Daddy D'z BBQ Joynt

Once upon a time, it was Dave's 27th birthday and he decided he wanted to go out for barbecue for the occasion. We didn't know where to go, since we still don't know all of the best places in Atlanta and thereabouts. So, Uncle Joe came up with three suggestions: Fat Matt's, Dreamland, and Daddy D'z. We chose Daddy D'z and went on out to find it. 
What we found when we got there was a rundown little building with lots of art on the outside and windows. The inside matches the outside, adding lots of little sports knick knacks, a big screen tv (the old kind), and a funny Three Stooges picture. The waitress told us to sit wherever we wanted, so we sat at the table right next to the tv and counter. The menu offers many delectable sounding things like Fried Green Tomatoes, a Slab of Ribs, and Pulled Pork Sandwiches. 
The birthday boy ordered the Rib Tips plate with potato wedges, corn-on-the-cob, and a square of cornbread. Uncle Joe ordered the Sampler Plate, which included: six que wraps, two ribs, beef, pork, and collard greens. I ordered Beef Brisket with fried zucchini, mac n' cheese and a grilled piece of white bread. We also got an order of Fried Pickles to share.

And the verdict is...*dun dun dun* DELICIOUS! The meats were so juicy and tender and smothered in some seriously yummy bbq sauce and the fried things were--duh--fantastic! Everything from the look and feel of the restaurant to the nice staff to the finger lickin' good food came together to make a truly marvelous bbq experience in Atlanta! I'd recommend it to everyone! A real hole-in-the-wall joynt (they spell 'joint' that way on the sign) with great food to back it up! It's located on 264 Memorial Drive in Atlanta, GA 30312 and also have a website: www.daddydz.com.

White Windmill Bakery

Craving some delicious little confection like, say, a Mango Mousse Cake? Well, have a got a place for you! 
Dave and I were driving around in...well, somewhere around Alpharetta (I don't know all the little cities and boundaries, yet) and trying to find a place that our GPS suggested. It sounded delightful, a gyro-pizza-pasta joint and we wanted to try something new. Alas, Garmin is a liar! It has been doing this to us a lot, actually. Sometimes it will say something is there and it's just a bunch of trees that have obviously been there longer than the stupid GPS has been around. A lot of times, it will say something is on the right side of the road when, in fact, it's on the left. And no, it's not because it needs to be updated--we tried that. It took a few hours to update and it's still stupid! Anyways, in an effort to find somewhere else to eat, we pulled into a parking lot to ask Liza (what we call the GPS when it has a British woman's voice) to find us something else. 
We found ourselves in a cool little strip-mall type thing and there it was, White Windmill Bakery. It's located at 3585 Peachtree Industrial Suite 166 in Duluth, GA (apparently this is the second location). They had lots of lovely little breads and such on a large table display just before you get to the counter, like the delicious pumpkin danish thing we bought. Then, oh the wonders to behold at the counter! So many beautiful and tasty-looking things and miniatures of a few of them! We hadn't eaten lunch, so we bought two little sandwiches and a mini dessert to share. The sandwiches weren't amazing or anything, just normal chicken and tuna salad, but I really don't expect much from those things (they are not baked and this is a bakery). The dessert, however, was delectable! We selected a mini Mango Mousse Cake and it was everything I was hoping! Visually, it was stunning and then it had a few different textures in it that made it interesting and very enjoyable. I really wanted to buy everything in the little cold display case, but I'm pretty sure that's never a good idea...maybe...anyways, here's a picture of the little piece of loveliness to tantalize you!

Fun Pancakes

Tired of boring pancakes? Well, I have some awesome ideas to fix that! When I was little, my dad loved to make weird pancakes combined with weird syrups. Most of my siblings didn't develop a taste for his funky combinations, but I really enjoyed them. Then, the first year of my marriage, we were so poor that all we could afford to eat was regular pancakes and cheap syrup or meatless spaghetti and that lasted for about a year. After our pancake year, I wasn't able to eat pancakes at all for another year or two. So, I vowed we would never have boring pancakes if we were even going to bother making them. Now, without further ado, here are my fancy pancake ideas!


Pancake Mix-ins:

• strawberries (or any other fruit you like) and cream cheese
• orange juice (or any other kind, sub in for the water)
• nutty (any kind of nuts you want, all chopped up)
• minty chips (or chocolate, white chocolate, butterscotch, whatever)
• apple pie filling (as in a can of pie filling fruit)
• apple butter (again, sub in for a good portion of the water)
• any combination of these that sounds good to you!

