I like to joke and say that my blog is a mini version of "Our State" magazine when it comes to food and travel. The glossy, monthly publication is the king of magazines in North Carolina. It shares the best in food and travel, and puts the spotlight on North Carolina's people. 


I was honored to be invited to the April release party for the 2013 Food Issue at Crook's Corner in Chapel Hill, NC.  We certainly had Carolina blue skies on this night. 

Crook's Corner  has been a Chapel Hill landmark for 60 years. In 1982, Bill Smith opened at restaurant at the location.

We dined on cuisine and craft beers featured in the April Issue. 









































I loved meeting Editor-in-Chief, Elizabeth Hudson. She's a Southern girl, too, and enjoys good
food as much as I do.  

" Our State" Editor-in-Chief, Elizabeth Hudson

This year's issue centers around "Dinner on the Grounds," a tribute to the covered dish, the church picnic, the Wednesday night supper, and North Carolina's communal gatherings which embrace the spirit of faith, fellowship, and food. 

I don't know about you, but I always grab the fried chicken, squash casserole, and deviled eggs at a communal gathering. 


Bill Smith, cookbook author, and owner of Crook's Corner, an eclectic Southern restaurant where you can find shrimp and grits, banana pudding, and occasionally cold fried chicken on the menu,  is one of the main contributors in this issue.  He highlights the church supper from his childhood in New Bern, North Carolina.  He divided his time between St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church and the First Presbyterian Church.  The two churches look almost identical in the historic, Southern town, but the traditions and the food are very different. 

Bill shares his "Down-Home Deviled Eggs with a little Twist"  recipe.  It's not featured in this issue of the magazine, but you can get it here thanks to my relationship with "Our State" magazine. 

Down-Home Deviled Eggs with a Little Twist
By: Bill Smith, An Our State Magazine Exclusive Recipe

12 hardboiled eggs
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon mayonnaise 
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 large jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 large rib of celery, minced
1/2 cup minced red onion
Paprika mixed with chili powder to dust the tops

Halve the eggs lengthwise and remove the yolks to a mixing bowl. If any whites breaks, add them to the yolks. Mash the yolks with a fork, then stir in the vinegar, mustards, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper. The filling will be dry. Bill says he likes the filling dry, but if you don't, add a little more mayonnaise. Fold in the minced vegetables. Refill the whites with this mixture. Dust with the paprika-chili powder blend. 

Enjoy! The April issue of "Our State" magazine will be on newsstands this month. 


Be sure to follow me on Instagram because I'll be taking you to Asheville and Highlands, NC for a few days soon.  I will be featuring the beautiful Old Edwards Inn and Spa in Highlands for an upcoming, "Pack Your Bags!" We decided to break up the six hour drive because traveling with two kids will drive us crazy. We'll be stopping over at the new "green" Hilton in the new Biltmore Park Town Square for one night.   It will be the perfect place for us to have a little luxury "layover" before we get to our vacation in Highlands. 

You will also see some changes next week to this site. I have had the pleasure of working with Laura Wyatt Designs, based in Charlotte, NC, on a new website design this month.  My current blog was never professionally designed, and I decided it was time to make a change.  I'll be taking a short break so she can begin the installation process. 

See you soon with a whole new look!

The calendar says Spring, but it has been cold, and very rainy in Raleigh.  As I type this little blog update for you, Baby Diva has pinkeye, and a sinus infection. But, she still wants to play in the rain.

Spring Showers!

I have very little time to write this week with a child home with me. Beginning Thursday, our school system is on Spring Break for 10 days. That means two kids with me 24-hours a day.  Blog. What Blog?

I wanted to take a couple of minutes to ask you to vote for my Skimbaco colleague, Wes Holland, to help his quest to land the summer job of a lifetime with the British clothier, Jack Wills. Wes is a Business student in NYC, who wants to run a Fashion House one day.  He's quite talented, and I adore his preppy style.   I hate to admit  that I'm old enough to be his mom. However,  I tell him that with his passion for luxury travel, and his preppy style, he could be my child.  Here's the scoop on the internship with Jack Wills that he's trying to win, and how you can help. You can vote for Wes three times. Type in Wes Holland in the search, and his profile will pop up for voting. I'm secretly hoping that if Wes wins, and I took part in helping him get this internship then perhaps I'll have a never-ending supply of designer purses and shoes when he runs his Fashion House one day!  Right, Wes?



And finally, April is NC Beer Month.  How cool is that?  This is the first year for the month long celebration of North's Carolina's craft brew industry. The Tarheel State boasts the largest number of craft breweries in the American South, with more than 50 breweries and brewpubs. It is also the most decorated state in the South with more medals from the World Beer Cup® and the Great American Beer Festival than any of its neighboring states.

