I recently went to Taverna Nikos and tried octopus for the first time. A whole tentacle was marinated in a vinaigrette and served with a side salad. It was surprisingly good and very tender. I enjoyed the octopus quite a bit and will definitely order it again. I'd probably had itty bits of octopus in sushi rolls before, but that's just not the same.
Chef Giorgios's mom made a wonderful cake for me, too!
On Tuesday, Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment held its annual Earth Jam in the Bryan Student Center, in conjunction with the annual Majors' fair, which was being held on the floor above it. There were many booths where you could eat bugs, crack open geodes, talk to turtles and talk to NSOE faculty and staff. I even got to finally introduce myself to Jeff Pippen, who has identified several species in my nature photos for me. At the booth for the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science I held a stick bug from Vietnam. Unfortunately, I was not able to convince myself to hold an African millipede, despite Google Earth Evangelist's telling me that she used to have a millepede as a pet. It's something I'll have to work on.
I did, however, have a nice visit with this cute box turtle. His shell was lumpy due to his having an improper diet when he was young. He was quite frisky, though, and was always trying to climb out of his box at every opportunity. He didn't have an official name, but it seems as if J'Kar would be appropriate. He and Kellog the Corn Snake (adorable) were representing the Piedmont Wildlife Center, in Durham, which is a rehabilitation center for injured wildlife. It looks as if it would be a fantastic place to volunteer, too.
At a booth for Snake Conservation Research, I met Pauline, a Northern Pine Snake. She was very friendly and warm from being handled so much that day. Her skin was much less smooth than Kellog's, whose skin was almost slick. Thanks to GEE for taking this photo.
Doesn't she have a loveable face? I'm afraid I'm really rather fond of snakes and turtles.
ACME Food & Beverage Co. has some wonderful new menu items. Last night I had the seafood paella with calamari, flounder, crabmeat, shrimp, shitake mushrooms, onions, garlic and saffron rice. It was incredibly good and I quickly ate every bite. Unfortunately, that means it's gone and I don't have any leftovers. Sad. One of the things I liked about it was that it wasn't excessively spicy. No macho streak in me kicked in, screaming "I will survive this if it's the last thing I do!" No, it wasn't painful at all, just delicious.
My 2nd Most Faithful Reader had grilled shrimp in the shell with a chile relleno, using a local Marcona pepper, stuffed with corn, rice and queso de oaxaca. Peeling the shrimp was a bit messy, but he seemed to really enjoy it. I don't think I'd actually ever tried chile relleno before, but this had an almost delicate outer layer that was qutie nice.
After her usual fried oyster salad, my MFR ordered the two crusted apple pie. I didn't try it, because I was focusing on my own dessert, but she said it was fairly tart, which sounded great to me.
I had housemade rocky road ice cream, which had large chunks of dark chocolate in it. It was very good, indeed. I didn't notice any marshmallows, but several of my readers would appreciate that. I like marshmallows, though.
It was served with a fudge cookie, which continued my chocolate overload with its crispy, chocolately goodness.
Blu Seafood and Bar has a new fall menu and it has some exciting new entrees. My 2nd Most Faithful Reader and I decided to share two of them. He ordered the Sneads Ferry clams and linguine with cream and parmesan. As you can see, you get several whole clams in their shells and the sauce also contains chopped clams. It was very good and I like clams more than he does, so I was lucky to get most of them. Sometimes cream sauces with pasta can be overwhelmingly rich, but this was just right.
I ordered sautéed shrimp and diver scallops with butternut squash risotto, crispy prosciutto and herb vinaigrette. This dish was simply packed with flavor and was just excellent in every way. I was prepared for the butternut squash risotta to be on the sweet side, but instead it was good and savory. I'm not usually a big fan of risotto, because it can be mushy, but this was great. I don't generally let my pre-existing food prejudices keep me from ordering something at Blu.
My MFR ordered the tuna tartare, as always, and it was even difficult to keep myself from ordering it, because it's just so good. We followed our meal by sharing yet another order of the chocolate bread pudding. Next time I'm going to have to try their new side dish, lump crab "Mac and Cheese" with prosciutto and truffle cream. I think it will be great with one of their salads, don't you? I'm going to miss their watermelon, goat cheese and heirloom tomato salad until it gets warm again, but I'm pleased that their New England clam chowder is back on the menu, because it really hits the spot when it gets chilly in the evenings.
Yesterday, I went to ConvergeSouth 2008, which was held at NC A&T, in Greensboro. This was the fourth time the conference has been held, but it was my first time attending the event. I got to see and talk to many tweeps (people I know from Twitter) and other bloggers, so I naturally had a good time.
