The message forum is an ongoing dialogue between our classmates. There are no items, topics, subtopics, etc.

Forums work when people participate - so don't be bashful! Click the "Post Response" button to add your entry to the forum and then click "Submit".

Bennie Schielack

Sometimes, I pause and ask myself something and today is one of those times ..... What happened to rice in salt shakers ?????

Pat Brantley (Ross)

Bennie, salt had rice added before air conditioning.  Ac takes moisture out of everything including us.  

You all got me in trouble this morning because I was reading and laughing before Ron wanted to be awake.  Dogs woke up and started dancing around his side of the bed so he had to get up an hour early.  

Eating places when I was young were on a family rotation.  We went out on either Friday night or Sunday afternoon.  One week was la Fonda Mexican.  I didn't eat Mexican food so I would have apple pie and milk.  Next week would be bar-bq inn on crosstimbers.  Next would be gees Chinese.  I didn't eat Chinese food either so I would have white rice and a coke.  Then my favorite would be plantation oaks on north shepherd for fried chicken.  Ron loves bar-b que.  My stomach can't take it so I just eat coleslaw or potato salad.  He likes Rudy's outside boerne.  He settles for Rudy's here in new braunfels sometimes.  

Wayne, these wife stories aren't really true are they?  Better than Dave Barry.  

Steve Puckett '65

Wayne, you must be talking about the "Shepherd Drive Bar-B-Q" (sp?) started by John P & Leila Davis.  I grew up eating bbq from there when we didn't want to make it ourselves.  White folks had a takeout entrance in the back in those early days, non-whites could dine in. He had a baseball bat to scare away robbers. When they passed, it went to the daughter, and in the 1983 to Jerry Pizzitola.  It is now "Pizzitola's Bar-B-Cue", still a fine place for bbq. The original wood-fired brick pits are still there but the place has been redone since Davis days: http://www.pizzitolas.com/ourstory.html

Pat Brantley (Ross)

Thank you for the name of the barbecue joint on shepherd.  I loved that place.  I knew a pizzitola from st. Pius h.s.  Probably a relative.  I don't remember his first name.   

Wayne Lake

Beau, no curtain rods for me but I’m still getting closer to a place at AP, smelly as it is.

Pat, I’m not saying I am a liar, let’s say maybe a fibber/joker/BS’r/story teller/fisherman or maybe I am simply a liar, either way I made it all up, sorry if I upset anybody as being gender un-PC but I do like boiled shrimp and Shire Bock for sure.

Steve, I don’t know where you get your info but I am impressed. I think you have hit on the description of the place I remember and the tall black gentleman with the baseball bat. I can still see him limping around lifting those heavy, counter balanced pit lids and retrieving briskets with a fork and we always carried it out but there was some folks seating around inside it seemed.

Bennie and Pat, I don’t call Goode Co and Rudy’s BBQ ‘joints’ but I agree they are both excellent for chain BBQ.  Goode has the very best ribs and BBQ sauce around town and Rudy’s has consistently good meat and I like their presentation on the wax paper.

I thought someone (Teddie) might mention Joe Cotton’s in Robstown near Corpus Christi but I think they have ‘sold out’ and started steaming/boiling their meat – the way you can tell,steamed BBQ has a grey coloration that should be reddish if only red oak is used to cook it.  Cotton’s used to be great, served on wax paper with onions and they would come around and give you more meat if you were out and still hungry.

Also, Otto’s BBQ on Memorial  just West of Shepard Drive was a favorite haunt of local politicians and downtown lawyers with pretty good meat but I haven’t been there in years, I’ll bet Jimmy Hilsher knows Otto’s as he grew up in the same area.      

Another interesting seafood place is Kings Inn on Baffin Bay just out of Kingsville, about 20 miles off Hwy 77 South East of Kingsville. Family style and all seafood purchased by the pound, no potatoes/French fries as I recall, only bread, tomatoes and onions served with the seafood meal (Teddie and Fran may know this one also).   They commerical fish for black drum in Baffin and I think nearly all the fish was the same but all ver good, mostly fried and boiled shrimp. The last time down there, I saw not one but two bodcats around dusk going back to the bunhouse after eating.

