loss. life. laughter.
Calories don’t count…
So… that leaves a window of about 30 minutes on every other Tuesday for calories to count, right?
What are other times that calories don’t count?
It’s been well documented that I have a grocery problem.
“Problem” meaning I could spend $1000 a month EASILY at the grocery store. I mean, if the budget (and income) allowed it. I buy, for the most part, good stuff. We eat a lot of fresh stuff, but also a bit of crap. In comparison
I’ve toned it down some. I’m better. I’m in recovery.
But now I’m obsessed with Farmers Markets. Sweet Lord Have Mercy!
Last weekend we hit Your DeKalb Farmers Market. It was heavenly as usual. We came out with a ton of stuff and only spent about $65. Henry was so very excited about picking out funny shaped and colored fruits and vegetables. And *surprise* he ate a lot of it.
Fresh foods for lunch and supper every day. Lots of choices that, unfortunately, Publix doesn’t offer. (Or Fresh Market and Whole Foods, sadly) It was a week of delicious eating.
(side note: why do they call it YOUR Dekalb Farmer’s Market? Is it really mine? I think not.)
Anyway, today we decided to hit up the Buford Highway Farmers Market.
DUDES. Why didn’t you people tell me about this?
It’s close to my house. It’s easy to get to. It’s clean.
It’s like a real grocery store on performance-enhancing drugs.
I… I… I was left speechless.
The aisles were wide. There was a ton of each item. People actually smiled at you and said “excuse me” when they were in your way (I’m never in anybody’s way, but say “scuse me, sorry” all the time.)
The samples… we should’ve just eaten lunch at the sample tables. Henry tried a bunch of new stuff he would have NEVER tried before.
We have a fridge and freezer full of things like live blue crab, dragon fruit, unusual mangoes, seafood dumplings, some sort of Mexican cookies, queso, fresh mozzarella, yellow tomatoes, bread that I don’t know what it’s called but it’s delicious, and all manner of other crazy awesome stuff that I can’t pronounce. For $138.
I know lots of you will disagree with me on this, but in my mind this is how the Atlanta Farmer’s Market analogy goes:
YDFM : WalMart as BHFM : Target.
I’m not sure I need to go to the real grocery store again. I think I’ll be landing at the Buford Highway Farmers Market for food from now on.
I briefly mentioned the fishing trip my boys took while we were at St. Simons last week in my post on Monday.
They went out with Captain Tim of Coastal Georgia Inshore Charters last Wednesday for a 4 hour trip. To say they had a great time is an understatement. They fished the Hampton River at the north end of Sea Island and they found a treasure trove of fish. Sharks, in particular.
That’s what Henry they went for, and that’s what they got!
Tim wrote more about their trip on his blog, including their score (shoutout Capt. Donut)!
After they got back to the marina, Capt. Tim expertly filleted three of the sharp-nosed sharks for us to take home. I may have gagged a little thinking about eating shark, but whatever. Henry was all, “I’m gonna eat shark” and coming from my kid who eats very little meat (my kid) this was huge.
So I talked to Tim about what to do to it to make it delicious. He promised me that we would love it.
We got home and I took the fabulous knife out that I won on Adam’s site from Ree and first of all, you ALL need this knife. It’s the best thing to slice bread since sliced bread.
I cut the shark meat into small bites for Henry and smallish pieces for us.
Still… skeptical. I mean, it looks like white fish but it’s shark.
Jason picked up a Fish Fry breading from the Farmer’s Market and I thought it was a little flimsy so I added some panko crumbs to it. I would say it was half and half.
In oil, I fried them up. It smelled like a good ole catfish joint up in here, y’all!
Look how crispy they fried up.
But still? Skeptical.
I plated them up with some fresh Silver Queen corn we got at Poppell Farms on our way back from St. Simons. (Followed a Georgia AgriTourism sign off Hwy. 341 around Odum.) I also made some roasted cabbage and I knew it would be delicious.
