Crawfish Shack

Today was Brian's first day off after his first week at work, which went very well. We decided to drive around the city and see more of it. We drove through the Chastain neighborhood.......very nice and headed over to the Buford Hwy. to get our hands dirty eating Louisiana boiled crawfish.

We arrived there around 1:00pm. The restaurant is located in a strip mall a few blocks from Dresden Rd. It's not your typical sit-down eatery but a counter where you place your order and either stand to the side if it's to go or have a seat at the somewhat small eating area with 6-8 tables and 6 or so picnic tables.

We ordered a minimal amount of crawfish at Brian's suggestion fearing this establishment may not be up to par with preparing crawfish to Louisiana likings. Our order finally came and we dove in. We both nodded our heads in approval while saying "these are pretty good".

We finished off the 3lbs. quickly and Brian wanted more. I thought we should move on to our next destination and grab a bite to eat there...........DeKalb Farmer's Market.

Pho Bac - Buford Hwy.

I finally purchased a GPS device and decided to give it a test run by having lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant on the Buford Hwy. A long section of the Buford Hwy., not far from I-285, is jam packed with a variety of Latino and Asian eateries, markets and bakeries.

Last night I was scouring the April issue of the Atlanta Magazine whose cover story was about good and cheap eats. There was a section listing the best places to get pho (fuh), a traditional Vietnamese noodle soup. I fell in love with this concoction after tasting it in Boulder for the first time in my life.

Around 10:30 this morning the gray skies let loose it's moisture and it began to rain. The weather forecast predicted a gray rainy day..........just perfect for making a trek out to Buford Hwy. and enjoying a bowl of noodle soup. I was ready with my new best friend and navigator, Samantha. This is the choice I made on my GPS of the 4 selections I could choose to "speak" turn by turn directions. It worked. Samantha delivered me right to the restaurant's door even though I did make a wrong turn but she quickly put me back on track.

Upon entering, I was immediately greeted by one of the uniformed wait staff holding up a single finger indicating that I needed a table for one. I nodded yes, realizing that communication would only be in two forms..........Vietnamese or hand gestures. I was seated at a table designed for four in a large open dining room reminiscent of a high school cafeteria with bright overhead fluorescent lighting. Not the perfect ambiance I was looking for but the place was crowded so the food must be as good as the review in Atlanta Magazine stated.

The waiter came over dressed in his appliance repairman looking uniform and I asked for an iced tea. He pointed to the menu at #19 ( I guess iced tea and nineteen sound similar for someone who doesn't understand American English. I pointed to the list of beverages and he responded sweet or unsweet in his broken English.............unsweet please.

As I waited for my Pho to arrive I glanced around the restaurant looking at the clientele, mostly Asian with some Americans scattered throughout. There was Asian music playing over a PA system drowned out by the chatter of Asian dialogue filling the dining room. I was feeling at home. I can't believe I lived in a yuppie, all white, Stepford wives community of over 100,000 people for almost 4 years........My God! Life is too short to surround yourself with your own kind as a permanent living situation. No offense Boulder.

Anyway, my bowl of Pho arrived. I realized I didn't have any utensils. Sitting in the middle of the table is an assortment of sauces.......soy, house made chile sauce, bottled Siracha and hoisin along with napkin dispensers, wrapped chopsticks and the ornate Asian soup spoons. I grabbed a spoon and took a sip of the broth. It was very warm having been slightly cooled by the thinly sliced pieces of raw steak they submerged before serving this delicate wonder which cooks the meat instantly. The only pieces to remain pink are the ones supported above the broth line by the thin and extremely long rice noodles hidden below. The broth was perfectly spiced. I could taste the ginger, star anise and green onions used to flavor this liquid from the Gods.

A garnish plate consisting of bean sprouts, green peppers, lemon, fresh mint sprigs and one other leafy herb which I didn't recognize but had a taste and look similar to that of a bold green leafy lettuce. I added bean sprouts and mint to my bowl and swished it around so the mint released it's oils and flavored the broth to an even higher level.

Another glance around the dining room showed that most patrons were drawn here for the Pho. As all were hunched over their bowls sipping the soothing broth and slurping up the noodles as I understand is the custom in Asian communities............never twirling the pasta around a fork as we Americans do. I joined in and did the same. It was a great experience. Good food and the right to eat it the way it was intended.........slurping!!

Another trip to the grocery store

I think I have made a run to the grocery store every morning for the past five days. It's always just to pick up one or two items that we need and I end up pushing the cart down every aisle to see if something pops out at me that I just have to have..........and it always does.