On antioher note, a buddy of mine reported sighting a bald eagle South of El Campo last week. I think the birds know when we are going to have a hard winter, the word gets out and they all fly South. I've seen more water fowl, shore birds and raptors this year than ever. If you have never seen the whopping cranes at Aransas wildlife refuge, you can still book a boat ride out of Rockport, bring your bi-nocs as they are there for about 4 more weeks - it's a nice little town and some fairly good seafood if you know what I mean. .   

Enjoying the dialog on the forum on this cold wet morning from LC,

wtl

Beau Wann, Jr.

      Wayne, Ottos closed their location on Memorial and Westcott a couple of years ago. That place was always packed. I dont know if they reopened somewhere else or not.  I didnt like Goode company, because the Q was dry and not much of it, and all for 13 dollars. Tried em again, and same thing. Nice decor though. Rudys was all fat. I gave it back to them, and their response was "everyone likes that..." Not this everyone! I never was a "fat" loving person, even when we didnt know that it was bad for you.

     Hickory Hollow on Heights Blvd and Center st just south of the RR tracks, and across from the old boxing gym, has chicken fried steak and chicken fried chicken that is just heavenly. Take your appetite, cause the CFS is larger than the plate.   Havent had their bbq, but I am told it is good too. They have another location just east of the Horse Track off Sam Houston Toll Way. I think it is on Fallbrook Dr. Across the street from the fallbrook one is THE CARRIAGE HOUSE. Good food there also.  I generally dont get Q from restaurants that dont have BBQ in their name. Kind of like getting BBQ from a chinese restaurant, or chinese food from a mexican restaurant.

     Having said that, I have never had the Q at Barbecue Inn, just the Chicken fried steak and chicken and chocolate pie, and whatever else they have for sides. They make their own thousand island dressing, that is out of this whirld.  I can only get it on the side, because they only have iceberg lettuce, and my diverticulitis does not like that stuff.

     Something better than Q, at least for me, is a gooooood breakfast. Biscuits and gravy and grits and eggs and link sausage and coffee...well duh! I generally dont get bacon out, because it is mostly undercooked. I LIKE MY BACON CRISP. I've found that most cooks dont care how their fare comes out, it's just a job to them. Guess I was spoiled by my moms and grandmothers touch of love in their cooking!

     What a wonderful day...for sleeping in! Wish I could! Right now, there are 6 cardinals, 3 male and 3 females at the feeder in our back  yard. I have so many pictures of them, gonna have to decide which ones to keep and which ones to trash.

     Cooper just stuck his big ol head in my lap...guess what he wants! Yup, go for a walk! A really amazing dog, he didnt like swimming in the pool, but has no problem getting rained on in 40 degree weather. Also has no problem getting me rained on in 40 degree weather. so guess I will put on my warm er clothes and my new Christmas Duster and take that ol boy for a walk.  Since my "Columbo" london fog was packed away and stored, and they dont seem to make em anymore, my beloved bought a "DUSTER"  for me for Christmas. I love it. Always wanted one, but the opportunity never presented itself. But now it has!

    Trappy Hails myne fyne waltripynes...

Jan Barnes '65 (Nimtz)

I need to get in on this conversation about eating places in the olden days although my memory of some (most) of the names escape me.  The eat-in mexican restaurant we went to about twice a month was El ? (name escapes me) at the corner of Shepherd and where the Loop is today.  For Mexican take-out it was always Monterey House with food neatly packaged in a round tin foil container with a cardboard lid.  Each food container was accompanied by a one-bite piece of hard Mexican candy.  On Sundays after church we rotated between mainly two restaurants. Bill William's Chicken House on Main near Rice University and the Medical Center area where they made the crispiest fried chicken served with thick biscuits and honey.  The other was Albritton's Cafeteria on Waugh Drive.  Sonny Albritton was always there in person to greet you and visit with you at your table.  There was another cafeteria we ate at occasionally which was farther out Main St./Holcomb area and was on the second floor of some building.  You had to ride an escalator up to the restaurant and that was my favorite part as I don't much remember the food.  I don't remember ever having Chinese food when I was young.  I guess Chinese must not have been one of my parent's favorite foods.  I also vividly remember the old Log Cabin Restaurant (was that on Hwy. 59?) which served all-you-can-eat family style meals.  They also kept their Christmas tree up year 'round which I always thought was neat.  Kemah's Clear creek Inn was the very best for seafood when I was younger.  It beat out all the nearby, fancier places by leaps & bounds.  I also don't remember eating 'restaurant' bbq when I was younger.  And I never ate at Crosstimbers Barbecue Inn until after I was married.  So many of mine and my future husband's German relatives barbecued frequently that I guess we got our fill of 'homemade' bbq.  I remember my very first Swanson TV dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes and corn.  I ate it off a real metal TV tray on legs.  My mom did not work outside the home when I was growing up and was a true "homemaker".  The meals she cooked were delicious!  I remember my mother saying she felt so guilty being home all day and serving a frozen meal for dinner.  I thought they were great, but we had them only on very rare occasions.  Four frozen meals must have been pricey for a family in those days too.  My mother must have probably had to scrape the bottom of her $20./week family food allowance to afford those TV dinners as in those days they were considered a luxury.

