Travel Journal Part 1 - Bathing Beauties

So here I am a month after starting our travels Beginning my journal. Ah well, if can’t remember what we did I guess I’ll just make stuff up!

A flurry of throwing things in the car and Dan and I head out for the beach. It’s Saturday, July 21st just after Dan’s improv workshop. (Dan has instigated a weekly coming together of performers from various disciplines and points of view to explore new ideas and ways of performing, not necessarily ways to be funny but ways to explore relationships and develop character. It’s pretty cool stuff and he didn’t want to miss it.) We managed to forego a BBQ stop and ended up at John’s beach house shortly after every one else and in plenty of time for dinner.

Cold Pasta Sauce! My Favorite. It’s one of Dan’s family recipes and a major staple for us when tomatoes are in season. I was going to say that you could just ask if you wanted a copy but why not just share the love? It’s super easy and very tasty. Travels well, keeps forever in the fridge. Pretty healthy too.

*****************************
Sipp Cold Pasta Sauce

3 Tbls Fresh Basil, diced
3 Tbls Fresh Parsley, diced
3 whole Green Onions, chopped
¾ tsp Oregano, dried okay
4 cloves Garlic, minced
4 large Tomatoes, small chunks
1 tsp Salt
½ tsp Pepper
3 Tbls Balsamic Vinegar
3 Tbls Red Wine
½ cup Olive Oil

Fresh Mozzarella (which I like to add when serving so it doesn’t get hard in the sauce)
Feel free to play with this as you wish. Lots of people add Hot Peppers!

Heat olive oil slightly and remove from heat. Put in minced garlic to infuse. Make sure the oil does not brown the garlic but that the garlic just nicely bubbles a bit. I usually just heat up the oil and drop in a few test pieces to test the temperature. Set aside to infuse and cool while you chop up the herbs and tomatoes. Dan says you can do the chopping in a food processor but I always do it by hand. I also always do a double batch And it always takes me hours… Maybe I need to become friends with the food processor!

Next chop up the tomatoes and get them marinating with the vinegar and wine while you mince herbs. You will end up putting all the ingredients together in a nonreactive container and the order is not particularly important except for the following note: Alcohol in the wine activates flavors in the tomatoes and putting tomatoes in the fridge turns Off certain flavor potential in tomatoes. Therefore, I recommend letting the tomatoes and at least the wine marinate at room temperature for a while. Thence the order suggestion.

Once you have everything together you should marinate for at least 4 hours before serving (if you can wait that long! But I promise it gets better and better.). Then just serve over hot pasta with some fresh mozzarella.
***********************************

This beach trip was a little different as Dan’s brother Jerry had his daughter Sabrina with him. It’s always fun to spend time with Sabrina as she is an amusing, sweet and beautiful girl who hasn't quite yet decided to be mopey and unresponsive. She does have a tendency to wear one out though! Fortunately, the neighbor’s granddaughter is her age and the two girls come to the beach at the same time so they can exhaust each other instead of us creaky adults. Sabrina and I had a great time putting together a huge dollhouse we found in pieces and her uncle Dan teased her mercilessly when we went swimming, much to her delight.

Jerry’s best friend Dave and Dave’s mother “Dumplin” were also there and I was quite happy to meet them as I had heard so much about them over the years. Despite enjoying each other’s company, unsurprisingly very little of note happened. We played a lot of Yahtzee, went to the beach and sat around on the deck talking. We ate a lot of yummy food as always. Dumplin introduced us to Shrimp/Tofu Alexander Sunday night and Dave took us out for Calabash style seafood Monday night before we left. Sadly Dan and I had to leave much earlier than we would have liked to as we had to get back to get ready to fly out Wednesday. So with hugs all round, we said goodbye at the restaurant Monday night and continued on home.

Stay tuned for the next exciting installment. Travel Journal Part 2 - Westward Ho!

P.S.

If you happen to go to Wilber's on a Thursday, as we stumbled upon yesterday, you will have the chance to enjoy their beef brisket BBQ special... Oh, so lovely! We were informed that it's been their Thursday special for the past 45 years so I doubt they'll be changing it anytime soon.

Currently I am sitting at a computer at the Bogue Banks Public Library checking my e-mail and marveling at how different this experience is from the libraries of my childhood and yet how "library" feeling it still is.

We will hit the beach this afternoon. Full report to follow.

Good Eats!

Tomorrow Dan and I will drive the long length of US Highway 70 from Raleigh to the beach where we will spend the Memorial Day weekend. About two and a half hours into our journey our car will turn of its own accord into a very large, mostly full parking lot outside of an unassuming one story brick building in Goldsboro with a big sign outside that says merely: “Wilber’s Barbeque.” I know this will happen as it has happened each and every time Dan and I have gone to the beach. I assure you that it is the car’s choice and has nothing to do with me begging Dan to stop there every waking second for two or three weeks prior to our leave taking.

Fellow travelers, I beg you, do not be deterred by the less than glamorous setting, by the somewhat dark, pine paneled dining rooms or the perhaps less than sparkling picnic style plastic table cloths. Inside this unpretentious shell lies one of the great culinary jewels of North Carolina. And you will not have to wait long to experience it! Once in the door it generally takes about five minutes to get a seat, a big Styrofoam glass of sweet tea—with extra lemon of course!—, a basket of perfect, sweet, finger shaped hushpuppies and a plate of pulled pork goodness with slaw. All this costs only about $10 with tax and tip.

If the words “pulled pork” do not send shivers of anticipation down your spine then you have never had Wilber’s barbecue! It’s moist, tender and a little smoky with a light vinegar tang and just a little heat from red pepper flakes. You will find no sweet tomato sauce here. My favorite parts are the burnt crunchy bits. And the hushpuppies... Yummm.

Wilber’s is undeniably an Eastern Carolina BBQ institution and rightly so. Shirley Wilber has been smoking whole pigs overnight over hickory wood since he opened the place in 1962. He must be doing it right too as his business has grown quite a bit since then and he has had more than his fare share of famous people rave over his food including both Clinton and at least one Bush. Yet one must ask: Is Wilber’s the best BBQ in the world?

Well… God, in Her infinite wisdom, has created as many kinds of BBQ as there are peoples that dwell upon the face of the earth. (She even gave one to Texans!) All you have to do is watch The Food Network regularly or check out the subject in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_variations_of_barbecue to become completely overwhelmed by the specifics.

Here is a simplified guide http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9120357/ but I must warn you to be wary of simplification when it comes to BBQ lest you show your ignorance! For instance, this chart doesn’t take into account the type of fuel used which is Very important to a true BBQ aficionado. Wilber’s, for instance, is on the very edge of Hickory territory, points east use Oak. Also, Dan says that he has been to Lexington and in his experience Western BBQ is spicier than Eastern BBQ but can I find that on the chart? No.

The moral is that since practically each BBQ joint is unique and their individual charms indefinable, there is only one real piece of advice I can give: Try them All! Just make sure Wilber’s is somewhere high on your list. You won't be disappointed.