The Jealous Crumpet

A sweet little blog


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Blog Tour: New Market BBQ #dineHSV

brisketAt the last leg of our food journey, we found ourselves at New Market BBQ.  The restaurant is a red-roofed wooden building, surrounded by barrels of brightly colored flowers.  It is the kind of place you see and you know immediately that you will be served excellent Barbecue, and I am glad to report the restaurant exceeded my high expectations.

When we arrived at the restaurant, the sky was quite ominous looking and storms were eminent, but this in no way unswayed the bbq lovers from coming out to New Market BBQ.  The parking lot and restaurant was full of people who were more than willing to brave the rain and wind to get their pulled pork and brisket dinners.

storm1The restaurant inside is rustic and fun, with lots to look at.  Especially fun is owner Libby’s extensive pig collection.  I have been to New Market BBQ on three previous occasions, and every time I go there I notice a new pig that I hadn’t seen before.

Here are a FEW of the pigs. I am sure there are countless others I missed or just didn't get a photo of.

Here are a FEW of the pigs. I am sure there are countless others I missed or just didn’t get a photo of.

There aren’t tables, rather a bar that goes across the front of the restaurant.  It creates an intimate environment allowing you to easily become friends with your neighbors.  If you want a more secluded dinning experience, there is a pavilion with picnic tables adjacent to the restaurant.

interiorAt the heart of the restaurant is the smoker where all the magic happens.  Kelly and Libby pride themselves in cooking all their meats the old-fashioned way, and this is what makes customers keep on coming back.  fireThe restaurant is open only 3 days a week and is full the entire three days.  Cooking is a labor-intensive process and customers appreciate the time and effort that goes into it.

meatThe rain finally started, but thankfully we were all cozy inside the dining area.  We ordered our food, many of us taking forever (myself included) because there were so many delicious-sounding options.

ribsEveryone was sharing their food, because it was all so good we needed to try everything.  It was all great!  chickenAfter we had all eat past normal human consumption, we had (got to) pick out a dessert.  There were SO many choices, pecan pie, coconut pie, Elvis cake, banana pudding, peanut butter pie, and on and on.

Definitely go visit today.  You will love it!!dessert

 


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Blog Tour: D’Licious Dining #dineHSV

D'licous Dining

 

So for this leg of the blog tour I found myself at the delicious restaurant D’Licious Dining and Smokehouse Grill.  It is housed in a really quirky building, that for some reason reminds me of the 80’s Cafe from Back the Future 2.  I just aged myself there.

Cool looking building!

Cool looking building!

The inside of the building was also really cool, with lots of fun things to lot at including a pinball machine hanging from the ceiling which I of course forgot to take a photography off.  11

This time I parked close and remembered my camera and tripod… on the way in.  On the way home I would forget my tripod, drive all the way back to my house before realizing it and have to drive back to the restaurant.  sigh.  I swear if my head wasn’t attached.   D'Licous Dining & Smokehouse GrillThe bloggers assembled, ready for the Jamaican Restaurant week special.  We talked about the lunch from the day before and our high hopes that D’Licous Dining would be as good as Sady’s Bistro. (which it was!)  We also discussed unique (for our location) foods that we had eaten.  The foodies had eaten everything from jellyfish (this was the most intriguing to me) to kangaroo and alligator to a myriad of insects.  No animal is safe from the food blogger!2

The staff was very good: quick, nice and attentive without being pushy.  As an added benefit there was live music, a talented saxophone player that added to the fun ambiance of the restaurant.
Fried Green TomatoesThe starter was the Southern staple, fried green tomatoes, which were quite delicious, or I should say d’licious.  This was a risky starter since most of the bloggers are southern and know a good fried green tomato from a bad one, but the consensus was D’Licious’ tomatoes were excellent.  Not only were these tasty, they were beautiful which warms a photographs heart. 5

Most people went for the jerk chicken.  I looked up why it is called ‘jerk’ chicken, assuming it was not named after idiotic poultry.  Jerk is a type of seasoning that is traditionally applied to poultry or pork, though it can be used in numerous other foods.  Jamaican Jerk Spice typically made with allspice and the Scotch bonnet pepper.  The term ‘jerk’ came from a native South American word ‘ch’arki’ which meant ‘dried meat’.  If you don’t believe me here is the Wikipedia article: Jerk Seasoning.10All  you really need to know is that it is tasty.  It came with nicely seasoned red beans and rice and fried plantains.  Right before dessert the owner Chef Rae came out to meet us and talked about some of his philosophies on food.  Chef RaeWe finished the meal with a brownie and ice cream dessert.  It was the perfect size, and a nice sweet end to a well-crafted Southern/Jamaican meal.9The Restaurant Week Lunch Special was $15 and included an appetizer of fried green tomatoes, and entrée of Jerk Chicken with fried plantains and red beans and rice and a dessert of brownie and ice cream.  Well worth the price.

Restaurant week SpecialCheck out the blogs of my fellow food fanatics and get a different perspective on the experience.

The Dining Dragon

The Foodie Army Wife

Aka Jane Random

Rocket City Mom

Southern Plate

Fini

 


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Awesome Photo Foodies

So I had a contest this week where fellow foodies submitted me their best food photos.  There was some really incredible photographs, and I’ll admit it made me nervous that they’re going to put me out of work.

Here are some of the amazing photographs.

alice amanda ana danny dee Dee2 janie kami mandee mandee2 pierre rebecca rebecca2 ryan ryan2 Screen Shot 2014-08-12 at 4.33.38 PM shannon stephanie


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North Alabama Photography Contest

Update:

We have a winner for the social media food photography contest.  Congratulations to Alice Tanghe who will be dining with me and super awesome fellow bloggers on Sunday at New Market BBQ.  Thanks to all that participated.  Photos of all the yummy dishes are coming.10616041_10203611804727677_1214057757983964187_n

Hello North Alabama Folks!  I’m very excited to be participating in Alabama’s Restaurant Week!

Sorry, you win free lunch with me not Lola the adorable doggie.

Sorry, you win free lunch with me not Lola the adorable doggie.

In celebration I am holding a food photography contest. Post to your social media platform of choice food photographs (that you have taken) with the hashtag #DineHSV and tag me in your post from now until August 12th (tomorrow).

The winner will get to have lunch with me and fellow bloggers on either Saturday, August 16th or Sunday, August 17th (your choice).

The contest in open to all so feel free to share this post with any foodies wanting to participate.

Disclaimer: Though open to all I will not pay for airfare, so faraway folks keep that in mind.  If non-Alabama residents want to participate I do have a less fabulous, but still awesome prize of blueberry muffin mix.  Can’t wait to see your yummy food photos.  I’ll post them on the blog next week so you can see them all!

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Twitter handle: @S_M_Belanger

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Win Free Lunch