By Maggie DiGiovanni
Electic Reporter for Elmore/Autauga News
The customers of Down Home Bar & Grill are in agreement. They love diversity of food choices in the Town of Eclectic. The comfortable restaurant specializes in delicious food such as burgers, Philly cheese steak and club sandwiches, and luscious chicken wings.
On October 17th, the menu will include Soul Food Sundays. There was once a restaurant that offered such fare. Its closing left a gap in food chain of the town. Owners Jasmine Williams and Ashley Dugan are receiving excellent feedback as the word spreads that food everyone from kids to adults enjoy is available. The children have a wall to put their colored artworks, which are supplied by the restaurant.
After much prayer and encouragement from family and friends, the two women decided to bring their dream to life May 28th of this year. Although both have nursing degrees, life led them in another direction. Instead of providing hospital care and medicine, they serve tasty food, a calm atmosphere customers enjoy, and friendly chats as they become more familiar with their enlarged Eclectic family.
When asked what they saw in their future, as one they said, “Expansion.” If all continues to go well, they want to see Down Home restaurants at least across the South. Should they spread further, well, both figure first things first.
Down Home Bar & Grill, 65 Main Street, Eclectic, AL 36024 (334) 639-0620
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Fall Is ln The Air
Fall is in the air and Halloween will soon follow. The ladies of Twilight Garden Club put up scarecrows and bales of hay each year to decorate the streets of Eclectic. Unlike the scary version, these are friendly scarecrows that seem to wave as visitors come to town.
Anita Holley handed out flyers to all merchants asking them to join in the fall weather fun by putting up their own decorations. She did not have to ask twice. In fact, many are ahead of her request, as are residents.
The little crab spiders seem to have inspired people to decorate with webs covering their doors, porches, mailboxes, and trees. The effect is funny during the day trending to eerie as the sun goes down. Pumpkins join the fray with lopsided, toothy grins, as do the requested scarecrows.
Why do all of us look so forward to this time of the year? Are we tired of the relentless rain? Or is it the stunning leaves display put on by the trees as green gives way to golds, oranges, yellows, reds, and browns?
Of course, this is also apple-picking weather. Temperatures drop although not enough to wear a sweater. Whether there are orchards in the area or not, we seem to smell fresh apples. Dreams of pies, cider and caramel-covered fruit fill all heads. A personal favorite is from my daughter-in-law’s cookbook for Apple Crisp shared below:
FILLING: Topping:
5 Granny Smith apples, peeled ¾ c. Flour
cored and chopped 1/3 c. Brown sugar
¼ c. Pecans, chopped ¼ tsp. Cinnamon
3 Tbsp. Flour ¼ tsp. Salt
½ c. Brown Sugar 6 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tbsp. Maple Syrup ¼ c. Chopped Pecans
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
For the Filling:
Mix all ingredients together. Place in greased baking dish.
For the Topping:
Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl. Blend butter into mixture until it forms pea-sized lumps. Stir in pecans and sprinkle over filling. Bake 35-40 mins. Cool 10 min. before serving. Vanilla ice cream is optional.
