Salsa Bean Dip

Posted By travis on February 8, 2010

Ingredients1 3/4 cups Refried Beans (1-pound can)
1/2 cup Thick & Chunky Salsa
2 oz Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese
Tortilla chips

DirectionsHEAT beans, salsa and cheese in medium saucepan over medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted. Serve with chips.

VARIATIONS: Add 1/4 cup Diced Green Chiles or 2 teaspoons Diced Jalapeños.

Servings 6-8

Enjoy!

Greensboro Loves Haiti – Benefit rescheduled for Today (2.7.10)

Posted By travis on February 7, 2010

Please read below to find out how you can be a part of this awesome benefit event:

The event has been posted by sam sullivan on facebook, called “Greensboro Loves Haiti”
http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=Sam+Sullivan&init=quick#/event.php?eid=291364021755&ref=share

Location:  1214 Grove Street, Greensboro, NC  (The Greensboro HIVE) – 5 to 8pm.

“The event is a benefit dinner for disaster relief in Haiti. We’re asking for a $5 dollar suggested donation per plate. But, don’t let that discourage you from coming. Bring whatever you can, especially a sense of solidarity

The event will include an open mic for speakers/poetry. People planning to attend are encouraged to bring their own poetry, rhymes, as well as statements and commentary. Music may be happening too, but as of now it’s T.B.A. If anyone wants to play some music appropriate for this type of event message us!

The event officially starts at 5pm but folks are welcome to come and go whenever they please.

Food will be cooked by Food Not Bombs and provided by them as well as some individual donors.”

Food not Bombs needs help collecting and/or buying food by Saturday, the 30th in order to make a delicious meal!

Best,

Food not Bombs

Greensboro Loves Haiti – Benefit Event

Posted By travis on January 25, 2010

Please read below to find out how you can be a part of this awesome benefit event:

The event has been posted by sam sullivan on facebook, called “Greensboro Loves Haiti”
http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=Sam+Sullivan&init=quick#/event.php?eid=291364021755&ref=share

“The event is a benefit dinner for disaster relief in Haiti. We’re asking for a $5 dollar suggested donation per plate. But, don’t let that discourage you from coming. Bring whatever you can, especially a sense of solidarity

The event will include an open mic for speakers/poetry. People planning to attend are encouraged to bring their own poetry, rhymes, as well as statements and commentary. Music may be happening too, but as of now it’s T.B.A. If anyone wants to play some music appropriate for this type of event message us!

The event officially starts at 5pm but folks are welcome to come and go whenever they please.

Food will be cooked by Food Not Bombs and provided by them as well as some individual donors.”

Food not Bombs needs help collecting and/or buying food by Saturday, the 30th in order to make a delicious meal!

What we can use:

canned or dried vegetarian beans
brown or white rice
eggs
milk
fish or chicken
tofu or veggie sausage
butter
canned or fresh tomatoes
canned or fresh green beans
canned or fresh corn
chips for salsa
onions and garlic
drink mixes or juice

anything else is appreciated to continue to help stock the pantry at the HIVE so that Food not Bombs can continue to help events with low-to-no-cost food prep.!

Best,
Food not Bombs

A Gathering of Friends

Posted By travis on January 10, 2010

This past Friday night several of us got together for an impromptu gathering.  It is always fun to see my friends, especially when it involves food, wine and other beverages.  In all, we consumed 6 bottles of wine (3 Sangria, 1 Cab, 1 Pinot, and a White wine – something sweet).  There was baked brie (recipe below), guacamole dip (I will try to get recipe from Kimi – it was yummy – and post later this week), various chocolates, chips and other store bought dips.  After eating way too much we watched the movie “Zohan” funny in a very silly way – most liked it – however – some did not get the humor.

Travis’ Baked Brie

1 round or slice of brie (however – the rounds work better if you are going to bake them)
1 cup of walnuts – then chop them up fairly fine
1 cup of honey – I buy local from Honeybee Harvest
1 shot glass of brandy

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Place brie round in the middle of an oven safe baking dish.  Spread chopped walnuts on top – cover with honey and then sprinkle the brandy over the honey and walnuts.  Bake in oven until the center of the brie is 85 degrees.  Eat with fresh whole grain bread or whole grain crackers.

Enjoy!

Sunday Morning at Caribou Coffee

Posted By travis on January 3, 2010

I think this will start to be a New Year’s Tradition.

Sunday morning at Caribou Coffee (Friendly Center).  It is interesting to just sit and watch people coming in.  Singles, couples, friends meeting for a morning cup and then the families (now I could do without the screaming kids – LOL).

