What I Ate Wednesday - Rico's World Kitchen

A little bit of housekeeping before I tell you about the amazing lunch we had today...

1. Austin survived Warped Tour '18. He made it there and back alive. I did have to wire him money for parking. So... there's that... but he didn't wreck or get lost or get run over on the interstate so... I'm relieved that is over.
2. My doctor's office got the stronger muscle relaxers approved by my insurance (Medicare, in case you're wondering). They are 2mg stronger per pill but SO MUCH STRONGER. I'm really having an adjustment period with this medicine. It does what I need it to do, it's longer lasting because it's a capsule instead of a tablet but it packs a punch. My head is spinning and I took it... four hours ago...
3. Marvin's blood pressure is great! If they could just get mine sorted out...

chicharrones - you must try them!

Now on to what I ate today! As I've previously mentioned, Marvin has taken a Tuesday night trivia show (Mellow Mushroom in Sandy Springs, go see him! He's so much fun!) which means we've changed "date night" (which truly consists of about a 48 hour time period) from Tuesday night to Wednesday lunch. In making that change we decided we wanted to have some culinary adventures in this thriving metropolis that he calls home (I'm too far North to truly be considered an Atlantan myself). Last week we went to The Vortex in the quirky Little Five Points neighborhood in Atlanta and I had a plain burger. I'm fun like that. This week he tasked me with planning our adventure and we went to... a place we go to a lot, Rico's World Kitchen. 

Here's the process.  Bear with me.

• I wanted to do something REALLY different, like a cuisine I've never had before like... Korean or.. Bangladeshi. (for real, there's a Bangladeshi restaurant not too far). I've done a ridiculous amount of research on restaurants in reasonable driving distance with a reasonably priced menu where we could experiment a bit. 
• New adventures are fun and exciting and good blog fodder but the bottom line is that we're just two fat kids who like to eat. 
• We really, REALLY love Rico's World Kitchen in Buford, Georgia. It is always, consistently, no matter what we order, a great meal. 
• Rico's offers some very creative lunch specials which you can find on their Facebook page every day. 
• It's standard practice for us to check Rico's specials before committing to any other restaurant. They're our first choice, every time. 
• Today Rico's had a Surf and Turf Benedict with English Muffins topped with Caper Horseradish Mayo, Sliced Beef Tenderloin, Smoked Salmon, Poached Eggs and Hollandaise Sauce for $12 on their lunch specials. We had to try it. 
• Because Rico's other two specials today were... ok, decent, better than what you'd probably get anywhere else for the price but not something we HAD to have - we decided to split the special and add three appetizers. We're crazy like that. Correction - Marvin's crazy like that. Heather would have ordered the burger, which was one of the specials today. In my defense, though, it was their house ground brisket, chuck and pork belly burger - not just a burger- but we had burgers last week. 

Surf and Turf Benedict

And ultimately, today's lunch would rate among the best we've had together. Here's why (another list)

• Claire, the waitress has a cute butt. Just kidding. I mean, she does have a cute butt but the main thing is that she's one that remembers your drink orders and keeps your glass refilled and waves at you when you walk in. It's the attitude and friendliness of the place. We didn't get Claire today and, true to form, whenever I'm reviewing a place for my blog, the drink refills are slower than we'd like. It's the blog curse. However, by and large, the staff is friendly and attentive and welcoming. We've never had to wait long to be seated but that is probably more about our sense of timing. It's not a huge place but the food comes quickly when you order. You can linger (as we sometimes do) or get in and out quickly, if you need to.
• It was pouring rain but I have a handicapped tag and that was the ONLY parking place left open on the lot. There is nearby (free) parking a short walk away - the same block, essentially - but it was raining so getting the parking spot was a good omen. 
• I've been meaning to try their chicharrones (pork rinds) for awhile and today I finally did. I'm obsessed. We got a generous cone of them for $4.50. They were served with a clear dipping sauce that looked like water but guess what? It was vinegar and it was amazing. I will never eat pork rinds without vinegar again. It made them crackle and crunch like pop rocks or rice crispies! They're seasoned with the blackening seasoning which was not too spicy for me and I'm a wimp so, you can handle it, I'm sure.
• The chicharrones were so good that, as I previously mentioned, Marvin suggested a three appetizer + one entree meal and it was perfect for us! Our other two apps were fried green tomatoes - among the best I've had anywhere and I'm sort of an expert on these things - and lumpia - Filipino egg rolls. I don't remember the price of the lumpia but I know the fried green tomatoes are $4.50. You can't even get them that cheap at Captain D's. 
• The food is always consistently amazing at Rico's but one of Marvin's favorite things about them is that they carry Cheerwine. It's a North Carolina thing. It's a soda that tastes like somewhere between cherry coke and dr. pepper. I like Cheerwine just fine but carbonation gives me gas so I usually stick with my sweet tea - and their's is solid. 
• Rico's can be pricey for dinner but their lunch specials, especially when shared, are reasonable. I think our total bill today, even with the three appetizers and two drinks was around $30 (it wasn't my turn to pay so I'm not certain). It's a really good, filling meal with quality ingredients that feels like a real treat for a decent price. 
• We ate until we were both full and then rolled out of there fat and happy. 