Topping Ideas:

• lemon curd and raspberry syrup (ya know, like raspberry lemonade)
• peanut butter and jam (if you haven't tried this, you must live in a hole)
• frozen berries and whipped cream (I prefer the spray kind and blueberries)
• apple butter (on top or in the batter, apple butter rocks)
• any other kind of butter (ie honey butter, pumpkin butter, kiwi butter, etc)
• nuttella (seriously, how could this not be your go to pancake topping?)
• peanut butter, bananas and maple syrup
• store bought fruity syrups (a staple)
• fun homemade syrups (my daddy's recipe for simple syrup will follow)
• sweet-and-spicy jams (ie jalapeno/mango and all the other fancy ones)
• cream cheese bagel spread (if it's good on those, how can it not be on these?)

Daddy's Fun Syrup

• 1 cup water
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2-1 tsp flavoring (mint, coconut, maple, vanilla, banana, raspberry, whatever)

*Don't be afraid. You'd be surprised what flavors make really good syrups.


Directions:

• Mix all ingredients in small saucepan and heat over med-high heat, stirring constantly, until it's hot or to desired thickness (keep in mind that you are not trying to make candy or honey, so don't be expecting it to get really thick. plus, this kind of syrup is better hot and runny)

BIG tip: mix some food coloring into the pancakes and/or the syrup--most things are more fun when they're a fun color...I even dye my milk. So, you can have pink strawberry pancakes with blue coconut syrup and you'll love it! And if you're a health food nut, this is a good way to get kids/husbands to eat whole wheat pancakes.

Sunkist Cupcakes

There's a recipe in my Big Book of Cupcakes for Orange Soda Cupcakes and I've been feeling the need to make them. So, yesterday, I did. The recipe is really easy, but it lies about the "Makes 12 cupcakes" part--in reality, it makes 12 regular ones and about 12-16 minis. What's wrong with it making more than it says? Absolutely nothing, but it sometimes gets on my nerves that the 'yield' is always wrong. Anyways, they're quite yummy (some of the most moist cupcakes I've ever made), though I could handle them being more orangey (maybe add 1/2 a teaspoon of orange extract). It also suggests using any flavor of soda you like, so I was thinking of trying a soda shoppe selection, at some point. Here's the recipe, along with the frosting that I altered from another cupcake recipe. Enjoy!


Sunkist Cupcakes
Yields 12-18 regular cupcakes


Ingredients:
Cupcakes
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp orange zest
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup orange soda
2 eggs
1/2-1 tsp orange extract (optional)


Frosting
3 cups powder sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp orange zest
1 1/2 Tbl orange soda
1-2 Tbl orange juice


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin pan with cupcake cups.
2. In large bowl, beat all cupcake ingredients on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl as needed, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Divide batter among cups.
3. Bake 20-25 minutes (12-16 for minis) or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in the pans, then remove to cooling rack to cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat all frosting ingredients on medium speed until smooth and creamy. If frosting is too stiff, stir in additional orange juice 1 teaspoon at a time. Spoon frosting into decorating bag fitted with desired tip and frost the crap out of those lovely little cupcakes.

Ginger Ale Cuppycakes for Easter

I have a goal--to make most (if not all) of the recipes in Betty Crocker's Big Book of Cupcakes (as well as my other sweets cookbooks...that one is just on the top of the list because it has the prettiest pictures and some killer recipes). If you don't have this book, you should get it. The recipes are really fun and the cupcakes turn out really moist and delicious. 
For Easter, I wanted to try a new cupcake recipe and decorate it like a nest, with swirled frosting and a few jellybeans as Easter eggs. I went through the aforementioned cookbook to find a good recipe....I found 12. Needless to say, I had to narrow this down, so I did....to seven. It was clear I needed some help, so I asked Dave to pick the one he wanted to try the most and he picked the recipe titled New Year's Mimosa Cupcakes. Now, not being a big drinker (okay, I don't drink at all), I really have no idea how close these come to said drink (it's made from champagne and orange juice), but they were quite delicious. The recipe calls for either champagne or ginger ale and, being the cheapskate that I am, I went with ginger ale (I'm less of a cheapskate and more of a not-wanting-to-spend-a-ton-of-money-on-something-I-won't-ever-use-and-the-smell-of-which-makes-me-sick-skate). I also opted for mini cupcakes, or cuppycakes as I've been calling them since I started baking cupcakes, instead of regular size. I will now share this lovely little recipe with you.


Easter Ginger Ale Cuppycakes
Yields 36 cuppycakes


Cupcake batter:
1 3/8 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbl butter, softened
5/6 cup sugar
3 egg whites
2 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/8 cup ginger ale
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp orange zest


Frosting:
3 cups powder sugar
1/4 cup butter softened
1/2 tsp orange zest
1 1/2 Tbl ginger ale
1-2 Tbl orange juice
5 drops any color food coloring


Garnish:
about 108 jellybeans (3 for each cuppycake, plus more for yourself)


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line your mini muffin pan with paper cups and set aside.
2. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. In a small bowl, stir together ginger ale, orange juice, and orange zest; set aside.
4. In large bowl, beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, beating well and scraping bowl as needed. Beat about 2 minutes longer. Add egg whites and vanilla and beat well. On low speed, alternately add flour mixture and ginger ale mixture, beating just until blended. 
5. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
6. Bake 12-16 minutes (18-20 for regular size) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely. 
7. Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat frosting ingredients on medium speed until smooth and creamy. If frosting is too stiff, stir in more orange juice, 1 teaspoon at a time.
8. Spoon into decorating bag with desired tip attached (recipe recommends star tip, in case you care) and pipe onto cooled cuppycakes in a swirl pattern, starting from the outside and going to the inside. Place 3 jellybeans on each cuppycake to look like eggs in a nest. 


