Today felt like a bit of a blur. Dallas is only a 5 hour drive, or so google maps told me, and I couldn't arrive there till Erin got off work at 4. I had some time to kill. I organized the space I have been hobo squatting in Scott's apartment and gather all my clothes. Say my good byes and head out to gas up the car. A few wrong turns, 3 different gas stations that didn't have ice to sell me, and a couple really angry drivers later I am on the road.
Funny story, as soon as I got on the highway at 12, my map timeline said I would be there in 4 hours. Something happened between not being on the highway and being on the on ramp that added one hour to the trip. So I will now have an hour to kill when I get to Dallas because there is nothing of importance outside of Austin on this drive.
I show up in Dallas around 4, call Erin and drive around trying to kill an hour. Enough boring stuff out of the way, lets talk about Erin. Erin Dowell is one of my best friends from way back when in college. We bonded over the mutual lack of self control and rampant Wednesday night drinking fests. She is and always will be one of the best people I have ever met. So given that information you would believe that we would throw down for Halloween. Erin shows up and we start getting ready, she goes as Texas prom queen circa 1983 and I go as Hot Jogger Girl Mayhem from the Allstate Commercials. She was going to go as Flo but the USPS stole it or something crazy. Dressed and ready we head over to her friend Clairs house.
Clair is an Irish girl who happens to have her birthday on Oct 30th, and had never celebrated Halloween like we Americans. She was so floored by the concept she had her birthday party become a Halloween party with Karaoke and drinks. When we got to her house, very early mind you, she was still getting ready and trying to get all the decorations up and make food an just running all around the house. The party start showing up and the music and festivities commence. Erin has reservations at a local bar that does Karaoke on Wednesdays, but when we show up both the Karaoke people have called in sick. Coincidence??? Erin, being the problem solver that she is, starts calling up other bars, google searching karaoke bars, and finally she finds a spot.
This place was way on the other side of Dallas, close to where all the other people were staying so they were happy, but also in a shady spot of Dallas. We walk in and not only do they have Karaoke, they have a bunch of the funniest patrons I have ever seen. This rather heavy set black lady comes up to me,
"Now are you Mayhem?"
"No, I am a smoking hot babe out there everyday keeping this(motions up and down) a ten!"
"Oh you crazy boy, take a shot!" This happened regularly in this costume, I am a fan.
When I ask her what she is this year, she whips out a tupac mask and screams "I am here for Biggie!!" Then later she Karaokes California Love.
But enough about them, lets get back the our group. Erin, a natural with two major songs under her belt, Ice Ice Baby, and Strokin by Clarence Carter except she says Erin Dowell instead. Now picture these songs being sang by a girl in a hot pink pooffy dress with a big bow on it that looked like the 80's vomited all over. Priceless.
After a few more drinks and birthday shots we convinced Claire up on stage for one of the most dramatic versions of Barbie Girl I have ever seen. Everyone else in the bar was also very impressed. The festivities carried on in this fashion long into the night. At one point Erin decided to call her parents to see if they would pick us up, but both were in bed and kindly told her to call a cab. She is just a fun bucket of crazy.
Anyway, a good distraction and we are off to bed. Tomorrow, who knows what will happen.
Stewart Lane
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Tueday, i missed it.
Tuesday, I have thus far had a great time in San Antonio but all that fun just came to a crashing end. I recently recieved a call from my Dad. My grandmother has taken a turn, things were known to be bad but this time it was the final countdown. I discuss with my parents the realities of time and what my plans should be. We will talk again when they arrive up at the farm and understand further her condition.
With that said, I am devestated. I keep thinking about all the times we had, all the fun and laughs, all the great things she taught me, just everything. I have been sitting inside all day, I need to get out, I need to be distracted.
I head out to Dough Pizzeria, voted one of the best in the city and it looks pretty solid. I headed on in and was amazed by the set up. Huge pizza oven in the main kitchen rolling at around 810 degrees, which the chef proclaimed was to cold and threw another log on the fire, marble countertop where the main chef shaped the pizza and then threw it to his assistents. They then made the pizza, using basil from the flower pots in front of their stations, and placed them in the oven. It was an amazing production and a great distraction. I talked with the chefs, chatted with the waitstaff and had a great early dinner out. I had the pancetta pizza with pancetta, procuitto, mozzerella, and shaved garlic with truffle oil. It was great, except for the sauce, the sauce was just san marzano tomatoes and sicilian sea salt. It was so lacking, add some tom paste or other seasonings to make it just something more than a thin watery tamato sauce. But I drank my bottle of wine, talked and laughed with the employee's and had an all around good time. I like the place, next time i need to try some of the other specialties; they make their own mozzerella!
After dough I went back to the house and vegged. Read cracked online and Physics of the Imposible, till it was time for bed. Before I passed out I get a call from my dad, things are not as bad as previously thought and I don't need to high tail it back to Tarkio tomorrow. Good news, as good as that news can be.
Stewart Lane
With that said, I am devestated. I keep thinking about all the times we had, all the fun and laughs, all the great things she taught me, just everything. I have been sitting inside all day, I need to get out, I need to be distracted.
I head out to Dough Pizzeria, voted one of the best in the city and it looks pretty solid. I headed on in and was amazed by the set up. Huge pizza oven in the main kitchen rolling at around 810 degrees, which the chef proclaimed was to cold and threw another log on the fire, marble countertop where the main chef shaped the pizza and then threw it to his assistents. They then made the pizza, using basil from the flower pots in front of their stations, and placed them in the oven. It was an amazing production and a great distraction. I talked with the chefs, chatted with the waitstaff and had a great early dinner out. I had the pancetta pizza with pancetta, procuitto, mozzerella, and shaved garlic with truffle oil. It was great, except for the sauce, the sauce was just san marzano tomatoes and sicilian sea salt. It was so lacking, add some tom paste or other seasonings to make it just something more than a thin watery tamato sauce. But I drank my bottle of wine, talked and laughed with the employee's and had an all around good time. I like the place, next time i need to try some of the other specialties; they make their own mozzerella!
After dough I went back to the house and vegged. Read cracked online and Physics of the Imposible, till it was time for bed. Before I passed out I get a call from my dad, things are not as bad as previously thought and I don't need to high tail it back to Tarkio tomorrow. Good news, as good as that news can be.
Stewart Lane
Down day Sunday and monday.
"Hey, I want breakfast food, lets go." Scott is the most compassionate host.
Sunday is full of hazy memories from game day; I know KSU won, I know OU lost, I know KU students leave a hopeless situation at around 2 minutes into the third, and Scott brought us Pizza. So long story short I had a blast.
We head out to "The Egg and I" for a delicious and much needed breakfast. The place is hopping when we show up and it takes us a bit to get a seat.
Slight side story, on my friend Scott's last day in Manhattan KS, he went on the greatest spree of his time there. We walked into every bar with nothing to lose, he didn't care if he got kicked out or a life time ban and was acting accordingly. After several, "You all need to get the hell out of here!", from numerous bartenders Scott demands Denny's. On the way to his car, we had a DD so no worries, he finds a ladder laying down on the side of a building.
"Stew, grab this, we are going to start a business."
"Scott you are too drunk to do this and what is the business." I say as I am hoisting the ladder onto my shoulder.
"First off I was a fire fighter, its legit, and second we are going to put people on high things."
And that was the business model. We ran around the ville pointing at roof tops and other higher structures and asking if people wanted to be on them. Our first customer wanted on top of the car wash. Scott collected a quarter from him and helped put him on the roof. As soon as the guy got up there he yanked the ladder away and screamed, "You want down? Well that's 50 cents!" And so our business went till he got tired of carrying the ladder and left it leaning on someones roof.
Then we get to Denny's and the place is slammed. They can't keep up with everyone there so Scott uses this opportunity to start making announcements over the load speaker. It is still in debate today as to what was said, lets just say it was borderline offensive or mildly informative like this,"Hey, you are about to eat at Denny's, what is wrong with you?!" And so on. I told him that he was going to get us kicked out so he removed the PA system from the wall and demanded that i relocate it to his car where it would be safe. I guess he needed a trophy so I allowed it. Then we get seated, but there is a problem, and Scott decided that there is to much stuff on the table and puts every singe thing under the table. Then Scott finds out that Denny's served Holllendaise sauce, his favorite, and gets a spark behind those hazy drunk eyes.
"Stew, you think they make their own or is it from a pouch."
"Only one way to find out." I didn't get to finish with, you could ask them, before he was off for the kitchen. He storms in like a mad man, walks up to the dry storage area and finds a big can of hollendaise sauce. He grabbed it and proceeded to yell at the kitchen staff for making such horrible life choices and so on. He was just about to tell them how to make the sauce before he was escorted back to his seat by the owner. We ordered, ate, then Scott stole the wet floor sign on our way out the door. The call i received the next day was both curious and sad.
"Stew, why do I have a salt shaker, a PA system, a wet floor sign and a suit in my car?" I forgot to mention he did all of this wearing a suit because he said Denny's was a classy affair.
Back to the present, we sit down and order our food. I get the veggie Benedict with a super girly berry blast smoothie. Scott gets the corned beef hash that for some reason comes with a side of Hollendaise. The food takes forever and as we wait i hear our waitress talking to another patron about, "Well i wasn't going to spend another $200 to see my kids, I mean whose fault is it really?" No, context does not make this make any more sense. We get out food and walk on out the door. It was not that memorable.
Nothing happened the rest of the day. I know, boring but that's the way it is kids.
Around noon on Monday i head out for Rosarios the home to the second greatest taco in Texas, the fish taco. I find the place, grab a table at the bar and grab a margaritta. Then a great thing comes out, its the homemade chips and salsa. The salsa was made from fire roasted tomato salsa, and by fire roasted i mean black fire roasted. You would think it would be bitter, burnt and terrible, but it was complex with a touch of controlled bitterness mixed with a meaty tomato flavor. Then came the fish tacos, oh and they earned the reputation for the best in town. The fish were grilled to perfection with a wonderful fresh slaw, chipotle cream, fresh avocado and lime juice. The tortillas were fluffy and perfect. I don't think I will ever get tired of tacos.
Back to the house for rest till Scott gets home from work then its off to a new Thai restaurant. This place was new and not to shabby. I had the drunken noodles with beef and Scott had the yellow curry, they had 3 curries red, yellow, and green. Everything was great and fast. But really nothing exceptional. Oh and the chiefs destroyed the chargers, It was a good day.
Stewart Lane
Sunday is full of hazy memories from game day; I know KSU won, I know OU lost, I know KU students leave a hopeless situation at around 2 minutes into the third, and Scott brought us Pizza. So long story short I had a blast.
We head out to "The Egg and I" for a delicious and much needed breakfast. The place is hopping when we show up and it takes us a bit to get a seat.
Slight side story, on my friend Scott's last day in Manhattan KS, he went on the greatest spree of his time there. We walked into every bar with nothing to lose, he didn't care if he got kicked out or a life time ban and was acting accordingly. After several, "You all need to get the hell out of here!", from numerous bartenders Scott demands Denny's. On the way to his car, we had a DD so no worries, he finds a ladder laying down on the side of a building.
"Stew, grab this, we are going to start a business."
"Scott you are too drunk to do this and what is the business." I say as I am hoisting the ladder onto my shoulder.
"First off I was a fire fighter, its legit, and second we are going to put people on high things."
And that was the business model. We ran around the ville pointing at roof tops and other higher structures and asking if people wanted to be on them. Our first customer wanted on top of the car wash. Scott collected a quarter from him and helped put him on the roof. As soon as the guy got up there he yanked the ladder away and screamed, "You want down? Well that's 50 cents!" And so our business went till he got tired of carrying the ladder and left it leaning on someones roof.
Then we get to Denny's and the place is slammed. They can't keep up with everyone there so Scott uses this opportunity to start making announcements over the load speaker. It is still in debate today as to what was said, lets just say it was borderline offensive or mildly informative like this,"Hey, you are about to eat at Denny's, what is wrong with you?!" And so on. I told him that he was going to get us kicked out so he removed the PA system from the wall and demanded that i relocate it to his car where it would be safe. I guess he needed a trophy so I allowed it. Then we get seated, but there is a problem, and Scott decided that there is to much stuff on the table and puts every singe thing under the table. Then Scott finds out that Denny's served Holllendaise sauce, his favorite, and gets a spark behind those hazy drunk eyes.
"Stew, you think they make their own or is it from a pouch."
"Only one way to find out." I didn't get to finish with, you could ask them, before he was off for the kitchen. He storms in like a mad man, walks up to the dry storage area and finds a big can of hollendaise sauce. He grabbed it and proceeded to yell at the kitchen staff for making such horrible life choices and so on. He was just about to tell them how to make the sauce before he was escorted back to his seat by the owner. We ordered, ate, then Scott stole the wet floor sign on our way out the door. The call i received the next day was both curious and sad.
"Stew, why do I have a salt shaker, a PA system, a wet floor sign and a suit in my car?" I forgot to mention he did all of this wearing a suit because he said Denny's was a classy affair.
Back to the present, we sit down and order our food. I get the veggie Benedict with a super girly berry blast smoothie. Scott gets the corned beef hash that for some reason comes with a side of Hollendaise. The food takes forever and as we wait i hear our waitress talking to another patron about, "Well i wasn't going to spend another $200 to see my kids, I mean whose fault is it really?" No, context does not make this make any more sense. We get out food and walk on out the door. It was not that memorable.
Nothing happened the rest of the day. I know, boring but that's the way it is kids.
Around noon on Monday i head out for Rosarios the home to the second greatest taco in Texas, the fish taco. I find the place, grab a table at the bar and grab a margaritta. Then a great thing comes out, its the homemade chips and salsa. The salsa was made from fire roasted tomato salsa, and by fire roasted i mean black fire roasted. You would think it would be bitter, burnt and terrible, but it was complex with a touch of controlled bitterness mixed with a meaty tomato flavor. Then came the fish tacos, oh and they earned the reputation for the best in town. The fish were grilled to perfection with a wonderful fresh slaw, chipotle cream, fresh avocado and lime juice. The tortillas were fluffy and perfect. I don't think I will ever get tired of tacos.
Back to the house for rest till Scott gets home from work then its off to a new Thai restaurant. This place was new and not to shabby. I had the drunken noodles with beef and Scott had the yellow curry, they had 3 curries red, yellow, and green. Everything was great and fast. But really nothing exceptional. Oh and the chiefs destroyed the chargers, It was a good day.
Stewart Lane
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Game Day, and Taco Taco!!
Game day, college game day to be exact, and I am so ready for this one. Today is the Sunflower Showdown between K-State and KU. Bitter rivals and fierce competitors, except this season where KU has a record of terrible and we have a shiny unblemished record of Awesome! Anyway we headed over to Blake's house and get game day rolling. Blake has set up the best system, two Tv's, both with Picture in Picture have been set up on top of each other, ensuring that we can watch 4 games at once and there will never be a half time lull.
