Trip to Lubbock. Bbq in Guthrie

KThe rib shack at 2325 E Oklahoma Ave in Guthrie, OK was ok.  It was nine o clock and we think it was technically closed.  Chairs up on tables for half the place.  They may have just been serving who came in while they were getting ready to go home. 

The question my wife hates, that I love to ask when I call someplace is "how is the food there?"; and when I called here the waitress said pretty good.  But she had a uplifting voice so we decided to go, despite the poor review on the website I glanced at before going.  WELL maybe we should have kept going. 

When we drove up there was a guy outside and I asked him how the food was and he said "good" as well.  Well find out later he was the cook. 

Well after we went in I asked what was good, one of the owners said the catfish was.  I love my catfish so I ordered it, despite my promise to give up breaded foods for awhile (not for lent-just for health).  I saw it was the special, and in checking the menu the special price was the same as the menu. 

Ryan ordered the sampler player. 

A little toddy for your throat

And yes I know that this doesn't have anything to do with food - well kinda because if you can't swallow comfortably or discuss precious events over a meal then what is worse.  Well there are worse things of course.  Thank you for reading my blog and thank you for your encouraging words.

As we head into the seasonal allergies and the scratchy throats here is a recipe that I have used countless times.  I am just going to share someone else s blog information.  I don't think she will mind.

Throat Fix

I have some more information about last weekend in Kansas City coming your way tonight or tomorrow so stay tuned and check back often.

Chow and Chow Down

Blessings to Ya'll
Share with your friends.

Kevin

Photo from the edge of the waters at The Creation Museum.

Kansas city relaxation weekend Saturday

Brunch was really good.  We both had a biscuit and gravy with bacon.  I added an egg.  Very good and a healthy size serving.  Betsey is not fond of extra crispy bacon but I found it excellent.  The place we ate was on the edge of little Italy.  Happy Gillis cafe and hangout is the name of the place.  Very eclectic neighborhood cafe.  The cafe uses local farm products and it was nice that they posted which farms they got their items from.

For our evening meal we went back to the city market and had Chinese at Bo Lings.  There was some great live jazz music at the restaurant next to us.  

And when it stopped there were three small ensembles that 

were starting to play.  Beautiful evening with a beautiful wife.  

Betsey got honey cashew chicken and I got General tso's chicken.  We started with an order of crab Rangoon which had an abundance of filling but not a lot of crab.  The two entrees however were very good.  Mine has just the right amount of heat.  Also there wasn't a lot of vegetables to confuse the taste.  

Kansas city relaxation weekend Friday

A few months ago my darling wife, of almost 33 years, said that she would like to take a vacation next year where she didn't have to worry about deadlines, going somewhere specific, be somewhere at a certain time, just her and me.

Well being the advanced planner I am...haha...most of you know that I am very impromptu; I took it upon myself to plan a mini weekend when I saw a Groupon for the Phillips Hotel in Kansas City.  BTW for those of you that don't know or don't live in this area most of Kansas City is in Missouri.  The grouping was one of those with a long time expiration but once you made your reservation that was it. 

Sure enough I made our reservation and then things started to be announced that were happening the same weekend.  Our church is having a joint service with two other churches in Gage Park (I am chairman of the deacons-I should be there), our church is having an end of summer block party Saturday evening, Huff and Puff (a balloon festival in Topeka in which it has been tradition to get the convertible out for breakfast under the balloons as they do their mass ascension), and there is something else that escapes me at this time.  I do have a great group of deacons that can handle things in my absence so here I am on Saturday morning jotting down the blog with indigestion from last night's dinner.

BRGR sounded like a great place.  What could go wrong with some beef.  Nothing it was great.  It was a toss up between Johnnys or BRGR, as a couple of my friends recommended both.  I had been to Johnny's in Lawrence before and they do have great burgers. 

For appetizers we had deep fried deviled eggs.  Yep, and y'all know I love resurrected eggs, I don't like to give credit to the devil for anything.  These eggs were sliced in half and the yolks removed and mixed with some seasonings and chives.  Then the yolk filing returned to the eggs where they were reassembled and wrapped in prosciutto and breaded with what was a panko covering and then deep fried.  They were great but I do think I prefer my resurrected eggs cold. 

I surprised my love with a small token of my love.  A new ring that I got at Westridge Jewelry in Topeka.  Best jewelry store in Topeka. 

I ordered the Juicy Lucy burger.  For those of you that don't know the story behind the Juicy Lucy it started in Minnesota I think with someone that though cheese should be inside the burger.

Red burrito

Red burrito this morning.  It is inside of a Hardees so my rule for not eating someplace that I can eat at in Topeka applies. 

Chick-fil-A

I know we have one in Topeka but it is just not the same. 

I love this restaurant but the stand alones are great cause they come by and refill your drink, take your tray, and it feels like a real restaurant.  And NOW they have a mouthwash dispenser in the men's room.  Betsey didn't notice whether they had one in the ladies room or not. 

Is this Heaven

We use these statements "This is Heaven", "This is like Heaven", "I must have died and gone to Heaven" you get my "drift" as was the saying.  Anyway - I found a restaurant in Macon, Missouri.  Where is Macon you ask.  Well it is about 3.5 hours northeast of Topeka, KS (I use as a reference point cause that is where I live and where I am headed back to as soon as I get this blog posted).  Also north of Columbia, MO.

