Texas

Texas - The Lone Star State
        

We arrived in Texas on Christmas day.  Christmas morning was a blast.  Anne Peters celebrated with us.  Conner made Chicken and Waffles, we opened gifts, drank champagne and had a wonderful time.  Sydney and I went to see Mary Poppins Returns and then we sat down to a Texas dinner. 



I've been to Texas a few times, Dallas and Austin.  Conner lived in Texas this past summer so he is our Texan expert.  We decided to do Brisket, Texas Home Fries, Texas Caviar, Texas Toast, Dr. Pepper and Pecan Pie. 



I did the Brisket in the Instant Pot since we were pressed for time.  The Brisket was good and was served with a Texas BBQ sauce.  The brisket was even better 2 days later when I made tacos for a bunch of Will's friends. 

The home fries were good, I should have made more of them. 

The Texas Caviar was just so-so.

The Texas Toast was store bought and everybody loved it.

I'm not a fan of Dr. Pepper but my kids are, Allen loved it too.
We ended the meal with Pecan Pie.  We were all too stuffed to eat it.  Finally, 3 days late Conner tried the Pecan Pie and loved it.

Having the 3 kids home for Christmas was such a treat.  Not sure when we'll get to Utah but it's the next stop.

   

  

Tennessee

Tennessee - Agriculture, and Commerce

We celebrated Christmas Eve by eating food from Tennessee.

I've been to Tennessee a few times but never had the opportunity to appreciate the food.  Allen went to college (Vanderbilt) in Nashville, Tennessee.  We visited there twice, on a cross-country trip and for his 10-year college reunion. My brother and his family live in Knoxville, the boys and I visited there in 2013 and went out for BBQ.  My niece, Leslie's roommate Lizzie gave us a tour of UT Athletic Arena, it was really impressive.

The menu for the state of Tennessee was pretty easy, ribs, cornbread, coleslaw, and beans.  The ribs I bought were precooked, Jack Daniel's Baby Back Ribs and I found Jack Daniels BBQ sauce.  I have never made ribs before so I decided to make it easy on me (and it was Christmas Eve) and Jack Daniel was in the name.  Speaking of Jack Daniel, my kids are related to the originator of Jack Daniel, but not Jack Daniel, Jack Daniel's partner.
 

   

The meal was good.   The boys ate up the ribs.  The cornbread was just OK, it had no sugar in it.  The coleslaw was really good and I would definitely make it again.  The best part of the dinner was the Memphis Spicy Beans (I made them again a few days later).  We had whiskey balls for dessert.  They were not a hit, you really have to love whiskey to have enjoyed them. 

The famous drink in Tennesee besides Jack is RC Cola.  My kids had never heard of RC Cola and I couldn't find it anywhere so we had Coke instead.

It was a sweet Christmas Eve.  We went to church and watched Christmas movies.