Our Year in Review

As a new year dawns, it seems customary to look back over the year just ending, so here are the high (and low) lights of 2014 for Three Friends and a Fork.

January saw us in Auburn to watch as the Tigers played in the BCS Championship Bowl out in Pasadena, CA. Our friend, Teresa and a herd of teenage boys joined us for an exciting weekend on the Plains. Sadly, Auburn lost the championship, but we all still had fun and had a really tasty time at our first visit to Acre, which we are adding to our list of top ten Alabama restaurants.

February found Lu and me on the road to Birmingham to visit Sherri in the hospital. While we were there, we visited Tau Poco, a restaurant featuring cuisine from around the world.  Lu and I each chose something different so we could give a more in depth description of Tau Poco's choices. Even though Sherri could not go to Tau Poco with us, we asked her what she would have chosen had she been with us. She did not choose one single different item from the ones Luanne and I had picked. Since the beginning of this blog, we tried to impress on Sherri how much more we would have to report on if we all got different dishes. Even when it was just pretend, we could not get her to embrace that concept. Stubborn? Yes!

March had one blog post and it was about our trip to Birmingham's Hot and Hot Fish Club. This one had been on our radar for a while, but it really got bumped to the top when Hot and Hot's Chef Chris Hastings beat Iron Chef Bobby Flay by one point on Food Network's Iron Chef Competition. Again, Sherri was not able to go with us, so our friends, Merri and Susan joined us for dinner.

April was barren. We did not have one single blog post in April, so we looked back at our Facebook page. There was one post complaining about an article entitled, 7 of the Most Underrated Food Cities in America. Our gripe? Birmingham was not on the list and we felt it was highly underrated.

May saw Parker on the road again, but this time I could not make it. She and Lu went to Sebastian's On Main in Albertville with our former colleague and friend, Kellenberger. The reports were glowing and I was sad I could not join my buddies to check it out for myself.

June was the last time Parker got to join us for a restaurant visit. All Three Friends, the Fork and our good friend, Lavinia, headed to Guntersville to check out a place called Somewhere On the Lake. Parker was a trooper. By this time she was getting very sick, but if she even felt a little bit good, she wanted to go with us. It was a fun day and one we will always treasure.

July included a trip to check out Huntsville's Food Truck Rally with our friend, Dawn. We had a blast sampling selections from the different trucks, but our favorite? The artisan tea from Piper and Leaf!

August brought about some new discoveries, one in Birmingham and one in Huntsville. In Birmingham, my sister and I visited Brick and Tin, a farm to table restaurant on the north side of downtown Birmingham. It was wonderful. In Huntsville, a search to find a place to buy some more of Piper and Leaf's delicious tea, turned up Lowe Mill, a collection of shops and art in an old, converted cotton mill. We found the tea, but we also found some delicious handmade chocolates at Pizzelle's Confections.

September was the hardest. We lost our friend, colleague and blog buddy, Sherri, to multiple myeloma. We miss her everyday and every time we go out or a song starts to play or someone pulls out a jar of glitter, we think of our funny, irreverent, one of a kind buddy.

October included a trip to Huntsville to check out The Sandwich Farm with our friend, Hope. Hope is a picky eater, but even she liked The Sandwich Farm. We went for lunch, but we still want to go back for breakfast.

November was another dusty month for the Three Friends...no posts. So, once again we checked out our Facebook page and the only thing notable was that Saw's Soul Kitchen made GQ's list of 50 Best Things to Eat Right Now! What did we say? We told you so!

December came and now it is about to end. The main event for Three Friends in December has been the continued revival of downtown Scottsboro. We celebrated Christmas with Jingle Bell Square, a fun-filled, two night celebration of Christmas around Scottsboro's Courthouse Square.

So, that is it...our year in review. Some good, some bad, some happy, some sad, but all of it makes us who we are and while we are technically just two friends now, we happily remain Three Friends and a Fork because we know that somewhere Sherri is critiquing every single blog post. Wherever you are, go celebrate the new year by breaking out a bottle of glitter in honor of our forever friend, Parker. Happy New Year from Three Friends and a Fork to you! Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Scottsboro Jingles with Christmas Spirit!

Downtown Scottsboro's own Lindsey Garner gets ready for Jingle Bell Square!

