Category

Food

Cooking, Food

Best Shrimp and Grits Recipe Ever!

I realize it may sound like bragging to call my shrimp and grits recipe the best shrimp and grits recipe ever. However, these aren’t my words. These are the words of everyone who has ever tried my shrimp and grits – a regular in my dinner party repertoire. I first discovered shrimp and grits when we moved to the South fifteen years ago. I was hooked! I ordered it whenever it was…

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Europe, Food, Travel

Where to Eat Breakfast in Belfast – From Belfast Baps to an Authentic Ulster Fry

“Northern Ireland has had so little to be proud of that we cling to our food,” our tour guide describes Belfast’s food scene. Dotted throughout Belfast are reminders of the nation’s violent past – peace murals that are anything but peaceful, schools still divided by religious and political beliefs, and neighborhoods decorated with either Union Jack or Irish flags. As the dust settles on the Good Friday Peace Agreement, the world is…

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Eating, Food, Travel, United States

Mall of America Food Tour – Seriously? Seriously!

There aren’t many things that I hate more than malls and hotel food. Just the thought of walking through the claustrophobic, shiny corridors makes me clam up. And then there’s the lights and signage and digging through store racks for something that might look good on me. No thanks. I’ll do my shopping with StitchFix. And hotel food? Seriously? Why eat in your hotel when there’s an entire city to explore? Why…

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Craft Beer Travel, Europe, Food, Travel

Lough Erne Food Tour Review – My First Taste of Northern Ireland

I was tired. The kind of tired you only feel after a restless, overnight flight. The kind of tired where both your body and mind tell you that you should indeed be sleeping. But something presses you on. Adrenaline, maybe? The excitement of a new land? This is how I felt as I loaded onto the Erne Water Taxi for their Lough Erne Food Tour in the Fermanagh lake region of Northern…

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Food, Wine

Congratulations to Zevenwacht Wine Estate!

A huge congratulations to my friends at Zevenwacht Wine Estate in Cape Town! Their 2015 Chardonnay was recently included on the prestigious wine list at La Promenade in the Loire Valley, France. The South African wine is the first non-French wine ever to be included on the Michelin star restaurant’s list. Read the rest of the details in the press release below. I became acquainted with Zevenwacht Wine Estate on our African…

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Food, Travel, United States

Couples Getaway to Blowing Rock, North Carolina

We reached our breaking point. After eleven months as new parents – and with less date nights than I can count on one hand – tensions were rising. It seemed like the littlest things set both of us off. We needed some serious couple’s time without the responsibilities of parenthood, and we needed it pronto. That’s not an easy order when you live a plane ride away from the closest family member…

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Brewery Day Drives, Craft Beer Travel, Food, Travel, United States

Daytrip to Shelby to visit Bridges Barbecue Lodge and Newgrass Brewing

Since our vacation was postponed, Bryan and I decided to treat ourselves to a weekend daytrip to Shelby. Honestly, we just needed to get out of town for an afternoon. As you might have guessed, our destination involved both food and craft beer.     Shelby, North Carolina is about a 45-minute drive from Charlotte, and it’s home to one of our new favorite breweries – Newgrass Brewing. We’ve been crushing on…

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Brewery Reviews, Charlotte, Cooking, Craft Beer Travel, Food, Travel, United States

Kayem Artisan Sausage Food Truck Competition at NoDa Brewing

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited by Kayem Artisan Sausage to help judge my first food competition – the Artisan Affair at NoDa Brewing. Not that I would normally pass up a free meal (you’ve seen my income reports…), but the deal was sweetened when I learned that the competition was between four Charlotte based food trucks.     Each food truck was to incorporate a Kayem Artisan Sausage into…

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Europe, Food

Experience the New French Culinary Adventure

As Chef Sidney Bond of Le Calabash often says when talking about current affairs, “It’s a mad world that we live in.” With terrorist events stretching from Brussels to California to Bangladesh, I couldn’t agree with him more. Yet, as I sat in Le Calabash’s authentic French country kitchen getting ready to enjoy A French Culinary Adventure’s welcome dinner, a Taste of the Loire Valley, I couldn’t feel further away from that madness.     On the first day of the tour, my group gathered…

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Food, Travel, United States

An Edible Tour of Marathon, Florida

Partner Post: The Florida Keys are home to five districts, each with their own personality and attractions that make visitors feel like they are a world away. Stretching only ten miles, the islands of Marathon are right in the middle of the chain of the Keys islands. Traditionally a home to fishing and marine activities and beachside restaurants, the city loves its stone crab, lobster, and other fresh seafood that come straight…

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