The keynote, by Chris Rabb, launched the conference by focusing on the upcoming election and how far we've come from the standpoint of race and technology compared to previous elections. There were two engaging panels, which featured Anil Dash, Pam Spaulding, Mathew Gross, Robert Scoble and were moderated by Ed Cone. There were also loads of sessions that sounded interesting and I wanted to be in several places at the same time, but unfortunately it wasn't possible. I went to two individual sessions, one on video broadcasting by Robert Scoble and one on the ramifications of commenting on Science blogs led by Bora Zivkovic.
Tweets tagged with #convergesouth.
Photos on flickr tagged with convergesouth.
Google Earth Evangelist and I visited Anotherthyme last week and had an excellent dinner. We started off with the French Green salad, partially so we could have the lemon tamari dressing, which was one of three dressing options. It also had avocado, hard-boiled eggs, lettuce, red onion and cashews. GEE remarked upon the fine quality of the avocado. Warm bread with a nice crisp, but not too crisp, crust was served.
Salmon Almandine was my favorite of the non-dessert dishes. It was lemon baked salmon with sliced almonds and haricot vert, with a tarragon mayonnaise. The four ounces of salmon were cooked perfectly. Overall, it was delicious.
The crabmeat and Monterey Jack quesadilla with salsa verde and chipotle pepper yogurt was much cheesier than crabby, but I enjoyed it.
Finally, we each had a raspberry cocotte, which remains my favorite dessert of all time. Its caramelized crust, cheese and raspberries marinated in Chambord did not disappoint. It was so good. I finally ate an entire serving by myself without any rescue efforts at the end. There wasn't even much need to clean the plate afterwards. I want another one. Too bad they closed an hour and a half ago.
I went to Sushi Love Thursday night and they told me that they have a new special. They still have the Buy One Get One Free special, but on Tuesdays and Thursday nights, after 8pm, everything is half off. This is perfect if you like both rolls and nigiri.
Last week, I learned about Mount Fuji's new specials.
Are there other local sushi restaurants that are actively competing with each other in this way? Are you aware of any other eating establishments that are having similar competitions or is this unique to sushi, since it's so easy to make comparisons?
Yesterday, I tried out the multi-grain muffin recipe in the Moosewood Cooks at Home cookbook. I was extremely pleased. They actually rose! They taste really good, too. They only have a 1/3 of a cup of brown sugar, so they aren't terribly sweet, which means they should be good any time of day and I'm less likely to get sick of them. This was also the first time I'd baked anything with buttermilk. Buttermilk smells terrible and I'm amazed that anyone can drink it straight, but my 2nd MFR actually likes it.
Tenting is common at Duke. Students wait in line for days, weeks or even months, in order to guarantee that they will be able to claim their spot on the bleachers for basketball games. That means that tents don't look out of place on campus. So what were these tents doing next to the chapel, so far from Krzyzewskiville?
Earlier this week, the tents' owners, who were reading in the shade nearby, were actually waiting in line to claim their spots on the schedule so they could have their weddings in the chapel a year from now. The enthusiastic young lady I talked to, a Duke staff member, was hoping to have her wedding there on October 10th, 2009 and she'd been camping out for several days. This isn't unusual and I've known alums who have done this, too.
Duke Chapel is absolutely beautiful. I have such fond memories of my MFR's showing it to me for the first time, when I was just a toddler. The stained glass the the gothic architecture are gorgeous and I've been to several wonderful concerts there. I've also been to several weddings there and I'm afraid I don't quite understand its popularity for them. It's huge, so even if you have a large wedding, the chapel will be almost completely empty. It's comparatively dark, too. The schedule is very strict, so you have to get in and out of the place promptly. I wouldn't recommend leaving the groom waiting long, so the bride should be pretty sure that he's the right one, at least two or three days in advance.
That said, it's nice to see people who have such dedication and a clear idea of what they want. If they put the same effort into their marriage as they have into their wedding planning, I imagine they will go far, indeed. Best wishes to the happy campers!
More information on scheduling your wedding in Duke Chapel.
Likely due to the competition from Sushi Love, Mount Fuji now has a similar buy one get one free deal on their sushi. From left to right, we got a shrimp tempura roll, a wasabi roll, a caterpillar roll and a rainbow roll.
UPDATE: Mount Fuji now has a Buy One Get One Free special every day and night, except for Thursday night. Thursday nights, all sushi is half price.
I recently went to the El Greco to Velazquez exhibit at Duke's Nasher art museum. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and would definitely recommend it. Duke employees can buy tickets for $5 and can get two tickets per ID. It normally costs $20 per ticket, so now is the time to become friends with Duke employees.
