The Perfect Pair

For May’s cookie of the month, we recommend Hirsch Vineyard Estate’s Pinot Noir.  This month’s cookie is the Triple Chocolate Midnight Truffle Cookie, part of the Byrd’s Selects Collection.  Our decadent Dutch Chocolate Cookie is filled with dark chocolate chips, and a cocoa powder dusting adds the triple to our truffle.   The richness of the cookie is the perfect complement to the flavor of this particular Pinot Noir.

The 2009 Hirsh Pinot Noir is the first ever Reserve produced by the Hirsch Vineyard.  The company describes the Reserve wine as “A selection of the best barrels from nine of the oldest and finest vineyards blocks at Hirsch”.  All things Pinot Noir on the Sonoma Coast began at Hirsch Vineyards.    David Hirsch bought the land in 1978, seeking peace and quiet, a refuge to grow shitake mushrooms.  It was a friend who suggested a venture into a vineyard.  Located on the extreme Sonoma Coast, a remote area on the San Andreas Fault, it seems like an unlikely area to farm grapes.   The soil varies from red clay to sand and the temperature is not as mild as many folks claim.  A weathered hippie, Hirsch works the complex soil himself, a testament to the quality grape he produces.

You can find the Hirsch Pinot Noir amidst the varied, and ever changing exclusive selection of wines at Byrd Cookie Company.  The Triple Chocolate Midnight Truffle is available in 1.5 or 3 ounce boxes.  Visit the store to scoop up this delicious flavor by the ounce.  Grab a pound bag of our gourmet Triple Chocolate treat, and share with your friends.

“May Your Cookie Jar Never Be Empty”…Call us today at 1-800-291-2973 to order your classic cookie jar and we’ll make sure next month’s cookie is delivered to your door!

This Little Byrdie went to the Park

The weather is perfect in Savannah.  Days are warm and the nights have just enough chill to keep the sand gnats sleeping.   Thursday was the first movie night in Forsyth Park.  Learning one of our fellow Byrdies had never seen the cult classic being featured, we had to throw down a vintage quilt and make a night of it.  If Goonies never say die, then Byrdies never say hungry.  How could we with a store full of cookies and gourmet treats, not to mention our Cookie Bar and Grill menu? It’s pretty nice that when you take your work home, it’s in the way of a chilled bottle of wine, couscous, cookies, and charcuterie.

The picnic in the park was epic and fellow movie goers definitely looked on with envy.  We suggest making friends and smiling, you might just have to borrow utensils.  As the sun went down and the movie started rolling, we mused about other locals to take our spread.  Choosing our favorites for the first venture, here’s our list for a perfect picnic spread.

1. Chef’s Choice Picnic Package:  Ours featured Benton Farms Ham & Soprasata meats, Garrotxa and Brillat-Savarin cheeses, pickle jar, spiced pecans, ½ loaf fresh baked country bread.

2. Small Plate order of Couscous—red/yellow bell pepper, herbs, lemon. So good!

3. Byrd’s Cannon Ball mix—LOVE! Be warned, the wasabi peas pack the biggest punch.

4. Emily G’s Strawberry Chipotle Jam of Love— we just spread it on our bread, but it’s great over cream cheese with water crackers too.

5. Mary’s Gone Crackers–Organic gluten free crackers made from Brown Rice, Quinoa, Flax, and Sesame Seeds.  The nutty flavor goes great with the creamy Brillat-Savarin

6. Lioco Chardonnay—Not too sweet, not too dry, just right.  Great price @ 19.95.

7.  Go Vino glasses–  These recycled, reusable glasses are perfect and a must for Savannah.  You can get them for your bubbly too.

8. Cookies by the Ounce.– We scooped up Cheddar Pecan and Gorgonzola with Honey and Walnut to munch with our main course and Triple Chocolate for dessert.

We can help you look like a professional picnicker too.  Just give us a call @ 912.355.0977 and we’ll make sure that we have your basket ready and wine chilled.

Ingredient Inquisition: Porchetta Salad

Originally run as a special, our Porchetta Salad is now a fixture on our menu.  Well, kind of. Reprinting the menus to include our new, most popular salad, we immediately noticed no one was ordering it.  It’s a salad that needs some explaining.  Not in a high maintenance, highbrow way, just in a let-me-tell-you-how-and-why-this-is-so-amazing way.  We’ll always happily tell you about all of the components table side, but here it is in black and white.

First, its ‘Por’ketta.’  The chef does all the butcher work in house.  He lays out the pork and seasons it with various herbs and garlic.  Rolling the meat back up, it’s tied tightly and placed in the oven so that all that great flavor is found throughout.  Traditionally sliced up as a street food in central Italy, we very finely slice, almost shave the meat for our salad.  We serve it over escarole, with our house made croutons, spiced pecans, and apple cider vinaigrette.  Thin slices of apple and tarragon top it off.  Now you see why we were so excited about the Tarragon from Hampton Island.  It doesn’t strike us as ladylike to talk about the fried pork skin broken into pieces on top of the salad, but it’s a surprise ingredient no one complains about.

