Sorry for all of you ladies who were moist for some Clay Aiken. It turns out that contrary to popular belief he prefers to play swords.
I'm shocked. If you could see my face right now, you'd know what my shocked face looks like. Nah, that's just my you're a doofus if you thought Clay Aiken was straight face.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
ah, democracy!
It's very difficult to turn on a television these days and not have the opportunity to participate first-hand in a democratic process. Seemingly, the trend in the US seems to have stemmed from one of the first hit reality television shows, Survivor. The participants voted which other participant would be selected to leave the island, effectively terminating their participation in the event. This process was repeated each week in order to narrow the selection down to a single winner. The democratic process was used in somewhat reverse order, but represented the general process nonetheless. But it wasn't enough...
Then came American Idol! The fundamental advancement in democracy here was expanding the vote. The vote was not solely up to the participants (can't imagine that they were banned from voting for themselves) but it was expanded into your living room. All you had to do was call a special number or send a text message to vote for your favorite act. Now I think you can even use the Internet! This is the essence of a true democracy! The only difference from our voting system is that each person could vote more than once. Or perhaps that is not different...
It's good to see that our political system in the great United States of America is keeping up with the times. Here we are now, at the end of a lengthy process where candidates have been trotted on-screen, allowed the opportunity to perform, and then the people were driven out to vote for them. Unfortunately, they aren't too modern and we actually had to go to a special location to vote. Each major political party had their own tribe and we elected a "Grand Poobah," so to speak. The most exciting part of this whole process was that they each had a live, semi-season finale where they each announced their winner! These semi-finales were essentially large fiestas that were televised and took place over several days. Several days exceeds the attention span of the average American viewer, so I have taken the liberty of editing them down to something that the average US citizen can handle.
Since it was first chronologically, I figured we'd start with the Democrat National Convention that occurred in Denver. This video focuses primarily on the party platform and the proposed solutions that were developed at the convention. Pay attention! This is important and riveting stuff!
The following week, the Republicans had their own convention in the Twin Cities, Minneapolis & St. Paul. Who doesn't love twins? This was effectively the message that we take home from their televised events.
The best part is that it's not even over! Like any good television series, they just keep us glued to the tube wanting more! Now, we get to witness the really fun part! All day, every day, until November 4th, we get to see more and more performances by the respective elected Grand Poobahs from each tribe until it's time for us to vote yet again! You have to keep us riveted and I'm sure that they will! In the meantime, since we're between seasons for the good shows anyhow, enjoy the ride!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
omfg
Thanks, retards. Mostly, thank you Governor. Thanks to you, the price of gas couldn't rise to the point where people consumed less and now we have artificial shortages. Thank goodness I filled up regularly on Wednesday.
At $5/gal, some folks might decide they only need a half a tank until maybe the end of next week when gas prices might naturally go down. Instead, it's all "Hey, it's still less than $4/gal, let's fill up now while the stations are afraid of being accused of "gouging." You'd hope that anyone deciding anything about market prices has actually taken a course in economics. But that class is only a half-credit requirement for graduation in Georgia. Keep those kids just smart enough to pay bills, but not quite smart enough to know better when politicians make bad decisions.
Thanks again, lame duck.
Friday, September 12, 2008
weapons of mash destruction
Most people that know me know fairly well that I like to brew my own beer. As of this week, I've also made my first batch of root beer. Yay me, right? Most people that know home-brewers also know that they like to make other stuff, too. For example, I also like to make desserts and bake homemade bread. But the obsession with creating stuff for most brewers doesn't stop in the kitchen. It also lends itself well to other projects that involve lots of milling around in The Home Depot looking for parts that can suit some new equipment project. And sometimes it also involves a little bit of woodwork like my project today.
