Steak and Eggs

I've been in Nebraska six days, now. Among the joys of being here is the fine dining. I'm not talking about eating at Chez Pompeaux, of course. But it's nice to eat the food of my people among my people.

And although I've hit three buffet/salad bars so far, I have managed to not totally pig out (every meal) while I've been here. And just to give you an idea of what I'm up against:


I admit I've eaten a little more ice cream than usual this past week. But I don't see how I've had much choice, really, considering the bowls of fresh peaches and strawberries in the fridge.

I've even pushed my personal culinary envelope while I've been here. When we dined at Chances "R" restaurant in York - which I've read is "a great place to stop between Oklahoma and South Dakota" - I ordered beef in non-hamburger form for the first time in my life. No kidding! Following a lesson in cuts of meat from my mom's beaux, Dan, I took his recommendation and ordered the prime rib. I wasn't totally confident I'd be into it, but I did know that it would be just about the best steak anyone could get anywhere, so the odds were good that I wouldn't puke it back up onto my plate.


The dim light made for a blurry camera photo, but that thing was about as big around as a frisbee and I ate (what I could) without ever needing to pick up the steak knife (just about). Holy crap. Why didn't anyone tell me how good prime rib was before now? I might even order steak again sometime. It was a damn good dinner - I mean, supper.

But by far the best meal of the trip was served right from my mom's own kitchen on Sunday night. We bought sweet corn from a woman selling the cobs right out of the back of her pickup truck. Dan fried filets of walleye he and my mom had caught themselves. My grandma made her (astonishing) potato salad. And I made garlic mashed root vegetables (turnips, parsnips, potatoes) that I accidentally put too much cream and butter in. Mom also made her seven-layer salad (that's lettuce (iceberg, of course), green bell pepper, celery, peas, cheddar cheese, bacon, and sugared mayonnaise). I think I ate ten pieces of fish. But I didn't use the spray-on butter for my corn.

Until today, when we had corn again, and I gave it a try. It tasted buttery, I will give it that!

After the big fish dinner, my brother, his gal, and I were going to go to the Hall County Fair. But that required a 40-mile drive to Grand Island, and none of us could make it to the car.