple aromas finishing with pineapple and spice.  It’s a lively chardonnay that brings out the nice smokiness of the bacon bits.

2011 Rodney Strong Chardonnay Sonoma

2011 Rodney Strong Chardonnay Sonoma $15

So whether you call it Perrito Caliente, Chien Chaud, or simply Hot Dog, this iconic snack is imbedded in our hearts (our arteries mostly), and always brings a smile to our faces.

Cheers to Fun in a Bun!  Happy Summer!

Tammy

Edible names are what drives me as a musician. My next band will be called the Hot Dogs. Chad Smith, Drummer, Red Hot Chili Peppers

The pairing of food and wine is a complex and highly inexact science. It is fraught with out-moded rules and a propensity for generalizations. Sid Goldstein, The Wine Lover’s Cookbook

A hot dog at the park is better than steak at the Ritz. Humphrey Bogart

 

Look Mama! It’s Cheese in a Can!

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Recently, I was perusing the aisles in Ralph’s, as I do on average twice a day, with my two little angels trying to ignore their feuds over who gets to stand on the end of the shopping cart while I push (neither, as I can hardly steer it but I was too damn tired to yell).  All I could focus on was getting my last five items, which were neatly written in my head, three of which were already forgotten.

Then, my ten-year old exclaims “Mama!  Look!  It’s cheese in a can!”   Sure enough, on the top shelf (In NC it would be placed at eye level, the optimal spot) were three neat rows of aerosol cheese.  How had this been an oversight all these years?  “What is that?  Can we get it?”, she asked in pure wonderment. Then my eight-year old said, “I don’t understand. How do you get it out?”  Bless their little hearts. I forget sometimes that my children haven’t had the same wonderful childhood culinary experiences as I did where viscous cheese products such as Velveeta, Cheez Whiz, and Easy Cheese were a staple atop saltine

Golden Goodness

photo: courtesy Lisa Hall

crackers.  Those were the days when no one read ingredients, and that more was better.  I remember my dad opening a can of Vienna sausages (he pronounced them vi-EENA with his thick Southern accent), and stabbing them with a toothpick and handing me one. They were snug in their short little container surrounded by a light brown flavor-packed gelatinous substance.  Their tender smoked taste and mushiness was delectable. It was hot dog pate’ and I loved it! Though oddly enough I don’t care for any form of pate’ today. Go figure.

I let them each hold a golden can and marvel at the sheer oddity of it.  I looked around for a second, I admit, to see if any mom from the junk food protection program witnessed this.  After a few “pretty pleases” coupled with the excitement of holding a new puppy, I tossed a can under the toilet tissue and organic apples.

When we got home, they fought (of course) over who could find the golden can first, similar to the Golden Ticket in Willie Wonka, (pause….Johnny Depp flashback….deep breath…). After I pried it from their little fingers, I pulled out a box of brown rice crackers.  Alas! A healthy snack! After a quick tutorial as to the right angle at which to ‘spray”, they were on their way! Quick learners, my children.  They were amazed at the electric orange color and the crinkled pattern as it left the can. Even I couldn’t wait to bite into that little mountain of velvet tanginess, trying to remember the last time I did.  My ten year old loved it.  Her eyes opened wide and she eagerly grabbed the can to spray her second one.  My eight year old? Not so much.  “This isn’t cheese mommy.  What is it?’, she said with a deadpan voice and languid expression.  “Why honey it’s a cheese product!”  I sounded like Joan Cleaver.

The remainder is in my refrigerator right now aging to perfection in its metal cylinder.

I’ll wait a while before I introduce them to SPAM, (and I don’t mean the unsolicited electronic bulk messages).

Tammy

“Life is great, Cheese makes it better,”                                                                                           Avery Aames

Jordache jeans, Roll-on Lip-Gloss, and el Caminos

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I went to high school in a ‘dry’ county, meaning no alcohol was sold EVER due to religious reasons.  The Bible Belt was so tight on the waist of the South, any notion of pleasure was looked at as the Devil’s work.  Apparently drinking alcohol in Scotland County NC would send you straight to the front gate of Hell.  Fortunately, the South Carolina state line was about 4 miles away and behind that line was a liquor store more than willing to sell to us sinners and minors.

When the weather was warm, we’d grab a few six packs of little Mickeys and baby Malt Ducks and head to a cornfield and rock out on AC/DC, Van Halen, and Journey.  There were few options in this tiny town.  We had already gone through the drive-through at McDonald’s.  Twice.

All of us girls were clad in our Jordache jeans and Farrah hair, reapplying our Love Potion bubble gum roll-on lip-gloss every few minutes because we couldn’t stop licking it off. The guys wore tight Wranglers and Levis and the smell of their Chaps Musk wafted through the damp air. The Malt Ducks were sweet and welcoming. We swooned when Steve Perry’s voice resonated through giant speakers in the Camaro Z28s and el Caminos. And had no concerns in the world other than making it home by our curfew. We made out under the stars.

journey escapeMy palette has matured from Malt Ducks and little Mickeys and there aren’t too many Camaros dotting the freeways around here.  But, given any opportunity, I’ll roll down my windows and blast Journey and I want nothing but an icy cold beer. Here’s to the 1980s, Steve Perry, and riding with boys in pick-ups and hot rods.

Tammy

~ Believe in love. Believe in magic. Hell, believe in Santa Claus. Believe in others. Believe in yourself. Believe in your dreams. If you don’t, who will? ~

Jon Bon Jovi