fresh local yummy

Who says you can’t eat well on holiday?

With friends, family and birthdays upon us we have been blessed with a bounty of local goods. Enough local goods to last the remainder of the holiday and into the canner upon arrival of returning home! My brother (yea, that guy) graced our tables once again!

The corn has arrived.

As well as a bushel of fresh, local Blue Crab

It’s what’s for dinner!

For RCB’s 5th birthday (!!!!!!) we gathered around the table, cracked the crab, slurped the sweetest corn and chomped shrimp. It was fun, full of laughter, sheer enjoyment, not to mention absolutely delicious.

However, 10 of us could only eat but so much leaving us plenty of leftovers. On holiday, this is great! Lunch the next day was just as delicious and grand as the dinner. Cracked crab to make crab salad for crab rolls (mimicking lobster rolls), cut the corn and blended it with raw vegetables, ginger and jalapeno (oh. my. so. good.) for a vegetable salad. A super compliment to the crab roll.

Dinner served the shrimp its final purpose. Tossing the shrimp in some fettucini noodles with asparagus, avocado, red onion and garlic. Seasoned with sea salt, black peppercorn, and olive oil. Sprinkled with red pepper flakes and parmesan chunks. Light and satisfying, full of flavor. A nice meal to round out the rainy afternoon while sipping on a crisp white wine.

Our future consist of ferry rides, island tromping and lunch al fresco. The kids are getting their groove, sharing and playing nicely. Waves have been surfed. Sandcastles built. Epic card games played. Happy food consumed.

ONE LOVE-

hard boiled

Remember this post a while back regarding the request for local property owners in Kill Devil Hills, NC to have the choice to maintain a max of six backyard chickens if they wanted? Here is the follow up article and current status of the votes…

Click on Photo

If you are not familiar with the area it is located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. A beautiful, popular vacation destination for folks all along the eastern seaboard and beyond. It is off the beaten path. You have to make a point to get there. The vibe is mellow, the locals are loyal to their tromping ground (not in a pirate way, in a ‘we love where we live and partake in the sunshine and sand as much as possible’ way). When you are there, the sole purpose is sun, sand and waves. Nothing more, nothing less. One of our favorite places in the world.

The route that takes you to the Outer Banks is my brother’s tromping grounds. It is 95% + local farm land. Corn, Soy Beans, Cotton, Watermelon, a local, fresh produce stand in each town you drive through grounds. The shops and towns are all surrounded by fertile farmed land. Farmed by generations of North Carolinian families. Rich in farming heritage. This year, the crops are more beautiful than I have ever seen. Mother Nature has been kind to the 24/7 guardians of the land and crops.

I hope that the local residents of the OBX can find a compromise with the county officials. I hope to see more chickens carefully and artfully placed in local backyards. I hope for the community and us regular tourist that we start seeing open air markets with local farmers that are literally just down the road. More local crafts and local fresh eggs all along Highway 12. The community is asking for it. Craving it. They want better choices for their family and neighbors. How could that be too much to ask?

ONE LOVE-