May
01
I’ve always loved driving the stretch between Durham and Morehead, just me and my dad. It’s the best time to talk to anyone, just the two of you alone in the car. Those drives are how I got to know my dad as a person and one of the reasons we’re so close today. The first memory I have of my dad pouring a packet of salted peanuts into a bottle of coke was from one of those drives. I remember the horror at the idea and then, shortly thereafter, the the complete change of heart I had when he let me try it.
Coke and peanuts is one of those distinctly Southern combinations whose origins are unknown. It’s a curiosity (not unlike boiled peanuts or a tendency to put mayonnaise on damn near anything) that people outside the South ask about. They say “you guys don’t really put peanuts in your coke, do you?” We do. And you should try it, take the leap of delicious faith.
Last week the National Peanut Board emailed me to see if I’d like to be part of a mailing they were targeting towards Southern writers. I said yes and in my head, expecting them to send me a package full of peanuts, decided I’d finally post about Coke + Peanuts. It’s a bit of a blasphemy to have a Southern food blog and not have something about this salty combo on there, I’ve been meaning to post about it forever. It was the perfect opportunity, I thought. And then yesterday, waiting for me when I got home, was a package. I made a mental note to send a tweet asking where I could get glass Coke bottles in my area and opened the box. Inside was a glass bottle of Coke and a little packet of peanuts. It’s like they read my mind! Thanks for the delicious treat, NPB!
Coke + Peanuts
1 bottle Coke (or any cola), preferably glass. Never a can.
1 packet salted peanuts. I prefer a lot of peanuts.
Open your soda and take a swig. Pour peanuts into the cola and enjoy.
Mar
07
This has been an odd week. On the one hand, I got incredibly amazing scream into my phone news. On the other hand, I got heart crushing, cry for hours news. I’ve been reeling all week, fluxing between being deliriously happy and being a sobbing mess. And no, I’m not pregnant. I’ll tell you more about the exciting news when the time comes and as for the crap, well, I’ve been self medicating with cookies, hamburgers, and meatball pizza all week, trying to get over it. I’ll be running off this particular mess for MONTHS.
Anyway, part of the week also included planning my ideal spring meal. And while the foods changed back and forth the drink was always the same- lime fizz. I am a lime fizz junkie. I love the fresh flavor, the addictive bubblies, and of course that last sip where the remnants of the simple syrup dance around with the tart lime. It’s the perfect drink for me and thinking about it makes me want to throw on a sundress and dance in a meadow.
Lime Fizz
6 limes
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
Club soda
Start by making your lime simple syrup. You want 1/2 cup lime juice, which, depending on the size of your limes, is 2-4 limes. Combine that with the water and sugar in a medium size pan. Heat until the sugar melts then remove from heat and let cool.
In order to make your drink, combine 1 ounce of the syrup, 1 ounce fresh lime juice, and club soda. And enjoy!
Nov
02
If you were to ask my younger sister Genevieve what she associates with peach schnapps, she would probably tell you that the traumatic experience of being forced to drink it by her older sisters made her the way she is today. But that’s only because she exaggerates. I mean, she’s in her sophomore year at Carolina, so she should probably be thanking us. Though she does routinely eat babies*… maybe that was our fault.
You see, when my grandmother died we all spent the better part of a few weeks going through her house and packing it up. One afternoon Gen and our other sister, Lauren, and I were working together and Gen came across a bottle of schnapps. Which we immediately made her drink from. Naturally. Even though she was only in… middle school? Okay, we’re jerks. But the groan she made afterward was so priceless that if I had to do it again, I so would. I refused to drink any because clearly it was awful, I could hear the proof in Gen’s mouth noise. Now, many years later, I will admit that I was mistaken and that Gen is crazy, because schnapps are delightful.
As part of our holiday celebrating Dan and I made fuzzy navels, a drink combining peach schnapps and orange juice. Fuzzy navels, despite having one of the more off-putting cocktail names, are delicious. Fruity, not overbearingly alcoholic (though you can change that by adding vodka) and perfect to sip out of champagne flutes. Because we recently acquired these gorgeous engraved flutes from anthropologie and now all I want to do is sip things out of them. And the fruitier the cocktail, the better. Maybe I’ll serve them the next time I’m with my sisters.
* Gen probably doesn’t eat babies. Though, if you ever find yourself on a deserted island with her, I wouldn’t leave your baby alone. She might eat it. Or try and barter it for a lean pocket.
Fuzzy Navel
1 part peach schnapps
3 parts orange juice
Combine schnapps and oj in a mixer with ice. Shake well and serve.
Apr
05
As a North Carolinian outside the south, the question I get asked most often (besides “what is a grit?”) is “what is a tar heel?” For clarification, a the phrase “tarheel” has a lot of mystery surrounding it. Some say that it was originated by Robert E. Lee himself. The story goes that North Carolina troops during the civil war were upset with those (damn) Virginians for deserting them in an important fight. Later, the Virginians asked, mockingly, whether there was any tar left in the Old North State (the eastern part of the state is pretty tar heavy), and the good old boys replied “no, we’re planning on using it on your feet to make you stick better in the next fight.” General Lee, hearing of this, declared “God Bless them Tar Heel boys.” And the nickname stuck.
A favorite diddy in North Carolina is “I’m a Tar Heel born, I’m a Tar Heel bred, and when I die I’ll be a Tar Heel dead.” This is most commonly used to refer to the basketball team, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. You may have noticed that tomorrow they’ll be playing in the championship game of the NCAA tournament. Like the diddy says, I am a Tar Heel born (though I was unfortunately born at Duke Hospital- consequence of living in Durham), and a Tar Heel bred. Cheering for Carolina basketball is something ingrained in my DNA. My father’s father, Ken, played on the 1957 Championship team, and later coached with Dean Smith. I grew up in a world where two things were always true- we loved Carolina and hated Duke.
As far as hating Duke is concerned, it’s more of a reflex at this point than anything else. Some people don’t understand that on the Tobacco Trail, nothing is more important than your basketball allegiance. There’s a really funny David Sedaris story about how his speech teacher got him to reveal his speaking impediment by asking him who he rooted for. He made the mistake of admitting that he was a State fan. I remember one day, during high school, I wore my Carolina sweater to school the day after Duke had pummeled Carolina (the Dougherty years were sad ones). I am not a fairweather fan, so I wore my sweater to show my pure love for that team. My TEACHER made a snarky remark to me about it. I could never take her class seriously again.
Tar Heel Margaritas
Source: Cocktail Times
2 ounces tequila
1 ounce triple sec
1 ounce blue curacao (pronounced cure-a-saow)
1 ounce lime juice
1 tbsp sugar, for rim
Wet the rim of your glass and dip in sugar. In another glass, mix alcohol with ice, serve.
Makes one drink.
Nov
25
Dan and I love mojitos. And since we’re pretty much home-bodies, we like to learn how to make the cocktails we would usually drink out in the scary, noisy world, inside the comfort of our living room. A mojito is ten times better when enjoyed in fuzzy socks.
Mojito!
5 leaves mint
4 lime triangles
1 part white rum
4 parts tonic
1 part simple syrup
2 cups sugar (for syrup)
1 cup water (for syrup)
Boil your water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Set the syrup aside to cool. In your glass, crush mint and lime. Pour in your syrup and rum. Top with tonic and ice. Serve and enjoy.
