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It's really not a very photogenic place, nor meal. Doesn't matter. It's sure good. I am having the barbecue I brought home for Mothers Day dinner Sunday, with cole slaw, potato salad, and baked beans. Will make all the sides in advance, plus a big ol' banana pudding, and just relax on Sunday -- and make the kids do the dishes.

A quick perusal of Walmart's website shows two or three different Hamilton Beach countertop models for under $30. I've always found Hamilton Beach to be a fairly good value in small kitchen electrics that don't need to be heavy-duty. At that price, if you use it five years and it conks out, you've gotten your money's worth, and go get another one. Cuisinart makes one for under $40. I know nothing about them.

No photos, unfortunately, but I had lunch at Arkansas' only James Beard award winner today: Jones' Barbecue Diner in Marianna, AR. (See story here.) Marianna, AR, is a small Arkansas Delta town, perched off to one corner of the intersection of US Highway 79 and AR Hwy. 1. It used to be a thriving, bustling little city, but its population has declined by two-thirds or more since the 1960s, like many of its fellow Delta communities. But people come from all over the state, as well as Tennessee and Mississippi, for the barbecue at Jones, and have been doing so for more than half a century (it was founded in 1964). It's a tiny little place. Two tables, both of them castoff kitchen tables with mismatched chairs. If both have people at them, it's customary to share any empty seats with anyone else who comes in and wants to eat in-house. There is no menu. You have one choice: pork barbecue, with or without slaw, on two slices of white loaf bread. If you want a side, you grab a bag of potato chips (Lay's, regular) from the rack. If you want a drink, you help yourself to a canned Pepsi product from a refrigerator. The walls hold, besides the Beard award, autographed photos of three Arkansas governors, one Congressman, and a Little Rock TV weather anchor; assorted calendars, a proclamation from the Mayor of Marianna, and a picture of Jesus (not autographed). It is truly, as its Beard award proclaims, "an American classic." I believe it's also one of the two or three oldest black-owned restaurants still operating in Arkansas. (Lassis Inn, home of the fried buffalo rib plate, is another. For those unfamiliar with Southern cuisine, buffalo in this case is a fish. Another is Craig's BarBQ in DeValls Bluff (can't hold a candle to Jones, IMHO), and, until her greatly mourned demise a year or so ago, the Pie Lady's shop, across the highway from Craig's.) Mr. Jones dishes up your sandwich, hands it to you on a paper plate lined with a sheet of foil. If, like me, you just was the 'cue without the bread, it comes with a little plastic cup of slaw and a plastic spoon. The meat is pulled, and doused heavily in a vinegar-based sauce. And it is just about heavenly. Not to mention the smell when you get out of your car out front. I got a sandwich sans bread, a bag of chips, a diet Pepsi and two pounds of meat to take home for $17.50. How many single meals, let along an additional entree for four to six, have you eaten in James Beard award winning restaurants for $17.50? Mr. Jones opens at 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and closes when he sells out, generally no later than 1 p.m. If you're coming on a Saturday, better get there before 11. If you're planning on ordering more than a pound or two of pork to go, it's considered polite to call and reserve it in advance. He might put an extra shoulder on the pit, or he might just close earlier. Oh, and be sure you sign his guest book, a spiral notebook sitting atop a chest freezer in the dining room, before you leave if you're from out of town.

I haven't had the issue of Side 1 soaking up all the oil. Perhaps I use more oil than you do. When frying like that, I always use medium high to high heat, and then take up on a paper towel covered rack to soak up any excess and avoid greasiness.

They can call the French toast sticks anything they want, long as they keep them on the menu. They're my favorite guilty fast food crave.

I don't think I've cooked a significant meal in a month. I've just been off cooking. Likely won't cook much the rest of this month, either; getting ready to move. Then I can start over in the new kitchen!

I don't see any good reason why not, other than the fact you'd need to strain the rum every time you pour it.

