Lucky #13

Scott and I are completing 13 years of marriage on Tuesday, January 13th. Wow. I never thought about what 13 years of marriage would look like when I was a single gal with brand new bling on my finger, but it is good to know that the decisions I made in 1996 were good ones, the love has lasted and evolved, and we are extremely committed to each other, our family, and our Lord.

We have a couple of issues, one of them being poor planning. If I had known that getting married in January would mean we were always tapped out financially, I probably would not have scheduled it for the 13th. Christmas has come and gone, the money has come and gone, and we have little dinero for celebrating, yet again. So, Scott decided to treat me to a couple of pleasures that cost little but appeal to me greatly: burgers and Top Chef.

I happen to love TV, and I love Top Chef. One of last year's contestants is from Atlanta and he always does interesting things with food, he is a good blogger, and he was the only decent guy on that show, so he was a favorite of mine. I knew that he opened a burger joint here in Atlanta called Flip, so Scott took me there for lunch. Richard was not there for the lunch crowd, but I got over it. I had the Butcher's Cut, which is a burger with blue cheese crumbles, red wine jam, and a side spread that I have no idea what it was, plus sweet potato tots. So tasty, so pretty, so good. Scott had a corned beef burger, dressed with a pickled cabbage slaw and topped with a fried egg. Scott loved it more with each bite. And to get food served to you like art - just like Padma gets on Top Chef - was a treat for me.

Our little lunch date was topped off with driving around the cool, historic neighborhoods around Buckhead, enjoying perfect weather and sunshine and listening to a good radio station (I heard a favorite song by Cowboy Mouth that I have always loved). And Scott did not get freaked out about traffic once - that was his real present to me this year. Thanks babe.

Comfort Food

I am completely over Christmas now.  Moved on, made my peace, hallelujah and amen.

One thing I can truly enjoy is the food.  I have missed some things, some gastronomic encounters, so here is my top five:

5.  Earl's Rib Palace.  A real crowd pleaser for all the Franks' clan.

4.  Ted's Cafe Escondito - nothing compares to those tortillas, the salsa, the queso, the you-name-it.

3.  Hideaway Pizza - I am not a New York style pizza fan, which is all there is in Atlanta.  I can't imagine why people don't prefer Hideaway in Georgia, because they are really missing something.

2.  Mom's Snacketizers - a Christmas tradition.  We have many meals focused on our all-time faves.

1.  Mom's Christmas dinner - the best, hands down.  I drove half way across America for the family, the friends, and the cornbread dressing.

Angel Food

We worked at our Angel Food ministry this morning. For $30 you can buy a significant amount of food that would cost twice that much at the grocery store. For a family of four, all of the portions are ideal and I have been pleased with the quality of the products. It is basically the same things you could buy at Wal-Mart. There are additional options where you can buy a 5 pounds of chicken breasts, boxes of reduced portions for seniors or those living single, and all sorts of others choices. The good thing is that in these economically scary times, the food you buy for your family seems more expensive, but not Angel Food. We have been able to reach out to those families experiencing job losses or just hard times, and the food is a needed blessing. My girls really enjoyed helping out with food sorting this morning and we will definitely do it again, as well as order food again.