Smithy

Now I'm going back to the start of our trip. It already seems ages ago. For the first time ever, we spent our first and second nights out in the same place. The travel rule has been that we leave when weather is good for driving, and keep driving long distances until we reach warm weather. This time, we left ahead of a Minnesota storm, but it was stormy in the southern states along our route. For the first time we changed the rule, parked at the Lakeside Casino RV park in Osceola, Iowa for two nights, and enjoyed using their electricity while a cold front passed and the rain to the south cleared out. This would have been a perfect time, finally after years of talking about it, to meet @IowaDee. We've had the invitations. We have no idea whether the Princessmobile would fit there, so it would be a day drive over. We had time. Except...well, now I'll never have the chance to meet her. It is to my lasting regret that we never managed it when there was time. It was a missed opportunity. That said, I'll also say that we finally had the opportunity to explore the town of Osceola. What a charming place! It seems like a clean, quiet Midwestern town. Fall was still in the air, rather than the winter we'd left behind. We discovered a wonderful mural painted on the side of some building. The building was next to a grocery store! It looked like a pretty good one, too. We'd only been on the road one day. We had a fully packed trailer ... except for the few items we knew we'd forgotten. We went in to investigate. That's our story, and we're sticking to it. Produce section looked really good. We did need fruit for his breakfast fruit salad. This is where we caved to the idea of buying it, presliced, in clamshells. We liked this sign over a bakery display, even though the baked goods didn't tempt us. We did ask about Monte. In fact, we met him! It's that sort of place...everyone seemed easygoing and friendly, with good senses of humor. I love small towns. And yes, he assured me that it was all delicious. The unfamiliar sauces, and the good prices on decent wines, caught my eye. Apothic is no longer a favorite, but at that price it's acceptable to me. We absolutely, positively didn't need any meat. We went to check out their meat counter anyway. Wonder of wonders, they had actual butchers with actual knowledge! That's almost a thing of the past. The adjacent deli counter was also a delight. I get a kick out of seeing the hand-prepared foods, ready to eat, that can be found at places like that. I also enoyed the banter with the men nehind the counter. More joviality. What a great place! Of course, good personalities are a great sales tool. Before long my darling was picking out pork steaks and I was picking out stuffed chicken breasts. Osceola didn't seem to cater to hunters the way Llano did, but that doesn't mean deer are forgotten in the state. On the way home, we saw this: Here's what we unpacked from our shopping expedition: ...and what the kitchen looked like after mixing fruit salad and cole slaw (not together!) and cooking those stuffed chicken breasts. It isn't easy to cook much with the Princessmobile closed, but those chicken breasts worked well along with freshly-dressed cole slaw.

You may have (a) given me the justification to pull the trigger on this and (b) given me an idea for what I want for Christmas! I can't quite see in the display, though: is there a third spot in the display where the oven temperature is shown? I see only two temperatures, one with an alarm set, the other with no alarm set.

One more look at Llano, and then I'm stepping backward in time to the first place we stopped for more than a night. (I told you there's be timeline whiplash.) Most of this is just things I spotted along the way, when I was out walking to and from the shops. There won't be much discussion. The City gets duded up for the holidays. We've never stayed past Thanksgiving, so we've never seen the "Starry Nights at Llano" celebration in action, but we enjoy watching the displays being installed. It must be beautiful at night. The Courthouse Square decorations were also going up, but I didn't get pictures of any of them. The Inks Bridge is the way across the river from our park to downtown. It's difficult to remember now that the river flooded so badly only a few years ago that the bridge was threatened. Now, the riverbed below the dam has open space for walking, and people have room and time for rock art or, for one special artist, tree carving. That rock art pattern is a couple of hundred feet below the bridge, and quite large. Here are more of the shop displays near the restaurants I showed you before. I thought the pumpkin turkey was very clever. The piano was cute, but no fun to play because the keys felt disgusting from the paint. Don't ever do that to a piano! There's a wood-smoked pizza place just down the road from our park. I got pizza there last year and liked it. My darling more or less nixed the idea of a repeat, so I just admired it. Right next door is the county historical museum. I've still never visited it, but I love the facade. The knickknack stores are fun. I stayed out of them, mostly, but couldn't resist going into one because of the wine glasses I could see from the doorway. I didn't buy any. I did enjoy the sign at the entrance to Badu 1891's (now closed) patio. And that's it for Llano for now. Next up: of missed chances, regrets, and unexpected opportunities...and yet another grocery store.

I think our first visit was 2013. Maybe 2012.

