Not Your Grandmother's Embroidery

So I've always been a crafty person. I was the kid who made epic crap doing arts & crafts time at school. This tendency has followed me into adulthood where I have picked up many hobbies (Knitting, woodcarving, gardening, painting, etc.). Well recently I've been trying to teach myself how to do embroidery. I know it sounds girly as hell, but it doesn't have to be.

I absolutely love western style shirts, but I'm definitely not a cowboy. So I have no use for shirts with horses and and roses and six shooters embroidered on them. So I have a better idea. Why not do the embroidery myself so I can have stuff I like on them. For instance just imagine having the Rebel and Empire insignias on either shoulder with lightsabers crossing the back panel in front of Boba Fett's helmet. EPIC right? Or take this shirt I have a image of below. Replace the roses and horseshoes with Cthulhu and Tentacles!

Just think of the endless possibilities out there. Any D&D guys reading this? Imagine an awesome home made dice bag with whatever you want on the front of it because you did it yourself!  Any cooks? You could totally personalize your apron to say something much cooler than "Kiss the Cook".

I have to give a shout out to Corvus over at Corvus Tristis. Thank you for your many great designs and ideas!

So until next time dear readers! May Cthulhu reign supreme!!

Great Drinks!

Hello again. I just realized that I should probably explain why I named my blog "Ginger Ale Dreams". In the last two years I have gained quite an affection for ginger flavored beverages. Especially ginger beer. I started drinking it because I have don't like to take medications very much and I was having problems with a generally disagreeable stomach. I've always heard that ginger ale was good way to calm nausea and upset stomach so when I researched it on the internet I found out that ginger beer was even better. So I went and picked some up and found that I really enjoyed the taste.

My first ginger beer was Reed's Premium Ginger Brew. They sold it at a supermarket next to where I worked at the time and by far it's still my absolute favorite. The taste is incredible crisp and clean. The best part is that it comes in varying strengths of ginger flavor.

Well since my discovery of this wonderful product, events in my life have forced me to move away from the thriving urban center where I used to live. I now live in the middle of nowhere where you're lucky if grocery stores even carry soda. So I've had to resort to drinking ginger ale. Mostly stuff like Canada Dry which isn't bad by any means but it just doesn't hit the spot.

One of the most wonderful things about ginger beverages is how exquisitely well they go with bourbon. My favorite drink combo is 1 part bourbon (Maker's Mark being my preferred brand) and 2 parts ginger beer (The stronger the better) with just a touch of lime. 

While I'm on the topic of sodas I discovered another wonderful drink around the same time that is worth an honorable mention. It's called Fentiman's Shandy. I've only ever seen it in one store and they rarely kept it in stock. A shandy according to Wikipedia "is normally a beer mixed with citrus-flavored soda, carbonated lemonade, ginger beer, ginger ale, or cider." This drink is wonderfully delicious. It has all the great flavor of beer but with a crisp clean after taste. If you ever get a chance to try one I definitely recommend it.

Thanks for being interested in my useless ramblings. Until next time dear readers!

Return of the Great Places I've Eaten.

I felt compelled to do at least one more posting about great places to eat before I rambled off onto other topics. Most great things come in trilogies anyway right?

This time I'm spotlighting a great chinese place in the Atlanta area (technically in Doraville I think) called Little Szechwan. It's right on the Bufford Hwy. Easiest way to get there is to take 285  to the Bufford Hwy exit (exit No.) then head ITP (south west if my calculations are correct) It'll be on your left in a very unassuming plaza that honestly looks run down. I've heard that they've recently renovated a bit but I've yet to confirm this.

Anyway back to the restaurant. I had recently watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain's show where he went to the Szechwan Province in China. The food that he ate intrigued me as I am always on the look out for new types and styles of food to try. I was driving down the Bufford Hwy on one of my semi-weekly shopping expidentions when I saw the sign for this place.

