Murrys Restaurant on HWY 70 E Toward Hazen

Don't normally eat a big old steak but, the other night at Murry's Restaurant on HWY 70 E right outside of Hazen, AR was a wonderful exception. The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare and had a deliciously seared exterior with a wonderful butter sauce all over the platter.The homemade loaf of bread that came with the meal was perfect for some serious soppin' with that exceptional butter sauce. I also had an OK salad (needed some homemade dressing) that had two crispy soda crackers on the side. The baked potato was fresh, fluffy, and loaded! #3 had the Hot and Spicy Shrimp with a cocktail sauce. We thought it might be sort of like Bam Bam Shrimp at Bonefish, but it wasn't. #3 said more hot and spicy was needed. Oh, did I mention my big huge rib-eye had some perfectly seasoned shrimp accompanying it??? At $14.95 my selection was clearly the best deal with a total tally, including tip, under $50. We finished the meal by splitting a Strawberry Short Cake that was simply and perfectly DIVINE!!! 

Gosh, can't wait to return and can't believe we have not tried this place long before now because we've been told by reliable sources to not miss out on this well kept secret and a deliciously tried and true little Arkansas hole in the wall. Murry's offers a wide variety of items with a Lobster at Market Price on the menu...watch out Red Lobster. And, BYOB if you like. Do take cash, no cards accepted, but don't let that stop you...be prepared for a delightful feast you will be dying to return to.

Cheating again...

Here I go again, cheating and lying. It's beginning to become the norm. In fact, I've done it do many times, I'm immune to feeling guilty. How long can I go on like this???

Well, for as long as there's a store like Ed's Bakery in Conway that makes the best baked goods around! And, as long as I am able to convince my bridge club that it was actually me slaving away in the kitchen all day so we could enjoy these delightful and scrumptious groovy little Spring petit fours!!! They'll never know and please, do not say a word!!!

Making Soft Pretzels Is Easy!

Question: What's easy, inexpensive, luscious, and fun to do on a rainy day?
Answer:  Making soft pretzels with an Alton Brown recipe like this:

How To Make Alton Brown's Soft Pretzels:
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)
1 T sugar
2 ts kosher salt
1 pkg active dry yeast
22 oz all-purpose flour, approx 4 1/2 cups
2 oz unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cu baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 T water
Pretzel salt
Directions:
1. Combine water, sugar and kosher salt in bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Will look like this...

2.  Add flour and butter and using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approx 4-5 minutes. Like this...

3.  Remove the dough from bowl, clean bowl, and then oil it well and return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approx 50-55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size. Looks like this:  
 4.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly brush with oil. Set aside. Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8 qt saucepan.

5. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 24 inch rope like this:

6.  Make a U shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined baking pan like this:

 7.  Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1 for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the baking pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt (add a bunch of other seeds like poppy seeds, caraway seeds, and sesame seeds if you like) like this:

  

 8.  Bake until dark golden brown in color, approx 12-14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for a least 5 minutes before serving. Hopefully, they will look like this:

Serve with some marinara sauce, a little melted butter brushed on top, more kosher salt, parmesan cheese, and sprinkles of hot pepper flakes...YUMMY!!! Looks like this:

Half way gone in no time looks like this...enjoy!

Will Calvin Hit 5000 at the Oaklawn Finish Line?

Arkansans, race horse enthusiasts, and people all over are anxiously awaiting Oaklawn's top jockey, Calvin Borel to finally hit the 5000 mark. When Borel does this mighty feat he will become the 26th jockey in North America to win 5000 races! He probably would have accomplished this milestone at the beginning of the Oaklawn season however, he broke his wrist and has been on medical leave til the present when he is now up for two mounts in the third and sixth races on Saturday, February 16. Best wishes, Calvin, and thanks for all the other wins you've given us through the years at our Oaklawn! And hoopla do, every one present will receive a complimentary, commemorative trading card on the day he accomplishes this feat. Will you be there on the rail to see it?

Congrats to Leonard Cooper $75,000 Winner on Jeopardy!

Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens...what a treat

Had a great visit out to Charlotte the other day except for slipping and sliding all the way home. The weather was wonderful going out and while we were visiting but, for some reason the Weather Monster caused us havoc all the way home...

Went to Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens while we were there and I must say, I can't wait to return! If it was that beautiful this time of year...whatever will it look like come spring?? And, it was a great way to get knowledge, exercise, and sunshine into the kids for the day (as well as a break from the iPhone)! Here are some pics of our fantastic family outing...

Remember the Old Five and Dimes...

Have you ever fried raw peanuts? If you have, you probably do not buy the ones in the can anymore. Nothing like freshly fried, Spanish peanuts. A bit of cooking oil, an iron skillet, plenty of paper towels, a slotted spatula, a ton of salt, and you're good to go. Just made a jarful today and, I can't help but recall my first batch of freshly fried, Spanish peanuts...

Not at home, rather at the old (and many years closed) Sterling Store in the Pike Plaza Shopping Center in North Little Rock. My mom would shop there often when it opened in the 60s and, she always gave me a quarter plus a penny for tax to purchase a half a pound of freshly fried, Spanish peanuts. The check out lady would come to the peanut machine (sort of looked like a popcorn machine) which was located in the middle of the store and use little weights to measure and bag up my purchase. Gosh, they were fresh, hot, and delicious. Certainly not like the canned ones in the five and dimes of today...