Christmas Tree Recycling

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday! With all the festivities coming to an end, it's now time to figure out what to do with your Christmas Tree (see ours above!).  While it might be fun to have a fragrant bonfire or have Christmas again in July, most people are kicking their trees to the curb (literally). DeKalb County and Keep DeKalb Beautiful are sponsoring the 20th Annual Bring One for the Chipper Event.

The recycled Christmas Trees will be chipped into mulch for public beautification projects.  This event is free to all DeKalb County residents.To participate at home, those who are served by DeKalb County Sanitation are asked to leave their trees for curbside pick-up on their yard on debris collection day.  Please note that all decorations, lights, and ornaments must be removed.  Any tree over 7 feet tall must be cut in half prior to curbside placement.

In addition to leaving them at the curbside for pickup Christmas Trees can also be dropped off at the following locations:

Agnes Scott College

Saturday, Jan. 2. Residents can drop off live Christmas trees at the Christmas Tree Recycling Center in the Agnes Scott parking lot. The entrance is between 184 and 206 S. Candler St. in Decatur GA.

Seminole Road 

Landfill Drop-off Site

4203 Clevemont Road

Lithonia, GA 404-294-2900

Mon. to Fri. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sat. 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Services are restricted to residents of Dekalb County only.

East Transfer Station

1750 Rogers Lake Road

Lithonia, GA 404-294-2927

Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Services are restricted to residents of Dekalb County only.

The recycling center will be open Monday, Dec. 28, through Saturday, Jan. 2

Last year, more than 200,000 trees were recycled in the State of Georgia. Over 10,000 of those trees were from DeKalb county GA residents. The program produces environmental benefits while helping Dekalb county comply with state regulations that prohibit the disposal of yard trimmings in lined municipal landfills.

DeKalb County Recycling

DeKalb County boasts that it's the Greenest County in America, and since Wednesday is typically our local recycling day, I figured I would discuss how you can get involved with DeKalb County's Curbside Residential Program.

When we first moved into Brookhaven, it was slightly confusing at how to get started.  First, check out their application. All DeKalb County single family residences that presently receive solid waste collection services (aka trash...) from DeKalb’s Sanitation Division are eligible to  participate in this recycling program. So renters - hopefully your apartment or complex has their own center or if not, check out the different drop off centers in Dekalb.

The program requires a one-time $15 charge for the blue bin and a $15 charge for a box of blue bags (to separate our your plastics and paper. We are still working on our first box of bags...)

Once you submit your application and fee, they will drop off your bin and bags at your house (pretty convenient!). Recycling is picked up every Wednesday morning- try to make sure its out in front of your house by 8/9am.  They have a small holiday schedule, and they don't pick up around Thanksgiving and New Years.If you are already a user of this program and need more blue bags- just visit their website.

We have been very happy with our service with this program and love helping to keep Dekalb green!

Egg's Nest

I do a lot (90%) of my shopping online for the Holidays. I am not a fan of crazy shoppers, long lines, and limited parking.  I try to steer clear of malls and large shopping centers.

However, sometimes you just can't beat the joy of shopping around Christmas. Typically the non-chain/neighborhood stores are nicely decorated and the staff cheerful and helpful.  So when I had to do some baby shopping for a new 9 month old family member, I was excited to get to try out our new local, eco-friendly baby boutique: Eggs Nest (no website, follow them on twitter @eggsnestatlanta). Eggs Nest is located in the up and coming Village Place development off Dresden with the Library Coffee Co, Cocktails and Canvas, Kaleidoscope, and Yoforia to name a few.

Eggs Nest has a fairly large retail space with adorable, eco-friendly gifts for any little one (mainly baby & toddler). I picked out a few small gifts for our cousin's baby and they even wrapped the gift in a cute bag with ribbon and a gift tag (complimentary!). I'll let you know how she enjoys them!

If you go, ask for Katharine Kinney, the store owner. She was very friendly and helpful, especially when shopping for a gift. They had some unique products there that looked pretty cool for any new mom.

We always love to support our local stores, so stop by if you can, Christmas is approaching quickly!

Kaleidescope

Quick update... Kaleidescope is NOT open yet as previously rumored. All we have heard is there is/was some issues with a liquor license and investor troubles. The opening date is still undetermined... We hope this doesn't set them back too much! We were hoping for a pre-holiday grand opening, but now it's looking like a January opening.

Stay tuned as we find out more info! Read up on their menu here.

Green's

We have a visitor this weekend: Brandon from American Beer Geek in Paris is stopping in Atlanta on his way back home to Washington for the Holidays.  And sure enough after a long day of international travelling and jet lag, his first request is a stop at Green's on Buford Highway (they also have a location on Ponce).  Green's is a large liquor store that carries everything you need and more for fun on a Friday night.  More importantly though, they have an extensive beer selection that rivals anything in Atlanta.  They carry many brews from small breweries all over America and an even larger import selection.

