Raleigh VIP Club » Brandy’s Special “Dish”

Raleigh's North Carolina State Fair

Brandy — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:30:47 +0000

Trying fried Mac-n-cheese

When I think of the NC State Fair, what comes to mind is lotsa rides and games, crowds of people and fried fun foods everywhere. Nothing is more a tradition to NC, then the good ‘ol fair. Takes me back to the small baseball carnivals and events in my hometown. I remember Debbie Gibson came out to my town. Remember her? She was the craze.

NC State Fair is all about the food. I like those big turkey legs. They’re big enough to feed a small village. It’s one of the few healthier food items on the menu. Oh, and the corn on the cob is really good. But on the not so healthy side…where else can you get barbecue sundaes, chocolate covered bacon, deep fried ho-ho’s, oreos, pecan pie, and Reese’s peanut butter cups? This time I got a ‘lil adventurous with the deep fried mac-n-cheese…which is the newest item on the menu. It’s okay to live a little!

While they said there was a low turnout of 37,000 on day one, it sure looked like this year did good as in previous years.

The highlight for me besides the food…was going in the Crafts and Hobby barn. There you could see the Lego contest. Great work!

Then a little further along you see all kinds of trinkets, and scrapbook items with awarded ribbons. Not to razz on the fine artistry of the contestants, but I think I could’ve entered and won first prize. Like many of the others. Every entry seem to have won a ribbon.

…Then you’ll find Jerry Span at the end of the building giving a demonstration. He’s Vince Shlomi’s job replacement for Sham-Wow from “As Seen on TV”. He’s a professional. Gotta love hearing the …”but wait, there’s more…” So I came back with 3 of these Sham-Wows. I think I’ll use one in my shower.

I wanted to ride the ferris wheel but the line seemed e a mile long. And I didn’t have the patience to wait for the pig race. Inside the Dorton Arena, there are live performances. Like Kellie Pickler who is a regular. And then there was Julianne Hough on the events list. Not sure what she would be doing for $5 a ticket. I know she was a dancer on “Dancing with the Stars” but what kind of performance would she give? There’s also Anoop Desai. The star from “Slumdog Millionaire”. Another one I’m curious as to what he would do. But I guess I wasn’t curious enough to check it out. Anyone?

Take a trip to Raleigh's State Farmer's Market

Brandy — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:31:31 +0000

Meet Laura at the Restaurant

I’m sure you’ve heard of the NC State Farmer’s Market but did you know about their restaurant? It’s a casual country style restaurant beside the farmers market. A good place to get a quick morning bite and coffee. I recommend the city ham if you like ham, but don’t want the salty country ham.

Meet Waitress Laura (that’s politically incorrect…I think they’re still called Servers).

You know you’re a Yankee in the south, when you’re cooking fried green tomatoes with a Martha Stewart recipe. That’s what I made with these tomatoes.

Where to get fresh herbs? Go to Bramblewood owned by Jeff at the Farmer’s Market. He’ll give you an herb book with some recipe suggestions. They’ve got all kinds of herbs. They shut down after October but will be back in April.

Meet Jeff

And wanna a good Carrot Cake? Then check out Terryl’s homemade miniature carrot cakes. They come beautifully packaged and oh— soooo good! $10 for a mini cake.

Meet Terryl

And of course there’s all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and plants. And farm meats. Like Mae Farms. They supply pork to Whole Foods. The meats are all antibiotic-free and environmentally friendly. That’s the way to eat. And they’ll even deliver.

Take a trip out to the State Farmer’s Market if you get a chance.

Obama Comments on Raleigh Cupcakes

Brandy — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:49:53 +0000

You know I love cupcakes, right? President Obama was just here yesterday in Raleigh with a bunch of cupcake comments to the owner of the The Cupcake Shoppe in Raleigh.

Today in the paper he was reported as jokingly saying pretty much that he’s been talking about healthcare a lot but he thinks cupcakes are good for your health and tax cut stimulus money is extra money to buy cupcakes and other life necessities. That’s a lot of cupcake talk from our President even if it was just a couple sentences. He didn’t just come to Raleigh for the cupcakes but it sure sounded like that was the icing on the cake for his day. The article was co-written by Sue Stock and Michael Biesecker. Those are my kind of reporters. Oh, and I wonder what his favorite cupcake is? That’d make for another good article. Hint. Hint.

Raleigh Healthy Pet Radio

Brandy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:39:16 +0000

Did you know we have a local Raleigh pet radio station? Topics include pet nutrition, health and well being. And you can ask questions on the air. It’s hosted by Bowman Animal Hospital off Creedmoor Road. When is it? It’s on Thursday mornings from 8-9 am on WDOX – 570 AM station.

