How to Order Wine Online Cheaply During a Pandemic

Hi friends, this week I've been working on grocery lists from my parents and neighbor, and trying to get the garden going in hopes of being able to give food away. I personally find comfort in staying busy, but there's really no right or wrong way to spend your time right now, as long as you're social distancing. 

While it's no substitute for supporting your local small shops, I've been trying to order as much as I can online to fully isolate for a while. 

After checking out a bunch of different online wine options, all of which had hefty shipping fees,  this was the cheapest way I found to order wine: 

1. I used a Winc $22 off code like this one.

2. They will build a four bottle box for you. I re-arranged mine to five $12.99 bottles. This brought me to 5 bottles for $46 and free shipping ($9.20 per bottle). I had my first shipment within 4 days. I'm going to continue doing it monthly with the $12.99 bottles, since that's the same as a low-end bottle at our local shop. 

I also really loved the welcome booklet they included, and how they credit the wine label artists / designers. 

A Look Inside Lucky Peach's 101 Easy Asian Recipes

Bestie/roommate Rachel and I have a tradition of taking each other to a fun new Atlanta restaurant that we haven't tried yet for each other's birthdays (and detours to Asian grocery giant Super H Mart.) We've both had a pretty exhausting past few months so it wasn't feasible this year. Keeping with the dinner theme, I ordered her Lucky Peach's new cookbook. Rachel lived in Korea for two years, so her Asian cooking skills put my kimchi quesadillas to shame. 

Her copy arrived today and we're both thrilled with it. I'm really happy with how accessible all the recipes are. Lengthy ingredient lists, sub-recipes, and 12 hour condiment recipes typically make me go "mmm, maybe for another day" ie. never. None of that in this cookbook. Every recipe in this book is straight-forward and approachable, and the photos have a subtle sense of humor (like a hand out of spring rolls.) Looking forward to cooking and eating my way through it, cover to cover. 

If you don't have a local, independent book store, you can find it here. 

CLOSED: GIVEAWAY: Tickets to The Noodle Bowl 2014

A few months back, my friend Andre had an idea: a ramen showdown. Not the kind of ramen you ate in college (unless you spent your formative years in Asia eating authentic noodles.) Instead, some of our town's best chefs facing off over bowls of meticulously simmered broth, topped with fresh noodles, pork belly, nori, slow cooked eggs, and whatever else they dream up. With chefs like Momofuku's David Chang or Ivan Ramen's Ivan Orkin popularizing the traditional dish in the States, and few ramen options in Athens, why not spend a day celebrating the stuff?

Places We Love: Ideal Bagel

Ideal Bagel Co. is now open on Broad in the same complex as one of my favorite Athens shops, Treehouse Kid & Craft. For a town with so many restaurants, I've spent a lot of lunch hours stumped on where I can get a solid, satisfying sandwich, in an enjoyable environment, without having to spend $10+ when all's said and done. Ideal Bagel has filled that hole (bad bagel pun in case you missed it.) 

I stopped by last week for an Ideal Lunch: sandwich, side, and a pickle for $7.50. Reuben was hearty and satisfying, and the green salad hit the spot. It's going to be really hard to eat my lunch from home in the work fridge after writing this post.

I haven't tried breakfast there yet, but as far as lunch goes, the price is right and the food is solid. Really looking forward to trying the pecan smoked salmon or smoked Georgia trout on a bagel one of these mornings. Ideal Bagel Co. is an offshoot of Luna Baking, so you can pick up Luna bread loaves there as well. 

Behold! Blurry menu phone photos. 

Weekend Adventures: Super H Mart and The Optimist

This is my roommate / life wife Rachel. We have a birthday tradition of treating each other to a special meal. This past Sunday, we hit the road to Atlanta for a day of eating culminating in dinner at The Optimist. 

First stop on our trip was Canton House on Buford Highway for a dim sum lunch we've been meaning to have for ages: tiny steam trays of delicious dim sum bites under larger than life crystal chandeliers. When we hesitated for too long to make up our minds, or couldn't quite understand the woman pushing the dim sum cart around the dining room, she loaded our table up with more dim sum. Now that's some good up-selling.