Brandon (above, pensive...) dropped some knowledge on me and gave me some great recommendations to try.  I went with some brews from Mikkeller, Rogue and Terrapin to try this weekend.  Of course these imports and special brews aren't cheap so bring some cash with you (credit is more expensive).  I'm also not too sure on knowledge of the staff because I didn't really get a chance to ask anyone any questions.

Typically, I frequent Red's 2 in the Kroger shopping center or Alex's Package on Peachtree because they are convenient.  Green's blows both of them out of the water in terms of selection and everytime we go, it is exciting to see what new brews they have.  Go check them out. 

Chick-fil-a, Closed for Renovations

The Chick-fil-a we frequent (on Peachtree in Chamblee) is closed for some much needed renovations. Depending on the extent of the renovation (Interior and/or Exterior) the renovations could take anywhere from 4 - 12 weeks. When I drove by this morning on my way out of the UPS Store in the same shopping center, it looked pretty serious. Let's hope it doesn't take them too long with this bad weather and the holidays! For now, we'll have to go to the Chick-fil-a on North Druid Hills and Briarcliff for our fried chicken fix... If only the new Zaxby's Chamblee development was progressing faster!

We will keep you posted on its progress, and when they will be back open for business.

Library Coffee Co- Anniversary Specials

Happy two year anniversary to Library Coffee Co! Our favorite neighborhood coffee/bar/restaurant/wine tasting place is celebrating two years in Brookhaven. Celebrate with them today by enjoying $1 off any coffee drink or $4 glasses of Chardonnay all day. And since it's also Thursday, from 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm they are having their weekly live musical performance featuring contemporary jazz saxophonist, Nick Longo.

Find out about all the great Library Coffee events by following them on Twitter at @LibraryCoffee or signing up for their email newsletter. And just a reminder- you can follow us on twitter at @BHReview to keep track of all our local events and happenings.

Enjoy!

DeKalb County Water and Sewer

Now that we are homeowners- Cory and I have to keep a look out on crazy things like these that impact our budget!

Yesterday, DeKalb County approved an increase in water-sewer rates. Rates will increase 16% starting January 1st, 2011, and then the rates will be increased by an additional 11% (per year!) for 2012, 2013, and 2014.

This rate increase is to try and fund a 1.35 billion dollar upgrade to the 50 year old water and sewer system. This might mean a lot of road closures and roadside construction for the next few years as the County must comply with an EPA mandate to update. I guess DeKalb has been having a lot of sewage spills as of late (over 800 in the past 5 years- gross!)

We will keep you posted if we hear of any additional increases or know of any road closures. And renters don't forget that this will impact you too! Look out for increases in your apartment's water bill.

Read more about all this in the AJC.

Farm Burger's Farm Supper

We tried Farm Burger in Decatur a couple months ago at the suggestion of a friend. FB is just one of a growing number of Atlanta gourmet hamburger joints. It definitely puts up a big fight in the battle for the best hamburger in Atlanta. The most intriguing aspect of this place is that it is a "farm to fork" restaurant (we also spotted them at the Field of Greens festival) which means they get most of their meat and veggies from local Georgia farms. At this event, however, they didn't serve any burgers. It was a special, seasonal dinner where chef Terry Koval gets to spread his wings and design some very creative and unique dishes. After hearing about the event from a friend and then checking out the advertised five course menu posted on their blog, we were a little hesitant about some of the items (see advertised courses below) and the $37 per plate price tag:

• Gougères of pork pâté and housemade pickles, beef heart lollipops w/ chimichurri, pork sausage reubens with fB sauce
• Pickled beef tongue, brussel sprouts & our bacon
• Apple cider-braised hog shoulder, roasted pumpkin, persimmon apple chutney
• Whole bird: leg, wing, thigh, breast, liver, & heart, Grandma’s chicken gravy, apple butter & biscuits
• Grassfed strip loin, cracked black pepper & onion mignonette, oxtail stuffed peppers
• And dessert too....we just haven't decided yet...

Heart lollipops and pickled beef tongue? hmmm... We knew they only do this a few times a year and figured it was worth a shot.

We ended up attending with our friend Alexa and her fiancée, and when we showed up for cocktail hour, we were ready to dig in to the five course menu.We sat down (assigned tables) and were served a mulled, spiced apple cider. It was warm and buttery, perfect for the cold night. Then came the "snacks". They consisted of pork sausages, gougeres filled with pate and, of course, the infamous beef heart lollipops. All were very good. After we got over the mental block of "beef heart" lollipops, we enjoyed the flavor- similar to a roast beef -tender, but with a thicker texture (no photo, sorry).