A lot of home-brewers start off by brewing with malt extracts. *nerd alert!* This is where barley, or other grains, has had its starches converted into sugars (the stuff yeast likes to turn into alcohol) and the resulting liquid then has its water evaporated off leaving behind a solid "sugar" that is further processed into powder. Keep in mind that other non-volatile compounds remain as well. You take this extract, dissolve it in water, add some other ingredients like hops, boil it for a while, and then cool it for the yeast to have a fun time. And voila, a few weeks later, you've got beer!
But the more you get into brewing, the less and less that this approach with extracts seems to satisfy. You read about how starting with the grains themselves and doing the starch to sugar conversion yourself is way more satisfying and some say it produces better beers. Something to do with preservation of nutrients for the yeast, yada yada yada, blah blah. So, a few trips to The Home Depot and a couple hundred bucks later, you've got yourself a "real" brewery! Now the fun begins.
Well, if you're like me, you start off relatively inexpensively. One of the best attributes of a home brewer is to be able to do more with less. It takes some improv skills, but not the acting-type. More of the engineering-type improvisation skill. But acting is okay, too, as long as you're brewing with a few friends. Anyhow, back to the point about being on the cheap... A fairly cheap way to make a vessel for converting the starches into sugars, called a mash tun, is to use a 5-gallon cooler, of the variety that you see on construction trucks that are commonly orange like mine. Change out the button-style spigot with a ball-valve (handled) spigot and like magic, you've got a nice insulated mash tun. Did I mention that mashing occurs at about 150 degrees Fahrenheit and that holding that temperature is important for good conversion? Well I have now.
Well, the only real problem that I've had with mashing has been stirring the mash, which is not easy to do with about 12 pounds of grain and only three gallons of water. The mixture is a lot like a fairly firm mud. It takes some effort to get down to the bottom of the mix. And stirring is essential to get water into the nooks and crannies of the grains to convert more starches plus to even out the temperature of your mash to avoid hot and cold spots. Those natural enzymes only work in a fairly limited temperature range. I had been using a long plastic spoon, but it started bending way too much due to the heat. Plus it was kind of skinny and was difficult to get down to the bottom of the mash tun. Then I was using a kitchen spoon that had a metal handle with a plastic spoon end with some luck, but it just wasn't long enough. I did mention that this stuff is at 150 F! Ow, fingers!
So, I was looking for a solution. They had a nice long metal spoon at the homebrew store, but it just didn't look as durable as I would like. The metal was rather thin, probably less than 1/32". And barely long enough. I asked about a wooden mash paddle, like the ones you see on the internet for about $40, and the owner said that his suppliers don't sell them. So, it looked like another project time! Yay!
After reading up on the Internet and in a homebrew magazine that I subscribe to, it looked like the best wood choice was a nice hard wood like maple. So, off to The Home Depot to find a suitable piece of wood. The only problem was, the one I went to only had pine, red oak (too porous), and poplar (which was too grainy/pitted), and cheap "whitewood". Disappointed, I sulked off. Looks like I have to go elsewhere.
So, today, I headed out to another Depot, hoping their wood selection would be better. No such luck. I guess it doesn't sell well enough for them to keep it in stock. Since it was just a quarter mile down the road, I figured I'd try my luck at BLowe's. I avoid it as much as possible since it don't pay my bills but sometimes, it's worth the try if El Depot de la Casa don't carry stock. And guess what. They had maple boards. So I bought one. It only cost me $8.50 for a 1x4x48" plank. A far cry from the $40 bucks or so to order one pre-made!
I got it home and started measuring and marking. I'm not a stickler for perfection on simple projects where the only consumer is me so I marked some guidelines and free-handed a few curves and cut-outs then headed down to the garage to drill/cut/router/sand. About an hour and a half later, my masterpiece was complete! I didn't think to take pics during the construction so you'll just have to imagine from the jigsaw puzzle of scraps. I also took a picture with it resting in my homemade mash tun so that you could see perspective. There are a few places where it isn't perfect, chipped edge and bad drill placement on the upper handle, but the business end is pretty decent.
