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Winston Salem Adventures with Jana

6/30/2014

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I've been living in Mocksville since March and Heather has finally graced me with her presence in the booming metropolis of Davie County. She can now report back to home base (Mom and Dad) that I am living in suitable conditions and she even met my roomie (Who has yet to make me into a human shish kebab). While she was here I gave her the tour of the house and revealed that there was a door that I believed went to the basement but had yet to explore it. Mostly because I was too much of a chicken. This house was built pre Civil War and I'm afraid there's something creepy down there. Kim never included the basement on the grand tour and I have yet to see her go down there either but it definitely exists. Heather having a sense of adventure suggested we get flashlights and explore. I put the kibosh on that. I don't want to find something that will make it harder for me to sleep in this house when I"m by myself. I already think I hear music when I"m all alone at night. I don't need to find skeletons to further fuel my imagination that ghosts may live here or agitate anything that does float through the soul of this house. YIKES!

After driving through the heart of Mocksville (which took about 2 minutes) we decided to head into Winston Salem (The big city as described by some people around here). Our first stop on the day of fun was Hills BBQ. This is one of the spots on the NC BBQ that Heather and I are hoping to check off our list (She pointed out that she was the one that discovered that there was BBQ trail and that I was her original idea but that I could sponge off her coolness if I so please, Thanks Jana) Heather also pointed out that I could use some practice parking my car. I guess I leave too much space between my front bumper and the curb. Whatever... Onto the good stuff. Heather had her first Cheerwine, my new favorite drink. It's a cherry flavored cola with a nice red tint. I don't even like soda but I'm hooked on this stuff. It's a NC product and readily available throughout the South. The BBQ was tasty, the hushpuppies a delight and slaw. In NC I have discovered when you get coleslaw you always have the choice of red or white slaw. White is traditional mayo based and red slaw is not mayo based with a red tinge but it's not hard to describe. It's got a horseradish tang and maybe ketchup gives it the red tint but it doesn't taste like ketchup. Either way we were stuffed to the gills. 

Next stop where 2 roadside attractions that I read about online. The first being a Shell station. It's in the shape of the clamshell. It's not functional as a gas station anymore but was made into a visitor info center.  If you want to know a little bit more about it click here.
The second roadside attraction is a huge coffee pot that was used as an advertisement piece for a tinsmith. When I read about it the coffee pot was described as huge ( around 7 feet.) When Heather and I found it I will admit it was big but not as big as we had hoped for. Heather was thoroughly  disappointed, I was tickled pink to have my photo taken with it. Here's a little more info on the coffee pot if you're interested.

Since we were in the downtown area we decided to check out what we could on foot. There is a pedestrian walking path that was a little deserted with a lot of trees/shrubs/underpasses. As we were walking Heather is looking all around and acting like a goof. "What the heck are you doing?" and she says just like my Dad "I'm just being aware of my surroundings!" Then I whip out my kitty claws, I tell her I will protect us and she tells me she's scared that I'm the one in charge of the claws. Psssshhh! After we exit an area full of bushes and shrubs we emerge into the BB&T plaza with lots of cool water fountains. It's at this point I ask her if she saw the homeless person. "What homeless person?" I then tell her they were covered up in blankets behind the bushes that we were just walking past. Look who's aware of their surrounds now! (score 1 for Ashley, 0 for Jana) I know it was Sunday but the downtown section of WS is pretty beat. There wasn't much going on there. I don't think going during the week would make it much better. 

To continue our afternoon of fun I took Heather to my favorite Goodwill. She is the best and worst to take to thrift shops.  Bad because I never find anything when she's around but good because I don't spend any money. To wrap up the afternoon we made a pit stop to Sonic since she had yet to experience the drive through with roller skating attendants and we got some sweet frozen treats. It essentially took the place of my dinner. Heather got a food baby and I was stuffed to the gills. We headed back to the house and spent the rest of our time watching our favorite Jimmy Fallon Youtube videos and cracking up (Heather has the most infectious laugh)
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The Continuous Adventures of Ashley

6/23/2014

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I've been a bit busy, I feel like that is how I start all of my posts lately. I have been lucky enough to spend some serious time in Pennsylvania over the last 2 weekends, unfortunately I have to drive 8 hours to get there so that bites into some of my free time. But overall it was nice to do normal errands with Nate and eat at our favorite places and sleep next to a warm and familiar body without worrying if someone was going to make me into a kebab while I slept. Here are some of the super cool things I've done...


