Epicurean Saturday

Today has been good. Lindz and I went to the Farmers' Market (and forgot the camera) as well as our favorite wine store and a store with an astonishing beer selection (let's just say I drank Dragon's Milk Oak Barrel Ale on the deck this afternoon). We got lots of produce and good stuff, so we were quite pleased with ourselves when we headed home. Lindz's back is doing quite well now, so our activities were not obstructed. A selection of my activities (as photographed by Lindsey) are:
I roasted some coffee (Kenya Peaberry Deep River Estate, to be exact). Here I am, cooling it and removing the chaff:
Here is our North Carolina grass-fed ribeye steak, posing in front of one of the most fabulous bottles of wine we've had in a while. It's a concentrated, jewel-smooth syrah from South Australia. The aftertaste goes on and on. If you find yourself in a wine store with anything made by Mollydooker in front of you, BUY IT IMMEDIATELY. It won't be there for long. It's the shiz-nit.
I made mayonnaise from scratch. I used local, free-range egg for it. Marvelous, luxurious stuff.
It was indispensable for this. It's Life Changing Potato Salad:

Roasted red potatoes and elephant garlic from the Farmers' Market, sage, thyme and rosemary from the yard, some onions and capers and the aforementioned mayonnaise. I corrected the color as best I could; cameras don't like energy-saving light bulbs. I coined the name when I had it for lunch at Childress Winery some time ago. We had this with the steak and wine along with corn on the cob. A very lovely meal. Lindz will hopefully post about dessert, her excellent blackberry/sage ice cream.

P.S. I did something else this weekend. I'm drinking it right now. I infused a bottle of Bacardi light rum with as much fresh mint as I could cram in there. Very nice on the rocks.

Goose Family Life

Taken with my camera phone on a wonderfully lovely Saturday. The parental geese hissed at me.

Wildlife

I took a lovely walk around Lake Lynn this morning, and I saw many things. These Muscovy Ducks caught my eye:
They were quite unconcerned with me.

Where did the time go?

Lindz and I went up to Michigan, and I can't believe how fast the time went. I also can't believe we came away with a near-total lack of good photos. Everyone else took pictures, but I was too lazy. Anyway, we stayed at the famed Moosewood Suite and enjoyed the hospitality of my sister and brother in law. We ate and drank very well. One item that sticks out in my memory is the huge pan of orange rolls that my sister made. Think cinnamon rolls, except, instead of cinnamon, you have tart, bright orange zest. The icing was supercharged with citric acid, and the dough was soft and yielding as we tore them apart. It was like being stunned with a Taser of Orange Goodness. Kathy took pictures of them. They were beautiful. *sniff*
We hung out with the family and beheld the two-month time warp which is the difference in foliage between NC and MI. A First Communion and numerous birthdays were observed. I got a huge block of Mild Pinconning to bring back in my luggage. We went to Mecca (Bell's Eccentric Cafe ). However, it was all over too fast.

The night we got home, Lindz made spring rolls (we didn't fry them; are they still called spring rolls?)
And, during the trip to Michigan, I found a couple of Wusthof knives, tip-down in a utensil crock, in a resale shop. They were $2 each; I couldn't believe my luck. I rescued these strays and resharpened them. Here, sitting on top of lamb shoulder chops, is my current favorite knife:

And here is a roasted beet:
How many people can say they live near a pork outlet? This is a rack of country hams at the Nahunta Pork Outlet at the Raleigh Farmers' Market:
I wanted one, but Lindz wasn't entirely sure she wanted a cured pig's leg hanging in the pantry for the six months it would probably take us to eat it. There must be a way! They're a tremendous status symbol.