Tag Archives: Food

Crawfish Boil, Houston, TX

Coming from Vermont, I can’t say that one of our “specialties” is crawfish. Here in Texas it seems like everyone has gone to a crawfish boil and no one has anything bad to say about them. I have friends that have talked about crawfish, how good they are, I’ve even seen them sit there and eat a while tray of them (that’s you Matt) and the entire time all I could think of was – that is just plain disgusting. I mean lets think about this, you are essentially breaking these little guys in half and “sucking head” (drinking the juice that’s in the top portion of the crawfish) and then eating the meat in the tail. All I can think of is I am NOT eating the intestinal organs of these guys – that’s disgusting.

This past Saturday, I found myself going to Houston to attend one of these said “Crawfish Boils”. “How disgusting is this going to be?”, “What if I don’t like it, what am I going to eat?”, “I am not eating the innards of these things and I am not “sucking head”.

Well turns out crawfish are pretty darn tasty. Not only did I like them, I LOVED them. Let me explain the process.

First the crawfish were cleaned (salted really)…

Next, in the pot they go!

Here they boiled for a few minutes, mixed in with some good ole spices and such.

Then they came out looking like this…

…and this! 200 pounds of these little guys were cooked.

And once they were in the cooler, we put a little more Cajun seasoning on them.

A boil isn’t complete without sausage, corn on the cob and potatoes!

The final touch is to make yourself a box.

Now came the part I was nervous about – eating them. The key is to twist (the tail off), peel (the first couple “scales?” of the tail), pinch (the end of the tail), and pull (the meat out of that tail!). They weren’t so bad.

OK – so they were pretty darn delicious! So good, oh so good.

If you have a chance to find a Crawfish Boil (if you are in the South, finding one should be easy) – check it out. I’m sure you won’t want to miss it!

Thank you Brown family!

Ol’ South Pancake House, Ft. Worth, TX

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As a little girl my dad use to call me “Pancake”, who am I kidding he still calls me his little “Pancake”. Turns out my entire life I have LOVED pancakes. They are delicious, the best breakfast I could ask for (topped with real maple syrup of course).

Every now and again we like to go out for breakfast somewhere. It’s something nice and relaxing that everyone should do once in a while, especially on weekends. Last Sunday, we decided to check out the Ol’ South Pancake House in Fort Worth and man was it de-lic-ious!

Ol’ South Pancake House (and Family Restaurant) is located at 30 and University (near the Ft. Worth Zoo) in Fort Worth. I’ve heard a lot about this place (all good things) and knew that it was typically a popular place to go. This family owned company has been around since 1962, so that should be a clue. We arrived around 11am on Sunday (expecting lots of church go-ers to be doing the same thing we were, which they were) and were told it was going to be a 20 minute wait. Sure enough – a 20 minute wait.

The menu is a typical Southern breakfast menu and the prices were great, you get a ton of food and there’s a great variety. Their most famous order is the German Pancakes (filled with powdered sugar, lemons and whipped toppings) however I opted for 3 original buttermilk pancakes, 2 sausage patties and 2 scrambled eggs. Sy opted for 3 pancakes, chicken fried steak (a Southern favorite) and eggs. Delicious and filling! Each meal was about $7.00. Check out themenu in the below link for all their options and prices.

For the adventure seekers (or if you enjoy challenging yourself to a Man vs. Food), they also have a pancake challege. You must eat 8 HUGE pancakes in under 60 minutes and your meal is free. To this I say – good luck and let me know how it turns out!

If you are looking for a great place to go, I definitely suggest Ol’ South. Go by yourself, with a friend, with your family. You will leave satisfied and stuffed!

Look for this sign!

Dixie Chicken, College Station, TX

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The Dixie Chicken. Maybe you’ve heard of it in a Robert Earl Keen tune, maybe you drove through College Station or heck maybe you even went to A&M. Frankly, I thought I should check it out while I was in town.

Anyway – I like to try to get a feel for places I go to, so when we heard Robert Earl Keen talk about the Dixie Chicken as well as a recommendation from a friend, we decided to check it out. First, we walked in and the atmosphere was definitely awesome, definitely Texan.

Here is the front of the building…

…the entrance…I love the swinging doors!

…the walls were covered with old signs. Very vintage.

In the back of Dixie Chicken is the place where you can order food – hamburgers, chicken strips and chicken fried steak (we are in the south), fries and other southern appetizers (stuffed jalapenos and fried okra) and they even had beef jerky on the menu. I asked Sy what I should get, his friend said the cheeseburgers were good. The woman in front of me turned around and looked at me like I was an alien (probably because I wasn’t wearing maroon), she then told me that this is the place to go whenever I’m in College Station. Ok, I started to feel a little better about this place. I opted for a cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate shake.

After being told it would be a 45 minute wait (it didn’t end up being that long), I though man this is going to be a damn good burger. Well one would think. Others would like to think this is a damn good burger when I’m drunk as all hell. My cheeseburger was charred – burnt really. I could feel the crunch of the burger as I would take a bite. “Where’s the ketchup?” The fries were honestly pretty tasty. The chocolate shake, or semi-melted chocolate ice cream left something to be desired to be honest however when I found the piece of clear plastic in my shake, that was it for me.

The Dixie Chicken should only be known as a watering hole, and maybe a place to eat when you won’t remember the taste of the food later.