I Was His First . . .

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Wrapping up 2018

In yesterday’s blog I covered our Christmas get-together at Brandi’s on Sunday the 23rd. And after seeing Brandi’s brisket, several readers ask for the recipe, so here it is. And it’s really pretty simple

10 pound brisket
1 bottle of
Allegro Original Marinade

Put the brisket in a pan.
Cover it in the marinade.
Cover the pan
Cook it at 250° for 6 hours

Easy Peezy!
Though I might try it with the
Hot & Spicy version of the Marinade.

For most of the last 40 years, we’ve eaten a family Christmas Eve dinner at our favorite King Food. But since we’d already had our family Christmas, it was just Jan and I this time.

Since I’ve already posted many pics of KF food, just know that our Hot & Sour Soup, Crispy Honey Garlic Chicken Wings, Chicken in Hot Garlic Sauce with Jalapenos, and Special Fried Rice, was as delicious as always.

Christmas Day we decided to head out to the movies to see Bohemian Rhapsody, the Queen biopic. We both really enjoyed it, though they did play fast and loose with some of the timeline.

But all in all, a really good movie.

As I said, Brandi’s brisket was delicious, but it was Christmas after all, and Jan had to get her Turkey and Dressing fix, so Thursday we were off to Cracker Barrel, meeting Miss Piper, for their really good T&D.

Sunday the 30th found us up in Sugarland, first eating dinner at the Floyd’s Cajun Seafood, starting with a dozen raw oysters,

Floyd's Raw Oysters

along with Shrimp Gumbo, Grilled Catfish, and Grilled Veggies.

Then it was right down the road to the Smart Financial Centre to see Mannheim Steamroller.

Mannheim 1

And, unlike last year’s Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert, I didn’t have another attack of BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo). And except a couple of small attacks over the next few days, I’ve never had a reoccurrence of the problem. And I don’t know what caused it then, either.

We both really enjoyed the concert, but were surprised to find that it was a much smaller production than TSO.

In fact the touring company consist of only 6 musicians. The rest of the orchestra consists of about a dozen musicians hired locally at each stop. And I think the only equipment they travel with is a snow machine for that real Christmas spirit

Mannheim 3

And while the light show with Mannheim was nice,

Mannheim 2

Mannheim 4

Mannheim 5

it really didn’t compare with the light show put on by TSO. With multiple stages overhead,

TSO 12

enough lasers to take on the Deathstar,

TSO 3

TSO 11

gigantic flame pots, and enough speakers to make your fillings rattle, and you could feel the heat.

TSO Flame Pots

it was a totally awesome experience.

But as I said we also really liked Mannheim, with of a homey, intimate feel. They did mention that this performance was the last one of the season for them, starting back on November 9th, with a show almost every night.

But actually like many similar shows, there are two touring companies for Mannheim, a Red Unit and a Green Unit, that let’s them cover more cities.

All in all a great  time.

New Year’s Eve found us at a wild party at a local restaurant. Well, actually we had an early dinner at the Saltgrass Steakhouse up in Webster. We both had our usual Wedge Salads and steaks, but, since it was New Year’s Eve, we splurged a bit and split a Pecan Pie Bread Pudding. Party Hearty.

Saltgrass Pecan Pie Bread Pudding

Finishing up, I think I was Nick’s first. Or at least the very first person to get a copy of his latest book, Big Lake Wedding.

Big Lake Wedding

I had been clicking every 5 minutes or so, all afternoon, waiting for it to go live. And when I checked at 6:19 it wasn’t there, but at 6:20pm it was.

Bazinga!


Thought for the Day: 

“Love your neighbor, yet don’t pull down your hedge.” – Poor Richard’s Almanack

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