Tarheels Tea and Tobacco!

No, it kind of looks like Cliff grew another head.  Remember that horror movie from the 70s?  The one where Raymond Burr grew another head?  (Or did I just dream that?)

The Travelin Man


That picture looks nothing like wanderingjew.

Actually that picture does look like me!

Nancy, I'm afraid you've got Raymond Burr confused with someone else. It was Ray Milland who starred in that 1970s "classic" The Thing with Two Heads. In it, Milland's head was transplanted onto Rosey Grier's shoulder, creating a bi-racial two-headed man. This film came out just a couple of years after The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant ( both films from AIP ) starring Bruce Dern and Pat Priest ( TV's Marilyn Munster. ) I know way too much about lousy movies, huh? 

I will have to say they looked exactlly like they said they would. 
wanderingjew, I thought about you the other night as I picked up BBQ sandwiches w/slaw from a local chain..... they had brunswick stew buy one get one free. It actually was better than what the 4 of us had last Saturday at Barbecue Lodge.

I told Wendy " Dale would love this" .


Dennis in Cary

Aaaaah, it was Ray Milland.  All I knew is that I watched that fool thing at a rock-a-thon in the 8th grade and that's pretty much all I remember from that.  Thanks for straightening me out!

I am so sorry that Buffetbuster couldnt check out Pauls Grocery a bit longer-what a roafood treasure! And no Big Eds for breakfast?

annpeeples


I am so sorry that Buffetbuster couldn't check out Pauls Grocery a bit longer-what a roafood treasure! And no Big Eds for breakfast?

Ann, they have gone downhill the last couple of years. The original owners sold the place and the new guy just hasn't panned out. The last time my wife and I ate there, a mouse ran across the floor.



Dennisin Cary 

Dennis-are you speaking of Big Eds?It has been a couple years since I have been there.What a shame! I always enjoyed going there...

DLnWPBrown


I will have to say they looked exactlly like they said they would. 
wanderingjew, I thought about you the other night as I picked up BBQ sandwiches w/slaw from a local chain..... they had brunswick stew buy one get one free. It actually was better than what the 4 of us had last Saturday at Barbecue Lodge.

I told Wendy " Dale would love this" .


Dennis in Cary

Dennis,
 
I've always preferred the thicker brunswick stew, althought the Brunswick Stew at BBQ Lodge was good, I thought it was just a little too much on the sweet side.
The stew at Allen and Son's reminded me of the stew at Harold's in Atlanta, which besides the cracklin corn bread, was the only thing there that I liked. Come to think of it, there are very few places that serve bad brunswick stew, at least the places that I visited. If I recall, the only brunswick stew I didn't like, was the stuff served at the Smokey Pig in Ashland VA just north of Richmond.
 
BTW- Which  BBQ chain did you go to?

 Dale, Wendy and I thought the same thing that the stew was a little on the sweet side for us as well.  To answer your question I went to Smithfield's Chicken and BBQ.
For a chain they make decent Q but their BBQ chicken and fried chicken are better... although sometimes the BBQ pork does scratch an itch.


Dennis in Cary

Just to finally finish this thing off.....
 
On breakfast on Sunday, I hit Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen in Chapel Hill.  I wrote about this place in a trip report last year and WJ covered it well earlier in this report.  The one item that was new to me that I ordered was the cinnamon roll.

Unfortunately, lots of the gooey frosting and cinnamon on top came off on the wax paper it was wrapped in.  Not bad, though the inside of the roll was too doughy.
 
I also spent some time on the campus of University of North Carolina.  Since it was such a nice day, there were plenty of people walking around in their Sunday best, eagerly anticipating the big basketball game with archrival Duke later in the afternoon.  I did finally find a Carolina blue hooded sweatshirt I have been looking for your years.
 
Finding open Roadfood restaurants in North Carolina on a Sunday can be a challenge.  I ended up eating lunch at a place in Garner called Toot-n-Tell. 

The Sterns have a rule about places with overly cutesy names generally not being good Roadfood and I should have listened.  They had a buffet going on and I took a quick look.  It did not look promising, so I asked to see the menu.  My waitress told me that it was either the buffet of sandwiches on Sunday.  So, I took a shot at the buffet.  This was my first and only plate.
 
