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.

Fullsteam Brewery

            
             In my humble opinion, COOP Ale Works is a high point in the limited selection of Oklahoma craft beers. On COOP cans you can find an inconspicuous note that reads OK+COOP=AWESOME. I would tend to agree.
 
             Well before I departed OKC, through the magic of the internet and word of mouth, I had heard about Fullsteam Brewery in Durham, NC. As a result, visiting Fullsteam was on the short list of things to do when I first moved to Durham. I was very much looking forward to seeing what was behind the heavy red, sliding door marked with a large, inverted F.

             Stepping through the threshold of the heavy, sliding door I imagined seating to accommodate the crowd of people that overflowed onto the front patio. I was pleasantly surprised to see a ping-pong tournament taking place on two tables. Making the way through the tournament spectators, another room opened up with seating, a stage for performances and a jukebox filled with great music. Half of the music listed was local. To be honest, we played Warpaint just because we could. The back wall was all glass, giving a full view into the room where the magic happens. The large stainless steel brewing equipment almost joins you in having a drink.  

             In the bar area, large chalkboards hang on the brick wall, listing the selections for the day. Southern Lager, Rocket Science IPA and Carver Sweet Potato are reliable fixtures. Fullsteam’s mission is to  “…create a distinctly Southern beer style that celebrates the culinary and agricultural heritage of the South.” Seasonally, Fullsteam offers Summer Basil and Hogwash Hickory-Smoked Porter, in addition to others. You can't go wrong with any of them.

             I have only been able to call Durham home for a short period of time. Nonetheless, I still seem to appreciate something different every time I visit Fullsteam. They feature community foraged beer, utilizing foraged fruits. Pears. Persimmons. For crying out loud, they have basil and tomatoes growing in the alley. If you are hungry at Fullsteam, you have options. Local cheese. Local tamales. Local cookies. The list goes on, yet remains local. One of my favorite food offerings (possibly because for me it is a bit nostalgic) is not necessarily local. “A tribute to the Southern tradition of a RC Cola and a Moon Pie.” Fullsteam carries Moon Pies to accompany their Working Man’s Lunch beer. A new Southern tradition I say. Eat a Moon Pie and feel like a kid again (at least that is what I feel like when I eat a Moon Pie)… Albeit a kid with an adult beverage.

             Fullsteam doesn’t just stay behind the heavy red, sliding door. As well as engaging the community with foraged concoctions, they also partner with community restaurants to create “Beer Dinners”, pairing the proper plate with the proper portion of local beer.

             Initially, I was a little disappointed to leave COOP behind in OKC... Even going as far as bringing some East with me. The disappointment has definitely been replaced by the excitement and pride that I can exhibit in my new hometown brewery, Fullsteam. Cheers.