Culinary Overkill

Living in a small community will be  definition limit one’s choices  for dining out. No brainer concept there. Generally speaking, I am okay with that since if I get really desperate I can drive to Virginia Beach or Chesapeake or to the Outer Banks. It shows how ” not desperate” I am that I rarely do this except on special occasions. But last week, while in Atlanta to see the new granbaby, I got a chance to see how the other half lives.

It would have been almost enough just to able to walk to Dunkin Donuts any morning I chose to indulge my munchkin cravin’. But no,  there was much more. We were able to enjoy food at four quite distinctive restaurants. Two were franchises, albeit small ones, while the other two are indigenous to Atlanta. By the way, I heartily endorse all four.

My favorite  would have to be Ted’s Montana Grill, home of the bison burger and founded by  the one and only Ted Turner. Probably the most amazing burger ever. But there was also a very good pizza place  known as Uncle Maddio’s Pizza Joint, local only at this time. Reminded me of a Subway the way one could pick ingredients of one’s choosing. Then there was Firehouse Subs, actually founded by firemen; also quite good. Finally there was another local place named The Flying Biscuit, my favorite name by far. As the name implies the biscuits are out of sight good, although not sure if they can actually fly. The other menu item that stood out for me especially ( being Southern by birth) were their tasty and creamy grits. I  would have been very happy dining on biscuits and grits.

The  service was excellent as was the food and they were all kinda fun places in which to dine. Wouldn’t make much of  a food critic, would I? Compliments to the chiefs, et al.

May 8,1886

One hundred twenty-five years ago today, in Atlanta, Ga, a momentous event took place. The after effects are still with us in ways that could never have been envisioned by James S  Pemberton or the customers of  Jacobs Pharmacy. For those untold millions whose thirst has been quenched by a ” Co-Cola” as my wife famously said after the birth of our first child, and Mello- Yello lovers everywhere, it should almost be  a holiday. Yep, it was the day in which the first Coke was served.

I don’t really care much about the secret formula or if somebody has actually published  it somewhere. I have very little interest  in knowing that   the beverage actually had cocaine for a time. I just know that there have been many times that nothing but a Coke would satisfy or quench  my thirst as jingles have proclaimed. It has settled my stomach many times, has smoothed the way for many a hot dog and hamburger and still does. In the interest of disclosure I  would be remiss if I failed to mention that Mello-Yello shares the top spot now. But it is  a Coke product, of course.

It is interesting that an NC native, the home state of Pepsi, would be such a loyal  Coke consumer, but there you have it. I well remember in my hometown of Leaksville, NC as it was known then, watching the Coke bottles go round and round at a bottler? or distributor and thinking how cool that was.

But in the interest of history as I remember it I recall that while living in Columbus, Ga in the late 70′s and early to mid 80′s that there was  the John S Pemberton house located on  a brick paved street near the Chattahoochee River where I often indulged my then affinity for running. There was a  plaque on the grounds identifying that house as being that of one John S Pemberton who concocted the formula for Coke and then rushed off to the big city.

Actually he probably refined the formula  after moving to Atlanta where the product was not well received until being bought by Asa Chandler with the rest being history. Ironically for me, Dr Pemberton,  a pharmacist by trade, was actually born in North Carolina and buried in Columbus. Finally I have an NC connection for Coke. Have to go now, it is time for  a Mello-Yello!

Related articles

• Coca-Cola Company Illuminates Headquarters to Celebrate 125th Anniversary (shoppingblog.com)
• Coca Cola inventor, John Stith Pemberton was a Morphines (fmiyar.com)

Who is the President of the world?

Monday, February 21 is Presidents Day. Ostensibly  it is a day set aside to honor two of the greatest, if not the greatest of the 43 men who have served in that office.The 42nd president as we all  know was William Jefferson Blythe Clinton from Hope, AR. Mr Clinton has been called many things by friend and foe alike. He may now have acquired the ultimate title, “President of the World.”

Thanks to his new bff, Chris Matthews (alias tingles) , that is the title of a special set to air on Presidents Day. Matthews spent time with Clinton on  a veritable  whirlwind week  chock full of all the wonderful things in which he is involved. I will acknowledge that Mr Clinton has done some  very good things since leaving office, partnering with George H W Bush in humanitarian activities, pushed for aid to Haiti, just to name a few. His global initiative has  also been quite active.