Aldi butter is fairly regularly $2.69 a pound. I buy four or five pounds at a time and stash in the freezer. I've found them to be consistently cheaper on all dairy products, though Kroger will periodically match their price on milk on a sale basis.

A few summers ago, when I lived up the hill from a lake that necessitated taking all you were going to drink with you, as it was a long climb back up, I took to mixing ginger mojitos. Chopped fresh ginger in the food processor and squeezed it out in cheesecloth to get two or three tablespoons of juice. Rum, simple syrup, a healthy dose of lime juice, and club soda. Made for a quite refreshing all-day drink in my quart-sized insulated mug.

So dinner is Saturday night? If anyone else is up for a game on Friday, I'll be interested.

Burnt ends and grits sounds like an absolutely marvelous idea.

Marvelous story. Thanks for your time and trouble to resurrect it.

If you ever run across Seersucker gin, you might want to try it. Website here. Distilled in San Antonio, I think. I see they now make a lemon-flavored and a lime-flavored, danged if I see why, as the original is very citrusy. It's about the only gin I will drink.

Welcome home. I always enjoy the trip, never more so than when you're coming through Arkansas and we get to visit!

I want those Scotch eggs. Damn. I never thought about Scotch eggs with Jezebel sauce, but they'd be great.

LOVE IT! I love flamingos. Never thought of decorating a cake with them.

Can't testify to clay pot cooking (I have a tagine, never have used it), but there is a definite difference in the taste of things like pot roast, beef stew, carbonnades a la flamande, made by braising in the oven or stovetop, vs the same dish sous vide or in the IP. Dunno why. It's the case even if you sear the meat first. Consequently, I don't use my SV for braised beef dishes. On the other hand, I've found SV ribs and/or IP pork shoulder roast, cooked until good and tender and then moved to the smoker, to taste but little different from the same cuts cooked the traditional way on a grill or in the oven.

Now, now...don't be dissing catfish. Properly cleaned, then breaded and fried, it's fine, fine fish. And smoked catfish is much cheaper than smoked salmon or trout, and tastes quite good. I can't offer a good fish book, but I can give you my very favorite seafood dish: Crabmeat Justine, from the late lamented Justine's restaurant in Memphis, which was the finest of fine dining the River City ever offered. 1/4 cup butter 2 tbsp dry sherry 1/2 pound lump crabmeat dash of Worcestershire dash of Tabasco healthy squeeze of lemon Hollandaise sauce Toasted French bread Melt butter over medium low heat in a small skillet, and add other ingredients except Hollandaise in the order listed, taking care to neither burn nor boil mixture. Put about 2 tbsp of mixture on a slice of lightly toasted French bread, top with a little Hollandaise, and run under the broiler until just lightly browned. I can eat my weight in these things. The recipe, and a few other Justine's favorites, are found in Memphis Cuisine, by Christine Arpe Gang, who was the long-time food writer for The Commercial Appeal. Should you ever run across this book, buy it. It has some wonderful classic recipes from favorite Memphis restaurants.

I am having withdrawal at the prospect of no garden this year. As we are looking to move June 3, I can at least get a few late tomatoes out, and maybe get the asparagus bed planted so it can get a head start. And of course the herbs, which I am contemplating moving back to pots, so it will be easier to keep them closer to the kitchen. But look out next year!

H'mm. The new house has a BIG yard. Room for chickens.....perhaps there is a chicken coop in my future?

So, just the new shoots? And how does one cook them? Going to have to try this.

I have it. Well worthwhile.

You can EAT hostas? Tell me more. New house has oak trees, which call out for hosta beds.

Made an unplanned stop by Walgreen's for cough drops. Came out with Sugar Babies, Skittles, Sno-Caps and Caramel M&Ms. Theatre-sized boxes, $4 for 5 bucks. Who can resist?

Oh, how I love yakitiori! I came near embarrassment at a yakitori restaurant in Tokyo. My boss and I nearly fought over the asparagus.