James Hilsher '65

Waynethe barbque place on w11th and nicholson,by the rr tracks was JJs.They had the best sausageever.They had great prices also,chopped beef sandwich 50cents or 4 for a dollar.Go figure.Steve was riight about sheperd drive bbq.Mr. John Davis was the best bbqer ever.He was a very good customer of our furniture store.Most new owners change things and make them worst.Pizzotola had the good sense to leave things as is .After church my family ate at Sonny Looks chicken place on quitman .After it closed we went to biilwilliams or allbrittons.If you like real fried chicken like  bii williams ,go to bbq inn.Best cicken,shrimp,and chicken fried steakand salad period.My sons said the bbq was good also.Never tried it.

Pat Brantley (Ross)

Now I have some good places to take Ron.  I love chicken fried steak.  Wayne, you would have to work much harder to offend.me.  I think your bs is brilliant.  I send it to my grandson.  He's an engineering/computer science major at Baylor in wacko.  I started dragging him to Europe when he was  seven or eight.  His family moved there when he was twelve and moved back here when he was sixteen.  He passed me in the smarts department when he was about ten.  He loves your stuff.  I will tell him you are an engineer.  

As long as I am boring y'all about my grand kids let me tell you what my fourteen year old is going to be doing for six or seven weeks this spring.  She and her dad are going to hike the camino de Santiago from France through Spain.  It was featured in a movie called The Way starring Martin sheen.  It is a pilgrimage supposedly for st. James.  The people who do this are really blessed by each other and the hostel owners along the path.  About four thousand people a year do this pilgrimage.  My son-in-law is a doctor so they may get stuck some places helping other travelers but they are both excited and hiking their neighborhood with packs on practicing. Really not my thing but I am excited for them.  I think if someone told me to walk twelve to fourteen miles a day I would sit down and never get back up.  I was not invited.  My daughter and their sixteen year old are going to go someplace, but they haven't decided where yet.  There will definitely be iced drinks and no walking involved for those two.  They take after me.

Jan Barnes '65 (Nimtz)

When I first ate at Barbecue Inn which was probably in my late twenties I had their bbq and did not like it and haven't had it since.  And I don't eat much chicken fried steak.  Their fried chicken is delicious as is their fried shrimp.  But I am really crazy about their stuffed crab!

Beau Wann, Jr.

     Thats right, keep talking about good food...know what I had for dinner? A Marie Callender chicken pot pie direct from the frozen food section from  che K rogers. It's about two dollars. The banquet chicken pot pie is about 67 cents. Neither one is worth squat. The chicken, if indeed it is chicken, has the consistancy of an eraser on the end of a No 2 pencil! ! !

    Jan, I almost had the name of that mexican restaurant El something or other...El Patio???  You know that small piece of sugary candy that Monterey House put in your meal?  The lady that came up with that piece of candy, took the recipe to her grave. So says the owner of Don Teo's, which was a Monterey house. One of the cooks that worked at Monterey house still works at Don Teo's.  Their guacamole still tastes as good as it did 50 years ago...well, it isnt the one we had 50 years ago, that which wasnt eaten, has probably gone bad by now, or fixin to.

    Bill Williams was one of the best places to eat on earth. Also one of Paul Berlins program sponsors. I remember him smacking his lips and talking about how great it was. He wasnt lying! Jimmys right, BBQ Inn has the best fried chicken. However, and there is ALWAYS a however, they dont fry it till you order it, which is good and bad. Good because it's fresh, and bad cause it takes about 30 minutes before your meal gets there. A fellow could starve to death waiting for his dinner, but I remedied that ! ! ! I order the chocolate pie and coffee first and dawdle with that till my chicken arrives.  It is somewhat of a sacrifice, but a mans got to do what a mans got to do!

