jess mebane

thank you!

okay, I will be restless and discomfited until you tell me the truth--whazzat the RealDeal Pearl Bailey, voice of the South?

greek pinwheels, meskin rice, mazetlan shrimp. And now, perhaps a beerGOCUBS!

Has your Rice matriculator yet heard of the science dept. basement rumor? I'm hazy on the finer points (it were abt. 10 yrs ago when I dated this adorable Owl--he was in the MOB and played an invisible instrument--great story, another time), but there used to be a basement dive amongst the sci quad where you could get scandalously cheap drinks. Does this sound familiar to any other Bayou City Brethren????

I second the Brennan's shoutout, and if you like the slow, private feel of Brennan's, you might also enjoy the dark woods and non-clubby, clubby feel of River Oaks Grill. Dear spouse and I walked in about 15 mins. to close one evening, and everyone from the valet to the piano bar to waitstaff was gracious and smooth in a laconic manner that made you feel wanted, not just welcomed. It was sexy, and expensive, and very, very good. I've said before of the place that they treat you like Bogie and Bacall--late night icons rather than obstacles that must be overcome to replenish the sugar pats and ketchup bottles.... And Edwardians didn't make Jazz because they were too busy making love, cher, so it's virtually the same thing set thru a different medium......

Best of luck, and many blessings

Apparently, so's wearing a slip under your dress to church these days, shug, but some things are still considered a matter of good form rather than necessity. Just had to say it: Jess: You are so, so funny. Splat. Snort. Spit. why, thank you Magali. The poor kid couldn't possibly have known that Kimball is too much of a hussy to wear undergarments in the lord's house.

Apparently, so's wearing a slip under your dress to church these days, shug, but some things are still considered a matter of good form rather than necessity.

From the USDA: "3. PACK DATE: The day of the year that the eggs are processed and placed into the carton must also be shown on each carton with the USDA grade shield. The number is a three-digit code that represents the consecutive day of the year. For example, January 1 is shown as "001" and December 31 as "365." Typically, eggs are packed within 1 to 7 days of being laid. The pack date in this example is "218", meaning that the eggs were packed on the 218th day of the year, or in this example, August 5. If your carton shows a USDA grade shield, you can determine the date that the eggs were packed from the carton date code. I take this to mean that if I use all eggs within 2 wks, the oldest ones can actually be almost a month old. Scary!

oh man, that actually sounds pretty good. . . . and don't even, T. It was so bad it was Great Santini painful. She hated Italian food b/c of the evil garlic, so she didn't even make a gravy with which to smother, drown or otherwise salvage this dreck. I remember once my dad made this pitiful dip or whathaveyou out of condiments to try and help the loaf along in its slow death on our table, and it was just so sad. Kind of bad key lime pie yellow.

The internet reminds me of my mother that way, God bless her......

My mother tried to kill us once with bouillabaise, and she chopped up pickles and fritos as filler for her meatloaf. Having said that, she turned into an excellent, if quirky, baker, and dear spouse likes to refer to visits to see my parents thusly: "I'm looking forward to going to your folks' place; y'know, fishin' and chillin' with your dad, watchin' all the kids and cousins run around, and eating one of your mom's strange cakes."

Fertitta, man. Such large cajones on such a widdle worm. I admired him at first for attempting to break up the Galveston old guard stronghold, when it seemed like his ambitions were aimed as much at gentrification as tourism for that lovely, neglected town. And then he went to Kemah and turned into a 3rd-rate PT Barnum. The Landry family probably gets some sort of grim satisfaction over his reversal in reputation.....

omigod, those guys were the shizzle! You SOOOoooo have to find out if they're still around, Fifizzle.....

Late to the party, but wanted to add: Scald yer milk foist before adding to the roux

The Bowery Boys are at turns great and gross at the grocery store, but when the house is down to the last roll of TP, cup of dog food and 1/2 gal. of milk, off we go. I use coupons. We are sample whores; hell, we're not too proud to start divvying up the baguette right then and there. Oldest boy is bribed at the outset: acceptable behavior= one Matchbox/sticker sheet/ride on the grocery pony. He has great intentions, but that doesn't keep the occasional wine display from skittering across the meat dept. when I make the mistake of falling into a trance in front of the finer cheeses. I try to give him a small choice or two, and then make for the checkout when #2 son's patience has run out. In short, sometimes we're "All mops to cleanup on aisle 6," and other times we're the racecar behind you, cackling like Burt Reynolds before his face went wonky. As much as I dread it sometimes, I expect I'll miss it in about 10 yrs.

ditto. I glom over all relevant indices, then cook from the same six books.

ok, so I picked up the extra dark LU ecoliers, and really, it's too much. Just this side of baking chocolate, and a bit chalky. Should've got the Oreos for my chance to find the magic cookie that turns milk blue and win a million! Is this thread starting to remind anyone else of that "plate of shrimp" scene in Repo Man?

this turns out to be the sort of thread that makes you feel better just for dropping by, like going over to Grandmother's house on the odd Tuesday......

Totally agree, in the vein of "That's Why the Lady is a Tramp" sort of fondness.

Did you live in the quarter? We've got dear friends who finally gave up their renovation project on St. Ann following a half-dozen burglaries; I think it really broke their hearts. Then again, they said the last straw was having to bribe the trashmen to pick up their cans, like it was emblematic of the whole city's laissez faire attitude towards grift. Personally, after the spouse kicks off, I'd like to open a bar in Baton Rouge down the street from frat row of LSU; might have a fighting chance of keeping an eye on my boys.....

That yellow tail is everywhere! Ok, on another topic, Can you believe Wackadoo Jeannie Daniels finally did it? Meat-free in Tarrytown: http://news8austin.com/story.asp?ArID=83167

Do you find that the recent trend towards healthy greens is successful? I love them, but am wary of trying a recipe that only takes about 30-45 mins and includes red wine, for instance. And do you prefer one sort of greens or do you mix? I have also tried to make spoonbread and never have I come close to the ethereal, light dish my grandmother made. I have produced a fair approximation of plaster of paris and sheetrock compound. Is there any hope?

in a left-handed mixup, I find myself taking a bite of an emery board while trying to file my right thumbnail with a Twizzler. Time to go to bed.......

she was at the Press for years, then freelanced for GQ and the like, and wound up on Citysearch, I think it was. I'm glad she rematerialized at a really good paper like the Houston Chronicle, provincial disapproval notwithstanding. And I totally agree with Kilgore about her sense of history and place; it gives her writing way more depth than the usual fare: "bread pudding redolent with old bourbon and studded with plump currants..."