Well you know how it’s said the best laid plans….I stepped in a hole in the dark last night out walking our dogs and have pulled either a ligament or tendon in my right heel. To say it’s pretty sore is an understatement. I’ve got an appointment up here Monday morning with the orthopedic doctor at Piedmont Hospital (where Kayla works). Anyway it knocks me out of being able to help Alan with his cooking for Ducks Unlimited but he has a couple of his friends that are helping him. It does put me back to where I am able to watch our game. Ms. Jan, Kayla and myself are going to pick our supper up for tonight at their local favorite Chinese restaurant. Ably’s Chinese it is! I will more than likely have a tumbler or two of Angels Envy Kentucky Straight Bourbon (for my foot) and the girls will stick with their wine. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Heal up, my friend. Making a chopped salad for a quick dinner before heading to the game. Everything prepped and the dressing made and just have to mix them together right before serving. Grilling some andouille sausage for my carnivore son.
I think I have told this story before so bear with me. The very best fish I ever ate was when I was 5 or 6 years old and staying at my great aunt's house way up north in Wisconsin. I am talking well north of Green Bay. She was retired then, but she was the school teacher in a small town and her former students adored her. We got there in the evening on a Friday night (probably Memorial Day weekend because that was the tradition) and a teenaged boy brought her a pail with LOTS of native brook trout. I can still see them swimming around. The next morning they were battered and pan fried in butter and tasted so good. Worst tasting fish I ever had was also in Wisconsin. Door County to be precise. We went to a "fish boil" and the fish tasted like kerosene. Horrible. A waste of probably decent fish.
Tonight Alan will be grilling BBQ chicken on his BGE. He will also have grilled asparagus and zucchini squash. Inside it will be twice baked potatoes and fresh yeast rolls. The bar is completely stocked and open so enjoy yourself. Life is good in Gator Nation!
No ducks? I am making green (mostly tomatillo) chicken posole. Avocado, radish and cabbage will be toppings. Almost done and like all posoles it takes a long time. Mexican cuisine is awesome. It is not just Taco Bell. Mexican seafood from Veracruz is fantastic. Shrimp tacos from Jalisco are to die for.
Tonight we’re being treated to Alan’s stuffed Mexican peppers. Sides will be refried beans, seared pearl onions and Serrano peppers. We will also have Queso dip and tortilla chips on the table. The ice cold longnecks tonight will be Dos Equis Amber with fresh sliced lime wedges. The girls are staying with their wine. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Making a red Thai curry with shrimp. And finally I have been able to source bamboo shoots locally. It has been over a month and I prowl the local Asian market.
Tonight is a meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and sauteed green beans. I could have gone old school (my mom's cooking) with boiled green beans, but I like them with a bit of snap and everything tastes better with butter.
The stuffed Mexican peppers were so good last night it was an easy call for a do-over supper tonight—free’s up everyone for the ballgame too. The adult libations are on hand and ready for the evening. Life is good in Gator Nation!
My MIL always feels guilty that I make dinner almost every night so tonight we are letting here pay for Thai take out. We have a favorite place and the local Thai people I know like it a lot. We now have a lot of Thai establishments in town but they all are geared toward southern Thai food. Even the ingredients I can get at our local Asian markets are geared toward Southern Thai cuisine. Northern Thai food is very different. It is almost nonexistent in the US.
We are going with a great mid-week choice especially since we hardly ever have them for lunch. We’re going to be grilling cheeseburgers topped with white cheddar, fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and vidalia onions. Homemade French fries and or onion rings are going to be our sides. Ice cold longnecks and chilled wine are available upon request. Life is good in Gator Nation and on Alan’s mountain!
What place is great or the distinctions between southern and northern Thai cuisine? If it is where I like to get Thai food it is Wah Ha Ha. They are where Bahn Thai used to be on south 13th. The neighborhood is not as seedy as it used to be and the décor of the restaurant is nothing special, but the food is very good. The Thai people I know like it a lot. The one thing that is often on a USA Thai menu that is very northern Thai is larb. It is really is more Laotian than Thai but there is a large Lao population in northern Thailand.
Tonight I am roasting a pork tenderloin with a sesame teriyaki marinade, rice with datil peppers (I froze some as they are currently out of season), and roasted broccoli. Raining like crazy here. Going to be the wettest March on record in Gainesville. Good. It might mean that we have a very slow wild fire season. Speaking of rain our new metal roof is completely installed. My only complaint is that they did a crappy job repairing a few boards on the beaded pine porch ceiling where there was a leak. I made correctly dimensioned beaded pine boards as replacements because you can't get them anymore except as custom made. I will probably tear out what they put up and install it myself.
Tonight we’re going to have open face roast beef sandwiches from Ms. Jan’s pot roast… A Caesar salad as the side just because. Tonight it’s choice hi balls or chilled wine. I’m going with Jim Beam Black/Extra Aged and Canada Dry GingerAle Zero. Life is good in Gator Nation!
I need to give you the recipe for a sour Wisconsin Old Fashioned. First of all it uses really cheap Canadian whiskey. Canadian Club is as good as you can use and that would be showing off. I think that my relatives that live up there use LTD for this drink and as a paint remover. Sugar cubes and bitters and lemon-lime soda usually the generic grocery store brand. The best part is pickled veggies. A wonderful part of my youth and nowhere else in the world do you get this. If you google Wisconsin Old Fashioned it will be with brandy. This is a different thing. It is from the populated southern part of the state. I was honored to make them one of the last times I was up there.
