Wondering what knitting has to do with eating? Better yet, what knitting has to do with drinking? Still yet, drinking alcohol?

Yes, I was too. It’s a burning question for the times. But then “Pints & Purls: Portable Projects for the Social Knitter” (F & W Publications, Inc. 2009) came across my desk and every question I ever had about knitting and drinking was answered.

Well, not really. But authors Karida Collins and Libby Bruce spin quite a yarn with this new book about knitting with friends at your favorite bar. I guess it’s just as good as working on a computer in a coffee shop, and certainly more social. But does it rival trivia? Time will tell …

It really proves for me that if you have enough of a hook, you can get anything published. These two ladies offer over 30 knitting patterns — including wine charms and dishrags (for “unfortunate spillage”) and something called a “drunken sweater.” The patterns are rated according to number of drinks: “Four drinks” is “way easy” …

Continue reading SOCIAL KNITTING: Life’s a Yarn »

Ten years or so ago, salt took on a whole new meaning to diners — sea salt, fleur de sel — all became a national phenomenon. New Yorkers were carrying around their own personal caches of the grainy stuff, to sprinkling it to and fro on whatever suited them.

And if Atlanta restaurants have one thing in common, it may well be that the salt shaker is never too far from the cooking line. Some chefs, like Kevin Rathbun, are actually famous for their use of salt.

Maybe that’s why a recent email from reader Liz Buddenhagen, R.N., had me scratching my head: What restaurants in Atlanta serve good food without the overuse of salt? Seasons 52 comes to mind, but so many of my other favorite spots have no problem using the salt shaker.

From Liz: “I am an R.N. and also treasure restaurants in Atlanta and beyond who are able to serve me tasty food without salt. I cannot tolerate salt but love good food and eating out. I like herbs and spices and everything except salt containing ingredients. …

Continue reading Tasty Food Without Salt? »

“Are we going to Dahlonega today?” little voices kept chirping in my direction this past week. In the mountains with two 12-year-olds, we were cabin bound for a moment Tuesday morning when we awoke to an inch of snow. A light dusting that melted by the afternoon, but snow nonetheless. While I took pictures, my soon-to-be-teens companions followed the brook near the house until it met with another one, then gave up and climbed the steep climb back up.

I know, of course, why these two candy eaters — my daughter and one of her best friends — want to head to Dahlonega. Is it the Smith House, where we ate lunch family style? No — but the creamed corn and fried chicken, so moist and crunchy on the outside, were reason enough to head there. Is it panning for gems, with our fingers nearly frozen to the bone? No, but we did that, too. The reason these two want to head into Georgia’s little mining town (with a wonderful farmer’s market that doesn’t open until May, alas)? One word: …

Continue reading Spring Break: North Georgia Style »

Michelle Obama’s near-hug of Queen Elizabeth II this week may be considered a gaffe or a breach of protocol — or simply a return gesture, since the Queen apparently near-hugged the First Lady first. (I’ll say one thing: Michelle has a FABBO manicure!). But the whole thing got me thinking of another breach in protocol: I can’t stand for a waiter or server to touch me. Okay, no — I don’t think I’m … well … the Queen of England. But I hate it when a server touches my hand, or kneels at the table and touches me in any way. I also think customers should keep their paws to themselves, too, of course. T.J. Provost, a former colleague, dining room instructor and maitre’d for decades once told me that “a waiter should never — ever — touch a customer in any way, unless they are helping them from a fall or preventing one.”

So unless someone is perhaps literally slipping on a banana peel, hands off.

Continue reading Should Waiters Touch You? »

No sooner does chef Ron Eyester take over ownership of Food 101 Morningside than he instigates on the menu one of my favorite things to do: Eat breakfast for dinner (every Monday night from 5:30 to 10 p.m.). Why didn’t everyone think of that? I mean, why the heck, restaurateurs, do you think we’re all at Waffle House at 7 p.m.?

Is this a Southern thing? I grew up eating pork chops with fried eggs and fresh tomatoes from the garden for dinner — it’s one of my father’s favorite meals. My mother would cut fresh spring onions and radishes for the table, too — and my dad would dredge them through a plate of salt before eating them with his pork chop.

Eyester’s menu is a little more sophisticated, though no less homespun: Anson Mills whole wheat pancakes, fried chicken sandwich with scrambled eggs, bacon and cheese (called the Big Nasty) and specials like pot roast benedict with horseradish aioli, poached eggs and hollandaise.

Sometimes when I know she’s had a bad day, I’ll ask …

Continue reading Do You Like Breakfast for Dinner? »

According to a Marketwire story, a bulk candy retailer (shouldn’t “bulk” and “retail” be mutually exclusive, like wrinkles and zits?) called Candy Direct is selling billions this year, in spite of the recession. The bulk of the bulk is in novelty candies and brands such as Jolly Rancher, according to the Candy Direct.

The National Confectioner’s Association reported that 2008 Christmas candy sales took a slight dip, but Candy Direct apparently has a hold on the American sweet tooth, reporting booming sales.

And while our ultimate recession-proof indulgence, beer, had flat sales last year, craft-style beers and local breweries are holding strong. So what if you want to double dose and have the two together? Our own beer meister Bob Townsend recommends “sweeter fruit beers, such as raspberry or cherry lambics (with dark chocolate); imperial stout (make a float with a scoop of chocolate ice cream); milk stout (great with chocolate chip cookies); or Baltic porter.

Next time …

Continue reading Beer & Chocolate: Our Favorites During the Recession? »