I made a mental note and came back a few weeks later to give it a try. I walked in expecting the inside of the place to be a run down as the outside. But luckily I was wrong. The place was very clean and didn't have that "fresh" smell associated with a lot of places in the area. I was seated and given a menu. While I was giving it the once over I was surprised when the waitress showed back up with a complimentary pot of hot tea and a plate pickled veggies (which started a love affair with pickles that will have to covered in it's own posting). After figuring out what I wanted I ordered and happily munched veggies while I waited for my entrée to show up. During this time I couldn't help but notice that everywhere you looked they had information about how they had made it on to Martin Yan's Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in America. I don't remember what I ordered but I do remember that it was delicious. While I was stuffing my face and enjoying myself almost to a sinful extent the chef wandered out to my table. He brought with him a plate piled high with these wonderful stir-fried string beans. Apparently they were on the house as well! This happened on a couple of occasions but not every time and it wasn't always string beans sometimes is was sesame chicken or the like. The first time I went it was just after lunch and they were slow. The next few times I went at night with friends when they were busy. After experiencing them in a rush I made a point in going early afternoon so as to get better service. This is when I usually got the free entrees.  My theory on that is this: The chef was either bored or had cooked food that he didn't want to just throw out.

The food here is always amazing and I have never been disappointed. That being said the service is somewhat lack luster. While they are usually at least very friendly they're not by any means attentive. Which is still better than most of the restaurants around it. Bad service is kind of par for the course in this area of town if you're not of a certain persuasion.

So any ways like always if you're ever in the area you should make a point of stopping in a giving this place a try. Till next time, happy eating to you!

Sorry for the Absence!

I apologize profusely for my absence as of late. Things in my day to day life have conspired to keep from writing and posting as regularly as I would like to. So I'm posting this as an assurance that things here will resume as soon as I can possibly handle them. I appreciate you all very much and thank you for continuing to hang around. So please bear with me and wish me luck in dealing with current complications.

Great Places I've Eaten Strikes Back!

Well to follow my previous post here is another fantastic place to eat.

It's called Zunzis and it's located in beautiful Savannah, GA.

Of course Savannah being a walking city and everything this place fits right in. It's located next to Oglethorpe Square. They are only open 11am-6pm and they get packed very quickly. So either show up early for lunch or take a late one. The place itself is actually only big enough to walk in, order, get your food, and leave but they do have a nice patio area were you can sit, eat, and enjoy Savannah's usually mild and wonderful weather.

The guy that runs it is South African and has a very charismatic and funny personality. I found out about this place through some friends of mine who are locals. The first time they took me there the guy was joking with us while expertly preparing our meals and was constantly sampling tasty little tid bits to anyone who was interested. He's especially proud of his home made South African sausage and has every right to be, as it fabulous.

When I go I usually get the Godfather. Which is a monster of a sub that usually has to be eaten with a fork (unless you're as talented as me). It has his sausage and baked chicken breast that has been marinaded in his very own blend of seasoning. This is topped with cheese (provolone I think), lettuce, then marinara sauce and parmesan. It is heavenly and definitely worth a trip to Savannah just for it!

I've also had their humus (which is home made as well I think) and it's very delicious and makes a great appetizer or afternoon snack. If you try a salad definitely get the house dressing as it amazing and unlike anything else I've ever had.

Great Places I've eaten!

The first in this series of posts is about a wonderful little restaurant in Alpharetta, GA called Pure Taqueria.

I went to visit some friends of mine in the Atlanta area and they took me out to this absolutely amazing place. We sat around "bs'ed" over a few of their house margaritas while we perused the menu. The taqueria seemed to be built inside an old garage and had an amazing and laid back atmosphere. Most of the patron's seemed to be locals from the neighborhood it's located in and were all very good spirited and lent a happiness to the place.  The service was fairly good even if the staff had that stuck up college student thing going on.

The food itself was heavenly. I ordered one of the specials they had that wasn't on the menu as it was for a limited time only. It was a torta though I can't really remember what the actual name was or exactly what was on it. ( It's been a while since these events transpired) Here's a pic of the deliciousness:

 I also sampled a fish taco. Even though I'm really not a fan of fish (or Phish for that matter) I thought I'd try and broaden my culinary horizons a bit. Except for the fishy taste it was fairly good. Yet another pic:

So if you're a fan of authentic Mexican food and happen to be in the Atlanta area I definitely recommend stopping in and giving it a try.

Their link:
http://www.puretaqueria.com/

Lets Take This Puppy For A Test Drive

I've never really blogged before so please bear with me. My posts will probably seem random and unrelated but that's just how to ol' noodle works. I'm fairly excited to be getting my thoughts and ideas out there for the whole world to see. Also I'm interested to see who out there shares interests with me and what their opinions on my thoughts are.

So wish me luck world for I shall need every precious ounce of it :)