epicurean905

I use leftover chicken stock in which to cook my grits. I almost always add cheese-anything from gruyere to smoked cheddar, and I add cream towards the end. I have been known to add shrimp. bacon, jalapenos and fresh sweet corn (though not necesssarily together!). Bowl, plate, spoon, fork, whatever...I don't know that any of that would either inspire me or prevent me from sitting in a man's lap. The quality of his grits is much more important

Golden Palace is actually in the Eastwood Festival Center on Crestwood Blvd ... does this help? ← Thanks, Melissa. As familiar as I am with Birmingham , I did not even know Golden Palace existed. I am excited about the prospect. Thanks.

afn, dear God! You are a veritable fountain of information! Indeed, we love the same places in Birmingham. And you are right- it is Pete's on 2nd, not Gus'. I love that man. The Red Pearl is fantastic and for anyone who is interested in real-deal Chinese, it is on West Valley Ave. Spent many nights (mornings) at Marty's with patty melt in drunken hand. And I love the Cast, as well. Libba is my ex-boyfriend's ex-girlfriend... Anyway, wish you still lived here. Any man who dances by himself and knows all the hot spots...By the way, where is the Golden Palace?

I am relatively new to eGullet and I am searching for fellow Birmingham residents. I would love to hear what y'all feel about the Birmingham restaurant scene, grocereies, festivals, wine tastings, etc. What of these are your favorites? Highland's, Gus' Hot Dogs on 2nd? Want to hear what everyone is experiencing so I can follow suit!

Grits made with Tillamook cheddar, crumbled applewood smoked bacon, cream and butter. Also, scrambled eggs and toast with homemade orange marmalade. Finished with hot chicory coffee.

Supper tonight was grilled chicken thighs (my favorite piece) with lemon, EVOO, kosher salt and fresh thyme. As it was "clean out the fridge" night, I used the last of my grapefruit juice on some steamed rice, alongside strawberries drizzled with balsamic vinegar and a salad of cucumbers and tomatoes in pepper vinegar. Reading this now, it does not seem as though these items went together very well, but they were lovely in combination.

Nothing better late at night than a Frosty from Wendy's with hot, salty fries used for dipping.

Normally, this is how I would do my beans, as well. However, I noticed that you are cooking bbq. If this is the case, I always do mine Southern style. This entails snapping or cutting your beans into one inch (or so) pieces. Then cook the beans in a pot of water with a smoked ham hock or other piece of smoked meat. The beans are cooked until very tender. These are no hericots verts! In fact, after cooking them in pork stock, they hardly qualify as a vegetable, but they are awfully good and a great side dish to a traditional bbq.

Hillary, Tell me about the limoncello/pomegranate cocktails. Those sound right up my alley!

If I want to feel completely nasty and keep in touch with my Southerness at the same time, I eat a whole bag of Golden Flake bbq pork skins, a banana Moon Pie, and a Nehi peach soda. The beauty is that this entire snack is less than three dollars!

Thanks for sharing your memories, epicurean905. Fig preserves, sausage, karo syrup, salmon croquettes--sounds delicious and lovely. If you don't already have it, you may enjoy Bill Neal's, "Biscuits, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie". It is a wonderful Southern cookbook for baking. Besides the wonderful recipes, there are stories and background information with almost every recipe. I treasure it as one of my top five cookbooks in my large collection. ← Thank you for the recommendation. I collect Southern cookbooks, but have not run across this one. Headed to Amazon right now!

Thanks for the thread, Jaymes. I am new to eGullet and am learning so much already.

← Melissa, thank you for the story and recipe. I got a little choked up as a flood of memories came back. I will try the recipe this week and report my results.

When I was a child, I spent summers in Frisco City, Alabama with my grandmother. She was known county-wide for her angel biscuits. They were denser than the traditional biscuit and she folded one side over to resemble an angel's wing. We often had angel biscuits with spicy Conecuh sausage, Karo syrup, salmon croquettes or homemade fig preserves. She has since passed on and I have tried to find the recipe among her things, but to no avail. Do any of you know of these delights and/or have a recipe for them?

Birmingham is saturated with meat and threes, often run by Greeks, oddly enough. The best (this is a matter of great debate in these parts) is Niki's West on Finley. The workers on the line are the "Soup Nazis" of soul food: you better know what you want or they are movin on to the next customer. But the stress is well worth it. I recommend the fried flounder, fried chicken and the creamed corn. Never had anything here I don't love. The lemon icebox pie is sweet and so is the tea. They use Red Diamond tea, which is the best I have had.

No matter which sex you may be, at one time or another, have you ever cooked a meal with the inner sense that it would be one of your arsenal of seduction techniques for a possible lover? What did you prepare? How was it received by the intended individual? Did it go off smoothly or were there problems which arose? (this can be read on all possible levels! ) Do you believe that this meal and the intent which it carried brought the intended even closer to you? Confessions or even personal anecdotes gratefully accepted! ← Years ago, I had been stood up, in the rain by a rotten boyfriend. I went to see a male friend of mine for comfort. He, being no culinary genius, prepared powdered hot cocoa with water to warm me. I was touched. Enough so, that he and I began a two year romance, which has turned into a ten year friendship. I guess the lesson is that any food or drink prepared in love will surely seduce.

A butt is more likely to be at 190 by time it's ready for pulling. As CathyL said, temperature is not the whole story -- it's a feel thing. The bone should be pretty loose. ← It has always been my rule of thumb that your butt is ready to be pulled when you can remove the bone without effort. We Southerners consider ourselves experts on the topic of barbecue, you know. I live a few blocks from the famed Dreamland Ribs and on a good day, can smell the wood fire smoke from my balcony. In Alabama, we use a more tomatoey sauce, but I love Carolina style, too.