Macarons

(I asked Marie to share a few words about what the heck these crumbly and creamy treats are, and she has this to say…)

We chanced on a beautiful display of macarons the other day after dinner and had to pick some up. They look like little jewels in the case, in all those pastel shades. We chose four (vanilla, blueberry, raspberry and strawberry), and then asked which are most popular – apparently the strawberry is one of the top sellers. I should have taken the green tea as well – it must have been excellent. I liked the vanilla one best of those we got. Continue reading “Macarons” →

Photo Post 8: The Sno-Cap at Sunset

Slightly omitted from the previous chapter was the reality that this trip to Columbia was not a complete success at all, especially on the wallet. The previous day, I had my tires rotated, and I then celebrated our arrival at the children’s museum by mounting the curb and blowing one of them. At first, I would have said that Columbia’s not a good city to be looking for obscure tires for a weird little Mazda on a Saturday afternoon, but then I got home and looked up my tires and learned that I was lucky to find one at all. Even the big Kaufmann Tires chain has only three in all of Georgia. Anyway, I drove around and around. Businesses started closing and I was hobbling around on the spare doughnut going from store to store looking for something to use. It took two and a half hours to find the tire, then I collected Marie and the baby, and hit the three restaurants that we wanted to see. Continue reading “Photo Post 8: The Sno-Cap at Sunset” →

Zesto, Columbia SC

Our readers in Atlanta are probably loosely aware that our small chain of Zesto stores is not entirely unique. Thanks to the wonderful work of Roadside Architecture, we know that there are Zesto restaurants, called, in some cases, “Zesto Drive-In,” all over the country, but they’re slowly but surely vanishing to time. The corporate chain, which launched in 1945, only lasted for a few years. A newspaper story on the wall of the store in West Columbia, SC claims that it disintegrated in 1951, but the Atlanta Zesto says that their one-time corporate owner, Taylor Freezer Corporation, didn’t halt operations for another four years. This left all of the original franchisees independent and able to grow, expand, or mutate at their own pace, no later than 1955. Continue reading “Zesto, Columbia SC” →

Farm Burger, Dunwoody GA

This is Marie, contributing an article about Farm Burger Dunwoody, a recent addition to the franchise that we first visited in Decatur three years ago. We wound up there because of an unfortunate rebellion on the part of my car which required Grant to pick me up from the repair shop to which it had been towed. The baby in particular was totally thrown off and spent some time in the car sobbing that he wanted “eat-eat!” It’s hard to explain to someone with a still-limited grasp of English that although we needed to stop at an unnamed fast-food franchise to take advantage of their changing table (sorry, anonymous restaurant – I will have lunch with you sometime soon to make up for carrying a bellowing unhappy baby though your door) we were not stopping there, and the fries he would get at the actual location were going to be eating are better in all possible ways. And luckily we do keep a few munchies in the diaper bag for situations like this. Continue reading “Farm Burger, Dunwoody GA” →

Oliebollen

This is Marie, contributing an article about a traditional Dutch treat that we got at the last visit to my parents’ place. Mom wanted to make oliebollen, which are a kind of proto-donut, because it’s a traditional New Year’s treat in the Netherlands, and I was more than happy to partake. The rest of the family was slightly bewildered at the sudden need to make fried goods in the middle of the day. You really do need to have a particular reason to make these if you are making them at home, and the near vicinity of New Year’s was not convincing since they are not Dutch. Continue reading “Oliebollen” →

Mountain Fresh Creamery, Clermont GA

I have not had the chance to motor around north central Georgia for many, many months. In fact, I said, more than a year ago, that I needed to stop by a little ice cream parlor near the towns of Clermont and Cleveland. That’s when a writer with the remarkable nom de blog of Foodie Asshole wrote about Mountain Fresh Creamery, which had opened a few months previously. Continue reading “Mountain Fresh Creamery, Clermont GA” →

Kay’s Ice Cream, Knoxville TN

As part of revisiting childhood memories, I was happy to share stories last year about the last remaining Kay’s Kastles in Soddy Daisy, Tennessee, and its distant relation, Ice Castle in Dalton, Georgia. You should probably read those before continuing; it’ll save me having to recount the history of the chain. As I wrote both chapters, I looked forward to finding a chance to visit Knoxville and see the last remaining Kay’s Ice Cream store. Continue reading “Kay’s Ice Cream, Knoxville TN” →