Back to Llano again. It already seems ages ago, but the town is so lovely I hate to let it go. There are a LOT of restaurants in Llano, more I think than when we first started coming, although one of our old favorites has closed. (That couple retired after 40 years. They deserved it!) All these places are downtown, across the street from the courthouse square. I'm told that Gio's is quite good, and that they recently got a license so they could serve wine. Their menu looks interesting. I'd like to eat there at some point. On the same block are Joe's, which I'm told has marvelous burgers and onion rings; an ice cream parlor, and another restaurant or two. There are at least two brew pubs. There was also Badu 1891, serving "Authentic Texas Cuisine" and having both indoor seating and a charming outdoor garden. They were pretty pricey and I don't remember much about the food...it looked good on the menu, but I think the prices put us off. They don't seem to have survived the pandemic. Their Facebook page says "closed until further notice". All that said we do love the Texas 'cue as demonstrated in Llano...so it was brisket and ribs and a world-class ribeye, purchased in gluttonous chunks and then used as elements in home cooking as we've come along the road. We still have brisket! I mistreated it a couple of nights ago, in an attempt to warm it gently that ran far too long. It still tastes good although the texture has suffered. Last night was going to be brisket tacos, but I ran out of steam and we had pea stew from the freezer instead. I was too tired to take pictures.

One of my favorite restaurants on the North Shore of Lake Superior is the New Scenic Cafe. They weathered the Covid-19 lockdown first by developing meal kits, and later by offering takeout. Although the restaurant is now open again, they still have a deli for takeout offerings. They are also good enough to offer, free of charge if you know to ask, sourdough starter. I decided to give it another go. Yesterday, after ignoring the poor starter since the beginning of our trip, I pulled it out and fed it. Still alive! That's good, because I've run out of the sourdough bread I brought from home: 3 loaves. I may find more on the road (I saw it in Texas somewhere) but maybe it's time to try making my own again. I have also been slowly cherishing the smoked salmon pate from New Scenic. I brought along 2 containers; the first is almost gone. It's been lurking under sandwich materials, or serving as the occasional snack.

I STILL have things to show you from Llano! Can you tell it's one of my favorite places to stop? All these photo ops come despite my having had to sit firmly on my backside the first few days, doing non-culinary tasks that couldn't wait and/or required electricity. After we went shopping at Miiller's Smokehouse, we went to the main grocery store, Lowe's. I don't have a picture of the storefront, but the exterior sets the stage for just how committed the place is to supporting hunters and barbecuers as well as those who simply want food to eat. Inside the store is more support for sportsmen and -women. There's every essential! But those are just a few aisles. There's a fair - adequate, if you aren't too fussy - produce section... cheeses and snacks... a deli counter that I apparently didn't photograph, and the usual breads, canned goods, boxed dinners, things we don't usually buy. I spotted these local condiments and passed, but thought you might like to see them. Their dairy section is good. Their meat section is what really amazed us: the selection and apparent quality of prepared meats (sausages, bacon, and so on) as well as their regular, ready-for-what-you-will cuts. Their pork prices were wonderful. Beef, on the other hand, was a shock. We knew beef was getting pricey, but this really brought it home! (Incidentally, I know some of these pictures are fuzzy. They're compressed for the sake of reducing bandwidth. If you want a clearer picture or information from some label that you can't read, ask. If I still have the original I'll be able to elaborate.) We didn't need meat, but we got our produce and supplies, and headed home. Here's how we transported it, and what we purchased.

Ah, that makes sense...good, tart apples or good, tart tomatoes...

"Green tomato pie"...? Now that's a new one for me. Please tell us more! Not that I have any more access to green tomatoes than others who've spoken up so far, but I can always dream.

"Tangy like a tomatillo..." yes, I think that's pretty close. Not that you'd confuse the two, but I'd put the flavors in the same family. Much closer to each other than, say, to citrus or tamarind.

I never had fried green tomatoes until I visited Mississippi. Even though my grandparents were originally Southerners and my mother was from Florida, that dish never made it into my (Caliefornia) family's repertoire. Those I had in Gautier, MS were an eye-opener! My husband was unimpressed even then, but I've been searching for more good ones ever since. What's the ideal consistency of a green tomato for this dish? I'd guess rock-hard, but I really don't know.

Please describe bhuna chicken. The other dishes I've had. It all looks tasty!

