What a great trip!

Sure had a filling trip to Memphis and Oxford, Miss., for the Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium, three days of food, fellowship and big, big fun.

The combination of scholarly discourse and incredible food is what keeps coming me back to this annual event. I've met so many interesting people, all coming together to celebrate food traditions of the South.

This year's focus on music was so perfect, given the depth of musical talent to come out of that region. Serving red beans and rice cooked on a recipe inspired by a gone, but not forgotten restaurant in New Orleans before talking about the way musicians gathered at that venerable place was brilliant.

Sunday morning's Chitlin ballet -- formally called Pork Songs -- was followed by a banquet of baked fish, greens, grits and heaps of bacon and biscuits cooked by John Currence's crew at City Grocery.

That was my second breakfast. I had to go back to Big Bad Breakfast to taste whether the grit cake (pictured with a side of tomato gravy, a biscuit and andouille sausage) was as good the first time I tried it. Heck yes!

Already looking forward to next year.

Love being a tourist in my hometown

Had a friend from Atlanta visiting last week, in Seattle taking photos for a book on street food. Angie and I packed a whole lot into two days.

In between sampling meals on wheels -- the Cuban place on 90th and Aurora was my fave -- we also had a wonderful dinner at Crow, ate oysters at Elliott's, sandwiches at Salumi, cookies from Bakery Nouveau, biscuits and gravy at Citizen and spicy Bloody Marys at Taste at the Seattle Art Museum. Not in that order, mind you.

It wasn't only about the food. We saw the new Alexander Calder exhibit at SAM, went up in the Space Needle, walked around the Pike Place Market and rode the Monorail. Good fun.

What do you do when out-of-towners come for a visit?

Will Brake For BBQ

Stop! There's smoke. And where there's smoke, pouring out of a cooker, there's bound to be good barbecue, right?

I don't know how many times I've tried to find the holy grail of meats cooked low-and-slow over wood in the Pacific Northwest. I thought I had hit the jackpot today in Duvall, a teeny town north of Woodinville.

Ordered up the Bone Jour at Armadillo Barbecue. A combo that included beans, potato salad and slaw on the side. The meat -- cooked over alder -- looked so promising. But... it was underseasoned, the sauce was too sweet, the chicken was dry and the ribs were too fatty.

I really, really wanted to love Armadillo, which has been open about two months in this location. (The original is in Woodinville.) The staff was so nice. The price was right, under $10 at lunch for the generous combo. The sides were excellent. But the meat just missed the mark. I doctored it up at home with some Rendezvous dry rub and sauce. Much better.

Is it possible to find great BBQ in/around Seattle? I'm not convinced.

Bacon Maple Bar? Mmmmmm!

Had to see what all the fuss was about at VooDoo Donuts in Portland. Really lived up to the hype. The crunchy/salty bacon the perfect contrasting note to the sticky sweet maple frosting.

What really cracked me up about this funky spot was the "Cock and Balls" taking up some serious space in the whirling display case. The cream-filled donut is shaped like, you guessed it... just like the name says. And, they'll write anything you like on it. "We're not shy," the woman behind the counter said.

Come early, though, because: "Your best chance to find a cock is in the morning," she advised.

I just about spit out my coffee when she served up that line with a straight face.

Go into the light: learning some new photo skills

Lou Manna is a force, a photographer from New York who has been in the business for 30 years.

On Sunday, he led a small group of shutterbugs through Pike Place Market, trying to get us to look at things in a whole new light. Whether that light happened to be tinged with orange, washed out with bright white or soft and blue-y.

I learned a lot, even though I'm at best a point-and-shooter. Today, all I had was my Flip video camera, but I muddled through and got a few pics I think don't stink. I was inspired by the others in this feet-on-the-street lesson. Their images were brilliant. Trouble is, I think I need a new $1,000 camera. When I start shopping, what should I look for? Nikon? Cannon?

And on a serious note...

Forgive me for going way off-topic, but my Baby Girl's about to fly away, leaving a very empty nest and I don't mind telling you I'm more than slightly freaked out.

She's a good kid. I trust her to make good choices, but I read the news. And I've got a cousin who's a cop. She told us there's a persistent problem with young women getting drugged and raped. This scares the hell out of me.

Anyway, we had lunch with Officer Suz and her husband, Officer Chris today for a little self-defense 101. The best defense is a good offense, they said. Instead of opting for a powerful pepper spray, they advised us to get a strong flashlight. Shining it in somebody's eyes if you feel threatened is instantly disarming.

I know this has nothing to do with dining. It's food for thought, though, in this scary world. Am I being a paranoid, over-protective mother? Excuse the cliche, but better safe than sorry!

My new magnet!

I've got a junk drawer full of fridge magnets. There's just not enough room for all of them.

But I'm pretty fond of the newest one to join the silly collection. Hot Dog! Yes, I found this tube steak at The Cheesemonger in Leavenworth during a recent trip.

Here's a little something I wrote about my sausage search for Serious Eats: Click here for the link!