Texas Best Sweet Potato 3.14

Do you know what makes me happy? 

Well, lots of things make me happy..... puppies and blue skies and clean beaches, tall trees and rainy days and .... and just lots! 

But what I'm talking about is the current Sweet Potato Revolution we are experiencing. 

It's a quiet revolution, but it's gaining speed.  Have you noticed? 

Restaurants are preparing the "other" orange root veggie in new and exciting ways.  Sweet Potato Chips, spicy and sweet, fries, mashed, even in stews.  And I like them All.  You better believe it! 

Why shouldn't I?  Sweet Potatoes are historically a Southern food, and Texas grows a bunch, and really good ones!

But my favorite will always be the Sweet Potato Pie. 

There is something about the way the SP blends so well with heavy cream, and settles into a pie shell with such grace.  A true lady.  And while baking a pie is as easy as.. well.... pie, I thought I would share with you a list of some of my favorite Texas Sweet Potato Pies. 

House of Pies - Houston

Ahh, the pies I have eaten at this Houston institution, and some crazy times I have eaten them!  Open 24 hours a day, because you never know when the craving will call!  I've never had a bad one, but their Sweet Potato pie ranks high as...pie. 
The bad news is that they don't ship out their pies, so you must visit one of their two locations in Houston to experience it for yourself! 

Hoover's Cooking - Austin

It's hard to save room for dessert, because the food is so good, but isn't that why they make those little To-Go boxes.  Or just buy a whole pie and eat it in the car, cause you gotta have snacks for a road trip, and since when isn't pie a snack?
In the new Austin food tradition, Hoover's also has a food truck, Hoover's Soular Foods Trailer.  I'm not sure if the SP pie can be found on wheels, but I'm plan to find out! 


Mamaw's Fried Pies - Whitehouse

In the quiet little East Texas town of Whitehouse, the Sweet Potato Revolution is alive and well.  Mamaw's Fried Pies takes their yummy sweet potato filling, mixes it with sugar and spice (and everything nice) and wraps in up in a flaky blanket of dough, frying them to perfection.  Pie Purist or not, these are wonderful!  Grab some on your way out to a day fishing or camping on nearby Lake Tyler,   The only downside, the Sweet Potato is only available when in season. Ugh.  Double Ugh. 

 

Earl Abel's - San Antonio

Earl Abel's in San Antonio has combined two Texas favorites for their Sweet Potato Pecan pies!  How crazy is that?  I have a problem appreciating pecans, but my husband claims Earl Abel's is the best! 


I know..... there should be more. 

And at much as I hate to admit it, I haven't tried them all.  Not yet, anyway. 

But if I left out your favorite, please let me know about it. 

And if you want to be in on the cutting edge of food revolutions, try adding some young sweet potato greens in a salad.  Their slightly sweet tang spices up your tired old lettuce.  What an amazing plant!

Keep Having Fun in the Texas Sun!

Michelle

Danielle's yummy mashed potatoes

I'm a firm believer that that my children MUST spend Thanksgiving with me when they are grown and have their own families..... I apologize now to my future son and daughters in laws, but yes, I'm going to be that kind of MIL. 

And I have a plan to make this happen.  My older children have a "can't have Thanksgiving without" side dish that they are responsible for preparing.  In this way, I can say to them in my golden years, "but what's Thanksgiving without YOUR mashed potatoes?"  Yes, I'm evil. 

My daughter, Danielle, is the genius behind our Thanksgiving mashed potatoes.  And I have to tell you, they are amazing!  Like so much in our lives, they come with a story.  Shouldn't everything have a story? 

So, we are going to have to travel back to the Summer of 2010.  At the time, I was obsessed with learning to make Chef Kent Rathbun's famed Lobster Shooters, and he was doing a cooking demonstration at an HEB grocery store.  We made a girl's day of it, going with my MIL and another friend. 

