Restaurant Review: Our Place

Once a week Ray and I will look for some place we have never been to before and eat dinner. I had asked to go to another restaurant but  by the time i could remember the name we had already passed by it and were in the middle of a construction zone on the highway.

He had seen this place and got off the highway and did a u-turn under the highway to the access road on the other side.

At first I thought he was pulling into Zongos...at least I think that was the name of it...he drove around the parking lot and pulled into "Our Place". Located in North Richland Hills, Texas off of Highway NE Loop 820.

Okay cute name, if I was to create a diner I would call it that.

Parking lot was clean and handicap areas were fully accessible.

As we opened the double doors were were greeted by two things at once...the aroma of home cooked foods and a very friendly staff member (I think it was one of the cooks) who was sitting on a stool just inside the doors by the counter with a very Texas hospitality hello..."Howdy, how are you all this evening?" My husband and the gentleman bantered back and forth for a few moments while our hostess gathered up menus and showed us to a table. Once she noticed I was on forearm crutches she made sure we didn't have to walk very far to a table.

The restaurant was very clean and well kept. There were diner style signs and Texas style stars embellished on a few walls but not overpowering in it's design. Very tastefully done. The almost natural wooden beams, tables, chairs, and ceiling were clean and neat, as was the ceiling. The restrooms were also very clean and well kept.

We were seated and she immediately asked us what we would like to drink...we asked her if she had any Lemonade, she said they were out...not a bad sign but not entirely a good one either. To give them credit it was after 7 PM at night on a Saturday and she said they had just run out of it. Which to me means that it's a high selling item on their menu and people like it. They had a good selection of drinks to offer. She told us she would brew us a fresh pot of coffee...using a Bunn coffee maker...ours at home brews a fresh pot in 2 minutes 30 seconds. Ice waters, coffee and a very large chocolate milk for my son were brought to the table within 3 minutes.

The staff was very friendly and very courteous. I would remark though that the dark blue t-shirts are not a good idea for a wait staff choice in a diner environment. They may want to rethink their color choices for staff wear. Dark colors tend to show more stains quickly than a medium color. Maybe a country style apron with their logo on it as well.

We ordered our meals and were quickly brought a bread basket filled with homemade dinner rolls, cornbread muffins and 3 small containers of sweet honey butter.

The bread was warm and the real butter was a delightful creamy consistency with a slight taste of honey. The corn bread was just a little dry, a side of honey would go nicely with it. Keep in mind folks it was late in the evening and they may have been fresh but sitting in a toaster oven. No where did I see a heat lamp.

Our salads arrived with our dressings in small containers on the same plate. The greens were fresh and crisp, the tomatoes had a good firmness to them and the dressing was light and tasty.

My husband had ordered one of their two soups available...Creamy Potato Soup. It had a nice creaminess to it and a strong hint of cheese and bits of what I am fairly certain was chicken.

Our meals arrived about 5 minutes later on large oval ceramic plates. I had ordered Chopped Steak with a baked sweet potato and cucumber salad. Ray had ordered Fried Breaded Catfish with cucumber salad and pinto beans. Our son had ordered the Blackened Catfish with cucumber salad and corn.

The Chopped steak was exactly how I asked for it to be cooked, it was at least half an inch thick, slightly rare with just the right amount of pink in the middle. It was covered in butter seared large white onion pieces. There was no gravy for the chopped steak.

The cucumber salad was nicely chilled and a hearty mix of quartered slices of cucumbers, tomatoes and purple onions with good mixture of vinegar and oil.

The baked sweet potato was not hot but warm, the butter had a hard time melting in it. It was cooked all the way through but I am assuming that it was reheated possibly in a toaster oven. It did not have the rubbery taste of a potato reheated in a microwave. It was not over burdened with cinnamon like most restaurants tend to do.

The fried breaded catfish pretty much tasted the way most breaded fried catfish tastes. Maybe by adding just a bit more seasoning into the cornbread mix will help with that.

