I had plans for a different post tonight … a recipe post. Unfortunately I’m still working on it. I even got up at 5 a.m. today to get all my stuff done and, well it’s after 10 p.m. Just out of gas.
Recently I installed PhotoShop, so I’m learning to use it. One of the exercises is to go through all your photos and organize, categorize and tag everything. So here are a few of the ones I looked through yesterday. Some you’ve seen, some maybe not.
If you weren’t going to Newcastle, Texas, you probably wouldn’t have much of a reason to be there. It’s up on the tip of the rolling plains where the hill country turns into dusty west Texas. Around 1950, the town had about 1,500 people living in it, and was a thriving coal mining community. However, they long-ago closed the coal mine, and since there’s not a railroad anywhere close the town’s citizens are mainly those who either are from Newcastle or whose parents and grandparents are from Newcastle. They sit below 500 these days on total population, however something very magical happens in the Fall in that part of the world.
The deer hunters converge.
You see, along with sparse population comes wide open range, and it just so happens that the nearby Brazos River makes for some of the best deer hunting in all of north Texas. At one point in the last century, the area was also known for its incredible dove and quail hunting. However, due to environmental changes, the dove population tends to wain from year to year, and the Bobwhite quail population is close to 25% of what it was just 50 years ago.
Nonetheless, on weekends in the Fall (aside from some of the best 6-man football in the region), you’ll find the town almost doubled in size with four wheel drive trucks, ATV’s, feed corn, and camoflauge from head to toe. You can buy beer and liquor from the stores, and the gas at the gas station is some of the cheapest around. If you venture into Jerry’s Meat Market on the corner of 380 and 380, you can get incredible cuts of beef ribeye steaks, marbled to perfection and cut in the butcher room in the back.
However, across the road there sits a red building that locals know as the local eatin’ joint, and visitors know as the home of the best damn hamburger on Earth. This is: Another Hole in the Wall.
Oh, sure…there’s a drive thru if you are picking up groceries for the family after church on Sunday, but you’ll want to go in to experience what AHitW is all about. In addition to their hamburgers, they have a yearly Big Buck competition and a longest turkey beard competition. Adorning the walls are pictures from previous years; a “yearbook” of sorts showing trophys pre-mount of all the harvested deer and turkeys from the local hunts.
Understand that this isn’t the place to go for a prom date. It’s good food, good company, and all within the close confines of your friendly Newcastle neighbors.
You want coffee? Serve yourself. Cups are on the wall.
You want tea or cokes? The owner, Bob, offers that, too. He will refill your tea glass for you, but it’s all unsweet so you have to spice it up yourself. Cokes are charged by the can, and they have three or four different types of “cokes” here. (In Texas, any type of soda is a “coke”. We often ask, “What sorta coke you want? Dr. Pepper?” )
Bob will even sit with you to discuss OU football or the Cowboys, but if you don’t like cigarette smoke, I suggest you sit along the edges or even the front area. This is his restaurant, and by gawd he’s going to have a cigarette while he’s working. You can always get your order to go if the smoke bothers you that much, but it’s worth the pain to have this food served right off the grill.
Another Hole in the Wall is named as such because it was the 2nd location of a restaurant in nearby Graham called Hole in the Wall. The owner opened this location in Newcastle, however the original Hole in the Wall is long gone and all that’s left is the sequel. The be frank, the Newcastle location was always the better of the two. When you walk in, you get a menu with an angry looking character on it. Now, AHitW is world famous for its Hog Burger. The Hog is the unofficial mascot, which you’ll find on both the menu and t-shirts available behind the counter.
There’s a daily special along with a list of different regular menu items. Breakfast is served early, and lunch and dinner menus are the same. You can even get a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, but as the menu warns, it’s $21.49 and takes up to 30 minutes to prepare. I’m sure it’s good.
Above the front desk, you’ll see Bob’s wedding photo and his prized Sooner gear. He lets Aggies, Raiders, and Longhorns eat there, but he’ll make sure you remember who won the most recent game.
Aside from the charm and décor, we are here for the food. I mentioned earlier that the burgers are the best on the planet. That’s no hyperbole…they are the best. They are all made to order per your specification, and aren’t stuck on the grill until you order them. In addition, you can get fries, but what you want are the “house chips”: thinly sliced potatoes, fried to a crisp. They are incredible. I think I could eat an entire bucket of these things before I gave up.
If you are hungry, get the mini-cheeseburger. If you are really hungry, get the regular cheeseburger. If you think you are a man, get the Piglet (which is what we are having today). You think you are a badass? Get the Hog. The Piglet is the mini version of the Hog, but you’ll feel your cholesterol and blood sugar spike after eating either one.
This is the Piglet with house chips:
It’s a regular hamburger with bacon, cheese, and a thick slice of grilled ham. A true “ham burger”. Those delicious chips:
I take my Piglet with mayo and all the vege.
This thing is massive, and it’s the smaller version of their famous burger. If you can get your hands around it, you may have to give it a squeeze to get it into your mouth.
