Hungry Times Two

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.

Okay, so this blog post title is a TAD sarcastic! Beer, raw oysters and clams, fries, donuts and more beer is not exactly healthy, in a nutritional/pysiological sense, but they're definitely a mental health/pleasure boost. The first photo comes from The Brewer's Art, where I spent Friday after work with two co-workers for happy hour. And yes, that IS a pitchfork on the tap, which is appropriate for the beer it dispenses - Ozzy ! I had a Chimay glass of it and a pint of Zodiac ale - most satisfying after rushing a grant application around for signatures, etc. The following day, we spent Saturday in Baltimore for Jason Dick's birthday, the man with the classic quote, "If you think something happened, then it probably did." We met up at Federal Hill's Cross Street Market, where we proceeded to inflict serious damage on Nick's Seafood supply of bivalves. Three Natty Boh's and a plate of Maryland oysters was the start of many an oyster and clam (cher...

I just had a moment. After retrieving my leftover brown rice and veggie stir fry from the microwave, and tossing out the empty shells of edamame I just snacked on, something occurred to me as I grabbed my reusable bamboo silverware . I am eating so freakin' crunchy right now.

Check this out! Our friends Eleni (a-lane-ee) and Joelle own Savor the Flavor catering and have started offering cooking classes . If their Facebook link shows up correctly, you get to see people cooking things from sushi to Italian to Greek (Eleni's family is Greek, so she's got special insight into ingredients and cooking methods for Greek cuisine). Way to go Eleni and Joelle - you're making better cooks of all of us!

Check out my Uncle John's creation - Jack Daniels creating light and warmth! (a LOT of warmth if you polish off a bottle) Can you believe you can get this much from a 1 liter bottle?!? He's got a few more empties in his basement in Gastonia, NC, so if you're game for a lamp, I'm sure he could start his own business making these! On another random alcohol note, Erin and I visited our neighborhood corner market and I scored this unique 6-pack of Yuengling. Some might say there's a thin line between innovation/thrift and tackiness/illegality (is there some liquor law that says you can't split 12-packs and sell them as two 6-packs? Would the beer distributor not take kindly to this? Oh well, it worked for me!!) Perhaps the real issue was space - the shop is TINY, so my guess is that they're packing things in however they'll fit into the place. Our apartment is much the same way, toaster oven and microwave carefully stacked, arranged on top of fridge since ...

I've been making trips to Baltimore-D.C. a lot lately and had a handful of random photos from trips there. First, there were the chocolate sculptures of the Lincoln Memorial and U.S. Capitol I saw at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel while attending the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting (i.e. conference) earlier this month. If he wasn't behind glass, ole' Abe would be missing his head. The same goes for the Capitol's dome. : ) And while we're in the area, let's not forgot to honor Natty Bo', otherwise known as National Bohemian Brewery , formerly brewed in Baltimore (now brewed in Eden, NC, but consumed a' plenty in Maryland with crabs). The former brewery is now a mixed-used complex of shops and housing. If I end up moving to Baltimore, I'll make sure to make an empty-can sculpture of some sort, maybe a motif of crab shells and Old Bay cans would be in order. : ) Lastly, I leave you with a non-food item which is fascinating nonet...