Katie Meadow

Blinded by the light I am. My grandgirls would think it was the second coming.

Shout out to Gene's BBQ in Atlanta. The best way to describe this place is a bar with a kid's menu. It isn't really a BBQ joint as I think of one, but sort of an Asian/BBQ fusion dive. The atmosphere was warm and friendly with a ceiling full of string lights. The martini was decent, my blue crab claws were pretty good in some variation of an Asian sauce. My son-in-law, a brisket lover, declared his brisket to be very good. The twins were happy with their mac n cheese and thrilled with their dessert which was really just a pineapple coconut smoothie that was deceptively delicious and which we all agreed might be good with a splash of rum. The surprising star was the banh mi with charred crackly sort-of- barbecued pork, proper pickled vegetables in a Viet roll. Highly recommended as a great place for families. Oh, and I don't want to forget the fact that the girls found a basket of free lollipops soon after we walked in and that kept them busy until the food arrived. What's not to love? As always by the end of our visits, my husband and I are fried and no longer in the mood to cook, and also as usual, the new crop of mosquitoes has dined out ON ME, so I'm over eating al fresco at dusk. Another few meals and we are headed home.

Speaking of curry, my nephew's wife has discovered that she is allergic to turmeric. She breaks out in a rash. It took her years to figure this out. Weird, right? I'm glad I didn't make Lemony Turmeric Tea Cake for her. That's Alison Roman's brilliant recipe, which does not taste like turmeric at all but had a fabulous color. Speaking of grouper....OMG this is really my favorite fish of all time. Last night, courtesy of the remarkable DeKalb Farmers' Market, I made blackened grouper. This was probably my last time eating grouper for this trip, too too bad. I prefer the red grouper to the black, and that's what I got. It was delicious. Every time I come to visit my daughter and her family I bring her Hot Cajun Blackening Spice from Oaktown Spice in Oakland. It's simply the best. I can buy about twenty different versions of the stuff here in Atlanta, but all of them are too salty and not as good. So last night I had west coast blackened east coast fish.

Research them on line before eating. They can have unpleasant side effects.

Of course I stopped in at Marsh Hen Mill to say hi. The couple who owns it were not there, but someone I suspected was Grandma was. I bought several things, including Carolina Rice-- can't remember what kind exactly. The store is small and lovely. I could not resist also buying a salted chocolate popsicle. Like a fudge sickle, only woke.

I just returned to Decator, GA from a week on Edisto Island, one of the sea islands off the SC coast. This is gullah land. Much of the island is a State park that includes Botany Bay Plantation Heritage Preserve. Before I came I pretty much knew nothing except for the fact that the grits I order from Marsh Hen Mill (formerly Geechie Boy) come from the island. The Island has managed to remain NOT upscale; no glitzy restaurants, no frills food or tourist shops. The Botany Bay beach is pristine and incredibly beautiful. You are not allowed to take anything you find on the beach, such as shells or fossilized shark's teeth. Nothing. There were plantations before the civil war, growing rice first and then cotton. The plantations were evacuated or abandoned during the war because the confederates said the island was too hard to defend. They weren't able to take all their slaves with them, so the slaves who remained became a village of sorts, for a whlle. There is a lovely little museum of island history. There's a learning center where the twins asked a million questions and were shown several different types of turtles. The big draw on the island for tourists and school group is the Serpentarium. Lots of venemous snakes, among others, including open air displays, heavily fortified, where snakes had room to roam and swim and guests had paths to follow and gawk. South Carolina appears to have a LOT of snakes. Our AirBnB was two blocks from the public beach. The back of the house looked out over the marsh with egrets flying in and out. ALL houses are on stilts. We ate fish almost every night. There appear to be two fish markets on the island, both family owned. It seems that flounder is king here. We had blackened flounder, flounder fish and chips, pan-fried flounder for dinners in and dinners out. Our last night was at a simple restaurant called the Sea Cow, so I guess there are manatees about. Their special that night was red snapper. Really great blackened. There was a Low Country boil on the menu. Very good cheese grits, better than expected collards, and some field peas that everyone liked, especially the two yr old among us. We were six adults and four kids under the age of 5, so going out was kind of an epic chaos, mitigated by the restaurant providing crayons and paper with games and pictures to color. Winning! All in all a fantastic vacation. My granddaughters got to meet their second cousins, the kids of my favorite nephew. And we lucked out with weather: mid-seventies and almost every day was sunny. In this humidity I have hair to spare. Now back at my daughter's place. Surprise surprise she's learned to cook! She made blackened catfish one night that was really good, and on the island she made the best pulled pork I ever had. For my last few days on the east coast I plan to eat a lot of grouper and a lot of oysters. The giant market near her house literally has a GIANT ROOM with fish on all four sides. Staggering. Also twelve different types of collards, big, medium and baby sized. Also twelve different kinds of plantain.. The herbs are not sold in little bunches. They are sold in what appear to be whole bushes. \

