Strawberries and Shrimp

     Yesterday Brian and I decided to take a little road trip to Athens, GA, birthplace of the B-52's and REM.  Athens is a cute college town (at this time all the kids are gone for summer) with a quaint little downtown filled with Magnolia trees.  We spent the early afternoon walking the streets popping in and out of local shops.
      We had a late lunch at the East West Bistro on Broad st. downtown.  A nice and very well air conditioned restaurant with bench style booths and top notch service.  I wanted a lighter lunch so I ordered a spinach salad with crumbled bacon, tomato, white raisins and a poblano vinaigrette dressing.  That was very good.  The highlight of this salad was the pan fried, panko crusted chevre cake served with it.  I love goat cheese and this prep method is my favorite.  The cake was crunchy on the outside and a nice, warm, melt in your mouth goodness on the inside.
     As we headed back for our 65 mile drive to the city we decided to take some backroads that would lead us to the Atlanta Highway.  The same highway mentioned in the B-52's single, Love Shack......."Heading down the Atlanta Highway, looking for a love getaway".   Anyway, as we were driving we passed a huge field with a sign that said Pick your own strawberries.  We quickly made a U-turn and drove in.


Brian makes a smoothie for his breakfast every morning with strawberries and I eat them with greek yogurt, granola and blueberries.  The idea of having a breakfast in the morning with berries just picked from the vine was an opportunity not to be passed.
We were given a 2 quart bucket that we could fill up and pay $10 as we left.  This was alot of fun.  As I picked the berries  I couldn't help but eat some at the same time, as I'm sure everyone does.


We left the field with our berry stained fingers feeling quite naturalistic in an elevated mood.
The wholesomeness of actually picking your own food to consume just cannot be beat.


We had so many strawberries I made a cobbler for dessert after dinner that night.  Just knowing these berries just came off the vine hours earlier with my own hands made it taste so much better.


Before the cobbler, Brian steamed some wild caught Georgia shrimp with his signature Maryland style steaming method.  I know this is a simple process using vinegar, water and old bay seasoning but it sure makes those shrimp yummy.  He served it with steamed fresh corn on the cob and a little cucumber, tomato, basil salad on the side.  
Next month the blueberries will be ripened, so I'll be "heading down the Atlanta highway"......again.