Chef Kent Rathbun is a superhero in the Texas culinary world, with his Dallas restaurants, Abacus and Rathbun's Blue Plate Kitchen, and Jasper's with locations in Plano, Austin and The Woodlands.  He and his brother Kevin became national superheroes when they defeated Bobby Flay in an Iron Chef competition!  His brother, Chef Kevin Rathbun owns Rathbun's Steakhouse in Atlanta, where I have never had the opportunity to dine, but my dear husband sent me a picture of his steak once while on a business trip! 

Anyway, after the demo. I got my girl to pose for a picture with Chef Rathbun.  He asked her if she liked to cook, and what.  She said mashed potatoes (Which is true, although she doesn't eat potatoes - weirdo!)  He then gave her the golden secret.  He said to take some green onions (which she proudly told him she that we had them growing all over our yard) and puree them in a blender or food processor.  Then mix it with some heavy cream, and add the mixture to the cooked potatoes, mashing as usual.  He jokingly told her that if she becames a famous chef,  she had to share the credit with him.  She beamed.  I beamed.  Superman! 

And the next day, we made them with dinner.  WOW!!!

They are a peculiar light green color, and awesome, and not for anyone concerned about watching their weight!

 By the way, the Lobster Scalion Shooters were amazing, too! 

Catfish Plantation, Waxahachie

 

Where can you get catfish, and a good ghost story, too?  The Catfish Plantation in Waxahachie! 

During the month of October, the restaurant goes all out to make sure you leave with more than a full belly.  They throw in a few goosebumps, too! 

 

We went out with several other friends one night for dinner.  Since our party was so large, we were seated by ourselves in one of the smaller dining rooms, which was a bedroom in the restaurant's former life as a house.  In fact, they claimed it was the bedroom of the ghost that haunts Catfish Plantation.  Having a room to ourselves was nice, since my kids aren't really "Restaurant Trained", meaning they are loud! At your normal restaurant they are loud, but at a haunted restaurant we found that they are extremely loud! 

The owners have decorated the entire restaurant for Halloween, and the wait staff really plays it up, too! Along with telling ghost stories and answering lots of questions posed by superstitious children, our waiter asked the occassional, "Did you hear that?"
You don't have to be a "believer" to enjoy the fun atmosphere they create!  We did have one funny incident where one of our friends found his cell phone, which he claims was in his pocket, in the corner of the room on another table.  We had no explanation for how it got there. 

   

Naturally, we all ordered the catfish.  We also shared a couple of orders of their signature Pumpkin Fries,  a deep fried pumpkin strips, sprinkled with cinnamon and brown sugar! 

The Dallas Area Paranormal Society and the Fort Worth Paranormal Society have both been out to the restaurant to conduct test.  To find out more, read more "ghost" encounters or plan your own dinner out, visit the Catfish Plantation's website at;  http://www.catfishplantation.com\

Cleburne's Burger Bar

"When a cheeseburger is really good, you don't mind standing up to eat it!"
 
That's what I told my boys when we had lunch at the Cleburne Burger Bar, located at 109 N. Anglin, in downtown Cleburne.  The tiny little restaurant cranks out some fantastic burgers, although all the credit goes to the approximately 100 year old grill, claimed the owners, Mike and Cathy Elmore.  During our visit, the four bar stools stayed occupied, my boys taking up two of them, and the door never stayed shut long, as locals popped in and out to pick up orders and catch up with the friendly Elmores.   Treating strangers like friends, they chatted with us while our burgers cooked, and kept my youngest son well supplied with pickles, his latest favorite! 

My Mommy Tip:  The charm of the small restaurant lends itself to one problem, there is not a restroom inside.  Be sure and visit one before you get to the restaurant.  Proud and understanding grandparents, Cathy has hand sanitizer available for guest.  Another option is to pick up your burgers and visit nearby Hulen Park, which offers a walking trail, playground and restrooms. 