Everything tasted bland in a mass produced kind of way.  Not one thing was particularly horrid, but nothing made me want to go back for seconds, either.  For dessert, I grabbed a little bit of chocolate cake and peach cobbler and they were no better.  I definitely don't recommend this place.
 
From there it was straight to the airport.

Sorry about the Sunday slim pickings Cliff.  It is downright difficult finding something good to eat on Sunday.  I am positive that is not what the Lord intended.

buffetbuster



Finding open Roadfood restaurants in North Carolina on a Sunday can be a challenge.  I ended up eating lunch at a place in Garner called Toot-n-Tell. 

Did anyone there ask you to pull their finger?

For the record, I wouldn't do it. 

I'm juss sayin'.

  What the heck IS THAT?! 'tween the beans and sweet 'taters?  

A little bit of fatback maybe?

If you ladies are referring to that bacon looking thing in the front, that is fried pork salt, aka "Streak-o-Lean" and is the item Toot-n-Tell is best known for.  Unfortunately, it was hard beyond consumption and you definitely risked cracking a tooth biting into it.

Well darn, I've read about Streak o lean...thought it sounded pretty freakin' good but that looks nothing like how I imagined it !  Is it usually yummy? also if I were to try and make it, is it the same as salt pork? that's all I ever see up here { and it's made by Hormel!! } sorry 'bout the mini-hijack.....

I have lived in Garner, N.C. almost all my life. Toot and Tell used to be THE place to eat but we haven't been there in years now. I have heard too many locals complain about the quality of the food to risk it now...but in its day Wow it was to die for.
We used to always eat at the Roast Grill too. Mrs. George was alive then and spoke almost no English but Wow what wonderful dogs.
Char Grill on Hillsborough St. was better in the day also.
We cook most of our meals at home now so I can't give many recomendations but we love K&S Cafeteria in Raleigh for good down home cooking.
Jean

HI JEAN !!  [love that, also, Hi Jack!]  Welcome, and how the heck can I make STREAK O' LEAN??!!  Figure you MUST know,  you NC  Based Roadfooder,you!!   You southern people get all the best FOOD!!!  Recipe to PM PLEASE!!! thanks.      Poor streak o' leanless  Yankee Dawn  

Streak o lean is salted pork like fat back but with sreaks of lean meat running through it. It is fried till golden and crispy but if not washed well first it is too salty to eat. I prefer fat back which is salted pork fat with skin. It is also fried cisp and makes excellent grease for seasoning veggies. It has to be washed really well before frying also or it is way too salty to eat.
I don't know of a recipie because it is readily available at all our grocery stores and pork outlet centers.
Nahunta Pork producers are probably on line and may ship.
Hope this helps,
Jean

  Thank You!!!

I am amazed that the Toot N Tell is still open, it was on the way downhill 20 years ago.

hi Jean, welcome to Roadfood. I l don't get out as much to eat as I'd like to either but always wanted to try the Toot..... glad I didn't now. Question for you, does Lancaster's do anything but catering and in store sales?


Dennis in Cary

Sorry I don't know about Lancasters. Try Carolina BBQ on hwy 70 east sometimes. It is good. It is in the old Hickory House location and is run down enough for roadfooders to love! LOL. It is about 5-6 miles from downtown Raleigh. If you like chicken livers this is the go to place. No one there can count to 12 so if you order a dozen ala carte you end up with 2 dozen. I like their corn sticks, hush puppies and cole slaw also. The fried chicken is either GREAT or just soso. I think they cook too much of it ahead some days.
HAGN!
Jean

You know Jesco it may have been 10-12 years since I ate there last. You are probably dead on but in the 70"s...YUMMY!
Jean

Aaahhhhhhhhhh sweet relief!

So it was here in this very space that I tried to post and suddenly I had lost all ability to even PM.

I just wanted to say thanks guys!!!! It was fun following you! As always great stuff & pics & you make me both road-itchy (i.e. wanna get in the car and go!) and hungry! CHEERS!

cecif-
Great to have to back!!!!!

