Red Baron's Place

December Office Birthday Party Photo.

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:37:01 GMT

Marion.....Madame Librarian......

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:16:28 GMT

Last night we saw a friend play the part of Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn in The Music Man. It was a fun show, I really liked the opening sequence, which was a barbershop quartet of sales men on a train singing a ridiculous medley about credit. Joel knew several of the songs, as a few have been parodied on The Simpsons and The Family Guy.

Fruit Seasoning=Genius.

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:52:30 GMT

Our production assistant brings different kinds of Mexican fruit seasonings to the office, which is the main reason I show up for work lately. My favorite is Tajin, a blend of dried lime, chili powder, and salt. It is good on every kind of fruit. We have large holiday fruit baskets in the office this week, and I have been eating spicy bananas, pears, and clementines for breakfast and snacks. Happiness.

Fish and Grits.

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:01:17 GMT

We spent the weekend in Augusta with Trena and Brent, where I learned another authentic Southern recipe.   We had the fish and grits for brunch on Saturday, along with biscuits and herb scrambled eggs.   The fish is really crispy and a little spicy, perfect when paired with rosemary cheddar grits.

Trena's � Fish and Grits

Ingredients:
for the fish
-whiting fillets, approx 2 per person
-corn meal (plain, not self-rising)
-garlic salt
-oregano
-black pepper
-oil for frying
for the grits
-grits, the old-fashioned slow cooking kind, NOT instant
-shredded cheddar cheese
-rosemary

Prepare the grits per the box instructions, and when done stir in a liberal amount of shredded cheddar and rosemary. No exact measurements are available, as it depends on how many people you are cooking for.    Cover.

Fill a large pan or pot with oil, heat the stove to medium high frying temperature.

Fill a baggie with cornmeal for dredging. Also sprinkle garlic salt, oregano, and black pepper into the baggie and shake everything together.   Season the whiting with garlic salt and black pepper, dredge in the cornmeal, commence frying.   Fry until done. It will continue to sizzle after you set the fillets on a serving platter lined with paper towels.

Serve together with the grits.   I like to stack the fish on the grits because that is how they serve another Southern favorite of mine, shrimp and grits, in restaurants.   We spent the rest of the afternoon walking it off at the Augusta Riverwalk:

Amiacola Falls.

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:07:49 GMT

We took my parents up to North Georgia to see Amicalola Falls this weekend. After our hike we went for dinner at a restaurant in the oldest building in Stone Mountain, GA-one of a few houses that Sherman didn't burn down because he needed a space for an army hospital. Our waiter gave us a tour of the entire house/restaurant, which is supposed to be haunted by civil war soldiers. I love spending time with my parents, especially because my dad is probably one of ten people in the world who actually enjoys watching old episodes of M Squad, an old 50's detective show starring my favorite actor, Lee Marvin, as much as I do. He even air boxed the bad guys from the couch with me.

Quote of the Day, Hand of the Genius Edition.

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:27:23 GMT

"You tried to make that horse but couldn't,"
-Michelangelo, taunting his rival, Leonardo da Vinci

We made it to The High this afternoon to see Leonardo da Vinci: Hand of the Genius. We are standing in front of a replica of the Sforza Horse. My mother will really like going to this right before Cavaila in a few weeks. The collection had several drawings that have not been seen in in the US until now, and newly restored artifacts. The history major in me especially appreciated tidbits of his interaction with other historical figures like Machiavelli-military campaigns they worked on-and also his studies of human anatomy. I know of a certain human anatomy exhibition that currently hosts specimen drawing nights for art students, just like the great masters did back in the day.

Swag Whore.

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:39:08 GMT

Last Saturday I actually ran through downtown Atlanta wearing this horned furry bison hat because they were giving away bison silders and beer after the Teds Montana Grill Bison Stampede 5K.

Bartram Trail Hike.

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:50:32 GMT

Last weekend-day 1 of the Great Flood of Atlanta '09, actually-we went up to the mountains and hiked 6 hours of Bartram Trail, an Appalacian system of trails covering Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. There were torrential rains for a few hours of our hike but it was still beautiful. Note that my hair is slicked back with muddy rainwater and my clothes are filthy from clambering over the occasional downed tree.

Tubing the Chattahoochee and Chatooga are popular hobbies. We saw people floating down the river each time our trail intersected the river. We also saw a group guys in monster trucks with oversized tires drive right over and through the rocky rapids-fists raised, rebel yelling. It looked like fun.

Low Country Shrimp Boil.

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:55:03 GMT

We spent Labor Day weekend with our friends at the beach again. This year I got to learn how to make an awesome Southern recipe that we had last year, Linda's Low Country Shrimp Boil �.

Low Country Shrimp Boil

-3 lbs large raw shrimp in shell, heads removed
-1 large andouille sausage, sliced crosswise
-1 large polish sausage, sliced crosswise
-baby red potatoes, 2 or 3 per person
-fresh corn cobs, 1 per person, cut into fourths
-1 small white onion, peeled
-1 lemon, sliced
-1 package Zatarain's Crayfish, Shrimp, and Crab Boil Seasoning
-4 bay leaves
-red pepper flakes
-Tony Chacheres Creole Seasoning
-salt
-olive oil



Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot. Put the sliced sausages and onion in and let them brown, shaking the pot to toss them. Add the Zatarain's, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves. Stir them around to release their fragrance a little. On a side note, Zatarain's boil is mostly a mix of coriander seeds and mustard seeds, which you could just add yourself if you have several handfuls of each around. Fill the pot with water, leaving enough room for the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil.



Add the lemon and the potatoes and boil until they are almost fork tender, approx 8 minutes.   Add a few pinches of salt and sprinkle a layer of the Chacheres Creole over the top. Add the corn and let it come to a boil again. Add another pinch of salt the shrimp and boil until they cook through and turn pink, just a few minutes. Toss the contents of the pot in a strainer in the sink, just like when you cook pasta.



Arrange the shrimp boil on a large platter. Lots of spices will remain, leave them on. Everything will taste spicy and aromatic and fabulous. You can also serve garnishes like cocktail sauce and sour cream. Since we were at a tropical paradise on the gulf coast we were able to use shrimp that were caught a few hours before we boiled them. It was the best meal I had eaten in months.

Update.

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:52:31 GMT

I am not much of a shopper. I have been in dire need of a new swimsuit and finally just got one at the end of season clearance sales. It was a cute designer suit by Juicy Courture that was about eighty percent off. At least we have one more beach trip to Florida this season.