Fresh Out of the Garden - Grilled Summer Vegetables

Our garden crop is plentiful this year. We've had a nice bit of rain and wow what a difference a little rain makes!!!

As you can see by the picture on the right -- it seems that we need to harvest almost every other day. Our primary crop this year consists of two types of eggplant, tomatoes, squash, cucumber, peppers, beets, artichoke (yep that's right I've got artichoke growing in my garden this year!!) and herbs. But it is it doesn't matter what your crop is -- vegetables cooked on the grill or under the broiler taste soooooo good.

Here's an easy way to prepare a "grilled" salad made from your own abundance:

Roasted Summer Vegetable Salad

1 -3 ears of yellow corn, or even better yellow and white corn- grilled, shucked, and cut off the cob

1 red pepper -- roasted, peeled, and cut into thin strips

1 tomato -- grilled, peeled, seeded, and cut into a 1/2-inch dice

2 zucchini, yellow or other summer squash -- cut into 1/2-inch slices, grilled, and cut into 1/2-inch dice.

1 tablespoon each of lime juice and lemon juice

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients. Marinate for 30 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste. If you have it, I like to throw in some fresh parsley and/or fresh cilantro into this. Cilantro makes everything taste fresh and delicious!

Sometimes in lieu of making a salad we just throw the grilled vegetables (eggplant, peppers, onions, squash, mushrooms) on a platter and serve them just as they are. In that case we typically slice all the vegetables, spray them lightly with Olive oil, sprinkle paprika, garlic, salt and pepper over them and just grill or broil.

Staging Your Home for a Quicker Sale....

Staging a house for sale means going beyond just making it look tidy. Typical buyers make up their minds about your home 10 seconds after they step through your front door. Just as stagehands set the stage for a production, you can do the same for your home. It can be made to look cozy, colorful and inviting to make it stand out from the rest of the other houses on the market using things such as accessories, colorful chintz fabric on the tables, fresh bouquet of flowers in a vase, scented candles on the fireplace mantel, and the way that the furniture is set around an area rug. Potential buyers want instant coziness and comfort in the home they'll choose.

Here are some tips from professional home stagers (that you may find useful):

Pack away most of your family photos. Buyers need to imagine their possessions in the home.

Pack up the bulk of large, personal collections, so that buyers don't get so interested in looking at them that they forget to look at the house.

Remove excess furniture to make rooms more spacious. Clean and organize the closets. Store boxes in an out of the way location or rent a temporary storage unit so you can de-clutter every part of the house.

Remove area rugs if they expose nice hardwood floors.

Buy or borrow living houseplants. They look better than artificial ones.
Create a mood. Bake bread or cookies during showings, or place a fresh loaf of bread and/or fresh colorful fruit in a basket on the counter.

These are just a few ideas to get you started. Remember -- LESS IS BETTER.

We're Home and Getting Back To Work....

after a great vacation out West. What was planned as a Colorado High Country camping adventure -- turned into a Harley Davidson road trip through Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota (Black Hills & Sturgis!) and Wyoming -- all because of MUD. It's a long story -- but we learned on this trip that while things don't always go as we have planned, (even after months of planning and mapping) being flexible and having the right attitude sure can carry you a long way and we had an amazing journey.

We started in Grand Mesa, Colorado -- at about 11,000 elevation, we drove in an out of snow and mud, through the Aspen trees until finally coming upon a beautiful mountain clearing with a small lake (and lots of trout!). We camped there for our first night. Never, have I ever seen so many stars and galaxies.

The first state we hit after leaving Colorado was Nebraska -- where we were greeted by a giant dust storm with winds approx 80-90 mph. We saw it coming across the prairie and at first glance thought it was dust being kicked up by plowing -- but quickly realized that the dust cloud was far to huge to be plowing kick up. We stopped in the middle of the road and jumped off the bike to avoid being blown over. The duration of the blast -- about 1 minute.

We loved driving through Nebraska. Did you know that is where much of Dances with Wolves was filmed -- along with South Dakota? Blaise has been through Nebraska, but this was my first time. Nebraska truly is the Heartland of America -- and the kind and helpful people we met and chatted with at a local diner just reinforced that notion.

We shot up through Nebraska into South Dakota -- which was my favorite stop on our trip. All motorcycle enthusiasts are familiar with the "Black Hills" of South Dakota and Sturgis (Sturgis is home to the motorcycle rally every year.) Click on the Sturgis link above to check it out -- you won't believe it. As we are always in search of peace and serenity when we head out west, it is needless to say we didn't go to Sturgis DURING the rally!

