MARLOW'S TAVERN AND AQUA BLUE CHEF JOHN METZ COOKS OFF THE GRID(IRON) AT OCTOBER 9 FALCONS HOME GAME

Those Green Bay Packers can keep their cheeseheads; Marlow's Tavern and Aqua blue Chef/Owner John Metz is dishing it out for the Atlanta Falcons at the Falcons home game on Sunday, October 9 at 8:20 p.m.  Talk food, or football, with Metz inside 2View Restaurant located in the Dome's east end zone on the Executive concourse (near the suites).  

Pass on the dogs and nachos -- 2View will be preparing some of Chef Metz's rave-winning recipes for you to purchase and savor.  Sounds like a fantastic place to touch down that night!

HELP MARLOW'S TAVERN RAISE $50,000 FOR SPECIAL OLYMPICS GEORGIA AT 13^TH ANNUAL GOLF CLASSIC 

Play golf, be a sponsor, volunteer or make a donation to the cause as Marlow's Tavern tees up for its 13^th Annual Marlow's Tavern Golf Classic to benefit Special Olympics Georgia on Monday, October 10 at Roswell's Horseshoe Bend Country Club.  Registration opens at 9:30 a.m. followed by a day of great golf and food plus contests on the course (and prizes for the winners).  An awards dinner and silent auction at Aqua blue cap the tournament evening.  Sterling Spoon, parent of Aqua blue and Marlow's Tavern, has been dedicated to raising money for Special Olympics Georgia since the company began in 1997.  Over the past 12 years, the tournament has raised more than $350,000 for athletes with intellectual disabilities in Georgia. These funds support year-round sports training and athletic competition for 23,620 Special Olympics Georgia athletes.  This year's goal is to raise at least $50,000.  

Be a part of the action and contact Susan Skolnick, susan.skolnick@specialolympicsga.org. To donate, please make your check payable to Special Olympics Georgia, write "Marlow's" on the memo line, and mail to Susan Skolnick, Special Olympics Georgia, 4000 DeKalb Technology Parkway, Suite 400, Building 400, Atlanta, GA  30340.

NATIONAL COOKBOOK MONTH IS HERE -- READ NOW, BEFORE THE BUZZER SOUNDS AND IT'S DONE

Devoured a good cookbook lately?  October is National Cookbook Month, and we have a (recyclable) shopping bag full of tantalizing cookbooks to chew!  Near and dear to our aprons is Atlanta Cooks at Home, which highlights Atlanta's prominent chefs and dangles personal interviews between their recipes including plans for easy and noteworthy entertaining.  Virginia Willis' newly released cookbook, Basic to Brilliant, Y'all: 150 Refined Southern Recipes and Ways to Dress Them Up for Company, is destined to be a staple in any modern Southern kitchen. Open Spice Market's newest release, Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges, for global inspiration.  The Spice Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices by Katie Luber and Sara Engram is another spicy hot read.  

From the sweet-tea brined pork shoulder to making sausage, Libbie Summers shows how to honor every succulent porcine part in The Whole Hog Cookbook: Chops, Loin, Shoulder, Bacon, and All That Good Stuff.  Quick-Fix Southern: Homemade Hospitality in 30 Minutes or Less by Rebecca Lang appeals to mouths craving tastes of the South but stuck with hands short on time.  When you've completed this year's reading, get pumped for the fall 2012 release of Kevin Gillespie's Fire in My Belly. 

SMASHBURGER'S OCTOBER WINDY CITY SWEEPSTAKES WILL BLOW YOU AWAY

Straight to Atlanta from Smashburger in Chicago, Smashburger's Windy City promotion is settling into Atlanta Smashburger restaurants and staying through October 31.  Layers of melted cheddar cheese, haystack onions, lettuce, tomato and Gulden's spicy mustard meld together on a pretzel bun -- a smash hit!  Look to the Smashburger website for info on how to enter to win a three-day, two-night trip for two to Chicago, burgers for a year and other great prizes during the Windy City Sweepstakes.  You'll also find Smashburger coupons on Facebook.