     Took my boys for a walk today...in the rain and cold...the county was out at My Two Lakes today.  They are planting one thousand one hundred more trees! ! ! yup! Sounds more impressive than eleven hundred doesnt it!  But then math has not always been my sstrong suit! At least when you throw in the alphabet!

     What a great two walks it was!  I guess sort of a Pilgrimage I suppose. Wasnt 5000 miles, and Didnt have a backpack, but had my walkin stick and my duster and my loyal companions.  Saw the ospreys out fishing. I didnt take my camera, cause it was raining. 

    What was the name of the two or was it three theaters downtown? Lowes, Majestic, Metropolitan,? I know the Majestic was one. Was it Lowes Metropolitan, or was that two theaters? The hot dogs were good! ! ! I mean, being downtown and all, they had to be good...right?

    Albritons was wonderful...the LC cafeteria downtown was wonderful as well...ok, I'm gonna go raid the fridge...aint gonna be nothing frozen unless it's ice cream!

When in danger and in doubt, run in circles scream and shout...

Teddie Jordan

Yall are still killing me with all the talk about good eating places. It's safe to say that I don't know much about cooking, Fran is an excellent cook and that's her department. But I do know good barbeque when I meet it. I was a salesman for about 35 years and took customers to lunch almost every day, and for my money the three best old time barbeque joints in Houston were John's on Shepherd, Matt Garner's on W. Dallas, a few blocks west of downtown, and Massey's on Bissonet, a couple of blocks west of Hillcroft. All three of them were older black men and all three were top notch people and top disciples of their craft. Mr. Massey had apprenticed under Matt Garner. And all three eventually sold out, two of them to people who failed to recognize what had made them successful, and the third, to Jerry Pizzitola who has kept the tradition alive.

One interesting fact about John Davis and his wife is that they would take a week of vacation each year and let their kids run the business while the two of them would attend the world series baseball games in whatever cities were participating that year. Fran's dad, E. M. Webster, was good friends with John, and probably his best customer, and would also make arrangements and get the work done whenever John needed to add on to or remodel part of his building.

Several of my competitors were wealthy guys and they would take our customers to River Oaks Country Club and those types of places and I couldn't compete with that. But eventually that stale environment grew old and my customers showed a preference for going with me and drinking beer and eating good que in one of those smoky old joints. And I made a lot of money off of that distinction. They used to call it going to ol' Jordan's country club. The proof of my eating level back then is the fact that I've lost about 60 pounds in the 12 years since I sold the business and retired. I simply don't eat or drink nearly as much as when we were entertaining a lot.

Another top notch barbeque place is Heinze's in Wharton on Hwy.59. It is the one with the two large old pecan trees growing in the middle of the dining room and up through the roof. Good old fashioned pecan smoked que and awesome fresh vegetables. And Fran and I adore their chocolate pie, I swear the meringue is 4 inches high, the crust will melt in your mouth, and the filling is out of this world. We have been known to stop on our way back from Freer or Aransas on a Sunday afternoon just for a piece of that Heaven.

And I agree with Jan's conclusion on BBQ Inn on Crosstimbers, one of our favorite places and Fran's mom's absolute favorite. We still take her there often but when she was still in Oak Forest we took her there for lunch every Tuesday for years. Their number one seller is fried shrimp, followed closely by chicken fried steak, my favorite, then fried chicken. BBQ is what they got their name from but the fried stuff is what they sell the most of. Fran always has the stuffed crab and her mom always has fried catfish and shrimp.

Bennie Schielack

Pat ...... there was a time before A/C?  Totally forgot those "good" ol' days.  Attic fans and open windows.  The sounds of trains moving past in the night.  Mesquitos and flies in the house.  Cars you could see the occupants in.....  Two lane highways . one lane each way.  

Fried chicken carry out place next door to the cleaners on 34th street.  Spud Nuts donut store on Ella.  Milk shakes from Dugan's Drugstore on Ella.  

I remember seeing a house fire on Wakefield, about the 1000 block.  I was on my way to the grocery store across from Halls Texaco and evidently the heat or maybe the fire itself was reaching the electric lines, because it looked like a 4th of July fireworks display.  Colored sparks arcing into the sky.  It was remarkable to watch, except for the family whose house was on fire.  