North Carolina will be celebrating with special craft beer dinners, festivals, and special travel packages. Visit http://www.ncbeermonth.com/ for an entire list of events.

April is NC Beer Month

You know I'll be filling my glass in April.  On  my way back from Highlands, NC and the Old Edwards Inn and Spa, I will be getting a first-hand glimpse of Heinzelmannchen Brewery in Sylva, NC.  This is interesting for me because I grew up near Sylva.  They certainly didn't have breweries in the town when I lived there. 

And for those of you who are parents and grandparents, you may like my TriangleMom2Mom post about sleeping with your kids on vacation.  Not fun, is it?  As I said in my column, Barbara Mandrell belted out in  '70s song "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed," as if it is a bad thing.  It's not!  Double beds have gotten so small. 

Talk soon!

If you are new to the Hines-Sight Blog, you can follow my posts via e-mail by entering your e-mail address on my right sidebar.  Every Friday on my Facebook page, I ask you to share some of your favorites that you have discovered on your travels or in your hometown.  Follow me around town in Raleigh and on my travels for Skimbaco Lifestyle on Instagram. You can always catch me on Twitter. Links to all my social media accounts are also on my sidebar.  Google Reader is going away so be sure to follow the blog in my favorite reader, Bloglovin.

This one is a Giveaway for the Skimbaco Man in your Life!

We are celebrating of 5 months of Skimbaco Man at the magazine.  If you haven't read  Wes Holland's weekly column Monsieur Curations you need to do so.  This column, focusing on sophisticated and trendy fashion and lifestyle tips curated for men, has been hugely successful for us. We have been delighted to welcome so many new gentleman readers to our online magazine, and offer a man's point of view for the ladies as well. As you  know, I take my own husband on most of my travels so he's a huge part of my Skimbaco column, Travel Insight, as we travel as a family.

While we  might have a taste for luxury travel, expensive sports gear or imported spirits on Skimbaco, there is still one thing for sure: we all have our secrets how to also save money so we can afford the finer things in life. One of those things for men can be daily grooming and getting shaving accessories that are good quality but don't cost much, like the new AXE Face+Shave collection only available at Walmart. AXE teamed up with Philips Norelco and Schick to create a line of everyday face + shave products and our eyes are on Wes who will put these products in test.

YOU have a chance to win an AXE Face+Shave products and to make it even sweeter prize, we added a Nikon digital camera and a Garmin GPS - perfect for the man on the go! Ladies, if you enter to win for the man in your life (and keep the camera!), we won't mind. It's quite simple to enter, visit the AXE Face+Shave page at walmart.com and check out the facial profile tool, and come back and comment which look did you get, and ladies, you can answer which look is the most appealing to you. Well, not for you, but for the man in your life! More ways to win and detailed instructions in the Rafflecopter widget. a Rafflecopter giveaway The entire prize pack includes close to $450 worth of lifestyle products for men: Axe Philips Norelco Shave & Groom Kit $49.97 Axe Philips Norelco Detail Styler $17.97 Axe Philips Norelco Stubble Trimmer $34.97 Axe Philips Norelco Bodygroomer $34.97 Axe Schick Power Razor Kit $8.97 Axe Chilled Cooling Face Hydrator & Post-Shave Gel $6.78 Axe Shield Sensitive Shave Gel $3.78 Axe Philips Norelco Shave & Groom Styler Head $19.97 Nikon COOLPIX S6300 16MP w/ 10x Optical Zoom Digital Camera Value Bundle with 4GB SD Card and Case $139 Garmin nuvi 50LM 5" Portable GPS w/Lifetime map updates $127.99

Giveaway rules & terms

This contest runs from March 22nd 2013 to April 12th, 2013. This giveaway is hosted at Skimbaco Lifestyle, Life Through Preppy Glasses and Hines Sight Blog. At the end of the contest one winner will be randomly drawn to win a the entire AXE Face+Shave prize pack. Entry is open to anyone over 18 years old in the USA. Unfortunately this prize can only be shipped within the USA. Upon drawing the winner, the winner will be contacted via e-mail. The winner has 48 hours to reply to claim their prize. If the winner does not reply within that time frame a new winner will be drawn. To enter the contest you must use the Rafflecopter options listed and verify your submission via Rafflecopter. The winner's entry method will be verified before being contacted. Failure to complete the entry option will result in being disqualified. This giveaway is solely sponsored by Lunchbox and Skimbaco Lifestyle and has not been endorsed or approved by AXE or its subsidiaries or affiliates. By entering, you agree to look solely to Lunchbox and Skimbaco Lifestyle for any claims in connections therewith, and not to AXE or its subsidiaries or affiliates.

