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Let’s Eat!-Part 10

18 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Previously I mentioned that we have a regular, standing Monday evening supper appointment with some friends.  We try to have that meal at a different place each Monday.  There are some places that none of us like to go to, and it has essentially boiled down to about five different eateries where we go.

One of those places is Azteca d’Oro Mexican Restaurant.

Credit Judy Wills

It is one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in Orlando, and there are a lot of Mexican restaurants in town!  The food is consistently good, and we have come to know most of the hosts/hostesses and servers…perhaps not all by name, but surely by sight.  We get smiles, hand waves, and occasionally a hug from them.  We have our favorites, of course, but they are all good.  On the day where we eat there for supper, we don’t go there for lunch.  However, Fred and I enjoy going there for lunches some days.  They make the best guacamole I think I’ve ever eaten.  It has taken me all these years of marriage to get Fred to try guacamole, but he now enjoys sharing it with me.  He had the mistaken idea that either mayonnaise or some such condiment was in it (blech!), but I was able to convince him that just wasn’t so. Once, when I had been sick but was feeling some better, I asked that my entire meal be their “large” guacamole dish – instead of a small dish, it had three “scoops” of it.  That has become my favorite meal there  They have a wonderful appetizer, queso dip, served with warm tortilla chips..  I tried once to make that my meal, and decided it was entirely too rich…for that.  It is much better shared as an appetizer among the four of us.  And then, of course, there are the warm chips and salsa to munch on while waiting for the entrees.

One surprising fact about Azteca, is that it originated in Seattle, Washington!  Our store originally had a plaque with all the names of the cities where there was an Azteca d’Oro located.  As a matter of fact, Fred and I ate in one when we were visiting Seattle some years ago.  Same menu – same delicious food.  

Back on November 10, 2013, I wrote a post titled Wood Inlay.  In it, I described a wood inlay Aztec calendar that Azteca d’Oro had on their wall.  They remodeled a few years ago, and have removed that wood inlay, much to my sorrow.  It was unique.

Credit Judy Wills

We four occasionally go to Culver’s for supper.  We all like the eatery, and there is quite a choice of what to eat from their menu.  It is, essentially a hamburger joint, but they are delicious!

Another choice we all enjoy is Outback Steakhouse. 

Credit Outback Steakhouse website and Herve Andrieu

Not only are their steaks really good, but they have an entree called Alice Springs Chicken.  Grilled chicken topped with sauteed mushrooms, bacon, two kinds of melted cheese, served with a side of the best honey/mustard sauce I’ve ever had!  Yummmm! 

Credit Facebook

Their salads are great, and their hamburger is also wonderful.  We’ve given up on the Bloomin’ Onion, as it’s just too much good along with the entrees.

They used to have a dish called Bloomin’ Petals, which is smaller than the Onion, but have discontinued it.  Unfortunately.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat!-Part 9

11 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Fred and I really enjoy eating out at lunchtime (me especially since I don’t have to cook anything for lunch!).  It’s a habit we’ve developed over the years.  We have a standing dinner engagement with another couple on Monday suppertime, and so Mondays we do sometimes eat at home for lunch.  Suppers are usually eaten at home.  

Occasionally we eat out for breakfast – not very often, but sometimes.  Our favorite place for breakfast is Cracker Barrel.

Credit Cracker Barrel website

Their choices for breakfasts are amazing, although we do have our favorite.  When we usually eat there for breakfast, it is on the days that we have “fasted” in order to have blood drawn at our primary care physician’s direction, early in the morning.  We are usually quite hungry after that ordeal, so a breakfast at Cracker Barrel is something to look forward to…and we do!  Our favorite is Mama’s Pancake Breakfast.

Credit Cracker Barrel website

 It includes two eggs fixed the way you like (scrambled is our favorite), either bacon or sausage (I am NOT a sausage fan!), and three large pancakes with butter – and we have them put chopped pecans in the pancakes!  Yummmmmm!  Not don’t get the wrong idea here – we split that meal and it is PLENTY for both of us.  Makes me hungry just thinking about it!