Prices 5 for a dollar hamburgers, maybe the worst I've ever had, but a bargain at the time.  My how times have changed, and for the better.  Sometimes, I wish I had been around in different eras, but I also wish I could come back every 25 years and check out the world, just to see what progress has been made.  We have been on this earth during a really exciting time.  I hope you have each really enjoyed it.  To me, it's being a wonderful ride.....

Wayne Lake

Beau, I agree on Goode Co. brisket being too dry (try the ribs and the sauce is still great) and Rudy’s being too fatty (but I don’t eat BBQ often and when I do, I want some fat).

I vote Heinze’s on 59 near Wharton with the BBQ chicken #1 and the mustard greens as best side. I’ve seen many folks stop in for various meringue pie only.

Teddie, of those three Houston joints you liked, which is still around and good?

How about Felix’s Mex at Montrose and Westeimer (now all stores closed, I think) with the best brown chili gravy, starched white linens and really professional waiters?

Anybody ever stop at the Bakery on 77 in Schulenburg just South of I-10 for kolaches or the city meat market across the street for German wieners or remember the original Bon Ton in La Grange when it was on the NE side of the square (great pies also) or the DT café in Huntsville on the SE side of the square featuring scrambled eggs and calves brains – Dennis Hansel and I would go there on Sunday evenings our 1^st year at Sam and he would always order them but not this city boy.    

Now I’m hungry………………

wtl  

Beau Wann, Jr.

     I sorta liked Prices hamburgers. I could buy five in a minute, and down all five in a minute. Now thems good vittles. I loved their frys also too. Salty and greasy. If any of youse youtes are looking for a one time greasy meal, ITTY BITTY BURGER BARN on Pinemont almost to the RR tracks on the inbound side has what you want. I tried em once, and it was too greasy for me....plus I noticed that they were kinda surly...For some reason they have been voted best burger and fries! I allus wondered by whom?  Probably a  kid like me when I was 14 years old! 

   You know, we all talk about the Q we've eaten and how good this place and that place is and was, but I've also noticed we dont eat it that often anymore. Which is a good thing I suppose. But it sure is nice to remember the good eats back when we were all 10 foot tall and bullet proof!

    Goode Company has some goode food, plus a very interesting decor. Old West theme, which is right up my alley, or down my valley. Dry Q is why there is Q sauce, right?

   Diane and I have stopped in at most of the german bakeries and chzech bakeries all along the hwys from Hwy 75 to 77. Lots of great bakeries on 77 from I10 to Austin.  Grolzcks meat market and exxon station in Hempstead. Chappell Hill Sausage Co.

   Spud Nuts donuts???? Oh man, how did I ever forget about that place. I know I've mentioned the Donut Hole on 18th and Hempstead Hwy, but I just saw one in Brenham on 50 and 577? well anywany it's somewhere around the Blue Bell Creamery. Looked brand new. Gonna have to try it for old time sakes, doncha know! Purely from a historical and scientifical approach! I guess you can approach a donut shop from any direction you want, and it's still a donut shop!

    You know one of the oldest restaurants still in bidness in houston?  THE MASON JAR on I-10 near where the old Academy was that is now a saltwater fishing supply.  It is also next to the Salt Grass Steak house. I went to the Mason Jar some 40 years ago. They must be doing something right to stay in bidness that long, especially in such a fickle venue.

     I know we've all seen what we perceived as great restaurants close down, and wondered why, since the food and service was so great. I think I will revisit the Mason Jar sometime soon. I know they didnt allow children under the age of 10 methinks, and they made no exception eyether!  Maybe thats what works, stick to your guns, stick to what works for the customer.

    The Sam Houston Steamboat House on Gessner and Tollway 8...well, the service is the worst in the whirld, or at least the worst for such a hoity toity acting place. The decor is almost worth the visit. The prices are astronomical and food is sparse and service is non existent. I gave em 3 chances too.

      Normally I dont go back to a restaurant after the first bad experience, but I liked the decor and the idea that it glorifys Sam Houston, so I really wanted it to be just a happenstance, a bad day for the wait staff, or bad day for the cook, but alas and alack, after three times with the same results, BAD, they struck out.  And wouldnt you know it, someone gave a gift card to us for Christmas for those folks.