Some days ago @ElsieD and I were discussing the makeup of various stuffed jalapenos, and I noted that a given name doesn't seem to have much meaning as to the composition. I give you Exhibit A, "Armadillo Eggs", as interpreted by the Mesquite Pit Bar and Grill in Mineral Wells, TX and by Miiller's Smokehouse in Llano, TX. On the left: Mesquite's version. Jalapenos stuffed with tender, juicy, delicious beef brisket. (There may have been a touch of cheese, but I don't remember it.) On the right: Miiller's version: a pork meatball wrapped around a small amount of pepper jack cheese, the entirety wrapped in bacon. Both were good, but I think Mesquite's version is far superior. This is a good time to bring up our dinner from the Mesquite Bar and Grill in Mineral Wells. We've stayed in the Mineral Wells Walmart parking lot overnight before. It turns out to be easy to disconnect the trailer, go fuel the pickup, order dinner and go pick it up at the Mesquite. Someday maybe we'll be up for eating inside, but we aren't there yet. They seemed to be doing good business. We ordered Armadillo Eggs and fried green tomatoes for me, and barbecued pork ribs for him. I ordered extra barbecue sauce for him, because he particularly likes their sauce and wanted some to have for future dinners. They were generous with the pickles, but only because I asked. I think it's a cost-saving measure, so maybe their business hasn't been as good as I'd thought. Still, they're surviving. His ribs were delightful: toothsome, tender, pulled easily off the bone, good flavor. My armadillo eggs were just as delightful. I've described them above. I think they set the gold standard for brisket-stuffed jalapenos. The fried green tomatoes were another story. I think I remember being disappointed in them last year. The tomato slices are so thin that the crunchy crust overwhelms them. I didn't get any of the juicy tart flavor of the tomatoes themselves. Maybe next time I'll remember, and not order them. I also went to Walmart to pick up a couple things. Score! They had Duke's mayonnaise! I stocked up.

Those of you who've been following this blog know that we spend a lot of time boondocking. At those times we run the generator an hour or so in the morning, and again in the evening, but not often otherwise. As a result electrical appliances are used sparingly. It's a real luxury to be plugged into power, as we were in Osceola and Llano. In Llano I pulled out the stops on the Instant Pot, testing recipes and trying new techniques. Hummus is dead easy. My word, how the pressure cooker speeds up the process! Frittatas, at least twice. I messed around with the proportions, and we decided that piling shredded cheese atop the frittata at the end of cooking was a Good Thing. It really wasn't quite the lurid orange that photos depict! That looks like Atomic Velveeta. it was really just sharp cheddar. I'm sure there was something else, but at the moment I can't think what it was. I showed you the applesauce before. I didn't show you the source apples, which came from a generous neighbor at home. I used half the stash to make a quart of applesauce. Some of the rest will be going into a pie in the next few days. Incidentally, all these recipes came from @JAZ's latest book, 5-Ingredient Instant Pot Cookbook: Simple Recipes to Get Meals on the Table Faster. (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) I had access to a review copy. I'm looking forward to my hard copy, and planning to get another copy for my husband's daughter. Maybe I can get her over her fear of the thing.

I-10, going through El Paso. At least the traffic had slowed down from 80, but the lanes are quite narrow. Several years ago they decided to sacrifice some width in the name of making another lane. I could have reached out and touched that blue tractor-trailer for about half a mile. When we were clear of the traffic but couldn't find a good place to stop and picnic, we worked on celery sticks, radishes and hummus. I'll tell more about the hummus in another post. I've been putting the Instant Pot through a good workout this trip.

Crazy, isn't it? And I-10 in that area has so many rubber skid marks and shards of broken tire that we half-think it could be ground up and paved for a significant portion of road. Way too much squeezing into tight spaces and then hitting the brakes, we suspect.

I doubt it was off to the point of being unsafe, but the odor from the mixture - water and that powdered milk - was such that I wasn't the least bit tempted to taste it. I don't remember an off odor from the powder alone, but the mixing action in the water released it with a vengeance. I have no better word than "stale" or "old" to describe it.