All games except one or two go as expected, so game day started to get a little boring until it was lunch time. We ran over to a place with the "Best Taco In America", Taco Taco. The place was still slammed even though they technically closed 5 minutes after we got there, but the owner was super nice. I ordered the Super Taco and a Lengua taco. Time then seemed to drag on forever, we waited about 30-40 minutes for our tacos, but then i saw a partial reason for the wait. They make every tortilla to order!! Every tortilla is just a ball of dough, then they roll it out, flat top it and then they get the rest of the order rolling. Wow, i like this place already. After a bit the owner comes up and with near tears says,
"No more lengua, can I get you anything else? The Picadillo, I made it myself it's very good!"
"Awesome, thank you so much." She then hugged me and gave me all our tacos. I like this place a lot.
The tacos were amazing, I had no idea what was inside but the tortilla was fluffy and light, the seasonings were amazing, and the salsa was fantastic. All in all, one of the best tacos i have ever had.
Back to game day, the games get slower and slower as the day goes on and my wizard staff grows in length. After several hours i give in and take a short nap, like a chump. But it was a sporadic nap and after a while Scott showed back up with two pizzas from his restaurant, a BBQ Chicken and a Supreme. Not to shabby, the crust was not my favorite but it was good pizza and I thank Scott for his contribution to my evenings longevity. From there it was just a bit more staff building and rabble rousing till finally we headed home. Good night Sports Fans.
Stewart Lane
All games except one or two go as expected, so game day started to get a little boring until it was lunch time. We ran over to a place with the "Best Taco In America", Taco Taco. The place was still slammed even though they technically closed 5 minutes after we got there, but the owner was super nice. I ordered the Super Taco and a Lengua taco. Time then seemed to drag on forever, we waited about 30-40 minutes for our tacos, but then i saw a partial reason for the wait. They make every tortilla to order!! Every tortilla is just a ball of dough, then they roll it out, flat top it and then they get the rest of the order rolling. Wow, i like this place already. After a bit the owner comes up and with near tears says,
"No more lengua, can I get you anything else? The Picadillo, I made it myself it's very good!"
"Awesome, thank you so much." She then hugged me and gave me all our tacos. I like this place a lot.
The tacos were amazing, I had no idea what was inside but the tortilla was fluffy and light, the seasonings were amazing, and the salsa was fantastic. All in all, one of the best tacos i have ever had.
Back to game day, the games get slower and slower as the day goes on and my wizard staff grows in length. After several hours i give in and take a short nap, like a chump. But it was a sporadic nap and after a while Scott showed back up with two pizzas from his restaurant, a BBQ Chicken and a Supreme. Not to shabby, the crust was not my favorite but it was good pizza and I thank Scott for his contribution to my evenings longevity. From there it was just a bit more staff building and rabble rousing till finally we headed home. Good night Sports Fans.
Stewart Lane
Ala What?
"Hey Stew, it's time to remember the Alamo!" Not the most normal way to be woken up but hey, its San Antonio.
Today Scott and I set our sights on the historic Alamo, River walk, and Downtown SA. But first lets talk a minute about the Alamo.
According to the sources, by this i mean what i gleaned and paraphrased from the gift shop AKA "Alamo Museum" the Alamo was a mission first then a fort. The Mexican Army took it over then a bunch of angry Texans and some other folks came in and took the whole thing back. Surprisingly the Mexicans did not like this and then, "On February 23, 1836, the arrival of General Antonio López de Santa Anna's army outside San Antonio nearly caught them by surprise." So they holed themselves up and started fighting a huge number with about 160 people. They asked for help and they got 36 people, seems like this should of been an omen to give up the tiny little fort because no one outside of the people involved thought it was a good idea to keep it! So then they fought for a bit and they were all killed. The end.
Now having this history in my head we toured the grounds, in 5 minutes. This place is so tiny and, I feel that I must point this out, the floor was sticky everywhere!!! I was trying to culture myself and learn me some Texas history but all I could think was,"Did they spill soda everywhere, no that wouldn't do this. Are these trees sap trees, no they are not. How could it get like this, is it the blood of fallen patriots, no they would of cleaned that up a long time ago. WHY!!!!" Then once inside the famous structure of the Alamo it was empty. All the display cases were empty, there were these side rooms with nothing in them but they were fenced off anyway, and the only real interesting thing was..... umm.... the electronic guest book? But that might of been because of the colors and movement, and my ADD.
Now that i can forever say that I will remember the Alamo we move on to a more more pressing issue, Lunch. We start walking and Scott does his best tour guide impression,
"That's a building, its old. That's a big thing....oh the torch of friendship. That's the River Walk. That's the hall of Justice (which while jay walking in front of we almost got hit by a bus). What else did you need to know?" and so on. It was a very informative tour.
We stopped for lunch at Druthers, a great little sandwich place in the heart of downtown. I had the Smuther Druther, A tarragon grilled chicken sandwich with bacon, avocado, mayo and provolone on toasted sour dough bread. Every bite was a bit of happy with perfectly complimenting flavors and textures. Scott had the Cheesesteak, everything great with just under the amount of slop as a Philly Philly. But both our sides were disappointing, no real flavor in my potato salad or Scotts pasta salad. Oh well, on we go.
Oh one building of note, the NIX. It's a hospital built in a historic building that has been around forever. The problem is that its a historic building, so you can't easily upgrade, add-on, or advance your hospital. Only one elevator can carry a full gurney, and the other 2 are spotty at best with their performances. The company put in a 20 person barometric chamber which they had to put it in from the side of the building meaning....they had to label and remove every brick in the way. Store them, then reassemble the building exactly as it was before they put a hole in it. Its all very silly.
Since Scott had to work this night I went out to the Food Truck Spot called Boulevard on Bulverde. Its a food truck spot in between shanktown and bodydumpsville. But unfazed I carried on, and i was so happy I did.
My first stop was the guy selling key beer for $2 a cup, you know to take in the sights better. Then off to the Korean taco truck, Seoul Grill Eats. I had the Bulgogi taco, marinated rib eye topped with Korean slaw, cilantro, green onions and Seoul Sauce. Amazing? Huge understatement! These tacos were so fresh, light but with amazing spicy flavor and the perfect mix of textures. Oh yes my friends, the Korean taco truck is a winning concept.
From there it was off to Tapa Tapa to try the Pork belly taco with a spicy tomatillo salsa, warm pico and topped with these ground up spicy Mexican cheeto things. I liked it, but it was missing a depth of flavor and a memorable kick. It was just there, sad for pork belly. But he did offer a great treat, watermelon marinated in lime juice and mint with pop rocks on top. I like the idea, need improvement but could be an awesome dish.
Hopefully the next spot will lift my spirits, and they tried hard. Bistro Six offered Truffled grilled cheese, yes Ma'am! Buttered sourdough with swiss, goat and blue cheese, caramelized onions and truffle oil. All served with a small side salad with a lemon vinaigrette. Screw the salad, it tasted like they made it with bottled lemon juice and salt, but the sandwich was amazing!!! While ever present the truffle oil did not overwhelm everything, it played nicely with all parties. I like this gooey truffley guy, needs a recreation on day.
Belly full and eyes getting heavy I headed back to Scotts place. And then off to meet up with one of his friends at a bar called 50/50. Nothing of note happened here except that the bad gave us the evil eye for leaving and going into the walled off quieter room. But after the bar..... Taco truck time.
El Gallito De Jalisco, was the name of this truck set up in a car wash. Perfect. I ordered the al pastor and the barbacoa tacos. To say these were the best tacos i have had in Texas would be true, but needed to be said much louder. These were amazing! And the translation made by google of the restaurants name means, "Fighting Cocks of the Straw Hat." I feel it might be a miss translation but i like it the same.
Stewart Lane
Today Scott and I set our sights on the historic Alamo, River walk, and Downtown SA. But first lets talk a minute about the Alamo.
According to the sources, by this i mean what i gleaned and paraphrased from the gift shop AKA "Alamo Museum" the Alamo was a mission first then a fort. The Mexican Army took it over then a bunch of angry Texans and some other folks came in and took the whole thing back. Surprisingly the Mexicans did not like this and then, "On February 23, 1836, the arrival of General Antonio López de Santa Anna's army outside San Antonio nearly caught them by surprise." So they holed themselves up and started fighting a huge number with about 160 people. They asked for help and they got 36 people, seems like this should of been an omen to give up the tiny little fort because no one outside of the people involved thought it was a good idea to keep it! So then they fought for a bit and they were all killed. The end.
Now having this history in my head we toured the grounds, in 5 minutes. This place is so tiny and, I feel that I must point this out, the floor was sticky everywhere!!! I was trying to culture myself and learn me some Texas history but all I could think was,"Did they spill soda everywhere, no that wouldn't do this. Are these trees sap trees, no they are not. How could it get like this, is it the blood of fallen patriots, no they would of cleaned that up a long time ago. WHY!!!!" Then once inside the famous structure of the Alamo it was empty. All the display cases were empty, there were these side rooms with nothing in them but they were fenced off anyway, and the only real interesting thing was..... umm.... the electronic guest book? But that might of been because of the colors and movement, and my ADD.
Now that i can forever say that I will remember the Alamo we move on to a more more pressing issue, Lunch. We start walking and Scott does his best tour guide impression,
"That's a building, its old. That's a big thing....oh the torch of friendship. That's the River Walk. That's the hall of Justice (which while jay walking in front of we almost got hit by a bus). What else did you need to know?" and so on. It was a very informative tour.
We stopped for lunch at Druthers, a great little sandwich place in the heart of downtown. I had the Smuther Druther, A tarragon grilled chicken sandwich with bacon, avocado, mayo and provolone on toasted sour dough bread. Every bite was a bit of happy with perfectly complimenting flavors and textures. Scott had the Cheesesteak, everything great with just under the amount of slop as a Philly Philly. But both our sides were disappointing, no real flavor in my potato salad or Scotts pasta salad. Oh well, on we go.
Oh one building of note, the NIX. It's a hospital built in a historic building that has been around forever. The problem is that its a historic building, so you can't easily upgrade, add-on, or advance your hospital. Only one elevator can carry a full gurney, and the other 2 are spotty at best with their performances. The company put in a 20 person barometric chamber which they had to put it in from the side of the building meaning....they had to label and remove every brick in the way. Store them, then reassemble the building exactly as it was before they put a hole in it. Its all very silly.
Since Scott had to work this night I went out to the Food Truck Spot called Boulevard on Bulverde. Its a food truck spot in between shanktown and bodydumpsville. But unfazed I carried on, and i was so happy I did.
My first stop was the guy selling key beer for $2 a cup, you know to take in the sights better. Then off to the Korean taco truck, Seoul Grill Eats. I had the Bulgogi taco, marinated rib eye topped with Korean slaw, cilantro, green onions and Seoul Sauce. Amazing? Huge understatement! These tacos were so fresh, light but with amazing spicy flavor and the perfect mix of textures. Oh yes my friends, the Korean taco truck is a winning concept.
From there it was off to Tapa Tapa to try the Pork belly taco with a spicy tomatillo salsa, warm pico and topped with these ground up spicy Mexican cheeto things. I liked it, but it was missing a depth of flavor and a memorable kick. It was just there, sad for pork belly. But he did offer a great treat, watermelon marinated in lime juice and mint with pop rocks on top. I like the idea, need improvement but could be an awesome dish.
Hopefully the next spot will lift my spirits, and they tried hard. Bistro Six offered Truffled grilled cheese, yes Ma'am! Buttered sourdough with swiss, goat and blue cheese, caramelized onions and truffle oil. All served with a small side salad with a lemon vinaigrette. Screw the salad, it tasted like they made it with bottled lemon juice and salt, but the sandwich was amazing!!! While ever present the truffle oil did not overwhelm everything, it played nicely with all parties. I like this gooey truffley guy, needs a recreation on day.
Belly full and eyes getting heavy I headed back to Scotts place. And then off to meet up with one of his friends at a bar called 50/50. Nothing of note happened here except that the bad gave us the evil eye for leaving and going into the walled off quieter room. But after the bar..... Taco truck time.
El Gallito De Jalisco, was the name of this truck set up in a car wash. Perfect. I ordered the al pastor and the barbacoa tacos. To say these were the best tacos i have had in Texas would be true, but needed to be said much louder. These were amazing! And the translation made by google of the restaurants name means, "Fighting Cocks of the Straw Hat." I feel it might be a miss translation but i like it the same.
Stewart Lane
Monday, October 24, 2011
Wizard Staffs And World Series
"Hey, I am going to class. Either stare at the ceiling all day or head on out till class is over. Here is a key. Deuces" I added the deuces part.
And that's how i started my first day in San Antonio. After plenty of ceiling staring I decided to head out and get something to eat. It was a beautiful day outside so I headed on out to find myself something quick and tasty.
After a nice mile walk i came across House of Pho, done! I was surprised to see a chain Pho shop but I loved the concept and wanted to try it out. I started with the shrimp spring rolls with rice noodles, lettuce, mint and Thai basil. These things were about the size of a coke can, and who ever was rolling them needed a few more classes. They were rolled loose and so eating them was a challenge without having them dump the entirety of their contents all over my plate. I struggled through it and persevered, my next course was on its way. My Pho Tai, thinly sliced rare beef, arrived and my excitement went up and down faster than fat kid jumping off the swing set. The bowl was visually perfect but once spoon hit mouth all that died. There was something missing, a brightness, a cohesiveness, flavour, i don't know something. No amount of sriracha, hoisen, or lime juice could fix this bowl full of abomination. Sad days, I don't think I will ever trust another Vietnamese chain again.
Spent the remainder of the day waiting for Scott to return and basking in the sun by the pool. Yes the pool, in October, I even took a dip. Suck on that Midwest!
Tonight's plan of attack. Go to this great and wonderful place called city center, like a whole foods but on mega fun steroids, get beer and food then go watch world series. I about died when i walked in this place, it has everything awesome! It has an entire area full of pates, pickles, preserves, smoked fish, caviar, olives, and so on. And to top it all off, they have an amazing sandwich place here. I ordered the Cuban and Scott ordered the bistro roast beef, Roast beef, caramelized onions, blue cheese, arugula, and horseradish cream sauce. Both were toasty pressed sandwiches of pure happiness. We gathered our food and beer and headed over to Scott's friend Blakes' house for the game.
Upon arrival the games and drinking commenced. I first learned of the Wizard Staff, finish a can of beer then duck tap another one to the top then continue to drink out of the top beer, repeat till you have a staff as tall as you. Then you hit people with it. Its a very complicated process but entertaining the entire time. Then around 12:30 I heard a knock at the door, being the closest person I opened the door and was eye to eye with the youngest looking cop i have ever seen. He puffed out his chest and got real authoritative real fast. With a few quick words and some apologies, the cops left and it was back to party time. Maybe these grad school really is just college 2.0, more fun less work.
