suzy's birthday

This past week we observed the national holiday that is my wife's birthday (at least, that's typically the way she thinks about out). On Thursday, we decided to celebrate said holiday by eating as much of the most delicious food we could find. So here's a quick recap of our - I mean "Suzy's" - day.

Lunch at The Lazy Goat, one of our favorite restaurants, although we had only been there for dinner. Good decision to try lunch. Suzy's parents split a kebob and Mediterranean salad; Suzy had a Muffaletta panini; but I won the day with this beauty:

This is (was?) the Lamb Burgesa, a hamburger patty of lamb tucked inside a pillowy soft warm pita, with a feta spread, a minty yogurt, lettuce, tomato, and red onion. Out.of.this.world. If you like lamb, this is about the best lunch you could hope for. It had the rich warm flavor of the lamb, cooled and muted somewhat by the yogurt and feta. 

These are pomme frites (a fancy French word meaning "freedom fries"), but The Lazy Goat has their own take on this side dish. They're thin cut and fried crispy, giving them great texture. Then they get hit with some truffle oil, giving them almost a savory but sweet-ish kind of flavor, offset by the saltiness of the finely shredded asagio cheese. They were fantastic on their own, but dip them in the chipotle ketchup? Magnifique!


Amazingly, I was able to return to work for the rest of the day, before our dinner out at American Grocery.

This is the same place we went for my birthday, which you can read about here. We ordered very similarly, but because the seasons had changed, so had the menu. Instead of apples with our pork belly appetizer, we had peaches (a great switch!). The braised beef tongue was now a braised corned beef tongue, giving it a little extra bite. The fresh fruit cobbler, instead of apple with cinnamon ice cream, was strawberry with vanilla.

An amazing day of eating at (arguably...and I'll defend this) the two best restaurants in Greenville.

But one of the best parts of the day was getting to feed our almost-eight-month-old. He takes after his daddy in that he LOVES to eat. He goes zero-to-screaming-hungry in 6.3 seconds. He makes "mmmmmm..." noises when he takes a spoonful of baby food. And he can put away some food. This was his lunch (probably not as good as ours):

Stage three macaroni with butternut squash. Yum!

I really enjoy getting to feed him, not only for the entertainment value, but because it seems like we're connecting in some way. It's like table fellowship with any adult - I get to watch his reactions, "talk" with him, and share a bit of life together. All in all, it makes me really happy...and apparently him, too.

here we go...

I’m finally doing it. I’ve toyed with the idea of starting a blog for a while now, and I’ve given in. I realize that I’m a little late getting on the blogging bandwagon, but what the heck…here we go…

I’m a wannabe foodie, and I enjoy everything from fried chicken to duck confit, from Krispy Kreme donuts to crème brulee.  I am no chef or professional food critic, but I love to eat.

And,

I’m a minister, in the business of “the care of souls.” I work in the church and in the community, trying to realize the kingdom of God, surrounded by theology in practice.

And that’s what I hope this blog will be: theology in practice.

Our faith is put into practice when we gather around a table (and as a life-long Baptist, we take every opportunity to sit down at the table). We connect on a basic human level over food, whether it’s over Grammy’s mac-and-cheese, fried pork belly at The Lazy Goat, or those tasteless wafers and juice on a Sunday morning. Transformation happens when we sit down with others and celebrate one of God’s greatest and most basic gifts—nourishment.

But don’t think that all you’ll find here are lofty ideals and abstract thoughts. My plan is to have two or three entries a week. Some will be reflections on the meaning of special times I’ve had around the table; others will be more like restaurant reviews of amazing (and sometimes not-so-amazing) food I’ve eaten; some may be links to articles or websites that I find along the way; and a good portion will probably just be my random thoughts about food, faith, and fellowship.

So, in the spirit of Martin Luther's idea of "table talk," I hope you'll contribute your thoughts and questions to the conversation around this blog-table. And maybe along the way, it will be nourishing to us all.