Birthday Boy

Unfortunately Calvin was not feeling well on his birthday so we had Cameli's (our favorite pizza joint) rather than going to the nice dinner I'd planned - we'll do it eventually! Later in the week I did make him a Boston Cream Pie, which was quite yummy if I do say so myself.

Housewarming!

After living in my new place for nearly 6 months, I decided it was time for a housewarming. I made some food and invited lots of folks over to tour the house and have a bite to eat. It was a lovely day so we were able to keep the windows open, which was nice, and guests enjoyed the back patio.

Cherry blue cheese chicken salad (homemade), shrimp salad (Costco - it's really good there!), croissants, goat cheese with grapes, crackers and fig chutney, chips, guacamole and salsa.



Oatmeal raisin cookies and magic cookie bars.



Ruth made me a beautiful flower arrangement.



The back yard - hasn't ever looked this good, before or since!



Back patio, second view.

Fall Grillin'

This fall after settling into my new place, I decided to take the plunge and purchase a Big Green Egg smoker & grill. So far, I've been able to get some good results, although I'm still getting the hang of regulating the temperature. So far I've cooked turkey burgers, beef burgers, lamb chops, swordfish & lots of vegetables.

The key to these moist turkey burgers is Trader Joe's cranberry chutney as well as sauteed apples & onions that I mix in with the meat along with an egg, bread crumbs and spices.

Grilled swordfish & grilled onions with mashed sweet potatoes, fresh corn & collard greens.

Grilled lamb chops, grilled baby eggplants & pita bread.

Chateau de Buford Highway

After reading several positive reviews about Chateau de Saigon, we decided to go check it out on a recent Friday evening. The service a bit slow, although the place was busy, and we did not find the food to be as good as other places in the area (like Pho Dai Loi #2, which is one of my favorites). This place does have a large menu, however, and there are other dishes I'd like to try, so a return trip may be warranted in the future.

The spring rolls were not as flavorful as usual and the light colored peanut sauce was not my favorite - I prefer the darker sauce with peanuts sprinkled on top.



Sugar cane wrapped shrimp. This dish was tasty and it was neat eating real sugarcane, although it turned out to be a bit awkward trying to get all of the sugar out of the cane!



The vermicelli was beautifully presented but it lacked the kick found in other restaurants' versions. Of course we livened it up with some Siracha, but it was still not the best.



This was my favorite dish - papaya salad with beef strips, dried onions & scallions. The sublime flavor and the crunch really make this unique and delicious.

Chateau de Saigon
4300 Buford Hwy NE
Atlanta, GA 30345
(404) 929-0034