"Oh, no!" he just exclaimed, "they're slowing us down to 75!" We're back on an interstate freeway, and this particular stretch has had a speed limit of 80 mph. We generally stick to 60 mph on the freeways and 55 mph on other roads when pulling the Princessmobile, but at those speeds we amount to a rolling speed bump for the rest of the traffic. Yep, we're traveling again. Sandwiches for breakfast and lunch. There's salami in this one but it's difficult to see. I still have stories to tell about Llano, and Mineral Wells, and even Osceola, Wisconsin, but right now I'm going to celebrate our last evening and afternoon at the reservoir. I've been wanting to contribute to the Potato Salad Cook-off for quite some time, but not managed it until a couple of days ago. I posted about it here. The upshot of this particular potato salad recipe (Southern Style Potato Salad recipe is that it wasn't too sweet for me, and he could add Miracle Whip to suit himself. Success! (This is the same photo collage I posted in the other topic, sorry.) One minor disruption was that, with this recipe, I emptied my jar of Piknik Brand mayonnaise, brought from home. Piknik and Duke's are my favorites, but I remembered this jar, bought last spring and left in the Princessmobile over the summer. Hmm, not bad. I didn't do a side-by-side taste test with the Piknik, but when I get close to empty I'll try comparing it to Duke's. Another cooking experiment I tried was to make a strata using some of the good ol' plain ol' white bread collected from Cooper's in Llano and another sausage purchased at Miiller's in Llano. I posted about it, and asked questions, here but didn't go into detail about the ingredients. Unlike the jalapeno cheddar cheese sausage from a couple of nights ago, this had only a mild spiciness and was delicious. Go figure! We have one more sausage of this, and will probably buy more when we have an opportunity. I had brought duck eggs from home, and had bought milk some time ago with which to make the strata. The milk had curdled. No matter, I thought; that's why I have nonfat powdered milk in the cupboard! I don't remember when I bought it, but the can was unopened. It would have to be good still. Right? Wrong. Who knew this stuff could go off? I'm happy to report that I discovered the - stale? - smell during the milk-mixing stage. No strata was harmed in the discovery. I sacrificed almost the last of my half-and-half, and counted on getting more the next day. The resulting dinner was a hit, although I learned that my darling is of the "eggs are a breakfast food" camp. Finally, while we were running the gen set in the evening, I made applesauce for the first time. I used the Instant Pot. I may never make it any other way. When dinner was over and my darling had gone to bed, I chatted with my sister on the telephone and admired Stage 1 of the kitchen wreckage. By the time we'd finished visiting, it was dry. I put it away, washed Stage 2 (an equal quantity) and went to bed. My darling could put it away in the morning.

Thanks, everyone. I've had Tajin and tried it on a few things, but never thought to try it on fruit. Those little packets will come in handy! And maybe, when we're stationary long enough, I'll see about Rancho Gordo's version.

Despite a fair amount of time trying to get straight in my head the differences between a strata, a frittata and a panade, I'm still fuzzy on the question. Maybe someone here can give me a straight answer? The panade generally uses broth for cooking liquid instead of eggs and milk. The frittata and strata both use eggs and cream. The strata and the panade both use stale bread. After that, all bets are off as far as inclusions. Have I got that right? Let's get some definitive answers, please, if there is such a thing. Meanwhile, I want to celebrate my latest strata, if that's what it is. Concoction. Whatever. I had stale white bread, hoarded for the purpose. Something needed to be done with a head of broccoli, so I cut it into bite-sized chunks and microwaved them enough to soften. A large clove of garlic, diced, went into the layers. I don't remember whether I also sweated onion to go into it, but a spicy pepperjack sausage, cut into small chunks, rounded out the mix. My biggest dither was the question of how much egg and how much dairy should go with it. I settled on a ratio of 2:1 eggs:cream. (I'd have used milk, but didn't have any.) The shredded cheese may have been about the same volume as the cream. Some of the cheese was mixed into the bread/solids mix, then the egg/dairy combination was poured over it, enough to almost submerge the chunks. The last of the cheese went on top. Into the oven it went, 375F until bubbling and browned on the surface, with the interior set. Success! We're both pleased - which is good, because there's a lot left over. But I still want to know: did I get the proportions about right? And would this be called a strata?

My mate is a firm believer in store-bought potato salad, because...well, convenience, I think. I've noted before that I'm not much of a fan. It's always too sweet, usually too gloppy. Finally, I'm getting around to trying several recipes that have been cluttering up my browser since this topic began. Southern Style Potato Salad includes boiled eggs, diced celery, diced onion, dill pickle, and no sweeteners. None. Zero, zilch. The dressing includes mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, celery salt and smoked paprika. I added chopped parsley. I ended up doubling the amount of dressing because it wasn't quite gloppy enough. It got the household seal of approval, with a touch of Miracle Whip added to his serving. He says he's happy to eat this potato salad if I'm willing to make it and he can add the MW!

