Though we Louisianians eat a LOT of seafood and in fairly wide variety, scallops are not something I think any of us have a lot of experience with. So just as with my souffles and duck, I thought it was strange when I felt a strong urge to cook some last week. When I couldn’t decide on a recipe (simple, or +bacon?), I just decided to go the Top Chef contestant route and make “scallops two ways”; pan-seared and balsamic soaked bacon wrapped.

Bacon-Wrapped Scallops (front) and Pan-Seared Scallops

Both recipes were fast, easy, and delicious! I promise that bacon is well cooked, though it doesn’t look like it in the photo. It probably would have been even better had I brown sugared it first. Mmm.
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I was visiting Charlotte a few weekends ago and Mario took me out to Zink American Kitchen downtown. Food, not bad. Service, lacking. We went in and were quickly seated in the main dining room. Oddly, you only get a drink menu when you sit down and no food menu, so we couldn’t even see what they had to offer in the 15 minutes we were sitting there without even a glance from a waiter. A group of 5 was seated next to us not long after we arrived, and were brought water and menus within 5 minutes. After that, we decided it was time for us to leave.

I guess at the same time we decided our wait was unacceptable, the manager did too, because he caught us about halfway to the door, apologized profusely, and offered us a free appetizer for being ignored. Apparently the person normally assigned to our table was helping with a large party in another room and none of the other waiters in the area noticed. Mmhmm. Whatever, we were hungry. I ordered us the Streetside Tacos (beef shortribs, mango, red onion slaw, chipotle crema) as our on-the-house app:

Streetside Tacos

I’m about 99% sure I found the exact doughnuts that make Homer Simpson drool. Sublime Doughnuts is located in the shopping center on the corner of Hemphill and 10th St. I’ve been checking it out for a while, but I’m not gonna lie, I mostly haven’t been because the exterior looks kinda sketch:

Sublime Donuts

I’m starting to think I have a legitimate fear of strip mall eateries. However, I’ve heard so many good things about it that I finally decided to stop by.
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I apparently have a severe case of bloggers’ block lately. I have a few posts in progress but can’t seem to finish! Here’s a little something I made with my pan-seared duck breast leftovers last week (yes, I realize I haven’t posted that recipe yet, but it’s on the way!)

I sliced up leftover duck breast and reheated them for a minute or so in a skillet. Meanwhile, I found a few random salad fixin’s in my pantry–parmesean, walnuts, and baby greens. I found a recipe for “molasses duck salad” via Emeril and modified his molasses vinaigrette with what I had in my pantry for use on my salad. I’ve never made a salad dressing before, so I was really excited that it came out so fantastic! I’m calling it honey vinaigrette. Recipe to follow.

Duck Breast Salad

Well, better late than never. Last weekend I went to Taste of Atlanta with Mario and a new friend of mine, Stephani. With a Tech student advance purchase discount, we got 15 Taste Tickets for $20. When we first started our circuit, we were wondering how on Earth we’d make the tickets last through everything we wanted to eat. But after a few hours of sharing bites and free samples, we were wondering how on Earth we would spend them all! We had a lot of fun and tried a ton of food. Here are some of our favorites:

Highland Bakery

Sweet Potato Pancakes

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I planned a girls’ night out last weekend…sorta. I wanted to get together and do something, but couldn’t think of what. Luckily, one of us had tried and liked TWO Urban Licks, and the other 2 were interested in checking it out. There’s no pic of the facade because the outside of TWO is basically a warehouse. Inside, however, is a huge, busy space surrounding an impressive rotisserie. On our visit, we tried tons of tapas:

Lamb Flat Bread

Shaved Calamari

Oysters & Onion Straws

Here’s a quickie post while I study for two tests, write a fellowship proposal, and make more substantial posts on a girls’ night out last weekend and Taste of Atlanta.

It’s probably no secret now that I’m a certified cupcake addict. Well, I’ve found my new pusher, and she’s fortunately/unfortunately in walking distance of my place. Caryn’s Cakes appears to mostly be a wedding/special events cake shop (think “Ace of Cakes”), but they also have some amaaazing cupcakes, which I discovered when I walked over to pick up 2 last week:

Caryn's Cupcackes

I pulled this recipe from the extremely prolific Live to Nibble’s ATL food blog (this girl eats everywhere!). The dish incorporates a number of flavors I enjoy and just looked really yummy and simple, and happily, it was both.

Slow-Cooked Pork Chops

FYI, this isn’t a slow-cooker/crock pot recipe, the chops just cook in the oven for an hour.
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Last weekend was a great one food-wise for me, as I got to visit Star Provisions, Holeman + Finch, and even convinced Mario to ride out to Decatur to try Leon’s Full Service.

Leon's Full Service

Leon’s was packed when we arrived, and since we didn’t have a reservation we had about a 45 minute wait. But Atlanta saw some great weather post-flood, so we sat on the patio and people-watched both at the bustling bar and on the sidewalk out front. Who knew Decatur had a nightlife?
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