This program and its title raises a few questions. The title itself may be the most significant. Come on, fellows. No one merits such a designation. Perhaps the title is meant to catch one;s attention or maybe it is just a blatant example of fawning from a network who has done it before. Remember the tingle that ran up a newsman’s  leg when a certain president spoke; the same president that he was bound to help succeed. Who was that gentleman? Why the same president often spoke of as the One. Have we changed our allegiances?

Have we turned our back on the individual often called the greatest former preside, Jimmy Carter? He too has been a prolific traveler abroad since leaving office in 1981. He has monitored  elections, met with many world leaders and also started the well-known Carter Center in Atlanta.

Now, if were to attempt to compare the two men since they left office, there would be strong similarities. Could the main difference be that along the way Mr Clinton  has become quite wealthy and maybe, just maybe seeks out the spotlight a bit more? Bet he’s a lot more fun to travel with as well.By the way, remember that only two of these three presidents have won the Nobel peace Prize. Could this have anything to do with that, Nah!

Related Articles

• The Tingle Is Back! Chris Matthews Excited To See Obama’s Cute, “Wonderful, Boyish Smile” (mediaite.com)
• Chris Matthews Lets Jimmy Carter Blame Loss to Reagan on Third Party Candidate (newsbusters.org)
• MSNBC’s ‘President of the World’ (michellemalkin.com)

“A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Medicine Go Down”

…. in a most delightful way.” Or, so said Julie Andrews in the classic Mary Poppins from way  back in 1964, her movie debut and the winner of 5 Oscars. Today, we have substitutes for the sugar and the med. They are courtesy of my Tar Heels. The sugar is the spine tingling win by the Lady Tar Heels in soccer over Duke(even better) and the medicine is alas, courtesy of the football Heels. Having reached giddy poll heights, they trekked to Atlanta and were wrecked by the Yellow Jackets.

Thankfully, I had to work  and was spared the sad but necessary duty of watching the Heels football miseries. I knew it was bad when Mrs THT, nominal football fan, could only say, I saw their touchdown,singular. At least they were not shut out and as the saying goes, there is always next week. Ironically, I attended their game against Georgia Tech last year in Chapel Hill, which had aa positive outcome. Shoulda seen this one coming. Bright side, the Associated Press voters saw fit to eject Carolina from the top 25. Glad that overconfidence is gone.

Ok, got that medicine ready, sugar is on the way via  a  2-1  overtime soccer win at Fetzer Field. The Heels were missing some key players due to injuries and national team commitments ( go USA, I guess) so other players had to step and  that  they did. Freshman Alyssa Rich of Cincinnati,Oh scored with 3:01 left in the first overtime to seal the win. Quite a way to celebrate her first career start.

High point soph Maria Lubrano scored the match’s first goal with less than 7 minutes to go but Duke to credit tied the match with about a minute to go. Great conference opening win. Oh, forgot to mention that the Heels are numero uno in the nation. Also freshman goalie Hannah Daly acquitted herself well in her first career start.

Playing like a girl indeed and  quite well thank you very much. Remember Carolina is  a   women’s soccer school anyway as Coach Smith observed many years ago, slightly tongue-in-cheek.

Farmer’s Markets

Here in Elizabeth City, we have a nice , little farmers market that runs from  mid April through the end of October. This is the second year for this open air market on our downtown waterfront. The primary focus is baked good  and  fresh veggies in season, at  least as far as I am concerned. Mrs THT has brought  home some of the best baked breads one can imagine. Other vendors  display non food wares as well. You will even see the local animal shelter with a booth trying to find homes for some canines and that other 4 footed  pet. They know who they are. It is  a nice little event when the weather co-operates.

My son and his wife  live in the great city of Atlanta which has  a huge farmers market that sells things that I would probably would not even recognize. That’s alright. A big city must have a  big  approach.

