Broadway Bayou is rapidly become our go to out of town place.  Diverse menu, good prices and really good food plus it's an easy drive on roads that aren't all that busy.  Kretzers would be in the running but it's a little further and 127 always seems to be busy. 
The Glue had fried chicken on her mind and cajun sounded good to me so we headed up to Sparta yesterday.  Both of us stayed with our choices with the intent on sharing.  The Glue got a whole chicken, all white, with mashed potatoes and gravy and a salad.  I got a medium crawfish etouffee.
The salad was a good solid salad but I would rather have all romaine or iceberg lettuce than a spring mix.   It was big enough for both of us to easily share and the croutons were really good. 
Once again the fried chicken was outstanding while the mashed potatoes were solid.  My etouffee was very good and it was a mistake to get the medium, I should have got the large and brought home a bigger portion for leftovers. 
Of course there was plenty of chicken brought home but it continually got picked on last night.
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How many remember standing in the hall waiting for this?  It was terrifying.  Once the first kid got it and started crying the whole herd started in.  You were lucky if you were one of the first and got it out of the way quick but if you were towards the end it sucked, and I was one of those poor souls towards the back.
I can't imagine the outcry if this was attempted now, there would be lawyers and public outcry.  In retrospect I'm glad I got vaccinated by this torture machine but it wasn't that easy 60 years ago.
Now the sugar cube vaccine was a treat.

Another Packer season has a disappointing end and while they all hurt this one hurt more than any in several seasons.  It's going to take awhile to get over it. 
I really thought this was the year.  We overcame adversity all year long and it had the look of a team of destiny.  We kept winning even with injury after injury.  We also had will he or won't he distraction early followed by vaccination gate and finally toe gate.
Another factor is the game itself.  We dominated early but couldn't capitalize and build a big lead.  The defense played great only giving up six points but the offense could only score ten.  That should be a win but special teams gave up seven points on a blocked punt and also kept us from having another three points.  Not to mention several field position changes.
Lastly and the worse is what the future holds.  Several long time Packers will bid farewell to the Packers or the game itself.  Rodgers, Adams, Crosby and Cobb are long time Packers who may be gone.  Others who haven't been around as long like both Smiths, Amos, Lewis, MVS and others may be cap casualties.
I'm really worried we're headed back to the wasteland that was the 70's and 80's. 
I'm a Packer fan and will always be but a return to that would be tough.

After a doctors appointment Tuesday in Cape we decided to check out The Southerner since it was across the street from the Hospital.  It's at the Drury but stuck on the side by the interstate.  There's a small bar area and a larger dining area.  The bar had several selections of draft beer and after sampling a couple we both decided on O'fallon Breweries Maple Bacon Pumpkin ale.  It's a red ale and was good for one but I think it would get a little too sweet for any more.  The bartender and what I assume was the manager were very nice and talkative.  The menu is a little iffy but has some choices that stand out.  The place is affiliated with Tractors in Jackson that we really liked.  We'll grab something to eat there down the road.
We'd considered eating there and at BG's but stayed the course and went to Katy O'ferrells for the first time since the poor experience on my birthday.  Of course we both ordered the house irish red ale that is made by O'fallons Brewery and is one of our favorites. 
I was torn between the Celtic pot pie and the reuben but ended up getting the reuben.  I was going to get carrots instead of chips but at the last minute went with chips.  I asked if they could season them up and the waiter said they could do salt and vinegar or salt, pepper and garlic which is what I went with.  The Glue got the soup and sandwich choosing roast beef and beer cheese soup.
The reuben may be the best I've had, it was great.  I'm glad I got the salt, pepper and garlic chip option, it was a lot better then the other.  The Glue's roast beef was also very good but she said the beer cheese soup was just okay and she should have got the potato soup.
A much better experience than when we ate there last.
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I'd been wanting to try out my smoker since it got blown off the veranda a few weeks ago so I got a brisket out of the freezer and thawed it out.  Saturday I trimmed off all the hard fat areas and seasoned it with Kosher salt, course ground pepper and Heath Riles Garlic Butter rub.  The salt and pepper I put on a pretty heavy layer on and topped that with a light sprinkling of the rub.
I preheated my smoker to 200 degrees using Lumber Jack competition pellets that consist of maple, hickory and cherry.  Hickory and cherry have long been my favorite woods to use.  I put the brisket on around 5:30 Saturday evening and also put in a water pan that I also added beer to, after all bbq and beer go together.  I checked the smoker every few hours to make sure everything was going alright.
I opened the chamber around 3:30 on Sunday morning and added more water and checked the brisket temp.  It was lower than I wanted so I upped it to 225 degree and went back to sleep.  I checked the temp again at around 9am and it hadn't come up as much as I wanted so I increased the temp to 250 and again added water.
I check it again around 10:30 and it was starting to come along nicely.  I'd told people 12-1 and that was looking good.  I finally pulled the brisket at noon and let it rest for 45 minutes before I started slicing.  The Glue pinched a small piece of bark and so I did too.  Mine had a very strong pepper flavor and the Glue said hers tasted salty.  We both had another pinch or two and it still had those flavors.  At this point I was really worried I'd over seasoned it.
I started slicing it at 12:45 and it sliced better than any I'd done so far.  It looked nice and juicy and the chef's privilege taste was good.  I was very pleased with the end product and people said that thought it was good.  You never know if they are being polite or if that's what they thought.  I'd rather have say they don't like it than to be polite and lie.
One thing I will do different next time is to start it at 225.  Another might be to put peach paper on top of the cutting board and see if that helps with the mess.
Overall I was pleased.

