Where else in downtown Macon can you celebrate Hump Day with a mean game of trivia, have a burger with a fried egg on top or spend a lazy Sunday sucking pretty oysters on the half shell with a killer bloody mary . . . and leave with a container of Georgia-grown goat cheese?
We've written about their infamous "Jessica" hotdog before. This time it was the Dr. John Burger, cooked medium with a medium egg mixing juices underneath the buns, that stuffed Mom's face. Served with a side of their new smashed potatoes, this is a dish with some serious boogie woogie. In fact, Mom still hasn't shut up about how good it was.
Then there was this recent Sunday when Shuga caught wind they were serving oysters on the half-shell as a special. As soon as he and Mom were done cleaning up after the amazing Second Sunday Brunch concert, they cozied up in a booth and made room for the cocktails and cocktail sauce. One bloody mary and a dozen fresh oysters later, Mom declared it one fine afternoon.
Welcome to the new Rookery. Owners Chad Evans and Wes Griffith are finding their stride as this downtown institution continues to rock and roll.
On top of their new menu offerings, the Rookery is now selling Sweet Grass Dairy Products. That means fine handcrafted goat and cow cheeses (to-go!) made from a family farm just south of Macon in Thomasville, Georgia. In fact, Mom came home carrying a container of Sweet Grass goat cheese that cheese heads like her could practically eat with a spoon.
Mom is already looking forward to the next round of trivia, every Wednesday at 8 p.m. Prizes include Rookery and Vineville Salon gift certificates, and teams are entered to win an ultimate $5000 grand prize. Watch out for her team, the Monthlies. And for all of the cheaters who think they can cheat with the PDA, you've been warned. Real brain power is required.
It's late and the evening, and Mom and I have our cold noses pressed up against the even colder window pane, hoping for some specks of sleet, a few flurries, or heck, just a snowflake. It's as still as a silent night out there, despite the hysteria at the grocery store today where Mom witnessed a raid on milk, bread, ground beef and bottled water. Gotta love the South. We ride out hurricanes and heat waves and tease tornadoes, but an inch of frozen participation puts us in "buy out the batteries and button down the hatch" panic mode.
Mom was just there for soup stuff, and judging by the looks of the top pic, you're probably wondering what kind of ingredients was she smoking. But that boiling pot of kinda gross-looking green stuff is hands-down, one of Mom's favorite comfort soup recipes. After one hearty bowl tonight, Shuga D whole heartily agrees. It's so cheap, easy, flavorful and slightly healthy, that you would think Kroger would have had a run on beans and cilantro today instead. Here we go:
It's Easy Being Green Chili (Vegetarian)
2 cans or Northern Beans (three-cheers for organic!)
2 small cans of diced green chilies1 small can of salsa verde
Cilantro - about 3/4 of a bunch, finely chopped
1/2 white onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt and pepper
sour cream (garnish)
chives or green onions (garnish)
Saute the onions in extra virgin olive oil (or butter) until slightly brown in a deep skillet or stock pot. Add garlic and saute for a minute. Add two cans of beans, with liquid, and one can of water. Then the chilies and salsa. Bring to a boil. Add cilantro. Liberally salt and pepper. And let simmer for about seven minutes. Ladle into bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream and garnish with green onions or chives. Yep, that's it.
See, it's not so bad looking steaming from the bowl . . . especially with a side of grilled cheese cooked up by Shuga D tonight that included cheddar AND Gorgonzola. Mom is also a fan of making spinach tortilla cheese quesadillas with this to keep the green theme.
We may not see snow, but serve it hot and melt away the fear.
Although Georgie Girl's NYE clock was three hours behind her Macon home, she received a real time "Happy New Year" just after the pink ball dropped at the intersection of Cherry and Third in downtown Macon.
G.G. may have already met Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes and Cameron Diaz in her new L.A. home, but she wasn't as struck until she heard the familiar voice of her favorite southern star, the creative force known as "The Artist" Mark Ballard, giving her a shout-out from her Macon home.
Watch the videos and listen closely to the second clip to hear G.G's reaction when we phone her from home, and she realizes it's Mark on the other line.
Downtown Macon, Georgia was alive and well for New Year's Eve, and Mom and Shuga D were grateful they swooshed in from Atlanta and nested at the Hummingbird Stage and Taproom. For Mom, it was like a rewind and fast forward in time.
First the flashbacks. Col. Bruce Hampton and the Quark Alliance were center stage. Colonel classics like "Time is Free" and "Basically Frightened," and the man himself looked like he was at least a decade-and-a-half younger . . . Which made Mom rewind to being 16 at Elizabeth Reed's Music Hall (with her dad, of course), and helping Col. Bruce apply duct tape to his shoes and jeans "because it was going to get them on MTV." Good thing the duct tape took him even further.
Then the fast forward. The 'Bird was slammed packed. Bottles of champagne were graciously given out before the clock struck 12, and the music-loving-super-sect of folks were sharing, toasting and having just an overall mighty fine time. Mom couldn't help but fast forward into the new decade and just imagined the day when Macon didn't need a New Year's or free bottles of champagne to pack the house at key live music venues, like the Hummingbird, all of the time. Maybe, just maybe, we will get to the day - to quote the Rabbi - "when you haven't made it until you played Macon" . . . or at least been a part of the crowd singing along.
Thanks to the Hummingbird team for making it a memorable (and hopeful) night. Here's to a new decade of bringing us live music in Macon.