Apparently, the First Lady has heard of one or both of these markets. For, lo and behold, she wants one near the White House. Not on the grounds, mind you, as the President was quick to point out. What, no big crowds on the grounds? I thought Andrew Jackson tried that way back when. Anyway, back to the First Lady’s idea. There is an organization called Freshfarm Markets that is asking that Vermont Avenue be closed from 1-8 pm on Thursday  (weekday, mind you, rush hour etc)

DDOT spokesman  John Leslie says the traffic people are studying the request. It was just last month that the President put his  support behind te idea of a farmers market.His comments made reference to the garden that the First Lady had  set up at the White House.

Well, there you go. The market has its first vendor and the proceeds could go to any one of a myriad of things. Hint, hint, healthcare.

Seems that the sponsor for the market has already invited Ms Obama to its grand opening. Must know the approval  s forthcoming. The Freshfarm folks are apparently  the umbrella organization for farmers markets in the D.C. area. That would be helpful for outdoor markets, I guess. Oh, since the  White House is just a few blocks from the  proposed market, it would be easy to get a selection from the White House garden for display and sale.

I must admit my lack of knowledge on farmers markets in the nation’s capital. But, then again, it probably should not be surprising. Is there not a lot of manure in that part of the country that would be  good  fertilizer? Just asking.

Up. Up and Whoa!

First Flight, 12/17,1903 (wikipedia commons)

My wife left me today- no, not what you might think. It’s only for a week. She flew to Atlanta today to spend a week with my son and his wife, as she will be having surgery tomorrow. For that we are very desirous of  your prayers, for her surgery and a smooth recuperation. The story really lies in  the air. As I mentioned, my wife flew, on a plane. So what, one might say.

Here goes. Airline travel and I have always had an interesting relationship. I am sort of like John Madden and Tony Kornheiser as far as flying is concerned. I’m not quite at that  level, but in the neighborhood. I flew for the first time at age 28 and was terrified. In contrast, my wife first flew before age 20, my daughter, 11 months of age and my son at 22 months of age. Odd man out as you see.

Contrast my first memory with his. I distinctly remember looking at the plane as I boarded, along with veteran flyers ready to tease me, and wondering how the pilots could possibly  see through that tiny windshield. He, on the other hand, made his initial flight at night and kept repeating, ” lights, lights.”

Fortunately, I guess, I have not flown all that much and I absolutely will not sit in a window seat. In fact, if memory serves correct, I once went over 10 years without flying. Now, don’t get me wrong, flying is great and I have never had a real problem while flying. Thank goodness! It is  rather hard to beat  the view from up there. I appreciate the Wright brothers coming down to Kitty Hawk, 105+ years ago and all the advances since  then. But……

One further story might help explain my ambivalence. When we were in college, my as yet to be wife flew to England with a  choral group. Prior to her departure, I was  terrified about all that my happen. As was her wont, she was quite calm. I said, but how can you enjoy flying over the ocean, what if something happens? Responding ever so sweetly, she said, why not enjoy it, there isn’t anything I could do if there were a problem. And so, for not the first time and definitely not the last, my wife silenced me with unassailable logic.

So, enjoy the friendly skies when you feel so inclined. I will still think about it twice or thrice.

Tar Heel Deja Vu ?

Well Heels fans , we should be very happy about now . An exhilirating win last Saturday over Notre Dame ” vaulting ” the team to as high as 18th in the polls . I am a Heels football fan of long standing remembering a 50- 0 win over that team from Durham in the late 1950′s ( man that sounds ancient ) but also being plagued with another memory . This one only goes back to 1981 . Carolina had a stellar running back named Kelvin Bryant or KB . He was one of the best to play tailback for the Heels, scoring 6 touchdowns in a game that season , He was on pace to set all sorts of individual records . At the time , I lived in Georgia but was fortunate enough to get a  ticket to the Carolina – Georgia Tech game  in Atlanta . If memory serves me correctly, I remember Bryant breaking loose for a potential td run down the far sideline when a Tech player dived at him, I think clipping his knee. It was an innocuous  looking play until he didnt get up. Long story short, he had a serious   knee injury and a magical season ended . Thankfully for him he recovered and had a short but productive pro career . Now the pessimist fan returns to bemoan the injury to Brandon Tate , another player  having a once in a lifetime season ( Tate in 08 ) Our condolences and best wishes for a complete recovery to a hard working young man who I hope has much football success in his future . But this week brings a trip to Thomas Jefferson U where the guys in light blue havent won in  a gazillon years . Time for history to change ?