Lin featured today on RDU Baton!

Hi everyone! So excited to announce that I was selected as today’s guest contributor on RDU Baton!

 

What is RDU Baton? Think of it as a relay race… With photos! Here’s a little bit from their website:

Welcome to the Triangle’s only photo relay! RDU Baton is a collaborative photo project to show the world (and to remind ourselves) how amazing life in the Research Triangle is, through Instagram. Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and their surrounding areas frequently top national “Best Of” lists, and this Instagram account will prove it true by showcasing the lives of local folks like you — one per day.

I’ve been following the site for a couple months now and it has been a fun way to see the Triangle from the eyes of different residents — so many interesting lives and stories. So follow along my day’s adventure on multiple sites (but note that Instagram always loads first):

• Instagram – http://instagram.com/rdubaton/
• Web (Tumblr) – http://www.rdubaton.com
• Twitter – https://twitter.com/rdubaton
• Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdubaton/
• Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/RDUbaton

Check out my first post here! And yes – Don the Apron will be highlighted, for sure 🙂

Drea’s Food Adventures

For those of you who don’t know, Coralie and I met during a master’s program filled with very adventurous people. We started this whole blog because we were continents apart and missed each other — and we love to share our travel food adventures here with you: Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, and more!

That’s why we’re excited to introduce you to a new food blog, from one of our friends from our grad school days: Drea’s Food Aventures. Drea and her fiance Eliot made plans, saved their money, and quit their jobs in order to travel for seven months. Their itinerary focuses on four countries (Nepal, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia), which allows them to really soak in a culture and live like a local (that is, very cheaply). In addition to a great narrative about the food they’re eating, Drea and Eliot also discuss the logistics behind their grand trek in posts like this one about money. Enjoy!

Drea’s Food Aventures

Puppies and Omelettes

Phew. Has it been a breakneck week for anyone else? Here’s a little video that made me smile, for you and all your kitchen helpers out there.

Posting will be slow for May but I will try to check in here and there!

Pim’s Shrimp Stir Fry with Green Garlic

We’re back in the swing of things with the Farmers’ Market and beautiful green garlic is in season for just a few weeks. Here’s an absolutely delightful recipe that I’ve had bookmarked for two years and finally got a chance to try – and I’m happy to report that Chez Pim’s Shrimp Stir Fry with Green Garlic was worth the wait.

Simple, Healthy, Banana Oatmeal Cookies

I love bananas. I always try to keep a few on hand for my breakfast favorite, kale smoothies. If I wait a bit too long and they get overripe, I just use them for banana bread… Or freeze them for future banana bread! 😉 Here’s another recipe with a difficulty level similar to the NY Times’ Monday crossword – simple enough to finish with limited brainpower, while still giving a satisfying feeling of accomplishment.

Introducing the Local Beer Blog, North Carolina Beer Month, and a Saturday Durham beer tour!

If you know me, you know that two of my main passions in life are food and music – but over all, I prize my relationships with friends and family. It was incredibly exciting for me to see all three come together when I discovered that one of my old friends from our music days, David Ackley, shares his passion for craft beers on the site Local Beer Blog.

Wine Dinner at Durham’s Washington Duke Hotel

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Washington Duke Inn’s Tuscan wine dinner with fellow blogger Amy Whited of the fantastic home blog Yellow Hammer Design Shop (formerly Triangle Honeymoon)!

Orange mint plant and NC pollen

Just a quick peek into our lives here in the Triangle. Over the weekend I repotted an orange mint plant I bought from the Carrboro Farmer’s Market last week. The herb is doing great, but what I want to bring your attention to is the heavy dusting of yellow pollen that is highlighting the pretty vein structure of the leaves… Not so pretty when it is everywhere else… 🙂 I suppose it is the price we pay to be surrounded by such gorgeous greenery!

But back to the mint – I’m excited to use it in fruit salads and cocktails all summer long! The orange mint has a Bergamot scent and a flavor that seems sweeter, less aggressive than other members of the mint family. Plus, mint is a super easy, super hardy plant. I come from a line of women with fantastic green thumbs – I’m still looking for mine. Let me know if you find it, ok? 😉

Durham named winner of Southern Living’s Tastiest Towns competition!

Well, this was a pleasant thing to wake up to today!

North Carolina’s wine culture featured in the NYT

It always makes me smile to see my adopted home get props from out-of-towners. Here’s a lovely article in the New York Times about the vibrant and experimental wine culture in the Triangle area, with plenty of shout-outs to some of my favorite restaurants in town (and a few to put on the to-try list). We may not make the world’s best wines, but we definitely enjoy them 🙂

Mateo Tapas, via NYT

Here’s my favorite quote from the article:

The sea change, Mr. Callaghan believes, came from overcoming a lack of regional confidence and embracing Southern culture, in which agriculture has always been important. The connection to wine, he suggested, came from the realization that the best sort of winemaking was itself an expression of agriculture.

Read the whole thing here: New York Times: Carolina’s Expansive Wine List