We of course drove by Mount Rushmore, which in and of itself was quite impressive. However, we really couldn't wait to see Crazy Horse the great Sioux Warrior. I myself am very interested in Native American history and have read both Larry McMurtry's Crazy Horse and Lakota Woman an autobiography by Mary Crow Dog -- both of which provide great insight into this rich and fascinating culture. The Lakota/Sioux are a gentle and proud people and make it quite clear that the Black Hills are both a monument to their heritage and sacred to their hearts. The beauty and sense of spirit there is indescribable.

This first picture is of the model created by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski for the mountain carving. Ziolkowski and Chief Henry Standing Bear of the Lakota Tribe began a foundation to honor Native heritage in 1948. (Click on Ziolkowski's link above to read about this monument and to read about Ziolkowski himself which is also a wonderful story.) The monument itself is far from complete but you can see by the model below just how munificent a representation of the Great Warrior it's going to be.

There was much to do in South Dakota and it was breathtakingly beautiful. On the way back from the Black Hills we stopped in Deadwood, stayed in a nice Hotel/Casino -- played some blackjack and slot machines. We didn't lose any money, and I actually won $35 on a penny slot machine -- too bad it wasn't a $1 machine! We're not big gamblers, but Deadwood was an interesting little town aside from the casinos and is steeped in history.

Unfortunately, I thought we were going to be traveling by Jeep so I brought my 35mm camera which is rather cumbersome. Since we ended up on a motorcycle, it was a bit hard to take pictures with a big camera and I didn't take as many as I would have liked, but still got some great shots here and there.

On the way back through Colorado, we stopped to watch two fly fishermen. These two guys were also watching their "masters" fish.

We had a fantastic break from work and day to day responsibilities -- and made some wonderful memories along the way. Alas, it's time to get back to work.

As far as our unexpected change in vacation plans go -- sometimes things don't work out as planned, and sometimes it's that deviation makes it all the better!!

What's Driving the Trend in Raleigh?

"Raleigh is increasing in popularity in the United States. We are being noticed by other parts of the country and are growing in size." (Brooke Fortson, marketing director at The Glenwood Agency.) That seems to be the common notion in these parts lately. While other parts in the country are cooling down -- Raleigh is HOT and getting HOTTER by the minute.

What is driving this trend in the Raleigh area? Well, if you've been reading the newsletters we've been sending, Raleigh keeps making everyone's "A-list" and such accolades may partially explain the continued growth in Raleigh's urban housing market.

Here's what various publications are saying:

- Forbes Magazine named Raleigh as on of the TEN BEST CITIES FOR JOBS.

- The International Downtown Association recently selected Raleigh as its DOWNTOWN OF THE MONTH.

-Raleigh was named THE BEST AMERICAN CITY FOR SINGLES by Rachael Ray, popular cooking star on Food Network.

- Men's Magazine ranked Raleigh 5th on its BEST PLACE TO FIND A MATE list.
(Realtor Review Vol2 No.5 2008)

So, if you're looking for a job, a cool place to hang out, a place to find a mate -- sure sounds like Raleigh is the place for you!!! And remember, this is just a sampling of the "best" lists that Raleigh has been named on.

Simply put -- Raleigh is a wonderful place to raise a family, find a job and spend your leisure time.

Drop us an e-mail if you want to know more. Oh and be sure to visit our website at Carolina Pines Realty , where you can really do some exploring and get a good feeling as to what Triangle Life is all about!

Another North Carolina Recipe.....

From time to time I like to share with you a recipe that highlights a North Caroloina Agricultural product -- and this time, it's APPLES. Did you know that North Carolina is the 7th largest apple producing state?

The following delicious Apple Crisp recipe comes from the wonderful Grove Park Inn & Spa located in beautiful Asheville, NC. What makes this recipe so special is the addition of Bourbon -- Kentucky Bourbon, of course!!!

NC Apple Crisp with Walnuts
& Bourbon Topping:

Crisp:
3/4 cup Old Fashioned Oats
½ cup brown sugar
1/8 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 TBS flour
½ tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
½ cup butter-room temperature

Filling:
2 ½ pounds North Carolina Apples
1 cup chopped walnuts
½ cup granulated sugar
1 TBS flour
1/4 cup bourbon (Kentucky Bourbon!)
½ tsp cinnamon
2 TBS butter

Peel, core and slice apples. Toss with sugar, flour & cinnamon. Add walnuts & bourbon, toss to mix. Spread apple mixture into buttered 8x8 baking pan. Evenly spread crumb topping over.
Bake 350-degrees approximately 35 minutes or until top is golden and apples are tender. Serve warm. Delicious served with Vanilla ice cream!

Be sure and let me know if you try this and how it turned out. It is a perfect addition to the menu any time of year.

Oh, and be sure to visit The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa by clicking on the link below. One of North Carolina's finest resorts and, consequently, one of the finest in the country.