I apologize in advance for the pics - they are overexposed and a little washed out but it was dark and I needed to use a flash. The official first course consisted of another daunting dish - beef tongue (photo above). Served with brussels sprout leaves, bacon and horseradish sauce it had a great flavor. The texture resembled that of a brisket and wasn't too chewy as I would have expected. A very interesting dish.

The second course was pork shoulder with roasted squash, and a persimmon-apple chutney (photo above). This was Malory's favorite course. The squash had a sweet, buttery flavor and provided a great compliment to the shoulder. The shoulder was braised in cider and had a sweet tang to it.

The third course was my favorite. Served family style in a cast-iron skillet, it was a whole chicken (hearts and livers included) served with gravy, collard greens, and biscuits with apple butter (photo of chicken above). The chicken was perfectly cooked with a great seasoning. The chicken hearts were tasty little morsels that you could just pop in your mouth. And of course the melt-in-your-mouth biscuits were warm, and the apple butter added a southern comfort.

The fourth course was a jalapeno pepper stuffed with oxtail and mignonette and topped with a striploin steak (photo above). The steak was very tender and perfectly seasoned. I can't say I was a huge fan of the oxtail. The texture was odd and it was a little fatty and tasted almost sticky. Plus with the three (really four including the snacks) courses before it, we were all just very full and satisfied by the time this round came out.

Finally, dessert. It was a surprise since the advertised menu didn't have anything posted yet- but they served my all-time favorite: apple pie. The course was warm homemade apple pie with salted caramel ice cream topped with pork rind brittle (photo above). It was a terrific cap to the night. They even gave us all little goody bags with extra pork rind brittle to take home.

Overall, we really had a great time. The atmosphere was very intimate, and it was great that some of the local farmers that provided the food were there enjoying it as well. Our only complaint was that the meal was probably one course too many. At the end of the night, we all headed home in a meat stupor and woke up the next day with a protein hangover. But the dishes were prepared excellently and we can't wait to go to supper no. 3. Until then, we will be travelling out of Brookhaven to Farm Burger again for sure.

Moe's Now Open

Welcome to Moe's!  Moe's Southwest Grill is now open in Town Brookhaven.  Moe's is a popular burrito fast food restaurant that has rapidly expanded in America.  Moe's joins Slack's and Costco as one of the few things open in Town Brookhaven.  We still look forward to Noche, Publix, The Flying Biscuit Cafe, The Cafe at Pharr, Tin Drum and some other great things opening there in 2011.

El Rey Del Taco Taqueria

Looks inviting doesn't it? :) This picture doesn't do the restaurant justice... we ended up here at El Ray Del Taco (no website) on the crazy day of rain and flooding this week so not the best for photo-taking. The location is actually very well lit- and is located right inside I-285 off Buford Highway (and right across Buford Hwy from Chef Liu!). You can't miss the red string of light surrounding the roof of this taqueria (see in photo above).

We read about this place briefly in the same Southern Living article (I guess they didn't stray too far...). All we knew was that they had some great, cheap tacos. And since Cory's favorite food of all time is Mexican, we had to try it out.

Our interest was piqued when the sign on the door said they were open until 5am weeknights and 6am weekend nights (See photo above). I guess they do a lot of late night business! The place was pretty dead when we walked in at 7pm on Tuesday. The space was bright and cheery with latino music videos playing (a little too loud) and decorative metal star lights hanging everywhere (similar to Taqueria del Sol). The kitchen/grill is open to the restaurant with a 50's style counter and bar. Cory and I grabbed a booth and checked out the menu. Everything was reasonably priced with $1 - $1.60 dollar tacos, $4 - $5 burritos, and $1-$3 sides. I ordered 3 tacos ($1.60 ea.) with cheese (+$.30) and frijoles (refried beans- $2). Cory ordered 2 tacos, a burrito and rice ($1.75). They also offer Hecho a Mano tortillas which are handmade and pressed tortillas.  Cory was a little upset they didn't have any available so we'll have to go back to get some. See our delicious spread below:

Our favorite by far were the tacos (of course!) - they came with grilled onions and fresh cilantro on flour tortillas. It also came with some great sauces and fresh limes to squeeze on your meat.  We enjoyed the Al Pastor (la favorita) which is steak and chorizo; Chorizo (spiced Mexican pork); and the Pollo (chicken). The chicken was my least favorite- it was a little dry and just no comparison to the Al Pastor.  This was the cheap, delicious, and authentic taqueria that we have been looking for! Note to vegetarians... there's not much of a selection for you non-meat eaters. I would stick to the sides.

As we were leaving, more and more people kept filing in- I assume it's just more of a late-night place. And remember to pay at the counter! The staff speaks some english.