Stewart Lane
And that's how i started my first day in San Antonio. After plenty of ceiling staring I decided to head out and get something to eat. It was a beautiful day outside so I headed on out to find myself something quick and tasty.
After a nice mile walk i came across House of Pho, done! I was surprised to see a chain Pho shop but I loved the concept and wanted to try it out. I started with the shrimp spring rolls with rice noodles, lettuce, mint and Thai basil. These things were about the size of a coke can, and who ever was rolling them needed a few more classes. They were rolled loose and so eating them was a challenge without having them dump the entirety of their contents all over my plate. I struggled through it and persevered, my next course was on its way. My Pho Tai, thinly sliced rare beef, arrived and my excitement went up and down faster than fat kid jumping off the swing set. The bowl was visually perfect but once spoon hit mouth all that died. There was something missing, a brightness, a cohesiveness, flavour, i don't know something. No amount of sriracha, hoisen, or lime juice could fix this bowl full of abomination. Sad days, I don't think I will ever trust another Vietnamese chain again.
Spent the remainder of the day waiting for Scott to return and basking in the sun by the pool. Yes the pool, in October, I even took a dip. Suck on that Midwest!
Tonight's plan of attack. Go to this great and wonderful place called city center, like a whole foods but on mega fun steroids, get beer and food then go watch world series. I about died when i walked in this place, it has everything awesome! It has an entire area full of pates, pickles, preserves, smoked fish, caviar, olives, and so on. And to top it all off, they have an amazing sandwich place here. I ordered the Cuban and Scott ordered the bistro roast beef, Roast beef, caramelized onions, blue cheese, arugula, and horseradish cream sauce. Both were toasty pressed sandwiches of pure happiness. We gathered our food and beer and headed over to Scott's friend Blakes' house for the game.
Upon arrival the games and drinking commenced. I first learned of the Wizard Staff, finish a can of beer then duck tap another one to the top then continue to drink out of the top beer, repeat till you have a staff as tall as you. Then you hit people with it. Its a very complicated process but entertaining the entire time. Then around 12:30 I heard a knock at the door, being the closest person I opened the door and was eye to eye with the youngest looking cop i have ever seen. He puffed out his chest and got real authoritative real fast. With a few quick words and some apologies, the cops left and it was back to party time. Maybe these grad school really is just college 2.0, more fun less work.
Stewart Lane
San Antonio Stroll!
It's travel day yet again, time to head on out to San Antonio to visit Dr. Scott Sundell. I have known this man for many years, since our first meeting in the kitchens of Della Voce in 2007. While he is not a doctor by license, i have always called him for Dr related questions like,
"As A doctor, would you recommend I take that 7th shot of tequila?"
My position was always one of the lawyer, I would field questions like,
"As a lawyer, can I really get in trouble for going into the kitchen at Denny's and demanding to know why they used canned Hollendaise?"
This relationship helped keep both of us out of "trouble", healthy, and away from the law. But enough about that, it's time to hit the road.
I start the journey like always, with a pleasant goodbye to all my new friends, ice in my cooler, and a final destination in my GPS. Today was no different. I went back to Melange to say good bye to all the crew and say goodbye to Linda. After doing the rounds and thanking everyone for their time and allowing me to take part in the operation, Mikey hands me a card from all the staff. It was very nice of them to take the time to do this for me and I can't wait to bring one of them up to our facility to try and return the favor. But no more goodbye's, it's road time!
I head out to find my parents house and with very little effort I find it, or is it the one across the street. Having never been here I call my dad to confirm, he describes one of the houses perfectly and I confirm the location. I really wanted to see the inside of the house and see where my family had spent the early years, but the people were not home. So I lurked around the house taking pictures of it and the back yard(which now has a hotub) and pool. Before any suspicious neighbor called the cops on me I got back in the car and headed out.
My next stop was Buc-ee's, a store with so much Texas it will make your head spin! The store mascot is a buck toothed beaver, and he sells everything Tx. Texas shaped cutting boards, Texas branded cast iron cook wear, and every form of beef jerky you could imagine. And the clothes, if you ever need to buy camo pants, an "I heart Tx" shirt, a hat that looks like the beaver and beaver underwear but only want to stop once then this is your spot. Well I decided to sample, what someone told me I could not miss, a spicy sausage wrapped in a hot dog bun with stuffed with cheese and jalapenos. Like a pigs in a blanket except with a roll. It was exactly like what you would of expected.
A full tank of gas, and a stomach full of bad decisions, I make my way on west. My arrival into San Antonio happened to coincide with rush hour, and let me say that of all the places in Texas San Antonio has the WORST DRIVERS by far!!! Clear roads ahead and people are going one of two speeds, 5-10 miles under and 10-20 miles over the speed limit. Nothing in between and no one pays attention to anything else on the road. Just terrible, but i get to Scott's safely and scratch free.
I get changed then its off to a bar to watch the World Series with Scotts grad school peeps. Nice group, but i am starting to get this vibe that grad school is hard to get into, and impossible to fail out of. Its like they took college partying and just turned it up, with less school to go to, and less class stress. I would of never guessed.
Stewart Lane
"As A doctor, would you recommend I take that 7th shot of tequila?"
My position was always one of the lawyer, I would field questions like,
"As a lawyer, can I really get in trouble for going into the kitchen at Denny's and demanding to know why they used canned Hollendaise?"
This relationship helped keep both of us out of "trouble", healthy, and away from the law. But enough about that, it's time to hit the road.
I start the journey like always, with a pleasant goodbye to all my new friends, ice in my cooler, and a final destination in my GPS. Today was no different. I went back to Melange to say good bye to all the crew and say goodbye to Linda. After doing the rounds and thanking everyone for their time and allowing me to take part in the operation, Mikey hands me a card from all the staff. It was very nice of them to take the time to do this for me and I can't wait to bring one of them up to our facility to try and return the favor. But no more goodbye's, it's road time!
I head out to find my parents house and with very little effort I find it, or is it the one across the street. Having never been here I call my dad to confirm, he describes one of the houses perfectly and I confirm the location. I really wanted to see the inside of the house and see where my family had spent the early years, but the people were not home. So I lurked around the house taking pictures of it and the back yard(which now has a hotub) and pool. Before any suspicious neighbor called the cops on me I got back in the car and headed out.
My next stop was Buc-ee's, a store with so much Texas it will make your head spin! The store mascot is a buck toothed beaver, and he sells everything Tx. Texas shaped cutting boards, Texas branded cast iron cook wear, and every form of beef jerky you could imagine. And the clothes, if you ever need to buy camo pants, an "I heart Tx" shirt, a hat that looks like the beaver and beaver underwear but only want to stop once then this is your spot. Well I decided to sample, what someone told me I could not miss, a spicy sausage wrapped in a hot dog bun with stuffed with cheese and jalapenos. Like a pigs in a blanket except with a roll. It was exactly like what you would of expected.
A full tank of gas, and a stomach full of bad decisions, I make my way on west. My arrival into San Antonio happened to coincide with rush hour, and let me say that of all the places in Texas San Antonio has the WORST DRIVERS by far!!! Clear roads ahead and people are going one of two speeds, 5-10 miles under and 10-20 miles over the speed limit. Nothing in between and no one pays attention to anything else on the road. Just terrible, but i get to Scott's safely and scratch free.
I get changed then its off to a bar to watch the World Series with Scotts grad school peeps. Nice group, but i am starting to get this vibe that grad school is hard to get into, and impossible to fail out of. Its like they took college partying and just turned it up, with less school to go to, and less class stress. I would of never guessed.
Stewart Lane
Melange, Day 5, Last Day
It's the final countdown. My last day at Melange and it's a busy one. When I arrived it seems like everyone has already been there for an hour. Time to get workin!
I hop in with John and Johnny, its potatoes, green beans, and beer can chicken! That's right, Cajun marinade injected-miller light stuffed- chicken! From there onto a dish called King Ranch. First, I did not know that King Ranch was a place, person or thing, secondly I didn't know that they made there own very gooey messy cheesy meal offering. It was both a sloppy mess and very satisfying, in that I feel bad for loving this kind of way.
From there it was on to tacos, and yes Tio was making them. But after 45 minutes of making tacos Andrew comes over and yells at him. Not for taking so long, but for making such little filling to go in those tacos. I was a bit upset by Tios lack of foresight but I was in no place to assert authority. So Andrew grabs some skirt steak, quick lime juice, cilantro, salt, garlic and pepper marinade then right to the grill. It was a great taco day after his intervention.
For all the hype i had made it out to be, our day went by fast. By 4 I was walking out the door and heading back to Lindas house. Time to catch back up on the Blog and do Laundry. Oh how i hate laundry day. Its might be the single worst chore in all of the house. Why you ask? Because it takes forever!! You can only do things in 1 hour intervals, then you have to fold and hang everything or else it gets wrinkled then what was the point of washing it if it still looks like you just wore it for an all night slumber party! I digress, laundry and I will just never agree and I must move on.
Dinner tonight was at Nit Noi, one of the best Thai places in Houston. Linda and I got an order of Spring rolls, with a very different very intense warm peanut sauce, Basil Stir fry Beef, and Pad Kee Mow with Beef. I loved everything. I never knew that Houston would have such a huge Asian Population but apparently during the 1970's-1980's a lot of the refugees came from Cambodia and Thailand to settle in Houston. Why I have no idea, but thankfully there are an abundance of Asian restaurants and food trucks running around this city and I love it!
With dinner over and Laundry to be done, we head back home. It's going to be a good day tomorrow, I have only a 3 hour drive ahead of me and I am going to track down my parents Houston house where my brother lived for 4 months.
Stewart Lane
I hop in with John and Johnny, its potatoes, green beans, and beer can chicken! That's right, Cajun marinade injected-miller light stuffed- chicken! From there onto a dish called King Ranch. First, I did not know that King Ranch was a place, person or thing, secondly I didn't know that they made there own very gooey messy cheesy meal offering. It was both a sloppy mess and very satisfying, in that I feel bad for loving this kind of way.
From there it was on to tacos, and yes Tio was making them. But after 45 minutes of making tacos Andrew comes over and yells at him. Not for taking so long, but for making such little filling to go in those tacos. I was a bit upset by Tios lack of foresight but I was in no place to assert authority. So Andrew grabs some skirt steak, quick lime juice, cilantro, salt, garlic and pepper marinade then right to the grill. It was a great taco day after his intervention.
For all the hype i had made it out to be, our day went by fast. By 4 I was walking out the door and heading back to Lindas house. Time to catch back up on the Blog and do Laundry. Oh how i hate laundry day. Its might be the single worst chore in all of the house. Why you ask? Because it takes forever!! You can only do things in 1 hour intervals, then you have to fold and hang everything or else it gets wrinkled then what was the point of washing it if it still looks like you just wore it for an all night slumber party! I digress, laundry and I will just never agree and I must move on.
Dinner tonight was at Nit Noi, one of the best Thai places in Houston. Linda and I got an order of Spring rolls, with a very different very intense warm peanut sauce, Basil Stir fry Beef, and Pad Kee Mow with Beef. I loved everything. I never knew that Houston would have such a huge Asian Population but apparently during the 1970's-1980's a lot of the refugees came from Cambodia and Thailand to settle in Houston. Why I have no idea, but thankfully there are an abundance of Asian restaurants and food trucks running around this city and I love it!
With dinner over and Laundry to be done, we head back home. It's going to be a good day tomorrow, I have only a 3 hour drive ahead of me and I am going to track down my parents Houston house where my brother lived for 4 months.
Stewart Lane
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Melange, Day 4
It's Monday, things are getting real.
The day starts off busy and stays that way for quite a while. I assist John and Johnny, a man who is best described as "a sack of hangers", till lunch time. Cut potatoes, sear tenderloin, make skewers, and the like until Andrew walks up.
"Hey we are taking you to lunch, lets go."
"Are you taking him to the Sunset Strip? It's 9.99 Lobster and Steak day!"
"Nah, just Mama Tio's, it's safer." The sunset strip is an adults only gentleman's club known for travesties of nature dancing during the daylight hours.
Mama Tio's was just alright, once again it was a tortilla with meat cheese and vegetable served with rice and beans. I had the Chili Relleno and copious amounts of chips and salsa. Andrew, Chef Mike, Greg, and myself had a great time though, talking everything from health inspectors to insane customers. I know that someone has to of written a book on their experiences with off premise catering, i believe that the author might also be buried in an unmarked grave in a bayou somewhere as well. A tell all never really goes over very well.
With lunch behind us we headed back to the kitchen to finish the prep for tomorrow and clean up. Easy day, time to head back to Linda's house. But here I ran into another issue, Linda wasn't home. No one was home and here I am looking around her house like I am casing the joint, trying to find one open door to let myself back in. After much searching I find that the back door was left unlocked and I went inside.
Tonight was going to be a great night. We went to a place called Johnathan's The Rub. It was outstanding!! We started with a wonderful house salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red and yellow peppers and croutons. But these croutons were not normal, they were deep fried fresh bread cubes. And there was something else to them, a sweetness, and the crunch was just on the outside while the inside stayed soft. I was in love with them, and all the flavors paired so well with the creamy balsamic dressing.
Next we hit the main course and it was a sight to behold. Two pan seared and roasted duck breasts, with a sauce made from craisens, cherries and a red wine reduction and two sides of my choice. Now I know what you might be thinking, "Craisens, cherries, red wine sauce... that had to be super sweet!" Oh nay nay my friend, it was not sweet at all. The subtle sweetness of the fruit was taken away by the strong red wine and turned into a savory velvety sauce that encircled the duck. It was a treat for the taste buds.
Bed early tonight. I have my last working day at Melange tomorrow then its off to San Antonio!
Stewart Lane
The day starts off busy and stays that way for quite a while. I assist John and Johnny, a man who is best described as "a sack of hangers", till lunch time. Cut potatoes, sear tenderloin, make skewers, and the like until Andrew walks up.
"Hey we are taking you to lunch, lets go."
"Are you taking him to the Sunset Strip? It's 9.99 Lobster and Steak day!"
"Nah, just Mama Tio's, it's safer." The sunset strip is an adults only gentleman's club known for travesties of nature dancing during the daylight hours.
Mama Tio's was just alright, once again it was a tortilla with meat cheese and vegetable served with rice and beans. I had the Chili Relleno and copious amounts of chips and salsa. Andrew, Chef Mike, Greg, and myself had a great time though, talking everything from health inspectors to insane customers. I know that someone has to of written a book on their experiences with off premise catering, i believe that the author might also be buried in an unmarked grave in a bayou somewhere as well. A tell all never really goes over very well.
With lunch behind us we headed back to the kitchen to finish the prep for tomorrow and clean up. Easy day, time to head back to Linda's house. But here I ran into another issue, Linda wasn't home. No one was home and here I am looking around her house like I am casing the joint, trying to find one open door to let myself back in. After much searching I find that the back door was left unlocked and I went inside.
