Dinner at the Star--a trip back in time

Jacob and I had dinner at the Star Café on West Exchange last night, in the heart of Fort Worth's National Historic Stockyards District, better known as Cowtown. It's the oldest continuously operating restaurant/bar in Fort Worth. Best way I can describe it is "western funk." The ceiling is stamped tin, with a swing and other things hanging from it. The walls are covered with photographs (a few signed), signs ("Eat here. Get gas."), and everything from hats to crosses. Checkered tablecloths, mismatched wooden chairs, neon signs. It's a step back in time.
My friends Don and Betty Boles own the Star--no they haven't owned it since it opened! But they've had it about twenty years now, with an earlier stint in the eighties. Last night we went to meet Betty, since she and I have a weekly dinner. Because I had Jacob we knew he'd like it--he had grilled cheese, his usual diet.
The Star proudly brags about it's steak cuts, chicken-fried steak (hand-floured and deep-fried--none of this frozen pre-done stuff), and it's hamburgers. It's all delicious. The ranch dressing, made from scratch, may just be the best I've ever had. My family has celebrated birthdays and weddings there. It's home to us.
About fifteen years ago I was bored with my academic life, and I began to work at the Star on Saturday nights. First I seated guests, but then my routine post became the cash register. In between customers I rolled flatware, an endless job. I met fascinating people--and some unpleasant ones. But I loved it--such a break from my usual atmosphere. A majority of the people who came in wore western clothing--but not all. TCU people came often; so did people from University Christian Church, in the days before Betty retired as organist (after 40-plus years of service). It was  real mix of people...and it was almost always fun.
My favorite part of the evening was about 8:30 or 9:00 when I'd see Betty get herself a glass of wine. It was the signal the evening was over, and we could have wine and supper. I used to choose chicken fingers, or sometimes I'd bring a jar of kraut and Betty and I would share a Polish sausage plate. Or she and Don would share a steak, and I'd take half of mine home. Much as I love the chicken-fried steak, I rarely ordered it--it's a huge helping, and I'm always weight conscious.

There are daily specials at lunch, and friend Jeannie and I used to go on Wednesday (when we were both still working) for meatloaf and banana  pudding. In fact, I looked forward to Wednesdays in those good old days gone by because there was a hefty food section in the newspaper, it was meatloaf day, and "West Wing" was on at night. Days long gone now with a meager restaurant section and no "West Wing." The meatloaf is still there but we never go for lunch anymore.
So last night was a chance to visit with a good friend, a trip in nostalgia, and some good food.
Go for the atmosphere, and go for the food.
(Photos by Betty Boles)

