Welcome To Washington, NC

Judging from the parade volume on Stewart Parkway, everyone has their preparations complete and have gone to see just how high the river is.  The local TV stations are there, CNN is not.  This is good news.

Hurricane Hannah is expected within the next 36 hours.  Yes, hurricane watches have just been posted that put us in the direct path of the center.  You need to be ready by lunchtime Friday.  Consider this a full dress rehearsal for Ike, early next week.  We'll probably get 60mph+ winds, and some brief downpours that will temporarily overwhelm the drainage system.  We could get flooding in the usual areas; from the river, rain, and Jack's Creek, it depends on the actual track, the forward motion, and

Mimi's is the latest addition to downtown's collection of eateries.  Walking distance from the boat docks, they deliver within the city limits.  You'll find them next to the Mexican bakery, my Churro hunt (I was successful, still warm and utterly delicious) led me here this morning.  Part gourmet store, part restaurant, with some emergency provisions for boaters ranging from bleach to maxi-pads to block ice.  They have the Boar's Head line of deli meats, homemade salads, smoothies, and fresh squeezed limeade and orangeade.  They have beer and wine, drink in or car

It's so sad, the end of July and already it's the last of the corn, red potatoes, hot house tomatoes, zuchini, and so much more.  I haven't had my fill yet.  But butterbeans and field peas are here, and those sweet matamuskeet onions.  We still have a fall season to look forward to, and the melons aren't done yet.  If you missed the Farmer's Markets today, you can always go to the Petals and Produce store on 5th Street/264 just east of Brown Street.

Cristobal didn't bring much rain or wind, but it did bring the mosquitos.  I don't know if they blew in  on the east winds from the swamps, or if the little bit of rain allowed them to hatch, but they're here!  They're small and hungry.  The bats are having a field day, flying frighteningly low.  I'm wearing blue jeans and long sleeves despite the heat, and hiding inside as much as possible.

has got to be the coffee bar in the parking lot behind the shops on Market Street.  The parking lot runs from Main to 2nd, east of and parallel to Market Street.  See the tables and flowers, it's the door with the Java Joe sign.  They're open from 8am to midnight, deliver downtown, and have music Friday and Saturday nights. They call it "Note's Cafe".

Edenton Melons have arrived at Piggly Wiggly and they are delicious.  Sweet, flavorful, and juicy.  I meant to eat just half, and wound up eating the whole thing.  It was a small one, with a big dollop of 4% fat Breakstone small curd cottage cheese, also found at Piggly Wiggly.  The other choice to go with a canteloupe is the red wrapper country ham in the deli dapartment at Piggly Wiggly.  Get them to slice it paper thin.  The combination of dry and salty with sweet and juicy is indescribable, you'll just have to try it for yourself.

Where I come from, slugs are the fake coins used to gain access to the subway, or operate the wash machine.  Here, slugs are horrible slimy creatures like snails without a shell.  They live in the garden except when they get in my bathroom.  They must be coming up the drain, they love dark moist places.  You really don't want to step on them, it will make a huge mess.  Pour salt on them and their slime trails, they will curl up and die and be easily removable in a few hours, perhaps as long as a day for the big ones.

The early bird gets the worm!  The yard sale folks are out at daybreak, the Farmer's Markets start about 7:30 or 8.  There's the one downtown, at the corner of Stewart Parkway, Gladden, and Main Streets, the other one off 15th Street across from the SECU, just west of Wal-Mart and hwy17, and the man on the side of the road at 3rd Street and hwy17.  We didn't make it out last Saturday until about 10, and though we found plenty of wonderful food, the selection was smaller than it had been earlier.  There were lots of empty boxes.  Maybe we'll do bett

Face it, we're 100 miles from the nearest fresh sliced prosciutto, the packaged stuff loses much in the translation.  I substitute country ham.  The kind with the red wrapper in the deli case at Piggly Wiggly.  Sliced paper thin and wrapped around canteloupe, the contrast of dry salty ham with juicy sweet melon is indescribably delicious.  This week's melon came from Briley's, it was swell.  The Hyde County melons aren't quite ready yet, they should be at

The secret to iced coffee is coffee ice cubes.  This is the time of year that hot beverages seem foolish.  If you put ice cubes in your coffee, you wind up with watery cold coffee.  Just pour strong coffee into an ice cube tray and freeze it.  If your freezer is frost free you'll want to bag them once they're frozen.

In between strawberries and blackberries are blueberries.  In other words, now.  I don't pick my own, I buy the local ones from Bridgeton at Petals and Produce.  Blueberries store well, bake well, and can just be eaten plain by the handful.  I like them in a bowl with peaches.  I like a peach and blueberry cobbler, but I keep eating the ingredients before I get the cobbler made. 

I recently learned that the really loud airplane is letting off passengers when it gets quiet in the sky.  Personally, I have no need to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.  I considered it once and even went for lessons.  When they expected us to jump from 10 feet, onto concrete, I reconsidered the wisdom of this idea.  But if it sounds like fun to you, you can start with tandem jumps first.  Just call the folks at Warren Field 252-946-3900.

At some point on Friday I decide that I've had enough and I go out to forage.  I make a point of dropping by Washington Wine & Gourmet to see what they are tasting this week.  Starting at about 2pm until closing they will give you a taste of two wines, and perhaps a nibble of something delicious.  Their wines are always a great value, and are not available at the local grocery stores.

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