A lot of home-brewers start off by brewing with malt extracts. *nerd alert!* This is where barley, or other grains, has had its starches converted into sugars (the stuff yeast likes to turn into alcohol) and the resulting liquid then has its water evaporated off leaving behind a solid "sugar" that is further processed into powder. Keep in mind that other non-volatile compounds remain as well. You take this extract, dissolve it in water, add some other ingredients like hops, boil it for a while, and then cool it for the yeast to have a fun time. And voila, a few weeks later, you've got beer!
But the more you get into brewing, the less and less that this approach with extracts seems to satisfy. You read about how starting with the grains themselves and doing the starch to sugar conversion yourself is way more satisfying and some say it produces better beers. Something to do with preservation of nutrients for the yeast, yada yada yada, blah blah. So, a few trips to The Home Depot and a couple hundred bucks later, you've got yourself a "real" brewery! Now the fun begins.
Well, if you're like me, you start off relatively inexpensively. One of the best attributes of a home brewer is to be able to do more with less. It takes some improv skills, but not the acting-type. More of the engineering-type improvisation skill. But acting is okay, too, as long as you're brewing with a few friends. Anyhow, back to the point about being on the cheap... A fairly cheap way to make a vessel for converting the starches into sugars, called a mash tun, is to use a 5-gallon cooler, of the variety that you see on construction trucks that are commonly orange like mine. Change out the button-style spigot with a ball-valve (handled) spigot and like magic, you've got a nice insulated mash tun. Did I mention that mashing occurs at about 150 degrees Fahrenheit and that holding that temperature is important for good conversion? Well I have now.
Well, the only real problem that I've had with mashing has been stirring the mash, which is not easy to do with about 12 pounds of grain and only three gallons of water. The mixture is a lot like a fairly firm mud. It takes some effort to get down to the bottom of the mix. And stirring is essential to get water into the nooks and crannies of the grains to convert more starches plus to even out the temperature of your mash to avoid hot and cold spots. Those natural enzymes only work in a fairly limited temperature range. I had been using a long plastic spoon, but it started bending way too much due to the heat. Plus it was kind of skinny and was difficult to get down to the bottom of the mash tun. Then I was using a kitchen spoon that had a metal handle with a plastic spoon end with some luck, but it just wasn't long enough. I did mention that this stuff is at 150 F! Ow, fingers!
So, I was looking for a solution. They had a nice long metal spoon at the homebrew store, but it just didn't look as durable as I would like. The metal was rather thin, probably less than 1/32". And barely long enough. I asked about a wooden mash paddle, like the ones you see on the internet for about $40, and the owner said that his suppliers don't sell them. So, it looked like another project time! Yay!
After reading up on the Internet and in a homebrew magazine that I subscribe to, it looked like the best wood choice was a nice hard wood like maple. So, off to The Home Depot to find a suitable piece of wood. The only problem was, the one I went to only had pine, red oak (too porous), and poplar (which was too grainy/pitted), and cheap "whitewood". Disappointed, I sulked off. Looks like I have to go elsewhere.
So, today, I headed out to another Depot, hoping their wood selection would be better. No such luck. I guess it doesn't sell well enough for them to keep it in stock. Since it was just a quarter mile down the road, I figured I'd try my luck at BLowe's. I avoid it as much as possible since it don't pay my bills but sometimes, it's worth the try if El Depot de la Casa don't carry stock. And guess what. They had maple boards. So I bought one. It only cost me $8.50 for a 1x4x48" plank. A far cry from the $40 bucks or so to order one pre-made!
I got it home and started measuring and marking. I'm not a stickler for perfection on simple projects where the only consumer is me so I marked some guidelines and free-handed a few curves and cut-outs then headed down to the garage to drill/cut/router/sand. About an hour and a half later, my masterpiece was complete! I didn't think to take pics during the construction so you'll just have to imagine from the jigsaw puzzle of scraps. I also took a picture with it resting in my homemade mash tun so that you could see perspective. There are a few places where it isn't perfect, chipped edge and bad drill placement on the upper handle, but the business end is pretty decent.