But, back to lunches – another reason we like to eat out at lunch rather than supper/dinner, is that the portions are usually smaller and the prices are smaller as well.  One of our favorites is Culver’s. 

Credit Culver’s website

It is a hamburger joint that started in Wisconsin, and has made it’s way down to Florida.  We had our first taste in Illinois when we visited our Karen and her family, and were hooked.  We were quite excited to find them building down here.  They really make good, fresh hamburgers with all the fixin’s.  But that’s not all – they have a great pot roast, either dinner plate or sandwich.  Tasty, and melts in your mouth.  They have a great chili, except that they use kidney beans in it, which my body rejects, so I have to pick them all out before I can eat it!  But not only are their hamburgers the best, they are known for their “custard.”

Credit Culver’s website

It is fresh-churned within each store, and is more like a soft-serve, which I really like.  They have a “flavor of the day” each day, and they keep experimenting with different toppings and flavors.  However, my favorite is just vanilla with hot fudge topping.

We frequently eat lunch at Longhorn Steakhouse

Credit Longhorn Steakhouse website

While their menu isn’t terribly extensive, we do have our favorites.  Their salmon is aMAZing!!  They marinate the salmon in bourbon before grilling.  WOW is that good! 

Credit Longhorn Steakhouse website

 And since I’ve bragged about Culver’s hamburgers, I have to admit that the “steakburger” at Longhorn’s is wonderful.  It is 8-oz of  meat (before cooking) and is about ½ inch thick.  It comes with shredded lettuce (Romaine), sliced onion, sliced tomato, cheese of your choice and an amazing sauce!  I always ask for extra sauce it is so good.  All that and a vegetable.  Mmmmmm.

Longhorn Steakhouse also has a shrimp entree that I thoroughly enjoy.  There are four shrimp on a skewer, grilled, then spread with a sauce that is lovely.  For lunch, there are two skewers.  It is served over rice and then another vegetable.  Frequently I skip the rice and get two vegetables.  Really good.

Credit Longhorn Steakhouse website

And I must not forget to mention that they serve warm bread with butter.  It is a multi-grain bread loaf, and is quite good.  Just a filler before the real food arrives.  We usually try to skip the bread unless we are having nothing but soup that day.  And their soups are great.  Fred likes their loaded potato soup, and my favorite is their French Onion soup.  It is almost as good as the one I make!

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat! Part 8

4 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Recently, Fred and I celebrated our 63rd anniversary – quite a milestone.  As it happened, we were in Virginia, celebrating the high school graduation of our grand-twins, Connor and Hannah.  And so, while we were there, we made our own celebration.

Photo by Judy Wills

While we like to eat out quite often, this was to be a special meal.  We had a difficult time deciding just where we wanted to eat for our celebration.  We finally decided to eat at Berret’s Seafood Restaurant and Taphouse Grill in Merchant’s Square in Colonial Williamsburg.  We had never eaten there before, so this would really be a treat for us.

Photo credit by Google search and Berret’s website

We had a really nice meal there.  Here is a decoration we found at a window near our table.

Photo by Judy Wills

Since they knew it was our anniversary, just before we left the restaurant, they gave us a SMALL bottle of champagne with writing on the side. 

Photo by Judy Wills

Photo by Judy Wills

Nice gesture on their part.  Neither of us are champagne drinkers, but I tasted it when we got back to Janet and Tom’s house.  It was okay, if you like that kind of thing.  It was the thought that counted.

The last day we were in Virginia, Fred and I had a second meal at one of our favorite eateries in Williamsburg.  It is called Food for Thought – original name, hm? 

Photo by Judy Wills

We thoroughly eating there, and the inside decorations are quite unique.  There are “sayings” and thought-provoking comments from scholars and literary people lining the walls.  A most interesting place to eat and ponder…and the food is good, as well!

Photo by Judy Wills

When we returned home from that visit, on Saturday, we went to our favorite bbq eatery called 4Rivers.