Tonight was going to be a great night. We went to a place called Johnathan's The Rub. It was outstanding!! We started with a wonderful house salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red and yellow peppers and croutons. But these croutons were not normal, they were deep fried fresh bread cubes. And there was something else to them, a sweetness, and the crunch was just on the outside while the inside stayed soft. I was in love with them, and all the flavors paired so well with the creamy balsamic dressing.
Next we hit the main course and it was a sight to behold. Two pan seared and roasted duck breasts, with a sauce made from craisens, cherries and a red wine reduction and two sides of my choice. Now I know what you might be thinking, "Craisens, cherries, red wine sauce... that had to be super sweet!" Oh nay nay my friend, it was not sweet at all. The subtle sweetness of the fruit was taken away by the strong red wine and turned into a savory velvety sauce that encircled the duck. It was a treat for the taste buds.
Bed early tonight. I have my last working day at Melange tomorrow then its off to San Antonio!
Stewart Lane
That's a Spicy Meat'a Ball
No work today, after yesterdays fiasco's and a late night in the kitchen, everything was ready for Monday and so everyone had the day off. I was going to enjoy this day and start by sleeping till 10 and enjoying the sites of Houston.
After talking to Linda for a bit we decide the best course of action for our day is the Italian Festival by Melange. It was festival month in Houston, Linda's company had already done several this month and i kept seeing posters for other festivals all month long. The Italian and Greek were this weekend, that i noticed, and the Korean and Jewish were the next week. And there were more and more that all blended together. But we wanted to experience the Italian fest so off we went.
After a brief peruse of the sites and sounds we get into the food. But first a note about festivals, I hate the fact that i cannot just give someone money and they give me something in return. That is how the system works. I shouldn't be forced to wait in line and then give someone money only to be denied by them saying,"Sorry your American currency is no good here. Please search the whole park to find the one both taking your real currency and turns it into tickets. We take tickets in this corner of the world." I don't like this, because then if you don't use all these tickets they will not take them back. Why not, i gave you money for those tickets, give me money and I will give you these crappy tickets back!!
The food, We start off with spaghetti and meatballs, not to shabby but still under satisfying. Then we move on to a wonderful taste treat, baked marinated artichoke hearts with Parmesan cheese and herbed bread crumbs, topped with olive oil and served hot. Oh these were tasty!! Then we move on to the Italian sausage on a stick. More things need to come on sticks in America, its a very efficient and convenient way to eat food on the go. After Sausage on a stick it was desert time. We had Strawberry, and pistachio gellato followed by some great cannolis. We ate our cannolis and watched the dancers dance different Italian dances and sing songs. Then they did something weird, they sang a song called the "Duck song". No It was not the chicken dance, the DJ proclaimed, it was the duck dance and even though they sound similar they are not the same. BS, they were exactly the same dance and song. The duck dance just had more accordion.
We rolled out of the festival and headed back to Lindas house for more magazine reading and TV time. It was a beautiful and relaxing Sunday, and after all that hard work of walking and eating we needed a break.
Tonight we went to Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen. An unremarkable experience but not to shabby. I had the fish tacos, grilled talapia, avocado, chipotle sour cream, cilantro and slaw. Not the best but not to shabby. Over dinner Linda tells me that they found the key to the car. It was in the car, in the passenger seat, under a box. The reason the car didn't start was because the battery was dead. She failed to mention it had done this before.
Its sleep time, Work again tomorrow. I am very curious to see Melange back to their normal pace and production, you know without the Egyptian.
Stewart
After talking to Linda for a bit we decide the best course of action for our day is the Italian Festival by Melange. It was festival month in Houston, Linda's company had already done several this month and i kept seeing posters for other festivals all month long. The Italian and Greek were this weekend, that i noticed, and the Korean and Jewish were the next week. And there were more and more that all blended together. But we wanted to experience the Italian fest so off we went.
After a brief peruse of the sites and sounds we get into the food. But first a note about festivals, I hate the fact that i cannot just give someone money and they give me something in return. That is how the system works. I shouldn't be forced to wait in line and then give someone money only to be denied by them saying,"Sorry your American currency is no good here. Please search the whole park to find the one both taking your real currency and turns it into tickets. We take tickets in this corner of the world." I don't like this, because then if you don't use all these tickets they will not take them back. Why not, i gave you money for those tickets, give me money and I will give you these crappy tickets back!!
The food, We start off with spaghetti and meatballs, not to shabby but still under satisfying. Then we move on to a wonderful taste treat, baked marinated artichoke hearts with Parmesan cheese and herbed bread crumbs, topped with olive oil and served hot. Oh these were tasty!! Then we move on to the Italian sausage on a stick. More things need to come on sticks in America, its a very efficient and convenient way to eat food on the go. After Sausage on a stick it was desert time. We had Strawberry, and pistachio gellato followed by some great cannolis. We ate our cannolis and watched the dancers dance different Italian dances and sing songs. Then they did something weird, they sang a song called the "Duck song". No It was not the chicken dance, the DJ proclaimed, it was the duck dance and even though they sound similar they are not the same. BS, they were exactly the same dance and song. The duck dance just had more accordion.
We rolled out of the festival and headed back to Lindas house for more magazine reading and TV time. It was a beautiful and relaxing Sunday, and after all that hard work of walking and eating we needed a break.
Tonight we went to Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen. An unremarkable experience but not to shabby. I had the fish tacos, grilled talapia, avocado, chipotle sour cream, cilantro and slaw. Not the best but not to shabby. Over dinner Linda tells me that they found the key to the car. It was in the car, in the passenger seat, under a box. The reason the car didn't start was because the battery was dead. She failed to mention it had done this before.
Its sleep time, Work again tomorrow. I am very curious to see Melange back to their normal pace and production, you know without the Egyptian.
Stewart
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Melange, Day 3
Same routine, wake up, put life together and head to Melange. I had a feeling that today was going to be a good day. This feeling was only compounded when I showed up at 7 and Tio was hard at work making tacos. Oh how he loves his tacos. He mad some wonderful breakfast tacos with eggs, fried tortilla strips, and other things in it and black beans. A great way to start the day.
Then things got rolling. I was helping chef John make 25 pounds of grilled vegetables, but we ran into a problem. He assumed we were preparing them the same way he had before which was cutting the zucchini and squash into half moons while julienning the red peppers and onions then cooking them on the flat top. After 25 pounds of cut veg were made he discovered he had assumed wrong. They wanted them cut into long strips and then actually grilled. He did not take this very well and went on a tangent about how there is no communication between the sales staff and the kitchen, we make things one way and then as we are sending them out the door they tell us we did them wrong for the way they wanted it, and so on. It was a very heated moment. I told him I would take care of it, I found Linda, asked her how she wanted them and then moved on from there.
Grilling veg in general is not my favorite activity. You use really high heat, you have to do a lot of them and I usually burn myself. This time was no exception except for the placement of the grill in this kitchen. It was back in the corner, with a 6 foot flattop right next to it. When you get both of those item cranking at full heat and people are trying to cook on them, that corner turns into Satan's furnace. The heat from the grill keeps you leaning back while the grease and steam from the flat top keep hitting your left side. You feel like you are dancing the way you have to move around so much. But I sucked it up and perfectly grilled zucchinis, squash, eggplant, red onions, mushrooms and red peppers. I then pattered them up and sent them out the door.
Tonight I was working an event at "The Ranch". A good client and friend of Lind's has a ranch about an hour east of Houston where he does corporate team buildings with his company,"The Cowboy Solution". Here people come in and ride and train horses, sleep in a really cool converted barn, and do all sorts of cowboy things. Well tonight at the Ranch it was his wedding night, number 4 i believe. And everyone was very excited. The menu was broken up into two different stations, city and country. His new bride lived in the city and he was going to keep living in the country, so aptly named.
Passed Apps
Fried Asparagus Spears, Dill Pickle chips and Stuffed Olives (stuffed with pimento, jalapeno or blue cheese), served with an avocado ninfa sauce.
Fried crab cakes topped with a tomato basil jam
Roasted corn quesadillas with sour cream and jalapenos
Tomato consume shooters with avocado, jalapeno, cilantro, red pepper and tomato garnishes
Country
Fried green tomatoes topped with shred lettuce, bacon, and thousand island dressing
Roasted red potatoes stuffed with twice baked potato filling topped with BBQ Brisket
Seared grits cakes topped with pulled pork
Chimichurri grilled and sliced tenderloin
City
Margarita Salmon
Tear drop tomatoes, red and yellow, with buccacini and a basil vinaigrette
Grilled veg platter
Grilled marinated shrimp skewers
The plan was to bring deep fryers and fry all the items on site, but as soon as i plugged one in it flipped the breaker. So there I am fry station set up inside on a kitchen pot, on a 4 burner electric stove that's near death, and i start the operation up. I now fully understand why Lon never frys anything on site, this is just a pain and its so messy! But myself, the Sous Chef, Andrew, and his wife kept everything running and the buffet full. After all the plating was done and the cake was being eaten Andrew gathered us up and we were about to take off... that's when it happened.
"My car has about 6 miles left of gas and the nearest station is 5 miles away. Can you please fill it up, I don't want to do that by myself at midnight." Linda asks very nicely.
"Sure, no issue." Plus I really like her car, a little Lexus sports car.
Andrew and I drive it over to the station and start filling it up. Apparently premium gas is not in high demand out there so they don't keep a lot on hand. It took 15 minutes to put $30 worth in her tank. We said that was enough to get back and were heading out. Well almost. Her car doesn't have a key per say. Its a touch start, and you have to have your foot on the break to start it. I was unaware. So here I am punching a button trying to start this car and all it does in response is blink some lights at me. I find the key hold it up to the wheel, yell for quite a while then out of frustration hit the breaks and the starter.... there we go. I drop her car back at the Ranch then we head home.
Right as I am getting in my car, I left it at the shop because i left with Andrew from there, I get a call.
"Do you have my car keys?"
"No, why?"
"The car won't start, and if they are somewhere inside the car, the car will start. You must have them." Dread is all I feel. I search everything, Andrew searches everything, we come up with nothing.
"Maybe it fell out of the car, look around the drivers side door."
"Nothing, well maybe someone will have to come pick me up." On that drive, through the stick with no lights after this day was asking for trouble.
"No worries, I will get a ride back with the crew and pick up a spare car from the company."
So that's how I went to sleep, thinking that I had just lost a $250-300 key for my most gracious hosts Lexus. Man tomorrow had better be better than this.
Stewart Lane
Then things got rolling. I was helping chef John make 25 pounds of grilled vegetables, but we ran into a problem. He assumed we were preparing them the same way he had before which was cutting the zucchini and squash into half moons while julienning the red peppers and onions then cooking them on the flat top. After 25 pounds of cut veg were made he discovered he had assumed wrong. They wanted them cut into long strips and then actually grilled. He did not take this very well and went on a tangent about how there is no communication between the sales staff and the kitchen, we make things one way and then as we are sending them out the door they tell us we did them wrong for the way they wanted it, and so on. It was a very heated moment. I told him I would take care of it, I found Linda, asked her how she wanted them and then moved on from there.
Grilling veg in general is not my favorite activity. You use really high heat, you have to do a lot of them and I usually burn myself. This time was no exception except for the placement of the grill in this kitchen. It was back in the corner, with a 6 foot flattop right next to it. When you get both of those item cranking at full heat and people are trying to cook on them, that corner turns into Satan's furnace. The heat from the grill keeps you leaning back while the grease and steam from the flat top keep hitting your left side. You feel like you are dancing the way you have to move around so much. But I sucked it up and perfectly grilled zucchinis, squash, eggplant, red onions, mushrooms and red peppers. I then pattered them up and sent them out the door.
Tonight I was working an event at "The Ranch". A good client and friend of Lind's has a ranch about an hour east of Houston where he does corporate team buildings with his company,"The Cowboy Solution". Here people come in and ride and train horses, sleep in a really cool converted barn, and do all sorts of cowboy things. Well tonight at the Ranch it was his wedding night, number 4 i believe. And everyone was very excited. The menu was broken up into two different stations, city and country. His new bride lived in the city and he was going to keep living in the country, so aptly named.
Passed Apps
Fried Asparagus Spears, Dill Pickle chips and Stuffed Olives (stuffed with pimento, jalapeno or blue cheese), served with an avocado ninfa sauce.
Fried crab cakes topped with a tomato basil jam
Roasted corn quesadillas with sour cream and jalapenos
Tomato consume shooters with avocado, jalapeno, cilantro, red pepper and tomato garnishes
Country
Fried green tomatoes topped with shred lettuce, bacon, and thousand island dressing
Roasted red potatoes stuffed with twice baked potato filling topped with BBQ Brisket
Seared grits cakes topped with pulled pork
Chimichurri grilled and sliced tenderloin
City
Margarita Salmon
Tear drop tomatoes, red and yellow, with buccacini and a basil vinaigrette
Grilled veg platter
Grilled marinated shrimp skewers
The plan was to bring deep fryers and fry all the items on site, but as soon as i plugged one in it flipped the breaker. So there I am fry station set up inside on a kitchen pot, on a 4 burner electric stove that's near death, and i start the operation up. I now fully understand why Lon never frys anything on site, this is just a pain and its so messy! But myself, the Sous Chef, Andrew, and his wife kept everything running and the buffet full. After all the plating was done and the cake was being eaten Andrew gathered us up and we were about to take off... that's when it happened.
"My car has about 6 miles left of gas and the nearest station is 5 miles away. Can you please fill it up, I don't want to do that by myself at midnight." Linda asks very nicely.
"Sure, no issue." Plus I really like her car, a little Lexus sports car.
Andrew and I drive it over to the station and start filling it up. Apparently premium gas is not in high demand out there so they don't keep a lot on hand. It took 15 minutes to put $30 worth in her tank. We said that was enough to get back and were heading out. Well almost. Her car doesn't have a key per say. Its a touch start, and you have to have your foot on the break to start it. I was unaware. So here I am punching a button trying to start this car and all it does in response is blink some lights at me. I find the key hold it up to the wheel, yell for quite a while then out of frustration hit the breaks and the starter.... there we go. I drop her car back at the Ranch then we head home.
Right as I am getting in my car, I left it at the shop because i left with Andrew from there, I get a call.
"Do you have my car keys?"
"No, why?"
"The car won't start, and if they are somewhere inside the car, the car will start. You must have them." Dread is all I feel. I search everything, Andrew searches everything, we come up with nothing.
"Maybe it fell out of the car, look around the drivers side door."
"Nothing, well maybe someone will have to come pick me up." On that drive, through the stick with no lights after this day was asking for trouble.
"No worries, I will get a ride back with the crew and pick up a spare car from the company."
