Our Annual Trip To Marco Island, FL

You are likely aware that my girls make a three-week trip to our timeshare in Marco and I rarely go because I don’t like to go where it’s hot after just getting thru a long hot Tennessee summer, but this year I decided to go so Bev wouldn’t have to make that long drive.  So, after saying good-bye to Cindy and the very disappointed pups, we got on the road at a foggy 5am.  We came down US-411 to near Cartersville, GA then I-75 where the traffic was light to Atlanta then pretty heavy until the Florida Turnpike peeled off in Wildwood.  They have been widening I-75 for as long as I can remember but they should have made it four or five lanes rather than just three.  As it turns out, I’m more relaxed behind the wheel than as a passenger (maybe it’s a control issue) so I did the driving and 12½ hours and 800 miles later we pulled into The Charter Club Of Marco Beach.  Listening to a book helped the time pass quicker.  While Bev doesn’t like spending a night in a hotel, I think it’s time to start making this a two-day trip.  

We got in at sunset and had this view from the balcony.

My New Cooker

Over the years, I’ve had several smokers with the last one being a Masterbuilt electric smoker which I really like for many things.  However, it does not work as well for big meats with long cook times.  Oh, the Masterbuilt smokes fine but it doesn’t matchup with my lifestyle as it requires additions of wood chips every hour and for a 12 hour brisket, it must be started at 5am for supper that day.  My previous Stumps gravity feed charcoal smoker worked well for the big meats as I could just put it on and go to bed for a brisket that was ready the next morning.  All of my smokers are shown in this post.  

Show Him Your Badge (Humor) And Jimmy's Wrigleyville Grill San Antonio Italian Beef

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE VETERANS

Our neighbor with the cows has this sign on his fence.

A Little Roundabout Trip To Nebraska, Days 13 & 14, Trip Home

We started our final day in Hartington by going early to the café so Kathy could make us a delicious good-by breakfast then it was a 10½ hour drive to MT Vernon, IL via NE-57 & 59, US-20, I-29, I-70, & I-64.  The roads were all decent to excellent with lots of improvements being made and the traffic wasn’t bad until we managed to hit St. Louis at 5pm. 

The terrain really varied from tabletop flat to pretty rolling along US-20 and we saw plenty of crop harvesting going on as evidenced by the big cloud of dust that the combines generated. 

Longhorn Steakhouse Parmesan Chicken and Brussels Sprouts Sweet Potato Hash

When I saw this recipe for Parmesan Chicken from Longhorn Steakhouse on the “Then And Now” blog, it called my name so on the cook soon list it went.  The blog describes it as “A delicious and crispy chicken dish inspired by Longhorn Steakhouse, featuring tender chicken breasts coated in a Parmesan crust and topped with a melted blend of mozzarella and garlic. Perfect for a comforting and flavorful dinner.”  I followed the recipe except I used shredded cheddar & buttermilk and I increased it by 50% to get the one below.

A Little Roundabout Trip To Nebraska, Day 9 - 12, Hartington - Visiting Kathy

 Day nine broke to a pretty day in the upper mid-west farm country with a brisk breeze and a little chill in the air.  By the afternoon, it was a little hazy due to the wind blowing up dust, the vehicles traveling gravel roads, and the web pic of harvesters bringing in the dried corn and soy beans (they just say beans around here).

Homemade Basil Pesto And Leftover Meatloaf

We had a good crop of basil in our herb garden and with frost predicted, we decided to turn some of it into pesto to freeze.  We used Ina Garten’s recipe for the pesto and I amended it for the amount of basil we had to get the recipe below.

Basil Pesto – Adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients:

3/8 cup English walnuts

3/8 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

5 tablespoons chopped garlic

7½ cups fresh basil leaves, packed tight

1½ teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2¼ cups good olive oil

1½ cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions:

Place the walnuts, pine nuts, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 30 seconds.

Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed.

Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Serve, or freeze in half cup containers.  

A Little Roundabout Trip To Nebraska, Day 7 Con't & Day 8, Sioux Falls

Continuing with day 7, for dinner, the Ethiopian restaurant that I had picked out from home didn't work out so Bev picked Crawford’s Bar & Grille in downtown Sioux Falls for an early supper and we were the first customers at 4:15 – we had skipped lunch. It turned out to be a pretty upscale place that included outdoor seating.

A Little Roundabout Trip To Nebraska, Day 6 & 7, Sioux Falls

This day started the trip toward home and took us from Rugby, ND to Sioux Falls, SD to spend two nights.  It was a 464 mile day so we got an early start and just ate leftovers and cheese & crackers for a quick lunch on the road.  The drive took us back east on US-2 and south on I-29 which we had driven going to Rugby (I-29 only from Fargo).  US-2 is a good, four-lane road with 70 mph speed limit and few vehicles.  I think you would consider it as heavy traffic if you can look out your windshield and in your rear-view mirror and see more than two other vehicles.

There was a big difference in land from rolling terrain around Rugby to table top flat near Grand Forks and we saw some soybean harvesting happening and the wheat was done but there are lots of crops still standing ready.

Random Food And More Bionic Me

We interrupt our trip to the Midwest for some other stuff.

We made some old-fashioned salmon cakes recently for supper using canned salmon and we had a leftover that I turned into a breakfast omelet.  I chopped it up and reheated it in butter and when it was hot, I moved it to one side of the pan and poured two beaten eggs over it and the rest of the pan.  I added shredded cheddar to the non-salmon side of the pan, covered, and cooked until the eggs were set.  I slid it out of the pan folding it into omelet shape as I did and topped with a dollop of dill aioli to get this delicious breakfast.

A Little Roundabout Trip To Nebraska, Day 5, Rugby

The next day was spent in the Rugby area where we accomplished the reason for coming here, which was to see our little 68 acre piece of land that we bought several years ago (it's a long story) but have never seen.  It turned out to be about 45 miles south of town and in the middle of nowhere.  We had pretty good directions but still got lost and happened to stop at a home to ask for directions and it turned out this guy had sold the land to the person we bought it from (what are the chances) so he knew exactly how to get there.  Here are pics of the land and the road it’s on starting from the top of the road and shooting east.  In the distance you can see the pond (called sloughs here) and they are everywhere and at some point they are big enough to be called a lake and they are often dry.

A Little Roundabout Trip To Nebraska, Day 4, Rugby

On day four we drove from St. Cloud, MN to Rugby, ND to kill one of the birds with that one stone.  I won’t go into the details but many years ago we ended up with a small piece of land near Rugby that we had never seen so since we were going all the way to Nebraska, we decided to go a little farther and see our little 68 acres - they farm by the square mile out in these parts.

Rugby’s claim to fame is that the geographical center of North America (Mexico, USA, and Canada) is located there.  It was too cold and windy for us to pose with the marker.

A Little Roundabout Trip To Nebraska, Day 3, St. Cloud

The third day we drove from Madison, WI to St Cloud, MN via I-90 & I-94 and, just as the previous day, we saw fields and fields of corn and soybeans to the horizon ready to be harvested.  

A Little Roundabout Trip To Nebraska, Day 2, Madison

On day 2, we drove from Murphysboro, Il to Madison WI via US-51, I-74, I-39, and I-90 where I planned a stop in downtown Decatur, IL for lunch.  Since we got an early start that morning, it was too early for lunch when we got to Decatur, so we went on up to Bloomington, IL and ate at Cracker Barrel – haven’t eaten at one in several years. 

Our next leg took us to Madison WI for a stay at the Holiday Inn Express and supper but after discovering my restaurant of choice was closed, we opted to eat at the Northern Taphouse.

