Babs in Blogland

The other day, my local market was sampling these sausages.  I took one bite and added a package to my cart.

I’m constantly bored by chicken and avoid it at all costs, but this is a great way to add some variety to my meal rotation.  I’ve been bringing them in for lunch because they are fully cooked and easy to heat up in the microwave.  As suggested, I add a little apple juice before cooking to bring out the apple flavor.  I skip the bun and add a little dijon mustard and I am good to go!

I bet these would taste even better on the grill, so think about adding them to your next cookout.  The non-red meat eaters will surely be pleased.

Sunday I was invited to Cafe Circa to partake of free brunch.  The restaurant is unveiling a new brunch menu and invited a few people to come try it out.  As you will recall, I was previously no fan of this particular restaurant.  In fact, it was nearly a year ago that I had one of the worst dining experiences ever.  However, I rarely turn down free food, and the owner had assured me that there had been significant changes in both the menu and staff.

Well, I can’t speak about the staff because it wasn’t a typical day of service at the restaurant, but boy has the menu changed!  I started out with a mango mimosa.  Yum!  I will be googling that recipe and adding it to the next all-day gab-fest at Safety’s house.

For brunch, I ordered the yellow-tail snapper eggs benedict.  The fish was a generous portion and pan fried to perfection.  It was topped with poached eggs, a creamy sauce and a few haricots verts (thin green beans for all you laymen).  It all sat atop a fried plantain.  It was scrumptios.  Truly.  That one plate has redeemed all the bad things I once said about their food.  My companions had the shrimp and grits, which I am told was delicious.  They were fried coconut shrimp and the grits looked more like hominy.  I would probably order that if I didn’t already have plans to order the snapper once again!

I will definitely be visitng Cafe Circa again in the near future, and probably for brunch.  Hopefully, the service will have changed for the better as well.

This week I had the opportunity to try something new.  A French cafe in Marietta!  I had driven past it on my way to class on Tuesday and knew it would be my lunch destination on Wednesday. 

Douceur de France is in what looks like an old house.  When you walk inside, your senses are immediately attacked by the smells of all the baked goods.  Behind the bakery case you see all the Frnech standards, including my favorite pain au chocolate.  There are also some beautifully designed cakes, and I am thinking this is where I am going to order my next cake.  At noon on a beautiful, sunny day I was able to snag a table on the patio.  I ordered the chicken pot pie and waited.  There was a steady stream of people coming and going.  Apparently, I am the only person in Cobb County not aware of these delights.

My pot pie, which arrived somewhat “inside-out” was delicious.  The pastry contained the chicken and onions, and the bechamel sauce was on the side.  It was really good!  I watched other dishes going past and made a mental note to try the veal on my next visit.

After I cleaned my plate I went inside to pay.  I was tempted to order a pastry, but decided against it.  I know, the one time Babs shows some self control!  But I will definitely be back.  They have a delightful breakfast menu that I am dying to try.

If you are in the Marietta area, I would definitely head there for breakfast or lunch.  They close at 330pm, so make sure you get there early.

Since I am away from the plantation this week for training, I took the opportunity to meet CaliSlim for lunch on Tuesday.  When she suggested we meet at Blu Sushi on Cobb Parkway I was excited.  I have driven past that restaurant hundreds of times and always wanted to try it.  My excitement should have ended there.

We were pleased at the lunch menu.  There were many offerings and the prices were extremely fair.  We both ordered a sushi roll, assorted nigiri and soup and salad.  The soup and salad were standard.  I mean, how can you mess up miso soup and salad?

After we ate our soup and salad we continued chatting it up.  We discussed men the economic crisis, relationshipsthe situation in Darfur, and datingour opinions on waterboarding.  The time flew quickly and before we knew it, the waiter came over to apologize for our food taking so long.  I looked at the time and was shocked to see that I had ten minutes to make it back to class, and I was nearly fifteen minutes away.

Obviously, I was none too pleased to be running so late and not have even been served my main course.  The waiter hustled the lone sushi chef to get my food to me (CaliSlim was still waiting) and I can honestly say it was some of the worst sushi I have ever had.  Straight up, I’ve had better sushi from Publix. 

The shrimp tempura roll tasted like it was made with beer battered shrimp.  You know, extremely heavy breading.  Yuck.  My unagi was dry and didn’t at all taste fresh.  The wakame was decent, but really how can you mess that up.  I’m sure it come already prepared.

I scarfed down a few pieces of my food, paid my check and bounced.  CaliSlim was still waiting for her meal when I left.  Our server offered to box up my remaining meal, but I told him not to bother.  The food was not good. 

I am so disappointed in Blu Sushi.  It totally did not live up to my standards or anyone’s I would expect.  If you are in the area, head north about a mile and go to RuSans.  Sure it’s a standard Atlanta chain, but at least you know what you are getting.