The Poboy

For as long as I can remember a poboy sandwich has been one of my favorite things in the world.

My first memories are getting poboys at a little shop right off the highway, just before you reach New Orleans. The name of this joint was Ruby Lamas. It was in the ninth ward, but Katrina wiped them out. I would stop there with my parents and whoever else was going to New Orleans with us that day. Usually it was one or more of my siblings. But this place had the best. I still remember them to this day and that was at least 30 years ago.

It had been years since I have had even a decent poboy. And it wasn’t because I wasn’t trying. Stacey and I like the beach and whenever we are at one we are looking for fresh seafood. I can’t tell you how many time we have been disappointed with a seafood meal at the beach.

Well that’s all changed. I can get the best shrimp poboy right here in little old East Point, Ga.

About 3 years ago I was standing in line to vote, talking to a neighbor. She introduced me to a another young lady in line with us as one of our “new” neighbors. The young lady informed me she had just move here from Baton Rouge, La. My first question was, “I bet you love good food” A few minutes later she was telling me about a new seafood shop right around the corner.

I had seen them fixing up the old gas station and noticed it was a “seafood market”. But for some reason I had yet to stop by. Well, my new friend said they had really good poboys. I knew, being from Baton Rouge, she new what she was talking about.

So I voted and went straight to this shop. It is run by a Vietnamese couple from my home town of Mobile, Al. Since it was my first visit, I didn’t chat these guys up right away. No, first things first, I went home to eat. I have never been the same.

This was by far the best poboy I had ever eaten. It is made on a bun about 6″ long. The bread is good, not to hard and not to soft. Ketchup, tartar, pickles, lettuce and tomato are layered with 8 to 10 large fresh fried shrimp. The sandwich is not huge, but for a 6″ bun that’s a lot of shrimp. And at $4 each it is cheap.

Needless to say Lee, Kim, Laura and Jaybird have become my good friends and we are on more then a first name basis. I am in there 3 or 4 times a week. I have sent everyone I can think of up there for a poboy and tell them to let ‘em know Tracy sent you.

I have gotten to know everyone up there and take them a cold six pack every now and then. I can’t believe Kim and Lee, the owners are from my hometown. It really is a small world.

There is lots more to the shop than just the poboy. They have a buffet of southern foods and it’s also delicious. Sometimes I have something other than the poboy, but not often. Lee drives to Mobile once a week to get fresh seafood. But I am sure some of it comes form local distributors. Like the Snow and King crabs they offer.

I am sure there is a really interesting story behind Kim and Lee’s life and maybe one day I can sit with them and learn more about them. Til then I’m just gonna keep eating.

Washington Seafood Market 1765 Washington Road 404 768 2914

Tell them Tracy sent ya.

monday report

Going north on I -85 towards Atlanta, exit 114 Georgiana, Kenkades Bar b que, right next to the B.P. station. “howlin good” so says the sign.

The sound of the trains, at night, in mobile on Roper st. One day I will figure out how far it is from the tracks to the bed I spent years sleeping in, listening to the trains. The squeak of the steel on steel, along with the whistles and horns, and then Atlanta and all the tracks.

Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy O’Toole. Great read on New Orleans.

So another week, another weekend. Stacey and I went to see the Kingsized Orchestra. Big Mike and his always wild shows. This was a tribute to the King. Elvis that is. He died about 30 years ago on august 16. Mikes been doing this show for years.

He has 11 musicians, 4 or 5 dancers, 3 backup singers and a midget dressed like Elvis. The band is really good. Lots of horns and a great guitar player. Big Mike doesn’t dress like Elvis. He is not an impersonator

Corn and Pea Salad

It’s really hot. When we cook of course it gets even hotter. So we do anything we can, for these few weeks each year when we get the 100 degree days, to keep it cooler inside.

One thing we try do do is cook less, cook less inside that is. We can cook all over the place around here. The front porch has a one eye gas burner ready to go at all times. Also on the front porch is a small grill that gets really hot and is just the right size for meals for two people. The backyard has both a grill/smoker and a large open pit fireplace for outdoor cooking. We use all of these to cook with. We also try to eat stuff that is prepared, and not cooked, not in our house anyway. So here is a salad we’ve done for years. I think it is Staceys’ grandmothers recipe.

We are down with the fresh and local scene, but ask most any chef and he’s gonna tell you there’s a few things that he uses right outta the can. This is one of those recipes.