Monday, September 01, 2008
at the risk of being insensitive
People just don't get it when it comes to air. You can't see it, so it doesn't exist, right? No, wrong.
If you're transporting large items in an open vehicle, like a truck, and you think there might be even the remote possibility that it might move in transit, strap it down. Strap it in well. The box spring in your open bed truck that is not even lying flat because of the crap underneath it, like a kid's bike, may just in fact take one bad bounce, catch a little bit of airflow, succumb to natural laws of physics regarding fluid flow, and become airborne. Straight up about 10 feet before coming down. On the interstate highway. Traveling at about 65 mph. With someone driving behind you (at a safe distance). That someone being me. With the unfortunate circumstance of having the box spring go to the right while someone is in the left lane right next to them. So they hit your box spring. And luckily gets away with a couple of scratches and dents in their four month old car instead of possible bodily injury to themselves (and wife!) or possible others (if I had swerved left to avoid it).
Just ask the people in southern Louisiana (and AL, MS, TX, etc.) about the power of something you can't even see. I suppose that you might be able to see the movement by watching how the rain drops are affected. But you still can't see the air. That's where the power of that storm is. Movement of ridiculously small individual molecules. In ridiculously large numbers.
And of course, you can't have a good natural disaster story without having the old standby. You know, the poor sob story about the affect of relocation on some poor family or other. Like this one on CNN.
After enjoying that fine piece of journalism, please pay particular attention to this line.
If you're transporting large items in an open vehicle, like a truck, and you think there might be even the remote possibility that it might move in transit, strap it down. Strap it in well. The box spring in your open bed truck that is not even lying flat because of the crap underneath it, like a kid's bike, may just in fact take one bad bounce, catch a little bit of airflow, succumb to natural laws of physics regarding fluid flow, and become airborne. Straight up about 10 feet before coming down. On the interstate highway. Traveling at about 65 mph. With someone driving behind you (at a safe distance). That someone being me. With the unfortunate circumstance of having the box spring go to the right while someone is in the left lane right next to them. So they hit your box spring. And luckily gets away with a couple of scratches and dents in their four month old car instead of possible bodily injury to themselves (and wife!) or possible others (if I had swerved left to avoid it).
Just ask the people in southern Louisiana (and AL, MS, TX, etc.) about the power of something you can't even see. I suppose that you might be able to see the movement by watching how the rain drops are affected. But you still can't see the air. That's where the power of that storm is. Movement of ridiculously small individual molecules. In ridiculously large numbers.
And of course, you can't have a good natural disaster story without having the old standby. You know, the poor sob story about the affect of relocation on some poor family or other. Like this one on CNN.
After enjoying that fine piece of journalism, please pay particular attention to this line.
She brought two hair weaves with her from New Orleans and is passing the time by styling them and trying to reach friends on her cell phone.Somehow, there's money for hair weaves and cell phones but not for food and gas. Only in the US.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
i know that color!!
Once again, my wife and I allowed ourselves to be pillaged for the "privilege" of being Georgia Tech season ticket holders. We do it because we love going to the games. It gives us an excuse to hang out enjoying the weather and good friends with good food and good beer. To be honest, we could spend as much as we do all season doing just one short trip to Orlando or any other tourist destination so it's not horrible. We just sometimes feel that we get fleeced paying full face value plus a "seat premium" for supposedly better seats when they hand out free tickets, family packs on the cheap that include food, drink, and spirit wear, or tickets for $12 for a few days before a low sales game.
Anyhow, not to complain about that here. The title of the post has nothing to do with bitchy season ticket holders. It has to do with the new GT uniforms. Mostly, when I saw it, I thought "Wow, now they are going to have to call us the Olive Jackets", or something else to describe that color, which is certainly some bastard child of gold and an amalgam of army fatigue greens. In the stadium, the helmets don't look like they match the pants and we sure don't look like we stole Notre Dame's helmets and slapped a GT logo on the side anymore, but they do look like they match the pants on TV and in photos. I don't know, it sort of grew on me during the game, but not in a "I really dig the new unis" kind of way. Supposedly change is sometimes good and I'm sure that we are just on the front end of some freakish return to 70's-era color palettes. Maybe. I think?