    Believe me when I say that if the restaurant in question is having a bad day, I'm probably in attendance!  Dont know how that happens, just bad luck I suppose. Bum Philips is right, "I'd rather be lucky than good"...I always thought if you were good, you didnt need luck...not so mon ami! ! ! Of course you're courting disaster if you're having a bad day AND unlucky!  Just look at the Denver Broncos! ! !

    One time, when I was still with the dial tone factory, sometime early in my illustrious career, I had worked all night on a project, and left the customer premise about 8 AM. I stopped in at Charley Browns for breakfast. It was on the inbound side of Memorial just past Westcott. Remember Charley Browns? Alot like Denny's and IHOP. I pulled in to an empty parking lot, and thought, wow, I am so lucky, wont have to wait long for breakfast!

    I got inside and other than  one waitress/cashier, the place was empty. I sat down, and she came over to my table, and said it would be a long wait, cause the cook and everyone but her quit, and she was soon to follow! How's that for luck?

     Speaking of which, got two phone calls yesterday from Broussard, La! I thought it was one of yall on a casino trip, calling to tell me, you hit the jackpot, and was gonna share it with us.    I askem what number they dialed, and they just asked was Boudreau there. I said no, you have the wrong number! they asked again, or said, "Boudreaus not there?". I asked them again what number they dialed! I said I have had this number for 20 years, and I was in Houston, Texas, WHAT NUMBER DID YOU DIAL? They hung up...I knew, it was one of yall! ! !

     Then they called back and asked to speak to Boudreau again. I told em he fell off in the bayou and the gators got em! ! !    there was silence on the other end, and they just said, "sorry"...Normally I try to be as helpful as I can to wrong numbers, but if someone is being a stupid wrong number caller over and over, well that just gives me poetic license....Just now got one from Minnesota! ! ! Wayne is that you? I thought you was here man! You win the jackpot in Minnesota and gonna share it with us?

    Ok, time to take the boys for a walk around Two Lakes!

Happy trails mon ami...

Jimmie Lee Smith (Brawner)

I sent this to Beau in an e-Mail, but decided I just really had to share it with everyone.  The guy on the motorcycle is dead - he had planned his burial for years to be sitting on his Harley and his sons had built him this plexiglass "coffin" that he wanted so that everyone could see him on his most-loved bike before going into the ground,  Embalmers had quite a job fixing him with braces, etc., to get him sitting up on the bike.

Jimmie Lee Smith (Brawner)

It's been fun hearing about all the restaurants we frequented while young.  It's most amazing to me because our family wasn't all that well off and since my mother was the best cook in the world, we weren't without world-class food (in our opinion, at least).  But we did eat at most of those places.  Friday night was dinner @ cafeteria in Merchants' Park (I believe that was the name) on Shepherd and 11th? as a reward for my mother who worked our whole lives.  Sunday was most always roast & mashed potatoes - roast was seared and started before we left for church and simmered until we got home (Sunday mornings were always filled with the smell of seared onions).  We sometimes drove to the Bill Williams in Sugarland with our neighbors (for a Sunday drive and lunch treat).  Felix was the Mexican food mainstay for my family for all my childhood, so the day Charles and I drove over to find it closed and being renovated for another business venture broke my heart.  Mrs. Tijuerina and some of the waiters had known me since i was a baby.  So sad.  Best french fries were from Plantation Oaks - remember they were fried after being dipped in batter - soooooooooo good.  We normally picked up our order to take home, but on a few occasions had the luxury of "eating inside."  The Skrehot Family (owners of BBQ Inn) were our neighbors when we lived in Candlelight Plaza.  Louis has since retired, but Wayne is still there and his son David is helping him now.  All our kids went to school, dancing lessons etc., together.  I never cared for their BBQ sandwiches because they put relish on it.  But their shrimp is still the best - in my opinion, even better than any dedicated seafood restaurant, except maybe Goode's.  Brian Copeland introduced us to Goode's because it's close to MD Anderson and where we stay when we are there.  Wayne, remember Frank's in Sculenburg - pies with meringue sky high (no where near as good as my mother's, but good for store-bought).  Well, I'm getting too hungry to continue and I'm here with Charles in the hospital, so I brought my own frozen dinner and will just leave you and go cook it.  Have a great day, everyone!