Voila! Enjoy your lovely cuppycakes! Here's how mine turned out.

The frosting was actually a very light green, though it looks white in the picture.

Gandolfo's NY Deli

Every Wednesday, I drive about 20-30 minutes to Murray (it doesn't seem that far, but the traffic sucks and makes it take that long) for some seriously scrumptious sandwiches. The lovely people at Gandolfo's NY Deli in Murray make us some enormous, stuffed, and tasty sandwiches for half price and I look forward to it every week. The only things we haven't tried on the menu are the vegetarian sandwiches, salads, and hot dogs (not just any hot dogs--Nathan's hot dogs! My favorite kind!) and the only reason we haven't tried those is because everything else is so good, we can't bring ourselves to miss out on meaty sandwiches. Yes, they have everything else on them, but it's the combination that's magical. Gandolfo's has high quality ingredients, fresh baked bread, and so many things to choose from, you'll have to eventually try everything to be satisfied. Oh, and did I mention  that they serve their delectable breakfast sandwiches all day?! Yeah, all day. Sorry, I get really excited when I find places with good breakfast all day....I love eggs....anyways, I have three favorite sandwiches there (though honestly, everything really is good...especially if you add avocado to it) and they are the Meatball Hero, Buffalo Bill, and Urban Cowboy. Dave's favorites are the Westside Story and the New York Jet. I'll describe them, but you might want to get a napkin to wipe up your drool, first.......got it? Okay, here they are.

Meatball Hero: some fist-sized fantastic meatballs, mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar, yummy marinara sauce with onions and stuff in it, and some fresh tomato slices on a hero roll (long white bread).

Buffalo Bill: pieces of moist chicken cutlet, shredded lettuce, fresh tomato slices, cream cheese, and buffalo sauce on sourdough bread.

Urban Cowboy: chicken cutlet, shredded lettuce, fresh tomato, barbecue sauce, cream cheese, turkey, bacon, pepperjack, and mayo on a hero roll (I usually take off the bbq sauce and add avocado....actually, I add avocado to everything..)

Westside Story: turkey, lettuce, tomato, green chiles, mayo..and Dave can't remember what else is on it, but it's fabulous and comes on a wheat hero roll.

New York Jet: tasty roast beef, pepperjack, feta, lettuce, tomato, onion, pepperoncini, mayo, and olive oil on a hero roll. 

Now, get over there! Here's a picture of a Buffalo Bill just to tantalize you.

Thai Delight Cafe

When I was 18, my family went to a family reunion in North Carolina, but instead of returning to Utah with my parents at the end of it, I went to spend the rest of the summer with my Aunt Andrea and Uncle Joe's family in Georgia. On the trip there, I had my first taste of Thai cuisine--it was love at first bite! I'd always wanted to try it because I love spicy foods with a fiery (pun intended) passion and had heard that curry was just that. Needless to say, I was hooked. Once I got back to Utah, I had a need and the only thing that could fill it was more curry and coconut soup. 
Now, more than five years later, I've tried many of the Thai restaurants in the valley and the only one I return to is Thai Delight Cafe on 6271 South and Dixie Drive just west of Bangerter Highway (there is also a second location on 1407 West and 9000 South that they recently opened). Dave and I started going there the first week it opened and suddenly, there was another member of our family. The restaurant is small and quaint, with tons of Buddah figures and stuff everywhere (granted, it's not the fanciest place I've ever been in, but that's not really what I look for when deciding where to eat). The service is great, with quick drink and rice refills and we never wait too long for our food. The price is also quite reasonable--we usually spend about $30 and take home half the food. Now, to that food. One word: fan-freakin-tastic! Best Tom Kha Gai (coconut soup) and Panang curry I've ever had! Everything we eat there is fabulous, but those are the two dishes that we get the most often (we get the coconut soup every time). I love the Pad ke Maow (spicy noodles), too. I can never get the smell out of my head. Ooooo, and their sticky rice with mango slices! *drool* Crap, I need a towel. Oh oh, and the Thai lemonade! Man, I was just there on Saturday for my birthday and I want it again! 

Tom Kha Gai

 Tom Kha Gai in my bowl

 Panang Curry

Panang Curry in my bowl

 Pad ke Maow

Food is my drug of choice.