After a few days, it really dawned on me what the color really was. Big thanks to the Russell sports wear guys. No, really. You really pulled a fast one on us there. I know that we don't graduate a lot of fashion designers or anything since we aren't much of a liberal arts school (yet!) but it looks like UGA did train some. And they work for Russell. As a designer. And they gave us this color scheme. See pics below for more detail. They say pictures can speak a thousand words or so and I invite you to listen carefully to what these can say.
Anyhow, not to complain about that here. The title of the post has nothing to do with bitchy season ticket holders. It has to do with the new GT uniforms. Mostly, when I saw it, I thought "Wow, now they are going to have to call us the Olive Jackets", or something else to describe that color, which is certainly some bastard child of gold and an amalgam of army fatigue greens. In the stadium, the helmets don't look like they match the pants and we sure don't look like we stole Notre Dame's helmets and slapped a GT logo on the side anymore, but they do look like they match the pants on TV and in photos. I don't know, it sort of grew on me during the game, but not in a "I really dig the new unis" kind of way. Supposedly change is sometimes good and I'm sure that we are just on the front end of some freakish return to 70's-era color palettes. Maybe. I think?
After a few days, it really dawned on me what the color really was. Big thanks to the Russell sports wear guys. No, really. You really pulled a fast one on us there. I know that we don't graduate a lot of fashion designers or anything since we aren't much of a liberal arts school (yet!) but it looks like UGA did train some. And they work for Russell. As a designer. And they gave us this color scheme. See pics below for more detail. They say pictures can speak a thousand words or so and I invite you to listen carefully to what these can say.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
wow
I thought it would happen in my lifetime, but I never imagined it would happen this soon. It is truly amazing that our country will most likely elect a president that will either place a bi-racial man or a woman into the White House in January of 2009.
How novel.
How novel.
Monday, August 25, 2008
how mccain can win my vote
Pick a quality VP candidate. It's not too much to ask. I definitely won't vote for his top competitor so he has that going for him.
Who would win my vote? Three people that I can think of. The easiest choice is Ron Paul. Want a guaranteed vote from me in November? Pick this guy. He's honest, he's not overly conservative, he upholds the Constitution, is a foreign non-interventionist, and he has a vision for the country that involves us remaining on top. He has the age thing working against him if that's an issue for a voter but that just leads me think that those voters have a lack of faith in modern medicine and statistics that people are living well past 80.
Who else might win my vote? Condoleeza Rice. It'd up the ante on Obama's race-card by raising him a vagina. It's not that I'm a big Condoleeza fan, I'd just really enjoy seeing some of the air let out on the whole "historic and monumental" Obama band-wagon. Besides, it'd make great TV and talk radio between now and November.
Mike Huckabee. And for the sole reason that he is a Fair Tax supporter. Do I believe it's a panacea for our country? No, but it's a good start and will stop rewarding non-productive people (economically speaking, not reproductively) at the expense of the productive people. He's a bit too theologically conservative for my tastes, but that would probably be a good thing for the McCain ticket vote-bringing-wise since it means putting our women, gay people, and pre-aborted fetuses in their place for the ultra-conservatives. Wow, I just made up a double-hyphenated word in there somewhere.
So listen up Mr. McCain!
Who would win my vote? Three people that I can think of. The easiest choice is Ron Paul. Want a guaranteed vote from me in November? Pick this guy. He's honest, he's not overly conservative, he upholds the Constitution, is a foreign non-interventionist, and he has a vision for the country that involves us remaining on top. He has the age thing working against him if that's an issue for a voter but that just leads me think that those voters have a lack of faith in modern medicine and statistics that people are living well past 80.
