flat rock bbq and bread

i can now add one more item to the "store bought no more list." mac-n-cheese. the stuff that sits in the pantry in a cardboard box encompassing a package of white powder that comes from a questionable cheese source, whether organic or not, no longer has a place in this house. ok, let me back up a bit before i get all high and mighty. mac-n-cheese has never been one of those dishes that i made much at home, other than the aforementioned cardboard box variety. anytime i saw one of those lovely folks on the food network making it, the hoards and hoards of cheese they throw in there just made it look so so so bad for me. i just couldn't do it. but last night a few circumstances led me to it. first, i needed something easy and quick to make cause i was tired and the big bang theory was coming on. i had defrosted some chicken sausage yesterday and still had a an heirloom tomato and a pepper in the frig tittering on the verge of going bad. and, ok, so i knuckled under the other day at earthfare and bought a bag of organic fusilli pasta. i'm so ashamed, but i couldn't help it. until i get the pasta attachment to my kitchen aid for making elbow pasta, this will have to do. oh crap, i just realized that i could have made bow tie pasta. well now i have no excuse. shame shame. anyway, let's continue. after the first success with bechamel sauce (not to be mistaken with zooey deschanel - whose record she and him totally rocks) not to long ago, coupled with the fact that i had some raw milk cheddar cheese still in the frig, i decided that mac-n-cheese for dinner it was. ray chipped in and cooked up the chicken sausage and then started to empty the dish washer and clean the kitchen up a bit (did i mention he's sporting a 4 day weekend). what a lovely man. i cut up the pepper and tomato and sauteed them till the tomato was soft and concentrated. the i started the bechamel sauce with just a bit of butter and flour. after cooking that for a while, in went the milk. once it had thickened up a bit, i threw in the shredded cheese, and stirred till it was all nice, smooth, and cheesy. and i didn't really need that much cheese at all, just a small handful. since the cheese has such a strong flavor i figured a little would go a long way. once the sauce was done, in went the cooked pasta and chicken sausage. stir, stir, stir, and done!! easy peasy. i guess i could have baked the mac-n-cheese at that point for a nice crispy top, but who cares man, i was hungry.

semi-homemade mac-n-cheese.
local tally..... heirloom tomato, pepper, and free range chicken sausage.

speaking of ray's 4 day weekend, he had today off as well, and since tuesday is my day off, we took a little road trip. there were some stores in flat rock, nc that i had been wanting to go to, and it wasn't hard to convince ray to go seeing that there was a bbq restaurant there as well. OMG!!!!! hands down the best bbq in the area. even better than the bbq restaurant in saludia. hubba hubba smokehouse. it doesn't look like much and there is only outdoor seating, but man oh man was it good. but be prepared, they take cash and check only, so ray and i had to share a pulled pork plate with sweet sage cornbread, collard greens, and a oh so yummy susatasch.

hubba hubba smokehouse, flat rock, nc.

as you can see, fall has set in and lots of the leaves are already gone.
i say bring on the cold! i have a super cool green irish scarf, that ray got me on one of his trips to denver, that i am busting to wear.

if i ever get a house with a wood burning fireplace, i am totally going to put a rooter on the chimney. that rocks!!!!!

the little blue metal piggy was cool to.

oh yeah, the grub. i wish i could package this up and send some to all of you. feel free to come and visit and i will take you there.
cross over children, all are welcome, all are welcome, step into the light!!!

(please bear with me and remember in posts to come, when i start to rant about the horrors of factory farmed meat, i told you once and i will tell you again, bbq is my weakness. but i have successfully given up chick-fila.)

and if the super cool stores and bbq wasn't enough, there was a bakery as well. flat rock village bakery. the pizzas some folks were eating looked terrific, but it was the bread that held my attention. it was a hard choice between a few breads, but in the end it was the three cheese, herb, and garlic loaf that won. we had it this evening with dinner and it is wonderful. i was thinking that it is better than some of the annie's bread, but ray disagrees and feel that annie's buttermilk currant loaf is still the best. either way, it's good to know that really good bread is not that far away, and it makes we want to kick my own bread making up a notch. i think it is time to move away from the loaf of everyday white bread and venture into more complex loafs. therefore for christmas, in case anyone was wondering, i want a few proofing baskets and a baking stone. it's time to get serious folks. so along with the wood burning fireplace and rooster chimney in my fantasy dream house, we'll have to add a wood burning brick oven to the back yard as well.