BANANA CREAM FROM PIE SHOP

Yes ma'am ... I'll have that.

MAKING THE ELDERS CRINGE

I just felt dozens of my ancestors whirling in their graves ... I put cream in my pot of grits :)

POPCORN ON A CHILLY SATURDAY AFTERNOON

I have a few TV shows to catch up on, and it's chilly outside, so today's lunch is popcorn.

Being an adult is great ... Popcorn for lunch, maybe cookies for supper.  Healthy be damned. :)

TOMATO SOUP IN A PINCH

Tomatoes, cream, onion, olive oil, spinach, black pepper ... cold night tastyness.

RED VELVET NIGHTCAP

I met up with my friends Ellen and Greg to go see another friend's play up on the Square in Marietta.

After the play (Congrats, Bronwyn!) we decided to walk over to E&G's favorite coffee shop, Cool Beans for a cup. And of course, lively gossiping. :)

Well as you can see, we didn't limit ourselves to just a cup ... red velvet cake at 10:30 at night ... being responsible is for the birds.

IS IT ART, OR IS IT ...

Murder!  Actually, just the leftover from biscuits and blackberry jelly ...

CALLIE'S CHARLESTON BISCUITS

Last week while shopping at The Fresh Market in an I-don't-feel-all-that-good-so-I-need-to-treat-myself mood, I ran up on a little brown bag in the freezer section. Such provincial packaging always catches my eye, so I picked one up.

As it turns out, inside that brown bag were these lovely little squares of savory biscuit goodness! Made by Callie's Charleston Biscuits out of Charleston, SC, this variant, packaged as "Carrie's Charleston Biscuits" (Carrie being Callie's daughter) were black pepper and caramelized bacon. HOW could you go wrong?

(Callie's makes other varieties as well - Country Ham, Cheese and Chive - there's even a biscuit of the month club)

CARYTOWN (RICHMOND, VA)

On a recent work trip to Richmond, I found myself eating (and drinking) quite well, mostly in and around a neighborhood called Carytown.

For those of you in Atlanta, think along the lines if Little 5 Points and The Highlands had a baby that had loads of historical charm ...

PICTURES:

The Hard Shell Seafood Company
Mekong Vietnamese
Delux
and, a seasonal apple/champagne drink at Can Can

~RBS

MY FAVORITE COOKING SHOW

America's Test Kitchen

I've been watching for years - I appreciate the methodical testing environment and yes, even Christopher Kimball's oddball humor.

These folks know their stuff - and the sister program, Cook's Country, is just as good!

Locally, it's shown Saturdays in the early afternoon. Not many a Saturday passes that I don't watch. :)

A FEW RANDOM PICTURES

Of a few of my favorite things ... dim sum, cut fruit, and cookies. 

~RBS

Aaahh yeah ... poached me an egg ...

That's it.  Made me happy. 

Jolie Kobe Strawberry Shortcake

Ordered a cake for a friend's birthday last weekend from Jolie Kobe ...fantastic ...

BAD DAY REMEDY

Today was one of those days ... I feel a little haggard.
 
So ... chocolate muffins to the rescue ... kinda like Calgon, please take me away ...  :)

TOMATO BOWL

Visiting family, noticed Mom had this on her kitchen table. Not a fruit bowl, a tomato bowl.
 
They're technically fruit.  ;)

FARM FRESH

Just a few pics from last weekend's trip to my parent's in the country.
   
Taters, maters, hens, and a goat ... garden time on the farm!

CHURCH SOCIAL

I spent a long weekend visiting family, and found myself at my nephew and niece's Vacation Bible School closing night - which also included a good old fashioned church social dinner.

Here are some photos of the dessert table (which was particularly fantastic) and just for good measure I threw in a shot of Mom's egg salad sandwiches.

Of course, made with eggs from her own hens.  :)

SQUASH PICKIN'

A seek peek at the kind of weekend I'm having... #VISITTHECOUNTRY

SALT AND VINEGAR PORK RINDS

Salt and vinegar pork rinds (with a pretzel back) at Holeman and Finch ...

CAKE-A-POP-A

I went to an Engagement Party Cookout tonight (congrats Jen and Lyle!) and, aside from the fantastic BBQ, salads, corn on the cob and, booze, my friend Carrie's cake pops were the stars of the evening.

Well, food-wise anyway. The lucky couple were stars, too (again, congrats Jen and Lyle)!

And much to my surprise, as I was walking out the door my friend met me with a going-home giftie ... two cake pops. Needless to say, they lasted about 10 minutes once I got home. :)

Congrats Jen and Lyle!

SATA ANDAGI = DEEP FRIED TASTY

The kind folks at the Japanese resto up the street surprised me with a treat in my to-go order tonight! 
 
I believe the name is "sata andagi", meaning "deep fried sugar" but I could be wrong.
 
As far as I'm concerned, it means "deep fried tasty goodness".

LUNCH AT GRINDHOUSE

Grindhouse Burgers

1842 Piedmont Avenue NE

Atlanta, GA 30324

http://www.grindhouseburgers.com/

The buzz about town for nearly a month and a half now has been "when is Grindhouse opening over near Morningside? It's been like, forever, you know?"

Well finally this week, it opened. And I met a friend for lunch on their second open day.

Retro doesn't begin to describe the decor, from the whole 60s sci-fi-cum-Russ-Meyer vibe to the toy robots (think Danger, Will Robinson! robot) to the police line-up mural featuring what my friend Carrie was CERTAIN was Cylon Number Six from Battlestar Galactica. :)

Anyway - I won't go into the burgers so much because hey, that's been done and done and they DO do a good burger. Speaking of done, Grindhouse advises clearly on the menu that they will not cook a burger rare, so know that going in. Mine, although cooked all the way through, was still quite juicy.

What I AM excited about are Cheesy Poofs - breaded and deep fried little boulders of pimento cheese. Wow. The equivalent of mozzarella sticks, but with adult flavor. Totally tasty. So tasty in fact that of the 5 we were given in our order, we each ate two and split the last one in half. There was none of that "oh no, you take the last one" nonsense!

I'll be back to run down the menu of specialty burgers at Grindhouse for sure, but honestly, I'll be thinking more about Cheesy Poofs until I return.

WE'RE PUTTING SALT ON THESE NOW?

Really? Sea salt on Saltines?

SUCH A MESS

... but totally worth it when the result is pasta with crispy Bacon!