After some Buford Highway Goodwill crawling, we took an adventure to Super H Mart: a magical sprawling international grocery heavy on Asian specialties. 

Currently Reading: August 2013

Photo via Pure Green Magazine

1. Preservation Kitchen
I hate waste. My friend Candice used to joke that I'm like a grandpa raised in the Depression: fishing scraps of materials out of your waste basket to put on my craft supply shelf and turning off lights and unplugging appliances behind you. I feel guilty when I let leftovers age past the point of safety, and even guiltier when I let produce go untouched completely. In our house, when we know we won't get around to our produce, it is pickled, turned into preserves, or just plain frozen. Less guilt, money saved, and I always have a jar of something tasty on hand when I'm a dinner guest or when I'd like to repay a small favor. 

2. An Everlasting Meal
Athenians may know author Tamar Adler as the founding head chef of Farm 255, a restaurant I miss sorely already. The book is subtitled "cooking with economy and grace." I love this book so much and I feel like a broken record excitedly referring to it in conversation daily. With thought, care, and a little planning, you can eat and entertain well on a budget. The leftovers from last night's meal become the inspiration for tonight. Quality ingredients are worth their cost when nothing goes to waste, and an egg a pot of beans can be magical and delicious enough for company. While full of recipes, I think of this book less as a cookbook and more as a strategy. The prose is enjoyable, and I've been reading it start to finish rather than jumping around to recipes. This book really warrants it's own blog post, and if I had the funds, I'd buy a copy of it for everyone I know.

3. Wildwood
Colin Meloy's story-telling (already known to Decemberists fans) is engaging but approachable enough for a bedtime read on the drowsiest of nights,  and Carson Ellis's woodland illustrations are magical. Now that there are three books in the series, I need to catch up!

4. Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore
A book about a bookstore with a secret section of esoteric antique texts eccentric nocturnal customers borrow.  That's all it takes to hook me. The glow in the dark cover beckons from the dresser once you've turned out your bedside lamp.

5. Mo' Meta Blues: The World According To Questlove
Okay, so I fibbed with this one for the sake of having five items. I'm not currently reading this, but my roommate is, and I'm next in line when she finishes.

What are you reading this month? Leave me recommendations in the comments, please!

Avocado Shake

My pursuit to work avocado into everything I eat continues... 

One of my favorite treats in town is an avocado smoothie from Just Pho & More. From what I can tell online, they're traditionally made with sweetened condensed milk, avocado, and ice. I didn't see myself using the rest of a can of sweetened condensed milk anytime soon, so I lightened it up with vanilla frozen yogurt and coconut milk. Now I'm hooked, and I don't even have to feel bad about it.

In my blender, this made half a pitcher's worth. How many servings that actually equates to is up to you. For me, it was two.

 Combine and blend:
- one soft ripe avocado, peel and pit removed.
- 2-3 small scoops of vanilla frozen yogurt
- handful of ice cubes
- half a can of coconut milk
- regular milk/soy milk splashed in as you blend, until you're happy with the consistency.

For a twist:
- add fresh lime juice
- add pineapple
- add shredded coconut
- drizzle chocolate sauce along the inside of the glass
- add boba tapioca bubbles

Quinoa Tabouli

Some of my favorite recipes don't require any measuring. This is the kind of dish you can match to your taste preference. Love tomatoes? Use a bunch. Hate garlic? I don't understand you, but ease up on it.

Creamy Gorgonzola Pasta with Peas, Mushrooms, and Sausage

Photo: Mine. Visit Pimento, Cheese Please for recipe.

I came across the blog Pimento Cheese, Please about a week ago, and drooled all over my keyboard at the Treasure Trove Pasta. Thursday I had some gals over for dinner and drinks, and modified the recipe to use Tofurkey Italian-style veggie sausage cut into slices at an angle instead of regular Italian sausage.  I also used the whole bag of frozen peas, since it was a slim chance that I'd remember to use the remainder before they disappeared into the freezer-burn pit of despair and forgotten foods. It turned out exactly as I was hoping, and the leftovers were delicious, even when eaten directly from the fridge after a night of cocktails. (It's been a busy week, okay?) Next time, I'll try subbing the pasta for a bowl of sauteed veggies in gorgonzola cream sauce.