Another successful Downtown Scottsboro event is in the history books. Scottsboro's all volunteer Downtown Scottsboro committee pulled off Jingle Bell Square, a two day event, with no funds and little time, but lots of help. With a mission to bring attention and folks back to the beautiful and historic square in the heart of Scottsboro, the group of concerned citizens is starting small and hoping to grow more interest in the downtown area. Jingle Bell Square is the second event the group has hosted on the square. A movie night back in September was the first. Both events have been well received and attended, encouraging the volunteer group to keep trying to plan activities and events for visitors and locals to enjoy.

The highlight of Jingle Bell Square was a host of Santas from around the world. In addition to the jolly old elf we are used to, traditional Santas from Ireland, Scotland, Russia and Germany all made an appearance.

This photo and the one above, courtesy Angela Seabolt Kyser.

Not one, but two horse drawn wagons gave children and adults alike a ride around the beautiful square.

Lots of tasty treats were available for purchase. From hot dogs to spiced nuts, hot cider to hot chocolate, there was something for everyone.

The Lions Club sold fresh, shelled pecans.

Hot drinks were welcome on the chilly nights

McIllwain's Kettle Corn is always a hit! They have lots of flavors, some sweet, some spicy, but all delicious!

Warm, cinnamony spiced nuts were so good!

The grilled hot dogs were a sell out!

A professional DJ, Brian Anderson, donated his services and provided festive music which put everyone in the holiday spirit!

 Visitors could purchase Downtown Scottsboro t shirts and vote for their favorite storefront decorations at the Jingle Bell Gift Shoppe.

There were activities for the kiddos. The young and young at heart could fill a bag of reindeer food at the Reindeer Food Bar and craft a paper plate angel, too.

It was a fun night on the town for everyone!

Even the pampered pets got in the spirit of the season!

What's next? Ideas are being tossed around. Stay tuned to see what Downtown Scottsboro comes up with and find out how you can help!

Five Reasons Why We No Longer Watch Food Network

Chef Tory McPhail, executive chef of Commander's Palace in New Orleans, won the $25,000 prize on Food Network's Kitchen Inferno. 

We are breaking up with the Food Network. We are not breaking up with some of our favorite food gurus, just from the channel in general. It has been a slow separation, because we really loved Food Network. There was a time when we couldn't get enough of our favorite shows and there were many of them, Barefoot Contessa, Boy Meets Grill, Tyler's Ultimate... But, unfortunately, we've come to the conclusion that we have irreconcilable differences with Food Network. We've come to a parting of the ways and here are the reasons why.

1. Too many competition and hidden camera type shows...
We liked the competitions. We loved The Next Food Network Star, Iron Chef and Dinner Impossible. But now everything is a competition and some of them are just sad. And those shows where they try to catch restaurant employees doing bad things just don't make us feel good. We don't like to watch shows that try to entertain us in unsavory ways. It is like watching Hoarders or Anna Nicole Smith's descent into addiction. We don't enjoy other people's misery even if they bring it on themselves. Additionally, many of the competition shows keep recycling the same old people over and over again. It's ok sometimes, but again...too much of the same, Food Network.

2. Too much Triple D...
We used to like Triple D. We are fans of Guy Fieri. How do you not like him? He's friendly, nice, energetic, but Food Network has ruined Triple D for us. How? Too much exposure. Triple D is no longer entertaining. It is just too much.

3. Next Food Network Star just isn't...
As we said before, we were huge fans of The Next Food Network Star. After all, look what happened to Guy Fieri after he won. We cheered him on! He was a success story. That is why we watched, to see someone achieve their dream and get their own show. But then along Justin Warner. He won The Next Food Network Star competition and the promise of his own show on the Food Network. Sadly, Justin never got that show and we all ended up feeling a little gipped. And it wasn't because Justin was the one we were pulling for. It's just that he won fair and square and a promise is a promise.

4. Too many repeats...
This is an extension of the Triple D problem, only it isn't just Triple D. Shows on Food Network are shown ad nauseum. We are tired of turning on the television to see Giada whip up Nonna Luna's savory broiled artichokes for the 500th time. Again, we like Giada, but enough is enough.

5. There is more to learn on Create TV...
We have discovered Create TV. It is more like Food Network used to be before the network executives quit seeing whisks and started seeing dollar signs. We love Cook's Country from America's Test Kitchen. You can really learn something from that show, like the best way to get that crispy brown crust on your salmon without overcooking the fish or a really great knife to add to your collection (http://threefriendsandafork.blogspot.com/2014/12/how-do-you-cut-it.html). Everything on Create TV is more real, none of the glitz and glitter and used car salesman pushiness of Food Network. We can feel our blood pressure going down when we switch the channel from Food Network to Create TV.

