Food – That… Which Matters Most

Destination: Boyd’s Jig & Reel

Driving across Tennessee in mid June, Heidi and I decided we wanted to find a place that had live music, away from the typical live-music venues. She found a pub in Knoxville: Boyd’s Jig & Reel. They had a Bluegrass jam session. I’ve never sat and listened to live Bluegrass before, so it sounded exciting.

And the night was exciting.

When we got downtown, we found a parking lot a block away from the pub and started figuring out how much money we needed to pay to be in the lot.

The cloud in the following picture loomed over us.

Before we could figure out the cost, the cloud let loose. It was what I call a “gully washer.” Everything was immediately soaked, and had we not hopped back in the car, we would have been as well.

Heidi asked: “do you want to skip it?”

“No way. We’re here! Let’s go.” I wasn’t going to let a gully washer get in the way of live music, and good food.

I got her poncho out of the back of the car and about that time, the gully washer was done. We were still wet, but it didn’t matter. We headed up the street in search of the pub.

We made it just fine. The crowd was light, the music was pretty good, and the fish ‘n chips were decent.

The only drawback was that I was freezing the entire time. The AC in the place was working fine. No complaints. It was worth it.

Day Three: Lots of Yard Work

Today (Thursday) was perfect for yard work. The temperature in the morning was in the mid 70s, and it was overcast. So the sun was prevented from beating down on me as I worked.

I went immediately to work on the front flower bed. Since I hadn’t worked on it since last year, it was a mess. The joy, was ripping out weeds that I had been fighting for while. The work: there were a lot of weeds. But that was done, after about four hours of work. Why so long? Most of the soil was in its “mud form.” It kept caking up my tools and my boots, and I had to stop and break it free for my tools to function properly.

ADDED Bonus: as I was working on the flower bed, I found a Southern Oak sapling behind the biggest bush. I pulled it up, and decided to plant it in the lower 40 just to see if I could get it to grow. I haven’t had much luck transporting trees from one part of the yard to the other. I think this is because the two times I’ve tried, I didn’t take the soil with it. Hopefully, with enough TLC, this one will take root. See the picture below.

Relief came when Heidi called me to lunch. We had a Sloppy Joe salad. Yes, delicious. It hit the spot.

Who would have ever dreamed Sloppy Joes could have been added to a salad? Heidi. And she did it.

The movie of the night: Shawshank Redemption.

The quote of the day: J.C. Ryle.

“I hold salvation by grace as strongly as any one. I would gladly offer a free and full pardon to the greatest sinner that ever lived. I would not hesitate to stand by his dying bed, and say, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ even now, and you shall be saved.” But that a man can have salvation without asking for it, I cannot see in the Bible. That a man will receive pardon of his sins, who will not so much as lift up his heart inwardly, and say, “Lord Jesus, give it to me,” this I cannot find. I can find that nobody will be saved by his prayers, but I cannot find that without prayer anybody will be saved.”

That is part of my sermon preparation on prayer. See Matthew 6.

Gaido’s in Galveston

I was almost like a kid last week as we crossed over the bridge in I-45 driving into Galveston. We were getting there before our check-in time at a VRBO down close to the Strand, and Heidi suggested we head on to Gaido’s for an early dinner. It had been almost 50 years since my last visit there, back in the late 1970s. My family often spent weekends in Galveston while living in Houston, either to go spend time on my father’s boats or to stay at my mother’s beach house out at Jamaica Beach.

I wanted to take Heidi so that we could enjoy the restaurant together. We certainly did, because it is an old-style restaurant with white table clothes, carpet, and no loud music. It had music, but throwback music to the 1940s or maybe 1950s jazz.

AS you can see, it has a wonderful set up, like something from the 1960s or before. Restaurants likes Gaido’s use to be the norm, but so many of them have opted for the Spaghetti Warehouse model, concrete, wide-open spaces, with loud music, so that if you want to have a conversation, you have to yell to be heard.

We started our dinner with a plate of oysters. Since it was November, that is an acceptable month of oysters. You never order them in May, June, or July, only in months that have an ‘R’ in the name.

Our oysters were covered with a hollandaise sauce that has bacon bits and green onions mixed in for extra flavor. Delicious.

