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Mind your Biscuits

Mind your Biscuits

by | Mar 31, 2016 | April 2016, Eat

There’s no doubt the biscuit is the centerpiece of today’s Southern breakfast. But it didn’t start out that way; around the mid–18th century, biscuits were more a staple at a Southern supper table. And it came in many varieties—the labor-intensive beaten biscuit, the fluffy buttermilk biscuit and the minimalist drop biscuit.

As the biscuit has evolved over time, so has the process of making them, but not the recipe: it’s simple flour, baking powder, salt, butter and milk. Like snowflakes, each biscuit is never quite identical–some flaky, soft, crumbly or cakelike. It’s time to find your favorite. Pass the jelly.

State Farmers Market

State Farmers Market

State Farmer’s Market Restaurant

Every meal starts with what they call “Real Biscuits”—the recipe a tightly-held secret. We do know they’re handmade with N.C. self-rising flour, real buttermilk and lots of tender loving care.

Rise Biscuits and Donuts

Rise Biscuits and Donuts

Rise Biscuits & Donuts

The newest biscuit eatery on the list, this take-out only spot credits a combination of ingredients and technique. Rise uses fresh local eggs from Hillsborough and Snowflake flour from Sanford along with real butter.

Big Ed's City Market Restaurant

Big Ed’s City Market Restaurant

Big Ed’s City Market Restaurant

They say the secret to Big Ed’s famous homemade buttermilk biscuits is the biscuit maker. While they won’t share their recipe, they say there’s nothing unique about it; it’s technique. Big Ed’s serves between 8,000 and 10,000 biscuits each week.

Flying Biscuit Cafe

Flying Biscuit Cafe

Flying Biscuit

These biscuits are loved across three states from North Carolina to Georgia and Florida. Their biscuits have a sweeter flavor that comes from the butter and sugar that tops each biscuit. You can make these biscuits at home; the recipe is in their cookbook, but not the technique. You’ll have to wing it.

Biscuitville Biscuits

Biscuitville Biscuits

Biscuitville

Identifiable by their broad, flat shape with a drier, more crumbly consistency, they’re made with three ingredients: flour, buttermilk and shortening. Biscuitville doesn’t coat their biscuits with butter, margarine or salt prior to baking.

Nick Carter in Raleigh

by | Mar 4, 2016 | Buzz, March 2016

Nick Carter, best known as a member of the Backstreet Boys, is headed to Raleigh for one night only at The Ritz. 

We chatted with him about the Raleigh show, the upcoming album and fatherhood.

And he gave us 4 tickets to share with you. Keep reading to find out how to win!

RM: What was the inspiration behind releasing a new solo album?

NC: The inspiration behind ‘All American’ came from the fact that I really love doing solo stuff. It gives me a chance to do things I don’t get to do with the boys. I love rock music and playing guitar onstage, which I incorporate into my solo music. We (the Backstreet Boys) give each other the freedom to do our thing, which in turn makes the bond we have stronger.

RM: Will you perform any Backstreet Boys at The Ritz show in Raleigh?

NC: Absolutely, I couldn’t leave out performing some of my favorites. Old stuff, new stuff… you can expect to hear a lot.

RM: What’s one thing you do in your shows that will surprise fans?

NC: I’ve been hearing that people are surprised at how long my set is. I wanted to include a lot of material, and I’ve been changing things up – so no show is exactly the same. 

RM: Have you performed in Raleigh before? If so do you have a favorite spot to visit  in North Carolina? (or Raleigh?)

NC: We (the Backstreet Boys) played in Raleigh in 2013 on our ‘In A World Like This’ tour and it was amazing. I didn’t get to really explore the city too much, but I remember the crowd was incredible. I can’t wait to be back!

RM: What was your favorite moment on Dancing with the Stars?

NC: The whole experience was awesome. It taught me a lot about myself and pushed me beyond my comfort zone. Sharna (my partner) was the best and I owe so much to her. One of my favorite moments was when I danced to ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).’ I had a few of my buddies including AJ in the audience, and it was comforting to know they were there supporting me. 

RM: When will the new Backstreet Boys album be released?

NC: We began writing at the end of last year, and are going back into the studio this year. Aiming for new single and album in 2017.

RM: Have you a chosen a name for your son?

My wife and I have one in mind, but are keeping it to ourselves until he’s born in a few weeks 🙂 

WIN TICKETS TO NICK CARTER

If you want to see Nick Carter this Wednesday, March 9th at The Ritz in downtown Raleigh, share the name of your favorite Backstreet Boys song with the #raleighmagwin. We will pick the winner on Tuesday at Noon. 

For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.

Fertility Massage

Fertility Massage

by | Mar 2, 2016 | March 2016, Polish, Stuff

What you don’t know about infertility and how massage can help.

Lena Dunham, star of the HBO series “Girls,” recently begged off on the show’s press tour, citing severe and painful endometriosis. It affects one in 10 women and can lead to severe pain and infertility.

Lindsey Peters, 30, can relate. But she’s found help for her painful symptoms through fertility massage.

Fertility massage with licensed therapist Ashley Cimino at Women’s Wellness Massage has helped so much that she has a standing appointment each month.

“Treatments have reduced the pain and tightness from my endometriosis and the build-up of scar tissue in my lower abdomen,” says Peters. “It was a no-brainer for me to try. I love the educational component that comes with the massage treatments.”

Cimino started studying fertility massage to earn continuing education credits, but what she learned helped her conceive. She and her husband already had one son and were considering adding to the family.

“I took the class in July, trying to get pregnant with our second son, and got pregnant in August,” says Cimino. “I was doing a lot of research at the time. It was so amazing; I learned so much information I didn’t know.”