Does this mean we will never again tune in to another competition show on Food Network? No! We were right there glued to the television when our favorite chef, Tory McPhail, beat Iron Chef Geoffery Zakarian to win the $25,000 prize on Kitchen Inferno. But what it does mean is we will be tuning in much less often and it's probably going to take something (or somebody) really special to get us to flip the channel back to Food Network.

No Holes Barred Shrimp, Sausage and Grits

Yum

Alrighty...before we give you this next recipe, we are going to tell you straight up...We do not want to hear from any health food gurus telling us how seriously bad it is. We know that. It is bad...so bad you will want to punish yourself for eating it! But don't! Just enjoy it and promise to do better tomorrow. We do not recommend making this dish once a week or even once a month, but once a year, if you want to pull out all the stops and assuming you have been squeaky clean the rest of the year, we say go for it. And remember, we just gave you a recipe for kale slaw, so don't judge us too harshly! What is it? Shrimp, sausage and grits and it hits all the danger notes: bacon, butter, cream and sausage. Seriously, can it get any worse? And, yes, we thought about lightening it up, but since we had never before attempted shrimp and grits on our own, we decided to go full throttle and try it with all the flavor and fat. Maybe next time we will try to come up with a lighter version, but for now this is it...No Holes Barred Shrimp, Sausage and Grits. Oh, and lest we look bad all by ourselves, you should know that our sweet friend, Deborah G., inspired this recipe and she is one of the healthiest people we know. She truly knows how to balance her life and this is one example. Recently at a beautiful brunch at her home, she created a wonderful grits bar with all kinds of toppings and one of the toppings was a tomato gravy with Andouille sausage. It was divine and the inspiration for this recipe. Try it (just once) and let us know what you think.

Here's what you will need:

1 lb. large fresh shrimp, peeled, deveined and grilled
1 lb. Andouille or smoked Conecuh sausage
2 cans fire roasted tomatoes
6 slices of bacon, chopped into pieces
1 small onion, diced
2 T. flour
3 cups beef broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

For the grits:
1 c. quick grits
4 c. water
1 stick butter
1 t. salt
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream


Brown the bacon and sausage in a large Dutch oven. Remove the bacon and sausage when the bacon is browned and completely cooked. Drain on paper towels to remove excess grease. Pour all of the grease out of the pot except for 2 tablespoons. Add the diced onion to the pot and cook until the onion becomes translucent. Stir in the 2 tablespoons of flour. Put the bacon and sausage back in the pan along with the tomatoes and beef broth. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly. Then add whipping cream, grilled shrimp, salt and pepper. Serve over creamy grits.

Grits:
Slowly cook 1 c. grits in 4 c. salted water until grits are thick and creamy. Add butter and whipping cream and stir well.

Home Grown Revival

Several months ago a small group of Facebook users in Scottsboro, AL began tossing around ideas of ways to breathe life back into the small town. The conversation started when residents received news that Scottsboro and surrounding Jackson County had been awarded grants in the range of one million dollars to renovate the downtown square.  Suddenly, people began imagining a change in the town and there was reason to believe some of the ideas could become reality. A million dollars was a tangible hook on which hopes and dreams could hang. One of those citizens, Nat Cisco, was inspired to form a Facebook page called, Revive, which had the express purpose of generating positive ideas for improving the local economy and supporting the town's businesses. From Revive, a second group, Downtown Scottsboro, was created. Downtown Scottsboro's mission is to establish an arts and entertainment district around the historic old downtown square. While Revive has fueled ideas for the improvement of all areas of the town, Downtown Scottsboro has a more narrow focus. The idea was to start in the heart of the city and grow the economy from the inside out, to encourage shopping, dining and entertainment around the square and bring people back to the city's roots. Now Revive and Downtown Scottsboro have been the impetus behind the formation of Scottsboro's Downtown Redevelopment Authority. The Downtown Redevelopment Authority is a government entity that can search for and accept grants to be used for downtown revitalization. So, while Revive and Downtown Scottsboro can come up with ideas and ways to put those plans into action, the Redevelopment Authority can actually generate the money needed to make the ideas come to life.  The DRA has already acquired property on the square. After a fire had destroyed a narrow building, leaving a burned out alleyway, a false front had been added to improve the appearance of the charred hull, but nothing else had been done with the property. This alleyway was given to the DRA to be used to to the benefit of the downtown area. Ideas for the best use of this property are still being discussed.

