Food Truck Rodeo

There was a rodeo in town on Friday night, but not like you might be thinking. It was a food truck rodeo. Our awesome city farm, City Roots, hosted 5 food trucks, and a couple of other food options including lemonade, boiled peanuts, and a bar. With live music on hand, this was my kind of party. The Trucks on hand on Friday were Bone-In Artisan BBQ, Pawley’s Front Porch Food Truck, 2 Fat 2 Fly, Alfresco Mobilista, and New York’s Famous Hot Dogs. Enjoy a few photos from the evening and hopefully it will whet your appetite enough to get you out to the next one!

Customers waiting for their order at Bone In BBQ TruckCustomers getting their order from Bone-In Artisan BBQ Truck

Bone ChipsThe best chips in Columbia, Bone Chips from Bone-In Artisan BBQ Truck.

Deconstructed fried chicken GyroDeconstructed fried chicken gyro from Alfresco Mobilista. Yes, it was good.

Beer!Beer, plaid, and yo-yos!

I also had an order of fried catfish nuggets from New York’s Famous Hot Dogs. I know what you’re thinking, catfish from a hot dog truck? But they were awesome! Really nice seasoning and piping hot out of the fryer when I got them. The only downside to the evening was that there just too many options and I am not a world champion eater. I’m already looking forward to the next one.

~f

Go Gamecocks!

My uncle wasn’t using his football tickets last weekend for the Carolina Gamecocks game, so he passed them on to Forrest, me, and my parents! Forrest and I don’t usually make it to the games, so sitting in the fancy box with cushy seats and a constant flow of snacks was pretty a-mazing. The view was great and we had fun cheering on our Gamecocks!

Cocky stopped by to say hello!
Um, yeah, that’s an engraved bathroom stall door. You’re welcome.

All in all, a successful game and a successful weekend. Go Gamecocks!

<3, Liz

zombies?

Well, the CDC made me laugh with that Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse guide a while back. But then I got to thinking about the line “You can also implement this plan if there is a flood, earthquake, or other emergency.”

Nice gimmick, CDC folks. You got my attention.

And then Hurricane Irene brushed the east coast and plenty of people were evacuated. So would it be such a bad/weird thing to have a plan in place in case we had to leave quickly for some reason?

Call me crazy, but I’ve started to piece together an emergency kit in case of a zombie apocalypse… or you know, just a natural disaster.

I’m still working on our emergency stuff, but so far I have a couple LED flashlights, this crank-able/solar powered weather radio (which is my new favorite toy), a road map of South Carolina, first aid supplies, scissors, duct tape, wet wipes, antibacterial gel, personal hygiene stuff (toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc.), ponchos, emergency blankets, water purification tablets, hand warmers, instant cold packs, gauze wraps, matches, lighters, copies of our important documents (licenses, deeds, insurance),  and a towel (you need one- remember this?).

I’m storing all of this stuff in zip-lock bags in an old  backpack, ready to go at the first sign of a zombie.

The CDC recommends 1 gallon of water per person per day and canned goods for people and pets. We do keep bottled water and canned goods in our pantry, so we’ll have to grab that stuff as we run. Note: we do not typically eat Spaghetti-Os. Those are legit emergency food because they last forever and can be eaten cold!

It’s funny. I’ve talked about this with a lot of people and have gotten a variety of responses (use your imagination). Most people who like  the idea are folks who grew up on the coast… hurricanes and all, I suppose.

What’s your take? Have I lost it for real this time?

<3, Liz

New adventures!

I worked for the Fountain Division of W. P. Law for 11 years. The first 6 of those were summers starting in high school and on through college. After graduating in 2007 I moved into a full time position alternating as the jobs demanded between marketing, sales, construction, maintenance, and repair depending on what the day called for. It was both challenging and rewarding, providing with ample “war stories” from breaking ice to work on submersible lights to the longest hottest days. It was a subject that came up a lot in our long truck rides. During my time I’ve helped build the most impressive water features in the southeast, from the Keenan Fountain at the Columbia Museum of Art to the Bull River at The American Tobacco Historic District and Recovery at Swan Lake Iris Gardens (and for some shameless promotion, those are mostly my photos on the site). And just like how my Dad can point out the places that he helped landscape, I look forward to being able to show my kids the fountains I helped build. Thanks to everyone at W. P. Law for helping me grow into the person I am today and a special thanks to all the guys from the Fountain Division for the countless days of memories, hard work, jokes, and food adventures. I look forward to finding ways to work with you again in the future.

I’ve now had a month to settle in at my new job(s) and I’m loving it. I am proud to be the market manager for the All Local Farmer’s Market and the Business Manager for Caw Caw Creek Pastured Pork. It has been a great month filled with challenges and opportunities. It is worth it. I have the privilege of facilitating a market for what are, hands down, the best farmers, bakers, and crafters in the state. And at my other job, I am working with what are quite literally, some of the best pork products in the country. If you don’t believe me, then by all means, come on down to the market at 711 Whaley Street on Saturday from 8-12 or Wednesday from 4-8 since Caw Caw Creek is also a vendor there you can check everything out all at once. Even if you don’t care about me, you should go anyway, it really is quite amazing and so are the offerings our vendors provide.