This morning I started my day visiting the State Farm agent to transfer our car insurances from Colorado to Georgia. I had a list of listerene, flax seed, and oats (all for Brian) to pick up on my way home. As I was leaving the agent's office the little voice in my head told me that there was a possibility that Kroger woudn't have flax seed and I should go to Fresh Market and I could pick up the oats and mouthwash at Kroger. I argued with this voice and finally gave in knowing that a visit to Fresh Market is like opening presents on Christmas morning. Luckily, I miscalculated which block Fresh Market was and realized this when I approached Kroger. For a split second I debated turning around but responsibility slapped that thought right out of my head and I turned into the parking lot confident that I would find flax seed ( which I did.)

I decided this visit would have more of a purpose than just picking up some items for Brian and made a survey of the store. I examined the produce section to see what selections they stocked, seafood (the gulf shrimp were a dollar cheaper per pound that Publix) and pickled items -- no pickled asparagus, but they had pickled tomatoes and Gambino's olive salad ( which I bought). I haven't seen olive salad in a grocery store since I lived in New Orleans.

On my way out, I picked up a fried chicken thigh ( just to test it). I ate in on the drive home and finished it off in the garage since my drive home is about 2 minutes from the store. It was delicious! Nicely golden brown, crispy skin, moist meat and just a tad greasy for that extra burst of flavor. The batter was mildly spiced but had a really nice flavor. As you know I love fried chicken and these southern Atlanta girls in Kroger on Roswell Rd. know how to cook it.

Brian wanted me to meet him for lunch today. I drove down to his office building and picked him up out front and we headed over to Corner Bakery on Peachtree Rd. in Buckhead. A real charming little cafe very similiar to La Madelaine's. All they offer is freshly prepared salads, pastas. and sandwiches. I ordered the grilled panini reuben. Rye bread with your traditional corned beef, sourkraut, and thousand island dressing served hot off the panini press with a spring mix salad drizzled with balsamic vinaigerette. The sandwich was huge. It could have easily been split between two people, but it was so yummy I ate the whole thing. They also make pastries which looked really good but I chose to just look at the selections and make a mental note to come back to try these delectables.

Things are coming together

I think we have unpacked most things we need to carry on life as near normal as can be. Most of the boxes filled with stuff we have collected since New Orleans are going to remain packed and hopefully purged over the next year that we are living in this townhouse. What I thought was a nice huge empty basement doesn't feel so large now. Thank goodness for that empty space for us to use as storage.

I've contacted a doctor near our house to schedule appointments for both of us after May 1 when the new insurance begins. I've also reached out to State Farm to have our insurance transferred over to a Georgia agent. I've pretty much stocked up on some grocery items so our refrigerator looks like people live and eat here.

This morning after running around I thought I would have lunch at Popeyes. I can't recall the last time I had a piece of Popeyes spicy fried chicken breast with a side of their creamy red beans or zingy cajun rice. I decided to stop home and drop off the groceries and decided I would just make myself a sandwich instead. There's plenty of days ahead for Popeyes. Besides, yesterday I bought some thinly sliced mortadella with pistachios and black peppercorns at Fresh Market and it called out to me as I was putting away the groceries. I love mortadella!

I still haven't planted the tomatoe and pepper plants that Brian bought me. I will do that tomorrow morning first thing. I did pick up some sunflower seeds to plant along the back fence. I bought the gigantic kind that grow to about 16 feet. That should make the birds happy.

Alon's Bakery

This morning after coffee on the patio and watching our next door neighbor hiding Easter eggs in their backyard for their daughter we decided to head over to Alon's bakery for an Easter morning brunch. Alon's is an Israeli bakery and marketplace. Upon entering the premises you are greeted by a homemade dessert case featuring small single serving sizes of a decent selection. I had my eye on the peanut butter mousse cake for a future visit.

There is a pastry case with danishes and the like, artisan bread station, local and imported artisan cheese case, a vast assortment of house made gelatos and a grocery store sized prepared foods case which I made a bee-line to ( I'm always looking for a quick plan for dinner when I don't feel like cooking ). This prepared foods case offered such yummies such as salmon wellington, veal and wild mushroom meatloaf, polenta cakes with shitake mushrooms and honey smoked duck. There was also a selection of prepared salads with the usual chicken and tuna salads, hummus, tabbouleh, and a shrimp curry salad.

At the far left of the prepared foods case lies a counter where you can order cooked to order meals and sandwiches. Brian opted for an omelet with artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese.
I chose the cornbread and crab meat eggs benedict. Two squares of homemade cornbread topped with sauteed spinach, lump crabmeat, two poached eggs and drizzled with an Old Bay seasoned hollandaise sauce.

The cornbread was speckled with kernels of real corn with a chewy texture on the inside and crusty on the outside. The eggs were poached to a soft boil stage although I would have preferred a nice runny yolk that would ooze all over the cornbread when pierced with a fork like lava flowing down a mountain side. All in all it was good.