Photo by Judy Wills

Since we eat there frequently, we have become fairly good friends – well perhaps very good acquaintances is a better word – with the servers, managers, and cooks there.  We get waves and smiles whenever we enter the eatery, and the managers come and have conversations with us.  We love it! 

Well, we had told one of the managers, Cara, when our anniversary was, and she planned this surprise there for us.  She said she was sweating bullets that day, just hoping we would go there to eat that Saturday, as usual.  And this is why: They had “reserved” part of a table just for us – in our usual spot to eat!

Photo by Judy Wills

They treated us to the meal (wouldn’t let us pay for it); walked us to the table; gave us a plaque telling about love and marriage, that every employee of this restaurant had signed on the back, and just celebrated with us.

Photo by Judy Wills

Every cook/cashier/server in the place wished us a “happy anniversary” with a smile.  They were aMAZing!  We were amazed and surprised.  This is customer service to the extreme.  But we loved it.  Oh, the memories.  And here is where we’ve hung the plaque in our house – so we can see it and think of those people and the effort they put into making a special time for us.   WOW!  

Photo by Judy Wills

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat!-Part 7

28 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

There is a restaurant where Fred and I eat occasionally, that we really enjoy.  It is a seafood-specialty restaurant, and we do love seafood!  However, it is rather pricey, so we don’t make a habit of eating there regularly.  As a matter of fact, I’ve told people that we don’t eat there unless we have been given a gift card.  

But we had been given a gift card, so we went there recently – it’s called Bonefish Grill.

Photo Credit Google Search and Bonefish Grill website

We’ve discovered their Bang Bang Shrimp® appetizer, and get one every time we visit this eatery.  Now, I’ve never really enjoyed spicy hot food – it’s usually so hot that all I can taste is “hot” rather than the flavor of the food.  The Bang Bang Shrimp® is just hot enough to get my nose running, but not so hot that I can’t taste the shrimp.  It’s delicious!!

There was a time (my grandson Forrest taught me this) that I would share the Bang Bang Shrimp®® appetizer with Fred, then have the Bang Bang Shrimp® tacos as my entree.  However, I learned the hard way that my system doesn’t like that much spice!  So I order another entree, and just enjoy the shrimp as an appetizer.  But BOY! is it good!  Fred usually orders the salmon, which is really good!

Another seafood restaurant where we like to eat is called The Catfish Place.  It is located in St. Cloud, Florida.

Photo Credit Google Search and Catfish Place website

Now that’s a bit of a drive for us, so we had not gone there very often until a few years ago.  You see, our hair cutter was working out of a salon about five minutes away from our house for many years.   Then, she purchased a tanning/beauty salon in St. Cloud – about a 30+ minute drive away from us.

Photo Credit Google Search and Herve Andrieu

Photo Credit Google Search and Tan Linz & Cutz website

So we’ve made it a practice to eat lunch at The Catfish Place every time we need to get our hair cut.  Perfect! And since we get our hair cut every three weeks – we get to eat at The Catfish Place that often, as well!

This is what we call a “Mom and Pop” restaurant, since it is not part of a chain of restaurants.  But this has a reputation far and wide.  By that, I mean that I remember an episode of Emeril Lagasse being done in that restaurant!  I had read that he was doing an episode there, and made sure that I watched it.  He was quite impressed with that eatery!  On their menu is a list of other “notable” names who have eaten at that eatery.

My very favorite entree to get there is their fried shrimp.  They use a batter coating for the shrimp that is wonderful.  And the shrimp are quite large – no tiny shrimp at this eatery!  They have a lunch special on Thursdays – ½ pound of shrimp for a couple of dollars off.  That’s probably more shrimp than I need to eat, but I can’t resist!  It comes with two side dishes.  And they make the very best tarter sauce there that I have even eaten.  Fred sometimes orders the shrimp (the regular lunch size is six shrimp), but usually gets another type of fish usually snapper.

