Apricot Glazed Pork Medallions September 30, 2008

I made this for dinner and it was so tasty! Chris said “Next time we have people over for dinner, you should make this.  It’s that good!”  Plus, it only took about 10 minutes.  Serve it with rice or something  that will sop up the delicious sauce. Oh yeah, and it came from the food network….

• 1 lb pork tenderloin, cut crosswise into 1/2 inch rounds
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 1/4 cups apricot preserves
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Season both sides of the pork with salt and pepper.  Combine preserves, soy sauce and ginger in a small bowl and set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add pork and sear 2 minutes per side. Pour sauce over pork and simmer 5 minutes until pork is cooked through and sauce is reduced slightly.

Amazing!!

And now, the Bonner Bridge September 27, 2008

While we are on vacation on the Outer Banks, we had a storm that caused the roads to flood, then get closed, and as a result we were stranded on vacation.  Though this was OK for us, as we were doing nothing and had plenty of provisions (and the house until Saturday) I imagine that for a resident trying to get to Nags Head, or really anywhere on the Northern NC Coast, or Hwy 64 (main route across NC to Raleigh and points West) or the regional hospital it is annoying.  These road closures are common.

Which brings me to my pet peeve of the moment.  The Bonner Bridge.  For those of you who are not familiar with the NC Outer Banks (you should go Google earth it now) they are a serious of very narrow sandy islands between the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds and the Atlantic Ocean.  There is one highway that runs the length of the southern outer banks, and this is Highway 12.  The Bonner Bridge is a large bridge of Hwy 12 that connects the town of Nags Head with all the towns to the south of it.

The very nature of  barrier islands is that they move and migrate as the various storms move the sand around.  The islands grow and shrink depending on where the inlets are, and the sand of the beaches has a natural southward migration.  For more information and details about barrier islands and their dynamics, check this out.   Orrin Pilkey is a Duke Professor who has spent a lot of his career on this subject, so for some FAQs read this.

In an amazing moment of doing the right thing for the environment, the State of North Carolina has banned all hard structures on beaches, which means, no seawalls, no jettys, no sandbags.   This is a very good thing, because all of those man made structures interrupt the natural flow of the sand and can lead to massive erosion issues around them.   A quick look at Edisto Island in SC from the air will show you this: when you have a jetty sticking out into the ocean, it causes the sand north of it to pile up and the sand south of it to quickly recede.  You may have a large patch of sand in front of your house, but your neighbor to the right is pretty upset!  I won’t really get into the eroding of homes into the ocean, because that is a whole different ball of wax but suffice to say that barrier islands being as dynamic as they are probably are not the best place to build homes right on the ocean.

Anyway, the Bonner Bridge.  This bridge needs desperately to be replaced. Its old and unsafe and has lived long past its expected lifespan.   It goes over Oregon Inlet, which is an important passageway for folks getting to the ocean by boat and the fishing industry depends on it.  Like all inlets on barrier islands, it moves around and is moving about 75 feet a year south. which leads to a constant dredging operation and hundreds of thousands of dollars of maintenance on the bridge (being built on moving sands, you know, not the most easy to maintain).  Oregon Inlet and the Bonner Bridge  also have the only seawalls in NC which have led to extensive erosion south of the bridge on Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, and as a result Hwy 12 is now so close to the ocean through Pea Island (and it was moved about 20 years ago further inland) that every storm, like the one last week, causes sand and water to wash over the road.  Did I mention that Pea Island is a mecca for Birdwatchers?  Its amazing the diversity there.

There are two options on the table right now to replace the bridge.  One is to replace it exactly as is (aka the Short Bridge [I couldn't find a link for this, sorry]).  The other is to build a much longer bridge, essentially an elevated highway that will go over the entire Pea Island refuge (aka the Long Bridge) for 17 miles until it gets to the first set of towns: Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo.  The difference is the cost in the short term.  The Long Bridge is much more expensive to construct but will require no future maintenance.  The short bridge is not as expensive to build but requiring millions of dollars in maintenance and clearing of sand and water from the road, bridge safety, etc, etc as it has since 1964 when the bridge was first opened.  So, of course, what does the state plan to do?  Build the Short Bridge.

Anyway,  if the Short Bonner Bridge is built,  Hwy 12 will continue to strand residents and cost the state a ton of money in upkeep.  Though getting stranded was not a big deal for us, as we were on vacation and had plenty of booze, I would hate to think of anyone who needed to get anywhere in a hurry.

If you want to do something click here, but I think its too late.

My Storm-tossed Vacation September 27, 2008

Back from a week of serious sloth at the NC Outer Banks.  The weather was a mixed bag,  frequently  very windy so we couldn’t go on the beach without getting micro-derm abrasion on our ankles.  That’s OK, since we had a hot tub and heated pool to amuse ourselves with in the meantime.  We did have a storm on Wed and Thurs, that “low pressure system” off the NC coast which kept us mostly inside, with the in home theater (seats 12, don’t ya know) and playing massively long card games.  Let it be known for the record that I really am terrible at Spades, though I like playing very much.

Friday was a truly gorgeous day, sunny, no wind, I even went swimming in the ocean!  (The rip current warnings, for once, were not in effect).

So, what birds did I see?  Well, like I said it was a week of sloth.  So not much.   Though, what with the storms and whatnot I had high hopes for maybe some pelagic birds to get pushed to the coast.  I did see a very very sweet Semipalmated Plover, the usual Sanderlings and Willets, a Merlin, and a juvie Parula Warbler.

