The Awesome Food of Gainesville, GA

As a follow-up to Mr. and Mrs. White's Wedding Extravaganza, I want to give a quick shout-out to a some of the amazing restaurants in and around Gainesville, GA that provided me with some superb meals while I was in town last weekend.  For those of you who know me well, you may commence the eye-rolling.  You knew this was coming...winkety-wink. I love to look for unique places to eat when I travel.  I'll duck into a Ruby Tuesdays near an exit now and again if I want a bottomless salad bar, but I am strongly of the opinion that life is just too short to waste money at franchise joints.  I would rather do a little extra driving and spend a little extra money to support local restauranteurs who are passionate about cooking delicious food.  In that spirit, I chose my meals carefully, and Gainesville's culinary offerings did not disappoint!

My Gainesville eats:

2 Dog: A Local Restaurant - Friendliest staff and freshest ingredients I've had in a while.  I ordered smoked pork shoulder with sides of asparagus and sautéed Swiss chard.  The pork was unbelievably tender and flavorful--upon a single prod from my enthusiastic fork, Hoffa himself could not have paid that meat to hold itself together.  Further props go to 2 Dog for their support of Gainesville's local farms and commitment to fresh, organic produce.

Avocados Restaurant - There is nothing better than a good omelet, and when I decided to order one at Avocados Restaurant off of Gainesville's historic downtown square, they  knocked it squarely out of the park.  I had been in the mood for chorizo for a few days, and I was elated to find that Avocados makes an omelet with chorizo, mushrooms, tomatoes.  The cheddar cheese wasn't listed on the menu, but it added a nice touch.  And, since I am an insufferable protein fiend, I ordered the "meat omelet" with a side of bacon.  Delicious.

Redd's 'Que & Stew - No trip through Georgia or the Carolinas is rendered complete until you've eaten some local barbecue.  Redd's was presented to me as a "hole in the wall with great ribs."  And that sums it up pretty accurately, as it's barely more than a shed on the edge of a secondary highway far outside of Gainesville.  Upon taking an especially eager bite of a baby back, I detected an unusual texture.  It hit me then that not only had I taken a bite of tender meat, but the bone itself was so tender that I could eat that part as well!  Smoke-flavored marrow made for a great treat in addition to some good meat.

The only downside to this trip was that I wasn't in Gainesville long enough to try some of the other delicious-looking places downtown.  I also have a sneaking suspicion that there are more barbecue joint gems to be found in the surrounding area.  Thankfully, I have reasons to go to Gainesville at least once or twice each year, so I can look forward to future opportunities for more culinary explorations...

Favorite Blogs: Food!

Among my friends and relations (and anyone who follows me on Instagram), it's no secret that I love food and that I love to cook.  I follow a low-carb, grain-free diet, (primal style), and rather than feel restricted by it, those slight limitations inspire me to stay creative with meats, vegetables and spices in the kitchen.  Food is meant to be enjoyed. I am also extremely interested in food culture and culinary history.  To be entirely honest; my obsession with health has created a bit of a monster--I always want to find out why people eat what they eat, especially in America, where choice reigns supreme and cuisines from around world are represented in all their splendor.

In my mission to stay open minded, inspired and creative, I subscribe to a few blogs which keep my palate and my mind working tandem.  Today's blogroll includes a list of a few of my favorite food and cooking-related blogs:

• Anthony Bourdain - Did you know that the cynical host of "No Reservations" has a tumblr account?  Well, he does.  He posts his thoughts on shooting the show, as well as his own ideas about world foods and food culture.  Personally, I'm a big fan of Tony Bourdain.  We share a love of meat in tube form, and I appreciate the fact that he differentiates between the image of a culture's advertised cuisine versus the reality of what people actually eat, while still acknowledging the significance of of both styles of food.
• The Foodie and the Family - In line with my own primal/paleo lifestyle, this blog is a great inspiration for gourmet cooking with the family in mind.  The paleo diet is based on a wheat-free diet that is generally low in starch and high in protein, and TF&tF is great for ideas that are not only extremely creative in their ingredient combinations, but appetizing enough to appeal to the whole family.
• The Food Lover's Kitchen - Another paleo recipe sharing hub.  Much like The Foodie and the Family, this site offers many extremely creative recipes, constant reminders of how truly delicious it is to eat healthily.  But the true hallmark of Food Lover's Kitchen is that it is an interactive web site, with new recent additions of user-made meal plans, recipe books and kitchen profiles.  If you don't need or want to spend a lot of time logging your kitchen into a web site and all you're looking for is a good recipe, don't run off, because Food Lover's Kitchen boasts one of the cleanest and most comprehensive databases available.
• Happy to Serve You - Life is too short to waste time on sub-par coffee, and although this web site is Australian, its sensibilities concerning coffee are on par with anything one might expect from Portland itself.  Happy to Serve You is hopelessly devoted to artisanal coffee and the people and equipment who bring it from the bean to cup.  The team behind HtSY doesn't update the page very often, but their site's uniqueness, the quality of the photography and reviews (covering shops, beans and equipment) have it firmly anchored in my bookmarked RSS feeds.  In case you haven't guessed it; I, love, coffee.
• Paleo Spirit - Like most of my favorite blogs, I enjoy this one for the author's personality as much as its content.  Lea is a great writer who includes her family in her blog as much as possible.  She is also a vocal Christian, which is hard to find in the paleo community.  She goes the extra mile to review some awesome restaurants, letting the rest of us know where the best places to find good, real foods are in major cities.  She also includes her kids in many of the posts, not only as taste-testers and photogenic kitchen subjects, but as contributors, such as a recipe her son posted, based on the lamb stew in Suzanne Collins' bestselling novel The Hunger Games.
• The Primal Kitchen: A Family Grokumentary - One more family-oriented, Christian primal eating site.  This one I followed to first show my mother that it was possible to maintain a grain-free diet and still make family meals, but I continued to follow it because I found the voice behind the blog engaging.  "Mrs. Grok" is just like you and me, but she uncompromisingly follows through in her conviction to feed her family healthily (and feed them extremely well) in a way that makes the rest of us very jealous.  And, somehow, she and her husband find time to raise a family and actively participate in CrossFit.