Visit us at the Cookie Bar & Grill @ Byrd’s Monday through Friday, 11-3pm for this and other lunch specials.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Little Byrdie went to Market (4/28)

Walking through Forsyth Park towards the Farmers’ Market, we snapped photos along the way.  Students began to settle into their squares and map out their masterpieces.  Colorful chalk splashed onto the concrete, and by the end of the day all the pathways were completely transformed.  The market was just as packed as the sidewalks leading the way.  Happy to still have a variety to choose from, we left with great looking strawberries from Joseph Fields Farms out of St. John’s Island, South Carolina.  We slipped some sweet potatoes into the chef’s bag too, hoping for some fries, or even chips.  We’ll see, in the meantime, our market special this week is Strawberry Salad.

Served on a mix of arugula and frisee, our Strawberry Salad also features our house made ricotta cheese with mint.  Fresh herbs from Vince Baker’s Farm round out the flavor.  Pan fried Pecorino crisps balance the sweetness of the strawberries.  We can’t wait to taste the Sherry vinaigrette (with shallots and honey) for ourselves.  Light, refreshing, and filling—it’s the trifecta of salad perfection.  Stop in to try it today, it might be gone tomorrow.

@ Byrd: Georgia Peach Cookie

Purist may wonder why we are focusing on the Georgia Peach as we celebrate our 88^th anniversary, since it was the Original Scotch Oatmeal that launched the company. But, it comes as no surprise to members of our Cookie of the Month Club.  April’s flavor of the month is, in fact, the Georgia Peach.

It’s not this little cookie’s birthday month, actually created in August of 1997, but because of the feeling it elicits.  April is a sweet and succulent month in Georgia.  We soak up every sun-drenched day before the summer heat becomes too much to bear.   The Georgia Peach embodies the spirit of the month, and southerners, in general.  A sweet, sugary outside with a spunky, refreshing kick on the inside.  We imagine the delivered cookies being enjoyed on a porch with sweet tea, wherever they may land.

So now you see why we couldn’t let the last days of April go by without a little chirping about the Georgia Peach.  Stop by Byrd Cookie Company to scoop up a few ounces (don’t forget the fresh squeezed lemonade) or make it into a milkshake at the Cookie Bar and Grill.

Don’t want to be left out next month? Call us at 1-800-291-2973 to order your “Never Empty Cookie Jar” or “Cookie of the Month” club membership.

 

 

This Little Byrdie Went to Market- 4/21

Earth Day vendors joined our Farmers’ Market friends in Forsyth Park this weekend.  Chatting with new purveyors, listening to a very talented lad on the didgeridoo, and seeing a family dressed up as various vegetables, meant we had an eventful Saturday.

We sampled the tarragon from Hampton Island last week, and waited impatiently to see if it would still be available.  Indeed it was! Now, we are even more excited about the finishing touch on our already popular Porchetta Salad.  An herb is just an herb, until you have this taste of tarragon.  It’s hard to put a finger on what makes it so special, but trust us, it is. Thinking there must be some secret to their tarragon success, we found the Hampton Island farmers just put it in the ground.  The top soil has some natural mojo, or they don’t share their secret.  Either way, we are happy to purchase as long as it’s available.

Building connections is a huge part of what we are about at the Cookie Bar and Grill @ Byrd’s.  Developing a loyal lunch crowd in a short amount of time speaks volumes about the food our chef creates. We like to think it’s also about the atmosphere we present.  We love knowing if you like your lemonade a little tart, or needing not ask if you want a complimentary Scotch Oatmeal cookie. (Of course you do!)  Strong connections with purveyors like Walker Farms allow us to put in big orders, assuring slices of quiche for everyone this Thursday.  We hope it’s the personal connections you make with us that keep you coming back.

Byrd Gives Back-Sweet taste of Victory

The Komen Race for the Cure is just as synonymous with the fight against breast cancer as the signature color pink you see on runners’ tutus, boas, and wigs.  Victory comes in many forms for these participants.  While avid runners may beat a personal best, others raise their arms excited to have completed their first race. Survivors run and walk triumphantly, and all celebrate the victory of awareness.  It was our president’s, Geoff Repella, honor to join this special group of ladies in Telfair Square Friday evening at the Survivors’ reception. Always dapper and showing spirit in pink, he presented Elizabeth Myers, 2 time breast cancer survivor and co-chair of the event, with 250 boxes of Byrd’s Famous Cookies.   The Pink boxes were filled with a pound of our Cocktail Cookie Mix of Chocolate Mint, Red Velvet, and Tea Cake flavors.

