Reviews

SANDY CREEK COE PARK, Jasper, TX 75951

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not much rambling today, just need to catch up on our reviews.

FOOD & BEVERAGE:

Chef Scott: Breakfast 5 out of 5

Eggs over easy: sprinkled with salt & pepper. Perfectly done with a slightly runny yolk.

Bacon: We have in the past tried different brands of bacon for the one we prefer. We have found 2 that are consistently excellent. One is from the PA. Dutch Store in Collingswood, NJ. They have a maple bacon, that is delicious and you can really get the maple flavor throughout. Since that was an hour away from us while living in NJ and now we are no longer in NJ, this bacon is not an option. Surprisingly, our go to bacon is Oscar Mayer LOW SODIUM bacon.  We purchased it one day because that was all that was available. We love it!!

Home Fries: Superb! Scott gets this side dish right 95% of the time. And when he gets it right, it's heaven.

The only downside to Scott's cooking is he takes a loooooong time. By the time he finished cooking breakfast it was 1pm. I've been up since 6:30am and had my toast & coffee, so I'm ready for his breakfast, my lunch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Relish, hot & sweet:

This recipe was given to me from a co-worker, 20 yrs ago, while working in the finance dept. of the Post Office, at the Mon. P&DC in Eatontown, NJ. Thank you Jeff B.

7 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed, peppers diced small

2 regular sized onion, diced small

1 cup sugar

1 cup white vinegar

2 tsps. salt (optional)

Put all prepared ingredients in a pot.

Bring to boil.

Reduce heat.

Simmer for at least 30 minutes or until liquid thickens.

Makes approximately 1 pint

*Add more peppers if you like a little more heat.

You can make a larger batch and "can" them, but since I've never canned, I'm afraid to try it.

I add this to tuna salad, egg salad, salmon salad. Both Scott & I like it on hot dogs & hamburgers also.  This is a constant in our home. We make sure there is room for a container always in our small RV fridge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PICKETT HOUSE in Woodville, TX:

Mixed reviews. Scott's rating 3.5 out of 5   My (Debbie's) rating 2 out of 5

This home style restaurant gets very good reviews on Urban Spoon, my "go to" reference for restaurants. I think people are swayed because it is "all you can eat" for $10.00. Unfortunately, I couldn't each much because the food wasn't very good.

Atmosphere: Very casual. Picnic tables with checkered vinyl covers. Dinner served family style.

Fried Chicken - Scott 4.5 out of 5, Deb 4 out of 5: Crispy breading, not greasy and moist chicken.  Nothing special about the breading to make it stand out, but was very good.

Chicken & Dumplings - Scott 3 out of 5, Deb 1 out of 5: DISGUSTING! Couldn't find any chicken, just chicken flavor.  Dumplings were the flat pasta style, which is how Scott makes his Chicken Pot Pie. These dumplings were a glutinous glob of starch. I love carbohydrates, so I normally like any kind of starch, but I couldn't swallow these...ugh! I think they were sitting too long in the chicken broth. No seasoning either, except maybe a little poultry seasoning. Very gloppy, chickenless, and bland.

Green Beans - 3.5 out of 5: These were definitely canned, which makes green beans somewhat mushy, but there was some kind of flavor mixed in that made these very interesting. Couldn't figure out the flavor, but I did go back for seconds. If the beans were crispier (frozen at least instead of canned), I would have rated much higher.

Mashed Potatoes & Gravy - Scott 4 out of 5, Deb 1 out of 5: I don't think Scott's opinion on mashed potatoes qualify. He LIKES INSTANT! I'm not saying these were instant, but if they were "real", they were mixed with water, not milk. The only thing that saved this, was the gravy was tasty.

Biscuits - 4 out of 5: May be home made or near enough. These would have been great over some sausage gravy or chipped beef (SOS).

Cole Slaw - 4 out of 5: Sweet & tasty

Beets - 4 out of 5: Pickled, sweet & refreshing (of course I love beets!)

Watermelon rind - 4 out of 5: Pickled, sweet & refreshing. Tasted sort of like a bread & butter pickle. This was a first for me.

Peach cobbler - 2 out of 5: The peach filling was warm and tasty...what little of it there was.  The crust may have been flaky when first made, but was rubbery when we got it. Fresh baked from the oven, this would probably be a 5 out of 5.

Scott would return for the all you can eat chicken. My opinion, go have fun by yourself. I won't return.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages 2010, French: My rating 3 out of 5.

I think this was just "weak". It's only been a week since I drank it, but can't remember it. That's proof of the averageness of this wine. 

While searching for a photo of the label, I came across an interesting website/blog reviewing cheap wines. This reviewer is much more knowledgeable than I am, so it may be worth checking out his comments and description of this wine. Check out WINE WELFARE I will not purchase again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Newman's Own Merlot 2009, California: My rating 4.5 out of 5.

What a pleasant surprise! I just bought this on a whim because I knew the profits go to charity & it was under $10.00.  This may be my new "go to" wine!!! It does have a fruitiness to it, but not sweet. It also seems to have a very slight fizz. I'm sure there's some specific wine review term, but I don't know it. This is a wine, I'm enjoying swirling in my mouth. Smooth, tart, fruity, fairly bold, with that touch of tingle. I bought this at Walmart for $8.88! I'll be purchasing this again & again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BOOKS:

Audio:

Open Season by C.J. Box
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Fiction, murder mystery:

Although this seems to get good reviews from Good Reads, Audible, and my husband. I did not like this AUDIO book.  I was not involved in the characters, although I felt bad for the bungling game warden who is the main character. He had a lot of stress in his life,which just seemed to depress me.  A good guy that couldn't seem to get a break.


View all my reviews