Author: Dora Hiers

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers / 9 Comments

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to the Plaza-Midwood area of Charlotte and to The Workman’s Friend, an Irish pub offering a variety of pub fare with a Southern influence. 

Dora here. Plaza Midwood came through for us again! Originally, we’d picked out a restaurant in downtown Charlotte, but Panther fans snagged all the on-street parking. Plaza Midwood is a fabulous alternative to eating in downtown proper, and I appreciated the ample parking in the back of The Workman’s Friend. 🙂

For an appetizer, we chose the Bag of Chips, hand cut fries with salt and malt vinegar aioli. Not chips in the American sense, nor the typical thick and potato-y pub chips. They were almost a blend of the two, crispy on the outside and firm on the inside. I ate mine with extra malt vinegar. Perfect!

Bag of Chips

Dora here. You should have seen Ernie’s face when the server set the chips down on the table. I knew he expected homemade American chips. lol.

The Irish Breakfast was the brunch special of the day. Eggs, a Banger (sausage), Black and White Pudding (also sausage), Irish Bacon, Baked Beans, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, and sourdough toast. Black pudding is sausage made from blood, meat, fat, oatmeal, and bread or potato fillers. White pudding (the same minus the blood), and Irish bacon is from the back of the pig instead of the belly and is like ham. The highlights of this great dish were the three different types of sausage and the sourdough bread. 

Irish Breakfast – a Brunch Special

Dora here. I’m a big fan of Irish pubs. Well, pubs of all kinds, actually. I’d heard about Black and White pudding but never tried it until now. (See those two round patties next to the baked beans. And how did they ever come up with that name??). Considering the ingredients and the name, I was surprised at how tasty they were.

The Sausage Roll, a blend of ground sausage and mustard and sour cream inside a puff pastry, fit my mood. Something light, not too heavy, and I enjoyed the mild sausage flavor. 

Sausage Roll ~ An appetizer

We rate this restaurant 4 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving great food.

What about you? Do you enjoy pubs? What’s your favorite pub food?

The Workman's Friend Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

ROPING THE COWBOY releases TODAY!

/ Dora Hiers

Roping the Cowboy Devilish

Buy now! > Amazon

Environmental Engineer Darby Brewster needs Kester Ranch to gain the coveted position of Vice President of Brewster Oil, and her father’s approval. She’s worked hard to get where she is, and she refuses to allow a cowboy, as good looking as he is, or the cute boy that comes with him, to derail her climb up the corporate ladder. But a woman could dream about having it all, couldn’t she?

Rancher Fargo Kester doesn’t appreciate Darby’s repeated attempts to persuade his family to allow an oil drilling rig on their property, but that doesn’t stop him from speculating on her other…qualities. Like how much his son adores her, or how well she blends into life on the ranch. He doesn’t have time for romance, though, not since his dad died three months ago leaving him responsible for his family’s livelihood. Nor the inclination. Jayce’s mother destroyed all trace of hope for that.

Can Fargo convince Darby that the ranch needs her more than a rusty old drill? That he needs her? Could she embrace a quiet life on the ranch and fuse her love for the cowboy with the career of her dreams?

Sweet romance that sizzles!

Butterfly Blessings

/ Dora Hiers / 3 Comments

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly.” ~Richard Bach

“Making something and sending it out into the world and then people not only responding to it but adopting it for their own and making a separate thing for it, that’s beautiful. It just shows you how much you can affect other people… the butterfly effect of everything you put out into the world.” ~Marketa Irglova