Walking Buffalo Bayou

Today, rather than walking in the mall, I thought I would head over to Buffalo Bayou for my walk. I took the new camera with the little holga lens. We used to live very near the bayou. Buffalo Bayou is a winding stream that goes through downtown Houston and eventually empties into the Houston ship channel. There are some walking trails on the banks and you can almost imagine that you are in the countryside until you turn a bend and see a bridge over the bayou or in the other direction you see the skyscrapers of downtown Houston.

After about 30 minutes, I could not take anymore sun or heat. Obviously I am not in the shape that some young men were in. They were sprinting up a bank and then side running down. Up and down for the whole time I was at the bayou. I looked on in amazement but not envy. I do not want to do that....not even if it is cool. I either have to go to the bayou at 6 or 6:30 in the morning or go back to being a mall walker.

Baseball in Triple Digit Temperatures

It is hot. I mean really hot. Triple digit temperatures for the last six days. The heat didn't stop the Wranglers. Grandson, Will who is nine years old, plays on the Wranglers.They were in a tournament this weekend playing two games on Saturday and three on Sunday. I have no idea how they stood out in the sun in the middle of the day. It was brutal. Moms brought ice chests full of orange slices, watermelon pieces and other cooling snacks. Dads kept cold towels on the boys necks when they were in the dugout. So the Moms and Dads were spending the day in the heat too. Ned and I used our "advanced years" as an excuse to only go to the games at the end of the day when the sun was dropping behind the horizon and a little breeze was kicking up.
The Wranglers did really well but unfortunately they lost the championship game 6 to 5. I'm amazed they were even able to play the championship game, the third game they played in the heat on Sunday.

Will is the first boy on the left in the back row.

The Medical Maze

It has been three weeks since we entered the maze of the great Houston Medical Center. And what a lot of twists and turns it has been.

The first thing I want to tell you is that if you are going to see a doctor or you will be in a hospital waiting room, be sure to bring your own reading material. I think that funds for magazine subscriptions have been cut. I didn't see a magazine in any waiting room newer than six months old if you could find a magazine at all.

Next, there are vast areas of the hospitals where cell phones do not work. There are no pay phones and the hospital phones that are for visitors to use are usually sitting on a corner table with people sitting on each side of it so that you have this very awkward situation of standing there over two people holding on to a phone receiver with a short cord trying to tell the details of what is happening to your loved one to the family on the other end of the connection. The people sitting can't help but hear. You have no privacy. Of course you could leave the waiting room and go find a place where the cell phone would work but then you risk missing the doctor if he comes out to give you an update.

I haven't had too much of it so far, but hospital food is still institutional food. They have spiffed up the cafeterias and made them more into food courts with more choices and St. Luke's Hospital even has McDonalds right there on the first floor of the hospital. The food isn't bad. It is adequate but it wouldn't take long to get tired of it.

Now for an update on Ned. We are still in testing mode. You would think that they would just schedule every test known to man and be done with it. That is not the way it is done. First you do this test and if it comes back with questions, then you do the next test and if it comes back with questions, then you do......well, you get the idea. This is all time consuming. It takes a few days to schedule the test, a few days to get the report back and what do you know, another week has gone by. We've spent most of the last three weeks waiting and eating...but the eating part is another blog entry. At any rate, one more test today and then we think that treatment will start sometime late next week. It is going to be six weeks of radiation and chemo. The oncologist said that Ned probably will not lose all his hair but it will thin out as will his mustache. I can't stand a splotchy mustache so he may have to shave the rest off. I haven't seen him without a mustache since the 1970's. Mm.....wonder what his kisses will be like without the mustache.

Visitation Cake

Many, many years ago the Visitation Cake was a staple in my kitchen. You made it to take to pot luck dinners, to someone who has just had a baby or came home from the hospital. You made it for your family when you wanted something sweet but didn't have time to make a cake. This was back in the old days when you actually MADE a cake, not poured it out of a box. After you have made it a time or two you can make it from start to finish including mixing, baking and icing in about 35 minutes.

My daughter-in-law Betsy made it one time to take to work. Everyone loved it and wanted the recipe. She told them that it was an old family recipe and she could not give it out. Smart girl. Everyone requested her chocolate cake whenever they were having some luncheon or event. She would hem and haw about how much trouble it was but would take it.

Betsy made it again for Father's Day. While it is an "old family recipe." I'll pass the recipe on to you.

Visitation Cake
1 stick butter
1/2 cup shortening
6 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup water
Bring to a simmer until butter and shortening are melted. Stir to mix in the cocoa.

In a mixing bowl put
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
Stir to mix
Pour chocolate mixture over flour and sugar and mix to incorporate.