This time of year is so amazing.  Now, granted I dislike the winter more and more the older I get – however – it is still an awesome time of year.  The sky seems to be more clear – if you saw the moon last night it looked like you could reach up and touch it.  And, the food – this is the best time of year for food, soups, stews and other hardy foods that you would not normally cook in the summer time.  I just prepared two wonderful stews a week ago – and will start posting some recipes this week.  Now that the holidays are past – I promise to be better about posts this year.

If any of you have awesome winter recipes please share as well.

Enjoy!!

NC Restaurants and Bars – SMOKE FREE TODAY!

Posted By travis on January 2, 2010

Smoke-Free

TODAY!!

After all the hard work by elected officials and advocates from across the state to pass HB 2.

Today is the day NORTH CAROLINA RESTAURANTS AND BARS BECOME SMOKE-FREE!!

Today, we make history in our tobacco-producing state and join 25 other states that have enacted smoke-free restaurants and bars legislation.

Today, 395,000 restaurant and bar workers will go to work knowing that their hearts and lungs will be protected from the dangerous health effects of secondhand smoke and millions more North Carolinians are now protected from short-term exposure when spending time in restaurants and bars.

Today, local communities now have authority to pass local ordinances restricting smoking in other indoor, public places to further protect additional workers and visitors from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

Today is a day to celebrate!

Take this opportunity to enjoy your favorite venue that is now smoke-free. Remember to tell the owner that you are happy to have smoke-free air to breathe. Remember to thank your state representative and senator for their support of this new law.

As you circulate in your community, you and others may have questions about the new law. You are encouraged you to visit www.smokefree.nc.gov for much more detailed information about the new law.This new website was created by the state health department to address questions about the law. In addition, there is a section of the website which will allow you to report a violation of the smoke-free law or send a thank you note to a restaurant or bar. This website also contains tools for businesses.

You may also access the NC Alliance for Health website for additional information about the smoke-free law, such as talking points and sample letters to the editor.

The Holidays

Posted By travis on December 12, 2009

The holidays come and go before we know it.

This time of year begins with Halloween. Costumes and candy, spooks and parties, and decorations to excite the heart. Parties of all kinds lurk in the shadows waiting for the guest to appear. Halloween can be an exciting time to prepare regular holiday treats in a different way. It is always fun to see if you can create a spooking Halloween feast. And, then the beverages that appear, ghoul punch, vampire wine, and so many other ghostly creations. I hope everyone had the spookiest Halloween ever.

Next down the line is Thanksgiving. Turkey, ham, deviled eggs, green bean casserole, candied yams, pumpkin pie, and stuffing – oh stuffing – that is what it all is – stuffing for us. This is the one time a year when it is somewhat expected of you to eat more than you really should. Friends and families gather together over a four day weekend to cook, eat and drink. There is usually always leftovers for the next day and by the time the four day weekend has come to an end – you have probably eaten enough turkey for the entire year – no – not really – keep it coming.

Then there are all the Christmas parties that follow Thanksgiving. Every weekend until Christmas it’s self – small parties, medium size parties and large parties. Some focus on food, while others are mainly concerned with how many cocktails you can consume in a few short hours. No matter the theme it is always fun to see what wonderful and delicious delights await us at each stop.

With all the food and drinks that surround this time of year, I hope we all take a few minutes to remember that this is the time of year to rejoice in the love that surrounds us all. Make time to think about all people in your life and ask yourself if there is something you can do for them that would make their holiday a little nicer. It could be something as simple as sending a card or making a phone call. There are also those that we come across for just a few moments – the people who are far less fortunate that we are – the neighbor who might have just lost a job – the person who has been homeless for weeks now – or the kid who is being passed from one relative to the other just to have a place to sleep and food to eat.

So take a moment out of your life and give something to someone else. Sometimes just a few moments of your time can make a huge difference in someone’s life. Go ahead, I challenge you to step out of your box and make a difference – it does not have to be a big difference – just a difference.

I wish you all the merriest Christmas ever.

Vacation – Day One

Posted By travis on November 1, 2009

Vacation is always an adventure for me.  It is the time when the kid in me can get out and have fun as well.  And, this vacation was no different.

Sleeping the night before vacation is alway a difficult process – why? – because it is vacation.  After making myself stay in bed until the alarm clock sounded (6:00 am), I rose and got ready.  Completing the final tasks before departure, loading the last of the never ending list of items for the trip and saying good bye to the four legged kids (Teddy and Tira – both rescue cats from the shelter), with that done we were off.

The trip down included an interesting breakfast at the Asheboro Huddle House, complete with costumes (which the employees wore not us).  Breakfast included everything from scrambled eggs with cheese to something that was covered and smothered (not sure what it was – however – the friend eating it said it was good).  After we were fueled and ready to ride – the trip continued.

It always amazes me at how diverse the landscape is in the state of North Carolina.  Traveling from Greensboro to the beach almost seems as if you are traveling to an entirely different country.  I love the pine trees (reminds me of Florida where I grew up) and then you have the swamps (OK, more Florida reminders), and then there are the people – everyone just seems to be in a vacation state of mind – even those working.