The pinto beans were cooked all the way through  and tasted as they should.

The blackened catfish my son had ordered was light and tastefully seasoned, it practically melted in my mouth. The corn on the other hand was canned and boiled. Maybe buying frozen and steaming it would be a better suit for this dish.

The coffee was a bit weak for us but I am sure a normal coffee for most. I tend to drink mine a bit stronger than most people.

The tables, chairs, cups, plates, and flatware were all clean and in good condition.

For 2 adults and 1 child (who ordered an adult meal) the price was around $40.00 for all three of us. All around not a bad price at all.

The food was very filling I ended up taking half of my meal home.

On a scale of 1 to 10...10 being the highest I give "Our Place" a 7. We will be returning again to sample their breakfast and lunch menus.

Our Place: 

7630 NE Loop 820

 · North Richland Hills

 · (817) 485-5454

Just inside the front doors

The Menu

Chopped Steak, Baked Sweet Potato and Cucumber Salad

Fried Breaded Catfish, Hush Puppies, Cucumber Salad, and Pinto Beans

Blackened Catfish, Hush Puppies, Cucumber Salad, and Corn

Sweet Whipped Butter With Honey

Our Place To Go Box

So that's tonight's blog. Thanks for stopping by...

See you next time for more coffee & conversation!

Feels Like Summer & Is anybody there?

Last night I made one of the best gravy's I have ever made! I'm serious! It was so good I wanted to sit and eat with a spoon!


I had purchased some Johnsonville Brats and put them in a frying pan with about 2 cups of water...I put the heat on of about 5 (electric stove) I let them cook til almost all the water was gone, then added another 2 cups of water, slowly and carefully so the water and grease from the sausages didn't splatter up on me. I cooked sweet peas with honey, and 3 flavored noodles with homemade chicken sauce and some seasonings. I then took 2 table spoons of butter and melted them in the microwave, and then added 2 tablespoons of flour to the butter and then added that to the rue in the frying pan with all the bits and pieces from the cooked sausage that stuck to the pan. Added about 4 to 5 shakes of salt to it and tasted it...oh my! wow! That's good! Dinner was wonderful!


I took the left over gravy and added it to brown rice tonight and boiled some left over chicken pieces in chicken stock. Cut the chicken into small bite size pieces, made a chicken gravy with the now very hot chicken stock. Dinner was good.


After dinner we decided to watch a movie instead of having a game night. We watched Jacob The Liar with Robin Williams. A good movie. It's sad and sometimes a little funny, and always heartbreaking. I always cry at the end of it.


I took that cute little juicer of mine today and cut up 6 lemons and juiced them with it. It kept popping the circuit breaker for the kitchen. I have those outlets with the little button that you can just push to reset it. I had to do that 4 times. I think it was because i had the coffee pot on at the same time. The lemons plus water, plus sugar made a gallon of lemonade! Yummy! It went perfect with the very unseasonably warm weather we had today. It felt like summer. It was 80 outside at the tail end of February. Not complaining, I enjoyed the nice day.


Ray came home early from work, he wanted to go ride his bike. I loved being able to do that with him. My back doesn't let me anymore. I never understood the attraction of it before until I got to ride with him. He drove carefully but freely. It was exhilarating, electrical and slightly sexual.


Still cannot get my Photoshop to open in Linux, it's one of those times I truly miss using a Windows machine. So what does Ray do, he has put this really shitty old version from 1995 on here. God how I hate being patronized! He hates Windows so I have to suffer for it, because I ended up getting viruses on my computer, so now he has this "I know more am better than you attitude" I love him dearly but hate that about him.