Heidi had one of the specials of the day, blacked snapper, which just melted in our mouths. Yes, she let me have a bite.

I opted for a combo plate with charbroiled snapper, fried shrimp, and scallops. As usual, hers was better, but mine was still excellent.

Did I mention the bread the brought with our appetizer? It too, was extremely delicious. By the time we finished, I think our waitress (yes, that is the gender proper form), knew better than to offer us dessert. We were stuffed.

Another neat aspect of Gaido’s is that they are also part museum since they have been there so long.

This is one of my favorite pictures, the construction of the sea wall from the early 1900s. The only problem with the sea wall is that it doesn’t circumnavigate the city. Otherwise, it was a great idea.

Graduation: Timothy Andrew Hammons, Wills Point High School 2024

I can’t express how proud I am of my oldest son Andrew and his recent graduation from Wills Point High School. He not only graduated with honors, but also as a member of the National Honor Society. I’m not sure if those always go together. It seemed like there were those graduating with honors who were not members of the National Honor Society. But he was.

It has been a real joy to realize how much he has overcome in his 12 years of schooling. When he started in kindergarten, at a classical Christian Academy, I discovered that he was dyslexic, and I was told he would never be able to read, or go to college. He reads fine. He thinks clearly. He applied to a college, and got accepted with a boat load of scholarships. I guess those prognosticators in that classical Christian academy were wrong. I won’t name the academy, but you can probably guess from the pics below.

Now, it isn’t just his academic achievements that give me reason to be proud of him. In the past three months, he actually bought a used Mazda RX8. He knew that it needed some work on it, but he didn’t know the extent of it. Well, turns out, it needed a new engine. As he said, with a rotary engine, it runs on a Dorito chip, or a cylinder shaped like a Dorito chip inside the engine. All three points of the Dorito chip were broken, which meant: it needed a new engine.

This didn’t stop him. After a short lamentation for the situation, he and the man helping him, went to work finding another engine and rebuilding it. He got it running, got the inspection and tags, and came to visit me earlier in the week. See pics below.

One other thing, he got his first job. He is now making enough money to fill up the tank of his RX8, which he says, only gets about 18 mpg. Not what you would expect, but I guess there is a price to pay for being sporty.

The following are the earliest pictures I could find of him as a student at Augustine Christian Academy in Jackson, Tennessee. Well, I guess I did name it after all.

A few pictures of Andy and the rebuilt Mazda RX8.

I didn’t get the chance to take him out after the graduation, so we went this week to Southern Roots Brewing Company. It’s the same place the guys from the church went for fellowship one night, and I was able to determine that it has some of the best pizza in town.

I couldn’t leave out Joseph.

Thursday Doors — Finn’s Restaurant & Tavern

My wife and I are extremely particular about eating out. We generally do not like to do so, because we often feel the food is overpriced, the service is mediocre, and Heidi can make whatever they are selling much better and much cheaper. But we do enjoy finding a good restaurant.

Our go-to restaurant has been Bonefish. We liked it so much, that we went there on our anniversary multiple times. But the quality of both the food and service have declined over the years. This past Saturday, after visiting Bonefish in Johnson City, we broke up with the food chain. We had enough of the letdown.

Part of the reason is that on the way into Johnson City, via Knoxville, my wife found Finn’s Restaurant & Tavern. She wanted to surprise me with the find because she knows how much I like fish and chips, along with Guinness on draft. Finn’s had both.

The restaurant is on the second floor of what was a stately home that has been preserved by small-business owners. The place is full of authentic charm (unlike the mass-duplicated faux-charm found in most restaurants today), which is obvious when mounting the stairs to the place.

Heidi ordered the pork chop marinated in Guinness and my fish was cooked with a beer batter (I’m assuming Guinness). Her pork chop was so good, it melted in our mouths. The fish and chips were crispy to perfection. And the Guinness draft was, as always, wonderful.

They also had some tempting desserts after dinner, but we passed.

All this to say, I think we found our new restaurant, at least when we are traveling in eastern Tennessee. Given that we only go out to eat about 10 times a year, and we travel to Johnson City at least twice a year, I think we will be stopping there again. The fish and chips is far better than that found in Bonefish. That was another reason breaking up with Bonefish was so easy. Soggy chips, tiny fish portions, greasy batter.