Smashburger - Buckhead:  2625 Piedmont Road, NE; 404-237-2374.

Smashburger - Johns Creek:  9775 Medlock Bridge Road; 770-497-6274.

Smashburger - Alpharetta:  5530 Windward Parkway; 770-754-0554.

SKINNY STILETTO COCKTAIL AT FLEMING'S WALKS ALL OVER BREAST CANCER

Perk up the girls during October by inviting them to join you for the 99-calorie Stiletto cocktail on the 5 for $6 'til 7 p.m. menu at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar.  Outside the 5-6-7 time slot, Stilettos are $9.95 each.  One hundred percent of the proceeds from this month's stylin' signature drink will go to the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade.  Can't wear these stilettos home, but you can make them yourself with Fleming's recipe below. 

During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Fleming's is partnering with Cline Cellars to raise funds for Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC).  Cline Cashmere will be featured by the glass on Fleming's 5-6-7 menu thorough Monday, October 31.  Silky smooth Cashmere tickles with big cherry, raspberry and chocolate notes with hints of cracked black pepper and plum.  Always a charmer, pink ribbon wine charms from Cline will dress up Cashmere purchases while supplies last.  Cline has contributed more than $200,000 to breast cancer foundations over the years; this year, they'll make a $25,000 donation to LBBC.  Learn more on the winery's website.  

The Stiletto

Prepared By Maeve Pesquera, Director of Wine

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1.25 oz. Hendrick's Gin   

5 fresh blackberries 

1 oz. Monin Sugar Free 

0.5 oz. lime juice

As needed, top with diet ginger ale.

Directions:

Muddle blackberries with Monin Sugar Free.  Add Hendrick's Gin. Shake. Strain and pour into martini glass. Top with diet ginger ale.  Garnish with two blackberries on a black bar pick.

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar:  4501 Olde Perimeter Way in Perimeter Place Village; 770-698-8112.  

GRAZE AND PARTY WITH JUSTIN BALMES, URBANDADDY ATLANTA AND HEINEKEN LIGHT AT OCTOBER 6 ENDLESS SUMMER PARTY AT THE GOAT FARM

Food Network Star Chef Justin Balmes will be busy barbecuing and cooking up whole hogs at Endless Summer, an unforgettable, admission-free event for the over-21 set at The Goat Farm on Thursday, October 6 from 7 - 11 p.m.  Look forward to hickory-smoked Thompson Farms whole pig; grilled chili-rubbed sirloin; handmade lamb sausage; mustard and herb grilled chicken; vegetarian black beans with avocado; borracho pintos with bacon, brown sugar and roasted chilis; poblano pepper, cabbage and apple slaw; grilled corn on the cob with paprika butter, cilantro, lime and queso fresco; green salad and rolls.  Build your own s'mores for dessert using dark, orange, red chili and milk chocolates.  Your hosts for the mini-festival are UrbanDaddy Atlanta and Heineken Light. They're bringing in gloATL, virtuoso banjo player Morgan O' Kane, DJ Vicki Powell and live painting action by TINDELMICHI and the Sunday Southern Art Revival.  UrbanDaddy is flying in the original Butt Sketch Artists from Dallas to capture your best side.  High Road Craft Ice Cream satisfies sweet cravings, and Heineken Light will take care of the beer buzz.  Get on the guest list by RSVPing to UrbanDaddy or email rsvp@carenwestpr.com.

The Goat Farm:  1200 Foster Street, Atlanta.

IF YOU ONLY HAVE TIME TO TRY ONE NEW RECIPE...

It had better taste and look as good on your plate as it does on your laptop screen (or the mini-portion on your smart chef phone). 

We're vowing to woo and wow with a fun food or drink recipe each month that just may take you out of your supermarket comfort zone and into some of Atlanta's intriguing farmers, international or street markets!  