Southwestern Stuffed Portobello

I love stuffed mushrooms, and I've been experimenting with using whole portobello caps instead of the baby bellas I'm used to making. This is a handy way to use up taco night leftovers (not that I ever have any trouble with that.)

Mushrooms are fat-free and low in calories. They are high in vitamins C, B6, and B12, believed to aid in flushing toxins from your body. They're also high in riboflavin, niacin, selenium, and potassium.

1. Remove your stems. Most you'll buy will be just the caps anyway.
2. Stuff with the combination of your choosing:

• corn
• diced peppers & onions (dice them fine so they'll cook up fast enough)
• cooked chorizo or soyrizo crumbles
• black beans or refried beans 
• cilantro

3. Top with shredded cheese. I'd use pepper jack. Try to use enough that it forms a full layer on top so that the ingredients inside don't dry out. 

4. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes in a pyrex or ceramic baking dish. I've found that metal sheets got too hot and made the bottom of the mushroom overcooked and soggy. After 12 minutes, I sliced them in half so they could cook through. 

5. Top with salsa if you have it.

Baking dish pictured: Le Creuset Stoneware 1-1/4-Quart Rectangular Baker in Caribbean

Coming soon: Portobello pizza

Nellie & Joe's Key Lime Pie

There's enough in this bottle for four pies. Maybe not after I add it to gin and soda.

Today over brunch at Harry's Pig Shop, since I'm always plotting my next meal, I told Coley I wanted to learn to make key lime pie this month. This month turned into today, so we could strategically enjoy pie while knocking out as many episodes of Game of Thrones as possible. 
But what's in key lime pie? Some kind of thick pudding type thing? Maybe with a little gelatin? Egg whites? The iPhones come out. "Key lime juice. Sweetened condensed milk. Egg yolks." 

That's it? Yep, that's it. 

After a quick Kroger run, we had everything we needed. Within 5 minutes, assembly was done. After 15 more, it was cooling on the counter. It was so cheap, easy, and delicious, that it looks like I found my go-to summer potluck item. Guess I shouldn't have just told you all how cheap and easy it is!

Note: Key lime juice and lime juice are not the same thing. 

Behold! A crappy iPhone photo of a not at all crappy pie! We topped it with Cool Whip and lime zest, and used a store bought graham cracker crust. 

Tropical cocktails, you say?

Ingredient cost: $8 (three leftover eggs and 3/4 leftover bottle of juice)

"You're in my zone. Let me do my thing." Personally, I like a guy who gets assertive about making pies.

"More smile." -Coley

Double Dog Dare: The Dogg Pound vs. The Varsity

It started out like any other Saturday: getting up early and going to the flea market to hunt for records and avocados from the produce venders. On the way back, I brought up wanting to try The Dogg Pound, a new-ish specialty hot dog joint in a location I always forget about (out Broad St. in the diner-looking building that use to be a BBQ place.) Coley added that speaking of hot dogs, in his 10+ years in Athens, he'd never been to The Varsity- not even the Atlanta location! 

We joked about going to both places back to back, and how funny that would be, and seconds later decided it was a genius plan. We would set out to compare the subtleties of our two local hot dog purveyors, then food comas be damned, go to work at our evening jobs. 

First stop was The Dogg Pound. I think you are supposed to read this mural to the tune of "Welcome To The Jungle."

When we walked in, two gentlemen were sitting at the corner and had already ordered. The menu had some enticing options, and it took us a few minutes to weigh the benefits of The Beverly Hills Chihuahua, The Chow Chow Dogg, The Boston Terrier, and The Philly Dogg, among others... and then another ten to fifteen minutes for the employee at the counter to take our order... and another ten to fifteen minutes to get our drinks... Everyone was certainly pleasant, it just seemed to take an awfully long time for sodas and hotdogs with only four customers in the restaurant. I felt bad for the drive-through customers who didn't realize the wait they were in for. Since The Dogg Pound also advertised deep fried treats, I was hoping to find some fried pickles or onion rings, in addition to the funnel cakes and fried twinkies. One pro of The Dogg Pound is that any item can be served as a beef hot dog, chicken dog, or tofu dog.