I asked the question on Facebook..."I guess people now a days would rather read a few words on a cute or outrageous picture posted on Facebook then read a blog...am I wasting my time writing my daily blog and posting the link here? I only have 9 followers and no one ever leaves a comment...I must really suck at it!"
Half the people responded said they didn't know I had a blog, even though I post the link nightly...that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Most people would rather read a picture with 3 or 4 words on it then read a blog, news article or God forbid a real book! Sad state of affairs. Makes you wonder about the state of books and their future in our Facebook and Twitter society where games and pictures rule. 


To me a comment here is a statement saying..."hey I know how you feel, or wow I had that happen to me to, here's how I solved that problem, or wow that sounds like fun think i'll try it, or that recipe sounds delicious" 
Just a line ot two to say hey we're here!
it's a matter of feeling that I matter to someone and that I am not all alone out here in the universe just talking to myself. 


So now I have to ask the question...


Is anybody listening?


See you next time for more coffee & conversation.

Juice, Anger Issues, & God

Ray bought me this really cute little electric juicer so I can make homemade lemonade. Why am I making homemade lemonade? Because he read on the internet that it supposed to help with kidney stones. I like lemonade, but I have been craving sweet orange juice for almost 2 weeks now. No I am NOT pregnant! I just like orange juice.

Some day when I am rich...hahaha yeah like that's ever gonna happen...I'm gonna be poor and called trailer trash for the rest of my life! Anyway someday when I am rich I will not have to worry about my freezing feet, my aching back, and little juicer machines...I'll order my groceries online and pay the delivery guy and extra twenty or 30 bucks for having to bring them to me.

I'm in a bitchy mood tonight...it has taken me weeks and some temper tantrums before finally bitching enough outloud for Ray to have to explain some techincal things to me about udp, wlan, lan, and thcp...ugh. But finally got one of my tricky programs to work, was excited, when it finished what it was doing I went in search of the program it was doing, when I realized I had accidentally deleted it into cyberspace oblivien never to be seen or heard from again! Oh how I wanted to scream! So here I was sitting right here in front of my laptop swearing every few seconds trying not to be loud enough to wake my son but loud enough to make me more angry by the passing seconds, and to get Ray's help again! Once again Ray came to my rescue! I am so glad I married a genius! I know some tech stuff and can help friends view chat clear their browser chat and some other stuff, but when it comes to the hard core stuff, he's my "computer geek guru"! Now I have to remember to not delete the program I want before testing it!

Oh the juicer...wanna see it...I think it's a cute little thing.

After posting last nights blog...I had someone comment on how much of a bitch that I am. Of course I hadn't read it last night because i had gone to bed, it was just after midnight when I finished writing it. She didn't like the way I had stated my opinion on Julie Powell. I may not be eloquent with my stole or prose but I am honest. I will not make things up to get attention, money or fame like she did. It's just a fact, not a statement, she even says so in the first page of her book that she "just made stuff up" on some parts of her book.

I think my reader set my mood for the entire day. I was upset that someone thought that of me. Me, who takes in stray pups, feeds the neighborhood kids, has them over to play board games or video games, lends food or money to friends that need it more than me (if I have it to give at the time), I am the first person to write to a friend on line on Facebook and ask them if they are okay if they post something that makes me think they need to talk....I am not a mean person by any stretch...to call me a bitch and tell me that they will never read another word I write, well that hurts and it just set my mood for bad attitude for most of the day.

I am doing my best to not take it out on Ray...he is way to good to me! He puts up with so much from me...no seriously he does...I was told by a relative..."you complain to much about your pain". I was stunned to say the least. So I asked Ray..."Do I whine, moan, and complain to much about being in pain to you"? he said sometimes. I thought "well hell ain't that i fine how do you do"! Here I am with rods and screws in my spine, and a failed spinal fusion, permanent nerve damage in both legs and feet, constantly pain in my lower back, butt, legs, and feet, when my feet get cold it hurts like hell from the nerve damage, I can't walk without crutches because I cannot feel most of my left foot and I complain to much? I felt like I had been kicked in the rods and screws. So since then I have decided to just try not to say anything at all...well that didn't work...because now I have been accused of "faking it". I just cannot win. I asked him this morning..."Don't you get tired of having to help me all the time"? He said "no, never". Made me smile and made my heart hurt a little. He misses the old me, the one that could play and rough house with him, the one that could dance up a two step streak with him. I don't blame him...I miss me too.