Teddie Jordan

Jimmie Lee, I love the picture of the guy on the motorcycle on his way to be buried. I had a similar idea once, a true story:

We had that beautiful restored '55 Chevy 2 door hardtop hot rod that we owned for about 15 years, and my idea was to be buried in it. So I bought a total of 9 plots in our local cemetery and I had done all the measuring and it would fit. One night I broached the subject with Fran. My plan was when I died first to have them bury it with me behind the wheel in the front seat with my left hand on the steering wheel and my right hand on the floor shifter. Then when she died, we would have them dig it up and put us both in the back seat embracing, and re-bury it. That way our remains would forever be together embracing in the back seat of a '55 Chevrolet, pure genius! I thought it was one of the best ideas I had ever had in my entire life, so romantic!  Wrong!.... Fran got so mad she wouldn't even talk to me for about 3 weeks. But our youngest daughter Nicole had the right answer. She said, dad you can put whatever you want to in your will, but that car is too nice and we are not burying it! That was indeed the right answer. So now we figure we've got enough plots for any of our kids or grandkids who might someday wish to join us.

Hmmm? How about maybe being buried riding on one of my old antique Shirley Brown saddles?? We could ride double for eternity. Hmmm? Better go put my sales hat on, I've got my work cut out for me.

Jimmie Lee Smith (Brawner)

Teddie, you must have the biggest investment in burial plots of anyone I know.  Now I know that motorcycle fanatic wasn't the only guy with gigantic ideas of his own way to the hereafter.  So funny - I can just imagine what Fran thought when you explained your "GREAT" idea.  Lucky all the women in your family turned you around.  Did you actually ask the cemetery whether they would even allow the car to be buried?

Unbelievably, McKinney will have -1 wind chill tonight and most probably snow tomorrow between 9 and noon.  Snow - GOOD!.  -1 Wind chill - NOT SO GOOD!

Robert Derrick

Jimmie Lee, I had a similar childhood. Mother did all the cooking and it was great. I really can not remember going out to eat except for a hamburger. She was was always up early and we always had home made biscits for breakfast and on Sunday she would fry up chicken before we went to chruch so it was ready when we got home. Teddie, didnt we used to stop in Wharton at Hienzes on the way to our dove hunting escapades? Beau, did you know they opened a Hienzes in Hempstead on 290 at 1488 a few years ago. Not far from Krolcheck's. It did not last a year. Terrible dried out meat that tasted like it was cooked in the oven and the sauce was like catsup. Poor service also. There is a seafood place there now. It is priced for the locals. So, quality is about the same, but since I am one, it is not to bad.

Beau Wann, Jr.

     Robert, yeah, I remember the new place, right by Denneys. Tried it once, and it was as bad as you mentioned. All the places I have mentioned, were after I left home and came back from the service in 69. Only time we ate take out food, was from Chuck Wagon and Monterey House. My mom cooked, more like slaved, in the kitchen 7 days a week, even though she worked at sears full time. Alwways fixed us breakfast, lunches for school and dinner when she go home. Mondays and Thursdays she worked late so we would eat at my grandmothers over the North Side where Northline is today.

     I dont remember ever going to a sit down breakfast, lunch or dinner anytime whilst I lived at home. We would only do that when we were on the road to Little Rock to visit my moms parents.  We only stopped when my dad wanted to stop or to get gas. Generally that was at Two States Cafe in Texarkana. I think there was another cafe we stopped at, called the Coffee Pot, methinks. Mostly, if we were hungry, we didnt say anything. If we were cold or hot, or sick, you kept it to yourself as well as anything else that came along!  Looking back, we were really an inconvenience,  but that's life! You play the hand you were delt!

     My grandmother would cook everything in about an inch of bacon grease. Well, my mom did too...Tasted great, but probably wasnt all that goodfor us. Duh, ya think! ! !  They didnt make french fries, but German Fries. Thick wedges of potatoes and onions, fried up in an inch of bacon grease...YUM!  Navy beans? yup, with a generous hepin of bacon grease...greens? yup with BG...everything was cooked in drippins...and just think, today I use the same stuff, only different, called...Olive OiL...

     The cottonwood inn in La Grange, was good, dont know if it's still there, and if it is, dont know if it is still good...Wommacks in...????  How about The Swinging Door in Columbus????