Yeah, cecif, I'm glad you're fixed.  We would have missed you.

Nancypalooza


Yeah, cecif, I'm glad you're fixed.  We would have missed you.

Ditto!
 

Cecif-good to have you back....but remember, any pictures of WJ dont look at all like him!

Surprisingly, on April 1st, all pictures of wanderingjew look EXACTLY like him.

cecif


Aaahhhhhhhhhh sweet relief!

So it was here in this very space that I tried to post and suddenly I had lost all ability to even PM.

I just wanted to say thanks guys!!!! It was fun following you! As always great stuff & pics & you make me both road-itchy (i.e. wanna get in the car and go!) and hungry! CHEERS!

 
I have been following your ordeal on the bugs and issues post. 
 
Good to have you back

Can anyone tell me more about those boiled NC style potatos? Never heard of them and am intrigued.

I know this is the wrong place to put this, but it has just driven me crazy! Whay can I see some pictures and not others?
I can always see Travelin Man's (among others)  but never Buffetbuster's(among others). Why is that?

Be grateful.

My pictures are always better than bufferbuster's! 

Boiled potatoes are just that! Wash and peel your potatoes. Cut into bite sized hunks. Put in an open pot and cover with water. Add lots of butter and salt and pepper. Bring to a low boil. Watch out for boil overs...and cook with no stirring till soft. If you want BBQ potatoes add a comercial sauce at the end of cooking (Like Sweet Baby Ray's or even Kraft"s and some red pepper flakes to taste) Stir in and simmer for a few minutes.
Jean
 The no stir rule is so you don't get potatoe mush..LOL

Bobbie J


Boiled potatoes are just that! Wash and peel your potatoes. Cut into bite sized hunks. Put in an open pot and cover with water. Add lots of butter and salt and pepper. Bring to a low boil. Watch out for boil overs...and cook with no stirring till soft. If you want BBQ potatoes add a comercial sauce at the end of cooking (Like Sweet Baby Ray's or even Kraft"s and some red pepper flakes to taste) Stir in and simmer for a few minutes.
Jean
 The no stir rule is so you don't get potatoe mush..LOL

My recipe handed down from my grandmother is a little different Jean. Take your potatoes and peel and cut up as you mentioned.... but as they are cooking you add a little bit of ketcup to color the water then add hot sauce to give it a little zing. Only kind I like.


Dennis in Cary 

Thanks to both of you. I am a potato lover and had never heard of this variant.

smokestack, it's so specifically North Carolina, more eastern NC if I'm figuring correctly, that I wonder if there's not a specific reason why--like people didn't want to invest in fryers for french fries--but I don't exactly know how to find that out.

The other thing you find in NC BBQ places is BBQ slaw--barbecue sauce in place of the usual mayo-based dressing or mixed in with it.

Nancypalooza


smokestack, it's so specifically North Carolina, more eastern NC if I'm figuring correctly, that I wonder if there's not a specific reason why--like people didn't want to invest in fryers for french fries--but I don't exactly know how to find that out.

The other thing you find in NC BBQ places is BBQ slaw--barbecue sauce in place of the usual mayo-based dressing or mixed in with it.

Thanks for both items! Most interesting, as my grandmother used to say. I appreciate your relaying the specific rather small geographical area for the potatos that it makes much more sense. I have spent a lot of the last decade in the South- mainly Mississippi-memphis-Louisiana for the first 6 or 7 and Savannah for the last few before returning to California and had never heard of them and was surprirized being both a lover of potatos and of BBQ. Your theory of the possible reason why is really interesting an dmakes me want to research more!

The BBQ sla is also interesting. In Memphis they have mustard slaw and BBQ everything else-the famous spaghetti being an obvious example- but I was unaware of BBQ slaw until I saw it in North Carolina. Makes me wish I had spent more time exploring North carolin aBBQ while I was in Savannah.

Thanks again.

The Travelin Man


Be grateful.

My pictures are always better than bufferbuster's! 