So that's how I went to sleep, thinking that I had just lost a $250-300 key for my most gracious hosts Lexus. Man tomorrow had better be better than this.
Stewart Lane
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Melange, Day Two and the Egyptian
So when I showed up today, the exec wasn't there. I asked the Sous Chef Andrew, the Execs Father, where he was.
"Mikey didn't get out of here till midnight last night. Yeah he said that after he sent you home the chef grabbed two more jars of leaves an had them keep rolling them out."
Now once again its run around helping everyone i can while i wait for the Egyptian chef to show up. Last night, since i was the only one here, he would ask me if we had things and all i could do was think then say,"We should... Let me check." I could see he was getting flustered with me so i finally just looked at him and said,"Its my first day." I think he understood that, his English was quite broken.
I helped another chef named Gregorio out making these stuffed puff pastry bread stick things. They were actually really cool looking, but it was a sheet of puff pastry, the filling down the center, he made 1 inch slits all along the top and bottom then folded them over each other encasing the mixture. We made a sundried tomato and herbed cream cheese on and a mushroom ragout with sauteed spinach for the other one.
9 o'clock, the Egyptian is here. He comes in and we start gathering all the things from last night; the syrup which cooked down by half and was a beautiful amber color, the remaining rice, the tomato sauce, and the grape leaves. He puts the pot of leaves on to cook, and starts me making a dish called Ful. Ful is a great change up from hummus, its made with canned fava beans mashed up and cooked with sauteed onions, garlic, tomatoes, cumin, lemon juice, tahini, ground coriander and salt and pepper. The dish is then cooked for just a bit then poured into a pan and topped with good olive oil, parsley and paprika. It was my favorite item we made today.
After that was done we started on the baklava rolls. Well here is where our next communication breakdown happened. He had been using dill in several things so we were out. He starts making the ful and asks for dill. What I heard was, "I need Dille". We were out so we sent someone to the store. That person came back with basil, they were yelled at and sent back. They returned with dill and i gave him the bag.
"NO, I need Dille"
"This is Dill."
"NO, DILLE!"
"WHAT DO YOU WANT!!!!" I screamed in my head.
The chef storms into the walkin and after a couple minutes come out with a bag of walnuts and presents them to me.
"Dille. You had whole time." as he looks very angrily at me.
"No, those are walnuts. This is Dill." I guess we agreed to disagree.
Moving on to the baklava rolls. 1000 pieces of baklava rolls is created by taking one sheet of phyllo dough, placing a small bead of a mixture (made with ground almonds, ground walnuts, Cinnamon, sugar, and a touch of water) across the base then rolling that up super tight without tearing the dough. A monumental task for us as we kept ripping or not rolling the rolls tight enough. He watched me make one roll then said, "Why must you make so big. That's for two. You do that you eat your cost!" So the bakery kept on rolling, hating everything about the rolls, while the sales staff kept coming in and saying, "Oh good, you guys need to know how to make these because this is going on the menus."
The Egyptian chef started work on the last item for the parties. Using the same mixture as the grape leaves, he was making cabbage rolls. He complained the whole time, "Your fire is no strong, the water no boil, this pot to small, and so on." I was heading back to Linda's to get showered up and head to the Museum for the event. The museum was amazing looking and the set up was great. We were doing passed apps of stuffed grape leaves, Ful served warm in tortilla cups, and the baklava rolls. We had a buffet set up with the Kashari being served with choice of tomato sauce or herbed oil on top.
Myself and the event chef knocked out passed apps for about 2 hours till Linda came in and stole me away for dinner. We headed over the the Forest Club, the country club near her house. We had a wonderful time talking about what was going on both in kc and at Melange, how the trip was and everything ICA. For dinner I had the chicken Liz. A Forest Club special since the 40's. It was a Crispy Fried Parmesan Breaded Cutlet, Angel Hair Pasta, Wilted Spinach and Lemon Butter. A very nice meal and a great treat after the long day.
We head back to Linda's house and i get all moved in. Work starts again tomorrow at 7, I am happy for what i learned from the Egyptian, but so happy he is gone.
Stewart
"Mikey didn't get out of here till midnight last night. Yeah he said that after he sent you home the chef grabbed two more jars of leaves an had them keep rolling them out."
Now once again its run around helping everyone i can while i wait for the Egyptian chef to show up. Last night, since i was the only one here, he would ask me if we had things and all i could do was think then say,"We should... Let me check." I could see he was getting flustered with me so i finally just looked at him and said,"Its my first day." I think he understood that, his English was quite broken.
I helped another chef named Gregorio out making these stuffed puff pastry bread stick things. They were actually really cool looking, but it was a sheet of puff pastry, the filling down the center, he made 1 inch slits all along the top and bottom then folded them over each other encasing the mixture. We made a sundried tomato and herbed cream cheese on and a mushroom ragout with sauteed spinach for the other one.
9 o'clock, the Egyptian is here. He comes in and we start gathering all the things from last night; the syrup which cooked down by half and was a beautiful amber color, the remaining rice, the tomato sauce, and the grape leaves. He puts the pot of leaves on to cook, and starts me making a dish called Ful. Ful is a great change up from hummus, its made with canned fava beans mashed up and cooked with sauteed onions, garlic, tomatoes, cumin, lemon juice, tahini, ground coriander and salt and pepper. The dish is then cooked for just a bit then poured into a pan and topped with good olive oil, parsley and paprika. It was my favorite item we made today.
After that was done we started on the baklava rolls. Well here is where our next communication breakdown happened. He had been using dill in several things so we were out. He starts making the ful and asks for dill. What I heard was, "I need Dille". We were out so we sent someone to the store. That person came back with basil, they were yelled at and sent back. They returned with dill and i gave him the bag.
"NO, I need Dille"
"This is Dill."
"NO, DILLE!"
"WHAT DO YOU WANT!!!!" I screamed in my head.
The chef storms into the walkin and after a couple minutes come out with a bag of walnuts and presents them to me.
"Dille. You had whole time." as he looks very angrily at me.
"No, those are walnuts. This is Dill." I guess we agreed to disagree.
Moving on to the baklava rolls. 1000 pieces of baklava rolls is created by taking one sheet of phyllo dough, placing a small bead of a mixture (made with ground almonds, ground walnuts, Cinnamon, sugar, and a touch of water) across the base then rolling that up super tight without tearing the dough. A monumental task for us as we kept ripping or not rolling the rolls tight enough. He watched me make one roll then said, "Why must you make so big. That's for two. You do that you eat your cost!" So the bakery kept on rolling, hating everything about the rolls, while the sales staff kept coming in and saying, "Oh good, you guys need to know how to make these because this is going on the menus."
The Egyptian chef started work on the last item for the parties. Using the same mixture as the grape leaves, he was making cabbage rolls. He complained the whole time, "Your fire is no strong, the water no boil, this pot to small, and so on." I was heading back to Linda's to get showered up and head to the Museum for the event. The museum was amazing looking and the set up was great. We were doing passed apps of stuffed grape leaves, Ful served warm in tortilla cups, and the baklava rolls. We had a buffet set up with the Kashari being served with choice of tomato sauce or herbed oil on top.
Myself and the event chef knocked out passed apps for about 2 hours till Linda came in and stole me away for dinner. We headed over the the Forest Club, the country club near her house. We had a wonderful time talking about what was going on both in kc and at Melange, how the trip was and everything ICA. For dinner I had the chicken Liz. A Forest Club special since the 40's. It was a Crispy Fried Parmesan Breaded Cutlet, Angel Hair Pasta, Wilted Spinach and Lemon Butter. A very nice meal and a great treat after the long day.
We head back to Linda's house and i get all moved in. Work starts again tomorrow at 7, I am happy for what i learned from the Egyptian, but so happy he is gone.
Stewart
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Melange, Day One
Its' game day baby!! Day one at Melange is about underway. I get all polished up, I have my knife kit under my arm, directions in my phone, and I am ready to roll. I show up at 7am not sure what to expect, who to expect, will i be treated as a welcomed additional set of hands or that guy that's in the way? I should of been expecting the real welcoming I received.
I walked into the kitchen and this is the gist of the intro.
"Hi, my name is Stewart, I will be joining you for the week. I hope Linda told you about my arrival."
"Great, go help John make pancakes, then come back over here and help me finish these tarts up, then when the Egyptian shows up you will be his all day. GO!"
I ran over to John, "Hey I am here to help my name is.."
"That's great want to make me 100 of these artichoke pancakes, cool."
So I started my day, making 100 silver dollar artichoke pancakes to get topped with olive tapinade, then 150 goat cheese and roasted tomato tarts, then a Texas style BBQ sauce, all before i really had a spot set or met the chef or got a real tour. So goes the early hours at a large catering company.
The day started to settle and I was formally introduced to the chef, the kitchen, and given the grand tour of the facility. And when I say facility, I mean FACILITY. This place was huge. a full warehouse full of everything and anything you would need to cater an event for 5000 people on a moments notice. They have full size convection ovens they bring to events, along with "portable" fryers, electric or gas flat top griddles( full restaurant size) and full size mixers and other production equipment. This place literally has everything. But enough lurking, time to get back to the kitchen.
The next few hours were a flurry of activity, cutting, prepping, blanching, sauteing, and just taking everything in. Then out of no where... TACOS. They were breakfasty but satisfying. Apparently there are two Mexican dishwashers named Tio, and Domingo. Domingo works his ass off, Tio makes tacos. This is really going to frustrate me later, I just know it. I almost forgot, for late lunch myself and john made chicken curry. He added ancho chili powder, i was not pleased with the addition.
I have been floating around asking people for things to do because I am waiting for this Egyptian chef to show up and be his helper in the kitchen. Every couple hours we would get a call, he will be there in 3 hours, every time. Finally when we went to pick him up from the consult at 4 I was the only one left in the kitchen. Just me, the new guy, only been here for 9 hours, and i was his go to for the rest of the day. He was here to help prepare the dishes for the opening of the King Tut Exibit and the dishes chosen were at the very least, tedious to the extreme!!!!
He shows up and we start cooking. He fills a pot up with water, sugar, a couple lemons, some cloves and sets it on the stove. Next I start cutting every white onion we have in the house. And i mean mounds of onions, and we still ran out! We were making fried onions to top the Kishari, a mix of lentils, rice, macaroni noodles, garbanzo beans and a rich tomato sauce. These things fried for at least 20-26 minutes per batch till they were goldeny black. Then we moved on to the rice for the grape leaves. The mix was rice, tomato paste, tomato sauce, parsley, dill, mint black pepper, salt, red hot pepper from Egypt, lemon, cinnamon and cumin. I was a great fresh combination, but then came the bad part, 500 grape leaf rolls.
We started rolling at 6 o'clock. My first 12 were rejected, "No you roll to lose, to much, or no no good." But after my 30th or 40th i started to get the hang of it. By this point the executive chef was back and he joined our rolling crew. All the leaves had to be removed from the jars, washed, trimmed and cut to size if needed then layed out. My hands were brined by the third hour. By 9:30 we were finishing up, the syrup was coming off the heat, and I had cleaned up my side when the exec told me to go home and be back at 7 tomorrow. I bid them good night and headed out. I smell like brine, my hands are pickled, and i am very tired but, i had a blast with these new people and look forward to the next day of work. Tomorrow I am going to the Egyptian exhibit.
Stewart Lane
I walked into the kitchen and this is the gist of the intro.
"Hi, my name is Stewart, I will be joining you for the week. I hope Linda told you about my arrival."
"Great, go help John make pancakes, then come back over here and help me finish these tarts up, then when the Egyptian shows up you will be his all day. GO!"
I ran over to John, "Hey I am here to help my name is.."
"That's great want to make me 100 of these artichoke pancakes, cool."
So I started my day, making 100 silver dollar artichoke pancakes to get topped with olive tapinade, then 150 goat cheese and roasted tomato tarts, then a Texas style BBQ sauce, all before i really had a spot set or met the chef or got a real tour. So goes the early hours at a large catering company.
The day started to settle and I was formally introduced to the chef, the kitchen, and given the grand tour of the facility. And when I say facility, I mean FACILITY. This place was huge. a full warehouse full of everything and anything you would need to cater an event for 5000 people on a moments notice. They have full size convection ovens they bring to events, along with "portable" fryers, electric or gas flat top griddles( full restaurant size) and full size mixers and other production equipment. This place literally has everything. But enough lurking, time to get back to the kitchen.
The next few hours were a flurry of activity, cutting, prepping, blanching, sauteing, and just taking everything in. Then out of no where... TACOS. They were breakfasty but satisfying. Apparently there are two Mexican dishwashers named Tio, and Domingo. Domingo works his ass off, Tio makes tacos. This is really going to frustrate me later, I just know it. I almost forgot, for late lunch myself and john made chicken curry. He added ancho chili powder, i was not pleased with the addition.
I have been floating around asking people for things to do because I am waiting for this Egyptian chef to show up and be his helper in the kitchen. Every couple hours we would get a call, he will be there in 3 hours, every time. Finally when we went to pick him up from the consult at 4 I was the only one left in the kitchen. Just me, the new guy, only been here for 9 hours, and i was his go to for the rest of the day. He was here to help prepare the dishes for the opening of the King Tut Exibit and the dishes chosen were at the very least, tedious to the extreme!!!!
He shows up and we start cooking. He fills a pot up with water, sugar, a couple lemons, some cloves and sets it on the stove. Next I start cutting every white onion we have in the house. And i mean mounds of onions, and we still ran out! We were making fried onions to top the Kishari, a mix of lentils, rice, macaroni noodles, garbanzo beans and a rich tomato sauce. These things fried for at least 20-26 minutes per batch till they were goldeny black. Then we moved on to the rice for the grape leaves. The mix was rice, tomato paste, tomato sauce, parsley, dill, mint black pepper, salt, red hot pepper from Egypt, lemon, cinnamon and cumin. I was a great fresh combination, but then came the bad part, 500 grape leaf rolls.
We started rolling at 6 o'clock. My first 12 were rejected, "No you roll to lose, to much, or no no good." But after my 30th or 40th i started to get the hang of it. By this point the executive chef was back and he joined our rolling crew. All the leaves had to be removed from the jars, washed, trimmed and cut to size if needed then layed out. My hands were brined by the third hour. By 9:30 we were finishing up, the syrup was coming off the heat, and I had cleaned up my side when the exec told me to go home and be back at 7 tomorrow. I bid them good night and headed out. I smell like brine, my hands are pickled, and i am very tired but, i had a blast with these new people and look forward to the next day of work. Tomorrow I am going to the Egyptian exhibit.
Stewart Lane
Houston bound!
Its Wednesday, my leave day for the rest of the trip. I can tell you now that I do not want to head out. I had to fight the urge to just call the trip off, set up shop and live on the coast. The gulf coast is way to beautiful, the people are both the funniest and nicest people in the country, and Gulf time.... oh Gulf Time is better than any other time in the country.