Who else might win my vote? Condoleeza Rice. It'd up the ante on Obama's race-card by raising him a vagina. It's not that I'm a big Condoleeza fan, I'd just really enjoy seeing some of the air let out on the whole "historic and monumental" Obama band-wagon. Besides, it'd make great TV and talk radio between now and November.
Mike Huckabee. And for the sole reason that he is a Fair Tax supporter. Do I believe it's a panacea for our country? No, but it's a good start and will stop rewarding non-productive people (economically speaking, not reproductively) at the expense of the productive people. He's a bit too theologically conservative for my tastes, but that would probably be a good thing for the McCain ticket vote-bringing-wise since it means putting our women, gay people, and pre-aborted fetuses in their place for the ultra-conservatives. Wow, I just made up a double-hyphenated word in there somewhere.
So listen up Mr. McCain!
- Ron Paul
- Condoleeza Rice
- distant third, Mike Huckabee
Friday, August 15, 2008
ma gooch's, cleveland, ga
The new job took me to Cleveland, GA just a few weeks ago. I apologize for the delay in the update, but it's not like anyone is reading this regularly enough to matter anyhow.
I woke up pretty early by today's standards and headed out towards Cleveland, GA where I was to train the middle school teachers of White County. I don't like surprises on the road so I always plan to arrive at least an hour early. Today, I was more on track for two hours early because I over-estimated the time it would take to make copies at Kinko's on the way. I hadn't really eaten breakfast and was seriously in need of a decent cup of black coffee. I arrived at the town square of Cleveland and surmised that it was really more of a town circle in the style of a European round-a-bout. It was difficult to look for a restaurant while keeping the other cars at bay and looking for the right street so I ended up just going along my route, hoping something else would turn up ahead. I turned again on my route and ended up at a little place that looked inviting enough and relatively new. Turns out they only accept cash and I only had $5 so it's off to the bank. Double back on my route back towards town and I see another place that looks much more "worn in" while sitting at the traffic light. Got some cash, came back to the new find. The first store's loss if you ask me for not taking plastic. I found myself at Ma Gooch's in the heart of Cleveland, GA.
It's a pretty neat place, a building in the corner of a parking lot of a somewhat larger shopping center. When you come in, you can either be seated at the table section to the left or the diner side to the right. Of course I chose the diner side. They let me pick my own table which is always a source of anxiety for me. I never choose the right table it seems, always picking the wobbly one or the booth where the table is too close to the seat on both sides. Got lucky and picked a decent one for once.
The cook was out at the bar and I asked him what was good there. Of course he started rattling off the whole menu. So, I figured I'd go with my country breakfast standard. Two eggs scrambled, patty sausage, biscuit and gravy. I'm so vanilla when it comes to breakfast. But it does at least let me compare different restaurants on a level playing field. Speaking of, I had a hard time adjusting to the regular meal style breakfast while I was in Japan a few years back. Sorry, just can't do soup, fish, etc. for breakfast, too. My stomach is too conditioned after years of good, old American style breakfast, heavy on the starches please!
Anyhow, coffee was standard diner fare, not spectacular but definitely drinkable. The eggs were awesome, not too greasy, not browned on the edges. That's one of my biggest peeves with scrambled eggs. I have trouble not browning them, but then again I don't cook them everyday for a paycheck. Sausage was good, hand-formed patties which is rare these days. And the biscuit and gravy combo was dead-on, little chunks of sausage in the gravy with a little saltiness to it and just the right consistency on the gravy. Biscuit was standard fare, but at least it was fully cooked.
