not too long ago we tried pallookaville fine foods for the first time. it’s the new corn dog joint in avondale estates from jim stacy. you may recognize jim from his get delicious! show on public broadcasting atlanta, his appearances on the tonight show, or from his corn dog wagon around atlanta.

if you’re a fan of corn dogs, you’ll love this place! you pick the meat; from beef frank, polish kielbasa, italian sausage, or all three. (there’s even a pickle option for vegetarians.) you also pick the batter; from golden cornbread, jalapeño or cheese. the corn dogs are freshly dipped & fried per order and are 100% delicious! i went with the fryinstein to sample all three meats, but will probably just go with the beef frank next time.

pallookaville also has poutine tater tots or fries (with actual cheese curds), fried pickles, boiled peanuts, handcrafted sodas, shakes (including adult shakes), egg creams, cocktails (included spiced cider options) and many other treats. to say the least, they have plenty of tasty delights to choose from.

here is the menu for a more detailed list of their delicious crafty foods. for a limited time, they have a cadbury scotch egg, which consists of a cadbury egg, funnel caked with pine street bacon, bacon whipped cream and salted caramel!!! sounds delicious!

we will definitely be heading back to pallookaville!

– ryan

pallookaville fine foods

17 north avondale road
avondale estates, ga 30002
404-500-1785

after talking about it for ages, i finally cooked some popcorn in bacon fat with our whirly pop stovetop popper. i have to say, it was quite amazing! it was not an overwhelming bacon flavor, but it was definitely there and added a lot.

just throw a little salt on top and serve with cold beer or cocktails, highly recommended! bring some to your next olympic party and you will be a big hit!

– ryan

– don’t forget to try bacon fried pumpkin seeds as well!

i celebrated a nice birthday on saturday! i had a relaxing afternoon off followed by dinner at d.b.a., our new favorite bbq restaurant. besides having great ribs, their deep fried bacon is pretty ridiculous!

gub also got me these amazing vintage snow globes! they will look great in our collection!

– ryan

d.b.a. barbecue

1190 north highland avenue, suite b
atlanta, ga 30306
404-249-5000

the third annual collard greens cook-off was a blast! it was $10 to participate and you were given a piece of cornbread and a spork and were off and tasting. after trying all of the various greens, there were 15 participants in all, you voted by throwing your spork in the bucket of your favorite booth. we had a beautiful cool spring day, so it was perfect for such a cook-off!

participants included farm burger, no246, bone lick bbq (the bbq guy from p’cheen), home grown, ray’s in the city, the pullman, whole foods, as well as various neighborhood participants, including momma margaret ‘the collard green lady.’

there were lots of tasty greens and some interesting styles we didn’t expect to like. home grown’s was a little sweet and had sun dried tomatoes in it. although i didn’t like it much, gub was a big fan of this one. another booth had cold greens with a basalmic base. it wasn’t our favorite, but it was quite interesting to try. momma margaret’s were hot and spicy and quite good as well.

when all was said and done, we put our spork in bone lick bbq’s bucket. their greens were tasty with a nice kick, mainly from the home-cured jalapeño bacon added. we also tried pulled pork sandwiches from them, which were awesome! these guys have been doing bbq at p’cheen on monday nights for a couple of years and are opening up a restaurant on the west side in june.

we also caught a tomato growing workshop at the market. gub found it quite informative.

one quick note, the east lake farmers market has moved from the concrete parking lot at 2nd and hosea williams to the nice shaded area right next door. the natural environment is much more fitting for the farmer’s market, and is also a heck of a lot cooler from the shade.

we can’t wait for peachapalooza this summer!

– ryan & gub

east lake farmers market

2nd avenue and hosea williams drive
atlanta, ga 30317

saturdays
9am – 1pm
april – october

our friend mike made some tasty luther burgers for the super bowl! for those who never made it to mulligan’s when it was around, a luther burger is a bacon-cheeseburger on a grilled krispy kreme doughnut. it’s an amazing experience to say the least!

– ryan & gub

i found myself with a pumpkin that needed to be put to rest and a pan of hot bacon grease and wondered, can you fry up pumpkin seeds? the answer is definitely yes and that they are quite tasty in fact. just fry them until golden brown and add salt.

highly recommended!

– ryan

-next up, i’m going to see if i can make stove-top popcorn with bacon fat!

we tried some bacon from the kroger butcher recently and were quite impressed!

– ryan & gub

we recently went to leon’s full service in downtown decatur for dinner. it’s run by the same people who own the brick store pub, another long-time favorite decatur restaurant of ours. we actually tried to go to farm burger, but the line was so long we ended up at leon’s where we were seated immediately.

we really enjoy the interior design of this old converted gas station. the round booths and old industrial lights help keep the atmosphere of a former petrol station. leon’s also has outdoor seating and a bocce ball court on the side of the restaurant.

leon’s has a great selection of draught beers, including brews from victory, avery, oskar blues, allagash, bell’s and other craft breweries. they also have unique infused liquors, including rhubarb infused myer’s white rum, pineapple infused inca gold pisco and bacon infused bourbon. we haven’t tried any of the infused liquors, but they sound excellent.

another specialty at leon’s is their pub frites, which are basically really awesome french fries with fancy sauces. boy are they tasty! the sauces include: garlic aioli, goat cheese fondue, masaman curry, smoked tomato mayonnaise, bacon & tarragon mayonnaise, cucumber-dill yogurt and a bunch more. the menu also offers a variety of creative and interesting meals. a noteworthy snack option is bacon in a glass for $5. we tried the mussels in a witbier & lemongrass broth and the white oak pastures grass-fed burger, which were both delicious.

if you’re looking for a night out in downtown decatur, definitely try leon’s full service. the food is very tasty and reasonably priced.

check out their menu.

– ryan & gub

leon’s full service

131 E ponce de leon ave.
decatur, georgia 30030
404-687-0500

we made fried green tomato BLTs for dinner last night and they were delicious! we used a tomato from our garden and had sautéed zucchini as a side, which was also from our garden.

to prepare, slice a green tomato and place on a plate or splatter guard. sprinkle salt on top and let the slices sit for a couple of hours. this will cause the water to drain out of the tomatoes for a better frying experience. pour off any excess water as it builds. when ready to fry, just dip a slice in egg wash and batter before frying in oil at medium heat. we used corn meal in our batter, but feel free to use flour.

– ryan & gub

fried green tomato recipe:

ingredients:
1-2 large green tomatoes sliced
bread, mayonnaise, lettuce & bacon (if BLTs are desired)

egg wash:
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup milk

batter:
1/2 cup corn meal
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp parsley

directions:
– clean tomatoes and slice
– place on a splatter guard and sprinkle with salt, let sit for a couple of hours
– pour off any excess water as it builds
– heat oil in a frying pan at medium heat
– dip tomato slices in egg wash and then in the batter
– gently place battered tomatoes in frying pan and fry until golden brown
– place on splash guard to let cool and drain the oil
– serve on toasted bread with mayonnaise, lettuce and bacon or with a dipping sauce