But I must head out. I gather all of my belongings and head for the door. I headed over to Scrantons to distract Amy and her co-workers for a while longer while i waited to have my last lunch in Pascagoula with Mrs. Kathy. Who took forever because the school board was in deep arguments over... school things.
When she arrived we had just a wonderful lunch of she crab soup and a Black and Blue salad, blackened Tenderloin with blue cheese, red onions, cranberries and a blue cheese dressing. I was looking at the Hamburger Steak with Mashed Potatoes, but with 7 hours of road ahead of me I chose a lighter option.
I am very nervous about leaving. I don't know what to expect, what Melange Catering will be like, what will the crew by like and will i get along with them. And what will Houston be like? The last time I was down here I was walking to Reliant Stadium for the Texas Bowl when a guy at a bus stop offered to sell me green. As much as I would of loved to buy mystery weed from a random guys hand in downtown Houston, I decided against it.
The drive itself was just ridiculous! Every ten miles was under construction and the speed limit jumped from 70 to 50 at least 20 times across Louisiana. But I did see some entertaining things along the way.
A billboard for a shop that had the "World Famous Pickle Man." While the billboard looked like an old style Hillbilly with pickles sticking out from under his shirt and pushing a wheel barrel full of pickles, I decided that the reality would be much more disappointing then what I could imagine a pickle man to be.
I made a voice memo about how every single food exit in Louisiana has a waffle house and I saw a license plate frame FROM waffle house.
I saw a billboard for the "Best Crayfish in the South" with a moving smiling crayfish! This is a strange land indeed.
After 7 hours of driving I arrive in the city of Houston, its pouring. Houston has been in the longest drought ever and on Sunday and today its just dumping. It rained all the way up to my arrival at my hotel, but right as I was about to get out of the car.... it cleared up. Maybe Houston was going to be OK.
But then the drama started. My friend Erin works for Marriott and i was using her friends and family discount for a better rate. Turns out I still needed a form filled out by her to check in, and that's when the heart started to beat a little faster. I run to the computer room and start calling Erin. No answer, but I knew she ignored it cause it rang twice then right to voice mail, so I tried again. Same story. I call again, this time i get a very very very mad Erin,
"Oh MY GOD, what do you want I am really busy!"
"Um I need a form to check in, like now, so I can sleep at this hotel."
"Right now, oh ok, here's what you need to do...."
I got the form, checked into my hotel, and started putting my self together for work at 7 tomorrow. Only to realize I left my bag, with my passport camera and books, in Pascagoula!!! I called Amy, she said that it was already packed up and ready to be mailed the next day. I really like that girl.
Work tomorrow, peace y'all.
Stewart
But I must head out. I gather all of my belongings and head for the door. I headed over to Scrantons to distract Amy and her co-workers for a while longer while i waited to have my last lunch in Pascagoula with Mrs. Kathy. Who took forever because the school board was in deep arguments over... school things.
When she arrived we had just a wonderful lunch of she crab soup and a Black and Blue salad, blackened Tenderloin with blue cheese, red onions, cranberries and a blue cheese dressing. I was looking at the Hamburger Steak with Mashed Potatoes, but with 7 hours of road ahead of me I chose a lighter option.
I am very nervous about leaving. I don't know what to expect, what Melange Catering will be like, what will the crew by like and will i get along with them. And what will Houston be like? The last time I was down here I was walking to Reliant Stadium for the Texas Bowl when a guy at a bus stop offered to sell me green. As much as I would of loved to buy mystery weed from a random guys hand in downtown Houston, I decided against it.
The drive itself was just ridiculous! Every ten miles was under construction and the speed limit jumped from 70 to 50 at least 20 times across Louisiana. But I did see some entertaining things along the way.
A billboard for a shop that had the "World Famous Pickle Man." While the billboard looked like an old style Hillbilly with pickles sticking out from under his shirt and pushing a wheel barrel full of pickles, I decided that the reality would be much more disappointing then what I could imagine a pickle man to be.
I made a voice memo about how every single food exit in Louisiana has a waffle house and I saw a license plate frame FROM waffle house.
I saw a billboard for the "Best Crayfish in the South" with a moving smiling crayfish! This is a strange land indeed.
After 7 hours of driving I arrive in the city of Houston, its pouring. Houston has been in the longest drought ever and on Sunday and today its just dumping. It rained all the way up to my arrival at my hotel, but right as I was about to get out of the car.... it cleared up. Maybe Houston was going to be OK.
But then the drama started. My friend Erin works for Marriott and i was using her friends and family discount for a better rate. Turns out I still needed a form filled out by her to check in, and that's when the heart started to beat a little faster. I run to the computer room and start calling Erin. No answer, but I knew she ignored it cause it rang twice then right to voice mail, so I tried again. Same story. I call again, this time i get a very very very mad Erin,
"Oh MY GOD, what do you want I am really busy!"
"Um I need a form to check in, like now, so I can sleep at this hotel."
"Right now, oh ok, here's what you need to do...."
I got the form, checked into my hotel, and started putting my self together for work at 7 tomorrow. Only to realize I left my bag, with my passport camera and books, in Pascagoula!!! I called Amy, she said that it was already packed up and ready to be mailed the next day. I really like that girl.
Work tomorrow, peace y'all.
Stewart
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Laundry Day....
Tuesday, my last day in Pascagoula, and it's laundry day.
I have already been gone a week and, while laundry day is not explicitly needed, I am taking every opportunity I have to wash and clean up. But there is one up side, its just a lazy day at the Chenoweth house watching Law and Order and waiting for the ding of the dryer.
With a few loads done Amy and I head off to meet Zoey and her sister Jess for the gulf coast famous Pizza Burger at Aunt Nitas. To say that this burger is messy is a dramatic understatement. This burger is, as aptly described, a "Big sloppy mess of southern hospitality." The best description of it is a hamburger that was used as the dough for a pizza, and the plate was there to catch the rest. I got mine with peperoni and onion rings on the side, while Amy got (She is a touch strange) a pizza burger with no burger add pepperoni. I have no idea but she and the waitress claim its their favorite. That gut tasty gut bomb devoured we head back to the house to finish laundry and veg till it was time to move on.
With a couch nap over we head back to Amy's house for game and wine night. It was here I first learned about Apples to Apples and the hilarity and arguments that can ensue because of that game. Who knew people could get upset during a drinking game??
Short night, everyone headed out and it was bed time early. I didn't want to do the drive tomorrow, I didn't want to leave the coast and my wonderful friends behind, I didn't want this vacation part to end but..... it must. As I went to sleep I dreamed of what was to come, how I would handle it, and what awaited me down the line. I know i am going to miss where I am now, lets hope there is enough distraction down the line to keep my head clear.
Tomorrow in Houston!
Stewart Lane
I have already been gone a week and, while laundry day is not explicitly needed, I am taking every opportunity I have to wash and clean up. But there is one up side, its just a lazy day at the Chenoweth house watching Law and Order and waiting for the ding of the dryer.
With a few loads done Amy and I head off to meet Zoey and her sister Jess for the gulf coast famous Pizza Burger at Aunt Nitas. To say that this burger is messy is a dramatic understatement. This burger is, as aptly described, a "Big sloppy mess of southern hospitality." The best description of it is a hamburger that was used as the dough for a pizza, and the plate was there to catch the rest. I got mine with peperoni and onion rings on the side, while Amy got (She is a touch strange) a pizza burger with no burger add pepperoni. I have no idea but she and the waitress claim its their favorite. That gut tasty gut bomb devoured we head back to the house to finish laundry and veg till it was time to move on.
With a couch nap over we head back to Amy's house for game and wine night. It was here I first learned about Apples to Apples and the hilarity and arguments that can ensue because of that game. Who knew people could get upset during a drinking game??
Short night, everyone headed out and it was bed time early. I didn't want to do the drive tomorrow, I didn't want to leave the coast and my wonderful friends behind, I didn't want this vacation part to end but..... it must. As I went to sleep I dreamed of what was to come, how I would handle it, and what awaited me down the line. I know i am going to miss where I am now, lets hope there is enough distraction down the line to keep my head clear.
Tomorrow in Houston!
Stewart Lane
Y'all want to touch a gator?
Since I can't keep Amy from work for a week we stop by the bakery so she can update all the restaurants specials and get them in the computer, the website and the facebook page. I swear this place wouldn't run without her.
I saw a great idea while i was perusing the magazines there for Forbidden Rice Pasta. It was solid black soba noodles made with the black rice. I am very curious about trying this when I get home.
With work all finished up we headed off for a great adventure on the Gator Ranch!! That's right, the Alligators we had discussed earlier were about to get up close and personal with this guy!
On the way out we passed a placed called the MissAbama, its by the same people as the FlorAbama, but not near as cool. It is named as such because it is on the state line of both states, but the Flor is the original shack/bar. This place is well a box warehouse type structure that looks like it is ripe with stabbings.
The gator ranch was everything to be expected, a nice Cajun lady telling us about the ranch while we held and pet a baby gator named lil bit. We walked around for a bit checking out the gators of all sizes, while navigating a very rickety walkway that i swear was a strong breeze away from falling down into the gator infested waters.
Our main reason for the gator ranch was the famous air boat rides, a lanky Cajun man with a big air boat a big chaw in, was our captain for the day. The lady next to us was an elderly grandmother,from i assume yankee territory, who was freaking out the whole time about how unsafe we were and how gators could crawl up the dock and grab us at any point in time. I chose that point to mention the worlds largest gator was captured alive last month, it was 2000 pounds and 30 feet long. She was not having any of me.
*Side note, I have seen that movie, it never ends well.*
Amy sealed our fate with this claim, "Oh we are sitting in front, no matter what." Our captains first words, "Y'all sit up front, you gettin wet. Two is splashed, any more is gettin a bath." But we made our claim and we stuck to it. We hopped up front and we went flying down the river. Our guide was doing 360's, taking turns sharp and fast, skipping on the water and flying through the brush. He told us about Katrina and how all the gators, being fresh water creatures, crawled up on the highway to get out of the salt water and were getting chased off one side of the road only to climb right back up the other side. After a great river tour, classic information, a bit of gator trivia, and a nice complete soaking of Mississippi swamp water, we pulled back up to the dock.
It was definitely shower time. After some more lounging outside, and a bit more Awkward, we headed out to Scrantons for dinner and the Jazz Club for entertainment. They were running a great special that night; grilled sirloin steak with an herb butter and sauteed spinach and mushrooms on top, grilled asparagus, and aged cheddar mac and cheese. It was a great way to start the evening.
Our next destination was the classiest place in the goula, just down the street from Scrantons is the Jazz Club. Quite a misnomer because there is no jazz, its very much not a club, and they drink out of mason jars, unless you prove you can't handle that and you get plastic. Amy, being a regular looked at the bartender, "Hey, I am a regular here, and I want my drink in a glass. And until i take one home or break this, I will be getting my drink in a respectable glass." That was the classiest thing that happened the rest of the night.
Amy loaded up the jukebox with a laundry list of great songs while we played darts with her friend Zoe, Zoes boyfriend, and JD. After all of the smack talk and bragging were over, its was on to a real mans game.... Shuffle Board. I teamed up with some rando playing against JD and Miss Amy. The game seemed to be running away from us, but that was the plan all along. Lure them into a false sense of security then BAM, it was rally time. Game set and match, Stewart and Rando.
With more sass talk and more attitude came more drinks and more dancing. I have a video of amy and her friend trying to dance to the same song, but one was doing the real dance, and one was doing the real dance. And let me tell you, never the two did meet. This is basically some girl dancing at amy for 18 seconds while she just looks flustered and screaming "You are doing it all wrong!" Don't mess with that girls dancing.
Monday is done and I leave Wednesday. Tuesday is down day plus laundry, i hate laundry.
Stewart
I saw a great idea while i was perusing the magazines there for Forbidden Rice Pasta. It was solid black soba noodles made with the black rice. I am very curious about trying this when I get home.
With work all finished up we headed off for a great adventure on the Gator Ranch!! That's right, the Alligators we had discussed earlier were about to get up close and personal with this guy!
On the way out we passed a placed called the MissAbama, its by the same people as the FlorAbama, but not near as cool. It is named as such because it is on the state line of both states, but the Flor is the original shack/bar. This place is well a box warehouse type structure that looks like it is ripe with stabbings.
The gator ranch was everything to be expected, a nice Cajun lady telling us about the ranch while we held and pet a baby gator named lil bit. We walked around for a bit checking out the gators of all sizes, while navigating a very rickety walkway that i swear was a strong breeze away from falling down into the gator infested waters.
Our main reason for the gator ranch was the famous air boat rides, a lanky Cajun man with a big air boat a big chaw in, was our captain for the day. The lady next to us was an elderly grandmother,from i assume yankee territory, who was freaking out the whole time about how unsafe we were and how gators could crawl up the dock and grab us at any point in time. I chose that point to mention the worlds largest gator was captured alive last month, it was 2000 pounds and 30 feet long. She was not having any of me.
*Side note, I have seen that movie, it never ends well.*
Amy sealed our fate with this claim, "Oh we are sitting in front, no matter what." Our captains first words, "Y'all sit up front, you gettin wet. Two is splashed, any more is gettin a bath." But we made our claim and we stuck to it. We hopped up front and we went flying down the river. Our guide was doing 360's, taking turns sharp and fast, skipping on the water and flying through the brush. He told us about Katrina and how all the gators, being fresh water creatures, crawled up on the highway to get out of the salt water and were getting chased off one side of the road only to climb right back up the other side. After a great river tour, classic information, a bit of gator trivia, and a nice complete soaking of Mississippi swamp water, we pulled back up to the dock.
It was definitely shower time. After some more lounging outside, and a bit more Awkward, we headed out to Scrantons for dinner and the Jazz Club for entertainment. They were running a great special that night; grilled sirloin steak with an herb butter and sauteed spinach and mushrooms on top, grilled asparagus, and aged cheddar mac and cheese. It was a great way to start the evening.
Our next destination was the classiest place in the goula, just down the street from Scrantons is the Jazz Club. Quite a misnomer because there is no jazz, its very much not a club, and they drink out of mason jars, unless you prove you can't handle that and you get plastic. Amy, being a regular looked at the bartender, "Hey, I am a regular here, and I want my drink in a glass. And until i take one home or break this, I will be getting my drink in a respectable glass." That was the classiest thing that happened the rest of the night.
Amy loaded up the jukebox with a laundry list of great songs while we played darts with her friend Zoe, Zoes boyfriend, and JD. After all of the smack talk and bragging were over, its was on to a real mans game.... Shuffle Board. I teamed up with some rando playing against JD and Miss Amy. The game seemed to be running away from us, but that was the plan all along. Lure them into a false sense of security then BAM, it was rally time. Game set and match, Stewart and Rando.