I keep wondering if life will ever get any easier for us. God I sure hope so! So God if your up there listening...we could use a little help down here...we need a miracle!

I always watch these shows where the poor guy has someone rich help him out, buys him a new house car, clothes, gives him an awesome job, sets him up for the rest of his life, or the lady who finds a dollar bill and wins a nice lottery and even after paying the taxes on the amount won she has enough to get a complete new makeover and starts her love anew, the guy who adds a paypal donate button to his web site and all of the sudden has twenty thousand hits to his page and people are sending him him 20 dollars a hit or the couple who won the lottery not once, not twice, but three times! Sigh...I just don't have that kind of luck. Please God even if it's a tiny miracle...we need you!

Well that's it for tonight, I'm to tired to fight any more this day, so until next time, see you next time for more coffee & conversation!

Potato Soup, Potato Chips, Julie Powell and Practical Jokes

Once a month I love to make a homemade soup of of some kind, this month I made two. A few days ago I looked into the fridge and saw a good deal of salt ham left over...i didn't want it to go to waste. I started scrounging around in my cabinets trying to figure out what to make with it. Yams? Canned Peas? Black Eyed peas? None sounded appetizing at all. I have a whole bottom shelf in one cabinet with nothing but dried beans. I have several packets of black beans, black eyes peas, 15 bean soup mix, and there is was in the very back...1 lonely package of split peas! Yes what goes better with salt ham in a soup then split peas! My dad would be proud! As a kid I hated peas, I mean literally abhorred them! I would hide them, spit them out, refuse to eat them, try to give them to the dog...anything to not eat them at all. While one of my older sisters would sit down with an opened can of them and spoon feed herself the entire can!

I cut the ham up in chunks and had made a lovely split pea soup. It was decidedly delicious to all three of us. I even mentioned it on my Facebook page and tagged my younger brother in it hoping he would show it to my father. Haven't heard about it yet so I guess not...lol.

Yesterday I set about making Julia Child's Potage Parmentier Potato...in English Potato Leek Soup. After gathering most of the ingredients needed, to my horror I realized I had no Leeks. I had to ask Ray exactly what the difference between Leeks and Green Onions were. So I decided to modify it and make it my own.

Potato Masher
Slotted Spoon
Measuring Cups
Measuring Spoons
8 Qt Cooking Pot with Lid

10 Large Baking Potatoes
8 Cups water
2 Sticks REAL Butter
1/2 Cup Minced Onions ( I chopped mine very fine...I used Yellow Onion)
1/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Cup Whole Milk
1/4 Minced Chives (once again very finely chopped)
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Pepper


Scrub and wash the potatoes, leave the skin on the potatoes. Make sure they have no buds on them. Cut into 1/2 thick slices, then cut into chunks.

Add 10 cups room temp or cold water to your pot.

Add potatoes and turn heat up to high to bring water and potatoes to a boil. Once they begin to boil let them boil at high for about 5 minutes, then turn heat down to medium while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Cut butter into 1 teaspoon chunks (unwrap butter and lay wrapper face up under the butter on cutting board and just follow the markings on the wrapper for measuring your cuts)

Mince your onion into very fine pieces and set aside

Mince you chives into very fine pieces and set aside

Once your potatoes have boiled enough to feel soft enough to squish between thumb and fingers (please let the piece cool down before doing this! You will burn your fingers if you don't!) start using a potato masher to mash them into the water they were boiled in. Try not to make it too soupy, leave some chunks.

