fifi

Brilliant description. Amen... I am late to this thread so I can't add anything. (Other than I know what I am having for breakfast in the morning. Or, maybe... lunch right now?) Hmmm... Which begs the question... Of the ubiquitous chains, who makes the best? Denney's? Waffle House? Cracker Barrel? I like mine fairly salty, lots of black pepper, and lots of browny bits. The sausage can be in patties on the side or it can be lumps in the gravy like AB's recipe.

The dinner at Rio Ranch went well from a social point of view. No one ordered Chicken Fried Steak! They were warned! I am not much of a restaurant reviewer but I will try to give you my impressions. The starters were taken communally while standing around with drinks. I couldn't figure out how to manage the chicken wings but they were going fast so I did have a taste. I guess I was expecting something like Buffalo wings and they weren't that. They were quite nice, though. The mounting pile of bones means that they obviously appealed to a broad range of tastes. The salad was nicely done and the greens were fresh. The croutons were indifferent. There were three big pitchers of dressing on a tray at intervals on the long table. I grabbed one and couldn't see what it was. Unfortunately it turned out to be honey mustard. I hate sweet dressing. Fortunately, this one wasn't overly sweet and I actually liked it. I had the petite filets with the bacon wrapped shrimp. The shrimp was nicely done... meaning not over done. The bacon wasn't crisped enough for my taste. The medium rare steak was a little chewy in places. That is hard to figure. But it was pretty tasty. This is not the best steak I have ever had... not even close. But it was respectable. Most steak looked pretty good. I respect the opinion of some of the diners and they pronounced their steaks as very good but not necessarily spectacular. About the only dessert anyone ordered were a couple of ice creams so I can't report on that. The service was really well done. Obviously, someone is putting some effort into training here. Our main waiter was knowlegeable about the dishes and knew the proper way to serve. He was even graceful in handling some awkward situations with having to reach across a very long table with not enough clearance on one side. That was handled with aplomb. All in all, it was a pleasant evening. The company was exceptional. The food was adequate, sometimes bordering on quite good. The setting is pleasant, somewhat spectacular in its own way. More importantly, they are well prepared to handle a large group (we were 24) and did a very good job of that. I would go back with a large group. The brunch menu looks interesting. Clickety here for a look.

In between fits of laughing and rolling on the floor, I was struck by profound sadness that the hunter couldn't get his eagle to go. That was a very odd experience. There is one of the pictures that, if taken out of sequence, I would swear that Eagle Hunter was strangling Eagle. Damn fine writing.

Oh pain! Oh sorrow! My idol has feet of clay!

It is corn fungus. It grows in truly disgusting blackish blobs on the kernals of corn. It is also delicious. It is used somewhat like you would mushrooms. I have never seen it fresh here. But then, I haven't looked all that hard, either. Someone might ask the produce manager at their local Fiesta. I am not planning on going there soon or I would ask.

I put this in Heather's blog. I thought you might find it helpful here... for those of you with freezers to worry about.

Good move on transferring the frozen food to the "big freezer". The more that you have in the freezer, the better off you are. You might also crank down the temperature if you have that option. How long it will last in a power outage is dependent on ambient temperature. Here on the Gulf Coast, it is always hotter than hell after the storm passes. My mother always had this big chest freezer. She would wrap it in every blanket and comforter in the house. I don't know if that helped but it is directionally correct. One time she used some insulation bats that dad had bought to add to the attic. The drill is that you DON'T OPEN IT until the power comes back on. Immediately when the power comes on you take an inventory and decide what to toss before it refreezes and you can't tell. Someone in the house was always on "freezer watch". You slept with a radio or light by the bed in case the power came back on during the night. Then you had to get up and check the freezer. I remember going through the monster at 3:00am one time. PITA, but the freezer was central to my mother's existence. I guess it was that depression era food hoarding thing.

Thanks anyway. I will report back on this thread.

OMG! What a great idea! I know how I am going to make my next batch of lard. If I want the cracklins I will just put those in a pot on the stove later.

Odd... I just spent a week in The Hague. I ate Indonesian one time and Thai one time. Both times I had dishes that I had eaten in other places and were well balanced. These were SWEET! Is sugar adulteration of these cuisines universal?

Heather... Your blog is a monument to what it takes to feed and nuture children. It isn't easy. My turn at this drill was a long time ago, but I still remember some of the frustrations, as well as the triumphs. The "garden raids" were one of my triumphs. The result is, that my "kids" (now in their early 30s) are wonderful dinner and cooking companions. Actually, that wonderfulness started about when my youngest was about 12. There is a pay day.

Now you're cookin'! (Pun intended.) As I recall, that approach always worked for me... years ago... years and years ago.

Thanks for starting this thread, FoodMan. I would like to see it continued and brought up from time to time as some of our fellow Houstonians share experience. I do have a question... I am going to Rio Ranch for a dinner this coming Thursday with some Europeans. I am not sure if it qualifies as "haute cuisine" but I sort of think of it that way, with a rustic overtone. I guess the fact that it is a Robert DelGrande (sp?) restaurant slides it into that category. When we did this about a year ago, the Chicken Fried Steak was a DISASTER. (I have reported that on other threads.) Does anyone have any opinions on their other offerings? BTW... This is not my choice. I am stuck with it. And... I KNOW some of the guys are going to ask for suggestions on what to order. HELP!

er... um... You are supposed to have a budget for toys? Hmmm... I didn't know that. Damn!

