Brunch

I cannot believe I am turning my back on Ria's Bluebird Cafe or even the American Roadhouse and going somewhere new for brunch, but I am. Betsy and I are going to try this place tomorrow. They claim to have this amazing vegetarian "pork" sandwich, but I am that much of a vegetarian that I don't like or want pork of any kind, even fake pork. So I don't know why I am trying it. I drove by it one Saturday morning and it was packed. I had not had breakfast and almost turned around and went back. For some reason it is beckoning me. Full review to come. I think I am going to get the omelet of the day and French toast. Yes, I already know today at 7:30 what I want tomorrow for brunch. I think I even have an outfit planned too.

http://www.homegrownga.com

UPDATE:

We went. At first it seemed very Hole-in-the-Wall. Kinda Jim's Grill Hartwell, GA Hole-in-the-Wall. But then I noticed Art on the Wall. For sale. I like places that display local art and offer artists a place to sell their stuff. Our waiter was young-ish and offered advice on what to get and I like that. Now that I am a waitress myself, I pay attention to things like this. I offer suggestions too. Because I am vegetarian I have not had over half the stuff on our menu, so I make stuff up. But I think this guy was the real deal. Betsy and I both got coffee, served in those diner type mugs with the little cups of half and half. I have had better coffee, but it was not horrible. We both got the omelet of the day, Arugula, Mushroom and something. Betsy got the cheese grits per the honest waiters suggestion and I got the French toast. Betsy said her grits were "to die for" and we both enjoyed our meal. What I loved even more was the price! $6. I think the coffee added another $2 to the bill, but we had like 3 cups each. Delicious brunch at a lovely price. Fun art and inspiring company. I will go back. And if you are looking for brunch or lunch and are near the Capitol, Braves Stadium, Oakland Cemetery or just lost on Memorial, you should go.

Chocolate

I have had German Ritter Sport Chocolate before and was not impressed. I really do not like milk chocolate. There is some Swiss Milk Chocolate out there that is without a doubt outstanding, but as a general rule, I am not a fan. But Dark Chocolate, I am a connoisseur. This Ritter Peppermint or "Pfferminz" has to be what Peppermint Patties taste like in Heaven. I have seen Ritter at Target, but not sure if they have this Peppermint kind, but within the next 24 hours I want to find out. If you see it, get it.

Furniture

I am completely in the wrong field of work. I seriously need to be in some sort of creative design career. If Interior Designers were not a dime a dozen I could be one. One of my 100 dreams is to decorate a whole house, a big, old, rambling one. I would put crazy loud expensive wallpaper in the foyer. I would go to flea markets and get rare finds and use antiques. I would take a trip to Southern France and buy Limoges and tapestries and I would love every minute of it. I would swing by Vietnam for fabric for silk curtains and bedding.

My old condo once was described as, "a page from a Pottery Barn catalogue" and that tore me apart. I wanted to stay away from typical design, mix all sorts of eras and fabrics and textures and not be oh so Ethan Allen Pottery Barn predictable. Boring. My current home is "Bungalow on a Budget" and is nothing like what I would really do if I had the money or the desire to invest my money in this little home. My ten year plan involves a lot of travel, and furniture is at the bottom of my needs list right now. Yet, I love to look, to dream, and still need functional spaces in my home. I needed a desk chair. I bought a lovely wicker bottom one at the antique auction but failed to sit in it before paying $14 for it and discovered it is rickety. I hit up Ballards. And so should you. Don't buy everything in the store. Do not buy their artwork. Although I love their vintage map of Africa and I think they are going to carry a new Penley line (great local Artist). I purchased my porch furniture cushions there, a few throw pillows and recently got this lovely dining chair for my desk. Retail $273. My price $65. Ballard Backroom is a full of wonder place for furniture, indoor and out.

Mother came along with me, won the best bargain and got this lovely upholstered bench in a pale sage velvet for less than $90. Retail $661.

And not long ago I got a hutch for the boys' room, still in the box for $20. No zeros at the end. Yes, $20. It retailed for over $400. New. In the Box! All wood. 3 drawers, two shelves, beadboard inside.