While we ate we asked about the history of the Burger Bar.  We had spotted the Johnson County Historical Commission plaque hanging near the door, so we knew the place had to have a story!  Sure enough, it's one of the oldest buildings in Cleburne, and originally it was the office of a wagon yard.  Back in Cleburne's early days, E. Henderson was the main road into town.  Even before it was a road, Indians would use it as a trail to reach nearby Buffalo Creek.  In 1949 the office was converted into a restaurant, and has been one ever since.  The space now occupied by the air conditioner was once a second door used during segregation.  It blew my son away that such a small building would have required two doors.  Cathy explained that Amtrack has a station in Cleburne, and tourist from DFW, Austin and San Antonio often ride the Texas Eagle train to Cleburne for a weekend of shopping and sightseeing before returning home.  As she is telling me this, I'm not sure if I'm still drooling from the burger, or the idea of another field trip!!

Built in 1893, and sitting diagonally across Anglin from the Burger Bar is the Chuch of the Holy Comforter. 

Interested in Mike's reference to Buffalo Creek, we drove down East Henderson a few blocks until we came to the creek.  Retaining walls have been built to keep the creek in place, and we watched as fish and turtles surfaced.  We shared with them a few slices of bread we had in the car, that we had planned to feed to some ducks at the park.  Sitting along the creek is the Cleburne Public Library.  We entered the library and visited the children's section to read a few books to my four year old.  My kids loved the live turtles that call the inside of the library home.  Named Jack and Annie, after the characters of one of our favorite book series, The Magic Treehouse!   
http://www.visitcleburne.com/recreation/listing.php?Buffalo-Creek-5

BEE enchiladas and Aunt Stella's snow cones

We took a recent trip to Oak Cliff in South Dallas.  Oak Cliff has some of the best food, and I have my favorite restaurants, but I had heard alot about BEE, and wanted to try it out! 

BEE stands for Best Enchiladas Ever.  Located at 202 West Davis, the new building stands out among the older ones, but the bright colors and glass windows invite you inside.  You order at the counter, and watch as they assemble your enchilada.  This was a big hit with my kids.  All the ingredients are fresh and organic.  My daughter ordered chips and queso blanco, which was very good.  So is their salsa.  I ordered the street taco and the fish taco, and both were good.  My husband ordered the enchiladas; beef brisket with the chipotle crema sauce.  The only word I know to describe them is "beautiful".  They were, they just melted in your mouth. 

Another something I love is that they sell Mexican Coke in the bottle.  Do you remember in the 80's, when Coke changed to New Coke, and then switched back to Original Coke?  Well, that's when US bottlers changed the original recipe,  substituting high fructose corn syrup for cane sugar.  All Coke bottled in the US is made with high fructose corn syrup, but Coke bottled in Mexico is still made with cane sugar.  The taste difference is amazing!  

This is a great restaurant for taking kids.  I'm going to tell you that I'm THAT mom, and we are THAT family.  The one people roll their eyes when they see coming, and sigh with relief when we leave, no matter how much we amused you while we were there.  We are loud, we ask way too many questions, I'm not watching my kids because I'm too busy taking pictures, and undoubtedly something at our table is going to be spilt.  But the staff was terrific! 

After dinner, we made our way over to our one of our yearly stops, Aunt Stella's Snow Cones at 2002 W. Clarendon in Oak Cliff.  Aunt Stella's has been selling snow cones since 1962, that's 50 years!  And the reason that people stand for about a half hour (I've never stood for less) in Oak Cliff in the hot sun or at night is because they are THE BEST snowcones anywhere!  It's the ice, it's the softest and fluffiest I've ever had!  Aunt Stella's is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, Fri - Sun only, from 2 - 9.  And bring cash, 'cause Aunt Stella's doesn't take credit. 

To read a previous post about Aunt Stella's http://havingfuninthetexassun.blogspot.com/2011/07/snow-cones-texas-original.html