Gorgeous. I would be in heaven if someone would make those for me.

I would prefer not to.

@liuzhou, that is hideous, and not in a good way.

I've always loved fresh pineapple with chile powder and lime juice. Yesterday I tried out a new one on my granddaughters: sliced pineapple with cinnamon sugar and lime juice. They went crazy for it. I liked it too, a lot. Both ways were great alongside rice 'n' beans, which I made last night. These girls are also proud fans of pineapple on pizza. They will be four in June; blessed with youth they don't now how many people make fun of pineapple on pizza They are so stubborn and very naughty. And hilarious.

Sad to leave Asheville. Next time we will stay longer. We stopped off on the way out of town at Hole Doughnuts, which are, I'm sure, the best doughnuts on earth. There's inside and outside seating. This time it was gloomy and chilly, so we ate inside. All doughnuts are fried to order, and you can watch them behind the counter rolling the dough and frying your doughnuts. The menu has not changed. All are yeasted. There's vanilla glazed, cinnamon sugar, and my go-to: the toasted almond sesame. There is a fourth one that varies weekly. This time it was blueberry. I'm not a person who ordinarily eats doughnuts but if this place existed at home I would weigh 400 lbs. We arrived at our daughter's with an obscene number of doughnuts and two enormous loaves of Owl Bakery bread. If I had my life to live over again I would go to Black Mountain College, which of course is no more, although there is a wonderful museum dedicated to the artists who taught there and their students. That museum is not in Black Mountain, but in downtown Asheville. The current show is lovely.

So High Rise guy is two for two. Dinner at Zambra was out of this world. It's Tapas. The wine list is head-spinning. I started with a lovely sparkly rose cava that came in its own little bottle which amounted to two full glasses. I wish I could accurately remember what we ate, but it's now the morning after. The plates were generous. The Patatas Bravas were the best ever. A salad of crisped chickpeas and arugula and little shavings of preserved lemon was so great there's no way I can talk about it. A bowl of mussels was so exotic and spicy and abundant we had to request more toasts to go with it, which they happily provided. Everyone was gracious. For dessert we shared a Basque cheesecake and an outrageous espresso martini. It had a lot of ingredients: cinnamon infused vodka and god knows what else. There was a bit of foam on the surface in which three expresso beans floated. Zambra is DARK. A problem apparently for no one there but me. They found us a very nice table under a window, so I could actually see my food for a while. By dessert the sun was long gone so I couldn't see the cheesecake on my plate, but everywhere I put my fork was delicioust. Unlike our first night, downtown was hopping, which was very reassuring. This morning we are off to Hole Doughnuts and Owl Bakery to take some great treats to the granddaughters. And by the way, Owl Bakery makes an unbelievable dark 100 % rye bread. I've been thinking about it for two years.

