So much to say, so little time....

Have been cooking less and learning more. That might sound mutually exclusive but it really isn't.

We have had a chance to do a small bit of travelling and have found some awesomely awesome places to eat on our jaunts...

One is Buddy's Ranch House & Cafe on North Washington in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. I don't know that it is still called "ranch house" but I can tell you that the breakfast we had there on a rainy December morning was great. We had planned on going to Crater of Diamonds State Park and find a HUGE diamond. Or two. It turned cold and rainy so we took a walk around the visitor center at the park and then decided to get back to the interstate to go further south. As usually happens when we are touring around, Himself is talking about a place he saw where we could eat before we left. Also true to form, I thought he was goofy but, as I was riding and had promised to keep my mouth shut, agreed to go wherever he wanted. Turns out it was Buddy's. We had "traditional" breakfasts, his eggs, griddle cakes, sausages... mine a huge omelette. Wonderful. If you find yourself in Murfreesboro, AR, go to Buddy's. You won't regret it.

Then there was another rainy and chilly night in Livingston, TX, just north of Houston. All I wanted to do was put my jammies on and go to bed but Himself insisted that we needed to get something to eat. He left the choice up to me and I thought Cajun sounded good so off we went to Shrimp Boat Manny's. Ok, ohhhhhkay! Wow. That's about the best I can express how I found the food. Etouffee is one of my favorite foods in the whole world but it's hard to find one that hasn't turned into a gelatinous mess. Manny's was made with a blonde roux, unlike the dark roux I am accustomed to. The mudbugs were done perfectly, the spices were balanced, the whole dish was just out of this world. I would have been happy to sit there for another 2 hours and just keep eating etoufee. Highly, highly recommended!

Banda's on South Port in Corpus Christi has some of the best fried seafood you will ever taste. We had checked in earlier at a local motel and told the desk clerk that we needed something for supper but seafood would sure be nice. She grew up in the neighborhood and told us that if she was craving seafood she went to Banda's. That dear girl was right about the food. Banda's is a little tiny place on the west side of Port that is almost impossible to find. No big signs, no advertisments, no parking lot to speak of... Walk in, the offerings are on a dry marker board to your left. Peruse those, mouth watering, while trying to decide if you would rather have a 3, 4 or 5 piece fish dinner, or oysters, or shrimp or all of the above. Once you figure out what you want, mosey up to the ordering window and tell the little lady there. She will give you a number and, in pretty short order, you hear your number called and it's time to chow down. We had fish and shrimp and onion rings, so much of all of them that we overate before we knew it. The food is not greasy, not boring, just absolutely wonderful. Banda's isn't a fancy-schmancy place, offering expensive entrees at sky-high prices. There are no starters, no salads, no broiled vegetables... It's a neighborhood joint, frequented by the denizens of the area. It is, also, proof of a truism I heard years ago from a friend, "If you want to really know what the food is like locally, find out from a local where they eat and go there."

Ahhhh, Mamacita's. Little Mama, whoever you are, I love you. Across the bridge, over there a couple of blocks away from the Lexington in your purple building... funky paintings done by a local artist. Open for breakfast at 7 a.m., lunch after 11. They offer a variety of northern Mexican dishes that simply are amazing. Try the salsa. Fire-roasted chilis, tomatoes, tomatillas... how can you top that? You might want to try authentic barbacoa for lunch? Just looking at the offerings on the menus made me drool. So much food, so little time. I hope we can get back to C.C., if for no other reason than to go to Mamacita's and eat.

Then there is that huge surprise in Buda, Texas: Nonna Gina's. On Main Street across from the municipal parking lot is Gina's. Everything made fresh, mostly from local ingredients. It was yet again a dark, rainy and foggy night. We had visited one of the SanAn missions but didn't have time to see the others. Were not in the least impressed by the Alamo and figured it would be a good thing to get as far as we could that evening. Stuck in rush hour traffic, long drive in crummy conditions? When we got just past Kyle we really figured it would be a good thing to get off the highway, get a motel and crash. Then it occurred to us that we were really, really hungry. Well, let's see... there's a Burger Sling and that truck stop over on the other side of the highway. Nah, let's try something else. My turn to drive so we ventured up a very dark road into Buda. There was that Italian place on the south side of town but that didn't look appealing... I totally missed seeing Nonna's but Himself had the Hungry-radar going and noticed it. We parked in the municipal lot and wandered in. Mismatched furniture, no fancy decorations at all but the most marvelous aromas... FOOD! Real, honest to goodness food. For about 20 bucks or so we both had more than enough to eat. Himself had a fresh-made pizza which could easily have changed my opinion on pizza forever. I had a Greek salad, bruschetta a formaggio and pasta with fresh tomatoes, basil and garlic. Then? Great coffee with a house-made biscotti. Across the table? Cannolis! This is a new place and it deserves to have a long, fruitful life. If you live around Austin, TX, hie yourself over to Buda and eat at Nonna Gina's. You will have a truly great meal and, if you get a chance, ask for Patrick.