Good luck!

If you are new to the Hines-Sight Blog, you can follow my posts via e-mail by entering your e-mail address on my right sidebar.  Every Friday on my Facebook page, I ask you to share some of your favorites that you have discovered on your travels or in your hometown.  Follow me around town in Raleigh and on my travels for Skimbaco Lifestyle on Instagram. You can always catch me on Twitter. Links to all my social media accounts are also on my sidebar. 

I wanted to take a few minutes to catch you up on life in North Carolina this week. Do you use Instagram? Katja, my editor, made this graphic for my "7 reasons why I travel with my Intel Tablet" post on Skimbaco Lifestyle. She's a wiz at making graphics, and at Instagram. She's writing an Instagram book, and was recently featured by Fodor's as a travel account to follow.


If you do follow me on Instagram, I have made a few changes to my feed so that it is more in line with the travel and leisure portion of my blog as well as my work for Skimbaco. This feed will now take you around my hometown, areas in North Carolina, and wherever my travels may take me outside the Tarheel state.  The feed will still feature things associated with this blog outside of travel, but if you want to see more photos like this one.....the zebra meets the Flamenco Dancer then you may want to follow me on my @LeighPHines account.

Family photos will be on the LeighPHines Instagram feed.

Family travel will still be part of my Hinessightblog Instagram feed, but as you know, I'm also a mom and I like to take photos on a whim. Since readers for the travel portion of my blog have grown, I felt I needed another feed that captured just the Hines, and the Southern parenting tales portion of my blog. This account was born last week.


And that new exotic little number that the Diva is wearing in the photo will be her dance recital costume this year.  Of course, she loves it!

I am a March Madness fan. Don't be surprised. I'll be writing less, and watching more basketball. Go Tarheels! Go NC State!

Yes, you read that right! I'm a Carolina graduate, but I also pull for the Wolfpack of NC State. It's Will's alma mater. I had the honor of spending some time with this furry guy at Amedeo's Italian Restaurant in Raleigh the other night for the NCAA selection show.  I was thrilled.  I love Mr. Wuf!

Mr. Wuf, the Team Mascot for NC State University

No doubt! I was in mascot heaven. I got a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs, and enjoyed some great family time. Mr. Wuf played video games with my kids, and even tried to eat our pizza.

Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Not us. He was welcome at our table at Amedeo's Italian Restaurant in Raleigh.

He's got great taste. Amedeo's has been serving NC State fans since 1963. The entire restaurant is a shrine to NC State athletics.  If you decide to go, order the cheese bread! I always get angel hair pasta with meatballs. I need to branch out, but I can't seem to resist that one dish.

Mr. Wuf even opened my car door for me when we left. I think he likes me. I hope Mrs.Wuf and Mr. Hines don't get too jealous.

I'll be back on Friday with a Skimbaco Lifestyle giveaway.  See you then.

I did something really fun this week. Wilkinson Supply Company in Raleigh invited me to their kitchen showroom to make some St. Patrick's Day treats that they pinned for their Pinterest-to-Plate series. While there, they interviewed me about some of my favorite things to do in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area.

Easy St. Patrick's Day Treats

At first, I was nervous about cooking in front of people, but luckily, I picked some very easy recipes, and the morning breezed by so quickly. It was a lot of fun, and the showroom kitchen was gorgeous.

We whipped up these great treats in less than half an hour.

  I think I'm going to do them again with the kids. You also could change the sprinkle colors, and use them for a lot of different holidays.

This time change has killed me this week.  I'm taking tomorrow off to watch the ACC Tournament, and I'll be back next week with a $100 gift certificate for dinner at North Hill's Mia Francesca Trattoria.

Have a great St. Patrick's Day!

If you are new to the Hines-Sight Blog, you can follow my posts via e-mail by entering your e-mail address on my right sidebar.  Every Friday on my Facebook page, I ask you to share some of your favorites that you have discovered on your travels or in your hometown.  Follow me around town in Raleigh and on my travels for Skimbaco Lifestyle on Instagram. You can always catch me on Twitter. Links to all my social media accounts are also on my sidebar. 