   Please check out their website for a complete history and menu.

 AJs Eat and Drink

My goal was to eat in Hannibal, MO.  I texted a friend, who was from Hannibal, and she didn't respond.  I Yelped for a place to eat catfish there (which is what I was looking for) and Yelp sent me to a closed restaurant.  I trusted my Garmin dash GPS and it came up with a few catfish restaurants 50 miles away and I didn't want to wait that long.  So I drove through the towns on my way utilizing the business routes so it would take me off of the 4 laner (of which I am not the biggest fan of anymore).  I found a couple eating an ice cream cone at a little ice cream place in some small town.  They recommended the DugOut.  They gave me directions as most people would - it's over that direction behind the "wedge".  OK - well I headed in that direction, all the time wondering what a "wedge" was.  I assumed that it was a triangular piece of property that the original town developers stuck in the middle of town because of poor planning on street design, or not expecting to need streets as wide as we have them now.  ANYWAY - I walked into the DugOut and I remembered I was in Missouri (smokey restaurants are quite the norm).  I checked the menu quickly and walked out.

So I drove on down the road and called and made reservations in Macon - time to call it a night and I asked Candace at the Comfort Inn and Suites if there were any places that were good to eat in town.  She recommended AJ's and told me it was by the McDonalds.  So when I got off the highway I headed towards the McDonalds.  BTW for the benefit of those that don't know this - it is my rule that I do not eat anywhere when I am traveling that I can eat in Topeka.

I checked my Garmin for the number to AJ's and called to make sure it wasn't too late for dinner.  The original owner, Al, answered the phone and I asked "How's the food at AJ's".  I ask this most of the time.  You can tell by the tone of their voice and the words they use if they believe in their product.  Try it sometime, you will be surprised at what some people say.  I believe the words that Al used were delightful and he asked me how many I had in my party, I told him one, and then he said I will meet you when you come in the door.  I already felt like family.

On my way to the restaurant I saw a sign that said Georgia Peaches.  So...I stopped for some peaches, they threw in some tomatoes, and invited me to their church in the morning.  BTW I did go, Crossroads Christian Church and it was great.  reminded me a bit like my home church.

ANYWAYS - back to AJ's (get them squirrels out of here).  Al did meet me and escorted me to my table, but in doing so asked me if I would like to sit at the bar and visit with the bartender.  I think maybe he thought I needed to have conversation while I ate.  An afterthought to me but it was very kind of him to suggest that.  Sierra and Audra were very kind informational servers and I saw that Onion Rings was something that they are famous for.  So I ordered some as appetizer.  I like mine with a little mustard.  They were delicious and I probably should have stopped there but I didn't.  These onion rings were probably the best I have ever had - the breading and seasoning was great and most of the time when you are biting onion rings you don't bite through.  These you do so you don't have the slap-back of the slimy onion hitting your chin.

They had some great specials but I was in the mood for a Pork Tenderloin if I couldn't have catfish.  So I ordered me up a hand cut, processed in house, pork tenderloin.  And to accompany it I thought I had better get a salad instead of the fries for health reasons as it was 8 at night.

The salad was beautifully arranged and symmetrical - may not have been a plan but looked beautiful. Dressings were all made in house along with the garlic croutons (of which I got a tour of the crouton making room when I finished my meal).  I had the blue cheese dressing and it was great with a bit of a bite and the feta cheese crumbles were a nice addition.  Oh and there was a half loaf of warm french bread in a bag as well.

The tenderloin was the thickest pork tender that I think I ever ate.  It was definitely the tastiest.  I could only eat half of it - I got a to go box for half of it.  I was trying to figure out how I could save room for dessert as well and I decided that by the time I got checked into my room I might like dessert.  So I got a Summer Berry Creme Anglais to go.  The dessert was a great ending to my day in my room.


During my meal Mike, Al's son, came over and introduced himself to me and we had a very nice conversation.  He shared with me some of the history of the place and invited me for a tour of the place as well as his aging room, where he ages all of the beef for approximately 90 days (in total).  I am thinking to my self "hmmm all this beef I don't know whether I would have the ability to resist.  So after I finished eating I found mike and got the tour of the crouton making area, got a chance to see the kitchen and Mike shared his aging techniques with me.  What a joy this was (Mike was in long pants and a long sleeved shirt, and I in shorts and tee shirt) it was a bit chilly in the aging room, but I enjoyed it none the less.  It was truly the highlight of my trip back from the wedding.

So Heaven it wasn't but I would suspect that their are some angels that are aging beef for people like Mike and I when we get there.  AJ's is a 5 star restaurant in my book.  It has a rustic ambiance that makes people feel comfortable and a room off to the side with table cloths so that you can have that upscale meal if you like.  They do a Batter Dipped or Chargrilled Imported Lobster Tail that I might have to bring Betsey back for.  And when they serve the steaks they use a aluminum steak plate, which the steaks have been cooking on.  And the serve them over three sterno burners to keep your steak hot throughout your meal

I will be back anybody else in for a ROAD TRIP!

A sign in the men's room.  Certainly the motto here at AJ's.