Okay Pal, you just made the list!!!

smokestack lightning

Nancypalooza


smokestack, it's so specifically North Carolina, more eastern NC if I'm figuring correctly, that I wonder if there's not a specific reason why--like people didn't want to invest in fryers for french fries--but I don't exactly know how to find that out.

The other thing you find in NC BBQ places is BBQ slaw--barbecue sauce in place of the usual mayo-based dressing or mixed in with it.

Thanks for both items! Most interesting, as my grandmother used to say. I appreciate your relaying the specific rather small geographical area for the potatos that it makes much more sense. I have spent a lot of the last decade in the South- mainly Mississippi-memphis-Louisiana for the first 6 or 7 and Savannah for the last few before returning to California and had never heard of them and was surprirized being both a lover of potatos and of BBQ. Your theory of the possible reason why is really interesting an dmakes me want to research more!

The BBQ sla is also interesting. In Memphis they have mustard slaw and BBQ everything else-the famous spaghetti being an obvious example- but I was unaware of BBQ slaw until I saw it in North Carolina. Makes me wish I had spent more time exploring North carolin aBBQ while I was in Savannah.

Thanks again.

Slaw gets even more geographical than potatoes do Smokestack. I grew up eating a type of slaw that has vinegar, sugar, mustard, and just a hint of mayo... so slight is the mayo that you honestly don't know it is there unless you ask. I mentioned this to Dale and Clint when they were in town.

Now my wife likes the slaw with BBQ sauce in it but we need to be specific about that so people don't get confused. You son't chop up a head of cabbage and dump Kraft or Hunt's BBQ sauce in it... yuck. You are actually using a thin red sauce that it prepared mainly in western NC. Lexington BBQ in Lexington NC is some of the best we have found. 


Smokestack I would be glad to share the recipe with you if you like.



Dennis in Cary

DLnWPBrown

smokestack lightning

Nancypalooza


smokestack, it's so specifically North Carolina, more eastern NC if I'm figuring correctly, that I wonder if there's not a specific reason why--like people didn't want to invest in fryers for french fries--but I don't exactly know how to find that out.

The other thing you find in NC BBQ places is BBQ slaw--barbecue sauce in place of the usual mayo-based dressing or mixed in with it.

Thanks for both items! Most interesting, as my grandmother used to say. I appreciate your relaying the specific rather small geographical area for the potatos that it makes much more sense. I have spent a lot of the last decade in the South- mainly Mississippi-memphis-Louisiana for the first 6 or 7 and Savannah for the last few before returning to California and had never heard of them and was surprirized being both a lover of potatos and of BBQ. Your theory of the possible reason why is really interesting an dmakes me want to research more!

The BBQ sla is also interesting. In Memphis they have mustard slaw and BBQ everything else-the famous spaghetti being an obvious example- but I was unaware of BBQ slaw until I saw it in North Carolina. Makes me wish I had spent more time exploring North carolin aBBQ while I was in Savannah.

Thanks again.

Slaw gets even more geographical than potatoes do Smokestack. I grew up eating a type of slaw that has vinegar, sugar, mustard, and just a hint of mayo... so slight is the mayo that you honestly don't know it is there unless you ask. I mentioned this to Dale and Clint when they were in town.

Now my wife likes the slaw with BBQ sauce in it but we need to be specific about that so people don't get confused. You son't chop up a head of cabbage and dump Kraft or Hunt's BBQ sauce in it... yuck. You are actually using a thin red sauce that it prepared mainly in western NC. Lexington BBQ in Lexington NC is some of the best we have found. 


Smokestack I would be glad to share the recipe with you if you like.



Dennis in Cary

Hi,  Thanks for the information. Quite interesting. I would love the recipe. thanks.

Josh

Josh, did you try the slaw and if so how did you like it? It's really good on hot dogs as well when you have some good chili to go with it.



Dennis in Cary

buffetbuster

The Travelin Man


Be grateful.

My pictures are always better than bufferbuster's! 

Okay Pal, you just made the list!!!

But at least we get to SEE BB's pictures, we are still waiting on yours from several reports.
 

 
You know we love ya Steve, we wouldnt pick on you otherwise