     How about Krauses in New Braunfels?  The Faust Hotel? Diane and I stayed at the Faust one night on our honeymoon. Food was excellent! Didnt see the ghost they talkedabout...dang sure better not have too! ! ! Pat, are those still there?  When I was home on leave in 67, that was a very icy year. I took a picture of the fountain in the middleof Neww Braunsfel and it was frozen with icicles. I fell down alot because of the ice.

     The County Line BBQ place in Waller has the best sauce, and pretty good Q also too...
Spring Creek BBQ out at Cypress Rose hill rd and Fry rd is pretty good also. ESPECIALLY DESSERT!!!!!!!!!!!!! They have fresh baked peach cobler and Blue Bell vanilla ice cream. I  generally go for that and a cup O Joe!

     I keep going back to the Chuck Wagon, and the Gizmo for really memorable food and good times!
What was the name of the grocery store next to the Chuck Wagon, Brenhams? It's now a mexican meat market. When they turned the Chuck Wagon into a car repair place, that just killed my soul. Thats like turning the Cistene Chappell into a brothel. It shouldnt have been allowed! ! !
Also, Lynn Prewitts mom and dads place, the Walking Chicken had good hamburgers and malts and fries.  Ok, time to go.

      I skipped supper tonight, to try to get a handle on my weight.  About 15 years ago, give or take a few years, the sawbones said my triglicerides were off the chart, so I needed to cut out all fat and sugar. I did by using the diabetic diet.  I lost 30 pounds in 30 days. I was only trying to cut triglicerides, not necessarily lose weight. I felt better, and thought I could keep it off, and did for about 5 years or more, give or take...But alas and alack, my sweet tooth has come back with a vengeance!

    I think I am going to get back on the same diet, if I can. Dolly Parton lost a lot of weight, and when asked how she did it, she said she would eat anything she wanted, just one bite of each, and no more!

     Wayne mentioned mustard greens, and there is nothing I like better than MGs...Cooked with a ham hock, or not. Triple A on Airline drive is an excellent place to eat. They serve MGs and lots of other comfort food. Tough finding a parking spot! !      I thought The Texas CAfe on Shepherd, was good, but last couple of times I ate there, the food was not good. And one of the owners serves the food, and is a butt head! Last I checked, my requirement for a restaurant/cafe, was good food, and no butt heads!

     Remember The Copper Penny? It is still on Shepherd rat across from the Texas Cafe. they still serve burgers, but have chinese food also too!

    Ok, I've got to get out of here...trappy hails

Pat Brantley (Ross)

The Faust hotel will probably be there long after we are gone.  Krause's is still open.  I can't eat sausage so we have only been in once.  My sweet husband brought home some of naeglin's bakery apple strudel for breakfast.  I don't know why he went out in the snow when he keeps complaining about being cold.  The best strudel from our state's oldest bakery.  Sorry about your diet beau.  This morning's snow looks more like powdered sugar than real snow.  My granddaughters declared a snow day so their school day started late.  They didn't cancel school in Romania unless there was two feet of fresh snowfall.  

My mother could make very good pot roast, fried chicken, and seafood gumbo.  That was it.  My grandmother was such a great cook that my mother and aunt never learned.  I love cooking Italian food because I can eat that.  I have tried French cooking, but  I have no gift.  My sister's son has a great talent as a true chef.  He is our duck dynasty offspring.  He hunts, fishes, golfs, plays football and then gets in the kitchen and cooks what he killed or caught at the beginning of the day.  His wife's family owns a fishing boat in kemah or sea brook.  I can't stay out in the heat, don't want to kill anything but empty cans, can't play golf and would probably break my neck if I tried to play tackle football.  How am I related to him?  Of course he says I stay inside working on what he calls my "cave tan" and read and try to teach him something.  It isn't working.  I won't eat squirrel and he won't read poetry.

Johnny Sheffield

To all my waltrip buds

this morning I lost my mom with a heart

attack at  91 years of age she went in peace

at my sisters house.

johnny

Jimmie Lee Smith (Brawner)

So sorry, Johnny.  What a lovely lady she was.  Always had a glowing smile and twinkle in her eyes.  You inherited all that and thus, the reason you are such a great, fun, enjoyable guy.  We will pray for your comfort with your great memories of her.

Charles and Jimmie

Beau Wann, Jr.

     So sorry Johnny.