Three Friends & a Fork

07/12/2025

Say what you like about Georgia peaches. Georgia’s got nothing on Alabama! We’ve gone from blueberries to peaches!🍑 🍑🍑🍑🍑 You were all so generous with your best blueberry recipes, what have you got for peaches?

07/08/2025

We hate to hear this! Just goes to show you what a hard business it is to own and run a restaurant . Hound and Harvest

07/07/2025

C’mon, get healthy! 🥗🥑🥕

07/02/2025

Y’all know how much I love my Crispi. Well, it’s on sale.

Living in a small New York City apartment, I’m picky about my countertop appliances. I simply don’t have the storage space for every new gadget and gizmo. Plus, I typically cook for one, so I don’t need anything particularly large or fancy.

06/30/2025

I probably shouldn’t admit this, but it’s the truth, so I will. I love iceberg lettuce. I really do. When I was in Jr. High, I used to make iceberg lettuce sandwiches to take to school for my lunch. They were just crunchy iceberg, mayo and white bread. I know, I know. Not exactly nutritionally dense, but I loved them. And, I think iceberg, my sandwich notwithstanding, gets an unfairly bad rap. Consider that there is no other lettuce that has the same crunch. It also brings a refreshing cold better than any other lettuce. It’s named ICE after all. Iceberg may not have much fiber, but it also has almost NO calories and it is a pretty good source of vitamin K. So when I saw making a salad that was iceberg lettuce with a simple, no measure dressing, I had to try it. I loved it as I was pretty sure I would. You could actually pile it on a a sub roll with deli meats and cheese and it would be delicious. If you hop over to her Instagram page, you can watch her make it. It’s simple. Chop the iceberg, squeeze one lemon over the lettuce. Drizzle olive oil (2 circles, that’s what she said), salt, pepper, grated clove of garlic and a splash of white vinegar. That’s it! By the way, I love Baked by Melissa not only because she loves iceberg. She loves coleslaw as much as I. I can’t wait to try some of her coleslaws. So, check her out if you also love coleslaw. Or iceberg.

06/29/2025

Alabama Grown Blueberry Recipe #3 is a quick, small batch blueberry basil jam. I loved the basil vinaigrette on my blueberry salad so much, I decided to try the basil/blueberry combo in a jam. It’s really good, really quick and super easy. It only makes one little jar of jam (about 13 ounces), so there’s no sterilizing or hot water bath to deal with. I had a Bonne Maman jar I had saved and it was the perfect size. Did I mention it’s only 4 ingredients?
2 heaping cups of fresh blueberries
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice.
5-6 basil leaves.
Add blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice to a medium saucepan.
Stirring frequently, cook over medium high heat until blueberry mixture comes to a rolling boil.
Reduce heat to medium, add basil and continue cooking and stirring for 10 minutes or until the mixture reaches 220°.
Towards the end of the cooking time, gently crush some of the berries.
At the end of the 10 minutes the blueberry liquid should be slightly thickened. When the blueberry mixture reaches 220°F, the jam is done.
Remove the basil leaves and pour the blueberry jam into a jar, put lid on, and let come to room temperature.
Once at room temp, store in the refrigerator. The jam might take 24 to 48 hours to fully set up. (But it can be eaten right away.)
For best results use in about 10 days.

06/26/2025

If you love local Gulf shrimp, you should read this. And congratulations to New Orleans! If you want to make sure your shrimp is local, wild shrimp and not imported, farmed shrimp, it sounds like The Big Easy is the place to start.

https://gardenandgun.com/articles/shrimp-fraud-allegations-are-rocking-the-restaurant-world-we-talked-to-the-company-blowing-the-whistle/?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=socialmedia&utm_campaign=june2025_linkinbio&utm_content=shrimpscandal&fbclid=PAQ0xDSwLKrYBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABp2IJJncCCWxyE8iuLyppByW3ab7vonlvjnnFLD2DhsFf8wWpxO65ukZtjHyb_aem_b-cFwuhyRz35twftUi9Npw

SeaD Consulting used rapid genetic testing to sniff out whether restaurants in coastal cities are telling the truth about where their shrimp comes from—and the firm filled us in on the details

06/25/2025

I’ve definitely got the summertime blues! For Alabama grown blueberry recipe number 2, I made a fresh green salad popping with sweet homegrown blueberries, sweet candied pecans and creamy goat cheese, drizzled with a basil vinaigrette made with fresh basil leaves. This is definitely getting added to my summertime rotation. I forgot to add my red onion and it was yummy anyway, so if you aren’t an onion fan, just leave it out. It will still be delicious. I used a mixture of spinach, red leaf lettuce and arugula because that’s what I had. You could totally make this salad with all Alabama grown products if you had some Belle Chèvre goat cheese from Elkmont, local pecans, and the rest of the produce from your garden or area farmer’s market.