Disclaimer: Ballard Backroom is hit or miss. I used to get the name messed up and called it Ballard Backyard for years. There are two outlet locations in the Atlanta area. The Roswell location is much larger and has a wider selection of clearanced merchandise. www.ballarddesigns.com

Quinoa

Quinoa is gluten-free and contains a balanced set of essential amino acids and is therefore a unique complete protein among plants. And it is incredibly good. It is prepared the same as rice. 1 C. Quinoa to 2 C. Water. Boil. Cover. Simmer. 12-15 Minutes. Done. Fluff with a fork. Then I add things like this:

Then I pour on a simple oil and vinegar dressing. You can make a garlic dressing with one clove garlic and 1/4 cup white vinegar and 1/4 olive oil in a processor. I am a huge fan of Apple Cider Vinegar and EVOO sans the garlic. Be sure to drain those black beans and add lemon juice to your avocado. I think I must be of Mediterranean decent. I could eat like this all the time and never tire of some variety of this dish.

Bread

I do my very best to cut out all flour and stick to Ezekiel bread for morning toast and for occassional sandwiches. Yet, I recently discovered these and although made with Unbleached Enriched Wheat Flour, which is terrible, I figure life is short and these are a decent alternative to the more horrible stuff that is out there. They are 100 calories, have 5 grams of fiber, and no high fructose corn syrup (but that is only because they are made with Sugar). Yet, they are perfect for homemade tuna salad or blackbean burgers with Swiss cheese or portabello mushrooms with roasted red peppers, feta cheese and a bottle of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. I like them much better than ordinary sliced bread and are much better than a carb loaded bun. They come in other varities too, such as Rye and Whole Wheat.

Lips

I bought a few of these Yes to Carrots Lip Butters at Walgreen's when they were on sale for .99cents and used them as stocking stuffers for Christmas. Getting one of each for myself too. I say you can never have too much chapstick. There really is no replacement for it. Maybe Vaseline. But plain ol' lipstick make dry lips worse, typically and my personal choice, licking your lips makes dry lips way worse. Gross, but true. I kinda have a lot of lip, so I stash these tubes all over the place. In the car (take caution doing this in the ATL), handbag, desk drawer, bathroom drawer, nightstand, cosmetic bag, vanity drawer, and overnight bag to name a few. I think somebody should invent a no melt kind for those of us who live in blistering hot cities. But I have found that these hold up fairly well to the heat. In addition to the Lip Butters (basic chapstick with hints of carrot, mint and stuff like that), they have Lip Gloss and Lip Tint. The Gloss is in a thick tube and is minty and goes on thick. It is good stuff. I like adding the Tint on top of my lipstick.

They are 95% organic, 5% cancer causing really bad stuff. Kidding. It looks like they are 5% stuff that is really necessary to make all the organic stuff stick together. The main ingredient in the gloss is actually what appears to be Castor oil. I have seen and even tasted it in other organic lipsticks. Origins used to use it. But they failed to cover up the harsh taste of Castor oil, Yes to Carrots covers it nicely with Peppermint Oil. I don't really care one way or the other about how organic one product is versus the other. I honestly don't care if it is tested on animals or not either. Well, maybe if they tested it on little sweet kittens that might be disturbing or West Highland Terrier Puppies. And just how do you test lip gloss on a rat anyway? These are things I don't want to even think about.

Target also carries this line and if you swing by the clearance sections at the end of the cosmetic aisle, you just might find a variety of this stuff marked with that lovely orange sticker and get it 75% off! These sets retail from $10-$12. I got mine for $2.49.

La Croix

I am a huge fan of this stuff. It is something refreshing and cold on a hot day, even straight from the can. I like to keep the fridge stocked and grab one on my way out the door. They are calorie-free, sugar or sweetener-free, sodium-free, and caffeine-free. So what is in it? Refreshing, good, lightly flavored, pure sparkling water. They come in Pure Sparkeling, Berry, Grapefruit, Lemon, Lime, Orange and Cran-Raspberry. I am a fan of Lime, Berry and Grapefruit. They are also great for making cocktails. If you are into that sort of thing. I also like to make my own Orangina by mixing a can of Orange LaCroix with fresh squeezed OJ. I also dilute my cranberry juice with LaCroix Lime. You can also use the Lime LaCroix, a tiny bit of simple syrup (and I mean tiny), a dallop or 3 of rum, a few sprigs of mint and Voila! a Mojito. Enjoy in your Tervis Tumblers. No sweat. No calories.