The job change has also allowed a bit more flexibility in my schedule that I’m using to push my photography career forward, and that is going better than expected. I’m really looking forward to the rest of this year and even more so to 2012 once I’m a bit more settled in and moving forward in all these careers.

 

~F

witches

The cooler weather has me sniffling and popping cold medicine like it’s my job. Bummer.

But on the other hand, it seems a lot more appropriate to talk about Halloween decorations now that it’s officially mid-September. I love Halloween. I love pumpkins and fall decorations.

I convinced Forrest to take the Halloween boxes out of the attic at the beginning of September, but I’ve been busy with work and fighting off the (undiagnosed) swine flu. So not much is actually out of the boxes yet. And no worries, I’ll wait until October to hang that ghost on our porch so the neighbors don’t hate us.

This little witchy on the buffet is just about the only Halloween out in our house so far.

Oh, except for the tombstones on top of the kitchen counters. ..and the other witch on the tv cabinet.. and the pumpkin in the bathroom. Still, there’s much to be done. I’ll keep you posted.

<3, Liz

a busy day and some cookies

On today…

This afternoon was supposed to be super busy and crazy. It didn’t actually turn out that way, though.

I met up with Kiah at the OH! Salon for a hair cut right after work. He gave me a very cool, swingy cut. It’s a lot of layers but they’re staggered in a really different way. It feels good and a lot lighter.

My second afternoon appointment was cancelled and I went straight home from there. Forrest and Marty both work late on Wednesday so the Netflix was all mine. I watched Hello Dolly! and pulled up that cookie recipe I’ve had my eye on all week.

On cookies…

Anson Mills has interesting recipes on their website. They are designed specifically for their products, which are quite different from the grocery store counterparts and have to be prepared in different ways. It makes sense when you remember that many of their grains are “ancient,” all are from South Carolina, and they’re milled in downtown Columbia. Anson Mills rice and grits are the best you can find anywhere and they’re regulars on restaurant menus.

We’ve had a bag of Anson Mills toasted oats in the fridge for a few days and I’d been trying to find a good time/way to bake ’em up.  So this afternoon, while I danced around my house singing along with Barbra, I whipped up some Coconut Oatmeal Cookies and they are super good. Maybe a little sweeter than I expected, but really good.

Anson Mills requests that none of their recipes be reprinted, so out of respect for them, I am only posting the link to the recipe.

I’m not sure if this recipe works with regular oats, but you could try it. Or just do yourself a favor and order Anson Mills oats on the website! Better yet, stop by the All Local Market on a Wednesday evening or Saturday morning to grab a bag!

<3, Liz

a happier memory

Yesterday, I wrote about the tragedy of September 11th. Now for a happier memory.

Four years ago today, Forrest and I took an evening stroll around the Carolina campus and the SC State House. Forrest had some kind of excuse- wanting to try taking some nighttime photos or something. To me, it was a normal evening and this walk was something we did frequently (still do!).

We were strolling and Forrest asked me if I really thought I could spend the rest of my life with him, I said yes, we kept walking.

On the Gervais Street side of the state house, Forrest got down on the ground under the ruse of steadying himself for a photo. All of the sudden, he’s on his knee and there’s a ring and he’s asking the question. I’m pretty oblivious and responded with “Are you kidding me?”

Not my best moment. I was just shocked!

And things have been pretty wonderful ever since.

That’s my favorite September story.

<3, Liz

where were you?

Ten years ago I was in the 11th grade. Ten years ago from this morning, I sat in anatomy class watching our daily morning news shows- remember Channel One? When the news ended, my (slacker) football coach of a teacher took his time turning the tv off. I’m grateful that he did, because what came on next was a shot of one of the World Trade Center buildings pouring smoke. A few minutes later, we watched the live feed of an airplane flying into the second tower. I’m not sure it was a strong pedagogical decision, but that teacher left CNN on for the rest of class. I was horrified, but many of my classmates didn’t seem to notice.

Ten years and a few months ago, I fell in love with New York. I was there (for the first time) the April before the towers fell with my high school chorus. We were there to perform with the National Youth Choir at Carnegie Hall, but we made plenty of time to tour the city. I never set foot in the Twin Towers, but it is really interesting to look back at the photos from that trip and see them in the skyline. Sad, mostly.

I’ll never forget that day and the days that followed. My Uncle Tom (who was a firefighter in Buffalo) joined many others in the clean-up. It was such a scary and precarious time for our country. But I’m so grateful and proud that we live in a country where catastrophes like as 9/11 are an anomaly. And I will always remember the people lost in the tragedy of that day.

Where were you ten years ago?

<3, Liz