This, That, and DIna MO

Odds and ends today to bring you up to date.

This was the last I’ll see of MFO and the MOMSTER for a while, 

as she is setting off to Wisconsin to be with her sister to help with some medical stuff.  SIL is alone in the great white north, so off goes MFO.. leaving me with bachelordom!  Which is good and bad.  WHAT? Do my OWN laundry?  Clean my OWN Kitchen? But also… I think I’ll take a nap now, or,  Gee, I think I’ll just stay in bed for an hour longer.  And lest this sponsors any cute comments, I’m just being dramatic… kind of.. Anyway the MOMSTER performed admirably and MFO is currently helping SIL where the temperature is… zero.

 A couple more from Missouri

One of the things we did in Missouri after visiting the Covered Bridge and Stanley run and before the Gordonville Grill was to visit the Bollinger County Museum of Natural History, located in Marble Hill, Missouri.  It is in an old building that once housed Will Mayfield College (1878 – 1930).  If you click on the link, the currrent museum is housed in the building on the right. The accompanying story is pretty interesting also.  Its history kind of is a parallel to St. Mary’s College, a story for another time.  The current occupant (the Museum) touts itself as the home of the “Missouri Dinosaur” or Hypsibema Missouriense

The discovery of the remains of the previously unknown creature is pretty interesting, involving a kid, a geologist, a clay pit, a cow, and so forth.  The museum also includes lots of fossils and other prehistoric creatures

(life sized, by the way)

It was a fascinating visit into a small privately funded museum.  Being the day after Christmas, we were the only people in the place and talked a lot with the lady who was volunteering that day.  She was very eager to show us stuff, and of course was passionate about the museum and its mission.

Another facet of the many faceted Feeder is that he is a connoisseur of not only food and wine, but also of bathrooms. Mostly because he invariably visits one in almost any building he finds himself.  Enough of that, but I have to say that this old historical building housed one of the finest I have been in for a while.  Sparkling clean, spacious, a good door lock, all the necessities (besides the main one).  Inside the room were a couple of nice antiques and a lovely painting

And if your nasty little imagination is running, the answer is no, the photo was NOT taken that way..

A lovely stop in rural Missouri with our "kids"

Buy Local

After our lunch in Gordonville, we stopped at a local butcher shop in Cape Girardeau to get some meat for dinner, our last one in Missouri.  FOJTY knows all the haunts for local product and so we stopped at The Butcher Block

Perused the cases of lovely meat

Lovely steaks, but, after enjoying the FOJTY smoked brisket and its leftovers, our beef meter was pretty well pegged, so we thought some pork chops might be nice.  Seeing none on display we asked if there were any, and the butcher said he would gladly cut us some: how many, how thick?  We soon had some gorgeous rib chops for grilling

So nice when you can deal with “the man behind the counter” and don’t have to “ring bell for service”.   They produced a great meal..

See?

And while we are on food (and about to close this chapter) I do want to prove that your intrepid food reporter does not (always) “hide behind my keyboard” as he is sometimes accused but occasionally rolls up his sleeves and gets into the food

Shown here participating in the Stuffed Ham party mentioned in an earlier posting.  Do you know how much stuffing those little pockets take???  But I really enjoyed the opportunity to actually get involved. 

Sports (and not really a rant for a change)

And finally, tonight at long last is (mercifully) the end of the college football season, with the so-called National Championship Game between the beefy Ohio State Buckeyes and the flashy, speedy Oregon Ducks (who had the team member who made that astonishingly stupid decision).  It will be an interesting game to watch.  It has altered my whole day, making me coming up with schemes as to how I MIGHT be able to stay awake at least until halftime (how about a nap?).   I guess I know the answer (West Coast Markets), but Geez Louise, why START the game at 8:30 EST??   Can’t those flower children on the other coast come home with their tofu just a little bit earlier?  Even a five o’clock start there would be a big improvement here.  Coffee anyone?

