Peach-Buttermilk Ice Cream

Peaches I'd not assigned to another use yet, and buttermilk nearing its use-by date: in the lead-up to the Fourth of July, that combination propelled me back to my ice cream maker and the output was a batch of peach-buttermilk ice cream, heavy on the peaches but needed more dairy, and still sweet enough to invite scrutiny from the authorities, if they'd caught wind of it.

Then, Tuesday brought the official Independence Day holiday, perfectly warm but not as humid, calm breezes to keep it from being miserable, and yet hot enough that it was clear this special day comes in the fullness of summertime. A big celebration and a massive fireworks conclusion at the nearby minor league ballpark brought tons of people downtown, and that made Spring Street busy and so that's where Sumner insisted that we while away a large portion of the evening. Once we retreated back upstairs, just after 9 pm, I snagged this photo of the full parking lot up behind the house, with summer's dusk light and Venus bright in the western sky:

And then all those cars had to find a way out of here once the evening concluded, and that sure filled things up on Spring Street on our final trek out for Sumner's potty business:

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Adapted from "Musings on Peach-Nectarine Buttermilk Ice Cream," from Carolyn Jung of the FoodGal.com blog. [Published 24 July 2013] Her recipe was adapted from The Animal Farm Buttermilk Cookbook by Diane St. Clair. A print-friendly pdf of the recipe is available.

Meal No. 1865: Slow-Roasted Boston Butt Pork Roast

The Fourth of July holiday called for something holiday-ish for mealtime, so I aimed for just short of pork barbecue, opting instead for the low-and-slow spice-rubbed roasting of the Boston Butt I'd grabbed at Publix a few days ago. With a fresh-made batch of Virginia Pruitt's Perfect Barbecue Sauce, rosemary-roasted baby Dutch potatoes, hot buttered peas, and more of my homemade applesauce, it was quite a feast. When the fireworks started up at the BB&T Ballpark following the Winston-Salem Dash game, I broke out the last of Monday night's red-white-and-blue velvet ice cream and we all reached for at least one more Doubletree chocolate chip cookie. This side of downtown was packed, by the way, with so many people coming to the fireworks! I've never seen a Spring Street traffic jam quite like that.

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"Low and Slow Boston Butt Pork BBQ," by Chef Shapeweaver on Food.com.

"Virginia Pruitt's Perfect Barbecue Sauce," by Fred Thompson of Grillin' with Gas. Recipe found on epicurious.com.

Meal No. 1326: Not So Cajun Chicken

Ah, the fun festive Fourth of July! Even with occasional sprinkles passing through, it was pretty darned good weather for the 8,000-plus spectators at the Winston-Salem Dash baseball game last night (11 innings and a 6-5 victory for the hometown favorites!). It was also boys night at the Roediger House, with pool and beers and dinner, and we had a decent vantage point for the fireworks that followed the baseball game.

I also snagged a picture of the house, from the rear, with the Wells Fargo tower in the distance:

Dinner tonight was one of the most favorite dishes of the RoHo: not so cajun chicken. I let the sauce break down and didn't try to correct it, so we still had good flavor without the creaminess of the sauce.

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Links To Recipe [in PDF]:

Not So Cajun Chicken, a dish I regularly enjoyed at Crowley's Old Time Favorites restaurant and bar on Medlin Drive in Raleigh, NC.  (Another version of the recipe can be found here.)

Fireworks from the Baseball Stadium

On many Friday nights during the summer, the local minor league baseball team, called the Winston-Salem Dash, will conclude its evening ballgame with a fireworks display. As a downtown dweller, I'm privy not only to the entertaining noise it makes, but I also have a halfway decent view of the show from right outside the back door, there at the parking area. This past Friday, I took a break from dinner clean-up to try to grab a few shots with my tripod, and they weren't really as bad as I'd expected. Take a looksee:

Baseball Is My New Neighbor

You know, although a few vocal residents over in the West End Neighborhood were terribly antsy in the planning stages about the noise from the new BB&T Ballpark, I think I am going to welcome the noise of the loudspeakers, the roars of the crowd, the cracks of the bats, and the occasional celebratory fireworks that will all be a part of the Winston-Salem Dash seasons each summer.

Opening night was Tuesday, and although the Dash lost, they have made up for it with their next two games. I'm excited about walking over to a game one of these days when my schedule permits.

Seems to me this is another good thing for downtown, and I'm ready to see what else might grow out of this addition to life and living in the heart of Winston-Salem.

Paving Broad Street

Looking out back of the house last week, towards Broad Street, gave me a chance to see the spectacle of a burning car. This week, the activity back on Broad is its repaving, all part of getting the area ready for the opening next week of the new downtown BB&T Ballpark, the new home of our minor-league Winston-Salem Dash baseball team.



Since I get to use Broad Street so much, especially coming and going via the downtown expressway, I'm happy to see its upgrade. It had gotten pretty rough and bumpy. And I hope all the plans for how to funnel traffic and parking will fall into place, but that may be an area of some bumpiness too, while all the kinks are worked out.



This is a shot from Broad Street at its intersection with Fourth; the house can be seen almost dead-center in the picture:



I went up on top of the Wachovia Center's parking deck to get this next shot; you can see the house off and to the right.



And here's one final photo on the topic of the paving of Broad Street: it's now smooth sailing in my sweet VW CC...