Running NC

It was a Sunday. October 26, 2008. I laced up a pair of old basketball shoes (that weren’t even mine) that I had in the back of the closet. I took off running down the road. 200 yards later I was doubled over trying my best not to vomit in the road. Lightheaded and gasping for more oxygen than was available, I turned around.

Since that Sunday I have grown to love running. LOVE it. I have run everything from a 5k to a half marathon and everything in between. I dream of the day I finish my first marathon, the process of preparing for that marathon and the resulting pain that is so invigorating. Over the past year I have learned that picking up your life, moving across the country, searching for a new job and beginning that job can have an effect on the routine of running. Unfortunately, as a result, running has taken a back burner to life recently. I aim to change that.

The unique North Carolina races that are available are one of the many reasons that I am ready to wear out another pair of running shoes. Do you want to run down the Atlantic Coast? Through the City of Oaks? Tour downtown Durham on foot? How about start a weekly training run at your favorite brewery? YES! Luckily they are all options.

Let the training commence.

Michigan Blueberries

            When Liz returned from Michigan she brought back with her a fairly large container of fresh, wild, Michigan blueberries that she had picked the day she was to fly back. I had not eaten blueberries in some time. They are just not something that is usually top of mind for me. That being said, I ate them like candy, throwing them down my throat one by one. Of course there are other things that you can do with blueberries rather than just eat them plain. Though that is never a bad thing. We decided to give a few of them a try and Liz took some pictures.

            Blueberry milk. Stirred a reduced blueberry syrup into the milk. You know Hershey’s Syrup?

Yeah, like that, but with blueberries instead of chocolate. Part of me just wants to drink it for the color.

            After I made the blueberry syrup for the milk I was left with the cooked, smashed berry portion of the recipe. Liz mixed that with honey and topped sliced cinnamon apples and added them to a cheese plate. 

       And of course blueberry pancakes had to be made.

       With about half of the blueberries still left in the freezer, I am looking forward to what other  concoctions we can come up with… that is if I don’t eat all of them first.

American Tobacco Campus

            In the short time that I have been in Durham, I have primarily been enjoying the downtown area. Anything beyond downtown Durham and my mind map begins to get a little fuzzy. One of the many areas that I enjoy and that interest me is the American Tobacco Campus (ATC).

            The American Tobacco Campus has been a Durham fixture since the early 1900’s. I am told that before production ceased in the late 80’s, you could smell the sweet scent of the tobacco being processed downtown. Not in a burning, secondhand smoke kind of way, but a smell of sweet, rich curing leaves. Nearly a century after being built, the warehouses were abandoned and left to deteriorate.

            The previously abandoned American Tobacco Campus was repurposed and reopened in 2004. It has since grown to house many businesses, offices, restaurants and shops. The red, brick smoke stacks still help define the Durham skyline.

            

            Burt’s Bees headquarters sits at the north end of campus. The Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham and the Durham Bulls Athletic Park help bookend the south. Immediately east is the ever-popular Durham Performing Arts Center. Live music is played on the lawn underneath the shadow of the large Lucky Strike water tower. The base of the water tower doubles as a stage.

            Looking through windows while walking through the ATC, you will see a variety of businesses and office spaces. Many contain beautiful exposed brick, polished hard wood, exposed ventilation, cement floors and steel supports. The combination of the historic red brick warehouses with the modern urban style offices go hand in hand. You may even wander into the underground corridor where tech companies set behind glass walls and recline in their chars to view multiple monitors. Personally, I would go down there for the free arcade games.

            The vibrant and diverse downtown area is only elevated by the rich history that it has experienced. If you know which windows to look through, and aren’t afraid to press your face near a dusty windowpane, you can see the old tobacco processing equipment. Almost as if you were looking through a window to the past.

Homemade Ravioli

            Recently, I have had an unusual amount of time on my hands. As a result, a lot of that time has been spent in the kitchen. I was flipping through a book called “The Geometry Of Pasta” and got a wild hair. I decided to make homemade ravioli.

            I allotted myself much of the afternoon and decided that I would make the pasta and three kinds of fillings for the ravioli. 1) Hot Italian sausage, crushed red pepper and ricotta cheese 2) Caprese like ravioli with roasted tomatoes and mozzarella 3) Tomato and basil goat cheese with spinach and scallions. The first task… roast the tomatoes.

            A small disclaimer: I very much dislike raw tomatoes. I know, I know. It may be borderline blasphemy. Any other way, shape or form and I enjoy them. But raw? No. So I roasted them. To be honest, afterwards I ate them like candy. Was it because of the seasoning or the sweetness that was acquired through roasting? I don’t know. They were tasty.

            While the tomatoes were roasting, I started to make the pasta. As the pasta dough chilled, I mixed the internal ingredients. I tried to determine what sauces would go best with each. Number 1, a light red sauce. Number 2, reduced balsamic and olive oil. Number 3… whatever you want to put on number 3. Making the internal ingredients was simple. Making pasta was simple. Rolling it out, without a pasta roller was another story. Sweat. Soreness. Long stoy short, I need to invest in a pasta roller.

            Just after I cooked one of each of the raviolis, and gave them a taste test, the power went out. A little bit of lightening hit and then some thunder. No Oklahoma tornado. No East Coast hurricane. Only a sprinkling of rain. Seriously?

            I lit a candle…

            While it was a unique experience trying to prepare a future meal by candlelight, I threw in the towel after I finished 1 of 3 batches of ravioli. I could feel flour handprints around the house. On the candle. On my phone. On my computer and camera. Luckily flour handprints can be cleaned in daylight. And luckily ravioli can be frozen.

Steamed Mussels

        More often than not, seafood in Oklahoma is either frozen or fried. I enjoy fresh seafood thoroughly, but I realize that having it shipped to land locked states in the center of the country sometimes makes it iffy at best. Fast-forward to the East. This Okie is borderline excited about seafood.

        Elizabeth and I have been talking about shellfish for some time. Wait, rewind…

   

       Liz is the primary reason that I moved 1,200 miles from Oklahoma City to North Carolina. Needless to say, she is a special woman.  She is known on the blog of Jeremy and Kathleen. She has been featured on Apartment Therapy. And she is the Senior Art Director of her advertising agency. Long story short, she is a jewel.

       OK SO GOOD. Elizabeth and I have been talking about shellfish for some time. I did some research, and Liz brought home some ingredients. It must be noted, that the look on her face when she walked in the door was priceless. She was excited about the great day she had had, yet creeping into that look on her face was the fact that she had 2 pounds of live, moving mussels in her hand. Where is my camera when I need it? And then... we steamed some mussels.

      

             
            This is this point where I would like to act like an awesome foodie and give you, in detail, the delicious recipe. Unfortunately, that is not going to be the case. Butter in the pot. Check. Sauté some garlic and shallots. Check. Add chardonnay to the mix. Check. Umm... I guess we add the mussels now? Yes. I was blown away by how simple yet delicious this dish was. It may just be an Oklahoma boy getting acclimated to his new environment, but let me tell you, this environment tastes good.

               Up until this point, I have been a stickler for making sure all images on this blog were mine. To be honest though, Liz’s pictures completely set the scene (and looking at them make me want to eat this meal again). All of the images in this post are hers. And I’ll be the first to say that she takes some sexy food pictures. 

            
              Who knew that some butter, garlic, shallots, white wine and some mussels could make for one amazing meal? Oh, and toast some crusty bread while you are at it. You are welcome.