Happy Friday! I am really looking forward to this weekend.  I'm trying a new restaurant in town on Saturday which anytime I have a dinner reservation penciled on my calendar, makes me a happy girl. It's Spring Break at NC State so we're taking our kids with us because our sitters are off enjoying life.  Honestly, it's more enjoyable when we dine sans kids, but Mia Francesca Trattoria at North Hills is casual enough to take my two little diners.  We're having an early dinner with another couple who just started dating, and hopefully, our outing with them will not scare them off about life with kids.  I just hope that I can stay out of the bathroom long enough to actually talk to the couple.  My children enjoy exploring public bathrooms much to my dismay.

I spent the morning at McDonald's in downtown Raleigh before volunteering at my son's school. I volunteer every other week in his classroom.  I want to publicly thank restaurants like McDonald's for providing free Wifi.  I had about 45 minutes before dropping off my son, and going back to volunteer at his school.  I took my Intel tablet with me, and actually accomplished a few things.  I felt more productive than just sitting there drinking a cup of coffee.

My ThinkPad 2 was great on the go at McDonald's

But, the best part was a little "pay-it-forward" I did while there.  I noticed several individuals sitting near the door. Two were senior citizens.  I am not going to say they were homeless because I don't know that for sure, but they appeared as if they could be having a hard time in life making ends meet.  I think one may have had a cup of coffee at the table, but certainly no food.

I happened to have a "Get a Free McDonald's Oatmeal" card in my purse. As I walked by them to leave, I smiled at the older gentleman and said, "I am not going to be using this today!" He smiled, and said, "Well, I might. Thank you!"

It wasn't much, but I felt good leaving that restaurant today. Hopefully, he redeemed it for a hot meal.

As much as I love Winter, it can leave now.  I'm ready for Spring fashion.  She is, too.

She loves the new dress I bought for her at Upscale Resale.

As a blog ambassador for Upscale Resale, I bought this little spring dress during the preview sale this week.   I thought it was sunny just like my daughter's personality. Just a reminder for my local friends, Upscale Resale will be having the "Thrills and Deals" sale beginning Saturday, March 9-11.  Believe it or not, I did not buy everything on the racks.  There are many good deals left to find.

Have a great weekend! I hope you are doing something fun.

I didn’t think I would have to add “Keep your pants on” when I addressed my daughter before she left my sight, but that was before last month.

Here she is at the Biltmore winery channeling her inner Marilyn Monroe.  She discovered the air vent.

Are you saying that in your house if you own a tablet? We’re the owners of a new tablet courtesy of Intel, and for my work on Skimbaco.  I've not been able to get it away from my kids long enough for my own personal use very often. 

My kids using the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2

We own the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, and it operates on a Windows 8 system.  It is powered by Intel. 
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Disclosure: I was given the Lenovo ThinkPad 2 tablet by Intel to become more familiar with it.   My opinions about the tablet are all my own.

Spring is around the corner, but I'm sure we'll have a few more cold days in March so I'm not finished cooking hearty meals yet.  I'm like a bear in the winter. I like to hibernate, and I tend to cook comfort food, which is not good for the waist-line.  Think crock pot stews, chicken pot pie, and hearty dishes with pasta. 

I have found a wonderful hearty, and easy weeknight meal. It is not Pinterest pretty though.  In fact, it is downright ugly.  Sorry cheeseburger skillet meal, but you are not a pretty dish. I could not get a good photo of this dish.  But, as we all know in life, looks aren't everything. Taste is important. 

This cheeseburger skillet meal is easy to make, and awesome for a weeknight where you need to get a meal on the table in less than 20 minutes.  


Easy, Kid-Approved Cheeseburger Skillet Meal




Ingredients:
1 lb of ground turkey
1/2  onion, diced
1 tsp of chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
28-oz diced tomatoes
6-oz egg noodles or elbow macaroni
small can of sweet corn
6 slices of cheddar cheese

In skillet or frying pan, brown meat with onion and seasonings, Drain. Stir in tomatoes with juice.  Add pasta. Cover pan, and cook until noodles are tender.  Make sure pasta is covered in tomato juices.  Add a little bit of water, if needed so noodle with cook.  Stir in corn, and heat through. Arrange cheese slices on top, cover until cheese is melted. 

PS. If you really want to make it more like a "cheeseburger", use some condiments. I was the only one brave enough to do this in my family. I added a little ketchup to mine. 

I also have one photo to show you to end the week.  We have a new Lenovo ThinkPad.  While I was making this recipe for dinner, the Diva was entertaining herself on the ThinkPad, which we have named Smarty.  We are a weird family, and name everything. Not sure why she is wearing shades indoors so I've tagged the photo, "Her future is so bright with her new Intel tablet that she's got to wear shades indoors!"  There is never a dull moment with my two. 



Have a great weekend.  I hope you have a bright one!