Hungry Times Two

I think I found my happy place. A spot with miles of green cow pastures, cool coastal winds, tasty seafood, and spectacular hikes along the shoreline. And CHEESE. Man, there's a lot of dairy goodness there. I'd been to Tillamook County once before, but a longer return visit this month - a spur of the moment weekend trip (aren't those the best kind?) - secured the place as one of my top getaways ever. Named after the native tribe who occupied the areas around the Tillamook and Nehalem Bays, Tillamook County's tagline on its website,  " The land of Cheese, Trees and Ocean Breeze ," s ays it all. Located 70 miles west of Portland in northwest Oregon, its 75 miles of coastline, four bays, nine rivers, verdant valleys and Coast Range mountain spurs make for gorgeous views. Plenty of rain during most of the year results in the greenest of grass, which turns out to be tasty eating for all the cows in Tillamook County. Outnumbering the locals, the cows are th...

Brushing off the old blog here... pardon the dust bunnies. It's a rainy gross day here in Charlotte and I have the day off. I started thinking about what I do when I'm not working like a Doozer. (Sidebar: I tried to find the Fraggle Rock " Work Your Cares Away" song to link to but I nearly fell down a YouTube rabbit hole. If you're a proper child of the '80s you shouldn't need the link anyway.) I miss writing but I think I've shied away from it due to an aversion to more time looking at a glowing screen. I get plenty of that in my daily schedule and with these smartphones we're all addicted to now. I thought about maybe going old school and writing with pen and paper. But I remembered this blog, and the other I started with very nice intentions a few years ago, and so here I am. It wasn't until I cancelled my subscription to Bon Appetit and started getting annoyed by all the food photos in my Facebook and Twitter feed that I realized my ...

Note: We're back on Blogger! Sometimes you learn if it ain't broke, don't fix it. (Sorry, Tumblr.) "I called New Orleans 'a small model of all the best of America' because I have found here a vivid expression of my conception of what the United States can be at its best -- a truly multicultural place, in which all social, ethnic, and economic elements of the society have somehow managed to fashion a distinct and vibrant culture out of the tensions among their differences.  This embrace of diversity is a beautiful thing, when you can find it."   -- Tom Piazza, Devil Sent the Rain: Music and Writing in Desperate America Amen, Tom Piazza. We found it, we drank it in, gobbled it up, and embraced it. Then we came home and wondered why it took us so long to get there. Our New Orleans trip over the New Years holiday wouldn't have happened if our Nashville friends hadn't initiated the visit. Thanks friends, for the introduction. And hello to our ...