A Little Roundabout Trip To Nebraska, Day 1 Continued, 1t Street BBQ

For supper on Day 1, we swung a little off the interstate path and went to Murphysboro, IL so we could have supper at 17^th Street BBQ home of “The Legend.”  Back in the days of my hobby BBQ business, I followed the world of competition BBQ pretty closely so I was very aware of Mike Mills.  In the world of barbecue, champion pitmaster Mike Mills is affectionately known as “The Legend” and his specialty was pork ribs.

A Little Roundabout Trip To Nebraska, Day 1, Home to Murphysboro

We’ve been trying to visit our daughter, Kathy, in Nebraska for a few years but with RV and other issues we have yet to make it, so this year we decided to go if at all possible.  We tried to accomplish killing several birds with one stone (explained as we go) so we took a pretty convoluted way of getting from our place to Hartington, NE.  I’ve always been a get from point A to point B traveler but for this trip, and taking a clue from friends Laurie and Dave (Big Daddy Dave we took a more leisurely pace (except coming home) and stopped for lunch vs. our usual of one stop for gas, fast-food, and bathroom.  While Dave and Laurie generally take the back roads, I did mostly interstate as we had a bit of a time schedule to meet.

Our First Pho Try And Women’s Hair Revisited

I’ve never eaten Vietnamese Pho or any other Oriental noodle bowl that I can remember but I was inspired to try it by watching TV.  After seeing it made on several Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives shows, I realize the key ingredient in Oriental noodle bowls is the broth but I didn’t want to put in the effort for a first try as my main goal was to use up the case of ramen noodles that Bev bought.  As Blondie might say to Dagwood – “I know we never eat Ramen but I saved a lot of money by buying a case of it.”  I looked at several recipes online then made up the one below.  Since Madison was here with her no-gluten boyfriend, I cooked some rice noodles as well.

Salmon Pasta In A Lemon Cream Sauce Ala Karen

When I saw the recipe for Salmon Pasta In A Lemon Cream Sauce on Karen’s “Backroads Journal” blog, it was screaming our name as we love fish in lemon sauce.  I tripled the sauce recipe for six main course servings.  Since the salmon won’t stay with the string pasta when I twirl it on my fork, I prefer to use shaped pasta in a dish like this.  Since it was my birthday (gawd I’m old), Cindy cooked this meal for us.

Two More Delicious Tomato Pies

Previously we made a tomato pie by adapting the Pioneer Woman’s Tomato Pie recipe (first pic) so this time we bought the necessary ingredients to make it per her recipe below, except we used a frozen pie crust.

Delicious BLT's – Square Bread But Round Tomatoes

When your tomatoes are large enough to cover the slice of bread, the following doesn’t apply.  But since we rarely have those tomatoes, we are faced with using smaller ones.  I like thick slices of tomato but after you slice them and lay them on the bread with the tomatoes over lapping, the middle of the sandwich gets pretty thick, making it harder to eat - solution below.

 

Steak Oscar Then Crab Cakes - Both Semi-Failures

It’s hard to believe I built this meal this way but we had some asparagus in the fridge that needed to be used and Bev thought about Steak Oscar which sounded good to me.  I steamed the asparagus, nuked the crab meat just a little, and the steaks just got S&P for seasoning before cooking them reverse sear in a 225F oven then searing them in a smoking hot skillet.  I used the recipe for Easy Bearnaise Sauce from the “All Recipe” blog but I tried a short cut method by putting everything in a container and using the immersion blender to whip it up.

To assemble the dish, plate the steaks then top with asparagus, crab, and bearnaise.

Beef Empanadas – First Try

Meat pies can be traced back to 6000 B.C. and I like all forms of them whether they be pasties, dumplings, piroskis, turnovers, pierogis, empanadas, etc. and I've always wanted to make them so today was the day.  I opted for empanadas because they can be made with refrigerator pie dough and I chose the recipe for Beef Empanadas from the “Handle The Heat” blog.  I made the filling by the recipe and ignored the dough part to get the recipe below.

