My family and I love to eat.  In the spirit of the Food Network show by the same name, we’re going to share the best thing we ever ate and hope that you will tell us your favorites too.

We had seen the mural at Buddy’s gas station.

Intriguing.  ”King of Pops“…what could that mean?

Popsicles?

Here at the gas station?

Almost.

Last month the King of Pops cart arrived on the corner of North and Highland Avenues, just in time for Atlanta’s infamous Spring heatwave.

Steven Carse is King of Pops.

I had read the tweets and heard the tasty news from friends, but could never seem to be near that corner when he was in operation.   Finally the other day, on my husband’s birthday, my family drove by the corner just after Steven had arrived.   Perfect!  After much discussion we decided to try four different flavors: Grapefruit Mint, Blackberry Lemonade, Watermelon Orange and Strawberry Lemongrass.  Muscadine and Chocolate Sea Salt were also available flavors that day.

Except for Yoforia, my family feels that Atlanta is deficit in good frozen treats, so we were excited for the possibility of a new place to fill our cold cravings. We drove down the street to Poncey-Highland Park to eat our popsicles, making sure to taste them all.

The whole family was in agreement that these were the best popsicles that we ever ate.

The flavors of each popsicle were distinct and pure.  I tasted both the blackberry and the lemonade in my popsicle.   My husband’s popsicle, Grapefruit Mint, was a great combination; the grapefruit was tart and the mint was refreshing.  There were whole mint leaves in there!

(photo by James Andrews)

The popsicles are handcrafted with natural ingredients and the dedication to quality is evident in the taste.   I’m not sure how many different flavors he makes, but I saw a tweet about Pineapple Ginger and Strawberry Lavender.  *Drool.*

The neighborhood ice cream truck doesn’t stand a chance.

Steven uses Twitter to update his inventory, which is helpful because there is nothing worse than getting your mouth fixed on something and then arriving to find that it is all gone (this used to happen to us with CamiCakes, but now we call ahead).    On nice days the cart is out in the late afternoon through early evening.   The popsicles can also be found at Irwin Street Market and Souper Jenny.

Yup, I’m certain that King of Pops is going to be our summer obsession.

*Check out my son’s review of King of Pops on Atlanta INTown’s What’s Good.

*Update: since our first visit to King of Pops we’ve also had Cantaloupe Basil (mm…savory), Pineapple Ginger (refreshing!), Chocolate Sea Salt (creamy), Banana Pudding (tastes just like the dessert), Tropical Surprise (mango, papaya, orange juice), Banana Cinnamon (almost as good as Banana Pudding), Strawberry Pineapple (fresh strawberries), Peaches & Cream, Mexican Chocolate (spicy & creamy), Pineapple Habenero (ai yai yai!)  and White Chocolate With Raspberry On Top (no words necessary):

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

I had a fantastic Mother’s Day with my family!  First I had this waiting for me at the kitchen table:

My husband knows that he can’t go wrong with the little blue box!  There was a peace sign necklace inside.  I wonder where he got the idea that I like peace signs…..

After a long walk with the dog, we went to a Mother’s Day Brunch at the brand new Loews Hotel in Midtown Atlanta.   The lobby was very nice, decorated in a modern, but comfortable way.  There were backgammon sets on the coffee tables, inviting guests to stay a while and have a drink from the lobby bar.

Restaurant eleven, where we had brunch, is located off the lobby and decorated in the same modern style as the lobby. We chose to sit outside on the balcony, which was pleasant, albeit with a pedestrian view.  Literally–we were practically on the sidewalk.

As with any buffet, my kids and I checked out the dessert station first and we were not disappointed.

In addition to the cakes and pies, there were small pots of creme brulee, custards and pudding.   The build-your-own-crepe station was divine.

The desserts were impressive indeed.   My husband also enjoyed the omelet station and my daughter loved the bread (as usual…she has never met a carb that she didn’t like).