The amazing Nancy Drew

Especially for her time--the fifties and sixties--Nancy Drew was an amazing young lady. She could swim, dance, hike, do all manner of things. As one reviewer at today's Nancy Drew Luncheobn said, she could do anything.  She had amazing survival skills, living through being shoved overboard on a cruise and being buried in a cave-in, among other disasters. For a young lady in a time when people didn't travel as freely as they do today, she was surprising well traveled--from the Netherlands to Arizona to Istanbul and other exotic places--in over 48 mysteries, she could do a lot of hopping around the world. Her mystery solving skills are beyind comparison; never mind that she relied on coincidence and lucky happenstance for a lot of her solutions. When us oldsters were reading her books way back then, we believed she could do all those things and that all those adventures could happen to her (we hadn't become cynical about the Cabot Cove Syndrome yet)--and we wanted to be Nancy Drew with her red convertible. In a room of over fifty women, only three had never read the books--and two of those just read their first to be on the discussion panel. Fascinating stuff, and it took many of us back a lot of years.
The menu at today's luncheon was pretty much from the fifties--high in carbs. There was Scarlet Slipper Raspberry Punch from The Scarlet Slipper Mystery; Crooked Banister Corn Bread from The Crooked Banister; Shadow Ranch Barbecued Beans from The Secret of Shadow Ranch (one of the earlier books); Mannequin Casserole from The Mysterious Mannequin; and Brass-Bound Trunk Candy from The Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk. I didn't taste the punch but others said it was pretty good; the cornbread was just that--cornbread; the barbecued beans were really really sweet--what we in Texas call northern beans. They were made with two cans pork and beans, not from beans soaked overnight, and cooked only two hours. Good, if you like sweet beans--and I do. The main dish, Mannequin Casserole, was a melange of ground beef, macaroni shells, tomato sauce, creamed corn and cheese with onion, bell pepper and mushrooms. Good, but as a friend next to me said, "It's sort of what we call ghouash," and another said "It's like the Doris' Cassereole you make, Judy." Still, if I weren't on the small portion kick, I'd have gone back for more.
Presenters synopsized each book from which a recipe came but they were hard put to tie the recipe to the book--the cornbread was actually mentioned on a specific page in Crooked Banister, but the reviewer for Shadow Ranch could only surmise that when they packed a picnic lunch for a day's outing, it included the beans. And the reviewer for The Mysterious Mannequin, in which Nancy finds herself in Istanbul, guessed that it was based on a dish from that region of the world. Hmmm. With canned corn?
 The cookbook was originally compiled in 1973 by Carolyn Keene, the pen name used by the several authors who compiled the mysteries; a later version, Nancy Drew: Clues to Good Cooking was published in 2005 and was the book the recipes came from today.
Highlight came when Tracy Thompson read from Nancy Drew's Guide to Life which contains such gems (roughly paraphrased) as "If you see a bleeding injured man swimming toward your boat, be sure to stop and help him; he may be fleeing evil pursuers." Or, "Never disregard fine lines on a piece of paper--a microscope may reveal them to be fine printing."  Or "If you see something resembling a shark in the water, don't fret. It's more likely a small submarine operated by thieves." Words to live by.
Fun event, and now I think I even want to reread one of the books--don't I remember a title about a winding staircase? And another about an old clock? The friend next to me said she still has all thirty-six of her books. If you want to delve more deeply into Nancy and her history, there are scholarly books today, such as Nancy Drew and The Women Who Created Her, which I suppose talks about The Stratemeyer Syndicate that created not only Nancy but the Hardy Boys and other series. A great era in young-adult literature--and we got a welcome glimpse back into it today! Kudos to Susan Oakley, Shari Barnes, and Human Relations at TCU for a great luncheon .

Happy Birthday, Maddie

My oldest granddaughter will be twelve tomorrow. As she teeters on the edge of her teen years, I am filled with nostalgia for a childhood that went by too quickly. She was a beautiful baby, chosen as the prettiest baby of the week at the hospital where she was born, the kind of child that people in malls and groceries stop to admire (that always made her mom nervous!). So many memories--a wonderful picture of her sound asleep on her Aunt Jordan's chest while a cat stalked that creature who had taken its sleeping place, a solemn picture of her staring at me (I must have been telling her my name was Juju). As a toddler, she had an unusual sense of presence and was mostly sunshine and light, with sparkling eyes. But boy oh boy could she pitch a diva-like fit.

For almost four years, she was the only grandchild, adored by this grandmother and a rowdy bunch of aunts and uncles. I used to wonder how she'd adjust when others came along. The first was her sister, Edie--Maddie was mostly protective, only occasionally angry. Now she has five younger cousins, and she soon took over as the lead caretaker. She was always so good with the infants and at a  young age was efficiently giving bottles, diapering, and putting to bed whoever happened to be here--and that included a bedtime story. All I had to do was kiss them goodnight. These days Edie assists but they both mother the little ones, watch out for them, lead them in games, and love on them.

Today Maddie is a tween, playing games on her iPhone one minute and nose buried in a book the next.She has a long To Be Read list. She's read some pretty sophisticated things but also loves the Wimpy Kids books. She has her BFF or Bestie, as she calls Rachel, and the two are inseparable, and she has a huge crush on Justin Bieber and can talk about him in excruciating detail. Maddie delights in getting good grades (though her posts on FB say "ugh, school again," and such), and participates in everything from basketball to choir and the school play. I have gone to ballet recitals, volleyball games, and school plays. Once, in first grade, I was a visiting author at her school: a substiute teacher introduced me by saying, 'Maddie's grandmother is here because she has wrote some books." Ouch! Maddie took over the class, and I barely got a word in edgewise. Maddie went through a cooking phase, which I loved--I still remember asking her to spread a potato cassereole evenly in the dish and looking over to see her pounding it with a wooden spoon! I don't think she cooks as much these days, but she knows the basics and she'll make a good cook someday.
She isn't--yet--a sulky teenager and retains her sweet disposition and her closeness to her family, though as her father explained to me, "She doesn't hang with us as much these days." Still I hope she'll continue to love our family gatherings and be close to her own wonderful family.
She's a girl to make a grandmother proud, and I love her dearly. So happy birthday, Maddie-Moo, from your Juju.

PS a present is in the mail!