Friend Steve,
Bout 10 years ago Ronnie had ta give up his cafe cuz they made the highroad wider 'n tore hiz place down. We argued over the money fer bout a year, then give up 'n let the jury figger it out. Ronnie wuz a purty good cook. All the game law kept a eye out fer him......like they do fer Gatormac. The Arkansaw boys runnin' nets on their side of the river watch fer him too. When it come ta huntin' game 'er fishin', Ronnie made up hiz own rules. Folks round here wuz surprized when he took all the money the jury give him 'n struck camp fer Idaho. I dont know if he wuz near Stanley, where most of the folks I know went, but he figgered he would buy a cafe 'n start agin. He looked at the cafe food up there 'n tole me they dont use much seasonin'.....jest a bit of salt 'n pepper. The way Ronnie seen it, soon az them folks tasted Zatarains, forehead sweat chili, Jambalaya, fried green tomatoes (the ones with the cornmeal on 'em) 'n all the other spicy vittles folks like round here, they would likely be lined up fer miles waitin' on a seat.
Ronnie called me one day 'n sez them folks didnt care fer hiz spicy food. They wanted a elk steak with some salt 'n a bit of pepper....plain 'n simple.
Now Ronnie knows how ta fool a lie detector....ever time.....so I dont know if what he sez iz true, but it mite be true if all their jalapenos, cayenes, garlic 'n such come up tastin' like taters.
regards
bearridge
ps When we drove thru Idaho, we seen all the quick food cafes in the cities, but I dont recall seein' any highroad cafes like "Sue's Kountry Kitchen", "Bubba's Hot Tamales", "The Dew Drop Inn", "The Grit King", "Dong Foos China Garden", etc. Mebbe he didnt stretch that tale too much after all?
My Mother ( who is 91) has a bunch of tomatoes that won't ripen. She said that her Mother used to make a green tomatoe and cabbage Chow Chow. She does not have a recipe for it and would like to make some. So, if anyone has an old tried and true recipe that you could share with her she would appreciate it.