The Catfish Place has been owned and operated by the same family for many years, and has just sold it to others.  We have been there several times since the new owners have taken over and are pleased to see that most of the servers and cooks have stayed – so the food has not changed.  That’s always a possibility, but it didn’t happen with this eatery.

They advertise the best catfish ever.  Since I’m not a catfish fan, I’ll stick with my shrimp!

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat-Part 6

21 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Well, as I write this, today is my birthday!  I wanted something special for today, so I asked Fred to take me to one of the “Breakfast, Brunch & Lunch” eateries in our neighborhood – and he complied with that request!  I actually don’t remember eating in one of those types of places before, but perhaps we have.  In any case, it was a GREAT start to my day.

Credit Judy Wills

Every time we drive by Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, the parking lot of absolutely FULL of cars!  We know they don’t take reservations, so we decided we needed to be there when they open – at 7:00 a.m.!  We did just that, and we were the very first customers!  By 8:00 a.m. there were a few other customers, but not too many.  So next time (if there is another time, as this is a fairly pricy place to eat!), we’ll wait until 8:00 a.m. to get there.  The eatery closes at 2:00 p.m.

Our server seated us, told us his name is Chris, and he would get us anything we wanted.  Really nice guy, and a great server.  He brought our drinks and gave us time to peruse the menu.  I ordered a 3-egg omelet (veggie – tomatoes, onions, mushrooms).  It came with home fries and toast.

Credit Google Search and Keke’s website

I shared some of the omelet with Fred as well as the home fries.  Fred ordered a Belgian Waffle with fresh blueberries and tons of whipped cream!  He shared some of that with me. 

Credit Google search and Keke’s website

Add some blueberries to this, and you have Fred’s breakfast

I told Chris that today is my birthday and he was all “happy birthday” to me.  I said, “and I’m sure you don’t want to ask my age, hm?”  At first he was like “no” and then said, “you know, I also work as an EMT at a retirement facility, so I think I’ll try to guess your age.”  He studied my face, then slowly said, “perhaps… around…68?”  I said, “you are so sweet!” and then told him my age, and his mouth dropped open!  He complimented both Fred and me at how good and young we look, compared to our actual age.  See, all that exercising does some good after all!

When I think of my actual age…when I look in the mirror…when my knees and feet hurt…I think to myself “how in the world did I ever get to be this age???”  And yet, I thank God for His great blessing to me and for giving me life, and the life I, and with Fred, have lived.  We are, indeed, blest.

Today, I am 83 years old.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat-Part 6

14 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

While Fred and I were living in Fort Worth, one of my dad’s brothers married a lady who owned a dress shop. They both lived in Louisiana, near Shreveport.  They would drive to Dallas twice a year for her to view and purchase clothing for her dress shop.  She had really good taste in garments, as women from Shreveport would drive the 30 miles just to shop in her store.  In the times they came to Dallas, they would call us and invite us to have dinner with them one evening during their four-day stay.  While neither Fred nor I can remember exactly the name of the restaurant where we ate, we both suppose it was the restaurant in the hotel where they stayed.  The main reason I remember it, is because they introduced me to grilled pork chops!  I had always breaded and fried the pork chops I fixed for us, and the grilled ones were delicious!  I never fried them again!

Credit Pixabay

I know that Pizza Hut is well-known in the U.S.  And we have enjoyed eating at those eateries most of our life.  

Credit Google Search and Pizza Hut

When we moved to Florida (Kissimmee, actually), there was one Pizza Hut in town, and we frequented it often.  One day they put out a “barbeque” pizza.  We cautiously tried one slice of it – and found we LOVED the taste!  It was chicken with barbeque sauce on it – all on top of the regular tomato pizza sauce, cheese, etc.  So every time we went to Pizza Hut after that, we asked that they make us a barbeque pizza.  It was great!

There was also a Shoney’s eatery in Kissimmee, where we ate occasionally. 

