An eating adventure

Let me preface this by saying that Betty and I had some of the best food we've had in a long time tonight. But the way there was meandering. I had purchased a Groupon certificate for $40 worth of food for $20 at So7 Bistro, so we decided to go there. We'd been there once before, but tonight we lost it, absolutely couldn't find it. Parked in the garage and walked to where I thought it was only to be confronted by a space undergoing remodeling. After we got back to the car, Betty decided to ignore my instructions (except that I had the address on the certificate). We found it, quite far from where we expected it to be and not, as the address indicated, on 7th Street but on an adjoining street. Parked, went in, and found we were the only people there (about 6:20 p.m.) Not a good sign.
When we were there before, we had a medium experience--a really not bright waitress, okay food but nothing to write home about, and a terrible mix-up about the bill. And I thought the atmosphere was stark. So we were unsure tonight to begin with, although I'd heard they'd lightened the menu and the restaurant had changed hands. The menu made us more unsure: quite limited, although bistro entrees of coq au vin, lamb shanks, veal piccata, etc., all in the $20+ range, sounded good. I mentioned to the waitress that I'd looked at the menu online last week and there was a steak salad we were interested in trying (Don has added steak salad to the Star menu and wants to jazz it up a bit). The waitress said she was new (oops, another bad sign) and if they'd had it, they don't now.
Betty and I usually try to dine lightly and fairly inexpensively. So we looked, as we often do, at the appetizers. Crab cakes called to us, but we confessed to each other neither of us had ever eaten mussels, which were on the menu in a tomato/garlic/basil sauce. We decided to split the crab cakes and mussels, but we didn't hold out too much hope.
Well, we were so wrong. The mussels were delicious because of the sauce--I dipped each tiny one in so much sauce that I dribbled on the table. But I'll eat mussels again. I feel about them the same way I do about calamari--a bit chewy, but the sauce makes them worthwhile. The crab cakes, however, were some of the best I've ever had--served in a basil cream sauce with field greens liberally doused with the same sauce. We liked them so well, we ordered another round. I could have happily eaten a salad with that dressing and nothing else, though the crab cakes were meaty, little if any filling, and just crispy enough. House wine was reasonable and good (I'm not an oenophile!). All in all, a pleasant experience.
So, those of you in Fort Worth, try So7 Bistro (2401 West 7th, but actually around the corner) if you haven't. It's worth exploring to find it.

Need recipes

I spent some of today researching RO*TEL tomatoes--one valuable thing I learned is that's how you write it, not Rotel, as I've done for years. But information is scant--a man named Roettelle began canning them in the early 1940s in far south Texas; today the company is owned by ConAgra (what isn't?). Sure there are recipes on the RO*TEL website, but I'm looking for original recipes. King Ranch Chicken is a classic, but I used my own version that did not come from the website, and I used my daughter's queso that is a little different because it adds cream cheese to the RO*TEL and Velveeta. But I'd like other original recipes--it's easy to point readers to a web site, but it doesn't give a book much flavor (no pun intended). So if you've a great family recipe using these spicy canned tomatoes, please send it to me at j.alter@tcu.edu. I'll credit your contribution in the book. Thanks much.
From the ridiculous to the sublime, I went to a wine cafe tonight wearing the trendy new jeans and shirt Megan and Mel picked out for me. Ate a crab cake with blue cheese remolaude--delicious, but a long way from RO*TEL.
Like most of the nation, Texas is gripped in a heat wave. I haven't heard an official report tonight but it was expected to reach 105 and may have gone higher. It's been a bit dry which has helped but that's supposed to change. I'm beginning to think, as I'm sure others are, of the terrible summer of 1980 when we set all kinds of heat records. People still have T-shirts that say "I survived the summer of 1980." Extreme heat, like extreme cold, makes you feel almost trapped, though I laughed last night when I went out to water plants. Jay was sitting on his porch next door. I asked why he was out in the heat, and he said it was too cold inside. I find that too--too hot outside, too cold inside. Aren't we spoiled creatures?

PIcky eaters and good food

Yesterday at staff meeting the subject of picky eaters came up--yes, we do digress a bit, though now that June joins us, she really tries to keep us on track. But I had found directions for scooping seeds out of half a melon--cantaloupe or honeydew--and filling the half with a mixture of Jell-O and hot water (not the usual proportions), applesauce, and chopped fruit. Let it jell in the fridge and then slice. I thought grandkids would love it, and Melinda said she'd do it for her grandson but she "didn't do" Jell-O. Susan chimed in with a comment that neither did she because after all it came from horses' hooves. I accused them of being picky, and Melinda countered with "I"ll eat any hot pepper you give me," which she knows full well that I won't. Then somehow Susan had stapled a dip recipe to a letter that she handed June--the recipe sounded really good: corn, black beans, picante sauce, onion, green pepper, and I forget what else. I said of course I'd cut out the bell pepper and there were cries of picky eater. Then they began to recount all the weird things I will eat--tongue sandwiches (I grew up eating corned beef tongue), chopped liver, marinated herring, and I don't know what else. (Christian once said to me, "Juju, you do eat a lot of weird things!). We went to a luncheon yesterday and I was sitting next to our intern, so I whispered to her not to let them see me picking the bell pepper out of my corn and tomato salad--they'd fuss!

But today I had a wonderful tongue sandwich, okay only a half--it's high in points--when my friend Dick Hoban and I lunched at Carshon's, and he, as always, ordered smoked trout. And tonight Betty and I went to Winslow's Wine Cafe where we had a crab cake each with blue cheese remolaude--absolutely delicious. But we had to perch at a bar table on high stools, and Betty's knee was really hurting, so we didn't linger over more wine. On Weight Watchers, I find I'm a bit hungry a lot of the time--and even so I went over my points today, but not badly.

I thought I was through editing chapters of the cookbook except for one, but discovered to my dismay today that there were two more chapters that I hadn't edited (plus the one I have to write part of) so I've spent the day editing. This morning, I was a bit lackadaisical about it--when I talked to Katie, who edited the original copy but refused to edit recipes, claiming I knew more aout it, I said that truthfully I was watching Michael Chiarello cook--he's one of my favorites. But this afternoon and evening I've gotten very busy about it and got one more chapter sent out to the author. Sometimes I feel like this project will never end. But then I enjoy it.

Now, I'm going to quit and read. Have to go to the office tomorrow but will make a grocery run first and that's my outing for the day. Jordan, Christian, and Jacob come home tomorrow and, as always, I'll be glad to have all my chickens where they belong.