Indie Grits Film Festival

Sometimes Columbia offers some really awesome events.  One such event begins this weekend, and runs for 10 days (April 19 - 29): The Indie Grits Film Festival.  Created and presented by the Nickelodeon Theatre, Indie Grits is about much more than just film.  While there are several films to see (obviously), there is also music, crafts, art, and, of course, food.  Make sure you check the website (or the full press release after the jump) for a full listing of events.  But for those of you just interested in the food aspect of Indie Grits, here's a quick rundown:

• Slow Food Columbia at Indie Grits Dinner.  This is basically the kickoff party.  You can preview the festival, listen to a couple of DJs, and make your own Lite Brite (!), but most importantly, you can sample Chef Scott Hall's Artisan Grits bar.  Scott Hall is the mastermind behind Hungry Lady and Columbia favorite, Bone-In BBQ.  Hall also owns Scott Hall Catering & Event Design, and as such is serving up Adluh stone ground yellow grits with assorted toppings like wasabi peas, crispy fried local herbs, shallot cream, artisan cheeses, assorted chutneys and salsas, and more! Slow Food Columbia is sponsoring a few of the ingredients so that more sustainable, local ingredients can be included.

• Slow Food at Indie Grits: Sustainable Chefs Showcase. This event is Sunday, April 22 at 4 p.m. at the All-Local Farmer's Market at 711 Whaley. This event was incredibly popular last year! At least 10 chefs from all of the best restaurants in town will be serving tastes of a dish made with at least one sustainable, local ingredient (most use plenty of local ingredients).

• And finally, we have a few Make events including an event at Motor Supply where Chef Tim Peters will teach you how to make your own charcuterie, and an event with Kristian Niemi at Rosso is also going to teach attendees how to make something wonderful at another Make event. 

• There are also a few foodie films being shown, including Eating Alabama, which just premiered at SXSW.

As it happens, this Hungry Lady has an extra pass to the kickoff party.  She is currently taking applications for someone to be her plus one.  If you have any interest in attending (and come on....it's totally worth it because of the Lite Brite station), just let me know.  It's from 7-11 p.m. this Thursday at 701 Whaley.

Need more info?  Check out the full press release after the jump....

Sometimes you just need a good burger

A few quick things before we dive into the meat of this post: More ways to connect with The Hungry Lady!

1. I'm on Instagram. You can follow me @LauraEliz1021.  Fair warning....this is my personal Instagram account, so you may also encounter non-food things.  Like pictures of Carolina Stadium.  
2. I'm also on Untappd, also @LauraEliz1021.  So if you're interested in my beer habits, just follow along.
3. And, as always, you can find me on Facebook and Twitter.  Or you can email me. 

Moving on.  About a month ago, A, L, and I were hanging out - probably watching some baseball - and we decided to head out and grab some dinner.  We weren't in the mood for any of our usual haunts, so we decided to try out the relatively new Burger Tavern 77, located where Yo Burrito used to be (earning it the nickname "Yo Burger" from A).

Adventures in Cooking: Edamame & Veggie Fried Rice (courtesy of PGEW)

Y'all remember back in January when I announced my New Year's Resolutions?  Well, so far, I've failed miserably at them.  I'm not that surprised, because they were some pretty lofty goals, given that grad school and baseball have pretty much taken over my life, and any free time I have, I find myself doing something crazy like reading for fun.  Yes, the Hungry Lady leads quite the exciting life.


Anyway.  One of my resolutions, and the one I was most determined to keep, was to learn how to cook.  Or perhaps I should be specific: Learn how to cook without burning everything I touch.  Let's be honest.  I hate to cook.  Hate it.  Like would rather clean a toilet with a toothbrush hate it.  But, in the interest of budgeting and overall health and wellbeing, knowing how to prepare something other than a microwave meal or spaghetti would be beneficial.  So I started scouring the internet for recipes.  I found one over at Poor Girl Eats Well (PGEW) that looked easy enough for me to start with and looked delicious.


PGEW is one of my favorite food blogs.  Not only does it feature tasty and healthy recipes, but it is also dedicated to creating these masterpieces on a shoestring budget.  Kimberly Morales, the mastermind behind PGEW, breaks down cost per serving, offers shopping tips for getting good for you food at great deals, and breaks down her recipes so that even non-cooks like me can follow them.  Go check PGEW out....I know there are some of you out there who will love the site.


Right.  I decided to make PGEW's Edamame & Veggie Fried Brown Rice.  It was delicious.  And it made so much, that I ate it for 3 or 4 days.  It was tasty, filling, and packed full of veggies.  It was so good, in fact, that about a week after I had eaten it for 4 days, I had a killer craving for it, so I made it again.  The second time around I halved the recipe and added some garlic powder (though next time I will use fresh garlic).  Other than that, I kept the recipe exactly the same.  This was so easy and so inexpensive (except for the edamame...apparently finding shelled edamame in Columbia requires you to spend a fortune) that it is now on  my go to list of quick meals.  And when you're a grad student in class until 8:30 a couple night a week, having something quick to make for dinner when you get home is a must.  This meal is also very vegetarian friendly (so long as you're the vegetarian type who isn't opposed to eggs, though they could easily be omitted), or could be adjusted to add chicken for the meat lovers.  Anyway.  Head on over to PGEW and snag this recipe.  It's definitely one to add to your repertoire.

Look at all those veggies and edamame!