Brian bought himself a small bottle of whole milk to go along with his omelet and after opening the bottle discovered a somewhat thick consistency. No sour aroma was noticed. The manager on duty told him that all the milk was like that. Is that what really fresh milk straight from the udders looks like? He chose not to drink it.

McKendrick's birthday dinner

Last night was my 46th birthday..........My God! I just can't believe that I am sliding right out of my 40's and making a big belly flop into the 50's. I guess that's what it is because I have already begun sprouting the belly for the big 5-0 flop. All these restaurants I have to try in the Atlanta area will not help to keep my belly from growing, but that's okay because I love food more than I care about carrying around some added weight. Besides, eating high calorie food ladened with butter and fat is just so tempting and extremely satisfying.

Anyway, last night Brian took me to McKendrick's Steak House. It's located right across the street from the Perimeter Mall. I haven't dined at a steak house in quite awhile and since it was my birthday, well that was just a good excuse. To make my self feel better about the bounty of food I was going to enjoy I skipped lunch, which probably wasn't the best thing to do because that just made me all the more eager to gorge. Steak houses are notorious for serving large portions and I was up for the challenge.

We were seated at a booth designed for four people. Steak house booths are large. I guess you need all that room on the table to fit each a la carte item that is ordered while salivating and eating a loaf of bread before the appetizer arrives.

I ordered a glass of Californian pinot noir to get the engine fired up while I perused the appetizer selection since I knew this would be a time consuming venture deciding on which salad, steak and side items to finalize on, so I wanted to give the waiter a little bone to justify him returning to the table inquiring if he could take our order.

Brian told me to order whatever appetizers I wanted and he would share it with me. Okay, so this really turned into a died and went to heaven kind of experience. Now I decided to have an appetizer, soup, salad, steak and two side items. Dessert would not be left out even if I had to carry it home and eat it later.

I started off with the baked oysters and seafood chowder. I told the waiter to bring them at the same time since Brian would be "helping" me. The oysters were served hot out of the oven on a bed of salt topped with diced tomato, onions and maytag blue cheese melted all over it. The chowder was, of course, a cream based soup with finely chopped sauteed tomato which blended nicely into the cream and gave it a pinkish color with diced potatoes, salmon and shrimp. Both were excellent.

The next course was an iceberg wedge salad ( Brian's choice.....I would have opted for the spinach salad with warm bacon dressing but I wasn't going to play the birthday card for every course.) This was just as good. It was huge even after the kitchen split the salad into two servings so we each had our own plate. Once again maytag blue cheese and tomatoes with a sprinkling of applewood smoked bacon. That combination of blue cheese and smoked bacon is Y-U-M-M-Y.

For our entree we both had a 16 oz. boneless ribeye steak chargrilled medium rare. I just don't know how they do it but it was perfect. It tasted just like I thought it would as we were driving to the restaurant and I daydreamed the whole way there about that grilled flavor and the texture of a steak as you take that first bite through the grilled, crusty exterior and then sink your teeth into the melt in your mouth juicy interior as tender as a stick of butter at room temperature. I ate the whole thing.

Our side items included sauteed mushrooms in a red wine reduction, garlic stir fried spinach, and a baked potato that was as big as one of those trimline phones from the 70's. The mushrooms were humongous as well. I tried to eat my half of the potatoe but only accomplished part of it and had to leave the rest of the salted skin behind.

After all this I was stuffed more than a cornbread dressing filled Turducken is at Christmas dinner. I just couldn't do dessert but Brian insisted I pick one out to take home. We both were given dessert menus to look over the selections. I did my usual elimination technique to decide which one to carry home. After I decided on the coconut cream pie I turned to Brian to ask him which one he would choose if it were his birthday. He said the coconut cream pie. Everyone can have their own entree but by the time dessert rolls around you need to be in sync with your partner because desserts are meant to be shared.

Exhausted

I have been going non stop since Wed. morning. I was up at 5am on Wed., had coffee, breakfast, took a shower, loaded up the car and headed to our new house to meet the realtor and movers. I began trying to unpack that afternoon as the movers were finishing up and haven't stopped until now except to go out to eat and get a few hours sleep. Whew!

Today I feel as though I can slow down a bit and start living somewhat normal. Brian decided to fill up the propane tank for the grill and stopped by the grocery store and picked up some chicken and zucchini to grill tonight. The weather is so nice and we've been spending the afternoon sitting on the patio and deciding where is the best place in the yard to plant a couple of tomato and herb plants. This will be my task tomorrow.............finally something fun to do.

Our landlord stopped by today. He's really nice and told us to make ourselves at home and feel free to do as much gardening as we wanted. He's also gay. He and his partner live in a loft above the Fox Theater in Midtown.

Brian's car arrived today, so we need to take it to a body shop tomorrow so the repair can begin. Everyday another little job is complete. I won't feel like everything is done until the house is in order and I have new plates on my car and Georgian drivers license........in time.