(bordering on rant, sorry)

And after tonight college game is settled “we're number one! - everybody else is crap” full attention will divert to the Holy NFL and the quest for the Super Bowl will take center stage.  I suspect that Gimpy Rodgers and team won’t be able to beat the other darlings of the west coast, the Seattle Seahawks and their classy players like Marshawn (I’m Thankful) Lynch and (new term coined) “The Twelves".  Deliver us.  And I’ll bet after Andrew and the Colts pretty much sealed Peyton’s career in Denver, we’ll see a Pats and Hawks Super Dooper Hoopla Bowl.  And for those of you who didn’t get punished on Facebook with my extremely rare selfie (another story for another time) I’ll (really close) with a bad picture of myself revealing who I rooted for yesterday

After which, I was NOT

DFD

On tap, the Feeder visits Charles Street Brasserie and is surprised

Missouri Dining, ...etc.

Well, we should wrap up (would you like a box for that sir?) at least the food portion of our trip to Missouri… and I’ll try to keep this one short(er)

St. Louis enjoys a reputation for Italian food, a heritage of many Italian immigrants who worked the clay mines in the late 19^th Century.  Most people who know much about St. Louis have heard of “The Hill” a famous Italian neighborhood which produced Joe Garagiola and Yogi Berra.  It always has been home to many Italian restaurants of all formalities like the sort of family Rigazzis, Cunettos House of Pasta, and others up to the grand Dame Dominic’s which always rivals the downtown Tony’s for the premier Italian restaurant in STL.  On our Christmas visit, we visited what must be considered (and probably is) another entry in that class. Our DC friend travels to see his family in STL regularly and so we arranged that we would all meet over Christmas (as we usually do, we see him more there than here) and have dinner.  He recommended John Mineos, another venerable restaurateur in St. Louis and a restaurant that has been around for about forty years serving Italian Food

Not on The Hill, it is located on one end of a bunch of stores that comprise a shopping center on Clayton Road not downtown, but in the fashionable West County area.  The restaurant doesn’t stand out and you have to park in the regular parking lot along with the shoppers.   Not really knowing what to expect, while we were definately DFD but not to the nines (I didn’t wear a tie – which I rarely do anymore) but did have on a jacket.  The more or less humble exterior hides what I would consider a classic Italian fine dining restaurant.  Large paintings on the walls with those classic heavy guilt frames, tables with crisp linens, chargers with elegantly folded napkins, crystal wine glasses, and leather cushioned chairs.   And everywhere you look there were tuxedoed waiters gliding around the room serving tables, and finishing dishes tableside.   This happened several times during our stay, and it was done quietly and efficiently, a means of making sure your entrée was hot, the sauce was as fresh as possible.  It wasn’t done as a side show with flash (literally) and pomp, just good attention to the food.  In fact, your dish might be prepared a few tables away and brought to the table.

While I need to move along here, I won’t go over the food dish by dish, but everything was excellent.  As I had an off the menu special swordfish (a sucker dish for me) with caramelized onions over wilted greens which was lovely.  Fueled by a pre meal martini and a glass of wine, I did yield to my inclination not to, and got a quick picture as discreetly as possible.

Oddly enough there wasn’t toasted Ravioli on the menu, nor my other go to dish Veal Piccata.  With apologies to our friends (I may get this wrong), the lady ordered salmon but wanted the sauce on the side and vegetables instead of the side on the menu.  The only response from the server was “Of course, Madam”.  Service was the classic brigade style with captains, front and back waiters and so on.  More and more you find out (welcome to the party Feeder) that service is what makes the experience.  Can’t fix bad food, but if the food is good, service can make a meal memorable.  This one was..  I would say it would be a “special occasion” restaurant, not where you go for a quick dinner.  Prices are a notch down from Tony’s (upper twenties, not thirties) but the whole experience is comparable.  All in all in think Tony’s remains king, but I would come to Mineo’s  a few times and save Tony’s for every other year or so..

The FOJ’s

Both the “Y” and the “E” cooked meals for us over the course of our stay.   Fortunately their Feeder father doesn’t have to make stuff up.  Both know what they’re doing.  The “E” prepared his traditional Christmas Eve Lasagna dinner in their beaurifully decorated home which was lovely as usual and enjoyed by all,

And Christmas morning we got up (early) in St. Charles, MO (FOJTE) and drove down (I think right behind Santa) to Cape Girardeau. MO (FOJTY).  TY was up early and used his Big Green Egg to produce a wonderful smoked Brisket for our Christmas Brunch (he had to be at work by 3, the life of a cop).

Eventually the other “J” team came along with our grandson, his friend, and FOJTE's wife's sister (are you dizzy?) so we wound up with a group of about ten, plus good old Stanley.  We had a good time opening gifts, snacking, and wine tasting (noon someplace was invoked).  It was a good day for all.