Cimino took the class from Claire Marie Miller, who, years ago, did pre-natal massage on her clients and noticed a number of her patients becoming pregnant shortly thereafter. From there, she decided to create a fertility massage class for licensed therapists.

“Fertility massage is not just massage,” says Cimino, who’s been a licensed massage therapist for six years and used to work at the Umstead Hotel and Spa. “It’s also a whole wealth of knowledge in regards to fertility wisdom—things you should be eating, shouldn’t be eating, managing your cycle, knowing when you ovulate.”

How is it different?

Fertility massage—and massage for treating reproductive issues—focuses largely on reflexology, targeting the feet and certain trigger points that affect the digestive, endocrine and reproductive systems, as well as the pelvic and abdominal region.

“You might find something in the feet is a little crunchy; it might feel painful to the client. When that happens, you make note of that and when you go back to the abdomen to do pelvic work, you want to work those same points on the body that you worked on the feet.”

Cimino recommends massage and treatment once a month or more frequently for symptoms related to illness and pain. “It can really help break up that overgrowth of cells.”

What to expect:

• A relaxing castor oil pack is placed on your abdomen at the start of treatment. This helps cleanse the digestive system and dissolve adhesions and cysts.

• Calming and centering cranial-sacral holds for balancing and centering.

• Reflexology for fertility, stimulating reproductive areas, endocrine glands and the digestive system.

• Deep pelvic work to break up adhesions and increase blood to all pelvic organs.

• Shiatsu points to increase the energy throughout the reproductive areas.

• Fertility information, regarding timing and awareness for potential conception.

• Specific aromatherapy for optimal hormonal functioning

• Visualization techniques for tuning in and opening up the conception channel.

For more info,

visit womenswellnessmassage.com

Planning a family?

20% of married couples have their first child after the woman is age 35.

One third of those couples experience infertility.

Not Just For Pregnancy

Women with reproductive issues seek fertility massage for pain relief and symptom management even if they’re not looking to
conceive.

When Lindsey Peters was 20, she was diagnosed with endometriosis, with symptoms similar to that of a 40-year-old.

“I have suffered from extreme shooting pains from the ovaries down into the legs,” says Peters, now 30. “The pain has been so unbearable, it’s hard to get out of bed some days. These shooting pains come in waves, and they take my breath away.”

A standing monthly massage appointment has helped Peters manage the pain.

RM Tries OrangeTheory

RM Tries OrangeTheory

by | Mar 2, 2016 | Do, March 2016

You’ve heard the push. The press. The offers to try a free class at Orange Theory Fitness.

We did. That is, creative director and editor-in-chief—Caitlin Harrison and Christa Gala—donned the required heart monitors and suited up for a one-hour full body workout, managed in three 20-minute increments at stations that included squats, burpees, rowing, the treadmill, weights and TRX straps.

The idea is to spend between 12 to 20 minutes in the orange zone, 84 percent of your maximum heart rate.

Here’s what we think:

Christa

I was pretty much the biggest loser of our class—and not in a good way.

For the life of me, I couldn’t get out of the green zone, the rung below the coveted orange zone. I spent a total of one minute in the orange zone. Everybody could see my “score,” which was displayed, along with everyone else’s, on televisions around the room. Which, if I’m honest, was embarrassing.

Either I didn’t work hard enough or my heart was incredibly strong.

Yeah, I’m going with the latter. Overall, it was a great workout, and I burned 426 calories. The trainer leading the class was very helpful about modifications so that was cool. And with that kind of calorie burn, I ate Quizno’s afterward. With chips. Don’t judge me.

Final verdict: Not my cup ‘o tea due to the intensity.

Caitlin

Unlike Christa, I luxuriated in the orange zone (23 minutes) and burned 700 calories. It was a great alternative to a standard gym workout. Moving from station to station prevented the boredom I sometimes feel on the treadmill alone.

My favorite station was squats and arms; that’s not normally something I’d do at that level without being pushed. Our trainer propelled the class along, encouraging us when to give it an extra push and when to slow it down to “recovery” mode.

Is Glass the New Granite?

Is Glass the New Granite?

by | Mar 2, 2016 | March 2016, Retreat, Stuff

In 2008 when the furniture and housing markets took a nosedive, businesses were scrambling for ways to diversify.

Jimmy McMickle at Andrew Pearson Industries in Mt. Airy wondered if glass countertops would work on a big scale for regular homeowners.

“We were looking at ways to branch out in the architectural world,” says McMickle, executive vice president of sales and marketing. “Up until then, we were primarily a furniture supplier of glass and also a fabricator of our own furniture design.”

Is Glass the New Granite?

McMickle spent a few years on the road visiting glass shops and galleries, only to realize what was lacking was a way to make glass slab thicker than ¾ inch, which is standard.

“We decided to venture out and explore possibilities of using heat to fuse glass layers together to create the thicknesses we want,” McMickle says. That exploration led him to the surface show in Atlanta, where he was asked to speak.

“The excitement level was rising. They were looking for something that could be the next big thing,” he says. “What I was hearing was that back in the 90s stone was the big thing to have. Now because so much granite was imported from China and other countries, it was a race to the bottom to see who could underprice the next guy.

“I realized we were onto something,” McMickle continues. “When I got back, we set out on this path to design and build a kiln that would be large enough to do the pieces we needed to use.”

API Linen Sample

API Linen Sample

Glass countertops are on their way to Raleigh, made right here in North Carolina. Although more expensive than granite (ranging in price from $150 to $225 per square foot) fused glass is just as hard as granite and can be customized in a way granite can’t.

“You take layers of glass, and you can incorporate color, texture or fabric; using an adhesive film in between the layers bonds them all together,” says McMickle.

For more information, visit andrewpearsonindustries.com

Glass Countertops

• Harder than granite

• Non-porous

• Doesn’t need sealing

• Fusing offers color and texture