Carolina Picture of the Week....

Here is a picture I took while Blaise and I were cruising the Blue Ridge Parkway on the Harley - early this past fall.


I am humbled by the forces that formed these gentle rolling hills and ancient rocks of the Blue Ridge Mountains. And, as intently as they have been studied - they are only partially understood as the events that took place to create our mountains "were many and complex" and took place millions, even billions of years ago.


" Geologists believe the Grenville Orogeny—a collision of earth's sliding plates—formed the basement rock of the Blue Ridge, forcing up the first Appalachians that wore down before the present-day mountains formed. That event happened more than 1 billion years ago. As the continents broke apart about 750 million years ago, a sustained period of volcanic action followed. Evidence of viscous lava flows can still be found at Mount Rogers in the southwestern Blue Ridge Highlands.

A final orogeny—again a collision caused by continental drift—ended a mere 250 million years ago. The basement rocks were once again forced up and over adjacent younger layers of rock to the west. If layers of younger sedimentary rock such as limestone were on top, they completely eroded away to expose the ancient bedrock once again. Because of the east-to-west direction of the thrust, younger rocks in Shenandoah National Park are exposed to the west, and older Precambrian granites to the east. The metamorphic and igneous rocks—gneisses, schists, quartzites, greenstones, and granites—were formed by intense pressure and heat, and left few fossils."


If you'd like to learn more about the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway and/or the Shenandoah Valley, click here: http://www.sherpaguides.com/virginia/mountains/blue_ridge/index.html

We spend alot of time in these mountains with and without kids! Western North Carolina is only a 1 1/2 -4 hour drive from Raleigh - depending upon where you want to go and offers a myriad of outdoor activities for the entire family.

Cathie's Southern-Style Pot Roast....

This super easy braised oven pot roast is flavored with burgundy or red wine, fresh garlic, rosemary and thyme. It’s a very hearty "wintery" meal that is great served that day or as leftovers. It takes literally minutes to throw together and is tasty enough for company!!!

INGREDIENTS:
1 pot roast, chuck or other suitable pot roast (the bigger the better because the leftovers are great!)
5 medium cloves garlic, halved
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, quartered and sliced
1 package of FRESH mushrooms (which you will slice up)
4 tablespoons flour (to be divided between dusting the roast and making the gravy)
1/2 cups burgundy or even red wine
1-2 tbs of beef bullion paste
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, ½ tablespoon of fresh rosemary (or use dried if that’s all you have) (I also throw in some fresh parsley or dried parsley if I have it)
2 pounds potatoes, cut in 2-inch chunks
5-10 carrots cut lengthwise and then halved
1 bunch of celery stalks - halved

PREPARATION:
Make 4 slits across top of the roast about 1/4 " deep –
Place butter in roasting pan on stove top on a higher heat
Lightly flour the pot roast and place in the roasting pan turning to brown well all sides.

Then remove the potroast from the pan.
Add additional tablespoon of butter to the hot pan and reduce heat to medium. When butter is hot -- add the onions and garlic -- cook, stirring, until tender and lightly browned.

Throw in mushrooms, and herbs -- cook for 2 minutes longer. Stir in flour and then add beef bullion paste and 1 cup of water.

Cook, stirring, for about 1 minute longer. Stir in wine and beef broth (if you didn’t use the bullion) Continue cooking, stirring, until the liquids are thickened and bubbly.

Put the roast back in the pan. Cover with a lid or foil and move to the oven. Cook for at least 2 hours – the longer the better if at a lower temperature. Add the potatoes, carrots and celery and cover, and continue cooking for 45 minutes to an hour longer (or until potatoes are done.)

A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA - if you'd like to add some old fashioned (easy) dumplings to your potroast, add another 1/2 -3/4 cup of water to the gravy about 1/2-45 minutes before it's done. Then, open a package of Pillsbury Pop 'N Fresh Bisquits. Divide the bisquits up and drop them into the gravy. My mom used to do this with beef stew and the bisquit dumplings were great. Enjoy!

Sure Doesn't Look Like Winter....

Can you believe it! 75 and clear blue skies - in the dead of winter. Look at this green grass. We've had some crazy weather here in NC. In the low 20's one day and up in the mid 70's a few days later. As you can see by this picture -- the corgis don't seem to mind. That just means another few days of frisbee-paloooza!!

Facts I'll Be You DON'T KNOW About North Carolina!!!

I'm a bit of a history buff. Like my dad, I love reading historical accounts as well as historical fiction. Right now I'm reading Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbric which, if you haven't read it -- should be required reading for all Americans.

