By the side of the road

Small town living is great, but sometimes these former Houstonians need a city fix. For us, it’s easy—run the forty or so miles down the road and visit Tallahassee, Florida. Home to the state capitol and two big universities, Florida State and Florida A&M, there’s always something going on. A play, a concert, a great meal, and of course, lots of shopping. For Texans—Tallahassee is like Austin in the late 50s and the 60s. ‘Bout as close to perfect as you can get—it’s even set on rolling hills.
One of the best parts of the Tallahassee ramble is the trip home. Right at the Georgia/Florida state line there’s usually a cluster of entrepreneurial vendors. Shrimp “straight off my cousin’s boat this morning,” great fresh vegetables and fruits, “picked an hour ago at Mama’s.” And that great North Florida-South Georgia delicacy, boiled peanuts.
That’s right. Green (they’ve got to be green) peanuts boiled in their shells and then sacked up for good eating.
When we first moved her a new friend gave me the recipe—cover the green peanuts with water in a big soup pot. Add ‘way too much salt and boil ‘em ‘way too long. They’ll be perfect.
Believe her, they will.
I’ve labored in the kitchen over fancy appetizers, and then on a whimsy put a bowl of boiled peanuts on the porch. (They need to be served outside because of the slimy shell problem!)
Guess what! Every man at the party—and most of the women—are on the porch gobbling peanuts. Forget the paté and the smoked oysters. They know what is good!

I'm going to be playing with grandchildren for a bit, so I may not post for a few days. But I'll be back soon!




A local tradition--buying a couple of bags (or more) of just-out-of-the-pot boiled peanuts on the Georgia-Florida State Line. (US Highway 27 North)