Add
1/2 cup buttermilk that has 1 teaspoon baking soda stirred into it.
Mix until incorporated.

Pour into a 9x13 pyrex dish that has been buttered and floured.
Bake for 25 minutes in 400 degree oven.

Topping
In a small sauce pan add
1 stick butter.
4 or 5 tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons milk
Bring to a simmer until butter is melted and stir to smooth cocoa into mixture.

Put one box powdered sugar in a mixing bowl
Add the chocolate mixture and mix until smooth.
Add 1 tsp vanilla
Add 1/2 to 1 cup pecans
Pour over the hot cake after you remove it from the oven.


Grandson Will likes it with a scoop of Blue Bell ice cream. He dug in before I could get the camera.

A Mall Walker

I blame it on the heat because as a friend commented on facebook, I'm not old enough to be a mall walker. But mall walker I have become. It is just too hot and humid to exercise outside. I took my camera long the first day but I can't walk and photograph at the same time so now I'm just walking.

This photo was made in Neiman-Marcus on Saturday. Bad economy or not, this upscale store was busy.

The Heat

You need some cool refreshments in this heat and it is hot in Houston. I hear that it is still hot in San Miguel de Allende. The advantage that Houston has over San Miguel is Houston is an air-conditioned city. In fact, Houston claims to be the most air-conditioned city in the world. You go from your air-conditioned house to your air-conditioned car to the air-conditioned store. If you do get hot, have a sangria like I did at Hugo's last night. Most refreshing.

Eating Out in Houston

The 2009 Zagat Survey of Texas reports that Houstonians eat out 4.2 times a week, compared to the national average of 3.3, and our average dining tab is still a relative bargain at $29.10, about five dollars less that the national average.

We've been doing our best to stay up with or even surpass the average for the number of times we eat out in a week. We justify that by saying when we are in Houston we are on vacation. Now that we are here for a little longer we may have to readjust.

Everytime we come back to Houston we try to hit one or two of the new "in" places. We did that again this time.

First dinner at The Bedford in the Heights. It is a new building rather than a remodel space and the interior is nice but not outstanding. The big problem with the space is that it bounces the noise. It was so noisy that it was difficult to hear our dinner companions across a 36 inch table. This really affects my enjoyment of the food and the whole experience of dining out. I always talk about how much the conversation means to me when we see friends for dinner. So for me, being able to have a intimate conversation is at least 1/2 of the dining experience. The food at The Bedford was okay but it wasn't outstanding enough that I'd be willing to spend those kinds of bucks to eat there again.

Another night we went to Reef. It is another new space but this time it is a repurposed space that is beautifully done in colors that make you think of the sea. We were sitting at a somewhat isolated table so the noise wasn't too bad but some friends who have sat in the middle of the room say the noise level is high in this restaurant too. The service was excellent and the food was very good but I'm surprised at the ratings it has been getting including being named the #1 seafood restaurant in the USA by Bon Appetit Magazine. I thought it was good, but not that good.

I think Danton's Gulf Coast Seafood has been around a year or so but it was new for us. We went with friends from San Miguel. Except for the price, it reminded me of some of the old time fine gulfcoast seafood restaurants both in decor and the food. Everything we had was good especially the corn and crab bisque. I love crab and can't seem to get enough of it, so I ordered lump crabmeat sauteed in butter. I really liked that it had a kick of red pepper but it wasn't swimming in butter.

All of these places were "good" but I don't know that they were outstanding enough to bring me back. The places that the food and service were such that we will go back and have already been back to some of them on this trip are places that serve food that is perfectly prepared and well presented but not pretentious. Antica Osteria. Supposedly this is a Italian restaurant but it has such a varied menu it doesn't seem Italian to me. We have eaten there several times over the last two years and everything I've had there has been perfectly prepared. The prices are quite reasonable for what you get.

A fairly new neighborhood restaurant that is a standout is Jonthan's Rub just off I-10 and Campbell Road. It is a tiny restaurant in a strip center with very few tables. We had a wait, even at 6:30, for a table but it was worth it. Jonthan is turning out some delicious food and his wait staff of young ladies were doing an excellent job in this small homey space.

We have been back to Goode Company Seafood any number of times for lunch. Oysters on the half-shell, campechanas, gumbo, crawfish.....we don't seem to be able to get enough gulf coast seafood. We like to dash in and sit at the bar down at the end where we can watch the master open oysters and peel shrimp.

Brasil's on Westheimer and Dunlavy for great salads and pizzas, Romano's on West Gray for pizza and pasta, Central Market for fresh sushi.....I could go on and on but you get the idea. Houston really is a city of wonderful restaurants. So remember, if you are going to Houston you are going to have some great dining opportunities and at a lower than the average cost in the States.