I also had an interesting chat with the cook after he prepared my order. It was about 10:30 and they were kind of between breakfast and lunch. He was wearing a New England Patriots hat so I asked him if he was from up north. Turns out that he was born and raised in Georgia so I ragged him about being a fair-weather fan but then asked him seriously about why the NE hat. He gave me a story about how he was watching one of their Super Bowl appearances (didn't ask specifically, so it could have been any of the last 22 games since they're always in it) with his dear ol' Grandma, just before she died. He said it was the last memory he had of her and they were rooting for the Pats so he sort of just became a fan. Said he's a Falcons fan as well, but they haven't been doing well. I concurred and stated my reasons for not being a huge fan in recent years due to their "thug team" stylings. A few more personnel changes and I might bring myself to be able to watch them again.
Anyhow... a great diner-style breakfast if you find yourself in Cleveland, GA for whatever reason. You might stop in on your way to Babyland General, birthplace (literally) of Cabbage Patch Kids, or to the local zoo, Wildlife Wonders, as seen on Dirty Jobs, or even on your way to hokey ass Helen, GA. And just in case you're wondering, Ma Gooch's will take credit cards, unlike the other place I almost stopped at.
I woke up pretty early by today's standards and headed out towards Cleveland, GA where I was to train the middle school teachers of White County. I don't like surprises on the road so I always plan to arrive at least an hour early. Today, I was more on track for two hours early because I over-estimated the time it would take to make copies at Kinko's on the way. I hadn't really eaten breakfast and was seriously in need of a decent cup of black coffee. I arrived at the town square of Cleveland and surmised that it was really more of a town circle in the style of a European round-a-bout. It was difficult to look for a restaurant while keeping the other cars at bay and looking for the right street so I ended up just going along my route, hoping something else would turn up ahead. I turned again on my route and ended up at a little place that looked inviting enough and relatively new. Turns out they only accept cash and I only had $5 so it's off to the bank. Double back on my route back towards town and I see another place that looks much more "worn in" while sitting at the traffic light. Got some cash, came back to the new find. The first store's loss if you ask me for not taking plastic. I found myself at Ma Gooch's in the heart of Cleveland, GA.
It's a pretty neat place, a building in the corner of a parking lot of a somewhat larger shopping center. When you come in, you can either be seated at the table section to the left or the diner side to the right. Of course I chose the diner side. They let me pick my own table which is always a source of anxiety for me. I never choose the right table it seems, always picking the wobbly one or the booth where the table is too close to the seat on both sides. Got lucky and picked a decent one for once.
The cook was out at the bar and I asked him what was good there. Of course he started rattling off the whole menu. So, I figured I'd go with my country breakfast standard. Two eggs scrambled, patty sausage, biscuit and gravy. I'm so vanilla when it comes to breakfast. But it does at least let me compare different restaurants on a level playing field. Speaking of, I had a hard time adjusting to the regular meal style breakfast while I was in Japan a few years back. Sorry, just can't do soup, fish, etc. for breakfast, too. My stomach is too conditioned after years of good, old American style breakfast, heavy on the starches please!
Anyhow, coffee was standard diner fare, not spectacular but definitely drinkable. The eggs were awesome, not too greasy, not browned on the edges. That's one of my biggest peeves with scrambled eggs. I have trouble not browning them, but then again I don't cook them everyday for a paycheck. Sausage was good, hand-formed patties which is rare these days. And the biscuit and gravy combo was dead-on, little chunks of sausage in the gravy with a little saltiness to it and just the right consistency on the gravy. Biscuit was standard fare, but at least it was fully cooked.
I also had an interesting chat with the cook after he prepared my order. It was about 10:30 and they were kind of between breakfast and lunch. He was wearing a New England Patriots hat so I asked him if he was from up north. Turns out that he was born and raised in Georgia so I ragged him about being a fair-weather fan but then asked him seriously about why the NE hat. He gave me a story about how he was watching one of their Super Bowl appearances (didn't ask specifically, so it could have been any of the last 22 games since they're always in it) with his dear ol' Grandma, just before she died. He said it was the last memory he had of her and they were rooting for the Pats so he sort of just became a fan. Said he's a Falcons fan as well, but they haven't been doing well. I concurred and stated my reasons for not being a huge fan in recent years due to their "thug team" stylings. A few more personnel changes and I might bring myself to be able to watch them again.