lumpia

fried green tomatoes

The only thing I could say negative about Rico's is that the noise level is higher than I like. It's an open space, a converted service station and there isn't much to muffle the sound - no carpeting, booths, etc. Today we were seated in sort of a middle table and it was louder than I like but... still a great choice for lunch!

I made the link really big earlier in this post so you can see it and click it and see what I'm talking about. Rico's is definitely worth the drive if you're in the Atlanta area and if you can get away during lunch, it's a great, affordable, culinary adventure!

We eat out at least once, usually twice a week so we are still planning to try Korean soon. Any suggestions on what to order that is good but not too spicy? Any restaurant recommendations - either actual restaurant or just cuisine in general? Let me know and I'll blog about it when we go!

It's storming badly so I need to get disconnected from this electrical device in my lap. Thanks for stopping by! Love and hugs, y'all!

Food Friday - Pig Tales at Lake Lanier

View from Pig Tales restaurant near Lake Lanier.

Good morning, friends! Just kidding. I'm writing this at 4pm on Friday afternoon but I did JUST wake up from a glorious nap. AND... I could go right back to sleep now but I'm staying awake to chat with Marvin while he's in between work and the DJ gig he has tonight. I'm having such huge guilt feelings about the massive amount of sleep I'm currently needing to function when he's out working these 12 plus hours a day, working every day of the week in one capacity or another. But I also know that it's something I haven't chosen for myself, it's just where I am health-wise at the moment and pushing myself just makes things worse.

Wednesday... you can see the pain in my eyes
this week. It's been miserable. Also, I braided
my hair into a fish tale even though we ate
at Pig Tales. Ha!

The up side is  that the house was empty and quiet today. The painters finished up and our covered porch looks great. If the grass cutter came today, I surely didn't hear him. Pop's been playing golf, Austin has been at work and the house has been deliciously cool and quiet. It's perfect for sleeping. My back is hurting worse than yesterday and was worse yesterday than the day before. I hope there is a point where it starts getting back to normal but at the moment, I'm feeling pretty discouraged and overwhelmed. I also had a migraine last night that woke me up and kept me up for several hours which contributes to the fatigue. I sometimes have these headaches... and I don't even know if they qualify to be called migraines but basically the pain originates somewhere in my spine and radiates up my back to my head. It's different from my normal migraines, which sort of feel like they originate in a vein behind my ears and pound their way up my temple and behind my eyes.

Anyways... so a cold dark room and quiet house are awesome things right now but I also had a great time on Wednesday getting out to the great outdoors at Lake Lanier. For those who aren't local to Georgia, Lake Lanier is a reservoir that was created by building a dam on the Chattahoochee River back in 1956. It is a place where people go for boating, water skiing, fishing, camping or whatever you might do on a lake. Marvin lives really close to the lake so we have occasionally been able to enjoy the view at the lake, On Wednesday we had lunch at a place called Pig Tales, which is located on the lake (near the lake? there's a little bit of ground in between.). Pig Tales is a bbq restaurant that also serves a lot of fish dishes on their menu. You can check out their website by clicking here. https://www.pigtaleslakelanier.com/

last bite of the fried green tomatoes
with pimento cheese. it was served
with ranch dressing but they were good
all by themselves.