Corn and Pea Salad

1 can (15 1/4 oz) Del Monte White Whole Kernel Sweet Corn

1 can (15 oz) Le Sueur Very Young Small Early Peas

1 medium sized white onion chopped

1/4 cup of Mayonnaise (or to taste)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix - Cover and Chill for at least 2 hours

That’s it. Great with burgers, ribs and dogs.

Enjoy !

The South, the Beautiful South

I am happy to see the South and Southern Culture so so celebrated these days. I say these days, but I think it’s been in the works for awhile now. Groups like the Southern Foodways Alliance, Slow Food, Society for the Revival, Preservation of Southern Food and Chefs like Linton Hopkins and Tony Seichrist are all about promoting and preserving the ways of the new south.

Along time ago, I drove a limo for a hotel in Mobile, Alabama. I was driving a minor T.V. star from England, around the Garden District, per her request. I remember her telling me how the British considered writers from the south the deepest, darkest and their favorite. That has always stuck with me, as it was the first time I ever thought to be proud of who I was and where I was from.

Now this was not something profound. No, it was just a little something I keep with me and think of from time to time. It’s something I think about whenever I might be looking for something to read. I will go to my bookshelf today and be drawn to the large tomes on southern literature. I know if I grab one of those I have a broad choice. There is a great difference between a Eudora Welty story and a James Baldwin story. But, both give me buckets full of southernness. And each with really different views on life.

Now days it is so great to see how it’s all so cool again. Eugene Walters ? Who would have thought my Moms old friend would leave such a mark. A mark that can be traced all over the world and end up in Mobile, Alabama. Hell, Frank Stitt is one of the best Chefs in America and he is from the city of Cullman, Alabama. He has three restaurants in Birmingham.

Ya know we are gonna have to talk about this again at a later date. I mean there is just so much to say and it is also the theme of this blog, the South.

These thoughts got in my head today when I read an email from a friend, who is a gentleman farmer here in our beautiful south. He ask if I had read a book by Sonny Brewer. One thought led to another and by the end of the day, I had borrowed, from my local library ”the Moviegoer” by Walker Percy and ordered “The Poet of Tolstoy-Park” by Brewer from amazon.com.

The Shutter Table

I was hired recently, by a very brilliant couple, to build a dinner table for their beach house. The table is to be built using antique shutters. This couple, lets just make up a name for them, lets call them Chris and Julie, already have a couple pieces of my work. Like I said, they are brilliant.

Chris and Julie found a table made from shutters in a store here in town. It was imported from far,far away, so I was happy to be able to tell them about the shutters I had. They are from a plantation home about 1 hour east of Atlanta. The nice lady who gave them to me told me they were original to the house, which was built in the late 1800’s.

So this was great. These guys are gonna get the style table they want and have it made from a local product, not such a “fresh” product, but local all the same. It’s fun when I can build something and be able to tell the customer where the materials came from. People really seem to appreciate it.

So here are some photos. I just knocked the pegs out and removed about 4 nails and took the thing apart. It was easy to get the pegs out, I was surprised. You can see how rough they are, but after I have sanded them, they already look better and the finish Julie has come up with is gonna look great.

The table is to seat 8 and will comfortably, when it’s all done. I have had these shutter for 5 years or more. Just holding on to them, waiting for the right job. I have more shutters and more ideas of what I might do with them.

We are gonna do a plain square post for legs. And how’s this for timing, this past Saturday morning at the farmers market, a friend came over to say hi and introduced me to a guy that was with him. I got to talking to this guy about my furniture, which I had a few pieces of at the market. When he learned I was building from salvaged wood he ask if I might be intrested in some post from a building he was renovating in downtown Atlanta. He told me the post were about as tall as me and 6″ square. I didn’t have to ask. I knew this building was well over 100 years old. Tomorrow I will go pick up this wood and get the low down on the building. Like how old, what was it used for before he got it and the address. Then I will really have more local, antique, awesome materials to build from. And they will make great legs for Chris and Julies table.

Later I will show you the finished product and let you know about the large posts I hope to get tomorrow.

The Monday Report

Now thats Report as in Colbert Report, thank you very much. I accept your apology.

So, this is very regular, kind of routine if you will. I am not used to much routine. I guess the only time I lived a life of routine as an adult I was sick and it was only for about a year. So writing this blog everyday is a chore. But, I enjoy it very much. I like chores like this one. Do something creative, do it today, and every weekday, but, you can take all day getting it done. That’s good for me. Like, if I need to do a few loads of laundry and have all day to do it, no problem.