The rest of the food was just okay.  The menu was a strange hybrid of traditional buffet offerings such as a bread station, salads and made-to-order omelets and also “small plates” ordered from a menu.  The small plates were included in the brunch price and could be ordered as much and often as we liked.  We ordered one of everything on the menu and except for the scallops, we didn’t order a second round.  The scallops were moist and tasty, but everything else was bland and uninteresting.

Here’s a gripe about some of Atlanta’s “upscale” restaurants: they don’t serve sweet tea.  If you have ever traveled to the south, you know that it is a staple item in the southern diet.   And with the exception of a few who manage to pull it off by serving tea so good that it doesn’t need sweetening (Watershed, Cafe Bistro at Nordstrom), there ought to be a law.   Our experience at Loews was made even more bitter–pun intended–by the fact that our waiter didn’t tell us the tea was unsweet.   There was no amount of sugar that could cut that bitter taste.  So we ordered lemonade.   It was even worse than the tea and clearly made from a powder.

Listen up Atlanta:  If your chef is an international food rock star, if your food has been listed on the most-try-before-you-die list of culinary delights, if your restaurant decor is photographed in every magazine in every major city in the world–get over yourself and cater to the regional tastes of your patrons.  Serve sweet tea, damn it!

Rant over.  Carry on…..

Despite the mediocre menu, I enjoyed the Loews Mother’s Day brunch.  The waiter was attentive and the desserts were delicious.   And any place with a candy station is alright by me.  We got a to-go box and filled it with Jelly Bellys and gummy candy to munch on the rest of the day.

Too bad we forgot to bring our box of candy into the movie theater.  After brunch we saw the movie Babies, a documentary that follows four different babies during their first year of life.  The babies are from California, Japan, Namibia and Mongolia.  Two babies live in a city and two babies live in rural areas.  Two babies have older siblings and two babies are only children.  And there are many other differences as well.

It was very interesting to watch how the dynamics of family structure, environment, economics, parental education, community, culture and parental involvement factored into how the babies were raised and when they reached their developmental milestones.    The audience’s observations and consequent conclusions are going to obviously be made from our own cultural biases, but as least for my family, our thoughts were not predictable.   There was no judgement about this baby who lived in a hut, versus that baby who lived in a fancy high-rise.   Or that baby who had medical care or this baby who didn’t.  That could be the documentary format, because our emotions weren’t skewed, but I think it more because of the subjects–the babies.   In as many ways as they were different, the babies were also so very much the same.  No matter where they lived or how they were cared for, they were all clearly loved.   They were all curious, full of wonder and happy.  And cute–OH MY GOSH WERE THEY CUTE!

(*All of the mothers nurse their babies in the movie and are topless quite often, so if your kids think that babies only drink milk from a bottle, you might want to have that discussion before you see the movie.)

It was the perfect movie for Mother’s Day, but it is great movie to see anytime as a family.  My 15 year old son loved it as much as his 8 year sister.   We all laughed and “aaaaw-ed” though out the whole movie.  Who doesn’t love babies?  I know I love mine!

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

My family and I love to eat.  In the spirit of the Food Network show by the same name, we’re going to share the best thing we ever ate and hope that you will tell us your favorites too.

This post was dictated to me by my 8 year old daughter.  We call her Girly.

The best the french fries I ever ate are at Cafe Bistro at Nordstrom.  I get them every time I go because they are delicious.  They know us there because we eat there when we are shopping.

I like the fries because they are crispy (well, most french fries are crispy) and they have herbs like rosemary, thyme and a whole bunch of other green things.  And there’s salt, but not too much salt.  It comes with ketchup and olive sauce, but you don’t need anything because the herbs are so good.  I can eat a whole cone all by myself and it doesn’t bother my belly.  But if you only want a little bit and you order the fries from the kids’ menu, they don’t put any herbs on them, so be sure to tell them to do that.   What, they don’t think kids like herbs?  I love ‘em!  Don’t they look yummy?

What are the best french fries you ever ate?  Tell me, because I want to go there!