So if all else failed, we had some edible food.
But the verdict was:
SIX THUMBS UP. Two thumbs from each of us, obviously.
We’ve had shark three nights since we got home. It’s been fabulous each time, and I have to tell you… I’m kinda sad that there are only 4 more pieces in the freezer.
Henry has devoured it. And asked for more. I’m not sure if it’s the novelty of catching it and eating it or if he really just loves it, but you can be sure I’m going to be calling a lot more stuff “shark.”
Thanks, Capt. Tim, for a great day and for fixing us up with some good eats!
I know. It’s #FineChinaFriday. I’m not celebrating. Why, you ask?
We’ve been celebrating nerd-style today for Star Wars Day! You know, May the Fourth Be With You.
I plan on giving a how-to on the food, dress and other details but right now, I’m going to just let you enjoy a few pictures.
Death Star Melon (put me over the edge for that Mother Of The Year Award, I think)
Tie Fighters, Han Solo in Carbonite, Yoda Soda and Yoda plates
Endor Trail Mix, Wookie Cookies, Thermal Detonators, Leia's Buns, Tie Fighters.
The Gang in their Luke and Leia outfits with their homemade light sabers.
They wanted to *cheers* with their Yoda Soda!
The battle is on!
And on.
Jason got the mess beat out of him!
My favorite picture! Little Leias.
And then Mama had to have a Jar Jar Beer.
And now I must collapse until tomorrow when we will go to the museum with a friend, drink mint juleps all afternoon until the Kentucky Derby and then eat Mexican to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.
I’ll be on the sofa waiting for that invitation to the Mother of the Year Awards.
Seems like pimiento cheese sandwiches are a popular topic with us in April. This time last year, I wrote a little post about sandwiches. I guess there’s just something about Spring in the South that brings out the need for pimiento cheese and fresh bread.
Today I made a batch to take to a friend’s house tonight and thought I’d share my very simple recipe for pimiento cheese that is easily spreadable to be used on sandwiches or as a dip.
The first thing you need to do is to gather your ingredients:
A beer or glass of wine. This is for you to drink while making this.
I use 2 blocks of cheese, usually different kinds. Today I mixed Medium Cheddar and Colby Jack. It gives a little different flavor. Traditional pimiento cheese is made with sharp cheddar, but I like to mix it up.
Mayonnaise. If it’s not Duke’s, you should just give up and make a grilled cheese. Or at least don’t tell me about it.
Small jar of pimientos. You’ll dump the whole thing, including the juice so don’t drain it.
Salt and Pepper.
Grapeseed Oil.
Grab your food processor, put in the cheese grating attachment. I’m sure there’s a name for it, but I don’t know what it is. Cut the cheese into pieces.
Grate the cheese.
This is the part I hate. You have to dump out the cheese into a separate bowl (getting it dirty) to change the attachment to the little spinny thing. I’m sure it also has a name. But whatever, just use it.
Add the cheese back in. Take your Duke’s mayonnaise and add some. Add a lot. More than you think you need. I can’t tell you how much, just play it by ear. Sometimes I have to add a little several times while mixing.
Add the jar of pimientos. Dump the whole thing, juice and all.
Salt and pepper. Remember that the juice and pimientos are salty, though.
Here’s my super secret tip: Grapeseed Oil. Add a small amount, maybe 2 teaspoons, to help the pimiento cheese not turn hard in the refrigerator and stay easily spreadable. This is a very important step unless you want a big hunk of cheese in your fridge.
Mix well until smooth. I like to make it pretty smooth but you may choose to leave it chunkier. If you choose to, you can hand mix it and that will leave it very chunky. Your choice.
Serve it up all pretty with some pita or wheat crackers. Or if you’re going to make it into a sandwich, spread it on some very fresh white bread. Smoosh the sandwich and enjoy.
It’s served best with a cold PBR and some Lay’s.
