Grocery Tales

One mundane thing I enjoy is grocery shopping. While in Florida I can shop at Publix or Fresh Market for variety, Sam’s for bulk, or Walmart for exhaustion. In the small town in AL. that my sister lives the best option is Walmart within 40 miles. While travelling, Trader Joes is a must. But, in Kerrville, Texas the place to go is HEB- crowded like Walmart, Variety like Publix and nice cheese and organic veggie sections like Fresh Market. One thing that is funny and good is this packaged meat called grillers. I say funny and good because while my sister and brother-in-law lived there they loved them, so when they moved they told everyone about them. I don’t know if it was that they mistook what they where called or there accents caused the mistake, but whenever they told people that they loved “grillaz” meat it always sounded like “Gorilla meat”. People would look a little surprised and then ask how it tasted. The reply could be “oh just like in a restaurant” or “so tender and good”. Having to repeat it a few times we realize the mistake and say it comes in chicken or beef. With the large ranches, exotic animals and love for grilling/BBQ/Jerky in Texas I have tried many types of meat and I am proud to say I will try just about anything once. But, I have never tried Gorilla… or Giraffe or Lion.

Texas brings a smile to my face and (blank) inches to my waistline.

While I visit family in Texas there are a few places that we always wind up going to. Whether it is a push or a tug we follow where it leads. One such place is Francisco’s in Kerrville. At some point many years ago we decided to go there for lunch. It was a hit! For years now the four of us i.e. my Grandmother, my mom, one of her sisters, and myself have all eaten basically the same thing. For some odd reason we don’t try even a different day to see if we like other specials as much (we went once for dinner but it’s a blank, I really don’t remember it at all). We go Wednesday. Every year. Have the Spicy Chicken Salad Chalupa x4 with tortilla soup. If it happens to be fall we order the Pumpkin Cheesecake. Although I am not fond of cheesecake I liked this and it has led to the weeks of cheesecake I have had to eat. I will explain, since my mother liked this cheesecake immediately she requested I make it for the family. While growing up my mother tried to instill in us kids a yearly routine that seemed to only stick inside me, the youngest. That routine was Pumpkins… What I mean by that is as soon as pumpkin season starts we/I start to buy them, proceed to cut, boil, peel, and puree. Then I start to bake. I have expounded the list of items since I got tired of pies to rolls, cheesecake, cookies, dip for cookies, soups, etc…all the way till they stop selling pumpkins sometimes in Jan. So here come in the Cheesecakes, obviously you will only have a slice or two a day, take into consideration that after a few days the number of people eating it drops considerably and even if you had a group the first day it was still a rich 9″ or 10″ piece of perfection. For some reason we never freeze it. We just eat, eat until its gone. I guess I should be thankful that we don’t try other things. For years my mom has wanted to try and reproduce their Chalupa’s and I haven’t given her any hope. I have also eaten the green enchiladas another special on Wednesday, while very good they have no spice to them at all and I like hot Green salsa and make it at home so it takes away from it a little. However, we will continue to eat there for years to come and I hope that you can enjoy it as much as we do.

The Trek for Peachfection

If you go to the hill country of Texas there are a lot of things to do and see. One place of note: Fredericksburg, this little German town has grown so much in the more than 40+ years my family has visited it (My brother was even born there). It has become a bit touristy, but my favorites are still standing. Known for it’s Peaches which are FAB! Since the orchards have had problems with the weather and poor crops, and I had not been able to get to Texas during the season I had not eaten one in a few years. Though some may rave about Georgia or Alabama peaches, this year I got to finally remember the taste. NO CONTEST, hands down the best peach. We might have gone a little peach crazy as we bought a box of probably 50-100 of them, LOL. Even the deer are extremely fond of them which was clearly evident when I threw one doe a couple pits and she stripped them of flesh in seconds and begged for more. Definitely A peach to taste fresh in season, on the back porch in the hill country, watching the almost tame deer fight for the birdseed your aunt pours on the ground for them. It’s July and the peaches are wonderful, visit when you have a chance.