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KARACOOKS
KARACOOKS
Good Food · Honest History · Strong Opinions
  • A triptych of images from our dinner at the optimist. From left to right: whole shrimp in butter sauce over grilled bread, a seafood platter with oysters, salmon crudo, crab salad, and shrimp cocktail, and a plate with 2 butter drenched rolls sprinkled with flaky salt.

    The Optimist: The Best Seafood in Atlanta

    ByKara February 1May 16 Personal, Restaurant Reviews

    In July 2019, I took Zach to The Optimist for his birthday. It was our first time there, and I’m just going to say it up front: it’s the best seafood we’ve had anywhere. Better than St. Simons. Better than the coast. Better than a lot of places we’ve eaten on our travels. The Optimist…

    Read More The Optimist: The Best Seafood in AtlantaContinue

  • Friday Roundup #19 (On Saturday, Because This Month)

    Friday Roundup #19 (On Saturday, Because This Month)

    ByKara January 31May 12 Friday Roundup

    It’s the end of January and already this month has been a heck of a year, hasn’t it? I completely forgot the Friday Roundup yesterday. So we’re doing it on Saturday instead. That feels about right for how January 2026 has gone. That’s It. That’s the roundup for this week. Or last week. Whatever. Time…

    Read More Friday Roundup #19 (On Saturday, Because This Month)Continue

  • a pile of chocolate chip cookies on a white plate with a blue design on it. The plate is sitting on a red tablecloth.

    The Cookies I Bake When Everything Is Too Much

    ByKara January 27May 16 Food & Politics, Recipes

    I baked these cookies on Saturday. The day Alex Pretti was shot and killed by ICE thugs in Minneapolis. These are my comfort cookies. The ones I make when I need the repetitiveness. The rhythm. When I need to not think about anything past the next 8 to 12 minutes. I don’t actually make cookies…

    Read More The Cookies I Bake When Everything Is Too MuchContinue

  • Here We F****** Are Again

    Here We F****** Are Again

    ByKara January 25May 16 Food & Politics, Personal

    I had a whole other post planned for today. A fun one. One talking about our favorite seafood restaurant in Atlanta. It was written, scheduled, and ready to go. And yesterday morning cos-playing ICE thugs murdered another American citizen. This time a man. A nurse. 37 years old. A good man. His parents told him…

    Read More Here We F****** Are AgainContinue

  • Friday Roundup #18

    Friday Roundup #18

    ByKara January 24May 12 Friday Roundup

    It’s been a couple of weeks since I did a proper Friday Roundup – last week I skipped it entirely, and the week before that I replaced it with the Renee Good post. And today I got to it late in the day. So here we are, catching up on what’s been happening. That’s it…

    Read More Friday Roundup #18Continue

  • A picture from the 1960s. It's a child's playground two seat swing. On the left side is a woman in a blue dress with dark hair, her head thrown back while she's laughing. On the right side is a man in an Air Force uniform with his cap pulled low over his eyes. He's holding a beer in his left hand and smiling.

    What My Mother Taught Me About Cooking (And About Being Fearless)

    ByKara January 21May 16 Cooking, Personal

    She was fearless in a way I didn’t fully appreciate until I was older …

    Read More What My Mother Taught Me About Cooking (And About Being Fearless)Continue

  • a cast iron skillet filled with lightly browned southern style cornbread

    Southern Style Cornbread

    ByKara January 20May 16 Personal, Recipes

    This is my grandmother’s cornbread recipe, halved for smaller households. She made twice this amount in a 12-inch skillet, feeding a family of six plus whoever showed up at dinnertime (which in rural Texas was often neighbors, cousins, or people from church). This version makes enough for 4 people, or 2 people with leftovers for…

    Read More Southern Style CornbreadContinue

  • The New Dietary Guidelines: I Hate Admitting They’re Not Completely Wrong

    The New Dietary Guidelines: I Hate Admitting They’re Not Completely Wrong

    ByKara January 18May 16 Food & Politics, Personal

    I’m going to say something that physically pains me to type: the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030, released by the Trump administration under RFK Jr.’s leadership at HHS, are not completely wrong about everything. There. I said it. I hate it. And now I need to explain why this makes me so uncomfortable. This…

    Read More The New Dietary Guidelines: I Hate Admitting They’re Not Completely WrongContinue

  • Friday Roundup: Renee Nicole Good

    Friday Roundup: Renee Nicole Good

    ByKara January 9May 12 Friday Roundup

    I had a whole other post with links and “return from the holidays” thoughts written and ready to go, but last night I scrapped it. Things feel too heavy right now for a lighthearted post. By now most people are aware that on Wednesday morning, January 7th, an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole…

    Read More Friday Roundup: Renee Nicole GoodContinue

  • A white hobnailed bowl full of deep green braised collard greens. It's resting on a blue pin-striped placemat. There's a spoon in the bowl. There's a bottle of homemade pepper vinegar in the background.

    Collard Greens

    ByKara January 6May 16 Personal, Recipes

    In the South, collards are a staple side dish, but they’re also a New Year’s Day tradition: My Meemaw (my East Texas grandmother) always made collard greens, black-eyed peas, and cornbread for New Year’s Day. Every single year, without fail: greens for money, peas for luck in the coming year.

    Read More Collard GreensContinue

  • A scattering of blue and white flowers - Texas Bluebonnets - growing around a fallen tree limb.

    Welcome to 2026: A Fresh Start

    ByKara January 4May 16 Food & Politics, Personal

    Subtitled: State of The Blog & Where I Stand Those of you who have been around for a while know I’ve tried to restart this blog multiple times since it first went quiet around 2014. I’d get excited, plan content, write posts, even publish a handful of them. And then… silence. Rinse and repeat for…

    Read More Welcome to 2026: A Fresh StartContinue

  • Callie, entering into the New Year like a boss.

    Hello 2026!

    ByKara January 1May 16 Personal

    Here we are again on the first day of a new year. I don’t know about you, but for years I dove headfirst into the whole “make a bunch of resolutions” thing. I’d set up my perfect self doing all the things: get up and go running every morning, serious meal prepping on Sundays, journaling…

    Read More Hello 2026!Continue

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KaraCooks
Good Food · Honest History · Strong Opinions

KaraCooks is written, cooked, photographed, and gardened by one person in Johns Creek, Georgia.

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