Basque Dinner

One of the last things Kathleen and I did on our trip delivering her out west was to go to one of Bakersfield's Basque restaurants, Wool Growers. Basque restaurants serve "family style" and two of you can order one entree and one without for a few dollars less and share. We were among the first seated on this evening's meal service so we could not see what the rest of the dining room was ordering. Being really unfamiliar with the details, we both ordered an entree. Kathleen the roast lamb and I, the oxtail stew.

We sipped our cocktails and watched as large groups of extended families came in and sat at long tables. Soon we were served an assortment of dishes,

 A big pot of cabbage soup, a bowl of beans, a slightly piquant tomato "salsa," a bowl of rice pilaf, corn shucked fresh off the cob, a platter of spaghetti with meat sauce, a tomato salad, bread, butter and last but not least...

...a platter of sliced pickled beef tongue.

All of this is prior to the arrival of our entrees.  

Here is my Oxtail Stew...

Fantastic!

Back in the saddle again...

Haven't been blogging for awhile. It is time to get back on that horse and ride. Kathleen has an Internship with the Bureau of Land Management, in Bakersfield California, and last week I drove out there with her to help her get settled.

We had a wonderful trip driving along the old US Route 66 trail, called the Mother Road by some. It is mostly Interstate Highway now, but there are stops along the way that bring you back to the feel of the old route west taken by the Oakies displaced by the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, and the road of  OnThe Road of Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady and countless othersback in the day. But it isn't the road that makes the trip great it is mostly who you are with on the trip.

We camped in the Ozarks, in Mark Twain National Forest on the first night. We made a pot of Beans and rice with wild onions and herbs that Kathleen found growing about the campgrounds.

We cooked the rice and beans over our campfire and it turned out pretty awesome. Just like my trip west with my Kathleen.

We saw some beautiful sights and I recommend this road trip for everyone.