Next show will be with Dr. Shana Silverstein on July 2nd. I’ve met Dr. Silverstein on several occasions and she is a very caring pet doctor. That’s always a good quality.

Donating to the Raleigh Salvation Army

Brandy — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:00:31 +0000

Eric taking a break!

Boy, did I use some woman power yesterday lifting some furniture. …yeah that would be a man’s job but my husband seems to think I’m she-woman (…and granted I’m not a big woman). We were donating a couch and some tub chairs and needed to move them out of our house. So my husband recruited me. Lucky me.

I know it looks like office furniture but it’s actually hotel furniture from back in the day when I worked in that business.

Anyway, I’ve always donated furniture to the Salvation Army. And they’ll come pick it up. No desks though. Here’s an army lieutenant checking out the comfortability of the tub chair. He seems to like it. Oh, and in case you were wondering, usually someone from the military doesn’t come to pick up the stuff. This army guy happens to be on another mission (long story

Raleigh Shopping Spree Event

$25 Raleigh Barbecue Restaurant Print Out Gift Certificate For $2!

Brandy — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:22:36 +0000

$25 Raleigh Barbecue Restaurant Print Out Gift Certificate For $2! Read on…

Happy Friday! All kinds of fun stuff in Raleigh this weekend. But I wanted to share with you a totally irresistible restaurant dining offer. One that I just couldn’t pass up and you shouldn’t either! It’s no secret that I’m a big Red, Hot, and Blue Restaurant fan, dating back to my college years. You can read about my Red, Hot, and Blue experience here.

But you can like I did, purchase a $25 gift certificate to Red, Hot and Blue off Falls of Neuse for $2!!! I’m not kidding you and you don’t have to wait for it to arrive as you can just print out the gift certificate online. I just did it! And the cool thing is you can buy multiple $25 gift certificates for $2 each. It doesn’t get much closer to free… AND There’s no sales tax or shipping!

You can only use one gift certificate per visit and you have to spend $35 but if you’re like my husband and I, we can do that pretty easily. We usually order a meal each, take home what we don’t finish in a doggie bag (or a people bag is what I call ‘em , and then order an additional meal to take with us for tomorrow’s lunch. And sometimes we splurge with a dessert. I used to not miss that part at all, but as you get older, your preferences change… I’m trying (operative word to be more health conscious and my sweet tooth has simmered down some. I can have a daily sweet and be fine versus sugar drip fed into me every few hours! Anyway, whatever your preference if you want great barbecue at a darn good value go get your $25 gift certificate for $2!

So listen up, here’s what you need to do:

1) Click on this link:
Red Hot & Blue

2) Click the quantity drop menu to choose how many $25 gift certificates you want (the default is “1″).

3) Click “Add to Cart” Button

4) You’ll be taken to the “checkout” page. Be sure to put in the “Enter Discount Code” Yellow Box the following code: PRESENT. This is how you will get the $2 price instead of the $10 price. You’ll see the price change on the page.

5) Click the “Proceed to Checkout” Green Box. You can checkout as a “new customer” or “returning customer”. Pick which is appropriate to you and follow their instructions through the credit card page.

6) Simply print out the Gift Certificates and then go enjoy your $25 meal for just 2 bucks!

Enjoy your weekend!

Arby’s Roast Chicken Club Sandwich Freebie in Raleigh

Brandy — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:42:07 +0000

Arby's Roast Chicken Club Sandwich

Okay I feel fatter today, because I had Arby’s Roast Chicken Club sandwich in Raleigh. Remember I’m not a big fast food eater. Oh and don’t confuse this sandwich for the Arby’s Roast Burger… we’re talking different meats here but same concept. Like the Roast Burger, the Roast Chicken Club is messy. It has bacon on it which in my adulthood I still can’t get myself to eat.

Every Wednesday Arby’s will have a freebie starting today. Meaning a free sandwich with the purchase of a drink. So basically for around 2 bucks you can get the sandwich freebie du jour and a drink. I got the Mandarin Peach tea. So it cost me $2.14 which includes our local tax…

The Roast Chicken Club comes in a plastic container and not a foil wrapper. The burger is thinly slices of chicken but looks like any deli meat. It really looks like turkey and probably tastes like it except you can’t really taste the meat with all the dressing on it. I think they put their signature thousand island dressing on it that I’ve tasted on their other roast burger, reuben sandwich, and maybe others. Does anyone remember what russian dressing is? Is it still around? I always wondered if it was the same thing as thousand island dressing. Maybe that’s a northern thing. It was never my fav’rite. I just remember it growing up.

