Eating Out

One of my favorite things to do is meet up with family and friends at nice restaurants. Eating out isn’t something that should be done all the time, but it sure is relaxing when done right.

Last Friday night I took my Aunt to Ft. Worth to spend the weekend with Jason and Julie. She had been staying with Brandon and me for a week and would be flying home to New York from the DFW Airport. We decided to go to Joe T. Garcia’s Mexican Dishes for dinner. If you have never been to Joe T.’s, you need to go.

The restaurant was started in the mid 1930’s and has never advertised. The original owner: Joseph T. Garcia, believed that if something was good enough word of mouth would do the trick. History has proven him right. The restaurant he created takes up one whole city block. His family has also opened a Mexican bakery and also has made it possible for you to find some of Joe T.’s items in the grocery store.

The restaurant is fantastic and seats well over 1,000 people. This time we ate on the Zocalo, one of the many outside dinning areas. Jason and I both had the enchiladas, while Julie and my Aunt had the chicken and beef fajitas. As always, I was not disappointed with the food or the service. It was great.

On Tuesday of this week Jason, Julie, Brandon, Julie’s Mom, and I all went to III Forks in North Dallas. The restaurant is the ‘perfect dining experience like no other… providing an equal and mouth-watering balance between fish and beef.’ And their claim is true.

We had three courses. Everyone but me started with the III Forks Salad- a National award winning salad with pecan-maple vinaigrette, sliced apples, and bleu cheese. I had the zesty Shrimp & Artichoke Bisque- it was the perfect, light beginning to my meal.

For the Main Course, Julie and I had the Almond-Crusted Brook Trout lightly drizzled in a Champagne Cream Sauce. We had potato, sugar peas, off-the-cob cream corn, rip tomatoes and spring onions to round out our course. The course provided a perfectly balanced palate. Everyone else at the table had the Roasted Beef Tenderloin with a Lyonnaise Sauce. I am sure the tenderloin was good but my fish was quit possibly the best fish I have ever had.

To round out the meal I had a slice of the chef’s handmade chocolate cake with whipped fudge and drizzled in chocolate sauce. As wonderful as it was I could only have three bits. Thank God for Brandon, he ate his dessert, mine, and finished Jason’s New York style cheesecake with fresh raspberry topping as well!

It was so nice to be together, talking and having a wonderful time. I know some people have a hard time spending money when it comes to something like a nice evening out but every once and a while it is well worth it. And if you are interested in doing so anytime soon, I recommend either one of these places… they are both well worth the time and money.

Monogrammed Stockings

My stockings arrived today! All of them neatly wrapped in plastic and monogrammed with everyone’s name. I was elated- thus the new blog!

To me there is nothing as special as Christmas traditions. If you do not have any- you’re children- and you- need some. Our family has many.

Opening one gift on Christmas Eve; Reading the Christmas story from Luke & having prayer before opening our gifts on Christmas morning; Having a birthday cake for Jesus (chocolate is His favorite by the way); Getting new ornaments for the tree each year; Hanging the Jerusalem Bell on the top of the tree; Who puts the Angel on the tree; have all been a part of an Ouellette Christmas. These traditions are more precious and important to me now than they have ever been.

You might think that these memories and traditions that my parents kept alive with their children might cause my brother and I so much pain now that they are gone, and in some small way, they do. As much as I will miss my parents this year at Christmas, I am still looking forward to it.

Jason and I have talked about not being afraid to do things new- to make some traditions of our own. I don’t really know why, I think I might, but we are pushed by some deep inner desire to keep our family and its traditions- new and old- alive. Not that everything will be the same this year- it can’t be.

For one, our family Christmas tree had to be trashed. Somehow part of the tree was picked up in a trip to the dump during the moving and cleaning of my parent’s home. (Thank God it was just a tree!) So, the tree in my den is a tiny, scrawny thing that will in no way be able to hold the well over 100 ornaments that represent important memories for each member of our family each year. Oh well, we will make do (I just pray it holds the angel).

The Christmas Story will be read by one of us, and I will be the one needing patience while helping David and Brandon bake a birthday cake for Jesus (pray for me). It will be different for sure- but that is where those stockings come in.

My family was never very big on stockings. Some years we had them, some years we didn’t. I decided this year we would add it to our tradition list.

The boys will all have green and the girls (Julie for now) will have red- and… they are MONOGRAMED! This may all seem so very insignificant to you but it is a big deal to me.

Maybe because it helps me know that we are still a family- that we will live on and that we are doing things with our future in mind. However small I sometimes feel we are- we yet stand. That is a great deal to me.

Everyone wants to know what we will do this year for Christmas. I don’t know what all we will do- but I know that we will do. We will do things. They may be old things and they may be our own new things- but we will do them and we will do them as a family. I am looking forward to doing things with my family Christmas Day.

Thank you Mom and Dad for putting in me something that causes me to look forward to doing things with our family.

A Dinner Event

Although when I was young my immediate family was not large, both of my parents came from large families and thus had ‘large’ family mindsets. This was most evident at dinner. To the Ouellette’s and the Tiffany’s, dinner is an event.

I can remember being squished around the small kitchen table eating as a family, or all sitting at the dinning room table eating and talking. I never remember my brother and I being too young for us to eat ‘as a family.’

As I got older eating as a family became harder and harder. Work schedules, school, and activities all pushed for our time and our ‘as a family’ nights became less and less. Once David and Brandon arrived, my parent’s determination to eat as a family was renewed with great vigor.

Did we always eat as a family? No; however, the times we didn’t were far and few. I have tried very hard to have dinner ‘as a family’ just about every evening since my Mom has passed. It is a gift and a tradition that I cannot afford to let go. Too many families do not eat together, and if they do it is not ‘an event.’

Everyone in our family had a job. Everyone in our family participated in someway or another. Seldom was it just Mom in the kitchen making dinner for everyone. Setting the table, ‘icing the glasses’, or even helping with one of the sides were always jobs that were given out to each member of the family. Everyone participated- then everyone ate.

As we grew older, Jason and I took on more ‘important’ jobs with dinner. Monday’s were my Dad’s night to cook and I followed on Tuesday. Wednesday was a leftover night or a night for Mom. Thursday’s went to Jason and Friday through Sunday went to back to Mom. No matter whose job it was to cook- everyone still had things to do.

Tonight I am happy and sad. My emotions are truly mixed. I don’t know if I should cry, or if I should smile. I am choosing to smile- even if a small tear slides out!

Two of my Dad’s brother’s are visiting from New York. One of my Aunts had off from work today so we planned dinner this evening. It was like I remember. We had apricot chicken, fresh yellow squash, asparagus, homemade biscuits, pesto alfredo, tea- sweet and un, and chocolate cake for dissert. Everyone had a job- and we all ate!

The meal lasted almost two hours while we sat at the table talking and laughing not even concerned about the dishes. When we finally decided it was getting time to leave we all cleaned up and put things away. In all of my attempts to eat ‘as a family’, I have sure missed eating as a family.

At some point this week gather your family together and have a dinner event. Give everyone a job…don’t just leave the work up to one person. Get everyone involved. Then sit down and enjoy each other’s company with stories, memories, and laughter. Let the dishes sit for just a while. When it’s finally over, get everyone involved in cleaning. Make a memory.