I just picked up my copy of Janson (burning 300 calories) and saw that two of the panintings featured in the exhibit are in my old art history textbook. I always think it's pretty cool to see works of art featured in there, right before my very eyes. While I was going through the exhibit, I was certain in a couple of cases that I was staring at the very paintings that I had studied so thorougly in that heavy tome. I was completely wrong, of course. It was two other paintings that were in there, but I still enjoyed the moment.
If you are an artist or appreciate art, you will love the glorious renditions of fabric in these paintings. I love drawing and painting pictures of fabric with all the folds and shadows. The rich colors used in early 17th century Spain were marvelous. These paintings are feasts for your eyes and are quite literally so when you see the still lifes. I tend to think of them as the equivalent of food photography.
Actually, those two paintings that were in my book are also featured in this slideshow from when the exhibit was at its only other location, the Boston Museum of Fine Art, earlier this year. Also, I did study the other paintings I was sure were in Janson, but I obviously paid more attention to my professor's slides, during class. Yes, I'm sure that was it.
I was sniffling and sorting through some old magazines in my studio yesterday afternoon when I saw a strange shadow on the trunk of the oak tree I could see out the window. It fluttered off, so I thought it must be some sort of butterfly. Today I was doing something similar and decided to get out the binoculars. It was a Mourning Cloak! (Nymphalis antiopa) I'd never seen a real one before, just ones in photographs and magazines.
I went outside and determined fairly quickly that I was not going to be able to get close enough for a decent shot. A yellow jacket's sudden interest in my bare feet hastened this realization.
I called my MFRs and thankfully my 2nd MFR came over and took these lovely photographs. Fortunately it stayed in one place long enough for him to get here, so I was able to tell him exactly where it was.
This particular butterfly has always fascinated me when when I've read and looked at photos of it, because the edges of the wings look as if they have been gilded with gold leaf. I think it's just such a beautiful, elegant and mysterious looking butterfly.
One surprising characteristic to me was its comparatively large size. When I was a teenager and a much more prolific artist, I drew this colored pencil drawing of all kinds of different butterflies. Here you can see that, in comparison to the swallowtails, I did not draw the Mourning Cloak or likely many of the other butterflies to scale. Since my weird blue rays emanating from each one were so realistic, this is very disheartening.
You can see more cool photos of Mourning Cloak butterflies on Jeff Pippen's site.
I've been enjoying a lovely cold the last three days and haven't left the house, so I haven't had any grand dining experiences, although my Most Faithful Reader did make a big pot of chicken soup, which has been great.
I thought I would take the opportunity to remind my readers that a lot of restaurants have mailing lists that can inspire you to eat at their restaurants, cook something interesting or just be entertained. I look forward to ACME Food & Beverage Co. e-mail messages every week and the MFRs and I actually become alarmed if we don't receive one. Chef/owner Kevin Callaghan's writing is almost as good as his cooking. Well, maybe not, but he can be pretty funny.
General Manager Eryk Pruitt writes the Blu Seafood and Bar mailing list and keeps us up to date with all of their special events. For example, they are having a hurricane party on October 1st to mimic how residents of hurricane endangered locations cook all their food that would otherwise perish after they lose power. This party is an opportunity to eat, among other tasty things, frog legs. I think I like amphibians just a little too much, but it sounds like fun. A portion of the proceeds will go toward distaster relief.
I still subscribe to the mailing list for Tayst, which is a restaurant that I went to in Nashville a couple of years ago. As maybe one or two of you may recall, this is where I had bacon ice cream.
Well, they are having a special dinner that will feature Jerebob, a cow that was named after the chef/owner Jeremey and the sous chef, Bob. I'm not kidding. So, if you happen to be in the Nashville area on November 10th, you can pay your respects to or at least pay for a hearty portion of Jerebob.
At our last mini-tweetup, I revealed that I had never been to a Waffle House. It's actually pretty shocking considering how ubiquitous they are. @ayse, @abbyladybug, @davidb and @kitch thought the situation needed to be rectified, so this evening we met at the one just off the I-40 278 exit, on 55. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food, but I'm very fond of that kind of breakfast food. Actually, I'm pretty sure I like all breakfast food. That must be why I skip breakfast so often.
I got the All-Star breakfast special, which was way too much food for me, but I wanted to get a good sampling of what they had to offer. I was told by at least four people today that I needed to order the hashbrowns, which were great, particularly when they were really hot. It seemed as if I needed to order a waffle, since it was the Waffle House. I also got bacon, wheat toast and two over easy eggs. The bacon was really good, tender and flavorful. The tasty toast was pre-buttered so I didn't have to give into my health-conscious tendencies. (Yes, I do consider such things even with this sort of meal to add a little irony to my diet.) The eggs were cooked perfectly. The waffle was the first non-Belgian waffle that I've had in a good long while, but I enjoyed that, too. All in all, it was a fine meal and better than breakfasts I've had in some other local dining establishments lately. I wasn't expecting much at all from a culinary standpoint, but I will be happy to go back again.