If you're expected a linear timeline in this blog, get ready for whiplash. I'm going back to Llano. I mentioned that we thought we'd gotten away without forgetting much. Since then it's come clear that we forgot more than we'd realized, but in Llano I still thought it was only one or two things. A favorite cutting board I found last spring. A lemon juicer from the same shopping expedition. Most of those things I started missing once we opened out can be foregone. Not so for the dish draining pads that were laundered and stowed in the house...and are still there. That's all right, though; it gave me an excuse to go to Charlie's. Charlie's is a terrific place in the middle of downtown, within easy walking distance of our parking / camping site. They have furniture (we bought a mattress there one year) and cooking gear and gifts. I usually end up buying things I didn't know I needed. This time, I had a purpose. I'll get to that in a moment. Here, take a look around first! The window displays have some lovely furniture. I've given up taking umbrage at Christmas decorations out before Thanksgiving. The first sight through the main door is barware and tableware. I specifically needed those drain pads, so gravitated to the kitchen section. I was also looking for silicone cups to serve as "egg bite" cups for my 3-quart Instant Pot. I had to ask for those and the drain pads, but that gave me a good chance to admire the other wares. I particularly loved these tea towels, even though I didn't buy any. My haul was fairly modest, but we had a lot of fun visiting while they helped me find what I needed. During a different visit to town - that took advance planning - I was also able to participate in the Friends of the Llano Library fundraiser. It's this year's crop, just come out. I am SET for Thanksgiving! And Christmas!

I just finished making his breakfast fruit salad - the 2nd I've made since we hit the road. I have mixed feelings about the latest convenience, which we discovered in Iowa. It's getting ridiculously easy to find fruit already cut and/or peeled, then sold in a plastic clamshell. He has always liked the convenience and not particularly cared about the waste and the possibility of contamination from someone else's hands. I wash/rinse wherever possible to deal with the second issue. For the past two batches I've closed my eyes to the first. Buy the fruit, rinse if feasible, then dump it in. Very little cutting is involved. We've even stooped to packaged, peeled mandarin oranges. He thinks they taste just fine(!) and the salad is for him, not me. I didn't notice until the morning an interesting addition to one of the packages. I've never thought about putting lime, much less Tajin seasoning, on pineapple! What's that about?

Steel Reserve. One of his favorites, not mine. I'm looking forward to picking up (and showing you) some of mine when we get to Arizona.

Breakfast this morning. Nothing special, still good. It's cool, windy and overcast today and predicted to be so all day. We'll be moving tomorrow and doing some preliminary packing later today, but right now I have time to talk about yesterday's adventures and revelations. Yesterday was sunny and relatively warm. We took a drive to see the mighty Pecos River where it joins the Rio Grande, upstream of this reservoir. There's a very high bridge across the Pecos that I photographed from below and above, to give you an idea of just how long and high it is. The two bottom photos of this collage are the view looking upstream at the bridge, and downstream from the same vantage point. What I didn't get was a picture of the helpful signs posted on the highway at both ends of the bridge: "NO DIVING FROM BRIDGE" Someone at the highway department must have quite a sense of humor. The shocking part was seeing just how low the water is. We knew of the widespread drought conditions, but seeing the Pecos and the Rio Grande really brought it home. Here's the confluence. This particular picnic area has a nice little walking path with information posted about the plant community and the rivers in question. Ten years ago we both walked it; the plants and path (and we) were all in good condition, the rivers were quite high, and we learned a lot. Now those two rivers are nearly dry, the path is largely neglected and overgrown, and the plants are struggling to survive. Still, the information was good for that part we walked. (I found a Texas persimmon tree - had forgotten that variety. We may have some near camp.) After our walk we drove back toward town to refuel and get more of his favorite beer. On the counter there was a curious set of cute, lathed cups. It seems rather a waste of copper AND pennies, and I don't understand the point, but somebody had a good time making these little crosses. Free for the taking...not even a penny each. Back at camp, it was his turn to cook. We wanted another crack at the Jalapeno and Cheddar sausage from Miiller's and had one left. He gave it almost the simplest possible treatment. After I took this picture he added onion, long enough to soften it. Potato salads rounded out the meal. He prefers Reser's potato salad when he can find it, and particularly likes their Southern Style. We haven't found it since we left home. He settled for a Deviled Egg potato salad from Walmart. I had the last of the potato salad I'd bought at Cooper's in Llano. Until recently there have been few potato salads that I've liked. They're usually sweet, often gloppy. The glop isn't necessarily a deal-breaker for me, but any sweetness is. I know that puts me in the oddball camp, but there it is. Cooper's includes dill pickles and a bit of something red - roasted pepper? Pimento? The salad isn't hot, nor is it sweet. I have a couple of recipes I want to try that look good. When I get around to making them - something I've intended for well over a month - I'll post them in the Potato Salad Cook-off topic begun by our beloved and sorely-missed David Ross. Anyway, here was last night's dinner: We both thought the jalapeno in the sausage was much too hot, and were glad to be finished with this package. We won't buy it again. We have a similar package, with pepper jack rather than cheddar cheese. Assuming those jalapenos are just as hot, I'll have to do something to temper them.