Aahh... that is what is so neat about these blogs. We are getting a glimpse into someone's life as it really is. I am now remembering what it was like when my two were little. Things were a lot more complicated. Funny, I don't remember picky phases, though. We did go through a period when my daughter had this amazing craving for "chips". That could mean potato chips, Fritos, whatever. If she got her hands on a bag without my noticing, the bag would be almost empty and her lips would be white from being pickled in the salt. Then we went through the phase where she would lead a raid on the garden with her brother, 3 years younger. They would pull carrots and eat them, dirt and all. The snow peas didn't have a chance. Lettuces were fair game and they would hop around pretending to be Peter Rabbit. Uuuuh... How do you fuss at that?

That is truly amazing. I'm a native Texan, and grew up eating barbecue, mostly from Angelo's on the north side of Ft Worth. I've never seen a smoke ring penetrate all the way through the flat. Then again, they smoke the brisket whole and then separate the point and the flat. Both Kiawe and Mesquite are genus Prosopis, although different species (I'm a wood guy), so once again you're on the right track. I too would have thought it would be overpowering. Maybe time for a trip to Hawaii, which spouseperson would think is a teriffic idea. Thanks for the info. THW Thanks for the wood info. I was wondering about that. It tasted like mesquite, just not as strong. I am a native Texan as well. I have never seen anything like this either. And I have eaten in just about every BBQ joint here in Houston and in central Texas as well. FoodZealot PM'd me about the place. Then I actually found a card that I had hidden in my billfold. The place is Big Jake's Island BBQ & Catering. The little restaurant we ate at is in Pahoa. That is on the Hilo side of the Big Island. (Hilo side is my favorite place.) You can't miss it as it is on the main drag of Pahoa. Not much of a drag so you don't really need an address. The card lists a PO Box in Kailua-Kona but I don't know if they have a place there. Strange, because Kailua-Kona is a long way from Pahoa. The name on the card is James Newlon and he wrote down a phone number... 808-965-7427 I think that for the good of the eGullet community, you are really obligated to go to Hawaii and research this phenomenon. We await your report.

I guess the saltpetre will convert the myoglobin to nitrated form (pink). It will then not be available to react with the smoke. Providing the piece of meat is fully brined so that the cure has penetrated to the centre, you won't get a smoke ring, apart from some coloration where tars have been deposited, and some Maillard reaction colour on the outside. You sometimes see, as a fault, a patch of uncured meat in the centre of thick parts of not fully cured meat, but too far from the outside for the smoke to penetrate SSB checking in... jackal10 has it right.

Can't get good peaches. I am not sure I would know what one tasted like if I fell into it. I do remember getting some amazing apricots at a roadside stand in west Texas years ago. We ate so many we got the trots. I haven't tasted an apricot like that since.

I have been keeping my eye on it. My daughter lives in DC. They have it cruising right up the Chesapeake. At least she lives on the 3rd floor of a VERY solid, built-in-the-20s, brick ****house of a building. I do worry about Varmint's Pig Pickin' though. The damage that this thing could do will make the blackout look like a minor inconvenience.

Yep. She is back. I don't remember exactly when she showed up but it was a bunch of months ago. She has a regular review in the Friday Dining Guide section. She is a great writer. Wouldn't it be great to have her in our playpen?

This is one of my fovorite desserts. And I don't really like desert. One of my cooking buddies cooks dynOmite Thai food. She and I have done the sticky rice in a big steamer thingy that I got at the Asian market. One of the recipes has pandanus leaves imbedded in the rice while steaming. It adds a nice aromatic sort of green note. But the steaming is a PITA. Then, one day, my friend got lazy, dumped the rice in the fancy fuzzy logic rice cooker like mine and... IT WORKED! No more steaming for us! (And some folks said I was crazy to pay $200 for a rice cooker, even if it does have a retractable cord.) Luckily, we get some really good mangoes here in Houston. They compare favorably to the tree ripened ones I have had in Mexico and Hawaii right off of the tree. That faintly gasoline taste is to me more like turpentine. When my kids were young, they called the taste "sweet Christmas tree". I just got back from a week in the Netherlands. The only really memorable food I had was some really fantastic mango from the breakfast buffet at my hotel. Go figure.

I can't say enough about my WSM. That thing is incredible. I know it has been mentioned on some of the other threads but this link is unbelievable. These folks are SERIOUS! (And the site is not done by Weber.) I love the graphs. Also check out that method of loading up the charcoal and let 'er rip. It really works. I have held a rock solid 250 at the top vent (it is cooler and just right on the racks) for well over 12 hours. http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/index.shtml

My sister has some enormous anise hyssop plants. She uses it to make tea and sometimes lays chicken thighs on a bed of it to bake. What kind of hyssop do you have?

That was a good move. When I am smoking something I always smoke some breasts and thighs while I am at it. I take the meat off the bones and freeze it in foil packets. The bones go into dynamite chicken and dumplings. I use the meat in quesadillas, or rolled up in a tortilla with things like guacamole, onion sprinkled with lime juice S&P, cheese, any other stuff I have around. A dinner salad with the smoked chicken meat is wonderful. I also use it to make a white pasta sauce. Smoked chicken pizza is yummy. Oh... I could go on. Smoked chicken in "the pantry" is like gold for quick meals.

Katie... Thanks for a wonderful journey. And I like your tags. (Sooner or later we have to start tagging the guys.)