…moving away from the crazy theme I had going on earlier this week, I thought I’d share a new place with you.

As I’ve said often before, one of the things I like most about my job is getting to meet people, finding out a little about them, and finding new places to eat, go, do, see, etc.

Well, as luck would have it, a customer came in before Christmas and I was the one who got to wait on him.

In the course of the conversation, I asked what he did for a living, and he replied that he was  a restaurateur.

He, and his wife own Another Broken Egg Cafe at the Peachtree Battle Shopping Center in Atlanta’s Buckhead district.

As a breakfast junkie, I had to check it out.

So, this Sunday, again, as luck would have it, I was actually off from work, and decided to take that special someone along for brunch.

Now, as you all know, I’m a Waffle House kinda guy, and fancy breakfast food is usually something I don’t do.  Seriously, one egg, one piece of toast, and seventeen gallons of coffee, and I’m good.

But…this place is just way too cool to pass UP.

And apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks so.  There was a 35 minute wait.  Now, for Atlantans, that’s nothing, for folks like me who live in the suburgatory we call Gwinnett County, Georgia, that’s a life time.  Just like most places, the weekends are the busiest.  The wait during the week isn’t so long.

But, again, it was worth the wait.

Every thing there is charming and beyond.  The Copper Top table, the rustic floors, the French attitude, and why not, one of the owners is named Mignon, and frankly, the only thing Frenchier than that is, well, not much really.

But, back to the restaurant.  They have “starters”, translation:  appetizers.  We tried the Black Berry Grits.

“Black Berry Grits!”, you scream, “Grits are for butter, salt, and pepper.”

Well, not any more, Buford, so get with the program.  They were AWESOME.  Creamy, HOT, and covered in steaming Blackberries, they were a filling “starter” that has to be shared.

With over 100 items on the menu, I was hard pressed to settle on one, but waistline, workout, and walking in mind, I did.

I had Eggs Benedict Blackstone.

Again, AWESOME.

Their menu describes it this way ” An English muffin topped with grilled tomatoes, two medium poached eggs, creamy Hollandaise, and a baked bacon crunch and chives.”

I describe it as delicious.  Two perfectly poached pullet pellets smothered in a rich and yummy sauce and covered with BAKED bacon.  (BTW, Baked Bacon is THE only way to go, less grease, no splatter, easier clean UP, better taste, etc.)

There were home fries on the side as well.  The best thing about the taters was that they weren’t greasy, didn’t leave a pool on the plate, and were perfectly done.

Yes, I know, I need a better camera…hello Ricoh and the rest, where are you?

Seriously, the pictures don’t do them justice, but the menu does, so click HERE if you want to see it.

There’s lots of meat on the menu, but all the crazy-assed, pork and beef eschewing scary people vegetarians out there need not worry, they have a menu section for you as well.  It’s an all inclusive restaurant!

I’m sure many of you are thinking, “Why is he talking about a local restaurant, when his blog is an International phenomenon?”

Well, Just Another Broken Egg isn’t only in the ATL.

They have locations in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, California, and soon to be in Tennessee and North Carolina!

So, all my fans in Austin can check it out and let me know what they think.

The restaurant is open from 7AM til 2PM, seats at least 100 people, has a FULL BAR, so Sam can bring his mom and dad! They also have a room that looked like the perfect place for a Bridal Shower luncheon.  There’s a giant screen TV showing Tom and Jerry cartoons, so it’s kid friendly, and the playoffs were on the tubes over the bar.

Parking isn’t too bad…for Atlanta…and I recommend that you park as far away as you can, since you’re gonna need to walk it off anyway…the portions are healthy – or maybe my Cardiologist would say un-healthy!

Frankly, if you don’t go away full and happy, there’s just no hope for you!

Check it out.

*I am NOT being compensated for this post, I paid the check, left a tip, and was glad to be there!

I was not aware until googling the term “Fat Rascal”, that there are cookies, or tea cakes of the same name.

Live and learn.

They come from Yorkshire in England, and are a staple at a place called Betty’s Tea Room.

I looked over a few recipes, and found one that was pretty good, but they wanted $24.95 for an autographed copy.

So, I kept looking.  Here’s one that sounds good.

3 Tablespoons of Orange Juice.

1 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour.

½ teaspoon Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

1 stick Unsalted Butter.  Not right out of the fridge, let it sit out a while.

1/3 Cup Sugar

Zest of One Orange

1/3 Cup of Currants

¼ Cup of Milk.

12 Dried Tart Cherries (or maraschino cherries or dried cranberries)

18 roasted Almond Slices

About 2 Tablespoons Cane Sugar if you want them glittery and sweeter, and who doesn’t?