We stayed a couple more days in Cape before heading home and had a chance to visit one of our favorite places there, the

It is kind of a peaceful place, out in the country by the mill

And Stanley gets to do what hunting dogs like to do!

After poking around we went to a little place where we’d been before in nearby Gordonville for lunch at the

(Window Grab Shot)

Where I had what they called a “club sandwich”

Kind of just what you might expect, but it was ample, tasty and the fries were hot.  Good enough on a cold day...

So finally it was time to load up the MOMSTER and head east again (Documented in first posting, "reverse"). Was kind of a quick trip this year, but it is always heartwarming to be with the family, and as we age, the tug of Missouri might start weighing on the love of Maryland.

So Christmas 2014 goes into the books and memory bank with thoughts of a reluctant Santa

Who is ALWAYS

DFD

Backing up

As I am wont to say, where does that time go?, here we are five days into the new year, and I’m not sure how that happened.  What is worse, now all those things you said “I’ll wait until next year to do….” Is NOW!!  Egad.

So, in order to remain in denial I thought I would go backwards through the Feeder adventures of the holidays.  We did have some very nice meals, both private and public. And we continue to be in reverse here, so this happened BEFORE the bourbon trail stuff..

On this trip our normal first night stopping point is Lexington, KY, mostly because we found the restaurant Jonathan’s at Gratz Park, and it provided a nice meal after a long day on the road.  I think I reported along the way that we discovered it had shuttered, disappointing but not totally unexpected, such being the case with a majority of restaurants.  They have their run, and then for a variety of reasons, either personal or business related, they move on.  So, I did a little research on the trusty (?) web, and I found a place that: a) received generally pretty good recommendations, and b) was open Sunday (which eliminated other candidates).  It is called Dudley’s on Short.  

We hustled into the Courtyard, called to assure a reserve (yes), got DFD and back into the MOMSTER to find the place.  We were aided (?) by the trusty smart phone, and after the usual passing by the place and dealing with one way streets we found it..  Downtown Lexington, although being rehabilitated, isn’t exactly a lovely place.   Anyway we parked the MOMSTER, covered the Christmas presents and walked into Dudley’s.   It is in a rehabbed old building, once home to the Northern Bank, having moved there in 2010 from their original home in Dudley’s Square.  The Bank Building was the entrance to the aristocratic Gratz Park Residential Historic District (Jonathan's... sigh). 

It naturally has very high ceilings and you enter from the street into what is “the bar” a rather large space with tables.   Passing through that you reach the stand for the “the restaurant” which we did, and were seated at one of a row of two tops against a banquette.  We were pleased that the next occupied table was at least two away, since the one next, was….NEXT, and I suspect you could easily join in or eavesdrop conversation.  The table was set with crystal and linens.  We were shortly approached by John who announced that moniker and told us he would be our server for the evening.  Reassured that he would not be bailing on us half way through the meal, he inquired about drinks.  I went for my DMOTRWAT with no further caveats, and MFO decided on wine by the glass since she would have to navigate home.

I must take a moment here to digress a bit. I have to confess that recently in a restaurant I have taken to forsake the “rocks” drinks in favor of “up”.  There is just something more graceful to a drink served in a classic clear, stemmed glass with that twist floating in it.  So maybe my dry Manhattan drink now will have to be DMUWAT.  And nowadays I usually stipulate “no Bitters”, perhaps DMUWATNB?  We were given the wine list which was quite extensive, with a fair amount of “by the glass” choices as well as many half bottles available.   It was a respectable list of wines from all over the world, and some big boys were there.  For instance you could get a glass of Silver Oak ’09 Alexander Valley Cab for a mere 20 bucks,  or maybe splurge on your dessert course with a half bottle of ’04 Chateau dYquem for 250.  As an example of the thoroughness of the list, all five of the left bank Bordeaux appellations were represented, with a 2003 Haut Brion (from Graves) topping the list at $595.  Eschewing that, she settled for an eight buck glass of Benzinger Sauvignon Blanc.

