A Disappointment of Donuts

I tried a new to me donut place recently, Paradise Donuts & Coffee. I was looking forward to enjoying their made fresh donuts.

I'm old enough to remember Dunkin' Donuts before they went to centralized donut baking; when each store made their donuts fresh several times a day. The memory of those donuts are why, when I dragged out of bed on a recent Sunday morning, I was expecting to be rewarded with warm, fresh donuts. Nope. Sad face emoji.

I was there a half hour after opening. My selections made, box packed, I looked forward to giving these a try.

Sadly, this brightly colored box held a bakers dozen of disappointment. More sad face emojis.

Not a warm fresh donut in the bunch. Not only that, they all tasted like day old donuts. What? I've come to find out that the donuts at this Paradise Donuts are NOT baked fresh in the store. No, they're baked at another location the night before and then delivered to this location. A dozen sad face emojis.

To be fair, the donuts were ok. They tasted almost as good as any SuperMom's donut or grocery store donut I've had. Almost.

My takeaway? When it comes to donuts I should have quit while I was ahead. Smiley face emoji!

Hot and fresh!

Happy dining!

National Beer Day - Prost!

In honor of National Beer Day I thought I'd talk about one of our favorites. The family of Shiner beers.

The Spoetzl Brewery, where Shiner is brewed, is located in the small town of Shiner, Texas. The brewery was started by German and Czech immigrants in 1909. They couldn't find the type of beer they enjoyed in their home countries so they decided to brew their own. The brewery gained in popularity and the owners decided they needed a trained brewmaster to helm it. That brought in Kosmos Spoetzl. He bought the place and changed the name but kept the Shiner name on the beer. It's changed a bit from the tin shack it was then but the beer is still brewed with care and like they say, every drop is still brewed in Shiner.

Shiner has a standard line-up of beers and also brews special occasion and seasonal beers. One of the summer seasonal brews we've enjoyed is their Ruby Redbird. It's a tart, refreshing beer made with Texas Ruby Red grapefruit and ginger. The perfect thing for a long, hot, summer day or anytime something refreshing is in order. Happily, the Ruby Redbird has made the jump to a standard offering and is now available all year.

Iced beer in troughs is located on the way to the counter at some BBQ joints

A few years back we started seeing Shiner Prickly Pear in the summer. At the time the only places we found it were occasionally in the iced beer troughs at Rudy's BBQ and in Shiner Family Reunion six packs. It's one of our favorites and we bought it whenever we came across it.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago and imagine my surprise when we found this...

...in a grocery store, in Georgia! We'll be happily drinking this all summer.

Shiner is now available everywhere. Lucky us that means we can now find it in most of the places we visit. It's not a craft brew or a micro-brew. It's just good beer brewed in a place steeped in tradition.

Definitely check out the Shiner Ruby Redbird or Prickly Pear if you can find it. They both go well with BBQ, good friends and long summer days.

Prost!

A Taste of South Texas

The Texas Gulf Coast; it's hard to imagine a more perfect storm of foods that I love. It's where you can find a mix of great seafood, steaks, barbecue, TexMex and even authentic Cajun food.

There's everything from good BBQ at a chain like Rudy's to really great barbecue at a local one-off like Killen's Texas Barbecue.

Rudy's Texas meat market style barbecue

Rudy's Green chili stew

Killen's Beef Rib and Brisket

Killen's Ribs and Sausage

All the great TexMex is like my idea of heaven.

Everything good about a TexMex breakfast

Freshly made tortillas

Breakfast tacos

Some of the best TexMex we had was at Lupe Tortilla. The best veggie fajitas and awesome margaritas. Just so good.

There's a place in Houston called Abe's Cajun Market. I can't even remember all the times that we ate there. It's a local place, off the beaten track, but for Cajun influenced cooking it was our go-to.

