Most of the time I'm looking forward to the weekend, because I get to go to dinner to eat my favorite food, fried blue crabs.  Now with everything that's floating around, it's a little scary to go out to eat because the only place that sell these little delicious babies is at the buffet.  Yes the buffet, where there are hundreds of people touching everything.  Part of me is totally grossed out, but my love for the crabs overrides that.  I know people who wouldn't dare set foot in a buffet.  Even though I can afford to eat what I want, I choose to eat what I love and the only place I can find fried blue crabs are at hibachi buffets.

When the pandemic first started, my favorite buffet closed down.  I felt lost, because I don't eat a lot of stuff, so at least twice a week I have crabs.  My husband tried to buy some and make them for me, and they turned out ok, but nothing was like the ones we get at the buffet. Then we found another buffet and went there, but just the outside of that one made me cringe, so much so that I couldn't eat there but one time.  Then we found another one that was ok.  The blue crabs at this one was delicious, but it was a bit of hike from my home in Lawrenceville. 

Later our old place opened back up and we were over joyed.  It was renovated and looked great, but the new management team was slow with cooking the crabs, so the wait was unbearable.  That's when I heard about a new buffet on the other side of Lawrenceville that had just opened up.  It was really nice and the crabs were ok too.  So for a while we went there.  One night we went there and someone actually picked up the tab for our bill and that was a nice surprise.  Even though we were grateful for the gentleman's kindness, we decided to give our old buffet another try and they had finally gotten the hang of it.  They realized that they had to cook the crabs faster, because people loved them including me, so now once again I look forward to Friday or Saturday night in Gwinnett County.  I know that I don't have to think hard about what I will be doing around town, because it's crab time and I can't wait. 

I know a lot of people don't like buffets because there are so many people touching stuff, but for the most part three out of the four buffets that I visited were pretty clean.  I saw the staff constantly wipe down the area around the food and try to keep it clean.  It's still kind of scary to go out to crowded places to eat, but we try to stay as safe as possible, like using gloves to touch the utensils used to pick up the food and staying our distance from as many people as possible.  Some that works and other times it doesn't so at the end of the day, we just have to stay prayed up and hope for the best.  In the mean time, I'm looking forward to Friday again for the fried blue crabs at my favorite buffet.

Until Next Time
Make It A Great Day!
Audrey

Last Sunday I decided to go downtown Lawrenceville and visit one of our new members of Greater Eastside Chamber of Commerce.  Mimi's Ice Cafe' is one of Lawrenceville's best kept secrets.  The ice cream shop is located at 178 E. Crogan St.  Driving down Crogan it is easy to miss, because it is located on the lower level of a small plaza that house other small businesses like Painting With A Twist.  

As I sat waiting to talk to the owner Michele Williams, I watched customer after customer come in and leave smiling with what looked like a delicious cone or cup of ice cream.  Everyone seemed so happy on what was a very hot day, so ice cream was a great thing to be eating.  The traffic inside the shop slowed down for a minute which gave me the opportunity to talk to Michele about the business.

Michele told me that she and her 4 grown children had moved from Maryland a little over a year ago.  She said she wasn't looking to start the ice cream business, but it kinda fell into her lap and she was in a position to grab the opportunity.  The previous owner was moving to a different state and wanted to pass the torch and Michele was there to take the torch and keep the flame going.  Now I have to tell you that Mimi's Ice Cafe' is not just your regular ice cream parlor.  So you maybe thinking, well Audrey what makes this ice cream shop so special besides delicious ice cream, and I would tell you ice cream flavors like Rum Rum Raisin.  Yes, I mean rum like in alcohol rum.  

Mimi's has something for everyone from an one year old taking a lick of ice cream for the very first time to the 80 year old looking for the nostalgia of an ice cream float.  But wait there's more.  Looking for some ice cream with a little edge, well these flavors are definitely for the grown and sexy crowd.  The shop also carry a variety of flavors infused with alcohol.  I had the delightful opportunity to try the Rum Rum Raisin and my favorite Butter Pecan infused.  Both were really really good, but I must say that if you have a low alcohol tolerance chose your flavors wisely.  That Rum Rum Raisin is really for the grown folk.  Your girl is an alcohol light weight, so I could only eat a little of that one.  The Butter Pecan was more of my speed, because it didn't have as much alcohol.  All in all, I enjoyed both and will definitely be going back to the ice cream shop again, but this time I'm taking my husband.  It's also a great date spot.

Ok this was my first food review, but won't be my last.  Be sure to stop by Mimi's Ice Cafe' and let them know that Audrey sent you. 

Stay safe my friends. 
Until Next Time
Make It A Great Day!
Audrey