Eight things to do in the Triangle on Memorial Day weekend

It’s Memorial Day weekend! I’ll be celebrating my birthday, but I realize we can’t all be lucky enough to have birthdays to celebrate this weekend. So, here’s a list of things to do around the Triangle …

SATURDAY

* The Taste of Durham is from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.

* Here’s a different way to Go Green … do it with Drag Bingo. What? That doesn’t even make sense, but it sounds fun, doesn’t it? “Go Green Drag Bingo” happens at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Durham Armory.

* If you’re sick of pretending to be Tony Hawk, ditch your Playstation and see some real skaters. Cary is hosting its “Spring SK8 Contest” from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and its “Spring BMX Contest” from noon to 10 p.m. at SK8 Cary (the Cary skate park). It’s free to watch. Here are the details on what to expect.

* Tour the Triangle Brewing Company. The brewery will offer tours Saturday starting at 1:30 p.m.

SUNDAY

* The Modern Scene ADF Block Party is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Peabody Place in downtown Durham. It’s free and features food, games, giveaways and a cash bar. (Yikes. This block party is Sunday, May 31.)

* Watch belly dancers and learn how to cook Lebanese food. The 11^th annual Lebanese Festival is from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday in the Kerr Scott Building at the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. In addition to dancing and cooking demos, you can also load up on Middle Eastern food and goods. Admission is $2.

ALL WEEKEND LONG

* If you want to get away from the Triangle without leaving, then you could explore some country roads. Indy writer Grayson Currin has a cool article about his recent backroads adventure.

* Rent a boat. There are several city lakes in the Triangle with boat rentals. I only have experience with Lake Johnson in Raleigh. They’ll be open from 6 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. this weekend, including Memorial Day. They have paddle boats, kayaks, canoes, jon boats and sailboats for rent.

* Go to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and watch the ACC Baseball Championship Tournament.

As always add your suggestions in the comments section.

What restaurant has the best biscuits in the Triangle?

Trips to Biscuitville have become a staple in my Sunday brunch routine. I’m hardly a biscuit connoisseur, but I’ve got to admit that the North Carolina biscuit chain has got it going on. They’ve got Texas Pete, awesome sausage patties, strong coffee, and — of course — tasty biscuits. And the Honey Buns deserve their own fan page on facebook. Breakfast for two costs about $10.

On Sundays, I take my copy of the News & Observer with me and sprawl out in a booth with my biscuits and boyfriend. Sometimes we’ll go on Saturdays too. Another huge Biscuitville brunch perk is there’s rarely a wait. I get impatient waiting for a table for Sunday brunch (unless you give me coffee like Elmo’s does).

But I know there are better biscuits out there. Somewhere in the Triangle, there’s a fluffy, golden biscuit that’s waiting to woo me. Help me find that place.

Tell me what restaurants you think have incredible biscuits (or biscuits not worth wasting my time on). I’ve had the biscuits at Elmo’s and Flying Biscuit, and I like them both. But certainly there are other locally-owned places that I’ve got to try.

I’ll (probably) never be a vegetarian

I’ve thought about becoming a vegetarian, but the idea wafts away whenever the I encounter vinegary, spicy buffalo wings (the kind that make your eyes water when they’re delivered to your table).

I lived with a vegetarian for a little over a year. He boycotted meat for moral reasons (he’s the guy on the left with the salad). When we moved into our house, my meat-free roomie plastered my leather boots and some meat I placed in the fridge with stickers saying something about saving a cow. I respected his vegetarianism (I like how that sounds like a disease). When we fired up the grill, I didn’t flip his veggie burgers with the same spatula I used for my beefy burger. I also always tried to suggest restaurants that offered meatless options beyond the standard salad and cheese sticks.

I doubt I could ever eliminate meat from my life because of buffalo chicken and pork BBQ. Even after reading the graphic description of how pigs appear on my plate in this N&O series, I still can’t help but crave pulled pork ALL THE TIME.

But I do not have any major issues with your personal choice to be a vegetarian. So if you’re planning to chow down on tofurkey instead of turkey Thursday, I’m not going to judge. In fact, I want to help maximize your sans turkey celebration.

Turns out the country’s largest vegetarian Thanksgiving Day feast is right here in the Triangle. The meat-free meal is hosted by the Triangle Vegetarian Society and sounds pretty tantalizing, even to this meateater. The gourmet menu includes oyster mushroom croquettes, roasted garlic olive oil mashed potatoes with chives, mushroom gravy, apple-pecan stuffing, and fresh raspberry-cranberry relish.

The only catch is the meal is so popular it’s already sold out. But you may still be able to snag a plate. The society is taking names and will contact fellow vegetarians if anyone cancels their reservation.

Whether you’re a meat eater or not, I hope your Thanksgiving is truly special. I know the holiday is a favorite for many because it’s a chance for family and friends to come together and unite around food. You don’t have to buy presents, flowers or cards. Just eat and be happy. Now that’s something I can appreciate.

My lunchtime adventure in downtown Raleigh

Oh how I wish I worked in downtown Raleigh. Weekdays (and first Fridays) are the only time you can consistently count on seeing people out and about downtown. It makes for fun people watching.

I was catching up on my blog reading this morning and (in true North Carolina blogger style) someone had posted a picture of some BBQ. This of course made me hungry, so I send a direct message on Twitter to one of my friends to see if he would be down with meeting me at Cooper’s for some cheap, mouth-watering, vinegar-soaked BBQ. He agreed and two hours later, I was steering down Fayetteville Street looking for a parking spot.