If you find yourself in Knoxville, look it up.

These photos are a part of Dan’s Thursday Door Challenge.

No, we didn’t enter in as strangers, and we are still friends, along with being husband and wife.

Thursday Doors — My Father’s Favorite Restaurant

After the visitation for my father funeral back in January, I took Heidi to his favorite restaurant, Volare’s Italian Restaurant on Ross Street in Brenham. I’m not sure why my father never took us there, but I wanted to make sure and take Heidi. Since then we have talked about going back to Brenham for the restaurant. It’s that good. Here is there website in case you have the desire for some fine Italian cuisine.

As for now, the pictures for Dan’s Thursday Doors will will have to suffice.

Naca Valley

On one of our trips over to Nacogdoches, our new friends took us out to Naca Valley, one of the only wineries in the area. They also serve up some really good pizza and on Saturday night, they have live music. Since it was getting late in the year, there were not many people there the night we went, and we really enjoyed our time.

Great music, great pizza and great wine.

Thursday Doors — The Corner Kitchen

I love a good Reuben. I first learned to eat Reubens when I was working at the German restaurant Alfred’s in Houston. It was more than just a restaurant. It had a delicatessen, small market with nothing but Kosher food, the restaurant, and a bar. I was 15 when I started working there as a bus boy.

For its day, the restaurant had quite the reputation. There was a theater near by and when the actors had a chance, they would come and dine at Alfred’s. I saw two celebrities while working there. As a busboy, Pernell Roberts ate there. Since I wasn’t a fan of Bonanza, I didn’t recognize him.

Some time later, when I moved over to work in the delicatessen, Jo Ann Worley of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In fame came through. She was bouncing around, saying hello to everyone while I was slicing corned beef and she asked what I was doing. “Slicing corned beef.” She asked for some. I gave it to her. She liked it. I’m sure my words still resonate in her memory to this day.

It was during this time that I was introduced to the Reuben. We were allowed to have one meal for lunch when we worked all day, and I had grown tired of their hamburgers. Someone suggested the Reuben, which was put in a broiler before served, so I gave it a shot. I’ve been hooked ever since.

When I saw that it was an option at the Corner Kitchen in Asheville, NC, that was my immediate choice. I had already had a great hamburger on our trip to Tennessee, so needed something different. It was worthy of the name Reuben. Heidi had corned-beef hash, and it too was delicious.

Just so happens that the Corner Kitchen also has a door worth sharing. So this post is a part of Dan’s Thursday Doors.

The Actual Door

Date Night at Mid City Grill

While Heidi and I were visiting family in Johnson City, TN, we went on a little date night downtown. She knows how much I love a great hamburger, so she took me to one of JC’s premier burger places, the Mid City Grill. Our burgers were a definite 10 on the burger-o-meter.

Chili and Eggs

I have not had chili and eggs for years. It really is quite a delightful dish, one that my mother use to make for me and my brothers quite often. It’s a very easy dish to make. Scramble some eggs, heat up some chili, pour the chili over the scrambled eggs, and eat.

My wife took it to another level with the grated cheese, and added some class with the bowl from the Pea Soup Restaurants.

My Brother-In-Law Chris, the Master Chef.

Chris was the master chef behind all the great food at my Dad’s 90th Birthday Celebration.

Heidi’s Kitchen: Breakfast

Delicious!

More than One Way…

I was letting Andy have a few dark chocolate peanut butter cups from Trader Joe’s on Sunday, because he was with us without his brother. I wanted him to feel special. This is the first time that we have had one boy without the other.

Given that, I was trying to get him to savor the chocolate. We don’t normally let the boys have the Trader Joe’s chocolate because we have to drive to get it, and I can’t eat most normal chocolates. Or I should say, I won’t eat most normal chocolates. Trader Joe’s does not use high-fructose corn syrup in their chocolates. High-fructose corn syrup is to candy what MSG is to Chinese food. It is in all the major candies and the reason that a one-pound bag of M&Ms is never enough. Satisfaction with these candies is an allusion.

