Lexington Barbeque Festival

Today is the 26th Annual Lexington Barbeque Festival in Lexington, North Carolina. It is a huge street festival that takes up about 2o or so blocks of downtown Lexington, the self-proclaimed "Barbeque Capital of the World". Here are a few photos from earlier this afternoon.

First, if you feel the swine flu coming on, you may need one of these shirts.


I never heard of a collard sandwich before. The couple in the picture must have thought I wanted their picture, since they stopped to pose. Then a guy walked in front of them.

1927 Pontiac

1949 Ford in cherry condition

Grill & hood ornament of a Hudson Terraplane auto

General Johnson and The Chairmen of the Board did a great set of Carolina Shag Beach Music

Wish they all could be Carolina girls...NOT!

Amazing sand sculpture of a haunted house

Davidson Covnty Covrt Hovse...faux Latin gives it a real touch of faux class

It is a barbeque festival after all...so let's partake!

Two buns on top when you open up, and under the foil, red slaw and barbeque pig! MMMmmmm!

A Quintessential Carolina Barbeque Joint

Yesterday, some delicious Carolina barbeque was the lunch pick of the day. Off to find Gary's Barbeque, a quintessential barbeque joint in China Grove, North Carolina. The barbeque pork plate was some slow smoked, chopped pork; a baked potato, the distinctive red Carolina barbeque slaw, a slice of tomato, and three delicious hush puppies. The sauces available were a sweet and smoky sauce of about a ketchup consistency. Very good. There was also a vinegar-based sauce that was very thin by comparison, but oh so tasty. To drink the North Carolina favorite soft drink, Cheerwine, was perfect with the barbeque. Cheerwine tastes something like a cherry Dr Pepper, but not quite. We were too full to order dessert, but our waitress brought out a generous "taste" of their homemade banana pudding.

This is my kind of place. I am not a fan of chain restaurants if I have a local eatery available.

You Want Sweet Tea, Shugah?

I can tell that I am in The South. Since I have been back in Charlotte, I have never seen so many biscuits. Yes, I do love biscuits, but they are in great abundance here, and with most every meal. You want fried food? No problem! As for ordering tea, the default here is "Sweet Tea", and man is it ever sweet. They sugar it up 'til it is very sweet. If I get it, I try to mix unsweetened tea to cut the sweetness down.

Oh yes, speaking of sugar, one must get used to it. The female waitstaff at just about every restaurant will call you "shugah", sweetie, or honey. I do declare, such Southern charm. :-)

Food Oddities & Miracle Cheetos

Here are some odd and miraculous food items I found in my kitchen. I did make one narration mistake...Rodney King's beating was not associated with the O.J. Simpson trial, but I am too lazy to redo the soundtrack.

Pepperoni Rolls

In northern West Virginia, the Italian-American bakers in the area have been making a favorite regional treat for years. It is a bit of mountaineer, and a bit of Italy in every bite. I'm talking about the pepperoni roll.

This taste treat has become so popular that every store from convenience markets to the local WalMart stores carry them. They come packaged individually and in bags of a dozen. The meat may be slices or sticks. But whatever the variation, they are an easy to handle meal or snack. Coal miners carry several in their lunch pails with great regularity.

I became acquainted with this delicacy when visiting the lovely spouse's family in Grafton, WV. Just a few miles away in Fairmont is where the pepperoni roll is said to have originated. Often, the LS and I lament that this is such a regional delicacy that we can't buy them here in Colorado. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to try my hand at making them until recently. In any case, I was noodling around on the Internet and found the Pepperoni Roll web site. That site has a history of the pepperoni roll and the various bakers that make them. It also happens to have a page of recipes. The one that appeared to me to be very authentic was one from a guy named Tim.

So this morning, I decided to make a batch of them. Oh my goodness, are they fantastic! These are just like you get back in West Virginia. They can be eaten warm or cold. You can dip them in tomato sauce, or have them plain. I think I may make a batch with some pepper cheese in them with the pepperoni.

The bread has just a touch of sweetness, which goes well with the spicy pepperonis inside, although I think the next batch I will cut the sugar by about a third. I also had another thought. When I lived in Houston, there are kolache shops on every corner. Kolaches are very similar to pepperoni rolls, except they have either a little smoky link inside, or made flat with a fruit topping, similar to a danish pastry. I think this dough would make great kolaches too!

I'm on a roll!!

Edited to add Tim's recipe from The Pepperoni Roll website. It doesn't say, but it only took 10-12 minutes to bake these. I used a cookie sheet with baking parchment.

