American Food is a Hit

I couldn’t decide what to cover next. Since I’m playing catch up, I decided to give a recap of which teams have been eliminated and cover some of those before people forget about them and they shouldn’t be. Some of them were memorable in terms of fans. If you’re here for witty sports analysis, oh, honey, are you going to be disappointed.

I’m going to touch bases on some of the things our visitors have fallen in love with that we too often take for granted.

Our food.

I know the world looks down on us for not having sophisticated tastes, but there’s something to be said for just good old American food.

Mexican food. Thank heavens some Americans have steered them away from popular fast-food joints and taken them to good Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants. (There is a difference.) Even so, some of them have discovered Taco Bell and love it. German visitor @FreddyLA7 on X absolutely fell in love with it…and just about everything else. Bless his heart, and I mean that in a good way. Freddy deleted his account on June 30. He said he always planned to and the sudden celebrity attention was taking away from their simple desire to just enjoy America. So, good for him and I hope they enjoy the rest of their stay celebrating the wonders of the USA and her people.

Another person who really enjoyed the Mexican food was Japanese visitor @japan_nobunaga

Someone took him to a Mexican restaurant and he was amazed they brought out chips and salsa without ordering it. But, I’ll let him relate the tale. It’s hilarious.

Although his friend warned him not to fill up on the pre-dinner offering (chips and salsa), the visitor couldn’t help himself: “Too late. I had accepted three baskets. Honor demanded each one be finished — an unfinished gift is an insult. By the time my actual food arrived, I was a ruined man. I was not hungry. I was not comfortable. I had been defeated by a courtesy. Generosity that arrives before the request cannot be repaid. It can only be survived…”—Mr. Nobunaga. Bless his heart. Go follow him. Japan may have gone home, but he is an honorable man as are all our Japanese visitors and their team. I can’t wait to do the story on them.

Barbecue. Good barbecue is a treasure and it’s not easy. I was visiting with the owner of my favorite place in Odessa, Tx and he told me a lot of places boil their briskets and then toss them in the smoker for a couple of hours. “No, no. You can’t do that. You have to slow smoke them for hours to get them tender and that flavor all the way through.”

He’s not wrong. Even in the middle of nowhere, they know you can’t rush perfection.

I’m not crazy about ribs, but holy crow were our guests going crazy over them.

Even the bbq sides were a hit, except the green beans. I saw the ones they didn’t like and I think they looked pretty bare. I don’t blame them. Good green beans are hard to beat, though.

Steaks. Yes, they died and went to heaven when people took them to steak houses. Thankfully, they weren’t hauling them to the high-end places. Most Americans aren’t going to those places where you have to dress up and pay $80 for a steak, plus another hundred for the rest of the meal. They mostly went to Longhorn or Texas Roadhouse or grilled for them. I’ve never had a bad steak at Texas Roadhouse. I approve.

Mr.K @Realsociedad10m highly praised Texas Roadhouse as the “best cost-performance” steak. Especially the ribeye. He’s not wrong, though I prefer the filet. People are urging Roadhouse to use that phrase on billboards. I’m not sure if he was in the USA for the World Cup, but he recommended it to all the Japanese soccer fans who were coming in.

Funny, or not so funny, story about my outlaw bullrider son named Cody and his friend named Kody. My Cody also raises bucking bulls and they were at a bullriding. Afterwards, they went out to eat. Kody likes his steaks well done and that’s how he ordered it.

It came out pretty rare so he sent it back.

Cody could tell Kody was irked, so he started eating faster.

The steak came out again, closer to medium well.

Kody picked the steak up with a fork and threw it on the floor. “Run you son-of-a-b—-, while you still can!”

Obviously, this caused a big stir in a fancy steak house. This is the kind of steak house that doesn’t do well done steaks. The chef knows best. The manager came over and told them they had to leave. Cody was still busy chowing down his steak. “Can I get a to go box?”

“No! Get out.” He added a few other unkind and very uncharitable words as our hapless cowboys were leaving.

So, they’ve had Mexican food, and barbecue, and steaks. What else is on the menu?

Oh, yeah…biscuits and gravy. In the south, we don’t really think about this, but to people who aren’t familiar with the concept, it is mind boggling. Especially the British. “Biscuits and gravy?”

They think you’re dipping cookies in gravy. Eeew.

So, someone convinces them to order biscuits and gravy. The guest is pretty sure you are a raving lunatic now. It looks like dog barf. Then they take a bite. Their eyes go wide and they take another bite. They are smitten. Then they eat the rest of their breakfast. Eggs, bacon, grits. I’m not sure they’re going to be happy with beans and toast again. This video covers a wide range of reactions, including biscuits and gravy.

Oh, then some yahoo, has to mention Waffle House. Dear Lord. At least they were smart enough to tell them not to go at night. Yeah, Waffle House waffle are pretty good, but at night in some areas…it’s something else.

Boston brought the seafood. Not that other countries don’t have seafood, but the lobster rolls were a hit.

So were the sandwiches. Discovering the Philly cheesesteak.

Ranch dressing! Ranch dressing was so popular that TSA had to put out warnings about it. It’s incredibly easy to make. I’ll do a separate post with recipes for dry ranch dressing mix and ranch dressing.

I can’t cook a steak to save my life. My son does that. However, I am a very good cook. I’ll post some of my other recipes, too. Like sausage gravy and buttermilk biscuits. I make really good biscuits.

They’ve fallen in love in love with Chick-Fil-A and Raising Cane’s. Who wouldn’t? I have a duplicate recipe for Raising Cane’s sauce because I’m cheap and don’t buy stuff I can make. I’ll share.

Some of them are in love with hot dogs. I think they’ll get over that. I wish they’d find some good brats somewhere.

And someone needs to introduce them to Cajun food. Seriously.