I finally upgraded my phone and went a little wild and crossed to the dark side. I got an Android. I am still not sure I made the right choice. There are some cool things about it but I am still in Apple mode. I constantly complain to Nate, how come this phone doesn't do this? or How can I make the phone do this? ( Nate is a lover of Android stuff) I'm slowly picking up the basics. One of the pros of this new phone is the pictures taking quality is way better.

Anyone who knows me well (or even just met me) know that I LOVE BEER. One of the issues is that I sometimes have a beer that I love and then I can't remember what is was when prowling the bars. Even worse is when I hate a beer and then can't remember it's name and have to make the mistake of ordering it a second time. I'm not one to be wasteful, I"ll still drink it even if it's gross. I'm no fool. Nate's bestie Doug introduced me to the app Untapped where you log beers that you drink while you are out. You get extra badges for taking pics with your beer and checking into bars. GENIUS! I'm loving it already. 

I attended my first Katie Herzig show this past weekend with Doug and Nate who are SUPER FANS. I like her as well but not with the same passion as these two guys. They snagged posters off the walls to have her sign them after the show, I even snapped a few pics of them together as they made awkward banter with her. I felt like I was with 2 high schoolers who were at their first dance. LOVED IT! Plus the venue had some delightful beer. Chocolate peanut butter stout? Yes please!

Nate and I did what we love to do best, thrifting (get your brain out of the gutter...) we hit up some community garage sales which here hugely disappointing. What is the point of participating if you're only going to put out one table of junk? And almost everyone had the same theme: Baby clothes, kids toys and exercise equipment. NO THANKS. It got to the point that Nate would drive by real slow and I would just look at the spread and be like "Nope, just crap". We did hit a jackpot of sorts. It was more like an estate sale in this cool mansion that was pretty much picked over but anything without a sticker on it was free. I was still able to find some mason jars in the kitchen and a first'ish edition of Gone with the Wind (I think it's a first edition, second printing). For some reason all of the GoodWill's we hit up in PA were pretty bare this past weekend but I hit the jackpot at HomeGoods. New swimwear and an apple peeler. SCORE! I wasn't even looking for those things and they just jumped off the shelves and yelled "please take me home with you".  While we were shopping we spotted as what I can only describe as NJ housewives gone wrong. 2 ladies with their 6 guido kids. The boys had gelled coifs, loafers and polos on and the baby girls had gold hoops and styled hair as well. The Mom's were what made us do a double take. Mom #1 had 3 inch stilettos, skin tight black jeans and a black lace peplum top. She was coated in make-up, very frosted lips and bleach blond. Mom #2 was wearing a thin peach tube top with a black bra and it was sporting an unflattering muffin top to go along with her gobs of make-up and bleach blond hair. The weird thing is all those kiddos were brunettes with dark features...They were the annoying clan in the store who let their kids run amok while they're busy chatting, unaware that they're causing everyone else a bit of distress. GET OUT OF MY WAY, I NEED TO BUY THIS APPLE PEELER/CORER COMBO! YOU"RE KIDS ARE BLOCKING THE AISLE!

In other thrifting news, Nate and I got bored and decided to drive an hour over to Vineland NJ to check out their flea market. It should be called a crap market. It was filled with all the items I could purchase at a dollar store, plus any automotive accessories or tools I may need, an endless supply of bootleg DVD's some questionable women's fashions, produce booths and more garbage. On top of all this, Nate and I were probably the only non-Latinos there. Who would have thought we would be the only Gringos there.  We did get some good people watching in and soak up some delicious smelling food. I would have gotten some but was intimidated by the Spanish only signage. Luckily I know what tacos and quesadillas are but my other food vocabulary is a bit rusty. Yo quiero that (and points) It's bad enough I was already attracting stares, I didn't need to make it worse by utilizing my Spanglish skills. 




