Turning Over a New Leaf

    September was a little busy for Ryan and me.  Hence we only posted on our blog twice!  So in honor of October 1st, I am officially turning over a new leaf and starting to blog again.  

Image from www.boston.com/bigpicture

Fall is officially in the air in Birmingham, so here are a couple of my favorite things fall brings...

1. The cool weather: I love the brisk fall mornings and the sunny cool afternoons.  Perfect weather for hiking, picnics, and bike rides.  The fall weather always makes me think of my grandparents and the fun times we would have at the family farm during the cool months of hunting season.

Top: Me, Leigh, and Dad.  Bottom: Leigh, me, Mamaw, and Papaw.  Both taken at the farm.

2. The beautiful leaves: I love all the beautiful colors of fall.  Birmingham is always beautiful in the fall because of the rolling hills of the city that all the sudden turn to a beautiful palate of fall color.  The picture below is of the lake at Oak Mountain State Park, which is possible one of my favorite places in the world because of all the wonderful memories I made there with my family.  My parents live about 5 minutes from the park so we spent a lot of fall weekends hiking there.

Image from Uptake.com

Psalm 95 1-7 says, "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rick of our salvation!  let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with song of praise!  For the Lord is a great God,and a great King above all gods.  In his hands are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.  Oh come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!  For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand."

3. Football and Fall TV:  Cool Friday nights always make me think of high school football, which brings back wonderful memories of Ryan playing football and me cheering on the sideline.  Ryan and I now still love watching college football with friends on Saturdays.  

Ryan and I after a Friday Night game

It also must be mentioned as well that fall brings back "The Office", "Bones", "Modern Family", and "Glee" which is nice after the barren wasteland that is summer television.

4. Soup, Chili, and Cornbread:  The cool weather always means it is time to make a bowl of Santa Fe soup or Chili and some cornbread.  I love chili and hate that the summer is just too hot to make it!  

Image from McCormick.com

5. Jackets, Sweaters, and Boots:  Jackets are one of my favorite clothing items so I always love the first couple of days it is cool enough to pull out those jackets that you love but have not seen since early March.  After a long hot summer, it feels as those you have a whole new wardrobe once you pull out all those jackets, sweaters, and boots.


So that is what I love about fall.  What do you love about it?

Birmingham Eats: Saw's BBQ

When Laura and I moved into Edgewood, we were dying to try every restaurant, shop, and store around us. You see, Edgewood is a cozy area in Homewood with a very quaint and small strip of about 7 shops or so. There are a few places that immediately caught out attention, the first one being Broadway BBQ. Being from Alabama (and also being wannabe foodies), we love BBQ, and nearly everyone you talk to in Birmingham is going to have their personal favorites. We swung Broadway one evening right before closing time. It was an interesting experience. The food was not bad, but neither was it exceptionally good. It was a small restaurant and never very popular when we saw it, and that night we happened to be the only two in the joint (which for an introvert like me is ok, but a bit eerie). I really wanted to like it, but just didn't.

So when Saw's came around sometime last fall or so, I expected much of the same. We waited about a month thinking the crowds would die down, but they never did. We ventured over one night to give the place a shot.

The first two things that struck me about the place was the way in which it was similar and different to other BBQ restaurants. It is similar in its decor, with license plates, football garb, random beer signs, and a number of other random things strewn across the wall. I'm not knocking that by any means, seeing that it is often interesting and definitely eye catching. Still, it has been done. The thing that is  different is the size. The building is pretty small, seating probably 10-12 tables. I'm more used to Jim 'n Nick's or Tin Roof or Birmingham's Dreamland, places with tons of tables and a waiter or waitress coming to take your order while you sit anonymously in a booth. Typically, I like the anonymity, so I was a little nervous about the size.

We had checked out a menu online before we left, so we know what we wanted as soon as we got there. Laura ordered a pork sandwich combo and ordered a pork stuffed baker with sweet tea. We found a table in the back and within a few minutes a young man had brought us our food. First, let me tell you that portions are quite generous. I'm used to potatoes with a dab a meat to fill out the potato, but usually it is more of the other stuff. This potato however was overflowing with great looking pulled pork, had plenty of cheese and sour cream, and a good helping of Saw's sauce, a treat in and of itself. Laura's sandwich was huge! She had to take some BBQ off of her sandwich just to take a bite. Their pork is phenomenal. It is cooked overnight and pulled when they are ready to serve it, making it perfectly juicy and tender and lean. Their sides that we have tried have been great, made fresh daily and tasting wonderfully as well. We tried their chicken the other day as well and were not disappointed. I just met a friend there last night who decided to try their ribs, which he raved about long after licking the sauce off the last one.

Overall, Saw's is far and away my favorite restaurant in Birmingham. I've always had a good experience, leaving full and satisfied with both the service and the quality. If you have not tried it yet, please do so. You will not regret it and I think you will be returning very soon!