Winner: Cowfish Giveaway!

Apologies for being a couple of hours late!  But the numbers are in, and Random.org did it's job of picking random number 15.  So congratulations to Penny D!!!

We will be in touch with the winner soon, thank you all who participated.

We will have another giveaway soon, so keep your eyes out and join us again!

Review: Pasta and Provisions

In a nondescript storefront on Providence between Queens and Wendover, there is a small piece of Italy called Pasta and Provisions.  If you have recently moved into a new home in South Charlotte, you may know them from the pile of welcome coupons you so often receive.  If you’re thinking about throwing that coupon away, don’t.  It’s worth the visit.

It’s a bit difficult to navigate around the store, everything is close together, and it may take you a few minutes to get oriented, but once you have your food, it’s worth it. It is part deli, part grocery, part pasta store, with a wall devoted to wine.  It's not the place for food shopping on a budget, but the store has everything you'll need for a romantic meal, and much of it is specialty items.  You would certainly pay more for the same quality food at a restaurant.

Cowfish Giveaway!

Since the time that I wrote my first review on The Cowfish, I've become a much bigger fan of the restaurant.  I've been many more times, I've taken my whole family.  We've gone to celebrate various events, visitors, dates.  In short, The Cowfish is quickly becoming an institution in my family.  Much of what I had trouble with in the article has been taken care of (I recently added a brief update to the review to reflect that change).  The long menu, one of it's most confusing and most delicious traits, remains.

Review: Amelie's French Bakery

Have you ever seen the 2001 movie Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulain, known in the United States simply as Amelie? This unique film is nothing short of, well, fabulous. It is smart and quirky and fun, though quite dark humor.

Of course, I’m not reviewing the movie (but watch it). Rather, I’m here to tell you about a place that reminds me a bit of the movie whenever I walk in (and not just because of the name): Amelie’s French Bakery. Amelie’s is truly a Charlotte institution. When my sister and niece came to visit, just after I moved to Charlotte, Amelie’s was on their must try list.

A Taste of Nova Scotia

I'm back!  And alive!  My parents' goutweed experiment proved tasty, and we all survived.  It made for a very lovely soup, made with potato, leek and mushroom, as well as the goutweed, much like a warm vichyssois, but with mushroom and goutweed.

In the meantime, I enjoyed every bit of my time in Canada.  Along with sailing and beach time, we did a lot of eating.  The first day I was there, I discovered that my parents had gone without me to a smokehouse, where they bought three different kinds of smoked fish: smoked mackerel, cold smoked salmon (just smoked, no heat, known in the U.S. as lox), and “cajun style” hot smoked salmon (both heated and smoked). This is possibly the most amazing smoked fish I’ve had in a long time.The lox melted in my mouth, the mackerel was delightfully smoky and mild, and the hot smoked salmon was delightful.

Something Classic Cafe

Something Classic Café is an interesting concept; it offers traditional café style lunches and dinner, as well as catering and a large assortment of freshly made ready to-go take out items. From soup, brisket, and casseroles to watermelon salad, the take out menu is ever-changing and is always interesting.

A Pocketful of Porcini

I consider my parents the ultimate locovores.  When most people talk about eating local, they mean produce from local farms and family gardens.  But when my parents talk about eating local, they mean exploring the native vegetation and trying out what grows in an area naturally. 

I have been visiting a lovely small town in Nova Scotia (hence the recent lack of blog posts – Internet is difficult here), where my my parents have a summer home.  This summer, they have been enthusiastic about trying out “goutweed” (or more pleasantly, “bishop’s weed”), a decorative plant that has run wild throughout the town.  Ok, technically it is not “native,” but near enough.  They have an entire field of these pretty, yet invasive, plants, so, upon finding that it was edible, they decided to do an experiment.  I will tell you  more about that as it unfolds (provided I’m not in the hospital).