The service was great, too. The staff was extraordinarily friendly and attentive. The company I was with, well... they were awfully inconsiderate by making me laugh as often as they did. Couldn't they tell I was trying to eat?!
Talk Like A Pirate Day Tattoo Parlor from Lenore Ramm on Vimeo.
We take the observance of Talk Like a Pirate Day very seriously where I work, so yesterday afternoon my cubical was transformed into a temporary tattoo parlor as we pasted pirate themed tattoos to ourselves. It involved lots of giggling, of course.
I was having lunch with the Picky Omnivore at Eastern Lights today and ordered Mandarin Chicken. It's basically spicy-sweet fried white-meat chicken with random veggies. It was my favorite dish for years. I'm afraid I forgot to photograph my bowl of hot and sour soup. PO ordered some Singapore noodles and I swear it was the best smelling dish that I've smelled in forever. I'm hoping to have more of that soon.
Have you had the passion fruit sorbet at Six Plates Wine Bar yet? I met a couple of other food bloggers there this evening and had a flight of sorbet. Instead of trying three different flavors, I had, yes had, to get three scoops of passion fruit. It was wonderful. It was delightful. It was really good. I also had another pot of French press decaf, which was excellent as well. We spent the entire time talking about cooking and eating in Durham, so I had a very good time, indeed.
Before the puppet show, Saturday night, a friend and I had dinner at Sushi Love. We decided that we would try their 2-for-1 special with individual nigiri pieces, instead of rolls. It's a good deal, but if you get carried away it's still not cheap, by any means. I'd tried one of their crab wontons when a bunch of us got the boat load, so I suggested that we start off with an order of them as an appetizer. I love these things and I don't normally get excited about similar fried crab things at other Asian restaurants.
We got a lot of nigiri. We got too much nigiri. My friend had forgotten that you get two pieces with every order. Oh dear. We gave it the good fight, but we still had two pieces left when we were finished. It was very sad.
I ordered raw scallop nigiri for the first time. I'd had small pieces in rolls before, but not large slabs of raw scallop. It tasted very scallopy. Unlike many things that actually taste completely different when they are raw compared to their cooked state (e.g. tuna), this tasted the same and had a similar texture, but the flavor was much stronger.
We got some tuna, toro (fatty tuna) and some special otoro (fattier tuna). It's funny that I'm finding that I'm enjoying tuna more and more. I used to think it was boring, but I've been eating so much tuna tartare and sashimi at Blu that I'm really beginning to appreciate the subtleties and smooth texture of the fish. I'd tried toro before and was unenthused, but this time I liked both toro and otoro quite a bit.
Did Sushi Love pass the mackerel test? I'd say yes. It was very good, but maybe not quite as fantastic as Kurama's mackerel. I also wanted to try the raw squid, because I'd never had that before either, but they were out. That gives me something to look forward to!
Taverna Nikos had an excellent soft shelf crab and grilled chicken special a few nights ago. I asked to have all crabs instead of chicken. Four, yes four, soft shell crabs in one meal is pretty amazing. I took two of them home and I had them for lunch today. They were delicious and in a tomato and feta sauce, served with cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini and rice. All were good. There were also carrots, but I don't eat cooked carrots, so I'll never know just how good they were.
They have a couple of new desserts, including flogera, which was a very dense roll of nuts and pastry, dipped in chocolate. I definitely liked it.
This evening I went to see Paperhand Puppet Intervention's performance of "I Am An Insect", which was held at the North Carolina Musuem of Art's 2700 seat open-air theatre. It's a nice venue that I'd never been to before. For most of the wheelchair accessible seating, if the person in a wheelchair brings others along, they need to bring their own chairs. There's one almost pier-like area, where I sat, that has chairs and even a few tables, but also had a thick wire mesh to keep people from leaping off. I kind of liked the notion of having a cage like thing protecting me from the rest of the crowd (or them from me), but it wasn't a clear view.
I really enjoyed it. While some parts were more exciting than others, over all, it was beautifully done. I liked the fact that it could be appreciated on various levels in that I'm sure that the many kids there enjoyed most of it, but the political and environmental commentary provided adults with some thought provoking material as well. For example,there was a solemn, yet elegant, reminder of the concerns of colony collapse disorder. I also found myself wondering how the creationists in the audience were enjoying the show.
Note that I'll have to remember that the flip camera did a much better job of capturing a highlight of the performance, given the action and the dim lighting. Other than the crowd shot, my blurry still photos aren't worth sharing.
New Raleigh has an extremely good review of the this year's performance. I will definitely be looking forward to seeing more exhibits of creativtiy from Paperhand Puppet Intervention during next year's season.
