Welcome to Fall (or somehing like it)

    

We've just crossed that threshold from Indian Summer to Fall. However, Houston in typical fashion still fees like summer. My desire to wear boots, sweaters, and long skirts is thwarted with 90 degree temperatures and rainforest humidity. That's just Gulf Coast living. My allergies are flared up and the indecisive weather Texas is famous for is not helping. Aside from that, I do really enjoy this time of year for many reasons.

Starting in October, the weather here is usually amazing. It's been unusually hot even by Texas standards, but the mornings are nice and cool. We just have to savor those mornings because by afternoon we are in the 90s. It doesn't help that they keep it Arctic cold inside the building at work. All I can say is layers.

Baking season begins with several trial runs of pumpkin pie and butter pecan fudge. I have to perfect both by Thanksgiving. The family does not complain about the excess batches of cookies, fudge, and pies. There's a night food stalker in the house as evidenced by crumbs on the counter. I have a good idea of who it is, but I'm not at liberty to say.

I was blessed with an October baby, so we get to prepare for the big 14 this year. The idea of having a kid who is 4 years away from leaving home just astonishes me. It's a big cliché to say, but it really feels like he just came home from the hospital. He's very involved in the party planning. This year's theme is Jurassic World. He's been obsessed with Jurassic Park since he was old enough to watch movies and the new movie is his favorite of the moment.

That about sums up what makes me giddy for Fall. I'm sure I'll think of something else as soon as I post this. That's the beauty of blogging. You can always go back and add to it.

Oyster Quest: Galveston

Oysters always struck me as odd. Slimy shots of briny substance just never looked appealing, at least until a trip to New Orleans. I made the decision to try something new and that new thing was going to be raw oysters. So, we ate dinner in the French Quarter and ordered up a plate of raw oysters. I made sure to load up the obligatory cracker and douse it with enough Tabasco sauce to drown out the unpleasant flavor that was bound to wreak havoc on my tastebuds. The result: Not bad at all, actually quite tasty. An order of Oysters Rockefeller destroyed any remaining notion that oysters were nasty.


Fast forward to October 3, 2015. A trip to help a friend clean up his Galveston vacation home yielded an opportunity to eat oysters again. So my family and I spent most of Saturday cleaning up the mess left by a previous renter (that subject is worthy of a separate post). The house had no electricity, so we checked into our hotel and cleaned up for dinner.


I decided on the Black Pearl Oyster Bar. The reviews were positive and it was just ten minutes from the hotel.

My husband ordered the fried seafood platter. The side salad that came with it was donated to me. He's a meat and potatoes man with no use for "lawn clippings", so I happily took it off his hands.
It was one of the freshest salads I've ever had. Paired with bleu cheese dressing, it was perfection.

The Oysters Rockefeller arrived on a very hot plate. The waitress was nice enough to point out how hot the plate was. I wondered how many mishaps had occurred when someone touched the plate and discovered a whole new meaning for the word pain and some choice 4-letter words to go with it.

The oysters themselves were delicious and melted in my mouth. Whoever thought to combine spinach, bacon, and oysters needs to have a statue erected in their honor or a building named after them. They were unquestionably delectable in a way that cannot be described. They must be experienced.

Our meal concluded with my husband almost cracking a tooth on what appeared to be a pearl. Some of those 4-letter words followed. I was skeptical at first, but I don't know what else it could be. 

It's adorable. I just need to find a use for it. The cupholder in my Outback is probably not the best home for it.

To sum it all up, the Black Pearl Oyster Bar in Galveston is worthy of a visit. You may even leave with a pearl of your own.