Measure out your cream and milk. Add Cream, Milk, and Butter to your potato mixture. use a slotted spoon for this. It keeps you from breaking any chunks into fine pieces. Once mixed in add your Salt, Pepper, Onions and Chives. You may add more or less Salt & Pepper, use to your liking. Stirring slowly to mix everything together.

Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes to absorb all the ingredients.

While the soup is simmering you can make easy crescents, or dinner rolls in a toaster oven to go with the soup.

Serve hot! My version makes about 15 cups maybe less maybe more. I always make a large pot of it. It makes a great meal in the middle of winter.

*******************************************************************

I finally went and bought the book Julie & Julia....I am about halfway done with it after 2 days. What do I think of the book? I think "in my opinion" that Julie Powell has a dirty mouth, she is selfish, self centered, arrogant, rude, childish, greedy, insensitive...all she talks about in the book for the most part is how she hates Republicans, drinking, sex, drinking, her friends, sex, drinking, cooking, drinking, her problems being married, her cats, drinking, sex, and how much the relatives of the September 11th attacks are whiners. That about covers it so far...not so sure I want to finish the book. "In my opinion" if I were a person who lost someone on that horrible day in September, I would find Julie and slap her for her insensitive remarks about the survivors. 

I have been doing some research on Julie since seeing the movie and now reading the book...apparently she is nothing like the sweet character portrayed in the movie by Amy Adams. She decided after her J&J Project that made her famous to cheat on her husband, become a butcher, become a writer, wrote another book about cheating on her husband and becoming a butcher, then quitting being a butcher. She now self proclaims herself as a pajama writer. A person who stays home and writes while wearing pajamas. Her poor mistreated husband stayed with her. I am not sure if I think him brave or just plain pity him. What do I mean by mistreated? In her J&J book she writes how he is sick and throwing up and how she has to go to the grocer to get the items she needs for that nights dinner from the cookbook and swears and yells at him for not helping her while he is in bed sick as hell. She whines about everything, including her friends, her family, her job, her cooking, republicans, people on the subways, people at her job....ugh. Not sure I want to finish this book at all. To think I just gave her more money to write more crap like that by buying her book! I had an "OMG I'm an idiot" moment the second I bought that book. 

 *******************************************************************

This morning I was feeling a bit better than I have in weeks. I was cuddling with Ray on the couch this morning. He wasn't feeling to well. He called in sick...we went back to bed for another 2 hours. I took him to IHOP for breakfast...well he took me I can't drive because of my spine and legs. He was expecting to pay...apparently the bank screwed up his card...glad I had cash in my purse! We came back home and spent the day pretty much just lounging around the house.

I tried making homemade potato chips today. I am getting good at slicing potatoes thin. :). I used corn oil in a frying pan...not to bright...it's the old way...my house was filled with smoke about an hour later. I think in part because I couldn't stand up all that time, I had to keep sitting down to rest my back and legs. The chips came out okay, some where to soft while others were over fried. Will try again soon, but next time will bake them!

*******************************************************************

Ray went to the store tonight to get bread so our son can have sandwiches for his school lunches this week. I didn't make another fresh loaf from scratch today like I said I was going to. When he came back he handed me an electric fruit juicer (for lemons, oranges and the likes). I was tickled. He also handed me a bag full of lemons. I was going about trying it out for the first time. I LOVE it! I have a hand one that works just as good but this one is electric and is better. lol. I went to add sugar to my now fresh squeezed glass of lemonade...the sugar was having a hard time coming out...I held up the pouring container and looked inside the side of it (it's a clear plastic container with a spout lid like in restaurants) I thought "wow, that's a big sugar chunk". I moved the container around a bit, looked again, then realized my husband had played a practical joke on me...when I was not in the kitchen at some point this week, he had placed a giant marshmallow in the sugar container. Once I realized what it was I cracked up laughing! The keys to a successful marriage for us is we...talk to each other, laugh with each other, play together, snuggle together, read to each other, hold hands, make time for each other and most of all we "LISTEN" to each other! 