With more sass talk and more attitude came more drinks and more dancing. I have a video of amy and her friend trying to dance to the same song, but one was doing the real dance, and one was doing the real dance. And let me tell you, never the two did meet. This is basically some girl dancing at amy for 18 seconds while she just looks flustered and screaming "You are doing it all wrong!" Don't mess with that girls dancing.
Monday is done and I leave Wednesday. Tuesday is down day plus laundry, i hate laundry.
Stewart
Sunday Funday
You know what day it is? It's down home southern cooking day!! We headed over to Richard and Mrs. Kathys house for family dinner and Richard had every burner and over rolling. We had greens in the slow cooker, buttered potatoes, green beans, corn bread, blackened snapper, bacon wrapped chicken tenders, cabbage, roasted squash and black eyed peas. Needless to say we needed help eating all of this, and that's when the rest of the family showed up.
Also i learned about one of the coolest things ever, BACON BASE!!!! Oh yeah that's right. Imagine, bacon stock leads to bacon risotto, bacon consomme, bacon anything!!!!!
Friends and family members rolled in, Amy's "cousins" foster and sawyer (Sawbaby) came running in like little blond tornadoes of activity. We sat, ate, watched the saints game, and laughed all afternoon long. It was a great day.
After lunch it was nap time, a good nice lazy Sunday. Amy also got me hooked on a really "terrible" show on MTV called Awkward. It's additively bad.
Tonight we head to The Shed, a great BBQ shack with a stage and great outdoor eating. It was open mike night so we heard some great acts and some terrible musicians. One guy actually came up and said,
"Sorry I don't know this song very well so bear with me." Good job fella.
It was a great dinner of brisket and pulled pork, with wonderful baked beans and mac salad topped off with some wonderful beers and great company. JD, Heather, and several of his Air Force friends joined us for a fun night out.
We called it an early night and headed home.
Stewart
Also i learned about one of the coolest things ever, BACON BASE!!!! Oh yeah that's right. Imagine, bacon stock leads to bacon risotto, bacon consomme, bacon anything!!!!!
Friends and family members rolled in, Amy's "cousins" foster and sawyer (Sawbaby) came running in like little blond tornadoes of activity. We sat, ate, watched the saints game, and laughed all afternoon long. It was a great day.
After lunch it was nap time, a good nice lazy Sunday. Amy also got me hooked on a really "terrible" show on MTV called Awkward. It's additively bad.
Tonight we head to The Shed, a great BBQ shack with a stage and great outdoor eating. It was open mike night so we heard some great acts and some terrible musicians. One guy actually came up and said,
"Sorry I don't know this song very well so bear with me." Good job fella.
It was a great dinner of brisket and pulled pork, with wonderful baked beans and mac salad topped off with some wonderful beers and great company. JD, Heather, and several of his Air Force friends joined us for a fun night out.
We called it an early night and headed home.
Stewart
Up for a river cruise?
Saturday starts off the same as Friday, a good morning remembering a good night. As I was brushing my teeth I hollered over to Amy,
"Did you about get into a fight last night?"
"No, I was just not having any of that girl in the bar. She knows she was rude."
Apparently using the bathroom of a bar right before close was considered rude in Ocean Springs and the waitress there was letting her know it. Miss Amy was having non of her sass that night and let her know with the up most of southern flair.
But now on to today, IT'S WAVE RUNNER DAY!! We went and collected the van with the trailer hitch and picked up the wave runners and Mr. Richard. After some starting issues with the older runner we got everything going and were on the water.
Our first stop was a place called Huck's Cove, a neat little dock-built restaurant tucked away in a cove right off the river. We tied the wave runners up to the dock and headed on in for lunch. I had a very nice blackened grouper po boy with a chipotle tarter sauce and seasoned fries. It was a good way to start a day on the water.
After lunch we dropped Richard off at his car and headed out to explore the great river system of Pascagoula.
On a side note, I don't know why I assumed there would be no alligators over here, but I saw a sign that informed people about the fine for feeding the gators. I have a slight fear the alligator, on land and behind a fence I am cool, but in the water they hold all the power. And I know,"Oh they are more afraid of you then you are of them." FALSE. They have big teeth and powerful jaws, I am a fleshy meat snack with no defenses. I am very scared of them.
After getting the grand tour of the area we headed out to the sand bar for some rest and to watch the sun set. I swear, this scenery really is unbelievable. It has put that bug in me that someday I have to live on the coast, where I can still jump in the water in October and no one wears long pants till December.
With the sun going down and my skin starting to crispin, we headed back to the dock. Tonight was Amy's friend Jess' birthday party back in Ocean Springs, I think we spent more time there then in Pascagoula. She celebrated her birthday with fanfare and cake then we hit the bars.
More specifically a bar called Mizo's, and the entertainment.... The Russian Gypsy Mafia. It was exactly as you would imagine it to be. Non of the songs were in English, the electric accordion was just jamming, but the fiddle player and the upright bass player stole the show. He climbed up on the base while just slapping the thing, while the fiddler dance and sawed so hard i thought he was going to break the thing.
But this was only half the entertainment, this crazy lady was telling all of us our spirit animals. Amy was a wolf, very territorial and maternal. She protects her friends like her cubs and can be very aggressive. Mine..... the Duck billed platypus, very unique and independent. She said, "It's not every day you meet a duck billed, you are a rare individual." But what was her spirit animal? A gay man.
Yup, gay men can be spirit animals.
After the crazy lady had told us all our spirit animals we headed back home, tomorrow was family supper at Richards house, and I was not going to miss all that southern hospitality!!
Stewart
"Did you about get into a fight last night?"
"No, I was just not having any of that girl in the bar. She knows she was rude."
Apparently using the bathroom of a bar right before close was considered rude in Ocean Springs and the waitress there was letting her know it. Miss Amy was having non of her sass that night and let her know with the up most of southern flair.
But now on to today, IT'S WAVE RUNNER DAY!! We went and collected the van with the trailer hitch and picked up the wave runners and Mr. Richard. After some starting issues with the older runner we got everything going and were on the water.
Our first stop was a place called Huck's Cove, a neat little dock-built restaurant tucked away in a cove right off the river. We tied the wave runners up to the dock and headed on in for lunch. I had a very nice blackened grouper po boy with a chipotle tarter sauce and seasoned fries. It was a good way to start a day on the water.
After lunch we dropped Richard off at his car and headed out to explore the great river system of Pascagoula.
On a side note, I don't know why I assumed there would be no alligators over here, but I saw a sign that informed people about the fine for feeding the gators. I have a slight fear the alligator, on land and behind a fence I am cool, but in the water they hold all the power. And I know,"Oh they are more afraid of you then you are of them." FALSE. They have big teeth and powerful jaws, I am a fleshy meat snack with no defenses. I am very scared of them.
After getting the grand tour of the area we headed out to the sand bar for some rest and to watch the sun set. I swear, this scenery really is unbelievable. It has put that bug in me that someday I have to live on the coast, where I can still jump in the water in October and no one wears long pants till December.
With the sun going down and my skin starting to crispin, we headed back to the dock. Tonight was Amy's friend Jess' birthday party back in Ocean Springs, I think we spent more time there then in Pascagoula. She celebrated her birthday with fanfare and cake then we hit the bars.
More specifically a bar called Mizo's, and the entertainment.... The Russian Gypsy Mafia. It was exactly as you would imagine it to be. Non of the songs were in English, the electric accordion was just jamming, but the fiddle player and the upright bass player stole the show. He climbed up on the base while just slapping the thing, while the fiddler dance and sawed so hard i thought he was going to break the thing.
But this was only half the entertainment, this crazy lady was telling all of us our spirit animals. Amy was a wolf, very territorial and maternal. She protects her friends like her cubs and can be very aggressive. Mine..... the Duck billed platypus, very unique and independent. She said, "It's not every day you meet a duck billed, you are a rare individual." But what was her spirit animal? A gay man.
Yup, gay men can be spirit animals.
After the crazy lady had told us all our spirit animals we headed back home, tomorrow was family supper at Richards house, and I was not going to miss all that southern hospitality!!
Stewart
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
I love it when we were cruisin together
Friday starts up with hazy memories of Thursday night. If I can figure out how to post videos, then you all will be stunned by what we all saw. It was as if Ernest himself had hopped up on stage and was attempting to sing Last Chance with Mary Jane. Poetry, pure and simple.
Amy and I headed back to Ocean Springs for some more car lovin and culture.
We walked the streets looking at beautiful cars of all years and models. Some were restored to classic condition, others were sooped up with engines raging, while a few were.... well... not. These rare few were best represented by an old ford pickup truck. I was painted black with no hood, only a barbed wire outline of the hood. The seats were toilet seats and the pedals were rat traps. Rubber rats, spiders and snakes were glues to the car and a bottle of Tabasco was above each headlight. I don't know how long it takes for Tabasco to turn into a separated yellow liquid, but that's how long they had been there.
I decided to go on a search for my dads old car, the 64 1/2 mustang. I searched and after a lot of talking to the enthusiast and seeing all different ages and styles and hearing the back story on near all of them, the earliest Mustang i could find was a 1966. Hopefully you have better luck then I did at finding your car dad.
After the search we headed over to Shadys global cuisine, an aptly named establishment. This place had everything; burgers, steaks, Thai food, Chinese hot pots, grits, to Cajun soul food. And surprisingly, it was amazing. We had crazy craw fish, a plate of fried craw fish tails and fried jalapenos with a chipotle ranch dip. I found i really like fried jalapenos, need to figure other uses for this. For lunch I had the coconut curry noodles with chicken and those wonderful wide rice noodles, Amy had one of the best cashew chickens I have ever had. I am still curious why cashew chicken is so big down here, almost every place has its own version.
After lunch it was off to the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, WAMA, for some good ol' learnin. He was actually and amazing artist, if a bit psychedelic in some of his works. His entire family was very talented in many mediums of art, sculpture, painting, ceramics. His history was very interesting like how he tied himself to a tree on horn island to ride out a hurricane and that he did pictures for children's books. And the museum had a really cool event space that was entirely painted by WA, its a great room.
After all that we needed a drink and a cool spot to watch all the cars go by so we posted up at the Office. Best part was the guy playing the guitar was doing all jackson, ludacris, sir mix a lot, and other rapper covers. And they had a giant jar filled with peppers, lemons, limes, onions, and other things that they used to make bloody marys, ohhhh sooo goooood!!
That night we hit up Phoenician back in Ocean Springs. It was a great Mediterranean restaurant, BYOB which surprised me, with tuxedoed waiters and 5 minutes of specials. I had the steak shawarma and Amy had the chicken shawarma, both which were amazing but... our waitress forgot our salads and never mentioned it the entire meal. Also this menu has, again, a bit of everything! After looking at these great medieranian dishes they have a section called, "A Little Bit of Mexico", WHY?! Anyway dinner was great, had a wonderful time with a great dining companion then it was off to the bars to tear up the town with JD and his fiance Heather.
Long story short, Heather got Bushwackered, Amy got Tonic'ed, JD met Mr. JD, and Stewart... well he used his stomach as the party punch bowl and everyone was invited.
Had a blast, but we are taking the wave runners our tomorrow, so I have to be ready for that.
Stewart
Amy and I headed back to Ocean Springs for some more car lovin and culture.
We walked the streets looking at beautiful cars of all years and models. Some were restored to classic condition, others were sooped up with engines raging, while a few were.... well... not. These rare few were best represented by an old ford pickup truck. I was painted black with no hood, only a barbed wire outline of the hood. The seats were toilet seats and the pedals were rat traps. Rubber rats, spiders and snakes were glues to the car and a bottle of Tabasco was above each headlight. I don't know how long it takes for Tabasco to turn into a separated yellow liquid, but that's how long they had been there.
I decided to go on a search for my dads old car, the 64 1/2 mustang. I searched and after a lot of talking to the enthusiast and seeing all different ages and styles and hearing the back story on near all of them, the earliest Mustang i could find was a 1966. Hopefully you have better luck then I did at finding your car dad.
After the search we headed over to Shadys global cuisine, an aptly named establishment. This place had everything; burgers, steaks, Thai food, Chinese hot pots, grits, to Cajun soul food. And surprisingly, it was amazing. We had crazy craw fish, a plate of fried craw fish tails and fried jalapenos with a chipotle ranch dip. I found i really like fried jalapenos, need to figure other uses for this. For lunch I had the coconut curry noodles with chicken and those wonderful wide rice noodles, Amy had one of the best cashew chickens I have ever had. I am still curious why cashew chicken is so big down here, almost every place has its own version.
After lunch it was off to the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, WAMA, for some good ol' learnin. He was actually and amazing artist, if a bit psychedelic in some of his works. His entire family was very talented in many mediums of art, sculpture, painting, ceramics. His history was very interesting like how he tied himself to a tree on horn island to ride out a hurricane and that he did pictures for children's books. And the museum had a really cool event space that was entirely painted by WA, its a great room.
After all that we needed a drink and a cool spot to watch all the cars go by so we posted up at the Office. Best part was the guy playing the guitar was doing all jackson, ludacris, sir mix a lot, and other rapper covers. And they had a giant jar filled with peppers, lemons, limes, onions, and other things that they used to make bloody marys, ohhhh sooo goooood!!
That night we hit up Phoenician back in Ocean Springs. It was a great Mediterranean restaurant, BYOB which surprised me, with tuxedoed waiters and 5 minutes of specials. I had the steak shawarma and Amy had the chicken shawarma, both which were amazing but... our waitress forgot our salads and never mentioned it the entire meal. Also this menu has, again, a bit of everything! After looking at these great medieranian dishes they have a section called, "A Little Bit of Mexico", WHY?! Anyway dinner was great, had a wonderful time with a great dining companion then it was off to the bars to tear up the town with JD and his fiance Heather.
Long story short, Heather got Bushwackered, Amy got Tonic'ed, JD met Mr. JD, and Stewart... well he used his stomach as the party punch bowl and everyone was invited.
Had a blast, but we are taking the wave runners our tomorrow, so I have to be ready for that.
Stewart
Monday, October 10, 2011
Cruisin the Coast and Old Friends
I need to figure out how to put pictures into this thing because today we went to Biloxi for cruisin the coast. Picture thousands of classic cars pumped up, gassed up and ready to throw down. I saw Shelby Cobras, Mustangs of all classic years, Corvettes, Belairs and Cameros to name a few. Every car dropping gears and burning rubber to impress the crowds.
After a bit of looking and ooohhhing we decided to grab a drink and call up J.D to meet us. Met up for drinks at a place called Shaggies, where people hand the bartender their personal coozie and they open and place the beers in them. These people always have at least one coozie on them at all times. JD showed up and it was all stories of old and the good times we have all had together.