I like to take some of the ketchup on the table and squirt it on to my chips, then dab a little of the ketchup onto the burger.
I’m telling you…this is the best burger you can find. There is no better burger than this thing.
For the little guy, he gets the mini with fries:
…and shows his appreciation with a hearty single Gigger. You’ll notice Bob in the background having a smoke and watching TV:
That, my friends and fellow Arcadians, is what small town is all about. Good food, good company, and an experience you won’t soon forget.
Another Hole in the Wall Café
510 Houston St
Newcastle, Texas
I’ve been on my blogging odyssey for almost three months now. I started blogging every day on November 1, 2011. Today is January 18, 2012. That is 79 posts including tonight’s entry.
It has been an remarkable 79 days. Tonight I’m looking back over the last few weeks to do a “round-up” of favorite blog posts.
One month ago I posted about Jdub’s favorite tune: The Spanish Song That night seems so long ago, but it was just a month. Goes to show how time can stand still or fly depending on where your perspective is.
Thanksgiving and Christmas happened. And the wonderful Christmas Eve program at our church” Light of the World
My pets always provide good fodder for writing: If the Dog/Cat Could Sass
And there were several photo blog posts that were just a result of being in the moment with a camera (or iPhone) handy:
Beautiful Sky = Pretty Pictures
Stock Tank on a Still Day (My Favorite of the photo posts)
And the coolest, random photo that captured an optical illusion:
Do You See What I See? (It was a little more than a month ago)
Much has changed in my life in 79 days.
With a blog a day, I’m amazed at how much life actually happens in a relatively short span of time. It also shows that whatever you do, you have to do it a little at a time. When you pause to look back, the chronicle provides the proof that you’ve gone very far, just one day at a time.
Instagram is instant awesomeness! I had no idea what I was going to write about today, but then got the idea from my trusty iPhone to take some of my random, everyday photos and use Instagram to edit them. Instagram described by its founders is the blending of instant photos and telegrams, thus “instagram.”
It combines several things at once when taking photos—it’s social media, documentation, art and photojournalism all rolled into one. You take snapshots, apply filters, post/save to a share archive hosted by Instagram. The photo goes onto your Instagram profile, and can be shared across a multitude of various social media. The social media is simply the telegraph “wire.”
The folks at Instagram have a blog, tips for taking better photos, and featured Instagram users’ photos – it’s amazing what someone can do with an iPhone and a free app that applies simple filters.
So maybe I went a little crazy on the filters and fuzz (aka “bokeh”), but Instagram is instant awesomeness. Love it!
[to find out more about why a big metal chicken is so funny to 40-year old married women click here.]
Week one of the New Year is in the books. I’m glad because good things have happened. I’m hoping that 2012 will be a restorative year for me and my family. The last few years have been really hard for a multitude of reasons and 2011 was especially hard on me. I don’t care to be specific, but it has almost been my undoing.
I said it in an earlier post this week: Life can change in an instant but changing your life doesn’t happen instantly; it takes time. It’s gratifying, even if delayed, when the passing of time ushers in the achievement of something you’ve been working toward. (I’ll share more later this month, when I’m ready.)
This first week of January, I’ve accomplished a few things on my knock-out list including repainting my home office, which was once our son’s nursery. Some how a whimsical bright, pale green wasn’t conducive to doing grown-up work, plus my son had scribbled all over the walls. And the room had become the dumping ground. I cleaned out a bunch of crap that was just cluttering up my house. The garage is next, by god I shall be able to park in there or the Earth will spin off its axis, I swear it.
Today was a busy but special day too. I participated in a special ceremony at church. We took Jdubs to a party and he had a big time. I grocery shopped by myself – the folks at United didn’t recognize me alone. I cooked a great meal from one of my new cookbooks. I finished my blog and got into bed by 11 p.m. So far it’s been a really productive week.
Tomorrow is going to be really busy. This week is going to be really busy. Bring it on.
Jdubs has been fighting a cold/virus for a few days but now he’s feeling better. He started playing with his Legos today and built a Lego reindeer. And looking very angelic in the process.
Momma loves you, Jdubs.
A good homemade pizza pie is a wonderful thing. This is not Viktor’s Special, but it’s my special version and it’s always a crowd pleaser.
Ingredients:
1 ¾ to 2 C. bread flour (plus more for kneading)
¾ C. Warm water (110 degrees)
¼ C. Olive oil
1 Tsp Rapid rise yeast
1 Tbs Honey or sugar
1 Tsp Salt
Add yeast to the warm water, add the sugar/honey. Give it a stir and let it stand for a couple minutes. It should be foamy and opaque after a few minutes. Mix the flour and salt together and set aside. (All-purpose flour can be used instead of bread flour.)
Create a well in the bottom of the bowl with the flour. Add the water mixture and oil. Mix together until the dough comes together. Add more flour if needed. Tonight I started with 1 ¾ flour but added ½ cup more because it was a really humid day here and my dough was too sticky otherwise.
Turn it out and knead for a few minutes. Pizza dough should be on the wet and sticky side.