Not so with Trader Joe’s. Satisfaction can be had. There is a point where enough-is-enough.

But back to the main issue. I wanted Andy to savor the chocolate because it is so much better when eaten slowly, and allowed to dissolve on the tongue. He wasn’t really having any of that, and just ate it.

That is when Heidi said: “well there is more than one way to skin a cat?”

It was appropriate for the moment. Andy didn’t want to eat the chocolate the way I eat it, which was fine. But what delighted me was the Andy immediately responded: “why would I want to skin a cat?”

Not that he was the first to ask that question, but that he asked the question at all. That shows that he is thinking, which is a hard commodity to find in people these days. Most people don’t want to think.

I saw an example of this last week while talking to a woman about having to wear masks. I am opposed to them because of the data amassed before our current pandemic. It all pointed to the uselessness of masks in preventing the spread of such viruses. There is plenty of evidence currently on the internet, and I shared it with the woman. She was having none of it. She just wanted to do what the government and Dr. Fauci said to do. She didn’t want to think about it.

It was disappointing.

I don’t want my boys go grow into men who don’t want to think about things, especially religious truths and politics. I want them to think about these things. I want them to be self-consciously Christian and conservative in these areas. I want them to have a Biblical worldview, because they have given these issues thought and because they don’t listen to the voices of our leaders, but listen to the voice and Word of our King. Yes, we are to give our leaders the respect of their office. But we are never to check our brains at the door and blindly follow them.

So yes, ask the question: “why would anyone want to skin a cat?”

Andy and I went hiking in a nearby park on Sunday, and the following are a few of the pictures we took.

Celebrating Andy’s Birthday

We celebrated Andy’s birthday on New Year’s Eve by taking him to one of the local hamburger joints. Our joint of choice? Billy Bob’s Hamburgers in downtown Waco. We rarely go out to eat, so taking him out was a treat on our part, and he appreciated it.

Even though it was New Year’s Eve, it wasn’t crowded, given the deluge of rain the area experienced during the day. But we still had to wait at the bar for a bit to get a table.

I did make him take his mask off.

Decisions, decisions. I think both boys went with the regular burgers. Andy added an extra patty and cheese, and Joey copied me on my selection of the onion rings. Best onion rings I’ve had in years. I also had the Southwest burger and Heidi had a bunless burger. Absolutely superb.

Over the past several years, we’ve really grown a dislike for the chain burger places like Whataburger, Five Guys, etc. I’ve learned that most of these places simply add a bunch of stuff to their patties to make it taste good. The actual patties by themselves don’t taste that good. So we don’t go to such places. The only chain restaurant that serves a good hamburger is the Cracker Barrel. I know. Who would have thought it.

But I’m more inclined to find local joints for eating out.

Heidi and I decided, out of the two hamburger joints we’ve been to in Waco, this one was the better one by far. The other one, The Twisted Root Burger Co., was actually rated as the number 1 burger place in Waco. I think that poll was taken by Dominion.

“Boys? Can’t you see I’m trying to take a picture of Heidi?” I don’t think they could.

Top 5 Blue Bell Ice Creams

Originally published July 19, 2013.

Last week, I finally got the opportunity to take the boys to the home of Blue Bell Creameries here in Brenham, TX for the tour. It was my first time to visit, which is odd, because I lived in and been around, and driven past the Creameries for the past 25 years or so, given that my father lives in the area.

Having two boys who love ice cream pushed me over the edge, I broke down for the tour and shelled out the $14 it cost to take the 30 minute tour. Normally, I would balk at shelling out $14 for a 30 minute tour, but this one had the promise that no other tour guide in history can offer: Blue Bell ice cream at the end of the tour. For my boys, the 30 minute tour was almost too long! After looking at assorted machines dispensing ice cream, ice cream sandwiches and Great Divide bars, Joey kept asking, “can we have some ice cream now?”

