Food Blogging

I was at a recent gathering of bloggers and we started talking about food blogging. There are lots of local bloggers who eat out, photograph and write about their meals. There have ever been local food blogger events where groups of bloggers eat and blog in tandem. Anyway this inspired me to take a picture of a recent meal (step 1), and write about below.

I am slowing trying different restaurants and shops in my new part of town (SW Durham bordering Chapel Hill). The other night I went to Peony Asian Bistro at Patterson Place. I was expecting a fast food level place, as that is more keeping with strip mall where they are located. I was pleasantly surprised to see an understated Asian restaurant decorated in reds and blacks. I was coming for takeout, so I did not have a chance to enjoy the atmosphere, but I am sure I will return for a sitdown meal.

The menu features a full complement of standard Chinese fare (with vegetarian options), an extensive sushi menu, and a small sampling of Japanese and Thai entrees. I ordered the Pad Thai (pictured above). I have already been told that takeout food does not photograph well, which I suspect relates to the fact that it has not been properly plated. It was generous portion of very flavorful noodles, vegetables, tofu, egg, and chicken. Beef and shrimp versions were also available. My only complaint was that some of the onions should have been cut into small pieces. I ate about half of it, and had the rest for lunch the next day.

I plan to go back soon and try the sushi, and other Asian cuisine.

On a side note, they need to hire a native English speaking proofreader for their takeout menu. Under the address it says, We On The Right Hand Side of The Kroger At Patterson Place.

Dinner with the Kids

Tonight we ate dinner at home and we had plenty of big fun. Most of the time I have the kids, I make pasta or we go out. Sometimes I try to make a real dinner or at least part of one. We bought fried chicken, broccoli to steam and salad for me and pickles for the kids.

By having a real meal, this ensured that I sat down with the kids and ate with them. I usually don’t do this when they have pasta, and that is a bad thing. Well, apparently I was in a very silly mood, and we did a lot of singing at the table. We sang Hannah Montana songs in funny voices. We changed the words and made the Hannah Montana theme song about Queen Amadala from Star Wars. The kids found all this very funny.

But the one thing that proved we had reached the pinnacle of the meal was when I started singing songs that Peter sang when he was three and four. I started singing the song about “I caught a little baby bumble bee” and Peter started laughing so hard he couldn’t breathe. That is success. Once he could breathe again, he told me that that song was never to leave this room.

And just to confirm that it was a great night, at one point during dessert Grace burst into laughter and spit Popsicle juice at me.

Double Downtown Durham Dinners

Tonight I went to my second dinner at a downtown Durham restaurant in 3 days. We had a client in town and we went Piedmont. It is a big city type restaurant that focuses on local food with a menu that changes weekly. We shared two kinds of charcuterie, one made from chicken and one made from duck. The chicken one taste like very smooth chopped liver and reminded me of the 2nd Avenue Deli in New York. I had the bouillabaisse, which was delicious and very fresh. I did get some sauce on my shirt trying to remove the tail from a shrimp. It is my work shirt (with company name embroidered on it), so I may need to take it to the cleaners. The funny thing about Piedmont is it is the building that used to house a photo studio where a photographer I used to work with shot.

On Monday night I met a friend for dinner at Pop’s, a staple of the downtown Durham restaurant scene that I have never been to. I had a local greens salad and grilled salmon. It was a fresh and light meal that was very tasty. I also tried the mussels, which were delicious. We lingered at the table talking until the waitress started giving us dirty looks and they were stacking chairs on other tables. We were not the last to leave, though.

Peter Made Dinner

Tonight Peter made this delicious pie for dinner. It was made of hot dogs, baked beans, ketchup and mustard. We baked it between 2 Pillsbury store bought crusts. It was very good. I asked Peter if the red wine I was drinking went with it. He said he had no idea. I told him that he was the chef, so he should know. He said, I am a 9 year old boy. He told me that he thought milk went well with the pie.

Grace at Dinner

At a recent dinner, Grace pulled her spoon back, as if to launch food at me, and announced, “Fire in the hole.”