So great being back in Asheville! Here for just a couple of days. Crossed the bridge over the French Broad River for breakfast. It's raining so we decided against checking out the River Arts District, but the view from the bridge gives you a sense of disturbance, but you can't see the details of the damage to that area up close. Yesterday afternoon was brilliantly sunny and chilly, but warm enough to stop for an afternoon refresher on an outdoor patio. They had High Rise Soda, which has 5mg THC; I had a can of blood orange, and yes, an hour later I was marveling at how well I had packed, gawking at the beautiful white tile walk in shower all lit up from the south-facing windows. High up on the third floor, and high. Downtown seems relatively the same, but quiet, which wasn't the case two years ago in late April. We had an early nostalgia dinner of soup dumplings. Oh, about breakfast this morning at Sunny Point Cafe in West Asheville. This was a recommendation of the server who brought me the High Rise Soda. I don't love eating breakfast out, but this place was fabulous. It was packed and adorable. I will never go out for breakfast anywhere else in Asheville ever again. Fried green tomatoes, excellent, which isn't always the case. Smoked salmon on crispy hash browns on arugula with some kind of amazing. cream-cheesy drizzle. Shrimp and Grits fantastic: spicy, creamy, served with some kind of grilled slab bacon. Biscuit good, but not as good as my husband makes. In-house blueberry jam to make up for it though, so win win. We sat next to a very nice calm black dog, who did not appear to be a service dog. If you find yourself in Asheville, go. Of course If you are lucky enough to have two breakfasts in Asheville the other one should be Hole Doughnuts, which is where we are going tomorrow morning before driving to Atlanta. Dinner tonight is also a recommendation from the High Rise guy, who, after our breakfast this morning, has risen way up in my admiration. Later, that.

Toughen up, people! Crusty Baguette, fruit leather, salted caramels, chunky peanut butter, raw fennel salad, Mexican hot dog, fried chicken sandwich with spicy slaw. If not, rice pudding, a smoothie of carrot juice and orange juice, chocolate mousse, stewed rhubarb, Vietnamese Egg Coffee, cotton candy, pure fruit popsicles, home made blood orange jello and anything requiring an immersion blender. Hope it goes well!

No we aren't.

You don't think he bakes all night?

Kill me now, @Pete Fred. If you don't have a guest room I'll sleep on your couch.

Brilliant, @liuzhou A performance of great range and depth!

As for commercial strawbs Driscoll's is ubiquitous here in CA and elsewhere, although smaller operations do sell commercially here. In season, the alternative is our farmers' markets. My daughter in Atlanta buys boatloads of strawberries as the twins devour them. When I'm in Atlanta later this month and doing some shopping for her I'll look for Florida produce. I can't say I've noticed any difference in the berries when I'm there, but that proves nothing.

I just cooked a package of Mayan Beans. Really good! I'm very committed to Domingo Rojo and these are definitely comparable, but smaller, and a little different in texture, very creamy. I ordered them a couple of months ago, but they are unavailable now. I used them to make Red Beans and Rice. Highly recommend when they come back in stock.

I have one of these tomato presses. They are not well designed, but they do work and they are relatively cheap. And best of all it's great looking and a fabulous color. Tomato Strainer, Tomato Juicer Sauce Maker Machine Suction Cup Base Hand Crank Food Mill Press with Stainless Steel Filter for Fruit Vegetables (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

And @Neely one more anti-slime okra treatment is my husband's adaptation of Vivian Howard's Okra Oven Fries. Heat the oven to 400F. Slice the pods in half lengthwise, cutting off the stem end if you like. Toss the okra halves with olive oil, salt, pepper, and any other spice of choice. Howard suggests ground coriander, we like smoked paprika. Place the halves cut side down on a baking sheet.Don't crowd them. Roast for 15 minutes. Turn the halves over and roast another 15 minutes or more to desired crispness. The pieces should be partly browned, partly crispy, partly a little soft. Really great for cocktail hour with a Bloody Mary. Or with a Porch Swing. Or on a porch swing.

I've often seen red bell peppers combined with tomatoes for a soup. A little tomato might reduce the bitterness and also support good color. I'm surprised your roasted peppers were bitter. Usually I find roasted red pepper dressed with salt and olive oil (when done by myself) to be pretty sweet. I've roasted tomatoes with a sprinkle of brown sugar, so as suggested above, sugar might help, and cream too.

Pain meds yes, but also a gummy.

Those compostable bags present a new problem. In my experience they shorten the life of some produce, especially fresh herbs if stored in the fridge because they seem to encourage condensation and get very damp. One solution that helps is to wrap the herbs in paper towels inside the bags. But then of course you are using paper towels, which also should be avoided.