The Snow Crab Was Delicious But The Bread Was Outstanding

The plan was for Bev to have snow crab while Cindy and I had the tuna taste test but she opted for something else so we had the snow crab the next night and to go with it, Bev made focaccia bread.  The snow crab came from our May trip to Joe Patties In Pensacola, FL and the package contained three clusters which were a good bit larger than what we see in our grocery store.  I just steamed them and served with melted butter for Bev, Cindy, and me – Pat came over for the bread.

Surprising Fresh (Frozen) Tuna Taste Test

While Bev and Pat won’t eat fresh tuna (canned only), Cindy and I both enjoy the fresh version but we’ve never had a taste test.  When I buy fresh tuna from Joe Patti’s in Pensacola, it looks like this:

But when I buy it at the local Food City, it looks like this:

Spam Lite Three Ways

I’m confident you remember that in April of 2023, I conducted a Spam (Hormel) vs. Treet (Armour) taste test and my conclusion was that they were both way too salty.  Three months later  Big Daddy Dave did a post about Spam Lite which contains 25% less salt so I bought a can of it to try.

Happy Birthday To Big Dude’s Eclectic Ramblings And A Few Delicious Random Meals – Burrito, Sandwich, Quesadilla

It’s hard to believe that my first blog post was 15 years ago today and my first total post said “Well, I'm new to this blogging thing and this is my first - mostly to just see if I can do it. My next goal will be to learn to post pictures, then I'll worry about making the blog look cool.” 

Most of the folks who have been my blogger buddies through the years are no longer posting and I really appreciate those of you who still do stop by and I love to hear from you via your comments.  I’ve considered quitting a few times until I realize how much I use my blog to research our lives and recipes during those years so I guess I’ll continue until I run out of things to post about.

One Pan Spanish Chicken and Rice

Bev discovered four chicken thighs in the fridge that needed to be cooked and when I went on line looking for recipes, I came across a Pioneer Woman site titled 60 Best Chicken Thigh Recipes for an Easy Weeknight Meal - it's a compilation of recipes from other folks.  After looking at all of them with the criteria of not making a trip to the store, I settled on the recipe for One Pan Spanish Chicken and Rice which came from the “Crème De La Crumb” blog.  I generally followed the recipe but only made ¾ of the spice mix and and I used skin on thighs and Bev decided it needed some peas and carrots.

Beer Can Chicken

I’d been wanting to cook beer-can chicken for a while and we wanted Eliza to bring her family down so we married the two desires.  I like the idea of adding butter and seasoning under the chicken skin so I looked around the web at several recipes and selected the herb butter recipe from food.com and tripled it to get the recipe below.  This was my first time making compound butter.

Very Good Tomato Pie Ala Pioneer Woman

We had tomatoes that needed to be used and Bev wanted to turn them into a tomato pie and use the recipe from The Pioneer Woman.  Bev made three changes to the filling recipe by omitting the blue cheese (we had none), adding parmesan, and substituting basil for dill and she used refrigerated pie dough from the store.

Chicken And Dumplings For The Grandkids – A Better Cooking Method

We recently had a long-weekend visit from grandkids, Reese and Riley Walker, and three of their friends and Bev likes to make dishes that she knows they really like such as chicken and dumplings for college girl Riley.  The dish had a great flavor but the chicken stuck to the pan bottom while the dumplings were cooking and since she had enough broth and chicken for another batch, we decided on a different cooking method for round two. 

Mediterranean Salmon and Asparagus - Both Delicious

It’s Sockeye Salmon season in Alaska and once again our local Food City had them on sale for $9.99/lb. so we stocked up for the freezer and kept one out to eat along with another variety that we had in the freezer.   I cooked them along with some asparagus for a side dish.  The sockeye is the much redder filet and was never frozen.