The reception, held prior to the race, sets the tone for the race–honoring survivors, remembering those who lost their own battle, hoping for a cure, and promising to promote awareness and education.  If you missed this year’s race you can visit their site by clicking here.  Donations are taken through May 21^st.

@ Byrd: Blood Drive 4/11/12

Buses frequently line up in the parking lot of Byrd Cookie Company.  Everyday tour buses bring hundreds of visitors anxious to taste our delicacies and watch us make our cookies through the bakery window.  Last Wednesday was no different, except that one of the buses was there for a greater cause beyond munching on our sweet treats.

We were happy to host the Blood Alliance at Byrd and excited that they were able to pick up pints of blood while donors enjoyed our famous Scotch Oatmeal cookies.  Donating blood is a crucial way to give back to those that are in serious need.  Trauma, cancer, and burn patients are just some of those on the list that benefit from an hour of a donor’s time.  There is no replacement for human blood and one pint is broken down into various components and can save up to three lives.

The statistics surrounding blood donation are certainly eye-opening, but it was the fact that while 65% of the population are able to donate blood only 5% do so,  that really stunned us.  We caught up with our own Lindsey Mazo to see why she donated that day.

“I never gave blood, it kind of freaked me out.  I was a student at Alabama when the tornado came through Tuscaloosa, so it hit close to home.   I saw first hand how a natural disaster impacted people and realized the importance of giving blood.  I now try my best to donate every eight weeks.”

Thank you to all that gave an hour of their time to donate a pint of blood to the Blood Alliance.  If we missed you we hope that you will consider donating.  In fact, you can find The Blood Alliance bus at historic Greyson Stadium tonight at the Sand Gnats game.  Stop by Byrd Cookie Company and pick up your favorite cookie on your way to the game and don’t forget to donate!

You can find more information about the Blood Alliance and on going blood drives by clicking HERE.

This little Byrdie went to Market. (4/14)

We were on a mission visiting Forsyth Farmers’ Market this weekend.  Keeping up with customer demand for our quiche is almost impossible, so we had to pick up more spring onions from Walker Organic Farms.  Chef Levens made one quiche to try out and get diners’ responses. We quickly sold out within an hour and now make several each day.  The quiche is creamy and the spring onions, paired with diced smoked bacon from Benton’s farms in Tennessee, are perfect and filling.

One of the great things about working at Byrd is that we get taste previews before items hit the menu.  Our tiniest taster sampled the organic rainbow carrots, courtesy of Relinda Walker, giving us possible inspiration for a new, kid friendly snack.  Most recently, light and tangy ginger Thai grilled chicken circulates through the offices, as the chef perfects a new grilled chicken salad.  Choosing snap peas at the market meant that we are one ingredient closer to tasting the full dish, and we can’t wait!

Talking babies and beans with Philip Brown, owner and roaster at Perc coffee, was a highlight to the day. Our current brew is ‘Perc Up’, a medium body, rich blend, balancing spiced and sweet flavors.  It’s Perc’s “go-to” blend, and by the way folks line up at the coffee pot, we have to agree.  We constantly hear customers say “This coffee is really good.”, followed by “where can I get some?”.  Stop by for a cup or take home your own bag to enjoy.

Pecan Perfection

In celebration of National Pecan Month we asked our Chef, James Levens, for his spiced pecan recipe.  On our menu he pairs them with his seasoned olives as a small plate, but they are perfect over your favorite salad or by themselves at your next cocktail party.  Not in the mood to turn on an oven?  That’s okay, our famous bakers are! In fact, the Cheddar Pecan Wafer is Byrd’s newest member to the flavor factory. You can purchase them by the dozen for $8, during the month of April.

“Perfectly Spiced Pecans”

INGREDIENTS

1/2 lb shelled halved pecans

1c. Light Brown Sugar

1/2 teaspoon crushed chili flake

1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary

1 tablespoon salt

1/4 lb melted butter

INSTRUCTIONS:

Lay pecans out in a single layer and heat in oven at 325 degrees for 10 min. Combine dry ingredients with pecans in a large bowl. Add butter and toss thoroughly until all pecans are evenly coated. Place pecans on a baking sheet in a single layer and place back in the oven at 325 degrees for an additional 10 minutes.

DID YOU KNOW?

The National Pecan Festival is held in Albany, Georgia, which is the pecan capital of the U.S., and is home to more than 600,000 pecan trees.

Pecans are one of the United State’s biggest cash crops, exporting 80% of the world’s supply.

In addition to being loaded with good for you vitamins and minerals that boost energy and promote health, they are loaded with zinc, a natural aphrodisiac.