We had great company in the folks who were with us, ate great food, and drank many tasty drinks, including lots of Mimosas, Old fashioneds and Bloody Cesears (a Bloody Mary with clamato, which is actually quite tasty, not as heavy as the usual Marys).  I can hardly wait until next year!  Thank you Outer Banks!

FYI, Chris and I are now drying out, and there are no plans to drink for at least a week….

Offshore drilling: not an issue for compromise September 12, 2008

Ok everyone, I apologize for another polically minded post but this is an issue very much on my mind, and being a bird person I feel like I do have some insight most might not.

Offshore drilling on the SE US coast is a bad idea.  Its bad anywhere, and I hate to see the Dems “compromise” on this.  I feel like they wouldn’t do this, but its an election year and gas is expensivo.

- Off the coast of NC we have a unique situation.  The warm Gulf Stream mixes with the cold Laborador Current and creates a temperate body of water.  In addition, the continental crust goes extends quite a bit, and then drops suddenly.  So you have this unique body of water, combined with a geologic feature that allows it to expand to different depths.  In short off the coast of NC the ocean is just teeming with life.  Probably one of the reasons the fishing is so renowned.

- All these fish attract a whole lotta birds.  Pelagic species, which means the birds spend most of thier lives on the water, flying and swimming and sleeping.  These are birds that only go to land every year or so when they breed.  Most breed on remote islands around the world, and they have low productivity (one egg) and are slow to reach sexual maturity (in Northern Gannets, a common winter bird, its 8 years).  This means that if they have a bad year, i.e.  an oil spill that seriously effects the total population numbers.

-Some pelagic birds that breed in the Caribbean come all the way to the NC gulf stream area to get food for chicks!  That is a long round trip.  But that is how important this area is

-Other birds use the gulf stream as a migration flyway. Studies have shown that Cory’s and Greater Shearwaters (among others) fly to the UK, down the European coast to Africa, and then back across to Latin America.  These birds have migration patterns that segregate the males and female and sometimes adults and young.  So, if we have an oil spill while the females are coming though?  Thats it.  Thats all she wrote.  there are no more females to come through.

-I only know about birds, but there are also pelagic fish (tuna, for example, and the billfish) and whales that migrate here.  Lots of turtles, too.

-Once you get out to the Gulf Stream, you have the Saragassum Sea. Saragussum is floating seaweed mats, home to lots of critters:  baby sea turtles,  saragassum crabs, fish, all kinds of critters depend on this ecosystem.  Having been out there I can tell you it is already full of trash, but we don’t need it to get oiled.

-Drilling for oil off our coast is an uncertain gamble.  It is not going to make the price at the pump go down, even if they do discover reserves out there, for about 20 years.

-(my opinion here, not a fact that I know) the drilling ban has only been in effect for about 20 years.  If there was the chance for large reserves out there, I think they would have been explored before the ban went into place.

Thats all.  Thanks for reading!  Now, if you want to make your voice heard about this issue, here is an Audubon Petition to sign.

What happens to birds during a hurricane September 6, 2008

I know I will get asked this a bunch this month, so I am writing this to satiate everyone’s curiosity.  During a hurricane, most birds like your feeder birds, hawks, owls, etc just hunker down on a branch close to the center of a tree, where the wind will be lessened.  Now, here is the thing: birds don’t have to think about gripping the branch….its like breathing for us, totally involuntary.  As the bird “relaxes” its claws tighten around the branch or whatever it is sitting on.

Now, there are some bad sides of hurricanes for birds: one being loss of habitat.  After Katrina many, many trees fell down.  The gulf coast is a major flyway for migrating songbirds, so you can bet a lot of birds didn’t make it that year. Plus many, many species of birds nest in cavities (natural holes in dead/dying branches) and lots of those branches come down, meaning loss of nesting space for the next spring.  Many birds, like chickadees, titmice, bluebirds, and nuthatches, use the same cavities every year so they may be in trouble the next spring.  In addition, pelagic seabirds (shearwaters, tropicbirds, and storm petrels, for example) sometimes get caught in hurricanes and deposited far inland in a weakened state and they usually do not make it.

Ok, now you know!!

Time to refill your Growler September 1, 2008

This posting is a blatant homage to Monsonia, which released the full length album “Growler” last week.  Monsonia is a three piece, with my brother, Carter Browning on guitar and vocals,  Nick Peterson on bass (I got an email describing him as Nick “my bass rig is bigger than your house” Peterson, which is pretty much true), and Andy Willard on drums.  Carter and Andy met a few years ago while playing in another local band called Cold Sides.  After they were kicked out of that band (no comment, but it was lame!!) they created Monsonia.  They had a different bassist for a while, but he quit and they just got Nick on board in the last year or so, after he recorded their album at his studio.

The music is dark and moody.  Folks who know lingo describe it as “math rock” which to me means a lot of very precise tempo changes….very structured music.   It does sound like Shellac, maybe early Sonic Youth.  Monsonia is really good at setting a really tight rhythm that builds and builds and then all of a sudden changes track entirely.  It does have a hint of metal, but not too much (Carter laughingly says the other guys won’t let him indulge his love for heavy metal) Its amazing, and though the album is good seeing them live is even better…I attended Thursday night’s cd release party which was awesome.  My favorite song is “This Mellow Classic”.  You can listen to the album here, or download from Itunes.

Its worth mentioning that Monsonia are lucky to have a lot of pals who are artists,  whom over the years have created great posters and album art.  The Growler cover features a sea monster done by Carter’s pal Jim Potter.

I know you think I am biased and yes, its true, but I am not the only one who loves them!  The new album, Growler, got “album of the month” from the Independent.  See the review here.   Also, Chaz over at Bull City Records loves them too.