After delivering the (correct!) drinks John went through the specials, one of which was a Monchong.  A new one to the feeder I had to ask, and found out it was a white fleshed HawaiianFish, fairly delicate, and it was being prepared on wilted greens.  I ordered a Caesar salad for a starter which the menu specified it came with white anchovy, (a rare plus in my book – the fish, not necessarily the color).  MFO was a bit tired from her ten hour day behind the wheel and decided to select from the “short plates” section of the menu with a mushroom ravioli, and also another special; a “compressed beet” salad.  The salad menu also included a “wilted Brussels Sprout salad”.  Probably wilted because nobody orders the damn thing.  Ha ha..  After we ordered and settled in, a second DMU….whatever, was necessary to fill the gap before the food came.

And when it (eventually) came, it was quite good.  The salads were fine, although the compressed beet was a bit odd, and my Caesar could have used a companion for the single lonely white anchovy.   By the time the main (and short) plates arrived, the second DMU.. had disappeared so a glass of Hahn Pinot was necessary.   Both dishes were quite good, I very much enjoyed the fish.  We decided to end the evening by splitting a Molasses Cake with two spoons, which was served exactly that way, one plate, one dessert, two spoons.  A request to John (who as promised stayed the evening) brought a couple of small plates. 

The noise level was considerable (I think we’re getting too old), although we did enjoy spying on the table two away from us, with what appeared to be a couple on a date (no rings visible).  The gentleman ordered a bottle of some Rose bubbly, and the lady never touched the glass the whole evening.  Wonder how it went.

Anyway, we enjoyed the meal, and MAYBE we would return if we don’t get to Lexington on a Sunday again, there are some other interesting options to replace our dear Jonathan’s. 

Moving On

The next day brought us rain the entire way to St. Louis, finally checking in at a Town Place Suites (we seem to be Marriott addicts) in St. Charles (home of FOJTE).  With the magic of cell phones, we decided we would meet them for dinner at nearby Prasino.  We have dined there before (with them, actually) and have generally enjoyed it.  Having probably stunned you with Dudley’s, I won’t go through as much detail, but we did have a quite good meal.  FOJTE had his go to Brick Chicken, with his wife getting another fav, a bacon flatbread, MFO (surprisingly) Fish Taco’s, and I broke the meat color mode with short ribs.  Cocktails consisted of a class of Chardonnay, a Tanqueray and Tonic, MFO’s Gimlet, and since they had Plymouth Gin, I had a martini, up of course.  While I (now) enjoy my DM up, it isn’t quite as esthetically pleasing as that sparkling crystal clear martini.   And I really do like that Plymouth Gin, but drinking it day to day would require an endowment. 

Service was appealing to me, very low key and somewhat conversational..  He wasn’t our friend, but wasn’t stilted either.  For instance when we asked after a menu item of Tempeh, he replied it was new, and was made from soybeans.  Like Tofu? We asked.  Worse he replied, you wouldn’t like it.  Now, my vegetarian leaning friends, I am only reporting the conversation here..Oh FOJTE picked out what turned out to be a very nice bottle of Gary Farrell Chardonnay.  In fact it was so good we had to have a second bottle, probably urged on by the Feeder and JTE.  All was quite good, although MFO wasn’t knocked over by her fish tacos (an interesting thought), but I think fish tacos are a little hard to pull off.  Mostly we enjoyed being the our family again.

Although there is a gee whiz dinner out to go, and also the “private” meals, I think we’ll take an intermezzo here (get your own sherbert)..

And you certainly don’t have to wonder about

DFD

We were..

In Reverse...

Well, although it pains my between the lines, everything in order, all in good time, engineering mind, I am going to talk about the return home journey first.  Don’t get dizzy.  There are plenty of things to go over while we visited the FOJ’s but they will take a bit more time.  And I am not sure when you will read this so hope to fill in some blanks every other day or so.

I do enjoy traveling in winter, you can see “stuff” along the road without peering through leaves on the trees. 

Somehow the muted tones of winter fit the scenery, and reminders of the past. 

Leaving Cape Girardeau you eventually get the depressing ride through

an amazing place.  So decimated.

But once across the river into Kentucky things change for the better. The clever tourism (?) folks are riding the current craze for Bourbon, and have created the Bourbon Trail, loosely concentrated around Bardstown and north up to the capitol city of Frankfort.  A lot of the fashionable distilleries are now following the Napa Valley example of opening their operation to tours, sampling, and gift shops.

Having made this trip many times, we always say “we gotta stop at one of these sometime”, and never do, so we decided to by golly DO IT!   With a little research we found a bit lesser known distillery of Willett which was fairly close to the highway. And guided ourselves to their gate.

