Boiled Peanuts

Boiled peanuts are an interesting snack from North Carolina and thereabouts.  My husband likes them, and we found some raw peanuts - and the recipe was in Country Living - so I made some.  They turned out great!  They're soft and salty and interesting.

1 lb. raw peanuts
1/3 cup salt
Enough water to cover peanuts by two inches.

Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low; simmer 4 hours.

{I borrowed this picture from Google.}

Thursday Tunes: Sarah Jarosz

On our way home from North Carolina, we went to the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium. Sarah Jarosz was making her Opry debut, and she was great. She is a fantastic instrumentalist with a wonderful bluegrass sound. Check her out.

North Carolina Bluestone

The campus of Duke University is very beautiful. The buildings are neo-Gothic, and most are made of a combination of Hillsborough bluestone and Indiana limestone. Here's the Duke Chapel that towers 210 feet and houses 50 bells. The stone combination is very unusual but very effective aesthetically.

Southern Magnolias

Southern Magnolias were a nice part of our trip to the South. They were everywhere, and they were in full bloom when we arrived in North Carolina. The scent was heavenly. The trees are evergreen, and they are gigantic. (As you can see in the bottom photo - they dwarfed the buildings.) Beautiful.

Mayfel's

We just returned from 3+ weeks in North Carolina. My husband was studying at Duke University, and we had a great time. On the way there, we stopped in Asheville - what a lovely town. We had dinner at a place called Mayfel's, and I had eggs benedict that included fried green tomatoes and a lime hollandaise sauce. Yum!