Anyway -- like most North Carolinians (even the non-natives!), I am fascinated by the early American historical aspect of our coastline. But, aside from being the birthplace of the first true American (Virginia Dare) there are many more interesting people, places, events and products that we proudly call our own.

For the next few weeks I will be featuring some of those people, places, events and products on our blog. So read on, and find out just a few reasons why North Carolina is so special....

Did you know.....

1. That the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill is the oldest State University in the United States;

2. That in 1903 the Wright Brothers made the first successful powered flight by man at Kill Devil Hill near Kitty Hawk. The Wright Memorial at Kitty Hawks now commemorates their achievement. (Kill Devil Hill is a great place to visit - we went there last summer!);

3. And for all you shopaholics out there - did you know that High Point is known as the Furniture Capital of the World. (Any trip down a highway here in NC reveals dozens of semis hauling freshly cut hardwoods to the manufacturers -- to be made into fine furniture);

4. Know as "Fish Town" in the early 1700's when Blackbeard frequented the coast, "Beaufort Town" was established as a seaport with the right to collect customs, in 1722; and finally

5. This isn't news -- but it IS official -- The Outer Banks of NC hosts some of the most beautiful beaches in the country. (Just click on some of the links over on the right side of the blog to see pictures as we frequent the coast!)

Take some time to explore some of our links. You too will see why North Carolina is such a wonderful place to live, work and play!!!

Welcome to the Carolina Pines Realty Blog!!!!

Remember the song: Carolina in the Morning -- "Nothing can be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning.....??"
Happy New Year to our Family, Friends and Clients from beautiful North Carolina. As you can see we have some beautiful "Carolina Blue" skies today. Believe it or not it's going to be 74 here in Raleigh -- on January 7th!! Last week we had temperatures in the teens and today in the seventies.

Anyway - we would like to welcome you to the "official launching" of the Carolina Pines Realty blog.

The purpose of the Carolina Pines Realty Blog is to introduce you to life in North Carolina. Like our website www.carolinapinesrealty.com this blog will offer you links to various "information" concerning life in North Carolina, but will focus more on the recreational and fun side of living in North Carolina -- with highlights on the people, places and cultural aspect of life in the Triangle Area.

So -- sit back, grap a "cuppa" something -- and explore the Carolina Pines Realty blog. And make sure to BOOKMARK it and visit often as it will be updated daily.

And, to finish what I started, the song, Carolina in the Morning (in case you are interested) was written in 1922 by Kahn/Donaldson team. Believe it or not it was written for a broadway musical called The Passing Show of 1922 -- but it wasn't until Fred Mertz sang it in an episode of I Love Lucy that it became mainstream. Since then numerous artists such as Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Dinah Shore, Judy Garland, Bill Haley and the Comets have performed the song and it caught on like wildfire and has become a very "recognizeable" song -- even to the young 'uns.

Here's the words to chorus to refresh your memory:

• Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning,
  No one could be sweeter than my sweetie when I meet her in the morning.
  Where the morning glories
  Twine around the door,
  Whispering pretty stories
  I long to hear once more.
  Strolling with my girlie where the dew is pearly early in the morning,
  Butterflies all flutter up and kiss each little buttercup at dawning,
  If I had Aladdin's lamp for only a day,
  I'd make a wish and here's what I'd say:
  Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning.

A Taste of the South....

Nothing says "down home" and "Southern" more than a delicious mouth-watering cobbler. Here at the Recca house we love cobbler. I'll make one, take it out of the oven -- and it's gone before it even gets a chance to cool.

Cobber is easy to make and very adaptable to whatever fruit is in season -- or, in the alternative, I've even used canned fruit if I can't get to the store to buy fresh.

Here, is one of my favorite recipes for peach cobbler -- so fire up that oven and put the vanilla ice cream in the freezer -- 'cause there is nothing more heavenly than a piece of this cobbler warm out of the oven and a scoop of old fashioned Vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:
1 large can (29 ounces) sliced peaches in syrup
1 medium can (15 ounces) sliced peaches in syrup
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour (I use whole wheat flour - it's healthier!)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
6 tablespoons melted butter, divided
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons sugar, (you can use 1 teaspoon of granulated and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, if you like) mixed with 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

PREPARATION:
Drain peaches, reserving syrup in a measuring cup. If you don't have 1 cup of syrup, add water to make 1 cup; set aside. Toss peaches with spices. Combine 3/4 cup of the syrup with the cornstarch; stir into peaches. Arrange peaches in an 11x7-inch baking dish. Into a bowl, sift the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the beaten egg, 1/4 cup of the reserved syrup, 1/4 of milk, and 4 tablespoons of the melted butter. Spoon the batter evenly over the peaches. Drizzle with remaining butter then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.