Month: March 2015

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers

This adventure of Excited about Eating takes us to the Midwood area of Charlotte to Midwood Smokehouse. This restaurant is tucked into the edge of a building, but it’s bigger than it looks.

A Friday lunch was a 10 minute wait, but it probably took that long to snag a parking spot. Although the restaurant was jammed, service was attentive and prompt.

For starters we ordered the Fried Pickles, unique, in that they were sliced length-wise. They were coated in a spicy batter, crispy like I prefer, but I would’ve enjoyed them more with half the salt.

Fried Pickles

Since we expected to eat a hefty dinner that night, we shared the BBQ combo which included four meats: pork ribs, sausage, brisket (lean, fatty, combo), and chopped pork. We chose mac and cheese and creamed corn for the two sides.

The combo plate came with three dipping sauces: Midwood Signature (sweet, with just a hint of tang) for the ribs and brisket, Eastern NC Vinegar for the chopped pork, and South Carolina (spicy) Mustard for the sausage. The ribs had a wonderful smoky flavor and fall-off-the-bone meaty goodness, the star of the meats. Dora here, in blue. The ribs were finger-licking great, but Ernie’s home-smoked ribs are still better. 🙂

The sausage ranked second, mild with just the right amount of kick. I especially liked the dark bark in both the chopped pork and brisket. Ditto for Dora. And the corn had a firm consistency, not soft or mushy. The spiral pasta had a deep cheesy flavor, but it could’ve been a tad warmer for my liking.

I would rate this establishment 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food.

What’s your favorite BBQ spot around Charlotte?

Midwood Smokehouse on Urbanspoon

Excited about Reading ~ His Wounded Heart By R. L. Syme

/ Dora Hiers
Purchase Link
The cover story:
Sean Raleigh has fired every nurse and physical therapist within firing radius. He wants to be left alone in his invalid despair. But when his best friend hires the beautiful Jaclyn Dalton, Sean’s curiosity about her selflessness and unwavering faith keeps him from sending her away.
Jaclyn needs this job to stay in Montana, but Sean’s icy heart and raging bitterness threaten to drive her away.
He believes his immobility is a punishment from some controlling but distant deity, yet she sees him crying out for a compassionate God he doesn’t believe in. Jaclyn wants to help Sean recognize the grace that can be his, even if she has to leave him to do it, which draws her into a surprising level of emotional vulnerability-a vulnerability that will be the key to healing Sean’s wounded heart.
My takeaway:
I must admit that initially I wasn’t too fond of Sean, the shoe-throwing jerk who refused to do physical therapy or hang onto a nurse. But as the story progressed and the details of his accident emerged, he grew on me, and I appreciated how much courage and strength it took for him to change over the course of the book.
The moment he touched her soft skin, he forgot all about his knee injuries, his braces, and the fact that he couldn’t stand on his own legs yet. Her smooth hand in his own, combined with the solid strength of her grip, produced a heavy thud in his chest. For one glorious moment, he could have been a whole, healthy man again, able to climb a mountain. ~Sean Raleigh
Sean labels Christians based on his experience with his father, but Carter and Jaclyn’s selfless actions slowly erode his opinion. Faced with an angry and bitter former athlete, I’m not sure I would’ve showered him with unending grace and generous love like Carter and Jaclyn, but it was a great picture of how God loves us, despite our bitterness and brokenness and in the midst of our pain and struggles. Sean also questions whether he could believe in a God who allowed bad things like his accident to happen.
Jaclyn loved a God who was real. His dad used religion to get obedience from his children, or his employees, or his wife. He used a set of beliefs to get what he wanted out of other people. He had no concept of who God really was.

It was hard to separate the two, since they claimed to worship the same God. But they didn’t. A blind fool could see the difference.
Although Sean did the most growing in His Wounded Heart, Jaclyn struggled through a rough patch herself. I appreciated that she didn’t waver in her faith, but I actually doubted if this book would deliver a happily-ever-after.
A warm, peaceful feeling spread through her chest, and she closed her eyes. As she often did when she felt God’s presence, she opened her imagination, and let the Holy Spirit comfort her. She imagined herself as a little girl, sitting on her father’s lap, held safely in his powerful arms. The peace deepened. God was at her side, and no matter what happened, He would always be with her like this.

With so much depth, physical, emotional, and spiritual, this isn’t a fluffy romance to scurry through in a couple hours. I savored this one over a few hours, rooting for Sean to be physically healed and for both of them to be emotionally whole so they could be together. Overall, I really enjoyed His Wounded Heart and would definitely pick up another book by R. L. Syme.

Disclaimer: I received His Wounded Heart free from Pelican Book Group as part of their 40 days of Lent free e-book program.

Boundaries? What Boundaries?

/ Dora Hiers

For those of you who joined us recently, this is Bruiser, our 10 1/2 year old Golden Retriever. Yes, I know…isn’t he adorable? Add mischievous and protective and jealous…you get the idea. But, he’s a wonderful companion and a great watch dog. Although he’s mostly inside, nobody steps foot into our yard without us knowing about it.

A few weeks ago, hubby noticed Bruiser edging closer to the neighbor’s yard, so we knew the collar battery for the electric fence must’ve croaked. I wasn’t too worried. We’ve lived in the house for almost eight years, with an electric fence the entire time. Since the initial training period and a couple times trying to follow hubby to the mailbox, Bruiser never wanders outside his boundaries.

But, I ordered the new battery anyway because the brute’s much bigger and heavier than our neighbor’s two small children. He’s a bit, um, exuberant with kids (I don’t even allow him alone with our grandkids) and I was more worried about him hurting them accidentally than him running into the road. As hubby says, Bruiser wouldn’t wander too far from his food dish.

The day after I ordered the battery, Bruiser made it all the way to the neighbor’s swingset. See that big tree in the middle? That’s the edge of our property.

Seriously? With a half acre of his own to play in and living here all this time, Bruiser still tests his boundaries?

Seriously? All this I’ve given you to enjoy and you still test your boundaries? How many times has God whispered those same words to me? Gulp…

Have you no respect for me?
    Why don’t you tremble in my presence?
I, the Lord, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline
    as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross.
The waves may toss and roar,
    but they can never pass the boundaries I set.
But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
    They have turned away and abandoned me.
They do not say from the heart,
    ‘Let us live in awe of the Lord our God,
for he gives us rain each spring and fall,
    assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’ ~Jer 5:22-24 NLT