So what do I think about the Roast Chicken Club? I prefer it over the Roast Burger but not over the traditional Arby’s Roast Beef sandwich. I like how the classic sandwich is served plain and I can add as much horseradish as I want… which is usually not much. Is it just me or does too much horseradish feel like it goes up your nose? I don’t like that feeling. It’s kinda like when you get pool or ocean water up your nose but with some stinging. Anyway, at least with the plain roast beef sandwich I can’t blame anyone but myself as I control how much sauce I put on. What’s your favorite Arby’s sandwich?

Groundbreaking Raleigh News about World’s Largest Producer of Meat Snacks

Brandy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:50:41 +0000

The roof collapse about the world’s largest producer of meat snacks, Goodmark Foods in Raleigh (Garner), has made it across the nation’s news networks. Goodmark Foods produces Slim Jim and Beef Jerky which used to be some of my favorite salty snacks growing up. That was before I got older and I wised up on healthy foods and reduced eating processed foods and ones with nitrites. Well since this groundbreaking news that just happened recently, my first thought was, was anyone seriously hurt or killed? My second thought then was, gee…how did such a large company make it to our small but growing town (as relative to the rest of the world)? I mean of all the places this company could be, they chose Raleigh.

But if you look around Raleigh, you’ll see more evidence of big companies here and big things happening here. When I lived in the DC suburbs I expected big things to happen there. I mean with the White House being around the corner and in the nation’s capitol, you’d expect worldly big things to happen. So when I moved to Raleigh, it seemed like I’d been removed from the big news stuff happening locally. But I’ve found that has not been the case. Maybe less political federal news nearby… but still there’s a lot going on in the Triangle area. Just keep that in mind when you’re driving around Raleigh wondering, boy it sure seems sleepy around here compared to a big city. Well…as soon as you fall asleep something newsworthy –good or bad can stir up.

Raleigh Trader Joe's Arrives…Finally!

Candle Shopping Away from Raleigh for Memorial Day Weekend!

Brandy — Mon, 25 May 2009 15:32:33 +0000

Hope you having a great Memorial Day Weekend whether you’re hanging out by the pool, in Raleigh hitting a sale or the pool, or somewhere else. We were out of town in Charlotte for a family birthday celebration. Charlotte was ‘mobbed’ by Nascar-goers at Lowes Motor Speedway Coca Cola 600 mile event. Fans were wearing the red caps so they were easy to pick out. From our 19th floor hotel window, they looked like hundreds of red balls.

A-hem, but back to a topic I know about…like shopping. Well, it’s not secret I’m inspired by certain scents and fragrances. I discovered a line that is natural and really different than the normal mall stuff. Have you heard of Pacifica perfumes, creams and handmade scented soy candles from the West Coast? In the gift shop at the Charlotte Westin downtown they sell these yummy things. They’ve got perfumes in a waxy balm format which I’ve never seen.

Tuscan Blood Orange

You can find exotic flavors like Tuscan Blood Orange, Hawaiian Guava Ruby and Tahitian Jasmine. Those mixed scents will really wake up your senses. Scents you know can really make you feel different. Why do you think they invented smelling salt to keep you from fainting or falling asleep?

But some non-clinical scents are rose and jasmine for example which are very good for relieving anger, and vanilla and orange are good for ridding anxiety. I didn’t believe it but try this… get a few scented candles like the scents I mentioned (rose, jasmine, vanilla, and orange). You’ll find sometimes you can smell the same ones stronger than others (based on what you or your body is lacking). It’s the same with foods. That’ll really get you looking at your food cravings differently!

Free Raleigh Massage and Manicures

Brandy — Fri, 15 May 2009 18:42:50 +0000

Tomorrow there’s a Raleigh “Pink Party” happening with free daytime massages and manicures. Where at? Raleigh’s Hills. Not Beverly Hills, but Raleigh’s Hills (a.k.a. North Hills)!

The Pink Party is happening in the Club Room of the Alexan at North Hills Apartments from 10 am to 2 pm. You can just show up if you like with or without your friends. It’s being hosted by the Alexan. And they’re taking applications for renters. But that’s not what the event is for…the event is for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Race for the Cure charity event in its 13th year. Even the staff at the Alexan will be participating in the race with 22,000 others.

So, what’s the catch? Not a whole lot. I’m sure they’ll take donations for the charity, but Rich who works at the Alexan promises that it’s not a ploy to get you to take a tour of the apartments …although you can (and they have like 35 floor plans!). Hey why not see what a $900 plus apartment in Raleigh looks like? I remember when Inman Park off Leadmine was THE chic place to live… but today it’s North Hills if you wanna muster up the dough.