This is a true grassroots movement at its best and social media has given it wheels. But, it all still boils down to the heart of the local citizens. Any movement is only as good as the commitment, drive, support and determination of the residents. In that regard, Scottsboro is showing itself to be blessed. In just a few short months, since the birth of Revive, it is evident that change is afoot in the city of Scottsboro. 

The change began to become noticeable when one concerned resident, Richard Matthews, offered to give the beloved Variety Bake Shop a facelift. As you can see from the photos above, the change is dramatic and graphic evidence of the ability of one person to make a difference. 

Not only has Scottsboro welcomed a brand new business, Nerdtopia, to the downtown area, we've noticed a brightening of other buildings around the square. A little paint here, a little repairing there...each and every bit beginning to make a difference, and all of this before even one penny of the million dollar grant money has been used.

Additionally, Downtown Scottsboro has thrown a downtown Movie Night on the Square and is currently working on a Christmas extravaganza, Jingle Bell Square. Both of these events were designed to give the local citizens a reason to come together and enjoy themselves in the city's historic downtown. The group plans to host more downtown events with the hope that these events will give the current businesses on the square a boost and help encourage the growth of new businesses in the area. 

Change is not immediate and growth takes time, but all it takes is for one tiny spark to take hold and the people of the town to fan the flames for that spark to turn into a blaze. We will be watching to see if Scottsboro can make good things happen, but right now, the signs are looking bright. Three Friends and a Fork will be cheering the progress every step of the way. Light the fires, Scottsboro! Fan the flames, Jackson County!

Colorful Kale Slaw

Yum

I have never had a green thumb. If something grows in the ground, I can usually find a way to kill it. I cannot grow a tomato to save my life and my spinach plants sprouted like they were going to do something and then got a glimpse of their gardener and curled up and died. So the only explanation I have for the beautiful kale I grew this year is that the stuff cannot be murdered. Seriously, if I can grow kale, anyone can grow kale. The problem is, I grew gorgeous kale and then had absolutely no idea what to do with it. I mean, I want to add kale to my repertoire, but it isn't something that comes naturally for me. I can't remember ever having kale as a child and I can barely get my own kids to eat turnip greens, so kale has been a bit of a challenge. I think it is quite ironic that the most successful plant I grew in my garden this year was the one I knew the least about. I've tried making kale chips, which did not meet with much enthusiasm from my family at all. While I kept searching for kale recipes to try, my kale kept growing, getting bigger, curlier and greener, taunting me make something with it.

So, I was quite interested when I happened to see Ina Garten on her show making a winter slaw with kale. Ina used kale, radicchio, and Brussels sprouts, finely chopped and topped with a lemony vinaigrette. I decided to try a kale slaw for myself, but I needed to make a few changes from Ina's recipe. First, I am not a fan of radicchio, so I traded it for some purple cabbage. Taking Ina's advice, I finely shredded the kale, cabbage and the Brussels sprouts. The purple cabbage and the dark green kale were absolutely beautiful together. Also, my family thought the lemony vinaigrette was a little tart for their tastes, so I made some changes to the dressing. I chose to eliminate the parmesan cheese that Ina added to her slaw. Additionally, Ina's recipe called for dried cranberries, which I used, but I thought it could use something nutty. I just happened to have a bag of sweetened, orange flavored almonds and cranberries that my friend Merri introduced me to when we went to the beach last year.

Merri is one of the best cooks I know and she has lots of good food ideas. She told me she often adds these flavorful almonds and cranberries to her salads. After one taste, I was hooked, so I keep a bag of them in my pantry at all times. I thought the orange flavor would be a great addition to the kale.

Here is what I ended up with. A sweeter version of Ina's kale slaw. I just love the purple and green together. Just looking at this pretty slaw makes me happy. I am also thrilled to be actually using my beautiful kale in a dish.  Here's the recipe. Be forewarned...it makes a huge bowl of slaw. See what you think!

6 large leaves of kale with the center spines removed
1/2 head of purple cabbage
8 Brussels sprouts, with the stems trimmed and cored.
1 bag of orange cranberry almondine
1 c. dried cranberries
Juice of 1 lemon
2/3 c. olive oil
1/4 c. sugar
3 T. water
2 T. white wine vinegar
1 T. Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
2 t. lime juice
2 t. fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 t. dried basil
1/4 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

Finely shred cabbage, kale and Brussels sprouts and put in large bowl. Add the orange cranberry almondine and dried cranberries to the shredded vegetables. In a separate bowl whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over the slaw.