Puff Puff Pass on the Pimento...

Latest inspiration for a blog post…LUNCH at Dean & Deluca

I have made zero blogging progress in the past several weeks which were filled with a busy Labor Day weekend in San Fran and then a joyous period of no-life while I studied for the series 7. Luckily I emerged alive, with ONE passing grade (brush ya shoulda’s off), TWO lost cents (slight sanity beating), and at least THREE clogged arteries from all the twizzlers that were consumed in a failed attempt to fill the hole caused by the wine hiatus. Celebrations at Press Wine Bar with Alicia and Amanda last night certainly quenched my thirst (thanks to a $$$ treat from daddy francoz), and I finally feel like my French blood is flowing again.  

My apt. building conveniently houses a local wine bar!! YUMMM.

SOOO with an added kick to our step and boost of confidence from being LICENSED muni bond-peoples, we headed to D&D today to grab lunch, which I consider a fairly ‘normal’ place. Soups, salads, and sandwiches should have relatively few surprises right? Not in the south. Nothing is normal here. And I mean that in the best of all ways (where else do people actually treat you like a human!??! Abnormal…but wonderful nonetheless...).

After going through the normal ping pong of decision-making (soup vs salad, salad vs sandwich, sushi AND soup??) I finally settled on sandwich and saw pimento cheese. Though there wasn’t a description, I just ordered it (I love pimento olives in my martinis and obviously I love cheese…). When I saw the woman behind the counter start to spread something all over the bread, I stopped her: 

Me: ‘umm no I don’t want that…'

(fancy face looks back at me….)
Fancy Face: ‘but you ordered that…' 

Me: ‘no I ordered pimentos and cheese on a sandwich….'

FF: ‘no you ordered a pimento cheese sandwich….' This is when I realized that I had once again hit a cultural wall. Fail, fail, fail again.

To make the best of the situation, I then proceeded to get the sandwich toasted (thought it would taste more like a grilled cheese or bagel)...Amanda and Alicia just started laughing at me and informed me that pimento cheese is apparently a real ‘SOUTHERN THING’ sold in mass quantities and on every menu here. After googling it, I also learned that the top producer in the NATION (Ruth's) is based here in good old Charlotte, manufacturing more than 50,000 cups of cheese per week, which are distributed throughout the South. I have included a recipe below (a la Paula Dean of course) but all you need to really know is that oh well, hmmm, basically I spent $7.50 on fancy wheat bread spread with cream cheese and mayonnaise. Awesome.

  

Anyways, the only other thing I have to say is that I’m off to New York this weekend to celebrate the sissy’s bday…hopefully I will make it back alive and have good updates for all five of my readers (southern girl moves back to city for the weekend?) Have a good one!!

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PIMENTO CHEESE RECIPE

Ingredients

• 1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup grated sharp cheddar
• 1 cup grated Monterey Jack
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon House Seasoning (1 cup salt, 1/4 cup black pepper, 1/4 cup garlic powder)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons pimentos, smashed
• 1 teaspoon grated onion
• Cracked black pepper

Directions: Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Add all of the remaining ingredients and beat until well blended. Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months. It can be used as a dip for crudite or as a sandwich filling.

Rating: In the words of the desk, my rating on this one is one is that I am a SELLER (for all you common-folk who don’t understand bond-speak being a buyer is a good thing).

 

NASCAR...some learning in preparation for the races!

 

First of all, who even knows what NASCAR stands for? If you guessed Nationwide Americans Staring At Cars Racing, you are wrong (…and stupid since that acronym would be NASACR).  NASCAR stands for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, founded in 1948. Stock car racing in the United States has its origins during Prohibition, when drivers ran bootleg whiskey. In order to distribute the illicit products, they typically used small, fast vehicles to evade the police. Many of the drivers would modify the cars for speed, handling, and increased cargo capacity… and some of them came to love the fast-paced driving down twisty mountain roads. The cars continued to improve, even after the removal of Prohibition (1933) and by the late 1940s, races featuring cars were being run for pride and profit. These races were popular entertainment in the rural Southern United States, especially North Carolina.

A mechanic named William France, Sr., moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, from Washington, D.C., in 1935 to escape the Great Depression. He entered the 1936 Daytona event, finished 5th and took over running the course in 1938. He believed that people really would enjoy watching these "stock cars" races, and ended up forming NASCAR on February 21, 1948. The current CEO, Brian France, is grandson of the late Bill France Sr. and the Company is still HQ’d in Daytona Beach Florida, although it’s main operation offices are all in North Carolina (Charlotte, Moorsville, Concord and Conover). 

Dale Earnhardt

Today, NASCAR is the second most viewed professional sport in terms of television ratings in the United States, only beat by professional football. Internationally, NASCAR races are broadcast in over 150 countries. It holds 17 of the top 20 attended single-day sporting events in the world, and claims 75 million fans that purchase over $3 billion in annual licensed product sales. 

...On that note, above you will find the schedule for NASCAR 2011. If you come out for the Charlotte Races on October 15th, I can guarantee, you will not be disappointed....

xx,

Alexa and Buck (who is a bicycle but wishes he were a Stock Car)