Ron Rash continued

I had a rough week last week and didn't have time to post this, but I received a surprise phone call about my blog and a column I put in the paper a few weeks ago.

The caller was Ron Rash - yay!

He said he was glad to be closer to home and said thanks for the coverage.

It made my day, but I was so surprised to get it that I flaked out and couldn't remember what I should say... I wasn't "star struck" in a traditional sense... I just lost my head...

Have you had a "star struck" experience or met a celebrity? Let me know in the comments section.

A sneak-peek at food

It's mid-afternoon on Tuesday and I thought it might be fun to give all the foodies out there a sneak-peek at what's going on in this week's Food section.

For one thing, there's Brazilian food - a unique mix of old-world food and new-world spicy flair.

The other thing is NASCAR food - Although the person writing about a new NASCAR cookbook is a little (in my opinion) harsh about the book's contents, its contents do seem to have a seriously southern flair. Some of the recipes would work well this weekend, considering there's a big race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte. A book like this one may even get a few guys away from their Memorial Day weekend grilling... but I'm not sure the lure of NASCAR cooking is strong enough for guys to give up beer and pretzels... even during commercial breaks.

Let me know if you try any of this week's recipes.