We hadn't been to Long John Silvers in several years but for some reason it sounded good to both of us on Monday.  When we got there the speaker was broken so we had to go to the window to order.  We both ordered the fish and shrimp variety platter.  I ordered a side of slaw and crumblys.  They were out of slaw and the lady said crumblys come with it so I got corn and onion rings.  The Glue got mac and cheese and cheese curds.
It took a long time for the food to arrive and by the time we left there were at least four vehicles behind us.  When we got home we discovered that there were only a few crumblys in each container.  The fish and shrimp were just mediocre as were the corn and onion rings.  The Glue wasn't impressed with hers either.  It will be a long time before we got back, probably. 🤨
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We tried out our first "new" place of the year yesterday by going to The Fork & Vine.  We been there several times when it was Russell Hill and it's great that it is now longer sitting empty. 
It was further down the road from Stone Creek than what I remembered and I was close to turning around when I saw it.  We got there around 2ish and there was a nice crowd there.
We were seated at a small table by a window so we were able to look out at the outside venue.  Of course the rain started and obscured it some.
I ordered the black and blue burger with fries.  I got cheddar cheese instead of blue cheese and I had the jalapenos on the side.  The Glue ordered cabrese and she shocked me when she also ordered shrimp and grits.  Neither of us care for grits.  The cabrese came our first and it had buffalo mozzarella that I really liked so I asked the waitress if I could get that on my burger instead of the cheddar and she was able to get that done for a slight up charge.  The Glue said the tomatoes and lettuce on the cabrese were good but not as good as what she'd had at Tom's a few weeks ago.
My burger was a solid burger but nothing special.  I'd ordered medium and it was closer to well done.  The fries were really good with a nice seasoning on them.  The Glue's shrimp was also very good but the grits were grits, don't really like them.  She did mix some of my jalapenos in with the grits and like it better.
On the way out what I assume was the manager stop us and wanted to know what we had and how we liked it.  We talked with him for a few minutes which was a really nice gesture.
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We haven't gone out and done anything on New Years eve for 15 years or so and most years I've been asleep long before midnight.  Last night was no exception although I did wake up and hear some fireworks then.
I grilled ribeyes and baked potatoes for us and Baileys family and of course an orange potato for Greyson.  I normally do pretty good steaks but these weren't my best, I'm not sure if it was me or the steaks.
This brings to a close COVID year #2, 2021.  We went to quite a few new places and a lot of old places.  Places we really enjoyed were among the new places were Who Dat, Skootrs, Drakes, Broadway Bayou and Bucketheads which has since closed.  Some highlights among places we revisted include Kretzers and  Lisa's and of course there are so many go to's that we always enjoy.
While COVID really brings the past year down there were several really fun things we did this past year but overall, good bye.