It's Been a Long Time

It's been an embarrassingly long time since I shared some thoughts on food. At the time of my last post, I think that spring was approaching and um, that is the time when the garden steals my attention. I grow crunchy snow peas before I prepare them and finally eat them. It's a very long process so you can understand just how busy I was. As spring turns to summer Jack conveniently becomes interested in grilling and I'm still gardening. Most of the time anyway. I don't think this excuse is panning out as well as I'd hoped. Uh, Let's move on.

September and October have been very interesting. I did a bit of traveling for work and had a few adventures in food. (I travel to schools to train teachers to use the program my company produces.) My boss accompanied me on my first trip. We spent two days in Lake Jackson, Texas, just south of Houston. The first night Janet and I ended up eating some classic fast food at Whataburger. Their signature orange and white roof had caught my eye from the airplane that morning and I was curious. The burgers were quite large as Janet demonstrates. They were also delicious with the fries following suit. We both easily recommend you try a Whataburger if given the chance.

Janet and I are big fans of barbecue. Texas favors beef to pork and I was looking forward to tasting this approach. I asked an administrative assistant at the school for recommendations. I couldn't quite tell if she was amused or flattered by my request, but she lead us to the yummy Brian's BBQ. I love the old-school sign!! A large steer is located atop the roof above the entrance; it's very serious. The only beef item on the menu that day was brisket. The meat was tender and the sauce was sweet and vinegary. Good stuff, so good I kind of forgot what my sides were.

It's late autumn now and this time of year puts me in the mood to cook and bake. Both kind of hit me at once, but don't fret, I can handle it. My Cooking Light magazines are thicker, stuffed with more recipes than usual to keep me inspired. Cooking Light isn't my only inspiration; tomorrow I plan to make Celery Root Soup with Blue Cheese from "Cooking with Shelburne Farms: Food and Stories from Vermont" by Melissa Pasanen with Rick Gencarelli. This recipe came to me by way of an email subscription the radio show The Splendid Table offers called Weeknight Kitchen. I hope I'll have time to write about it by the end of the weekend.