Food for a Foodie

As a part-time Caterer, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen experimenting with recipes.  Mickey has the sometimes unenviable task of "Food Taster".  Not everything turns out perfect the first (few) time(s).  But eventually, it will turn out perfect.   I've never made a recipe that I didn't alter.

There was this FABULOUS restaurant that opened near us called Pesquera's.  It was made literally from a boat.  We loved it.  Where we live, there is a glut of tacky Tex-Mex restaurants, a few Chinese restaurants (that don't deliver), and several "home cooking" dives.  When we found Pesquera's, we were thrilled to find this up-scale eatery.  It had a great wine selection, awesome trout almondine, perfectly cooked steaks, oyster shooters, a delicious Rosemary Hamburger, and the best White Chocolate Bread Pudding that I have still not been able to emulate. 

They were in business for just over a year with this fantastic menu, when the economy and the cheesy clientele dictated that they scale down their menu.  They changed from sit down and order, to walk up to the counter and order and take a number.

Okay, not so swanky.  But, despite MUCH of the fare being cheaper, they still carried my trout.  And even though oyster shooters were no longer on the menu, the owners would make it for us if we asked.  And they still had AWESOME bread pudding.

But poor Pesquera's, in this scaled-down state, hung onto life support for another six months before they finally were forced to pull the plugs.  We were very saddened by this turn of events.

Then a new owner took over.  They kept the sign the same outside, same decorations inside, but named the restaurant "Big Daddy's Seafood."  And the parking lot was CRAMMED with cars every night of the week.  We figured that, even though the name of the restaurant is kind of white trash, MAYBE, if the gorge of the parking lot is any indication, the food must be good.

You would think so, right?

Wrong.  WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.  We went there last night.  The menu (on laminated paper) is miniscule.  They served stuffed jalapenos (fried), raw oysters, fried oysters, fried catfish, fried tilapia, grilled tilapia, shrimp (fried and grilled), chicken strips, salad, gumbo and peach cobbler.  That was IT.

Our waitress was clueless, complete with a blank, deer-in-the-headlights, lost stare.  I'll call her "Bambie".  It might have been Bambie's first day at work.  She asked me what I wanted to drink and I asked her what kind of wine they had.  Again, the blank, scared look, followed by stammering and she walked off, bringing me back a very small, "unpretentious" wine list (on laminated paper).  I ordered a glass of the only Cabernet they offered.  It arrived in a tiny, screw-top bottle.

There were also very few side dishes.  They had a house salad, french fries and cole slaw.  I asked Bambie how the cole slaw was and she said, "the cole slaw is great."  I asked her if it was mayo based or vinegar and she said, "I think mayo."

I asked her how the grilled Tilapia was, and she confessed that she doesn't eat fish.  I ended up ordering raw oysters (despite the BP spill in the Gulf), and a house salad with Ranch dressing.  The dressing was a packet of Newman's.  The salad greens were entirely iceburg.  Mickey's cole slaw was mostly mayonnaise and very little cabbage (with NO hint of vinegar).  Mickey had a cup of Gumbo that was mostly black oil (maybe from the Gulf) with a few strands of dark meat chicken.

It was the most awful meal we've had in years - second only to the odd Ohio phenomena called Skyline Chili.  Mickey and I were sharing our mutual critique on the drive home.  Not one of those dishes would have received my Seal of Approval at home.  And not a chance in Hell I would have served any of that swill to a paying customer. 

Yet the place was PACKED.  Much more than Pesquera's ever was.  I guess the lesson learned here is, to know your clientele.  If what they want to eat is boring, bland, little kid food, then you can get rich providing it for them.

As for me and Mickey, we won't be going back to Big Daddy's.

I Miss my G-Babes!!!!

It's so difficult being 1,500 miles away.  I only get to see my little Darlings twice a year - Christmas and in the Summer. 

Adrianna had no teeth and could barely crawl when I saw her last.  Now she has 6 teeth and can walk on her own (although she seems to prefer crawling still).

Kaelen is smart and beautiful.  James has her trained to say, "Yes, ma'am," and "No, ma'am," and "Please" and "Thank you."  She has very good manners for a 6 year old.  Scratch that.  She has better manners than most grown-ups I know.  She is so good with her little sister - not a jealous older sibling at all. 

While there, they had a group Birthday Party.  Adrianna's birthday was in May.  My birthday was yesterday.  Tina's birthday is in 2 weeks, and Kaelen's birthday is in 3 weeks.  So while everyone was there, they rented a jumpy house, put out a water slide, and invited about 25 of their closest friends over.  I made a cake. 

I have to say, these Special Forces guys are such honorable guys.  They're all very respectful towards me.  They are the creme de la creme of the Army.  And it shows.  Everyone is a Team Player.  And while a few guys got wasted, not one of them was an Asshole. 

My friend Dee drove there from Raleigh.  I love Dee.  We're scheming to have a FUPFest get-together in this area.  Her husband Chris WILL comply.  Yes, he will.  Or we will burn his drawers in a fire and then he will bleed from his rectum.  Don't ask me how I know this.  I just do.

Dee thinks that my son James looks like Brad Pitt.  And I have to agree.

Speaking of James, here he is with Adrianna.  James is a Special Forces Medic attached to the Scuba team.  James is literally the top 3% of the entire Army.  He's about to be E7 and he's only 25 years old.  I spoke with one of his SF buddies there (KJ), who told me that James is afraid of his Mom (me).  "Afraid" in a good way, which translates to respect in their world.  He told me that he admires James and hopes to achieve the same status, that James is very squared away, is a good family man, and he's one of the smartest guys he's ever met.

You'd never guess this at first glance.  James hides his nerdiness well.  I'm so proud of my little boy.

While we were there, Tina (my daughter-in-law) took me to a tattoo parlor in town.  When I told the artist what I wanted and where, warned me that this was the MOST PAINFUL AREA TO GET A TATTOO.  I laughed and said, "Bring it on!"  Then I sat and endured excrutiating pain for two hours.  It was way more painful that I thought it would be.  My toes were clinched tightly the entire time, and I gripped the mat so firmly that I left fingernail marks on it.  I want to reiterate that it hurt like HELL.  I wanted to cry but didn't.  When I got up, I was tired from the anxiety.  There was blood dripping from the flowers.  I couldn't wear a bra for three days.  Did I mention that it was was painful?

Mickey loved my new tat!

Yesterday was my birthday and after rain delays and getting in after midnight the night before, neither of us felt like doing anything so we just stayed in and got drunk.  heh, heh, hehhhhh!!!!

My little G-Babes are coming in one week from now to stay a week with us while James and Tina go to Mexico.  June has been an awesome month for me!