We settled on The Knickerbocker Knocker ("grilled dog topped w/ onion sauce, sauerkraut, and spicy brown mustard on a toasted bun") and The Chi-Town Dogg ("grilled dog topped w/ sweet relish, tomatoes, dill pickle spears, peperoncini peppers, mustard and onions on toasted poppy seed bun and sprinkled with celery salt.") The Kickerbocker Knocker was tasty, though the onion sauce was less of a sauce and more stewed onions. The Chi-Town Dogg was a bit disappointing. It wasn't on the bun listed, and there was no celery salt. I've only been to Chicago a handful of times, so I'm no expert, but I was under the impression that the two things that make a Chicago dog Chicago-style are sport peppers and celery salt. I'm a fan of banana pepper rings (that's what these seemed like,) but they aren't the same as sport peppers. 

I really wanted to love this place! The menu is interesting and I'd like to try the other combinations, but I might give it some time before I go back. Maybe they just got hit with a big rush before we came in? But it was 12:30PM...  

  

Next stop: The Varsity.  The Varsity was packed when we got inside, but their signature style is to move customers quickly, with ample employees at registers barking "What'll ya have? What'll ya have?" We ordered and received our chili dog, onion rings, and frosted orange (think frozen creamsicle drink) to split within five minutes.

I realize it's a bit unfair to compare a new independent restaurant to an established string of restaurants, and both places have their merits, but The Varsity emerged as the winner that day.

 

If you asked me to name a messy food, a chili dog is the first thing that would come to mind. Seems like Varsity found a way to drain their chili or cook off the excess water, making it surprisingly not messy, even when shared. Served standard with mustard, we added some ketchup for good measure. The onion rings are handmade, which taste great compared to the standard frozen kind you can get anywhere (watch out for the onion ring grease pool, though.) The frosted orange drink sealed the deal for Coley. It's a little less creamy and more icy than a milkshake, making it a bit less filling. Bonus: free hat.

 

Splitting this stuff was the way to go. I felt surprisingly not terrible afterward. Maybe I'm just growing too used to this kind of eating? Food comas soon subsided, and we made it into our respective evening jobs.

Recipe: Egg cooked in an avocado

A recipe from the cooking blog Apron Strings for how to cook an egg inside of a thick slice of avocado kept popping up on my Pinterest feed. I finally had a relaxed morning for this recipe/science experiment.
I ran up to Los Compadres, our local Mexican grocer, this morning to grab the basics, and picked up Goya frozen plantains and frozen cheese arepas as well. (I'm still not entirely sure of the difference between an arepa and a pupusa. Is one corn, and one flour?)

Edit: My pal Luis says arepas are sweet, and pupusas are not.


I sliced the sides off each avocado, creating a thick slice in the middle. I loosened the seed gently with a small knife, and popped it out with my thumb. It's important that whatever side with face your pan is perfectly flat. One of my avocados was cut a bit roughly, and the egg poured right out of the bottom of it.

(Above: Not smooth enough! Egg will pour right out the bottom! Below: Just right.)
Using the small knife, I made the hole large enough to hold one egg. Keep in mind they will expand a teeny bit.

I found it easier to crack each egg into a small cup first in case I needed to fish out any egg fragments. The cup also allowed me to slowly pour each egg into each avocado without a plop and a splash.

On a stove burner from 1-10, I set it on 5, and my pan was already very hot from cooking up the plantains and arepas. I placed the avocados in the pan, slowly poured in the eggs, and covered them. The cover really helped the top parts cook from the trapped heat. Without it, the bottoms of the eggs would have been so burnt before the top set.

I left my yolks a bit soft, and cooked them 8-10 minutes, watching them closely and testing the insides with a knife.

On the avocado I didn't cut smoothly, half the egg poured out, but the mess-up was still tasty. The smooth-cut avocado turned out perfectly, especially with a little pepper.

The plantains and arepas were a good buy. The arepas tasted like cheese-filled cornbread pancakes.

Note: Apron Strings also has a recipe for eggs cooked in bell pepper rings. They look like flowers! I'll have to try this next.

Photo credit: Apron Strings