(note to marketing department, you can’t read your damn sign very well!)

And followed the quaint road

up to the distillery itself

On the way we noticed on their grounds were these interesting buildings

Which, dumb us, thought maybe were prison buildings left over from the Civil War or something.  Come to find out they are called “ricks” and are used for storing and aging the bourbon. 

We were late in the day, and the last tour was in progress, but we pretty much know the process anyway from visiting Scotch distilleries in Scotland and Wasmund’s here in Virginia.  Of course for Bourbon, corn is the main ingredient rather than the barley of Scotland.  But generally it is malted, fermented and distilled.  Although we didn’t get toured we stuck our head into the tasting room that was the ultimate destination of the tour and saw that they used pot stills (like the Scotch). In the tasting room were lots of signage about the Willetts and their history.

Sample only, i know you can't read it

Alert readers may remember that following the civil war a lot of Marylanders went to Kentucky, carrying with them the knowledge of distilling and creating Moonshine.   Many “county names” appeared in the history, and in fact Mr. Willett was a Marylander.

So we were glad we stopped after all, and although we didn’t buy any of the product (I got a hat) I did receive a wonderful birthday gift this year from a good friend of

The shape of the bottle is in the form of a pot still… get it?

Anyway after a night’s stay in Charleston, we continued on our way back to Maryland through the fog and mist in the mountains

So now we’re back in the digs preparing for a wild new year’s eve.  Our challenge will be to see if we can make it to ten o’clock.  Maybe a wee dram of Willet, since we will be

DFD

Happy new year to all, maybe 2015 will be slower than 2014 was…

Take this ham, and.....

Stuff it!!

Well, I’m on my way to becoming a St. Mary’s “county boy”.  If I live here another twenty or thirty years, I might make it.  I did, however, take a step in that direction last weekend (the day before our trek to St. Louis – stay tuned) when I was fortunate enough to be invited to a “stuffed ham” session, our county’s unique food.  One of the local families (“real” county people) has an annual get together to stuff hams for holidays. 

I arrived just in time to see most of the “stuffing” part of the operation.   I’m pretty sure most readers have a good idea of the overall process by now.   You start with a “country ham”, i.e., a fresh ham that has been “corned” by rubbing with salt and left for a number of days (usually somewhere around eleven). Then you take the ham and pierce it all over with a knife (preferably one with character, no fancy “chef” knife), creating little pockets.

The real creativity of this local delicacy comes in what stuffing is used. While not exactly a “secret” most folks are intentionally vague when asked for their recipe.   It varies from family to family, preferences change from North county to South county and are generally highly personal.  All generally include Cabbage, Kale, Onion, and personal preference on spices including more or less red pepper flakes or ground cayenne: “some like it hot” some don’t.  Again, each family has the absolute best recipe.

So you pick your portions and chop stuff and then assemble your stuffing

Put the ham in a pan… and get to work filling each and every one of those pockets.. 

By yourself, or with a buddy

Or a group effort

It is hard work and your fingers get cold, so you really need to have some refreshments

Like (home made) egg nog (another story to be told) or punch, and of course beverages that come in cans.

It is amazing how much stuffing it takes to fill those pockets and how easy it is to miss a couple which will generally be cheerfully pointed out by other stuffers.  But eventually you get the thing filled

And then it gets transferred to a couple of squares of cheesecloth

And then tied into a neat little bundle.

And “Voila!”, your St. Mary's County Stuffed Ham!!

Now you boil it for “a while” let it rest, and slice and serve.

So, after taking the pictures, I was "invited" to put down the Canon, roll up my sleeves and “get your hands busy”.  I did and had a great time.  Talk about hands on food preparation!  Meanwhile the social whirl continued around the house, and I didn’t count all the family folks,  but there were interested people of all ages and numbers of feet

What more could you ask than bringing family and friends together around food, enjoying the company, the libations, bantering, kids chucking around the football in the front yard, talking about Aunt so and so, just being with each other and food at the center.  And in the end, there are the left overs.

And today being Christmas eve, I hope everyone has a chance to be together tomorrow, enjoy some food (there is a lasagna dinner tonight and seventeen pound brisket in our future for tomorrow with the FOJ's and families), be sure to remember those who can’t be with you, and just enjoy the day.  And depending on the level of formality be sure to

DFD