That is the cumulative effect of the tour. Never mind that we are peeking into the secret halls where that yummy, precious Homemade Vanilla is produced, all day, every day that the factory is open (no cameras allowed!). Never mind the fact that the tour-guide told us it was their number one selling ice cream hands down. Never mind that you can find Homemade Vanilla at every Outback Steakhouse across the nation. Never mind that Blue Bell is not yet nation wide, but should be. Never mind that they introduce 16 new flavors every year, while removing 16 other flavors every year, therefore if you like a flavor, buy a lot so that they keep it on the production list! All these facts and figures never seem to sink into the grey matter until we actually get some ice cream!

We did get our ice cream. There is an entire ice cream shop at the end of the tour complete with gift shop and plenty of ice cream. You get a ticket for free ice cream with your purchase of a tour ticket, and that gets you a good helping of ice cream to sample.

It was there that I came up with the following rule for my boys: “Sons, if Daddy doesn’t like what you are picking out, you can’t get it.”

That may sound harsh. But Joey selected his ice cream based on it’s color, not flavor. It was like a sherbet orange and lime of some kind. He didn’t like it and I ended up eating it and gave him my Rockside Brownie ice cream (NOTE: new flavor, very good, buy lots!). His was still good, but it wasn’t chocolate. Therefore, I don’t let him buy food or candy unless I like it too.

Now, what some of you have been waiting for. Here are the Top 5 selling Blue Bell Ice Creams. This is not my opinion, but their list compiled by a capitalistic system known as supply and DEMAND! They supply these flavors and the public keeps DEMANDING them! Which leads to the reminder, if you like a flavor, buy lots and demand more. Here are the top 5 selling flavors:

1. Homemade Vanilla — This should be logical because you can take vanilla and add anything you want to it and it will be great. I like to add chocolate syrup… well, to all my Blue Bell flavors.

2. Cookies and Cream — I had to get an ice–cream sandwich of this yesterday while swimming at the Blue Bell Aquatic Center with my boys. It reminded me why Cookies and Cream is so popular. The other ice cream sandwich they sell a lot of is Homemade Vanilla.

3. Chocolate — This would have been my number one on the list, but again, this list is based on sales, not opinion.

4. The Great Divide — Why not? An ice cream of their best flavor, Homemade Vanilla and Chocolate.

5. Ultimate Neapolitan — I don’t like this one because I’m not a fan of strawberry. But I do like 2/3 of this one. Can you guess which ones?

Other Interesting FACTS: I have Orange Swirl and Red Velvet Cake in my freezer right now. Both are July rotational flavors and Orange Swirl is new. I like it even though it’s not chocolate. And, I have yet to add chocolate syrup to it, but I’m sure it would be delightful.

When the ice cream is put into the cartons, the cartons are spun so that the ice cream doesn’t have bubbles. This is true for all ice creams except those like the Ultimate Neapolitan and the Great Divide. Not sure how they keep the bubbles out of those.

It takes 60,000 cows to produce enough milk for a days worth of production. That is a lot of milk. They also test every batch of milk in order to maintain their high standards.

They shut down production at the end of every day and are only open Monday through Friday. Kudos to Blue Bell on this! They know the importance of family and time off.

They truly do eat all they can and sell the rest. In the employee break room, the ice cream in the freezers is free to all employees.

PHOTO Below: I think that is their first delivery truck. Andy wanted to climb on it, even though the sign says not to do so. Beside Joey and Andy are their cousins, Jackson and Maddie.

The Tradition

The smell of frying chili pablanos in the cast iron skillet saturated the apartment, and perhaps, even the neighbors apartments. It’s a strong smell, and one that I love. It reminds me of Thanksgivings at my mother’s home in Lufkin, TX during the 1980s and 1990s. We didn’t have the typical thanksgiving dinner growing up, because we knew that we would get turkey and the fixins’ somewhere during the season. So, she cooked our favorite meal instead, chili rellenos. It was our family tradition.

Heidi and I have adopted that tradition. Heidi made rellenos the first time when we lived in Waxahachie, then again in Terrell, and yesterday. What a treat. Now that we have done it three out of the five Thanksgivings we’ve been married, it’s tradition by my reckoning. Doing something once is unique. Doing it again, is nostalgic. Doing it a third time, tradition.

The smell of the cooking pablanos made my mouth water. While we were not able to be with family, having such a wonderful meal together just enhanced the tradition.

Below are the photos of the process.