Entry #3 - El Taco H tacos

Yeah, yeah, I know my last entry was about tacos. This blog will likely end up being heavily weighted (pun intended) toward Mexican food since it is my favorite. But these are tacos of a different variety. They are... tacqueria tacos. You get these at a place where English is a second language.

I knew that I would eventually be writing about El Taco H in Grapevine. Their food is really good. Everything I have had off the menu has been really good. Usually, I just keep it real simple and roll with three tacos. One carne(steak), one pollo(chicken), and one desebrada(brisket). $1.00 each will get you a double layered homemade soft corn tortilla meat holder and a big scoop of the meat of your choice. Sometimes I get tea, sometimes I get a green Jarritos drink. I don't know what flavor it is, but it is tasty, and all my non-English speaking friends are drinking it, so I will too. At the condiment bar you can pick up your choice of salsas, onions, cilantro, etc.

Today was a little different, though, which is what is spurring me on to log this one.

Today I met my good friend, Tim Harris, there for lunch. It meant alot to me that he would come out to meet me since it was 29 degrees and raining out. Tim, being the salesman he is, sold me on trying a dang quesadilla. I opted for the desebrada version. It was real good. Real simple and real good.

What else was real good was sitting at the table with Tim. First I got him with the "thumbs up" right as he was approaching the table, so he had to talk to God about our food for the both of us. That's when things began to pick up a little. No sooner had Tim amened us out of prayer time, he picked up chip #1, dipped it in the small bowl of queso, and began to transport the two to his mouth for processing when half of the cheese dropped straight to his shirt. Not that that is all that funny. But it is consistent for Tim and THAT is funny.

What is not funny is that my friend Tim has been affected by these nearly unprecedented economic times. Over a month ago, he got laid off from his job as a salesman. Pretty tough situation. He is looking for a job all day nearly every day now. In fact today after we ate he was going to take a test for a potential part-time job with the Census Bureau. One that would bring home a little extra dough.

I thought I would help him with a little role play. It went something like this:

(knock, knock)
D: Hello
T: How many people live in your house?
D: 4.
T: Thank you.

(moving on to the next house)
(knock, knock)
D: Hello
T: How many people live in your house?
D: 4.
T: Thank you.

(walking to next house.)
T: ok, 4 and 4 is 8. 8. Remember, 8.
(knock, knock)
D: Hello
T: How many people live in your house?
D: 4.
T: Thank you.

(walking to next house.)
T: ok, three 4's is 12. 12. Remember, 12.
(knock, knock)
D: Hello
T: How many people live in your house?
D: 3.
T: Thank you.

(walking to next house.)
T: ok, three 4's is 12. 12 and 3 is 15. Remember, 15.
(knock, knock)
D: Hello
....



If you can help my friend Tim find a job, he won't have to have these kinds of lunches with me anymore. Please help him if you can. He's a good'un.

Entry #2 - Taco Casa tacos

Taco Casa is fairly new to the Grapevine area. Actually it is in Colleyville near Glade and Hwy 26 in an old renovated Whataburger building. Look for the orange and yellow sign.
Very basic tex-mex fast food. Their tacos may very well be my favorite tacos anywhere, fast food or fancy place. They stick to the basics here… Crispy corn shell, meat and cheese. None of that filler like lettuce or tomato. Oh, you can find the “supreme” version of their items with the sour cream and black olives and such, but this plain old taco is a good. The chili burger with cheese is no slouch either. Those of you who remember Taco Patio from days gone by will remember it as the Gringo Burger with cheese.

An added bonus is that Taco Casa has sweet tea like my great-grandmother, Fairy Tomlinson, used to make.

AND all 4 of us can have a fun time eating out for about $15.

Entry #1 - My Mother-in-Law’s brisket

Brisket aside… If us protestant-types were to ever start “sainting” people, my mother-in-law Cheryl would be way up at the top of the Power Rankings. I have never met anyone that serves others from the bottom, actually the whole heart, like she does.

Now, to the brisket… it is always hot, always tender and juicy, and always has just the right amount of sweetness. It is a very simple food. She doesn’t trick it up at all. That would not be her style.

Honestly, I am not sure what she does to her brisket to make is so good. In fact, I have never even seen her in the act of cooking it. By the time I get to the family gathering (on our long trek from South Grapevine to North Grapevine), it is already on the back of the stove, covered in foil, so the potato casserole can have a little oven time. A potato casserole that will have it’s own entry in this log somewhere down the line.

This sounds corny with a capital “K”, but I really think the secret ingredient is L-O-V-E.

My hand (or fork really) at this blogging thing

I won’t go on and on about how I thought through starting my own blog and the high level decision making process engaged in order to pick out a blog site to host it, but suffice it to say that it took me minutes to birth this idea.

So, here is what this little slice of internet heaven will be about… Food I like. That’s pretty much it. Whether it is home-cooked or restaurant made… white tablecloth or greasy floor… family recipe or mass produced… if it’s good eatin’, it could find it’s way to the my little journal here on the wide wide world of webs.

I am not a food critic, so you won’t find me writing about food I don’t like. Besides, I am not a writer, so if I am going to be spending any time at all writing about something, I have to be highly interested in it. So it came down to writing about either a)Jesus, b)being a husband/dad, c)playing guitar, or d)food. The interweb has plenty of people expressing all kinds of opinions about all these, and food I that don’t like doesn’t meet the one requirement.

All that being said, my opinion is just that, my opinion. I am not saying any food is the best of it’s kind, only that it is food I like.

I hope you enjoy my ramblings. I will try to post often. I will also try to include some good grammar and lots of funny in each story.

Peace.