Help
Sign In
appreciation
November 2009 
What was the last thing you smiled about?
Posted on Dec 30th, 2008
by 
Laura
Laura
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for December 30, 2008:
I took myself out for dinner last night. I don't mind going out and dining alone but it had been awhile since I'd done it. Jasper has a relatively new restaurant, 61 Main, that serves almost solely locally grown and produced food. It seems to be flourishing and is right next door to a new health food store that also seems to be doing well. I'm glad to see this in my rural little north Georgia town. 61 Main is run by a young couple who seem full of energy and enthusiasm. I like to look at the paper lamps and the photographs of flowers and vegetable grown at the local community farms, Whitestone Farm and Dig It Farm. The coffee is also from a local company called Foggy Hollow and is rich and wonderful. I had a big cup of grassy green tea, the roasted beets (which are amazing) and a cup of minestrone. Then I got a slice of the best carrot cake I've ever had to take home with me. I walked around a little, enjoying the cool wind and the blue lights on the Christmas tree on the courthouse square. I felt peaceful and quietly at home.
Access: Public
with all that local energy coming at you….you were far from being alone. I wouldn’t mind being at a table across from you…watching you enjoying a plate of roasted beets. Even though your description is just fine…my joy comes from sneaking a peek at people enjoying what they eat.
it’s quite obvious you haven’t had a pice of my carrot cake move past your lips….
it is…
w/o doubt…
the BEST!!!:) complete with philly cream cheese icing of course
happy ny to you Laura……twb:)
I know what you mean, Maze. that place always has good energy. I used to work there, actually, for abouttwo years while I was getting my teaching certificate. It was a funky little bar and grill then. a big contrast but still a quirky interesting place. TWB, I’ll take your word for it. yeah, you gotta have the cream cheese icing. happy new year’s to you too.
I love that you went out to eat by yourself and enjoyed it so thoroughly, Laura. How cool. mmmm, the roasted beets. Sounds wonderful. I am picturing the little courthouse squares in Georgia (that’s where my in-laws live you know, near Athens). sounds like a wonderful treat you gave yourself.
good for you for doing that. sounds like it was a very fulfilling experience.
Kathy, thanks. you know, I lived in Athens for 12 years and still miss it. I used to love to go to the Bluebird Cafe or the Mean Bean and sit with a book or newspaper and watch people. where do your in laws live? I have a good friend who lives in Lexington and another in Ila. Jenni, yeah, thanks, it was fun.
I should take more pics of restaurants… actually, your photo reminds me a little of the Georgia O’Keefe (sp?) restaurant at the museum in Santa Fe. And your list is amazing and fun to read! Thanks!
thanks. I’ve never seen that restaurant but it sounds cool. glad you enjoyed the list. : )
Actually, come to think of it, they live in Watkinsville now. They lived in Athens first, then moved to their new home. I shall have to check out the Bluebird Cafe and the Mean Bean. We wen to a cool vegetarian restaurant for breakfast down there last time with my brother-in-law. Oh joy. How close are you to Athens now? Hopefully a hop skip and a jump?
Watkinsville is sweet and only about 20 minutes from the town where I grew up, Monroe. I bet the restaurant y’all went to was the Grit. amazing food there. I’m onlya couple of hours away from Athens now but don’t go there that often. I do miss its spirit and energy.
It’s funny but I’m always hearing about cool vegetarian restaurants and restaurants that used local produce, etc. in small towns. I don’t know of any here in Cambridge, despite the fact that the city’s nickname is “The Republic of Cambridge” because it’s supposedly so liberal it’s Socialist.
I was surprised and happy when this place opened. but we have a nice farmers market scene going on and the local community farms are really growing. if I’m not mistaken there is a really great restaurant in Cambridge that has a healthy, almost veggie bent, but I can’t recall the name of it.
Roasted root veggies are wonderful. I make a combination of carrots, potatoes, onions and rutabaga - all carmelly with crispy edges. As for cream cheese - it must be in the collective consciousness lately. :-) I made some homemade cinnamon buns yesterday, and of course, I crowned them with a little cream cheese icing.
It’s interesting that I came across your blog today about eating alone. My daughter has recently returned to the city where she’s going to university and is suffering from withdrawl from us and her pets. It got me thinking about loneliness and being alone - how one can be lonely in a crowd,or alone but not lonely… . .
Yeah, I need to find a recipe for the roasted root veggies. I love cinnamon buns with cream cheese icing. my grandma used to make em. I am often happiest when alone. I can also be alone with other people, if that makes sense. that’s how it was at dinner the other night. a good, healthy feeling. I hope your daughter’s loneliness abates. thanks for your comment and for saying hi, Otter. I’ve missed seeing you online.
I didn’t really get into the root vegetable thing until last fall when it was the only thing left at our farmer’s markets. i was trying to learn how to cook them simply (i’m not much of a cook) and my father told me to just wrap them in tin foil with some oil. well, i have one of those ceramic garlic roasters and i thought, why not try that? save the tin foil. so i cut up purple potatoes, orange and red beets, and arranged them around a head of garlic with the top cut off. drizzled it all with olive oil and salt and ground up rosemary and baked it for about 30 minutes. holy cow! slather the garlic on bread or put the veggies on quinoa – i probably had that 4-5 times a week all fall using different kinds of potatoes and root veggies.
that sounds beyond tasty. how do you fit all those things in one of those little garlic roaster. I am going to have to get one of those.
DiamondLil, my god, that sounds incredible. Might be part of tonight’s dinner…. wow. My mouth is watering.
By the way, Laura, you’re right! It was the Grit. Asked Barry, and he remembered the name, and everything we all had for breakfast. Wanna meet me there sometime?
Kathy, absolutely!
laura, there’s a place here in aspen that I love, a vegetarian bistro on the top (2nd) floor of the bookstore. I always mean to take a photo of the room wallpapered in deep green, but I never do take a photo, even though I almost always have my camera with me when I’m there. now I’ll try to remember next time. it’s the most soothing place. I love to go there, alone or with others, either way it’s always perfect.
you photo here feels cozy. thank you.
I love taking photos of the interiors of restaurants and of doors and such. this place has a cozy feel to it even if it is a little dark. Your bistro sounds great. There’s actually a funky old barbecue place out in the country that I want to photograph too.