Days 209-213 – OBX – Food is mood OR It is what it is…

For some people food is merely fuel. Without noticing any taste, they relocate the content of their plates into their mouths, thus starting the processes of ingestion and digestion, raising glucose level, releasing insulin, secreting intrinsic factor, and that is that.

For me, food is art. Food is social interaction. Food is struggle and victory, sadness and joy, boredom and fun. Food is mood. Usually, good mood.

That is why the week of our annual food fest in OBX is so special to me. Last year, Ellen and Alex invited a group of friends (12 people altogether) to rent a house in North Carolina for a week's vacation. Our diverse team is an excellent combo of amazing chefs and avid foodies, and somewhere between a home-made pizza night and a Korean BBQ beach outing it became clear that this gourmet event was paving the way for an annual tradition.

The week's cooking schedule and approximate menu get approved before the trip. We bring our essential cooking equipment from home to ensure that the absence of special knives or blenders does not get in the way of executing our original food ideas. First thing we do on arrival is shopping, a team effort that usually takes several hours (especially when some smart pants among us insist on self check-out of our 1000-dollar worth groceries).

Of course, other fun activities happen during this trip. This time, for example, Michael and Dima got scuba-certified by Javier (hurray! now we can all dive in Cozumel, hopefully, soon!). We go to the beach during the day to swim and during the night to watch the million stars that we forgot about in the fog of the city.
But our days revolve around meals and at any time of the day (and sometimes night) you can see someone in the kitchen, chopping, boiling, stirring, kneading… Logically, the memento of the trip is… the menu:

Dinner Menu

Saturday:
Lunch (on the road) - Old Mill crab house
Dinner (on location) – Mac & cheese
Sunday: Tamales by Diana

Monday: Korean BBQ by Ellen at the beach and oysters by Dima, Michael and Javier ("bought by" that isJ)
Tuesday: Four different kinds of pizza by Dave (shrimp and artichoke, sausage, deep dish, mozzarella and basil)

Wednesday: Ellen's amazing seafood soup (that we had to eat for breakfast due to… see below)

Our breakfast spread always included freshly baked bread and some kind of yummy omelet and lunch – Bubba burgers and hotdogs made by Alex and Simon, the masters of the grill.

Argh! Our trip got cut short due to the stupid hurricane Earl!!! We were supposed to stay till Saturday, but had to evacuate on Wednesday! Unbelievable! The problem was all the food that we had left and all the goodness that didn't get to be cooked, including but not limited to slow-cooked Mexican style pork stew and grilled marinated pork shoulder. THIS was the real disaster.

Of course, the stupid hurricane died away by Thursday night, which means we didn't really have to leave… Oh well, it is what it is…