Eating Out - It's Like a Box of Chocolates

It's always been true of eating out.

Sometimes you just don't know what you're going to get from night to night.  One would think that when you eat out at specific places that have a good reputation that you would be getting a good product.

For example, Texas Roadhouse.

I personally had only been there once prior to last week and didn't find it so great, but the old man of the house had been there twice before and had a good night out.  It's so funny how that works.

Well, we get to Roadhouse last week, and it was OK but it certainly was nothing to write home about.

The biggest problem we all had was that, number one, a lot of our steaks were very thin or skinny, not what you would expect from a steak.  The other thing was, in particular, for me I ordered my steak medium and it came out dry.

It's just so funny how some people, like Dad, can catch a restaurant on a good night but I can catch it on two bad nights.

Then, there was Cracker Barrel here in town which I and my brother went to Sunday morning.  Not that I was expecting much, as they had some issues when they first opened up, but it was nothing to write home about either.  My food was OK, but my brother wasn't exactly a fan of it.

Then, after Mom got back from a vacation, we went to Pappadeaux's on Monday night.  Wow, all I can say is everything was top notch.  I ordered their major platter which consisted of stuffed shrimp, crab cake, crawfish, catfish and shrimp.  It was a meal so big that I had to have it in two to-go boxes.  But it was all good and I enjoyed the experience.

A couple of sports notes:

1. Finally, the Astros have really completed their transformation and are building for the future now.  Brett Myers, Wandy Rodriguez and all the other scrubs - gone.  Their hope now resides in the minor leagues as their major league team might not even beat a AA farm team.  I say they should go for the worst major league baseball team in history.  That's something they can strive for.

2. I feel bad for Adam Scott after the Open Championship.  He had it in the bag and then let it get away completely with four bogeys in the last four holes.  Granted, Ernie Els is a consummate pro and one of my favorite guys on the Tour but this was supposed to be Scott's hour.

Houston's Cheesecake Factory - Always a Good Time

So, I'll start off this blog post by saying that our family has many traditions.  If there's one thing that we like to do, it's uphold family traditions.

Once per year, I go in to get my eyes checked on (at Dr. Richard Ebling, who is terrific might I add).  For the most part, in every year since about 2000 we go over to the Cheesecake Factory over at the Houston Galleria after the appointment.  Wednesday was no different.

As usual it is always a wonderful time and my meal - oh my goodness, talk about to die for.

I am however saddened that Mother's lunch didn't turn out so great.  She had their lunch special, a Hawaiian lunch size pizza and from my understanding it didn't sound like it came out too great.  It's always sad to me when any sort of pizza doesn't turn out great as I've had pizza at all different kinds of places.

However, my lunch was nothing short of amazing.  Of course when you're at the Cheesecake Factory, you have cheesecake and theirs is always amazing.  When in Rome, you do as the Romans do.

But the main course - Fettucine with sun dried tomatoes and a sun dried tomato/cream sauce, oh my God, what a lunch.  I'd get that again any day.  What really tripped me out about lunch is that all the flavors went very well together.  As people well know, a lot of times you get meals where the flavors don't exactly match up and the lunch doesn't turn out so great.  That was not the case on Wednesday.

As far as the cheesecake is concerned, usually I get the white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake which is my favorite.  But this time, when I saw a cheesecake based off Reese's peanut butter cups, I had to get that and oh Lord, was it ever good.  I'd love to get that one again as well the next time I go.

A couple of sports matters before I close out this blog:

1. Thank God Carlos Lee is no longer a Houston Astro.  The fact that former general manager Tim Purpura backed up a dump truck of money to his house back in 2007 was one of the many mistakes Mr. Purpura made.  Thank God they are no longer involved with the organization.

2. Kobe Bryant, please stop talking about how the 2012 US Olympic Team could beat the 1992 Dream Team.  Please win the gold medal this year first.

3. It seems that the Rockets have not given up on Dwight Howard, as a matter of fact on Twitter they are following a number of major stars now - guys like Howard, Jason Richardson and Glen "Big Baby" Davis are all accounts the Rockets Twitter account is following.  It should be interesting to see where this story line leads.

The Debate about BBQ and I Love Patriotic Cake

It's the age old debate...a debate that might never really be truly resolved.

It's a debate about which kind of barbecue is really the best.  Really, honestly, there is no right or wrong answer to this question - it just depends on your preference.

I was starkly reminded of that this past Independence Day when I had my second foray into the world of North Carolina barbecue.  You know, the pulled pork that has that vinegar taste to it - and I've had my share of it all this week.

Much like all the different types of barbecue there are advantages and there are some not so great advantages to this type of barbecue.

One thing I've found out in my two adventures into eating North Carolina BBQ is that for as good as it can be, it's very hard to make in just one day.  It seems to me that this kind of BBQ has to be done starting the night before.  Thing was, it didn't quite get up to the temperature it needed to be (about 195 degrees) and Dad cooked the pork all day Wednesday.

Thing is though, if you can get it just right, it's awfully good.  I actually had it while I was still in school several months before I got my masters and it was awfully good then.

One advantage to me for this sort of BBQ is that it can be a nice alternative to having St. Louis style ribs (which are my personal favorite) if you don't want to get your hands dirty.

I can say this though...I absolutely love patriotic cake which we have had all week as well.  I absolutely love fruits of most kinds, so that cake is like heaven for me.  You've got the goodness of a nice, well made cake with all those great strawberries and blueberries in there and it is absolutely wonderful.

Man, some good eating around my parts this week.  But then again, it is around the Fourth of July so that is to be expected.