Deborah J. Ivey, Chef TournantThe Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa90 Macon AvenueAsheville, NC 28804groveparkinn.com800-438-5800

Memorial Day Weekend Motorcycle Trip

Hope you had a safe and relaxing Memorial Day Weekend and that you took a moment to Honor the meaning of this special holiday.

We are not big fans of taking off during "holiday" weekends. We hate crowds, we hate traffic and we hate rushing. Instead, we prefer to take our three day weekends one day at a time -- maybe catching up on a little work, or yard work, hanging out with the kids and, such as was the case this weekend, taking a day trip on the boat or the motorcycle.

This weekend, Blaise and I got up very early on Sunday morning and decided to head out toward Wilson - a historic town, named as one of North Carolina's Most Beautiful Cities. And THAT it was -- with gigantic oak-lined streets, to sprawling historic southern mansions, Wilson is an absolutely lovely town that epitomizes "southern charm."

From Raleigh, we drove about an hour and a half through the country. We were surprised to see how far along the tobacco and corn crops are this early in the year -- and WOW do they look healthy. Last year it was rather a depressing site as the drought took a huge toll on the the crops causing many of them to wither and die before coming into fruition. And I know I've said this before, but one of the things I love so much about riding the Harley out in the country is the smells. Every corner we turn brings about a new smell -- freshly cut fields, recently turned earth, animals, jasmine, magnolia, etc., etc., It's beautiful -- and there's nothing like it.

Continuing on our journey, after exploring Wilson for an hour or so, we decided it was time for breakfast. We drove around a bit looking for a place to eat and didn't have any luck until we came upon a rather dapper gentleman obviously on his way to or from church. We pulled over and asked him if he could recommend a place nearby where we could have breakfast. He immediately told us to turn right at the light and go down a "piece" and there is a place right there on the right hand side of the road.

Well, we did just as he said and sure enough -- there was a restaurant with real down home cookin' -- right where he said it would be. It was an adorable looking little restaurant, but as good as "gizzards and livers" sounded (at 7:30 in the morning!) I really had my heart set on french toast -- so we continued on until we found a Denny's!

I think we were only gone about 4 hours -- start to finish. That's another thing we love about living in North Carolina -- in an hour we can get far enough away it actually feels like we took a "trip" somewhere. We came home from our little excursion renewed and refreshed -- ready for part 2 of the weekend and ready to spend time with the kids.

Alas -- the weekend is over and it's time to get back to work!

Have a great week -- and don't forget to checkout our website when you get the chance. There you can search for homes (without passwords), check out schools, universities and employment, and just get a really good feel as to what living in the Raleigh/Triangle area is all about.

The Fruits of our Labor are FINALLY, Paying Off!!

Ok, I admit it - I'm addicted to HGTV. I started watching it 8 years ago while we were still living in Florida -- the land where NOTHING grows -- other than pricker bushes, palm trees, St. Augstine Grass, and other stuff that never DIES! Maybe I'm exaggerating just a bit -- but I couldn't grow anything in Florida.

Well it's been three years now since we put our first sets of plants in the ground here in North Carolina. And, if you watch HGTV you know what they say:

"The First Year They SLEEP...."

"The Second Year They CREEP...."

"The Third Year They LEAP..."

As is evidenced by the growth occurring in and around our yard -- that addage is so TRUE! The lavendar bushes and roses I put in exactly three years ago are huge and proliferating with blooms. They are really taking off -- and smell sooooo good. There is a special hybrid lavendar that grows particularly well in this area of the country (zones 7-8) and is pretty much ever green and blooms all but 2 months of the year. Sabrina loves to make Lavendar sachets from the dried lavendar buds.

The purple salvia in the front of the house I just planted last summer - and they were tiny. For our clients who are currently living in North Carolina -- Salvia plants from Home Depot are the way to go. You can't kill them, they're drought resistant and they make wonderful visual impact with planted "en masse." We have an exceptionally long driveway, so I had to put something in that would get pretty dense and be able to be seen from the street. These did the trick -- they are gorgeous -- and again --flower right up to the first heft freeze and begin flowering again before the last frost.

Horticulturally speaking - the only downside of living in an area where things grow so prolifically -- is the TRIMMING. And, as Blaise will tell you -- that is a never ending job. As soon as he finally makes his way around the house -- the bushes in the spot where he began are almost ready to be trimmed again. It's a never ending job. Thank goodness we both enjoy working in the yard.

Finally - I send a question out to YOU, What is LEAPING in your garden? Click on comments (below) and tell us all about it. Even if you're not living in North Carolina (yet!) we'd love to hear from you! Gardeners LOVE to share stories and we'd sure enjoy hearing yours.