Cajun spiced boiled shrimp (image from Abe's website)

Crawfish Etouffee and Seafood Gumbo (image from Abe's website)

Image from Eater Houston

Besides a barbecue joint, Chef Ronnie Killen also helms Killen's Steakhouse. A gem of a restaurant located in the Houston suburb of Pearland. I had a wonderful meal there highlighted by both a perfect Manhattan and a perfectly prepared steak. Definitely worth the drive.

Another favorite is Perry's Steakhouse and Grill. Although we never did have a steak at Perry's, their signature Famous Pork Chop is amazing.

While there are a lot of places to find fresh seafood in the area, one of the nicest is Pappas Seafood House. Wonderful fresh fish cooked simply and a fried stuffed avocado appetizer I love.

A short and sweet list of the places the Dining Companion and I enjoyed. If you find yourself in the Houston area any of these places would be well worth a stop.

When I think about places with a food culture I think about a place like Southern Louisiana with its creole and Cajun flavors or coastal New England with its great seafood. Houston, for me, hadn't been a part of that conversation before. It is now. If you're looking for a place with a great mix of some of the best food cultures look no further. You'll find it in the Lone Star state, on the Third Coast, where the best of land and sea come together.

Happy dining!

Deep in the Heart of Dixie

Once again our merry little band is hitting the road. The East Coast is beckoning once again.

We had a good time in Texas. All that barbecue, all those icehouses, all the great seafood and TexMex cuisine. (I sense a theme here!) We've often vacationed in Texas and with all of our new found knowledge those vacations will be more fun than ever.

But, for all that, there is something about the East Coast that keeps calling us back.

So off we go. Heading east along I10 and into the Atchafalaya Basin, crossing on the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway and its 18 mile bridge. East through the cities of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. And finally north towards Georgia and the Carolinas. 

We took our time and stopped a few places on the way. The Blow Fly Inn in Gulfport, Mississippi had been on my radar for a while. Too many Diners, Drive-ins and Dives viewings I suspect. But in any case, I wanted to check it out and the Dining Companion was kind enough to indulge me.

There wasn't much of a crowd the day we stopped for lunch. We were warmly greeted and seated at a table by a window.

I spotted a favorite of mine on the menu, a pimento cheese burger, and just had to order it. The Dining Companion ordered a Gulf Coast staple; a shrimp po'boy. 

Pimento Cheese Burger

Shrimp Po'boy

Lunch was good but I honestly didn't see what all the fuss was about. Maybe this place lights up with a crowd? Hard to say. I'm glad we stopped and that I had the chance to cross if off my list.

It's strange and comforting to travel along roads both familiar and made new by the haze of a capricious memory. Was that place there before? Did we stop here on a previous trip? It seems known and unknown at once.

Which, in a way, is nice. We get to rediscover old friends and discover new to us places along the way. But travel can be like that. It can make the old and familiar seem new and the new seem like an old friend.

Happy travels y'all!

Sam Houston Boat Tour - Houston, Texas

On a recent, overcast day, the Dining Companion and I took a tour of the Houston Shipping Channel. The Port of Houston Authority offers a free 90 minute tour aboard the M/V Sam Houston. The tour embarks from the ports Sam Houston Pavilion.

The tour is free of charge and is boarded on a first come first served basis. The day we were there was rainy and overcast so the crowd was small.

We boarded and got under way.

We passed cargo ships from all over the world.

The orange craft at the back of the ship is an escape pod for the crew

Hundreds of tons of cargo pass in and out of the Houston shipping channel every year. Once the cargo arrives at the port is is off-loaded and distributed to destinations all over the country.

There are many cargo handling businesses and warehouses located all over the port.

I don't know about you, but I find the workings of places like this fascinating. It's interesting to get an up close look at how some of the goods we use everyday make their way to us. Several large retailers have warehouses located at the Port of Houston. From these locations they can distribute their inventory to stores located throughout America.

The inside of the ship is comfortable with plenty of seating. Nice on a rainy day like we had.

Large screens show the view from the front of the boat

There are interesting activities like this available to the public all over. Get out there and take advantage of the ones near you.

Happy travels!