Credit Google Search and Shoney’s website

 Shoney’s was known for their breakfast menu, and we enjoyed it.  However, when we tried some of their lunch/dinner offerings, we were less-than-impressed.  I didn’t know anyone could make a “bad” soup – but Shoney’s managed!  I don’t remember just what kind of soup I had ordered, but it came with about one-half inch of oil on the top!  Yuck!   So we limited our eatings at Shoney’s to their breakfast buffet.

We both enjoy seafood, and were pleased to find a really good seafood restaurant in Kissimmee, called Shells.  I’m not sure we tried everything on the menu, but I found something on the menu called “Godfather’s Shrimp” and I loved it!  It was what I ordered every time we ate there (which was usually after church of Sundays).  Fred found a great Mahi-Mahi Italiano that was his favorite.  Also at Shells, I found they had a wonderful coleslaw that had Mandarin Orange slices in it!  I’ve never had that before, and was pleased with the taste.  Amazing!  Unfortunately, Shells in Kissimmee is no longer – I think the ones in Central Florida are in Tampa, Brandon and St. Pete Beach – and that’s really too long a way to go for seafood.  Shucks!

Well, okay it’s a long way to go for seafood, but Fred and I travel over to Titusville every-other month for lunch with my brother Bill and his wife, DiVoran (about 45 minutes).  And our favorite place to eat is Dixie Crossroads

Credit photo Google Search and Dixie Crossroads website; Steve Hunsader

And it’s a seafood restaurant!  They have a house specialty that is unique.  They serve Rock Shrimp.  Now, Rock Shrimp used to be what Fred calls a “trash fish” – the shell is so hard that it was nearly impossible to get to the meat inside.  And then, someone made a tool that would cut the hard shell and open up the good meat inside.  It has a “lobster” feel and taste to me, and I thoroughly enjoy it every time we go there. Yummmm

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat!-Part 4

7 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Do you have a favorite dessert?  Someplace you go to get that special dessert?  I’ve had a few of those in my lifetime.

For instance, when we lived in Panama City, Florida (Tyndall AFB), I joined a singing group of officer’s wives.  Not only did we sing for events on base, but we went to different venues around Panama City to sing for their events.  Instead of driving myself, I usually rode with an older woman, who was a Colonel’s wife.  One day, following a Christmas concert we had given in town, driving back toward the base, with a grin she asked me, “do you like to be bad?”  No knowing just how to answer her, I mumbled something like ummhmm.  So she took me to a local Dairy Queen

Credit Google Search and Dairy Queen website

and she introduced me to their wonderful banana split.  Since this was my introduction to banana splits, I have measured every other one I’ve had with the Dairy Queen’s – and NONE of them have come anywhere close to how good the Dairy Queen’s are!  Most are made with Neapolitan ice cream – part chocolate, part strawberry, part vanilla ice cream (I’ve never liked that particular ice cream anyway), scooped onto a split banana, with whipped cream and perhaps a cherry on top.  Dairy Queen’s banana split is made with three dollops of their luscious soft ice cream on top of the split banana, then chocolate syrup on one dollop, strawberry syrup on another, and pineapple on the third dollop, then topped with whipped cream.  Delicious!!  You just must try it some time.  The difference is aMAZing!

Credit Google Search and Dairy Queen website

When we were first married and living in Fort Worth, Texas, we were told about a really good Texas BBQ place called Jettons.  As it turned out, Mr. Jetton was a member of the church we were members of in Fort Worth. His eatery was a cafeteria-style restaurant.

Credit Google Search and Texas Monthly

We would each get a platter stacked high with chipped beef (or shredded beef), swimming in BBQ sauce, a vegetable, Texas Toast, and a Texas-sized ice tea – all for $1.00!  Now, realize that was back in the 1960’s, so $1.00 for that much food was not unreasonable.  And since we were poor school students, that fit our weekly budget just fine.  That was our “splurge” for the week.  Boy did we love to eat at Jettons!