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Turning lemons into lemonade

6/23/2014

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If anyone has been to Bell's Market in NE Philadelphia you can attest that they have the cheapest produce. Anthony thinks it's a cover up for the Russian Mafia. I don't care what it is, just keep on making those incredible half sour pickles. I treked all the way out there for my favorite pickles and grabbed a couple of unexpected items because I just couldn't pass them up. I was so proud to get a mini personal watermelon for $1.79. WHAT A DEAL. I brought it home and cracked into that thing like a pinata. I love chopping watermelon, there's a funny side story here...


The summer of Heather and Anthony's wedding 3 out of the 4 Socha sisters were living at Mom and Dad's plus Sophie. It was a summer of fun times. One evening Anthony's parents were out of town and so we headed over for some Friday night drinks and summer activities. Soon everyone was feeling pretty good and we noticed an untouched watermelon. Being hungry and flushed from alcohol we decided to break into it. If you have been around me while I am drunk you can attest to the fact that even when I am sloshed, I don't think I'm that far gone and that I can still do all skilled tasks as well as sober Ashley can. Unfortunately that couldn't be further from the truth. When I am sober and cutting up watermelon I like to have a bit of fun and grab the largest knife, bring it over my head and pretend I'm chopping wood. "Hey watermelon, I'm gonna split you like a log!" Normally that is fine, except that I insisted that I be the one to cut up the watermelon on that Friday evening. All I can say is that Anthony got real wide eyed as I made my karate chop into that melon, I did slice it but no where near the middle like I had intended. That's when he decided I did enough and passed the torch onto someone else with a bit more eye/hand coordination.

Back to my watermelon fiasco. I popped open that watermelon only to discover the reason it was $1.79, it was a bit over ripe. It was still good but a bit soft and in need of being consumed ASAP. I decided to try out a new summer jam recipe from Food in Jars for Watermelon Jam. It literally took me less than an hour to make this stuff and it tastes so good! Not sickly sweet, just the right amount. IT'S SUMMER IN A JAR! I put what I could into hot jars but I always end up with just enough jam leftover that I can't quite make a full jar to finish it up in the canner and so I stuck the last little bit into a mason jar I found at a garage sale and called it a day.

I also added a couple of pics from around my NC residence. There is a plot of clover that I thought looked very picturesque this afternoon.

Watermelon Jelly


From Food in Jars

Yield: Makes 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 pints



Ingredients

  • 6 cups pureed watermelon (remove any seeds prior to pureeing)
  • 5 cups white sugar
  • 1/2 cup bottled lemon juice
  • 1 packet powdered pectin
Instructions

  1. Whisk together sugar and powdered pectin until they are fully integrated. Combine watermelon puree, sugar/pectin and lemon juice in a large, non-reactive pot.
  2. Bring to a boil and let cook until the temperature of the nascent jelly reaches 220 degrees. This can take anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending on the width of your pot, the heat of your stove and even the weather you’re having. Check set using saucer test before removing it from the heat, to ensure that it will set.
  3. Remove from the heat and pour into prepared jars. Wipe rims, apply lids and screw on bands. Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.
  4. When time is up, remove from canner and let jars cool. When they’re cool enough to handle, remove rings and test seals. You can eat immediately or store unopened jars in a cool, dark place for up to a year.
Notes

*This jelly can take up to one week to set. Please give it time.


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    Author

    I am an aquarius who likes long walks on the beach and the flicker of candle light.  If you haven't noticed yet, Just kidding! I'm a Vermonter who has left my beautiful home state in search of adventure. This blog contains all of my favorite things, mostly food so that my family back home can keep tabs on me. Mom & Dad I'm still alive!!!! Side note: I am terrible at spelling and grammar. There are bound to be typos all over this blog. It's like Where's Waldo. If you look hard enough you will find an error. 

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