Anyway, sometimes I am going to give you the Monday Report. I will tell you about our weekend and add some random thoughts. Maybe not every Monday but maybe.

So, Friday early a.m. and I am loving life. I am painting pictures and building furniture from one of the many things I have in my workshop. This time I take a door which is a small door, 53′ long by 30′ wide. I build a base with four legs made from old piano parts. I paint the base white and distress it. I paint the door 5 different colors of green and trim it in black paint, distress it and clear coat it. It looks great on the base.

I smoked 2 big rack of ribs and got some slaw from the seafood joint up the street. Then my sister arrived later in the afternoon, with her husband and their son, Scotty Mike. We chowed down on bar b que and had cold beers. Some of of us had lemonade and some of us had tequila. Fun Fun - then sleep.

Saturday, Stacey took our guests to the Georgia Aquarium. They had a great time seeing all the fish. I went to the Morningside Organic Framers Market. I sold the coffee table I had made the day before.

We then met on the front porch and had shrimp poboys for the seafood joint up the street. They are the best poboys I have had in my life and they cost $4. I have to buy Paul one every time he beats me at golf, which has been often lately.

Then Scotty Mike and me and his dad went and played 9 holes of golf. That was nice. A golf course is one of my favorite places in the world.

Then home, get cleaned up and lay out food, fill the ice chest and light the grill. Have way to much of everything, and over serve our guest, break some bones and call it a night. Sunday morning and some of us are hurting.

Random thought - check out Garden & Gun magazine. I especially like their philosophy on the South.

A kitchen full of old stuff

Once when I was in high-school, I went to a house that a guy had built from old materials. I thought it was really cool. Then about 10 years ago, I started to sell furniture I built from old materials. So, it was only natural for me to use old materials when I renovated our kitchen.

So I slowly started throwing out parts of the old kitchen. One year the dishwasher broke, so I ripped it out of the counter and threw it in the front yard. Little by little, I did this to our whole kitchen and then started putting it back together.

I built cabinets from cabinet grade plywood. The cabinets that were to be hung on the wall got old windows for the doors. These old windows had four panes of glass per window. Each pane of glass was about 12″ square. They were nice size windows which made for big cabinets.

Another cabinet was one that started on the floor and was about 6′ tall. We use a old french door for the door on this cabinet. On top of that, I sat a barristers box case, just a single unit, it was almost the same width of french door cabinet. These cabinets were on a wall along with 2 sets of floor cabinets.

In between the 2 floor cabinets sits a Roper gas stove. It’s a vintage Roper stove with 4 burners on a stainless steel top and an oven. A broiler, storage and a warming drawer underneath. It is stove white with a stainless steel top. It looks like a old chevy. There is also a new stainless steel refrigerator next to the french door cabinet. Above the stove is a vintage Icee clock.

Across from all that is an island. The island has a bar which runs the length of the island which is 12′ long. Starting from one end it has, a cabinet for cookie sheets and the likes, then a stainless steel front dishwasher, then a very old french style farmhouse sink. This old farmhouse style sink was here at the house when we moved in. Just sitting out in the back yard. I used a restaurant style faucet and it’s working out well for us. Next after the sink is a cabinet of 3 drawers and then a pull out cabinet for a garbage can. Next to that is a large under cabinet. On the bar and for counter-top on right of sink, I have used antique pine salvaged from a cotton mill in Carrolton, GA. The mill was built in the 1850s. This is hard, old wood. I also used it for the counter-top along the wall.

To the left of the sink, I used a piece of rock maple butcher block. The piece I had was large enough to cut a 6′ x 2′ piece for the whole counter top. So we use the end of the counter-top, next to sink as a chopping block.

I have painted all the cabinets RED and distressed them. The old windows look great like this. The walls are to shades of blue. The color scheme is much like the colors in the old Icee clock.

I was in a bind about what to do about the floors. We had moved the kitchen from a corner of the room, out to the middle of this room. And this 1 room used to be 2 rooms. So when we pulled the crap off the kitchen floor, we found pine running the opposite of the oak flooring in the other part of the room. Well about that time a builder who sometime calls me to pick up lumber he has, called. Said he had 2 pickup truckloads of wide plank flooring. It was excellent wood and all mixed up. Random lenghts and widths, from 4″ up 10″ wide. Some of it was oak, some pine, some cherry, some mahogany and some hickory. It was perfect and it was free. So I sent off for some fake antique nails. I nailed it straight to the floor. The end.