*Funkidivagirl agrees with Girly; these are the best french fries I ever ate.   I’m still dreaming about the best pie I ever ate…..

© 2010 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

I think The Food Network is one of the best channels on television; the shows are innovative, entertaining and interesting.  It’s a station that my whole family can watch together and our favorite show is The Best Thing I Ever Ate.

The featured chefs talk about their favorite foods with such authenticity and passion that I always want what they are having right now.  The other night I watched a show about Obsessions and Delilah Winder talked about her obsession with a particular Triple Coconut Cream Pie with so much ecstasy and the slice looked so fluffy and creamy, that I was salivating–and I don’t even like coconut.

Well, you know my family, everyone’s a food critic; we always have opinions about what we eat.   So in the same vein as The Food Network, I am going to start blogging about The Best Thing I Ever Ate.  And I hope my son, daughter and husband will contribute as well; they all like different food and, man, those people can eat!

Pie.  I don’t really like pie.  Except for Key Lime Pie and sometimes Sweet Potato Pie, pie is not my thing; I love cake.  But recently I had pie that I dream about.  I changed my Facebook profile to a photo of this pie.   I talk about this pie to anyone who will listen.

It’s the Buttermilk Pie at Hominy Grill in Charleston, South Carolina.

I don’t remember where or how, but the dessert part of my brain had tucked away information about  the Buttermilk Pie–that it was supposed to be good.  But we had been eating too many sweets during our South Carolina vacation, so I foolishly ordered just one piece for the table.

That was a mistake.

One bite of that pie and I claimed it as my own.  I had to get stern with my family to put down their forks–NOW.  Or someone was going to get hurt.

It was sweet, but not too sweet.  Lemony (my favorite), but with an unexpected kick of nutmeg.  The custard was light and the crust was perfect.

Hands down the best pie that I ever ate.

Leaving Charleston on the way back to Atlanta we stopped by Hominy Grill for another slice of Buttermilk Pie for the road.  One slice for my family to share, and one slice for me.  I had learned my lesson.

What about you? What’s the best pie you ever ate?  Oh, and if you have a good recipe for Buttermilk Pie, please pass it on.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Yesterday I had the delicious honor of dining with food critic John Kessler at an authentic Korean restaurant.   Han Il Kwan is located on Buford Highway, which is a famous strip of ethnic restaurants here in the metro Atlanta area.  It is best experienced by someone like John Kessler, who knows the best places to eat.  Although I had met John before in a more social setting, I never had the pleasure of his epicurian expertise.  The Blogrollers Lorraine Robertson and Christie Crowder rounded out our perfect table of 4.  The team over at Everywhere arranged our lunch as the first “Eat ‘N Tweet” with Mr. Kessler and our twitter friends (tweeple, I like to call them) joined our lunch by following the hastag #eatntweet.

As soon as we sat down, the adventure began.  Since the rest of us hadn’t eaten Korean BBQ like this before, John ordered for the whole table.  Dish after dish steadily arrived and soon our table was covered with food.  Our waitress was attentive, helpful and funny, but the star of our meal was the food–very delicious!  John went easy on us and ordered interesting dishes, but nothing too wild that we would be wary of trying.   Everything was yummy–except for the tiny, whole dried fish; I was brave enough to taste one and no thank you, I won’t eat that again; that tiny fish had the flavorful punch of a very big (smelly, fishy-tasting) fish.    There were many different dishes, but my favorites were Hae Mul Pa Jun (Korean style seafood pancake), Goon Mand Doo (pot stickers), Gal Bi Gui (marinated short ribs) and Dak Bulgogi (marinated chicken).   Since the meat was grilled right at our table, it was hot and fresh.  Much of the food was spicy–which is good for me as I like spicy–and all of it was flavorful.   I have to bring my family to this restaurant; they love ethnic food and will enjoy the whole experience.   Thanks John for introducing me to a wonderful new way of eating!

© 2009, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.