A history of Walter Jetton is due here.  We learned that he not only had his restaurant in Fort Worth, but he would take his traveling pit and serve BBQ in other states.  The most famous of his adventures was to take his pit to Washington D.C. and BBQ for President Lyndon B. Johnson on the White House lawn!  He was crowned as the “King of Barbecue” through the United States.

Credit Google Search and Texas Monthly

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat!-Part 3

30 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Still thinking of our/my time in Albuquerque, New Mexico, growing up, and the places where we liked to eat.  Of course we discovered McDonald’s and their 15 cent hamburgers (still love their french fries!).  

Credit Pixabay

There was an eatery on the corner of Central Avenue (main street of Albuquerque, U.S. Route 66) and San Mateo, called Bimbo’s.  As teenagers we used to go there a lot.  They had good burgers, but I also learned to love hot fudge sundae’s there!  Had my first one there, and did a repeat often.  I’m surprised I didn’t weigh a ton from all the french fries, burgers and hot fudge sundaes I ate! 

Credit Pixabay

I asked Bill (my brother) if there were other eateries he liked that I haven’t mentioned.  Here is his response:

Judy,

The only restaurant I can think of that you haven’t already listed was a little Mom and Pop restaurant (Can’t remember the name ) I discovered, on fourth Street downtown, where I took DiVoran and my friend Bud for a celebration meal (can’t remember what occasion).  We had a T-bone steak (cooked to order) with two sides and iced tea for $1.00+4 cents tax each. I took DiVoran there a lot. I’ll let you know if I think of any other places.   Don’t forget the Fitzgerald‘s ice cream after church every Sunday night on Granny’s homemade cherry pie.

To elaborate on the “Granny’s homemade cherry pie” that Bill mentioned…either mother or Granny would make a cherry pie most Sunday afternoons.  Following church on Sunday evening, we would stop by Fitzgerald’s to pick up a pint of homemade vanilla ice cream to go on top of that cherry pie.  Man was that good!  We didn’t have microwave ovens then, so we didn’t warm up the pie – but it was still good with Fitzgerald’s ice cream on it!

The Mom and Pop that Bill mentioned – there are so many eateries along Fourth Street…and the possibility it isn’t in existence anymore…makes it impossible to find the place now.  And Fourth Street is one of the main North/South arteries in Albuquerque.  Central Avenue (U.S. Route 66) is East/West, with downtown being the main area, and Fourth Street the other direction.  

Not directly in Albuquerque, there was a steak house in Santa Fe where we went occasionally.  It was about 90 miles away, and on the interstate it didn’t take too long to travel (at 70 mph!).  Fred’s remembers it was called the “U and I Steakhouse.”   The steak would just about fill the plate, and along with that was a vegetable and Texas Toast and a drink.  All that for $1.50!  And the steak was so tender you could cut it with the fork!  No knife needed!

I don’t remember many other places where we went to eat in Albuquerque that I haven’t mentioned.  Those were the days where we ate at home more than eating out.  Not enough money, Mother’s homemade meals were the best (Daddy was a hunter, so we ate a lot of venison meals – steaks, roasts, chili, etc.), bbq at home, etc.  

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat-Part 2

23 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Funny thing – I had never even heard the word “pizza” until I was in high school (1950’s)!

Credit Google Search and Pixabay

I remember a girl in my chorus class flopping down on a chair and saying that she couldn’t move because she was so full of pizza!  Pizza?  What in the world is THAT?  Turns out there was a great little pizza eatery on Central Avenue (main street of Albuquerque, U.S. Route 66) called Casa Luna, that made the best pizza I think I’ve ever had.  After that recommendation from my fellow student, a bunch of us would go there often – and I fell in love with pizza!  Unfortunately, that place is now a carpet shop!

After Fred and I met, his parents would occasionally come to town, and they would take us to the Officer’s Club on Kirtland AFB.

Credit Google Search and Kirtland AFB website                               Credit Google Search

A new experience for me, but one we’ve repeated on most of the bases where we’ve lived, since Fred was commissioned as an officer himself. (More on that later)

Another place where we liked to eat (but it was only introduced to us after Fred and I moved away) was called Bella Vista, and it was about 20 miles into the Sandia Mountains East of Albuquerque itself.

