My Birthday Fare Part II: South City Kitchen in Atlanta, GA

As I mentioned in Part I, I was on a solo business trip to Atlanta during my birthday but that didn't keep this food-obsessed chick from seeking out the best meal I could find. Already bored with room service from the night before, I set out to find some Southern cuisine and found some serious grub at the famed South City Kitchen. Boasting contemporary Southern food on the quaint Crescent Avenue, SCK is anything but serene yet the food was out of this world. Take a peak...(oh, and please excuse my uber dark photos on this one...I was sitting at the bar, it was dark and I was using my BlackBerry!)

Though I could have gone crazy with the appetizer menu (fried green tomatoes with goat cheese, crab cakes, strawberry salad, smoked bbq pork), I decided against any starters and instead feasted on not one but two corn muffins which were brought to the table in lieu of the traditional bread basket.

For dinner, I made like a local and went with the buttermilk fried chicken. Peppery, crispy, juicy but not  greasy, this delectable dish was served atop a bed of buttermilk mashed potatoes, green beans and bourbon gravy. Yeah, it was pretty wonderful and just about the most delicious way to ring in my birthday.

And since fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans just didn't seem to be enough to fill up this foodie, I also ordered a side of skillet mac & cheese. Yes, I realized that I'd probably need to be wheeled out of the restaurant on a dolly, but when in Georgia, right? And wasn't I totally justified in getting a side dish since I forewent the appetizer? No? Just me? Ok. But the skillet was a lot smaller than it looks in this photo...

Last but certainly not least, I enjoyed the SCK banana pudding at the recommendation of the diner sitting next to me. This was no ordinary pudding. Thick, creamy and custard-like, this pudding was more like a trifle. Layers of pudding, pie crust and homemade whipped cream filled my glass and I'm not going to lie to you...I put a decent dent in it.

So there it is. My super indulgent dinner down in the Southern city.

A Tale of Two Tails: Madame Janette's Aruba

While in Aruba a few weeks ago, Shaun and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. Though most nights of the trip consisted of indulgent dinners and desserts (and heck, even breakfast wasn't exactly the pinnacle of health), we saved our favorite island restaurant to celebrate our big day. The place? Madame Janette's, an outdoor restaurant that is nothing short of romantic, gorgeous and decadent to boot.

Dotted with twinkle lights and guitar players strumming, Madame Janette's is really all about the atmosphere. Though I will add a note that since it's outdoors and semi-enclosed, I suggest wearing light clothing and a bit of bug spray.

So many restaurants in Aruba can be a bit pricey and Madame Janette's is no exception. But since we typically dine on the cheap, we splurged in celebration our big 2 years and ordered the Surf & Turf. Yep, it was as good as it looks.

The filet was topped with an oversized pat of herb butter (an item that, in my opinion, could make just about anything better). This is probably more butter than I'd need to consume in a month, let alone atop one bitty portion of beef. But oh was it good. Laced with fresh herbs, the silky smooth butter melted right into the hot filet, making this quite possibly the most decadent piece of meat I've ever laid my palette on. Moving on to the real star of the meal, the lobster tail. A giant, tender piece of er...tail...it was served with clarified butter and that was all it needed to rocket to the top of my favorites list. I know, by this point I was well on my way to a premature coronary. With all of that butter, is it a surprise that we had no room left for dessert? Oh and I should also mention that this followed a giant appetizer of tempura rock shrimp doused in sweet & spicy sauce.

So there you have it. A round up of our big anniversary dinner. Though we've adopted the cook-at-home-more-eat-out-less philosophy since moving into our new place, it was fun to splurge on a special dinner for the two of us. And the fact that we get to spend our anniversary in the place we got married is just the cherry on top of a giant, already-iced cake.

World Cup Fare

I don't know about you, but I spent Saturday cheering on the USA, wearing one of Shaun's many USA jerseys, and eating enough buffalo wing dip to feed a family of five (more on that later). Though it was a sad turn of events, it got me thinking about World Cup 2006, when Shaun and I somehow scored first round tickets through the crazy FIFA lottery system and trekked over to Germany for our first Euro vacation.

With tickets to 2 of the 3 first round games, we made the plan to do a 3 city tour, spanning Germany and France. The trip began in Cologne, Germany. With fan fare unlike any I've other seen, there wasn't a whole lot to do in Cologne aside from walk the pop-up street fairs in honor of the World Cup and park ourselves at outdoor cafes for hours on end, watching games, drinking Kolsch (the official brew of Cologne) and eating wiener schnitzel and frites until our stomachs begged us to cease. Yeah, it was pretty great.

In a land where it's cheaper to buy a pint of beer than a glass of water, we sampled all of the local goods. From gelato with bits of ice cream cone mixed into it...To neverending bratwurst...

Even though it was years before The Avid Appetite was born, it's pretty clear that Shaun and I were destined to be world-seasoned food fans, don't you think? Anyhow, at the first US game in Gelsenkirchen, we encountered that fan fare enough to top any Subway Series game to boot. Fans draped themselves in American flags, sang American songs, and drank in the streets for hours on end (and in the blazing heat no less).

And we partook in the fun...

With days between games, we made our way to Paris for a few days and then circled back to Kaiserslautern, Germany for the tailend of the trip. Since our friend Geoff, along with his wife Blaire, was stationed at the US Army base there, we had our own personal guide to the town. Somehow, the nights turned back to food at an outdoor cafe (where I sampled bona fide moldy cheese) followed by beer and Jagermeister sampling through the town's street fair. With dark beer served by the meter and Jager at every turn, here's a peak at what happens when you mix the two after many many hours...don't try this at home...

Yep, Shaun ended up riding a metal pony in the middle of the town fountain. Anyhow, while I'll continue my depression over the US loss to Ghana in 2010, it's pretty fab to relive our German adventure of '06 and reminisce over our first major trip together in a real once-in-a-lifetime experience. Plus, ya gotta love a land that encourages train breakfasts consisting of bread, nutella and beer.

So there you have it - a peak at our World Cup adventure of '06. How are you feeling after Saturday's game?