"Top Chef" celebrity and Woodfire Grill Executive Chef/Partner Kevin Gillespie has an Indian-spiced delicata squash recipe that honors our pledge.

Indian-spiced Delicata Squash

Serves 4

2 delicata squash

2 oz. chanterelle or oyster mushrooms, about 1 large handful

½ onion

3 cloves garlic

2" piece fresh ginger

1 hot pepper (jalapeño or serrano)

½ cup filet beans, about 1 small handful

2 firm tomatoes

4 sprigs cilantro

2 scallions

1 tbsp. Madras yellow curry powder

1 14 oz. can coconut milk

¼ cup grated unsweetened coconut

1 tsp. honey

Lime juice, to taste

Salt, to taste

Prepare your vegetables:  

Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, scrape out the seeds and discard.  Cut the squash into ¼" thick half moons.  Trim the mushrooms, removing any woody stem ends and cut or tear into bite-sized pieces.  Cut the onion in half (root end to stem end) and cut into long, thin strips.  Peel the garlic clove and trim off the hard root end.  Slice the garlic crosswise into very thin slices. Peel the ginger and grate on a microplane to make one tablespoon.  Slice the pepper into rings.  Blanch and shock the beans and cut into two-inch pieces.  Blanch and peel the tomatoes.  Seed and dice.  Coarsely chop the cilantro.  Thinly slice the scallions.

To make the squash: 

Heat a large sauté pan over high heat and add just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Heat until oil is smoking.  Add the squash. Do not shake the pan as this will ensure good caramelization.  Cook until the squash is starting to brown, about two minutes.  Add the mushrooms and toss to combine.  Cook until the mushrooms begin to brown, about two more minutes. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, pepper and green beans and continue cooking until the onions are translucent, about one minute.  Add the curry powder and toss.  Cook another minute over high heat to toast the curry powder. Lower the heat and add the tomatoes, coconut milk, coconut and honey and toss to combine. Cook until the sauce begins to thicken, about two minutes. Remove from the heat and season with lime juice and salt to taste. Garnish with cilantro and scallions.

YELPER LEAVES PIE SHOP HAPPY HOUR IN STATE OF EUPHORIA

A happy hour where you down flaky-crusted wedges of sweet and savory goodness? Yelper James H., we have a couple of post-Pie Shop questions:  Did you experience a hangover?  And, can you get pulled for driving in a pie-induced ecstatic stupor?

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending Pie Shop's first Happy Hour--I paid $20 for the privilege of sampling an assortment of Pie Shop's offerings from 5pm to 8pm ("until we run out"). From their list of 15 items (plus an additional unlisted one), a few highlights:

Key Lime: Not a lightly faux-green, smooth, mass-produced slice you'd expect from many eateries, but a yellowish-orange pie brimming with flavors and textures. It tasted home-made.

Ginger Plum Tart: a perfect little bite of sweet fruit and crust with a spicy, gingery aftertaste.

Mocha: Creamy and rich, a crowd-favorite.

Coconut Cream: I'm not usually a fan of the texture of coconut, but I challenged myself to try new things: the light and fluffy flavors of the cream wowed me and overcame the textures.

Cheddar and Onion Fried Pie: This was one of my favorites--two bites of onion and cheese inside a deep-fried, buttery crust. Had I more room in my stomach, I would have had three more.

Zucchini Squash Savory Custard: Something akin to a quiche, the custard was both light and rich, and the crust bloomed with the flavor of butter.

I also sampled Sweet Summer Corn, Apple, Butterscotch Meringue, Lemon Chess, Strawberry-Blueberry, and an Apple Fried Pie.

Throughout the evening, Mims, the owner of Pie Shop would talk with her guests while serving us, and I got a real sense that she really enjoys the little community of pie aficionados that she's building here.

Given my crusty intake, I left here with my knees literally buckling under euphoric satisfaction.