We arrive at the beach house – and the first thing is to check out the beach – kind of like making sure it is really there.  Once that has been established we proceed to unpack all – and I do mean all – the stuff we loaded into the cars for the trip down.  After unpacking and arranging we head back down to the beach for a nice walk in the surf.

From there, we headed across the bridge back to the main land in search of Captain Jack’s for fresh seafood for Sundays menu (more on that later).

The menu for Saturday night however included chili with green chili cornbread.

Chili recipe (very easy):

Once package of country style sausage – about a pound (I prefer the Lowes Foods brand)
One pound hamburger meat
Two large onions
Two large cans of diced tomatoes
Six regular size cans of dark kidney beans (drained)
Three packs of McCormick’s low sodium chili seasoning
Two big teaspoons of chipotle chili pepper
One big teaspoon each of garlic and onion powder
Salt to taste

Chop onions and saute in pot (I use a large cast iron dutch oven)
Brown the sausage and hamburger – drain off the grease
Add the seasoning and spices
Add the diced tomatoes (plus the juice in the can) – remember to stir well after adding each ingredient
Add the drained kidney beans
Stir well and cook the chili on medium until it is bubbly, then turn down to a slow simmer and cook for about an hour.

Serve with homemade cornbread.
Enjoy!

After dinner we finished the night off watching the sunset and waves crash into the beach.  Dessert included fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and well the rest of the wine and other beverages.

It was a great first day of vacation.  More to come.

Fun Food Facts:

Posted By travis on October 26, 2009

1918 Weekly Food Budget

$2.50 FOR GRAIN FOODS
$2.00 FOR MILK
$2.00 FOR MEAT, EGGS AND FISH
$2.00 FOR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
$1.50 FOR FATS, SUGAR AND MISCELLANEOUS!
From LIPPENCOTT’S HOME MANUALS
“THE BUSINESS OF THE HOUSEHOLD BY C.W. TABER, PUBLISHED IN 1918

Visiting the NC State Fair

Posted By travis on October 19, 2009

The day started with an early rise and shine as we got ready to start our adventure.  This chilly and grey morning began with a simple breakfast at Biscutville on Wendover Avenue beside K-Mart.

After breakfast we proceeded to the Depot in downtown Greensboro.  Train stations in the South are different from the ones up north.  Here you hurry up and wait (kind of feels like herding cattle).  After checking in at the Depot we had to wait for almost 30 minutes at the locked door that allowed you entrance to platform #2 where our train #80 would pick us up and deliver us to the NC State Fair.

The breeze on the platform was a bit brisk while we waiting for the train which was a few minutes late.  On board the train we quickly found seats got settled and off we went.  The train proceeded down the track and shortly there after Tony and Bobby took off to find snacks.  They returned with cookies, coffee, soda and red pepper hummus.

After a few short stops to pick up and drop off passengers we arrived at our destination – The NC State Fair.

We exited the train in the middle of the road and crossed over to the entrance to the Fair.  We started this part of the adventure with a walk through “As Seen on TV”.  Honestly – live infomercials.  The one most tasty treat that we did discover was Maple Cotton Candy (which we returned at the end of the day for our own bag of this delectable treat).

After walking around for a short period we decided that it was time for lunch.  The food frenzy began with gumbo (chicken, shrimp and sausage), then hushpuppies, apple fries, ginger ale, funnel cake and yes one of our quests – pig lickers (chocolate covered bacon), hot dog, and BBQ.

We saw cows, goats, sheet, rabbits, clowns, weird inflatable shriners, people of all sorts, gigantic pumpkins and water mellons, beautiful landscaping, crazy rides, live music, arts and crafts and yes as mentioned before – “As Seen on TV”.  Even thought the day was quite chilly is was fun and well worth the time.

On our way out of the park – as promised – we stopped for a bag of maple cotton candy.  Arriving at the tent beside the train tracks which was our holding pen for our return train ride – we were informed the the train coming from NY was running about an hour late.  At least we were under the tent (which had sides and gave us some protection from the brisk breeze).  It was most humorous to hear everyone commenting on our delay – you can just imagine how some people reacted.

About an hour late – the train (#79) out of New York arrived and stopped on the railroad crossing  and we began the loading process.  We found our seats – waited somewhat patiently for the conductor to come check us in and then we were off to the lounge car.  Cheese burgers, Cabernet and beer began our dinner in the lounge car as we road down the tracks towards Greensboro, NC.  After the cheese burger was gone – dessert was – yes indeed – the mapple cotton candy and another Cabernet.  We all decided that the train ride was the most fun of the entire day.

With our trip over and the work week beginning we have started plans for a longer trip.

Disney here we come.