Credit Google Search

Great fried fish – all you could eat!  Unfortunately, after the owners turned it over to their children, the kids turned it into a sports bar – and it is no longer in existence.

When I was still a teenager – fresh out of high school and a year of college, I went to work for Civil Service located downtown Albuquerque.

Credit Google Search – Simms Building –  where I worked

I discovered a “hole-in-the-wall” little eatery just around the corner from my office building.  I would go there for lunch frequently, and occasionally after work for a burger before heading home.  It wasn’t a big place at all.  It had counter space for about eight stools, and about five two-top tables.  The counter faced the grill, which was quite large – as big as a dinner table.  The burgers were delicious, and I found that adding the home-made chili to the burger made it mouth-watering!  I was in there one day after work, and was watching the owner/cook making the chili.  He had it spread all over that grill and was working it.  I asked why he made so much, and he told me that one time some people from Boston had come in and had some of his chili and loved it so much that they commissioned him to make them X-number of quarts of the stuff to ship to them to Boston each month!  WOW!  He also told me that several people wondered why he didn’t expand his space.  But he told them (and me) that it was just exactly the size and amount of business he wanted to handle.  I admired him for that.  He knew what he wanted, and didn’t need more.  I don’t remember the name of the place, and have no idea whether or not he is still in business.  It was a great little eatery, and is still in my memory.

~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat-Part 1

16 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Credit ChurchArt

I think most of us have a “favorite place” where we like to eat.  For some, it’s at home with all the home-made cooking we like to do, or like Mom used to make.  I’m from the generation that came from that.

My family – Thanksgiving 1956

To eat “out” was a rare and precious privilege.  There wasn’t a lot of money to throw around in my parent’s house, so we only ate out at special times.  That got better as time went on, and going to the local Furr’s Cafeteria for lunch after church services became the norm.  And we loved it.

Furr’s was known as the best grocery store in Albuquerque at the time, so when they added a cafeteria, we were ecstatic.  And the food was good.  We’ve eaten in many a “cafeteria” in past years where the food was only passable – and they didn’t last too long.  But Furr’s was an exception.  I’ve just checked online and found that it is now located in cities and states other than Albuquerque and New Mexico (Colorado, Texas), but it is still in existence – now known at Furr’s Fresh Buffett.

Credit Google Search and Furr’s website

My family also loved to eat Mexican food, and Albuquerque was loaded with just such places.  Some of our favorite Mexican restaurants were in Old Town – either La Placita 

Credit Google search and explorall50.com

Credit Google search and Pinterest

La Placita was known for the trees growing inside some of the rooms or La Hacienda.

Credit Google Search and Pinterest

They were practically next door to each other in Old Town, and only a few minutes from our church, so that was also an after-church place to eat.  Of course, those were highly “touristy” restaurants, and they seemed to take turns having “good” food and “not so good” food.  When one wasn’t too good, the other one was.  And then it would take a change and we had to guess which one to go to that next time.

But then a really good Mexican restaurant opened its doors, called El Pinto.

Credit Google Search and b.zmtcdn.com

It opened after Fred and I married and moved away (1961), but Mother kept telling us it was her favorite place to eat.  So we always went there when we visited Albuquerque.  It lived up to Mother’s reviews.  I just checked online and found it still in business with many glowing reviews. 

We lived in a house just two doors down from a main auto artery, Lomas Blvd.  If I walked to Lomas, and turned right, there was a little strip center there, with a small hamburger joint on the end of it.  I don’t remember the name of it, but they made the BEST hamburgers there!  They put chopped onions and mustard on their burgers, and wrapped them in wax paper, creating an aroma that I’ve never found since then.  I think the nearest aroma to that I’ve found is when we were in Texas and ate Whataburgers.  They are the best!  And their burgers come the closest to that little burgers shop I’ve ever found.  I really loved that place.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

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