Form into a ball and grease bowl well with more olive oil. Toss the dough in the bowl to coat with oil. Put the dough in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. I like to heat my oven up to about 150 degrees, then turn it off to let it start to cool, then I put the dough in to rise.
After it has risen, punch down and add a tablespoon or so of flour to the dough and knead lightly for a few turns inside the bowl. Get your oven going again by preheating it to 475 degrees. (note that my pizza stone is already in the oven here). if you don’t have a pizza stone, no problem. You can bake your pizza on a cookie sheet or pizza pan instead.
Pull out onto a large piece of cling wrap (I stitch two pieces together with the seam in the middle). Dust the top of the dough with flour. Place a sheet of parchment paper over the dough and flip to the parchment side—cling-wrap side up. Add a little more flour if needed. Roll the dough out to a 14-inch round or larger. When you are happy with the shape and thickness of the pizza crust, leave it to rest for at least 10 minutes.
This pizza pan has been through it all. I bought this when I was in college and moved into an apartment for the first time. I didn’t have anything that resembled a cookie sheet or pizza pan. I couldn’t afford both so I got this so it could do double duty. It has been one of the cheapest and handiest of kitchen utilities. 20 years later I’m still using it almost daily to make everything from cinnamon toast to biscuits. I’m about to use it in place of a pizza peel (that’s one of those wooden paddle-looking-things with a long handle – the pizza bakers slide pies in and out of the wood burning ovens with the peel.)
Slide the pan (or cookie sheet) under the dough and beneath the parchment. This is how we’re getting the dough onto the pizza stone. Remember pizza dough is sticky and once the pie is loaded up, it’s heavy. After you get it on the pan, take the cling wrap off. Ta-dah.
Now we’re ready to put on the toppings. Use your favorite bottled sauce or you can make a quickie sauce. Spread the sauce around. Add the meat of choice (or not). Here I’m using pepperoni and sausage. No need to brown the sausage prior, it will thoroughly cook in the overall process. Add your veggies. In this pie, I’m adding green and black olives with orange bell pepper. It’s really about what you like at this point. If you want to skip the whole thing you can. Top with mozzarella cheese.
Slide the pizza onto the stone inside the oven. The parchment can go right on top of the pizza stone. (I only have 2 hands so, that was impossible to capture in photos. Sorry, y’all)
OMG! I have died and gone to pizza heaven. And, Yes! It is worth it to make your very own homemade pizza pie.
This is one of the most ridiculous little recipes, but it works so well. I developed it out of necessity. I was hosting a small party once and pizza was to be the appetizer and, well, I thought I had jarred pizza sauce, but didn’t, and it was too late for a last-minute grocery run. So I improvised and it worked. I got tons of compliments on the sauce. (Pizza recipe.)
Ingredients:
1 small can tomato sauce
1-3 Tbs Italian season mix
1-2 garlic cloves, finely minced or run thru a garlic press (or 1 tsp of ground if you don’t have fresh)
1 squirt of Anchovy paste
1 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs Parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper
Throw it all together and give it a stir. Feel free to ad lib here. If you don’t like or have any of the ingredients, don’t use it. Or if you want to make a substitution, do it. Dried Italian parsley works well if you don’t have an Italian herb blend. You can add more or less of anything or you could add something extra or completely different.
But please do try the anchovy paste … it adds a depth of flavor that will astonish you. It only takes a small squirt, about a ½ tsp. IMHO, it’s what makes the sauce.
Ta-dah! It’s really tasty and so easy. Use with your favorite pizza recipe.
I had no idea what I was going to write about tonight when I came home from work… then this post magically wrote itself. Jdubs and I were wrapping presents. This is what happens when a 4 year old who can recognize a few letters does for gift tags.
Then we ditched the packages to play with the cat.
Then the dog got in on the action, and we played cat and dog and kid for a while.
Here’s Ruby trying to be playful. (I wish that darn ornament wasn’t in the way, but you will see it in every frame.)
Pussums is definitely ready to take a swipe at Ruby. Fortunately, for Ruby, those paws are sans claws.
Puss is supremely pissed. If I could hear her kitty voice I think she would say: “oh no you didn’t. No way that’s going to fly up in here.”
Here’s Ruby with two batteries on her shoulder saying: “I dare you to knock these off.” (very bad reference to a very old Duracell battery commercial.)
The aftermath of Cat and Dog—the dog pounced at the cat, scooting the tree over 3-4 feet; the cat peeled out on the tree skirt and bolted up the stairs with the dog in hot pursuit. And Jdub’s package is left behind.
Today was Jdub’s third [and last] Christmas program at his preschool. This year he graduated to being an “Angel” complete with a speaking part.
We’ve been practicing these lines constantly: Christmas is God’s love for people on Earth, the day we celebrate Jesus’ birth.
My little Angel did great today along with all his schoolmates. Bless Ms. Lori’s heart … it takes a lot of work to get a group of little children all working together to put on a program.
After it was all over I asked Jdubs how he did and he said: “I did amazing.” What a precious moment!
The Arcadian Experience 