As we walked down Fayetteville Street, we spotted a guy holding a sign outside the courthouse saying: “Reality: Heaven or Hell It’s your choice.” I took a picture of it and promptly e-mailed it to the Raleigh Connoisseur with no explanation. I’m all about freedom of speech and the right to assembly, so rock on guy with the strange sign.

Then I needed to swing by the Bank of America ATM in City Plaza because Cooper’s is a cash only type of place.

As we approached the square, we saw herds of local media and lots of white men in suits. This can only mean one thing: It’s time for either another ground breaking or ribbon cutting. Turns out it was the ground breaking for the city’s $14.8 million project to transform the empty City Plaza into a more friendly venue for concerts, parades and markets.

Here’s more on the project from the N&O.

City Manager Russell Allen said all but $1 million of the project has been funded. He said the project is not in danger of being delayed by the wider financial crisis.Construction is expected to be completed by next October.

When it opens to the public, the plaza will include 45-foot-tall light towers, a motion-sensitive water fountain and four retail pavilions. Power lines, phone lines and water pipes will run under the plaza floor so merchants can set up shop temporarily.

Then it was time for the BBQ. I ordered the BBQ plate, which included the sweetest hush puppies a gal could ever want. I also had the Brunswick Stew (which I burned my tongue on, my bad) and potato salad. Total price with tax? Six dollars. Yes, $6.

So much more fun than eating lunch in north Raleigh.

The ice cream truck came to work today

Talk about a job perk. Our bosses ordered the ice cream truck to come deliver some treats to our staff today to thank us for our hard work. I went for the classic cherry screwball (You know the plastic cone with the gumdrop in the bottom).

A trip to the Skylight Exchange

I took a step back in time recently when a friend introduced me to Chapel Hill’s Skylight Exchange. This hole-in-the-wall is enthralling. It’s part cafeteria, part record store, part used book store and part music venue.

I could spend hours in this old-school place browsing titles and thumbing through records, looking for the perfect ironic cover to hang on the wall.

And the sandwiches. Oh the unique sandwiches. I ordered the BBQ chicken salad, and it was the best sandwich I’ve had in recent memory. I’ve heard that the shakes are stellar, but I didn’t get one. I need to make another trip there so I can try one.

I don’t know much about the history of this place, but it’s pretty well hidden. When I asked two of my chick friends, both UNC grads, if they’ve ever been there, neither had heard of it. It’s tucked in an alley off Rosemary Street.

Certainly, some of you have been there before and can share some details I’m leaving out about this eclectic venue.

A tour of the Durham food blog scene

If you’re looking for some restaurants to try out, your best bet might be to explore the Durham food blog scene. Every time I catch up on these in my reader, I’m always left hungry and eager to head over to the Bull City for a meal.

On the Carpe Durham blog, you can see mouth-watering inspiring photos of the scallion pancake, beef congee and the spicy dry bean curd with shredded pork ordered off the “secret menu” at China Palace, aka Magic Palace.

On Delicious Durham, you can find out whether the famous Nana’s really lives up to its reputation. You can also find out how to put local peaches to tasty use by following Kelly’s peach crisp recipe or find out how you can blend your own peanut sauce to pour over stewed collards or as a standard satay sauce.

Over at Eat at Joe’s! you can vote on the best place to grab a burger in Durham. Or save the Google map he created highlighting the “Ethnic Grocery Trail.”

But wait, there’s more.

The Newlyfeds, a Durham couple with a passion for cooking who explore Durham’s dining scene, explain why you just have to go to Chubby’s Tacos on Ninth Street.

Another Durham couple reviews two downtown establishments, the newly-opened Five Points Cafe and Rue Cler on their blog: CookingEatingDurham.

And you must check out Lenore’s blog called Eclectic Glob of Tangential Verbosity. It’s not a straight food blog, but as an epicurean, you can always count on Lenore to post beautiful pictures and descriptions of her frequent dinners out (all these photos are courtesy of Lenore’s Flickr). Here’s a sample from her latest post on Serena Restaurant and Bar:

I ordered the gnocci, which I’d been looking forward to after examining their menu on-line about a week ago. It had applewood smoked bacon, dried cherries, loads of garlic, spinach, a thin slice of parmesan and potato gnocci pasta. It came with a piece of garlic bread. It sounds perfect, right?

Find out if the gnocci was a delicious as it sounds.

I’m sure there are several other Durham & Triangle-area food blogs, if you know of some that I’ve left out, please clue me in.

A glimpse inside the breakroom refrigerator

Warning, watching this video means you’re giving up one minute of your life that you’ll never get back.

Is this sort of how your company’s refrigerator looks? Do you still carry a lunchbox?

A vegetarian’s nightmare might look like this …

 I spotted this pan of bacon today at the Jersey Mike’s Subs on Wake Forest Road in Raleigh. Does this gross you out or does it make you hungry?

Don’t hate me just because I microwaved my Peeps

Perhaps the most amusing thing happening in the Triangle this weekend is PeepFest 2008 at Market Street Books in Chapel Hill. The daylong event celebrates the marshmellow chicks and bunnies with activities such as Peeps jousting and a Peeps fashion show. This year’s theme is “Imagine World Peeps.” For the full list of activities click here. Market Street Books is located in Arts & Letters Community Center, 610 Market St.

In honor of this Peepabration, I made a quick video featuring the sugary, gooey animals. If you want to follow along, log onto How to Microwave a Peep while you watch this.

Without being grossly inappropriate, please tell me if you’ve ever put something else in the microwave that wasn’t supposed to go in there and what happened.