Heavily Adapted Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo

My dear wife, who requires more sauce on her pasta than anyone I’ve ever seen, really surprised me by requesting pasta with fresh tomatoes and basil which is nearly sauceless.  So, I whipped up a batch of Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo using the recipe below which I altered for the amount of pasta that I was cooking.

Chicken and Pineapple Kebabs

We had some pineapple spears in the fridge along with some chicken breasts and bell pepper and Bev suggested kebabs for supper which sounded great to me.  I went on line in search of a recipe and settled on the recipe for Chicken and Pineapple Kabobs from “The Whole Cook” blog.  I chose it because of the short list of ingredients, all of which I had on hand.  I followed the recipe but added the extra step of reducing the leftover marinade in a pan and spooning it over the plated kebabs.

Awesome French Toast Bananas Foster And Hot Dogs

Well, it was the last day for the visit from the grandkids and their friends and we decided to send them off with a breakfast special.  They all like French toast, they all like bananas, and Bev has been eager to make Bananas Foster so we decided to marry the two.  I modified the French toast recipe from Ina Garten and increased it by 50%.

Using The Smoked Pork And Chicken – Quesadillas And Breakfast Burritos

The grandkids had requested BBQ during their visit so I fired up the smoker and cooked a pork butt, two racks of spare ribs, chicken thighs, and wings.  We ate the ribs and wings for supper then I used the pulled pork and chicken thighs for Hispanic dishes.

A Visit From The Kids And Grandkids

Eric’s kids, Matthew and Luca, wanted to come spend some time in East Tennessee and with us on the lake.  Matthew brought his college girlfriend and Luca brought a friend from home for a nice eight-day visit.  We’d seen Matthew recently but it’s been six years since we’ve seen Luca as our RV trips that included a visit with them kept getting canceled – covid, coach issues, etc. 

Creamed Chipped Beef On Toast And Cheesy Broccoli And Cauliflower

My mom occasionally made creamed chip beef on toast when I was a kid and Dad always complained because, while serving during WWII, he said they ate it about every day – I can’t recall if he would eat Mom’s or not.  But, like most things gravy, I still really enjoy it.

Delicious Chicken Broccoli Cheddar Rice Casserole – Not Your Typical Broccoli Casserole

We had made a version of this broccoli casserole several years ago but I updated it for a larger dish and a different assembly method as shown in the recipe below.  It's different than the usual holiday version of broccoli in that it contains rice.  I topped this one with cheese but the traditional crumb topping can also be used.  The original recipe calls for boiling the chicken then using the water for the rice but I hate to boil the flavor from the chicken so I baked it and added some Chicken Better Than Bullion to the rice cooking water.

Delicious Then Awesome, Unique Tomato Sandwiches

I really like eating fresh, local, summer garden vegetables and we plan many meals around them.  Bev, the pups, and I made a trip to Maryville (about 18 miles) for stops at the Coning Farm Market and another market in town to get a loaf of Tellico Grains Bakery Olive Bread.  As a result, my supper plan for the day changed to boiled corn and a unique tomato sandwich.

Mediterranean Naan Pizza and I’m An Old Wuss

Let’s deal with the second part of the title first.  We had planned a little hot dog cookout on the dock for Independence Day.  But when I saw the weather forecast predicting 96F (actual was 97F and thank heaven for A/C), I suggested we celebrate on July 5 when it would be overcast and 88F.  Even though it’s cooler down at the lake and we have great ceiling fans, I didn’t want to eat down there that bad.  So, we opted to cook a summertime meal in the air conditioned kitchen.  The highlight of the day was when friend and house cleaner, Karen, showed up to work on the holiday.

I think she has a unique outfit for about every holiday.

Blackened Grouper With Summer Veggies

Happy Birthday America

We decided for our next seafood meal that it would be blackened grouper using the Caribbean Grouper that we bought at Joe Patti’s Seafood in Pensacola.  I believe we bought eight pieces the same size as these two.