Chicken Fried Steak and Lessons in Grocery Shopping

You wouldn’t think after all these years I’d need a lesson in grocery shopping, but what I got today was at least a reminder. Last week I didn’t get to what I call a “regular” grocery store. I did curbside pickup at Central Market, but you don’t buy toilet paper or paper towels or the like there. So I had a long list of “household goods,” including some over-the-counter medications, such as a probiotic—darned expensive. The bill was, to my still-in-the-sixties mind, astronomical.

But Jordan and I had a good time, figuring what we needed for the holidays, planning dishes. Of course, there are a lot of things I want to make but time is running too short and who would eat them. On my list: taco salad, using the Chuy’s lime/cilantro dressing I made as a dip last week (we’ll probably have that for supper Monday night); Mac’s Salad, since we stopped at Michael’s today and bought containers of the dressing (Jordan got in the car and said one word: “Expensive!”). But then today I saw a recipe for sausage/gruyere balls—a twist on the ones I’ve always made with cheddar. Sounds delicious.

It’s amazing how much money and how many things one person living alone has on a grocery list. I tell myself it’s because I cook a lot—it’s a rare recipe that I can resist—and I cook once or twice a week for the family.

Even leaving Tom Thumb and Michael’s, we weren’t through. Went to Local Foods Kitchen for take-out for our lunch. A shrimp salad for Jordan (I am so frustrated that somewhere in life I developed a shrimp allergy, probably because I gorged on them). Tuna and a beet/orange  salad for my lunch, and shepherd’s pie for supper. It’s one place where the shepherd’s pie truly tastes homemade—not of preservatives, not of mass production. And the tuna was good—I’ve been off tuna for a while, but I liked this a lot.

And I still have a curbside pick-up order for Central Market tomorrow. Please tell me it’s the holidays.

I frequently check a Facebook page called Fort Worth Memories and History (please don’t sign up—you have to apply) because I enjoy some of the reminiscences, like do you remember the old Cross Keys Restaurant. Today I even asked if anyone remembers Papa John’s on 28^th Street? But someone asked for recommendations for chicken-fried steak, and I wanted to scream, “No, don’t do that again!” This morning when I turned on my computer there were 113 recommendations, and they’ve kept coming all day. And we just did this a couple of months ago. Pay attention people and don’t repeat the queries! I wish the moderator would not sanction such an inquiry again for a year.

I haven’t counted but I’d say West Side Café on Camp Bowie is the winner, but there have been some odd choices—a Cajun café, a bistro, places you’d never go for CFS. I remain firm in my conviction that the Star Café on West Exchange has the best ever. I may be prejudiced—friends of mine own it, and I spent a lot of Saturday nights running the cash register.  But the CFS is great—good tender meat, lots of crisp crust, and delicious gravy. And the atmosphere is great—Cowtown kitsch. I love the place. It’s on my bucket list for after the holidays, and we have several friends who want to go, so we may descend on them with a large party.

Meantime have a happy holiday weekend.  We dodged the high winds and just got a bit of rain, and I think it’s to be fair weather this weekend. Can you believe how fast December is flying by?

Back to reality, at least at the dinner table

The dog days of summer are here early—101 today, tomorrow, and the next day. Then blessed relief—down to the mid-90s? That’s relief? Actually, because I don’t go out much and when I do I’m not out for long, it’s not bothering me as much as years when I was working. I remember dreading to get into a hot car when I left the office at the end of the day. I often felt trapped by the heat. Maybe as you age you’re less sensitive to it, but I had the a/c on and the door open tonight and was quite comfortable—until Jacob and Christian came in complaining. We shut the door. But, no, I’m not wasting electricity. I have one of those ceiling-mounted ductless a/c units—is that what they’re called?—that uses only pennies worth of electricity.

I’ve been eating high on the hog—a filet with a huge baked potato last night (and the leftover for lunch today), salmon cakes a couple of nights earlier (and again for lunch), and scallops on risotto one night. A friend on Facebook posted that he wanted to cook scallops and was sent several intriguing recipes. Then he priced scallops and decided gruel sounded just fine.

Tonight, I came off my eating high horse too, though not with gruel. Jacob has been with his Coppell grandparents all week, and Christian went last night for the Coppell fireworks and then brought Jacob home today. So, I fixed a meal that boys would like—sloppy Joe. My sloppy Joe is not like you get in a can. I got the recipe from an old wine cookbook, where it was called, appropriately enough, wine stew. I’ve told this story so often I’m not sure it bears repeating, but Megan asked for the recipe, I sent it, and she fixed it. Her husband tried it, pronounced it good, but said, “It’s not sloppy Joe.” Megan wrote caustically that she guessed she’s the only one who grew up thinking red wine was an essential ingredient of sloppy Joe.

At any rate, both Christian and Jacob love it. I didn’t have hamburger buns, so I put it on hot dog buns. One of my mom’s lessons—make do with what you have. Jacob was a little uncertain, but I toasted the buns, and everything was fine. I bought three ears of corn, which I had to ask Christian to cook because I can’t heat two things at once. Jacob took a couple of bites and then said, “Oh, the braces.” Apparently, he had corn stuck all over his braces.

Still we had a nice family evening, sans Jordan. We all miss her and will be glad when she comes home Tuesday night. I even have a surprise new salad recipe to fix for her. Christian was assigned the dinner, but I’ll snip the green beans I got this weekend and cook those too.

And so we head into July. With hot days and no rain. Have we displeased the gods?