Hungry Times Two

I've had a cold the last week, and no sleep. I'm aiming for total sleep tonight, so it's a Hot Toddy with a chaser of nighttime cold medicine. And yes, that decanter is full of the original sleep aide/cold medicine - BOURBON.

What a coincidence. The very weekend my post on honey and its many cure-alls hits the DC-based  blog We The Eaters , the cold crud hits our house. Scott's got a sore throat and I'm feeling achy and slightly off-kilter. Yay. My contribution lists five ways to use the sweet stuff --  methinks Number 1, the hot toddy,  will be indispensable this week. Bourbon and honey -- now that's comforting.

You know when you own too much of something and you make a promise you won't buy any more of it? Some women do this with shoes or scarves or pretty sparkly jewelry. My problem purchases: pottery. So it's no real surprise that when I traveled to Seagrove, NC on my day off on Monday with my lovely mother -- who's no shopping slouch herself -- that I would return with goodies. It had to happen. Conditions were perfect. Seagrove, located in the Middle of Nowhere, NC, or south of Asheboro (yup, out in B.F.E.), is a pottery mecca.   Only 228 people live there (according to the 2010 Census) yet it's home to over 100 potteries, many of whom date back eight or nine generations. It's really beautiful stuff for the most part -- maybe the exception is the popular face jug. Below is a practical pottery item I just had to have: a bowl handy for soup, large cups of coffee, etc. It's made with Yuengling Beer bottles by Lantern Hill Pottery . Check out this adorable ...

That's carrots and eggs for all you gringos who aren't into practicing your Spanish.  We harvested a handful of  Scarlet Nantes carrots from our garden recently, so here's the harvest.  Erin botched up the French pronunciation (she said "nan-tees", correct is "non-t" with super-soft French hint of "t"), so we had a good laugh at that.  And I, of course, am not a French speaker, and have been known to say "Salad Nick-o-zee" for Salad Nicoise - ain't nobody perfec t. Also, here's a side-by-side comparison of grocery store brown egg vs. a backyard heirloom egg.  We got the heirloom egg as $1-change on a table we bought from a guy in Matthews, NC, the southeast suburban edge of Charlotte.  Aren't country purchases the best?

The last great chestnut trees of the Southern Appalachians died off by the 1950s, but they're coming back with the help of Dolly Parton .  Yes, that's right.  Our Lady of Seviersville just put out a song on the American Chestnut Foundation (ACF) website. And what's this got to do with food?  Roasted chestnuts are a human treat and they're a valuable food source for wildlife as well .  That, plus the fact that chestnuts were often referred to as "Redwoods of the East" for their massive size and rot-resistant lumber.  Here's hoping the ACF will pull off the restoration of this valuable tree, some of which I hope to see on future hikes in the Appalachians.

Looking to open a restaurant or food truck? Look in East Charlotte! The area's got these two interesting resources and could use the investment. Food truck depot and Penny's pimento cheese producer Chef store

Meatloaf.  Mashed potatoes.  Chicken soup. Anything sweet.  These are all comfort foods that we seek when we're cold, sad, stressed or otherwise unsettled.  I sought comfort food Tuesday night, as I'd found out my mom had a stroke on Monday.  The stroke was mild, and she's been in good hospital care this week, even walking around, reading books, and doing all sorts of other tests, proving she's still ticking. Still, as with anything "Sudden and Medical," the situation's got me a bit on edge, which brings me back to comfort foods. I was anxious Tuesday night and decided I needed to get OUT of the house, so Erin and I took a trip to Common Market , a most uncommon market in Plaza-Midwood .  Looking around for something sweet, I found two of my favorite things: chocolate milk and a cookie. Why have regular milk with a cookie when you can have chocolate milk ... mmm.  And keeping with the comfort theme, the chocolate milk was a drink-box - nothing turns ...

Just a few quick things here, related to our new subscription to Cooking Light. 1)  Scott made this chickpea curry while I was out of town for work this week. I had the leftovers for lunch today and was all about it. We're trying to eat veg at home this year, and it's not too hard (well, not if you go out for BBQ when you need to. But don't go here . I discovered on Monday eve. that they do weird mess to their sauce. Too sweet! Icky.) 2) This recipe for curing boring breakfast toast resulted in a Nutella purchase. Uh oh. Danger danger. Never mind that as I type this, I'm dipping dark sourdough pretzels in the chocolate goodness. And smearing it over my laptop keys. Crud. 3) That is all for Cooking Light shout outs. But you need to get acquainted with this French Yogurt Cake from Bon Appetit. It's lemony, it's not too heavy, and it contains Greek yogurt so you can feel better about the whole deal when you pair it with chocolate or vanilla  Haagen-Dazs...