Then you have to…

Preheat Oven to 400° F.  The dried cherries should be put in a small bowl with the OJ.  Unarm him first.  This will plump UP the cherries, set them aside for a while.

Mix all dry ingredients together:  flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cut in butter until crumbly.  It should look lumpy.

Add sugar, orange zest, currants and milk. Then shape dough into a ball.

Roll out dough until about ½ inch thick.  Clean and flour the surface first!

Use a biscuit cutter to cut out dough circles.  Mom always used an old empty can to cut her biscuits.

Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  UP is a firm believer in parchment paper.

If you want to,  brush each cut out with a little orange juice to help brown them UP.

Sprinkle each cookie with sugar.  Hence the glitter!

Add 2 cherries as eyes, and 3 almonds for teeth to give the fat rascal a face!

Depending on your oven, and only you know it well, bake for about 20 minutes.

This should make about six.  And I now realize that six is a paltry number for the work involved.  Where the heck is Betty’s Tea Room anyway?

The Pizza Wars Battle in Lake City, Florida took a wrong turn last week when 2 managers of the a rival Domino’s shop set the local Papa John’s on fire.

Papa John himself wasn’t available for comment, but word on the street is he’s pretty hot about it!

The local yokels, both Domino’s Managers, Sean Everett Davidson and Bryan David Sullivan have been in lock UP since their arrest last week.  They were booked on – duh – arson charges!

The Lake City Police say the motive was competition.  With the rival out of the way, folks craving the Italian Pie would be willing to wait 30 minutes or more for a Dominos.

Maybe the local school board should look into teaching business courses.

The Papa John’s was gutted in the Oct. 20 fire.

The Police report they are still looking for the “ignition” device that started the blaze.  My guess is that Beavis and Butthead dropped a joint on the way out, and the place went UP in smoke!

Sane people don’t do stuff like this.  They were just plain stupid or have smoked themselves stupid.

And it was bad enough that the only pizza choices in Lake City were Dominos and Papa John’s, seriously people, someone needs to open UP a real pizza parlor in that town.

Most of the Pizza choices in the South are terrible anyway.  There are no Marion’s, no Don’s Pizza, no La Rosa’s either!

Having lived in the South for 34 years my quest for good pizza has been unending and unsuccessful.  One would think with all the Yankees we have here in Georgia,  a good pizza recipe would have come down in a Carpetbag somewhere along the way.  We’ve tried them all, and frankly, we’ve ended UP making our own.

None of this box stuff or frozen pizza dough, we start from the bottom UP.

Over the years we’ve experimented with toppings; we’ve made BLT pizzas, Buffalo Wing Pizzas*, and more, but we generally come back to the Original Italian Pie we learned to love at Wampler’s out on Route 4.

When Wampler’s went away, we got our pizza and subs from The Party Supply, but alas, that’s gone as well. Actually the last time I drove by, the place had been converted back into a house!

Well, at least Don’s is still there!  Minus Ann of course.

If I were in Germantown, I’d call Don’s!  But, since I’m not, I make my own.

So, if you’re looking for easy, good home-made pizza dough, here goes:

Mix the following in a small bowl and set aside:

¼ cup of warm water – warm, not too hot.

½ tsp. sugar

1 pkg. dry yeast

In a large bowl or food processor, add:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp sugar

yeast mixture, see above

mix well

Then add:

1 ¼ cups warm water

2 T. extra virgin olive oil (none of that slutty stuff!)

Mix until very smooth

And add:

2 more cups of flour.

Mix until dough forms a soft ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Divide and freeze half of the dough, unless you’re making more than one pizza

Place the remaining dough in a draft free place – I use the oven and leave the light on just like Motel 6.  Let it double in size, this will take about an hour.  (And no, there’s no pill to make it double faster!)

Punch dough down and form into a pancake shape with your hands.  Please wash your hands first!

Sprinkle cornmeal on your pizza stone or, if you’ve never been to a Pampered Chef party, your metal pizza sheet.  (If you’ve never heard of Pampered Chef, come out of your cave and ask around…seriously, go UP to a stranger, they’ll KNOW!)

Add pizza sauce – your choice – add toppings and bake @ 400 – 425 degrees for 12-18 minutes!

Enjoy!

*The Buffalo Wing Pizza is made with chicken, not WINGS!  That would be a tad hard to eat.  We use celery, bleu cheese, and ranch dressing as the sauce…it’s pretty good.

Enjoy the Holiday today.

Have fun with the kiddies, dress UP, eat a lot of candy, and let yourself go!

My favorite Halloween Treat is “Candy Corn and Peanuts” mixed!

It tastes like a Pay-Day Candy bar, and is easy to make.

Buy a bag of candy corn, buy a jar of peanuts, dump together, stir, and enjoy!