Well that's it for tonight, my coffee cup is empty and my eyes are heavy. Until then, see you next time for more coffee and conversation!

Long Time No See

Sorry for the delay in returning to the blog. With all the new medical issues that popped up it made it very difficult to do much at all.


You just never know what side effects some meds can do to you...I guess the Vicadon is taking it's toll on my liver and my scalp! Yuck...I never had this much trouble with my scalp before, it either itches or (mostly) burns and now has this scaly crap on it that I have to scrub off. Time to contact a dermatologist now. sigh. Just what I need more medical bills. The liver? It's enlarged...sigh. 


Got an adorable animated Giraffe plush toy that plays music and it's neck goes up and down for Valentines day. I hope everyone had a good Valentines day.


The whole world is abuzz with the news of Whitney Houston's death. They want to fly the flags at half mast for her. Really? It's not right. The half mast should be reserved for hero's not drug addicts that relay a bad message to our nations youth. I liked her music, her sound and some of her movies...but she is not worthy of a half mast flag. The soldiers returning home from war get boo'd, harassed, and nagged about killing women and children. They fought to keep this country free! They deserve the half mast! 


Okay I'm done ranting...for now.

I finally got my new crutches. They are called "Smart Crutch" They are a bit odd looking, but very adjustable. Still cannot go up and down stairs on them. 

Mine are just the plain gray ones, it costs extra to get the color ones with the stickers on them...lol.


Was just web surfin this morning and found this site...

Collectible Android Figures


I thought they were very cute. They need Star Wars and Star Trek versions now. 


Got our taxes done...man I swear Ray makes it so stressful on himself every year. Surprised he isn't the one with kidney stones and stomach issues! We got it done and are getting a small refund back. Seems to get smaller every year. 


Not enough to get my teeth fixed...sigh. Why do docs charge so much! 350 bucks to pull one tooth! That's insane! Total cost for teeth extractions, new top dentures and bottom implants...$6,350.00. Yeah like I have that in my pocket! Why do I need all that done? The meds I have been on for the last 2 years have ruined my teeth, harmed my kidneys, and now my liver too. I need a miracle!


Spartacus Vengeance is finally airing on Starz channel. Lucy Lawless rocks! Loved her as Xena and now as Lucretia. I am hoping to find a way to go to the final convention for Xena Con next year in California. I probably won't go. There is no way I can raise enough for the convention tickets, the hotel, the meals, the transportation.  :(


Yeah I know my blog is all over the place this morning...I have been gone for two weeks or more...now trying to catch every one up on what's going on makes for a messy blog...lol.


Lets see what else is going on...a few family emergencies that scared the hell out of me, but those are private and everyone is okay now. 


Got my drivers license renewed, they messed it up again and forgot to put I wanted to register to vote...again...grrrr. 


Went and seen the movie "Red Tails" about the Tuskegee Airmen. Was a very good movie. If you haven't seen it yet, you should! The visuals alone are intense and well filmed. The story was well told. Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nate Parker, Tristan Wilds, Elijah Kelley, Leslie Odom Jr., Kevin Phillips, Method Man, Lee Tergesen, Daniele Ruah, David Oyelowo, Ne-Yo, Marcus T. Paulk, Andre Royo, all gave outstanding performances. There are a couple of short scenes with veteran actor Gerald McRaney.


Made homemade scones with chocolate chips, split pea soup (with chunks of salt ham) and home made bread both from scratch this week.....Julia Child's would be proud! :)

All three came out good, but next time I make bread going to split the dough into two bread pans instead of one...it came out tight. No I don't mean "tight" as in the stupid slang word, which is well just stupid. I mean the bread dough was too compact and compressed not enough air in it to spring back up when pushed down slightly. 


Well I guess that's about it for now. Time for me to get another cup of coffee and sit and relax for a bit. So see you next time for more coffee and conversation!