i'm back

I abandoned this blog and was looking into how to delete it completely, but recently I've been re-inspired. I have some things going on in my life that just lend themselves very well to blogging. While talking about one of those things today with B, he suggested that I blog it, so I'm back!

First, I have been inspired by my friends/classmates Lauren and Amy to create a Greenville bucket list. This is my last semester of classes in Greenville before I move home for my full time internship. As my time here winds down, I'm starting to realize that I will miss it, and I'm trying to fit in everything I want to do here. This past Saturday, Laura's mom came to visit her, and a group of us went to lunch at Village Point Market. If you have not been there, go! I cannot believe I've lived here for so long and never heard about it. I got one of the specials for the week, a turkey, brie, apple, and cranberry sauce panini, with fruit salad. It was delicious! Today for lunch, B and I went to Met Deli. B found this place when searching for a restaurant that serves Boar's Head meats in Greenville, and Lauren suggested this place to me as well. I ordered a half turkey sandwich and tomato basil soup. Their website says their soups are homemade, and I believe it! The sandwich was great also; the Boar's Head turkey did not disappoint.

Here's what is on my bucket list so far:

B's barbecue*

a Tavola

CPW's

Scullery

Sup Dogs

Copper and Vine

Coffee Shack

Village Point Market*

Met Deli*

Tipsy Teapot

Daily Grind*

Courtside Cafe

Winslow's*

Wasabi 88*

*been there already, but staying on the list for times when we ask, "Where do you want to go?" ... "I don't know, where do you want to go?"

Second, I've been inspired by my friend/classmate Robyn to include a little fashion. She was asking me where I shop, and a couple of the girls even offered to pay me to shop with them.... um, yes. So I would like to post my outfits and list where I got the pieces and/or information about how I put them together. I don't have a working camera right now, but I will see what I can do with photobooth for the outfits and my phone for the food.

ABC

Today, I explore a new topic in my blog: food. This is going to start out as a story and turn into a recipe, so get ready.

A few months ago, one Friday night in the miserable Raleigh winter, my precious boyfriend Ben took me out to a new (to me) place to eat. He had heard good things about the Rockford, this restaurant, but we were shocked to find at least twenty people packed into a tiny bar area waiting for tables. After about half an hour, we were seated at a table in the middle of the main room, and we started looking at the menu. Ben was a little less than thrilled to find that the entrees consisted of sandwiches, and only sandwiches. However, we ordered our sandwiches – turkey bacon avocado for Ben and ABC for me – with sides of mashed potatoes, and we waited. I should note that the service at the Rockford was neither quick nor friendly, but the food made up for it. I should also explain that the ABC stands for apples, bacon, and cheddar cheese, which comes on French toast. I got my ABC sandwich and really wasn’t sure how to approach it. It was a mess to hold and difficult to eat with fork and knife. The top of the sandwich was dusted with powdered sugar, and if you’ve seen me in the winter, you know – I was dressed in all black. These issues did not overshadow the fact that this sandwich was wonderful. In the middle of eating, I said to Ben, “I am going to have cravings for this sandwich.” That’s kind of strange to say the first time ever eating something, but I sure did have cravings for it. The mashed potatoes were delicious as well, and Ben also loved his sandwich.

After that first time, we went back to the Rockford for date nights in Raleigh. We even celebrated my birthday at the Rockford with my great friends Lindsay and Tom. Our last time eating there, we both decided we were finally going to try something different. It had been impossible to deviate from what we always ordered because it was SO GOOD. However, we asked our waiter for his opinion; he did offer input, which was more than I’d expect. Ben ordered some kind of chicken sandwich, and I got the focaccia sandwich. I don’t think Ben liked his very much; mine was good, but nothing compared to the ABC.

Last week, my mom delivered the bad news to me, that the Rockford closed after 15 years. I told Ben that we can’t go out anymore. Our favorite place to go together closed! Ben is especially disappointed that our last time eating there, we didn’t get our normal/favorite things. So, when Ben came to visit me yesterday, he suggested that we make our own ABCs!

Here is how I went about making our dinner, with pictures…

1. preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. lay out strips of bacon on broiler pan.

3. bake bacon in oven for about 20 minutes, more if you like it more done.

4. mix up 3 eggs and a splash of milk.

5. dip bread and cook on stovetop over medium heat. note: you could cook it in the bacon grease from the pan, but I used butter.

6. make Ben slice Granny Smith apple very thin (I try to avoid knives).

7. assemble the sandwiches: French toast slice, cheddar cheese, bacon, apple slices, French toast slice.

8. put sandwich back in French toast pan to melt cheese and keep warm; flip. note: not as necessary if you’re working with a griddle instead of my little pan.

9. dust with powdered sugar and serve.

You may also want syrup to drizzle on or dip in. The Rockford put some kind of honey sesame dressing on their ABC that I have no clue how to replicate. Ben modified his ABC by substituting turkey bacon and adding turkey. Our sandwiches turned out amazingly delightful. I’m so glad I could make this restaurant favorite at home!

below: the setup/process

Ben's modified ABC

my finished product: ABC at home!

the layers

The Help

A few months ago, I was reading Phi Mu’s magazine, the Aglaia, and I found out about a book called The Help by Kathryn Stockett, a Phi Mu alumna. I got the book for Christmas, and since then, I’ve seen it everywhere. The Help is about black women who work for white families in Mississippi in the 1960s. I don’t have anything substantive to say about the book other than READ IT. But at the end, the author included a very short version of her own story about her childhood and the black lady who took care of her, so I will give you my story…

For the first ten years of my life, I was blessed to know Pauline Jones. She wasn’t exactly our maid, wasn’t exactly our nanny. My mom always told me that Pauline was her grandmother, until one day when I asked, “Mom, isn’t Pauline black?” (She was very light-skinned.) My mom laughed and told me the truth: that she wasn’t her grandmother, but my mom loved her like a grandmother, and yes, Pauline was black. Pauline was not actually my great-grandmother, but she did work for my great-grandparents, as well as my grandparents and my parents. She cooked and cleaned for our families, and took care of my brother and me when my mom had to go off. Pauline drove a car called “Green Lucy,” disliked interracial coupling, dipped peach snuff, had a cat named Tina, and was terrified of a thunderstorm. When the weather got bad, she’d say, “It’s clouding up,” and she’d go on home. I blame her for my own terrible fear of thunderstorms. Pauline was extremely kind. In sum, Pauline was a special member of our family, and I am thankful that she was part of my childhood.