Marvin and I had previously been to their sister restaurant, Fish Tales so we had an idea of the quality and standards of the particular restaurant group. Pig Tales, however, is a little different in that it is an outdoor restaurant. It was a hot day but the dining area of the restaurant is shaded and they have fans everywhere and I don't feel like we were particularly affected by the heat but at the same time, I was glad to get back to the a/c in the car when we left so... take that into consideration if you're heat sensitive. There wasn't any wait for a table - which is what we find most weekdays when we go out. Our waiter was attentive and came right away to get our drink and appetizer orders. The food came quicker than I expected... you know that feeling of, "who is she taking that to... it's too early to be... OH, it's ours!"

We started with fried green tomatoes which were served with pimento cheese layered between them. We gobbled them down so fast that I almost forgot to take a picture until there was only a bite or two left.

pina colada

We had sweet tea to drink but I was also in the mood for a pina colada which... I probably hadn't had in 20plus years. Marvin had a voodoo juice to drink. Neither of us partakes in the adult beverages very often... maybe once a month or so, I guess? But it felt right to have a tropical drink in the heat and humidity that is life in Georgia in July. The heat, humidity, alcohol and my being out of sorts anyways with my back all combined to make me a bit tipsy and giggly but not sloppy drunk. It was one drink, after all. Just for the record, it had been more than six hours since I had last taken pain medicine. You have to be careful about those things.

voodoo juice

For our meal, I had the pulled pork sandwich with sweet potato fries. The pork was great. I'm not a fan of slaw so I scraped that off - I had forgotten to request that they leave it off. The sandwich is served on big thick slices of texas toast and I ate that separately. The only suggestion I would make is that the texas toast be garlic toast, that would be perfect.

brisket philly

Marvin had the Brisket Philly which was sort of like a philly cheese steak sandwich but using bbq beef brisket instead of steak. He had the cripsy beer battered fries with his sandwich. It was a lot of food and almost more than he could eat. I don't often see him unable to clean his place - where with me it happens almost every single meal - so trust me, this was a generous portion of food.
It was not a cheap meal, despite the sort of rustic setting. We had an appetizer and cocktails which greatly increased the price. Maybe not a budget, end of the pay period meal for me but the price of the food is in line with the quality of the food. They are open well into the evening and I could definitely see that as a nice place to go at night when it's cooler outside. They allow pets so... that's unusual for any restaurant here but I'm sure it's because it's outdoors.

pulled pork sandwich with
sweet potato fries

Finally the "blog review" curse was broken and we didn't have to go the whole meal without refills. Of course, we also had cocktails so we didn't need as much tea and that lowered the number of trips our waiter had to come to our aid.
Overall... great service, great food, beautiful location (probably not on the hottest days) and worth a visit if you're in the area.

What has been your favorite meal this week? Do  you have any fun dining out plans for the weekend? Be sure to share in the comments either on this page or by my blog link on my Facebook page. Hope you have a great weekend! Love and hugs, y'all!

Reasons To Love Summer

It's the Sunday of a three day holiday weekend which... doesn't mean as much to me as it used to but I do appreciate that for many of you the three day weekend is still important. I love holidays, don't get me wrong, but I cringe at the thought of Memorial Day because it means we have the long, hot Summer stretching before us. I know that technically, Summer doesn't start until later in June but in my mind... and temperature wise where I live... Summer is from Memorial Day until Labor Day.

Summer means sweaty thighs and heat migraines and feeling miserable every time I step outdoors. It means having to remember sunscreen when I go outside. It means bugs. It means frizzy hair. It means kids out of school, roaming the streets and making things more crowded. Because I live in a tourist destination it means traffic and longer lines and not being able to go anywhere near Helen. Out of all the seasons, I like Summer the least.

