Buster's friend

about me

First about Buster: Buster moved onto whatever comes next on February 26, 2008. He was just shy of five years old. I miss him terribly.
He came into our lives when he ran out in front of my car late one night as I was driving home. A just under 4 pound ball of kitten fluff, complete with an ostrich boa tail that stayed straight up as he assessed his new domain. He became a 19 pound longhaired beast who guarded our house (he followed any new guests or servicepeople the entire time they are on the property) & even killed copperheads (among other things with his hunting buddy, Fergus the short-tailed)! Friends never saw his formidible side as he smiled at them & uttered the most incongruent kitten-like mews as he threaded legs! He liked to ride in the car & came to the beach.
There are "Buster-approved" recipes in my offerings - however, HE decided which he wanted to consider - Buster demonstrated he liked pumpkin anything - ALOT -LOL!!!

Copperhead count 2006 - Buster 2
(10 inchers w/yellow tails)
2007 - Buster & Roxie 1
(a 24 incher!)
Buster woken from beauty sleep -
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Big whiskers -
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For those of you who gave kind condolences - thank you so very much.
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I love to cook & incorporate techniques from Southern/Mid Atlantic roots (grits, eastern NC BBQ shoulders, Brunswick stew, steamed crabs & shrimp & shellfish, hushpuppies, cornbread, greens, shad roe, scrapple) with Pacific Rim foods & techniques aquired while living in Pacific Northwest, fish & game recipes learned while living in Rocky Mountain region & foods/techniques learned travelling to the Big Island & up into BC & Alberta & into the Caribbean. The Middle Eastern/African likes I have are remnants of my parents who lived for many years in North Africa & Mediterranean before I was thought of. Makes for wide open cooking!

Since moving back east we try to go annually in the deep winter to Montreal (Old Montreal auberges & La Reine) & Quebec City (Winter Carnival & Chateau Frontenac)- for unctuous foie gras & real cheeses, French & Canadian meals prepared & served exquisitely, fantastic music & wonderful people - with the cold helping burn off some of the calories!

I love putting in our aluminum jonboat & heading across the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to the barrier islands for foraging & exploring! Bodysurfing is a lifelong sport for me - one that a person's body never seems to forget how to do, once the knack is learned (thank goodness!)

I especially miss cool summers & foggy/drizzly days & fall mushroom foraging/anytime of year hot springing in WA, OR, MT, ID, BC & Alberta.

Favorite Foods:

Fresh mean clackety-snapping blue crabs! White ocean & green spot river shrimp, roasted artic char, deep red salmon on the grill, fresh Puget Sound Dungeness crabs, collards, singing scallops, grass-fed Angus/Herefords - any cut (including offal!), big sunkissed 'maters from the garen, sweet-tart cherry 'maters - full of tasty gel & seeds off the vine whenever you go by a vine, fat winter oysters on the half-shell or roasted outside, salty summer clams steamed just until they open, Eastern NC BBQ pork shoulder chopped on the grill at Christmas, fresh venison roast adorned with salt pork & stuffed with dried morels, seared fresh duck foie gras & goose foie gras "au torchon", spring shad roe fried crispy with bacon & eggs, saltgrass-fed lamb & mutton,elk steaks on the grill in the falling snow, chewy peppery venison jerky, smoky salty country-smoked hams from fellers who really do it, cowpeas & snaps, mustard greens, turnip greens, kale with garlic & soy sauce, beets, brussels sprouts, fresh flapping bluefish & flounder, field corn fed venison, fresh foraged white chanterelles & boletes, pumpkin, yellow crookneck summer squash & okra, smooth mango pudding after slow dim sum brunch (don't forget the tripe with hot pepper)!

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