Tim's Pepperoni Rolls
Makes about a dozen rolls, although I always double the recipe (just use twice as much of everything, except one package of yeast is fine.)

1 1/2 cups water, barely warm to the touch
1/3 cup sugar
1 package yeast
1 teaspoonful salt
1/4 cup dry powdered milk
4 cups flour
Thin-sliced packaged pepperoni, about four ounces (paper thin is best)

Dissolve sugar, yeast, salt, and powdered milk in the warm water. Stir in the flour, using extra flour or water as needed to make a soft dough that isn't too sticky. Turn out onto a floured board and knead for a couple of minutes. Shape into a ball and let raise in a bowl for 30 minutes to an hour, covered with a towel. Volume should double.

Turn the raised dough back onto the floured board, and cut it into 12 pieces (I use a scraper/cutter, but a knife works fine.) Take each piece, flatten it lightly on the board with your hand, and place 4-5 slices of pepperoni in the middle, overlapping but not stacked. Roll it up like a jelly roll, and then primp it with your fingers to seal the ends into an oval, with no pepperoni sticking out. Place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Melt a tablespoonful of margarine and beat in an egg and two teaspoonfuls of sugar. Brush rolls lightly with this glaze. You don't need to let the rolls raise further.

Bake rolls at 400 degrees until golden brown. Brush immediately and lightly with melted margarine so they soften up nicely.

You can read Tim's page HERE.

Lunchtime!

I am a man of simple tastes. I enjoy a wide variety of food, but sometimes it's the fairly simple things that hit the spot. Today, I decided to fire up the propane grill and heat up a couple of hot link sausages. I steamed some whole wheat buns for them, made some onion dip for my potato chips, added a bunch of grapes and a Coca-Cola and enjoyed a delicious lunch.

I remember when I was a boy, my dad telling me that my eyes had gotten bigger than my stomach, when I took more food than I could eat. That was the case today, as I just couldn't finish off the second sausage. It was good all the same.

TransFat Airways

The Lovely Spouse and I try very hard to not eat heart clogging transfats and the evil high-fructose corn syrup. Still, I have wondered about the name "Transfat". It would seem to mean "across fat". It also sounds very much like it should be the name of an airline.

Imagine if you will, sitting on an airplane, and hearing the following announcement:

Thank you for frying...oops, I mean FLYING with us today on TransFat Airways. We know you have a choice when choosing to clog your arteries, that is why we are proud that you chose us today. Our aircraft is under the command of Captain Tubby McLard on the flight deck, along with his co-pilot, Commander Bell E. Fat.

We would like to remind you that should you need additional transfats during our flight, a hose will appear from the ceiling of the airplane, which should be inserted down your throat. This will pump an emergency supply of hydrogenated fats into your belly. If assisting a small child, be sure to insert your own hose before helping the child with theirs.

In the unlikely event of a water landing, there is a bag of fat under your seat that can be used as a flotation device. If you are sitting in an emergency exit row, you may be called upon to spread Crisco on the exit slides and wings to assist your fellow passengers in making a quick emergency deplaning.

Our in-flight movie today will be Morgan Spurlock in Supersize Me. So sit back, relax, and chow down on the fries and chili dogs we will be serving for a modest price during today's flight, along with free high fructose corn syrup beverages. Remember, your health is our top concern, so we remind you that no smoking is allowed at any time on this aircraft.

Thanks again for flying TransFat, and welcome aboard!

Jack-N-Grill

In the ongoing search for the quintessential hole-in-the-wall eatery, the Lovely Spouse and I went to a place we saw on The Travel Channel's Man v. Food program. Jack-N-Grill, a Mexican / New Mexican restaurant that is located at 2524 Federal in Denver, just a few blocks from Invesco Field at Mile High. It is famous for a giant 7-pound breakfast burrito that defeated man, as Adam Richman, the show's host, could not eat it all. It is rare when food wins against man on the show, but this intrigued me.

So we went over for a late lunch / early dinner. The place is not very big, and is located in a free standing building that has housed other things in the past. We were going to eat on the patio, but the wind kicked up so much that we decided to move inside.

I had the calabasitas enchilada plate, which was absolutely delicious. These stacked enchiladas were made with chopped zucchini, corn, and cheese; and since I could not choose between the red and green chili, I got it Christmas style...with red on half and green on the other. The LS chose a stacked shrimp enchilada plate with green chili. Both came with charro beans and roasted red potatoes, and were supposed to have spanish rice also. The bad news was that they were out of rice and so we got extra potatoes and beans. Not that these weren't delicious, but I wanted to try the rice also.