And let's be real, the past few Summers have majorly sucked for me. I had a hysterectomy. We had to fight for visitation with Cosy. My mom got sick around this time last Summer and never got well. I haven't mentioned this publicly but Austin got in some legal trouble last Summer that caused us all a lot of frustration. Summer has not been good to me but Summer is here, just like a Monday and must be lived through, no matter how I feel about it. So just like Monday... I'm going to dig deep and find a few Reasons To Love Summer! Here goes:

1. Fresh produce. I love a good farmstand with freshly picked, local produce. Our produce around here in the off season travels further since we are further from Atlanta, the nearest transportation hub and therefore isn't as fresh as I would like. But our local, homegrown stuff can't be beat! There are a few farmstands around and a farmer's market on the town square every weekend and even the bakery sells fresh produce! Corn and watermelon and peaches and tomato sandwiches... yum! A sub-category to that would be boiled peanuts but you can really get boiled peanuts year round... and I learned how to make them in the crockpot so I have them whenever I want.

2. I know I mentioned my frustration with tourist traffic but honestly, tourism is our bread and butter up here. Austin works for the Old Sautee Store and Market which probably has a lot more tourist customers than locals. He's getting longer hours and more workdays while business is good so... tourists = money. I'll eat at my favorite local places during the Winter.... and they'll still be in business during the Winter because of the tourist dollars that keep them running year round.

3. Tourists come here because this is a lovely place to visit... and you WOULD want to live here. Even just a little grocery run reminds me how much I love this little corner of the world. It's small and quaint and charming. People are friendly. The pace is slow. Even though we have traffic - especially during the weekend - I've learned the times that I can go and not have to deal with crowds. And our traffic doesn't even begin to compare with Atlanta traffic so... I really can't complain.

4. Now that Austin is driving I rarely have to leave the house. I literally have not stepped foot outside since Friday morning. I won't hibernate ALL Summer but I can try to avoid the hottest days, at least the hottest part of the day since I don't have to take Austin and pick him  up. This weekend my blood pressure has been up so I'm trying to rest as much as I can and I'll have to check with the doctor on Tuesday.

5. Lord willing and the creek don't rise... this will be an easier Summer than the last two. In 2016 we went two months without seeing Cosette and it shattered my heart in pieces. Last Summer my mom was sick and passed away in August. We worked so hard to take care of her. I can't even fathom a Summer that could possibly be as hard as the past two. I don't feel like I'm tempting fate by saying, it can't possibly be worse.

6. I'm looking forward to good times with Cosy and Oliver this Summer. She FINALLY is no longer afraid to get in the water. Now that Austin can drive, I can be away from home more so I can spend more time with Oliver. I can do things that I haven't really been able to do the past few Summers because I had to be around to keep the household running.

7. At the end of the Summer I'm getting  a brand new niece and I have plans to travel to New York City to spend some time with her family when she gets here! Nobody loves Gant babies more than I do! My sister-in-law is really good about posting photos and videos of my nephew, Finn and I'm telling you, that guy has the BEST LIFE! He's a real New Yorker and I just love seeing him out and about in the city. Being able to see another little one just like him - hopefully with the same curly red hair- is going to make it double the fun for me!

8. My Winter uniform is basically hoodies and leggings. My Summer uniform this year is this dress from Walmart. I have four of them: black and white striped, grey and white striped, pink and orange striped and olive green and white striped. They are only $9.96 and I love the fit on me. It's the softest material you can imagine. Packing for my time with Marvin is easier because I just throw a few dresses in my weekend bag. (Although, to be accurate, since I've started blogging I also take my laptop to his house and that sucker is heavy so... weight wise, my bag is about the same.) I usually wear this dress with keds... which are also part of my Summer uniform. I have them in white, grey and red for this year. I also have a couple of maxi skirts and a few other dresses... but definitely my Summer uniform means wearing pants as rarely as possible.

9. My final (and maybe biggest) Reason to Love Summer this year is my sweetheart. We didn't really start seeing each other until mid-September last year so this is our first Summer together. He hates Summer almost as much as me, as far as the heat and humidity are concerned. This is a man who sleeps with a fan on himself year round so I know that as much as he can help it, we won't be hot when we're together. I'm looking forward to our adventures together this Summer. When you're with the right person, even the bad times aren't so bad.

So what about you? Do you love or hate Summer? What are you looking forward to this Summer? Let me know in the comments below or on my link on my facebook page. Love and hugs and Happy Memorial Day, y'all!