Anyhow... a great diner-style breakfast if you find yourself in Cleveland, GA for whatever reason. You might stop in on your way to Babyland General, birthplace (literally) of Cabbage Patch Kids, or to the local zoo, Wildlife Wonders, as seen on Dirty Jobs, or even on your way to hokey ass Helen, GA. And just in case you're wondering, Ma Gooch's will take credit cards, unlike the other place I almost stopped at.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
country cottage family restaurant, woodstock, ga
I took the car in for an oil change early this morning and figured it was as good a time as any to grab some breakfast on the way home. I also stopped by a car wash on Hwy 92 in Woodstock that claimed to have free vacuums for purchasers of an automated wash, but the machine failed to produce the token needed to claim said vacuuming service. Grr.
Anyhow, about the breakfast...
Place was kind of dingy on the outside which sometimes means good. Also dingy on the inside but sometimes that's okay. It's the food that makes the decisions for me!
Ordered a standard coffee, no cream anytime they ask. If the coffee is good, it doesn't need cream or sugar. Unfortunately, I should have asked for the cream. Drinkable, but barely. As in I'd rather drink from the 12-hour old pot of trucker's coffee at the Waffle House.
Not too many choices on the menu, breakfast plates and omelets. I'm not a big omelet fan so I chose the plate. Two eggs, choice of meat, grits or gravy, biscuit or toast. People who know my breakfast preferences know I got scrambled eggs, biscuit and gravy, but maybe they don't know the sausage.
Sausage was obviously cut from a cylinder of sausage. Not even a slight attempt at forming it into a neater patty. Hey, at least it's not from frozen! Or maybe not as I have had better frozen sausage. Not good.
Biscuit? Looks fantastic. Until it's opened. That's when I realized that the thicker portion of the biscuit was still dough. Oh well, raw dough ain't going to kill ya' so I ate it anyhow. The gravy was made with sausage grease, as it should be, but lacked a bit of substance and was overly salty.
But hey, the eggs were good. It's not impossible, but it's tougher to screw up scrambled eggs.
In the black and white world of hit or miss breakfast restaurants, I'd say Country Cottage Family Restaurant gets a big ol' miss. Airball, even. You'd be better off driving an extra mile or two to the Sunshine Biscuit Co, reviewed earlier.
Who knows? Maybe it's better at lunch time.
Anyhow, about the breakfast...
Place was kind of dingy on the outside which sometimes means good. Also dingy on the inside but sometimes that's okay. It's the food that makes the decisions for me!
Ordered a standard coffee, no cream anytime they ask. If the coffee is good, it doesn't need cream or sugar. Unfortunately, I should have asked for the cream. Drinkable, but barely. As in I'd rather drink from the 12-hour old pot of trucker's coffee at the Waffle House.
Not too many choices on the menu, breakfast plates and omelets. I'm not a big omelet fan so I chose the plate. Two eggs, choice of meat, grits or gravy, biscuit or toast. People who know my breakfast preferences know I got scrambled eggs, biscuit and gravy, but maybe they don't know the sausage.
Sausage was obviously cut from a cylinder of sausage. Not even a slight attempt at forming it into a neater patty. Hey, at least it's not from frozen! Or maybe not as I have had better frozen sausage. Not good.
Biscuit? Looks fantastic. Until it's opened. That's when I realized that the thicker portion of the biscuit was still dough. Oh well, raw dough ain't going to kill ya' so I ate it anyhow. The gravy was made with sausage grease, as it should be, but lacked a bit of substance and was overly salty.
But hey, the eggs were good. It's not impossible, but it's tougher to screw up scrambled eggs.
In the black and white world of hit or miss breakfast restaurants, I'd say Country Cottage Family Restaurant gets a big ol' miss. Airball, even. You'd be better off driving an extra mile or two to the Sunshine Biscuit Co, reviewed earlier.
Who knows? Maybe it's better at lunch time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)