One other disappointment was the waitress forgot to bring the chips and queso that I ordered as an appetizer, but we really had so much food that we didn't need that anyway. So I have to give Jack-N-Grill a couple of demerits, but the food was very good, so it balanced out. Overall, the staff was friendly and I did enjoy myself.

On the way out, I noticed a couple of interesting things. One is captured in the second picture in this post. It is obviously an early Taco Bell building that is now home to some other Mexican restaurant. Since Jack-N-Grill is right across the street from it, I imagine there is some competition going on here. But this is in a predominately Mexican part of Denver, so there are Mexican restaurants, bakeries, and shops all along Federal.

The other interesting thing was the old Ford F-600 truck parked behind Jack's. It's bed is closed in with a cage, and it is equipped with a snow plow blade. It appears to be in excellent condition and still used. What a work horse this truck must be!

To view the Travel Channel video from Adam Richman talking about his visit to Jack-N-Grill, CLICK HERE and scroll the list of videos for the correct one. To visit Jack-N-Grill's website, CLICK HERE.

Labels? We Got Labels!

Okay, it's time to take a look at a couple of wacky labels. The first one is obviously either written by Mr. Obvious, or maybe it was a result of the work of the Department of Redundancy Department.

On the right we see a package of peanuts I got out of a vending machine at work. Ordinary looking bag of peanuts, nothing unusual or seemingly out of the ordinary, right?

So, we flip over to the back of the bag, and what do we see? Wel, there is the typical list of ingredients. Here we see this product contains "peanuts, (vegetable oil or peanut oil), salt". Fine. Sounds like a wholesome snack.

But then we look a little further down, and see an allergy information line that warns us this product was "packed on equipment that processes peanuts and tree nuts". Ya think? It would be quite a feat if they were packed with equipment that doesn't handle peanuts.

This reminds me of the potato chips that we used to see in Oklahoma. I don't know if the brand is even made anymore, but we used to get "Kitty Clover Potato Chips". The bag always said "Untouched by human hands". I always wondered just what kind of hands were touching them during the production process!


























Then we also have this little jewel I picked up today. The lovely spouse and I drove all the way over to the Stapleton area to have lunch at Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que. Now I have to say that Dave's has just about the best barbeque anywhere. No matter if you want Texas-style brisket, Georgia pulled pork, Saint Louis ribs, or just some good sausage or barbequed chicken, Daves is great. I have some favorite places, such as "The Swinging Door" outside of Richmond, Texas; or Spring Creek Barbeque in the Dallas area. But Famous Dave's can stand up to (and probably beat) any of them.

So anyway, I opened the little wet napkin they give you to clean up and notice the tag line under the Famous Dave's logo. "Better than the family dog"? What? I could think of better comparisons than saying the meat you serve is better than the family dog. What was funnier still is that we almost ate at a Chinese restaurant, but the LS is so afraid that they really are serving dog meat that she is leery of them. So now what do we find at Dave's? "Better than the family dog"!

World's Best Squash Casserole

Last weekend, we went to the farmer's market in Parker to get some fresh, locally-grown vegetables. Among the things the lovely spouse and I bought, were some beautiful summer squash, some Colorado onions, some green beans, some tomatoes that were so deep red and sweet inside, some Yukon Gold potatoes, and some wonderful sweet corn. Some of these items went into our beef stew we had earlier this week, but last night was the best thing ever.

I don't know exactly how she did it, but the LS made up a recipe as she went along, making the best squash casserole I have ever had in my life. She really outdid herself on that one. I know she cubed and boiled the squash, then mashed it before preparing it to go into the casserole dish. I also know she used a couple of handfuls of cheese and some cubes of bread from a day-old baguette from the little French bakery we buy from. I guess the rest of the ingredients must have been love and magic, because this was the best thing I have ever eaten! Cracker Barrel and Black Eyed Pea squash have been not just beaten, but kicked to the curb. I told her that she should enter this into the county fair.

The casserole was browned just right to have a little crispness around the edges, and just enough cheese to add a flavor that matched perfectly with the squash and whatever else she put in. I was going to take a picture of it, but that will have to wait until the next one, because it was consumed very quickly! We had fresh green beans cooked with a dab of bacon grease for flavor, and some nicely seasoned herb chicken. It was all delicious, but that squash casserole was unbelieveable! I told her that if I ever get put on death row and have a last meal request, that squash will be on my menu. The farmer's market happens again tomorrow, so you can be sure that squash will be on my list!