The Biggest Culture Shock

The Sunshines are are foodies. No, that's not right. We are food snobs.

Texarkana has been very hard on us food snobs. There's no meatball subs anywhere--even though we've been to two restaurants where meatball subs were prominently mentioned on their web site. The best we found was a plate of spaghetti and meatballs and as Buck pointed out, "These are just the frozen meatballs, they didn't even add any salt." 

Mexican food has been so disappointing, that I think we are giving up. But I'm sorry, an enchilada with--and I'm not making this up--a can of Hormel chili (the menu "your choice of with or without beans") is just gross.

Personally, I'm a big fan of plastic American cheese, an indulgence, really. But honestly, I'm at my limit when I find it smothering my brisket. Even I dress up my box of Kraft before serving it. 

Restaurant side dishes consist of grits, okra, over-boiled green leafy things that are begging for some sort of seasoning. Marty, who grew up on that kind of food thinks that is perfectly acceptable fare, but this is even pushing his tolerance. As for me, none of those sounded great when I lived in Arizona, so I don't see me tucking in now. 

Sure, there's Olive Garden and Outback Steakhouse. We found Cracker Barrel and Dominos. There's Wataburger and a Church's Chicken on every other corner and a smattering of smaller chain-type restaurants you've probably heard of. None of which is our style. If I can cook it, I don't want to buy it. Also, I have a moral code: I will not pay $15 for a plate of pasta that I can make at home for $2.50. Plus, I wouldn't put it past the folks here to fancy it up by adding the plastic American cheese or a can of Hormel to the top of it.  

After last weekend's meatball hunt, I think all of us are pretty much taxed on what we are willing to eat. Tonight, pot roast--cooked by me, with vegetable stew (a family staple) cooked by Marty and maybe some roasted sweet potatoes with good seasoning. Buck will probably handle the sweet potatoes. Polly might make the dessert. 

If the whole job in Texarkana doesn't work out, we could probably open a restaurant. Too bad the rest of the city's population wouldn't appreciate our cuisine.