After the bar the sun went down and the breeze became chilly we headed over to Ocean Springs and Government street. Its like aggieville but better restaurants and just a long street. We met up with all of JD's fly boys at a place called Government Street Grocery Store. Cool little place, great burgers, and our server looked like Elvis Presley's illegitimate child, sounded like it too. Anyway i got the Grocery burger, Angus beef patty, bacon, provolone & american cheese creole mustard mayo with lettuce, tomato, and grilled onions. Yup a solid drunk burger, everything you need to hate you day tomorrow. JD, on the other hand, picked something that nearly killed him the next day. He got the Grocery Fries, plate of fries smothered in rotel cheese, chili, jalapeno, sour cream and green onions with an extra side of cheese sauce. At about 80% completion his friend goes,
"Hey don't you have PT tomorrow at 6:30?"
"No.... wait, oh crap we have to run the bridge!!" he looks at the fries, "Well this isn't going to get any worse." and finishes the plate. The bridge is a 4+ mile run with long stretches of uphill.
After a few more cocktails, stories, shots and fries we decided to call it a night. Headed home stuffed and tired but ready for a great day out tomorrow.
Stewart
After a bit of looking and ooohhhing we decided to grab a drink and call up J.D to meet us. Met up for drinks at a place called Shaggies, where people hand the bartender their personal coozie and they open and place the beers in them. These people always have at least one coozie on them at all times. JD showed up and it was all stories of old and the good times we have all had together.
After the bar the sun went down and the breeze became chilly we headed over to Ocean Springs and Government street. Its like aggieville but better restaurants and just a long street. We met up with all of JD's fly boys at a place called Government Street Grocery Store. Cool little place, great burgers, and our server looked like Elvis Presley's illegitimate child, sounded like it too. Anyway i got the Grocery burger, Angus beef patty, bacon, provolone & american cheese creole mustard mayo with lettuce, tomato, and grilled onions. Yup a solid drunk burger, everything you need to hate you day tomorrow. JD, on the other hand, picked something that nearly killed him the next day. He got the Grocery Fries, plate of fries smothered in rotel cheese, chili, jalapeno, sour cream and green onions with an extra side of cheese sauce. At about 80% completion his friend goes,
"Hey don't you have PT tomorrow at 6:30?"
"No.... wait, oh crap we have to run the bridge!!" he looks at the fries, "Well this isn't going to get any worse." and finishes the plate. The bridge is a 4+ mile run with long stretches of uphill.
After a few more cocktails, stories, shots and fries we decided to call it a night. Headed home stuffed and tired but ready for a great day out tomorrow.
Stewart
Road to Pascagoula
I had this great plan for my day in Mississippi. But like all great plans, there were some technical difficulties.
My day started like the previous with a big smoothie courtesy of John and a nice little sit down and strategy meeting. We discussed what route I was going to take and all the important things along the way. My original idea was to drive from Little Rock to Greenville Miss, and eat at Doe's Eat Place. A hole in the wall shack that is famous for their steaks as well as hot tamales. Then on to Greenwood Miss for a tour of the Alluvian Hotel and Viking Cooking School. After a bit of pictures and answers I would move on to Lorman Miss to visit the Old Country Store, which Alton Brown claimed had the best fried chicken he had ever tasted. Then down to Pascagoula for a nightcap with the Chenoweths and call it a night. Nope! Does doesn't open till 5 and the Store is only open for lunch, the bastards.
So with those plans derailed I decided to head straight to Greenwood to visit the Alluvian and hopefully get some lunch.
The trip to the Alluvian was almost without incident. About thirty minutes into Mississippi I was driving through a heavy construction area and as I switched lanes I saw what appeared to be a big chest of drawers in front of me. I quickly got back into my lane but the jacked-up mudding tired truck behind me didn't like my moves. He guns the hemi engine and blows past me, and right after giving me a dose of southern hospitality he turns around in time to slam into the chest of drawers and swerves off the road. Pretty sure he messed something up on that truck.
Arrived at the Alluvian hotel and was warmly greeted by Nadine and shown around the facilities. It was AMAZING!!!! Every room was a little different but they all had the tri-fecta, down comforter, pillow, mattress pad. After ooohhhing and ahhhing over the rooms she showed me through the restaurant and explained the speakeasy style of the design. It was so cool, every table was curtained off and you had a little buzzer to let the staff know when you needed anything. After a brief kitchen tour we headed over to the Viking Cooking School where I was shown around by the executive chef. It was a dream facility. All state of the art Viking Cook tops and ranges, appliances and tools. I was full of want! But after my tour I needed food so I headed down to the Delta Bistro.
This place was amazing!! Casual atmosphere, mason jars for lights, funky art on the walls and a polished concrete floor. I had the Alligator bites with comeback sauce and a house pickled jalapeno, and a fried green tomato BLT with sweet potato fries. Whatever comeback sauce is I fell in love. It was like a smoother romesco sauce but creamier. That combined with the alligator bites and the sharp punch of the spiciest/sharpest jalapeno I have ever had was an instant winner! The BLT was good, but the tomato was not the star, just a minor support character in an OK play. I walked back to the kitchen and thanked the chef, and headed out for the last leg of the day, Pascagoula in 5 hours.
When I arrived I decided to show up in a bit of style so I changed into my new suit in a gas station parking lot at 9pm and drove into the goula where I met up with Amy and the Chenoweths at Scrantons. A few cocktails and stories later we were all laughed out and very tired. Plans for tomorrow included lunch with the Chenoweths and Biloxi. I was going to need my rest.
Stewart
My day started like the previous with a big smoothie courtesy of John and a nice little sit down and strategy meeting. We discussed what route I was going to take and all the important things along the way. My original idea was to drive from Little Rock to Greenville Miss, and eat at Doe's Eat Place. A hole in the wall shack that is famous for their steaks as well as hot tamales. Then on to Greenwood Miss for a tour of the Alluvian Hotel and Viking Cooking School. After a bit of pictures and answers I would move on to Lorman Miss to visit the Old Country Store, which Alton Brown claimed had the best fried chicken he had ever tasted. Then down to Pascagoula for a nightcap with the Chenoweths and call it a night. Nope! Does doesn't open till 5 and the Store is only open for lunch, the bastards.
So with those plans derailed I decided to head straight to Greenwood to visit the Alluvian and hopefully get some lunch.
The trip to the Alluvian was almost without incident. About thirty minutes into Mississippi I was driving through a heavy construction area and as I switched lanes I saw what appeared to be a big chest of drawers in front of me. I quickly got back into my lane but the jacked-up mudding tired truck behind me didn't like my moves. He guns the hemi engine and blows past me, and right after giving me a dose of southern hospitality he turns around in time to slam into the chest of drawers and swerves off the road. Pretty sure he messed something up on that truck.
Arrived at the Alluvian hotel and was warmly greeted by Nadine and shown around the facilities. It was AMAZING!!!! Every room was a little different but they all had the tri-fecta, down comforter, pillow, mattress pad. After ooohhhing and ahhhing over the rooms she showed me through the restaurant and explained the speakeasy style of the design. It was so cool, every table was curtained off and you had a little buzzer to let the staff know when you needed anything. After a brief kitchen tour we headed over to the Viking Cooking School where I was shown around by the executive chef. It was a dream facility. All state of the art Viking Cook tops and ranges, appliances and tools. I was full of want! But after my tour I needed food so I headed down to the Delta Bistro.
This place was amazing!! Casual atmosphere, mason jars for lights, funky art on the walls and a polished concrete floor. I had the Alligator bites with comeback sauce and a house pickled jalapeno, and a fried green tomato BLT with sweet potato fries. Whatever comeback sauce is I fell in love. It was like a smoother romesco sauce but creamier. That combined with the alligator bites and the sharp punch of the spiciest/sharpest jalapeno I have ever had was an instant winner! The BLT was good, but the tomato was not the star, just a minor support character in an OK play. I walked back to the kitchen and thanked the chef, and headed out for the last leg of the day, Pascagoula in 5 hours.
When I arrived I decided to show up in a bit of style so I changed into my new suit in a gas station parking lot at 9pm and drove into the goula where I met up with Amy and the Chenoweths at Scrantons. A few cocktails and stories later we were all laughed out and very tired. Plans for tomorrow included lunch with the Chenoweths and Biloxi. I was going to need my rest.
Stewart
Friday, October 7, 2011
Little Rock, and the tour of Firsts
Day two of my journey started with a berry smoothie in the morning and then off for the grand tour of Little Rock.
I visited Mary-Jim at the Gold Crown Store and heard the stories about how it all began, how my dad became "The marketing genius" by forcing the Ramseys to buy and bulk merchandise 144 elf stocking holders which they had never done before. Needless to say they sold nearly all of them and the relationship was solidified.
It was a fun afternoon hearing how my parents met, from the friends point of view, and all the other capers and adventures they all got in back then. I saw my parents first house, and our best guess at my dads first apartment. After hearing a very defensive John tell me, and my father on the phone, that "I stumbled here after too much drinking many times, I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVED!!!" I guess that settled the debate.
Then we headed over to the Clinton Library which, giving the critics there credit, looks like a very nice and shiny trailer going out over the river. But like a super nice double wide with stainless steel siding, you know a classy one. After touring the facilities I was about ready to jump up and demand four more year of Clinton.
After touring around we went to lunch with the family at Trios. We had a really good tapanade style Mediterranean salsa with marinate artichokes, olives, eggplant, sun dried toms and capers. My lunch was called the Casanova, it was a roasted vegetable sandwich with eggplant, zucchini, squash, red peppers and provolone cheese. Not to shabby.
After a bit more touring and a nice, longer than expected, nap we headed out to Ya Ya's. I had never been there but not bad at all! Had great salmon flat bread with goat cheese sauce, capers, red onions, and dressed with arugula and olive oil. My meal was Pappardelle noodles with tenderloin, caramelized onions, asparagus, mushrooms in a Chianti cream sauce. Not nearly as thick as you would think. A couple more great glasses of wine and the evening was passed. We headed home and I called it an early night, I had a lot of driving to do the next day.
Stewart
I visited Mary-Jim at the Gold Crown Store and heard the stories about how it all began, how my dad became "The marketing genius" by forcing the Ramseys to buy and bulk merchandise 144 elf stocking holders which they had never done before. Needless to say they sold nearly all of them and the relationship was solidified.
It was a fun afternoon hearing how my parents met, from the friends point of view, and all the other capers and adventures they all got in back then. I saw my parents first house, and our best guess at my dads first apartment. After hearing a very defensive John tell me, and my father on the phone, that "I stumbled here after too much drinking many times, I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVED!!!" I guess that settled the debate.
Then we headed over to the Clinton Library which, giving the critics there credit, looks like a very nice and shiny trailer going out over the river. But like a super nice double wide with stainless steel siding, you know a classy one. After touring the facilities I was about ready to jump up and demand four more year of Clinton.
After touring around we went to lunch with the family at Trios. We had a really good tapanade style Mediterranean salsa with marinate artichokes, olives, eggplant, sun dried toms and capers. My lunch was called the Casanova, it was a roasted vegetable sandwich with eggplant, zucchini, squash, red peppers and provolone cheese. Not to shabby.
After a bit more touring and a nice, longer than expected, nap we headed out to Ya Ya's. I had never been there but not bad at all! Had great salmon flat bread with goat cheese sauce, capers, red onions, and dressed with arugula and olive oil. My meal was Pappardelle noodles with tenderloin, caramelized onions, asparagus, mushrooms in a Chianti cream sauce. Not nearly as thick as you would think. A couple more great glasses of wine and the evening was passed. We headed home and I called it an early night, I had a lot of driving to do the next day.
Stewart
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Start of the Trip
My trip starts on Thursday morning, several days before I actually leave on Monday, with a frantic phone call from my mother.
"What day do you start your trip?" She asks waking me up at 7am on my day off.
"Monday, why?"
"OH MY GOD! REALLY? The car needs an oil change and its two front tires replaced! Get up we are getting it fixed now!"
After smoothing out this one bump in the road, I am now in possession of my Family's Lexus. I am very grateful for the car because if my car died along the way, which was a very a strong possibility, I was either going to be delieverenced or Texas Chain Saw Massacred...depending on where it broke down.
After all of this on Monday I started the trip in my standard style, forgetting a key piece of luggage containing the homemade granola i had just made as a gift for all of my hosts. Luckily i was only 20 minutes down the road so I shot back to the office, grabbed them out of my dads car, and headed back on the road.
At 11:58 saw my first "Bridge may ice in cold weather" sign in Bella Vista Arkansas. Some people say that when the Hardees change to Carl's Jr's you hit the south but for me, its these signs.
Arrived in Little Rock with no issues and was warmly greeted by John Ramsey. He welcomed me into the house and within moments i had a great glass of red wine in my hand and was ushered to a screened in porch with an amazing view of the river. We sat and talked about everything that's going on, all future plans, and everything family. Stayed up late and slept late, we had a fun day ahead of us touring his town.
Stewart
"What day do you start your trip?" She asks waking me up at 7am on my day off.
"Monday, why?"
"OH MY GOD! REALLY? The car needs an oil change and its two front tires replaced! Get up we are getting it fixed now!"
After smoothing out this one bump in the road, I am now in possession of my Family's Lexus. I am very grateful for the car because if my car died along the way, which was a very a strong possibility, I was either going to be delieverenced or Texas Chain Saw Massacred...depending on where it broke down.
After all of this on Monday I started the trip in my standard style, forgetting a key piece of luggage containing the homemade granola i had just made as a gift for all of my hosts. Luckily i was only 20 minutes down the road so I shot back to the office, grabbed them out of my dads car, and headed back on the road.
At 11:58 saw my first "Bridge may ice in cold weather" sign in Bella Vista Arkansas. Some people say that when the Hardees change to Carl's Jr's you hit the south but for me, its these signs.
Arrived in Little Rock with no issues and was warmly greeted by John Ramsey. He welcomed me into the house and within moments i had a great glass of red wine in my hand and was ushered to a screened in porch with an amazing view of the river. We sat and talked about everything that's going on, all future plans, and everything family. Stayed up late and slept late, we had a fun day ahead of us touring his town.
Stewart
First Post to Explain the Rest
On the road, this is my fourth day on this Amazing road trip and my first time to really catch up and write down all that has been happening.
I decided that instead of the traditional journal I was going to just use the Voice Memo feature on my phone to record all the excitement, meals, and experiences I will have along this trip. So far, upon review, they sound like the ramblings of a crazy man lost in the woods. But I believe that in time, I will treasure these ramblings and the tidbits of reflection and the memories associated with them.
I hope you all enjoy this blog and I will do my best to keep it updated frequently.
Love you all,
Stewart Lane
I decided that instead of the traditional journal I was going to just use the Voice Memo feature on my phone to record all the excitement, meals, and experiences I will have along this trip. So far, upon review, they sound like the ramblings of a crazy man lost in the woods. But I believe that in time, I will treasure these ramblings and the tidbits of reflection and the memories associated with them.
I hope you all enjoy this blog and I will do my best to keep it updated frequently.
Love you all,
Stewart Lane
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