A meal with everything supplied by Black-owned Atlanta area businesses? Sounds good to us!
Salsas and smoked meats from Pam’s Magic Cauldron
The tagline for Pamela Askerneese-Henry’s business, Pam’s Magic Cauldron, is “Stir, Sizzle, Smoke.” After trying her salsas and smoked ribs, we can promise there’s plenty of sizzle and smoke in what she makes. As a matter of fact, there must be a cloud of pecan- and cherry-perfumed smoke hovering over her Smyrna-based business. She offers two smoked salsas: smoked habanero and smoked tomatillo avocado. Both are smoky, and we thought the heat level from the habaneros was just right. The habanero is a loose salsa, made with smoked tomatoes and habaneros, and the tomatillo avocado is creamy. To show you her dedication to all things smoky, even the avocados in that salsa are smoked. Askerneese-Henry also offers smoked meats, including pastrami, chicken wings, cardamom-cured bacon, leg of lamb, rib-eyes, salmon, brisket and more. We bought the St. Louis-style ribs, and everyone who tried them agreed: best ribs ever. The salsas are available for order online. For the smoked meats, reach out to Askerneese-Henry and talk over what you’d like to order.
$8 per 16-ounce container of smoked habanero salsa, $8 per 8-ounce container of smoked tomatillo avocado salsa. Prices for smoked meats vary. Call 706-538-7125 to order meat. Salsas available at pamsmagiccauldron.com.
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Ginger juices from Ginger Yums
Ginger Yums was founded by Angela Avery and Karl Walbrook after Walbrook created a ginger drink he hoped would help Avery get over a lifetime of stomach issues. Seeing her health improve, they began making juice for the rest of us. Not content with just one variety, they created ginger-strawberry, ginger-pineapple, ginger-watermelon and many more. There are 17 different flavors, and they can make their juices in over 100 different combinations. All can be custom-made for those who want a juice that’s sugar-free or vegan. We didn’t try them all, but we can tell you the original ginger flavor just might be our favorite, followed closely by ginger-pineapple. We’re going to experiment with these in cocktails, too. These are fresh juices, so they should be consumed within a week. You can mix and match flavors, or buy a quart or half gallon of one flavor. Soon, they’ll be opening the Ginger Room, a juice, coffee and teahouse in Alpharetta.
$30 for six 12-ounce bottles, $40 for eight 12-ounce bottles. $13 per quart. $25 per half gallon. Available at the Alpharetta, Dunwoody, Roswell and Serenbe farmers markets. Delivery is free in the Atlanta area, or pick them up at 3800 Holcomb Bridge Road, Peachtree Corners. Order at gingeryums.com.
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Desserts from Sweet Cheats
It’s hard to believe these decadent treats come out of the kitchen of a bodybuilder, someone who participated in figure competitions organized by the National Physique Committee. Shirley Hughes named her bakery Sweet Cheats, in homage to the sweet treats she craved during the three years she spent training. She and her husband, Robert Tubbs, opened their Cabbagetown bakery in 2011, and, every day, the bakery case is filled with cupcakes, cheesecakes, cookies, brownies, chocolate-covered strawberries and cruffles, Hughes’ take on cake pops. We tried three cupcakes and a slice of cheesecake. Every cupcake is a little work of art. In addition to moist cake and artfully piped mounds of buttercream, each cupcake gets a little flourish. Our salted caramel cupcake came with a squiggle of hardened caramel. The chocolate dream cupcake was garnished with drizzles of both chocolate and caramel sauce, and topped with a cookie. The seasonal strawberry cupcake was crowned with a beautiful berry. We also tried the red velvet cheesecake, with its red velvet brownie base and creamy cheesecake top. All were splurges that felt well worth the calories.
$4 per cupcake or slice of cheesecake. Available for delivery or pickup at the bakery, 692 Kirkwood Ave. SE, Atlanta. sweetcheatsatlanta.com.
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