How do you say it?

Do you know how to pronounce this? I learned when I was about 8 or 9. Most of the pencils in our house growing up were from the Brunschwig and Fils showroom at ADAC (the Atlanta interior design center). They were very liberal with their writing utensils and my mother brought a lot home. There are still a few floating around my parents' house even though my mother died 14 years ago.

People who had doctor dads would have pads of paper with medication names at the top. We had these pencils because my mom was an interior decorator. I think a lot of women of a certain age with good taste become decorators. More of the "help me redo my den now that the kids are off at college" variety rather than the "work with my architect to design the entire interior of my 27 room home in Alpine NJ" sort of thing. That was my mom, anyway. She did lots of smaller jobs for her friends more than anything else.

 I don't know whether my mom took any design courses, but she did have a good eye. I enjoyed going to ADAC with her as a kid. The diffrent showrooms were beautiful and quiet. Like libraries, in a way. I'd flip through the samples in various showrooms while she did her work. I'd always be the only kid in the place, which was kind of a cool feeling. Like I wasn't supposed to be there, that my mom and I were breaking some unspoken rules. I loved seeing the often beautiful sometimes outrageous fabrics and wall coverings. My private game was looking for the ugliest wallpaper in the showroom.

Brunschwig and Fils isn't exactly the most cutting edge; it's pretty safe.  And looking at their site today, it's not really my taste now, but I remember them as pretty great back in the day. By Buckhead standards anyway. Or maybe I just liked the free pencils.

Don't Build Your House On a Flood Plain

It's just so obvious. That little creek over there, right next to your house on the plot of flat land? Yeah, well, once every 20 years or so it floods big-time. Don't build there.

There hasn't been a really major flood in Atlanta since I was a kid. I remember my school's football field, next to Nancy Creek becoming a temporary lake. The golf courses also looked like lakes. Ditto the YMCA soccer fields.

Why? Because they were in flood plains. Simple. Obvious. That's why you build sports fields there. And not houses.

But then I remember when the horse field across from the soccer fields was developed. 20 or more houses were built. Not a good idea. They must have sold them to people from out of town.

In recent years I've noticed several new homes right by creeks. There's one over near Sarah Smith School, practically over the creek. What were they thinking?

As humans, we have this ability to ignore, deny, lie to ourselves and others that we are not in control, that bad things won't happen to us. I'm pretty sure Jesus had a parable about wise and foolish builders that relates to this.

Lovin' the Ladies... (peas that is)

The Vegetable Man on Wieuca Road here in Atlanta has Lady Peas! To the uninitiated, they are like a springy-fresh combination of english peas and black eyed peas. But delicate and delicious. Get them while you can.

Internet Is (almost) totally silent about AMAZING TASTE TREAT!

My father belongs to an Atlanta country club (Capital City Club). It is not the very most socially sought after or elite. That distinction would go to the Piedmont Driving Club, but the CCC is right up there. It does have one particular food that would make it worth joining just to have in unlimited quantities. I am, of course, talking about the basket of hot butter Saltine crackers served as you sit down for dinner. In recent years other Atlanta clubs have added these onto their tables as well, but make no mistake, the CCC had it first.

The internet is virtually silent about these hot buttery crackers with the exception of a brief note in an article in 1999 which you can see here (about midway down the page).

How could this be? Have Atlantans been keeping this delicious secret on purpose? I remember as a kid trying to make them at home. I put butter on my saltines and stuck them in the oven, and got soggy crackers. I even tried different temperatures to no avail. The real things are crisp! The butter has saturated them without making them soggy in the least. I actually assumed they were fried in the butter. I still don't know how they do it.

I'd like to share a picture with you, but I have none. Imagine the cracker a golden yellow, warm, crisp, buttery, melting in your mouth. You could eat a dozen. As a kid I would spread extra butter on them. Decadent in a very Southern way. Does anyone really know how to make them? Can we share these with the world? It's about time!

Oh Blue Chair, wherefore art thou?

I'm trying to sell a pair of these chairs. They are blue. Blue leather. I didn't pick them out. I guess my mom did back in the day, and now that my dad is retired, we don't need them. We had a pair of brown leather chairs that sold in an instant. But not these. I think I get it. When it comes to leather, blue is a very particular choice. And, apparently, since 1985, not the choice of many. I've even reduced the price a couple of times. Still no takers. I don't even know if I can blame the economy. Surely someone in the greater metropolitan Atlanta area would like 2 chairs like this along with another blue leather desk chair on wheels. Surely. Anyone?

Let's Talk TACOS

I recently returned from a trip to LA, where I consumed vast amounts of Mexican food. Probably I should say "Mexican" food. Because so much of what we eat and call Mexian has been adapted and changed, hasn't it?

For me, my touchstone taco comes from eating at Jalisco's in Atlanta, GA as a child. All other tacos are compared to theirs. Specifically in Buckhead (Taxco's and El Azteca being close seconds and thirds). This was a basic crispy shell, ground beef, shredded white mild cheese, lettuce. That's it. I still love Jalisco's. It's an affordable, family friendly, table-service place. And, extra bonus, there's a Baskin Robbins next door. Like lots of places in Atlanta, it's in strip mall, but we will overlook this.

I was pleased and intrigued to try Tito's Tacos when I visited L.A. It lived up to it's reputation. Like Jalisco's this is Mexican food for an American palate. You order at the window, and there's some sort of system there that I couldn't quite figure out. Their tacos have a thick shell, mild yellow cheese, and ground beef. I could get used to that. Be prepared to wait in line, but not regret it.

It's interesting that you can't really find places in NYC doing these kind of tacos. I mean, I guess there is Taco Bell, but it's so oily, so bad... and otherwise you are left with "burrito based" places (as I would call them) that have tacos as a side, or fancy-shmancy Mexican like Rosa Mexicano. Love it, but for totally different reasons (not the tacos!).

I'll be honest. I prefer the crispy to the soft tacos. I know that's inauthentic and that really I should be eating tostadas. They are the real crispy fried corn tortillas one finds in Latino markets. Normally, I prefer the "real" thing. Not so, in this case.

HENSE SEVER

HENSE SEVER
Originally uploaded by brookenovak

A sample of the graffiti mentioned in my previous post.