Mudbugs & Such

This was a pretty easy-going weekend. Dad & Mom came for a visit and as usual we had a good time together. We ate dinner Saturday night at Smokey Bones, a BBQ chain here in Mesquite. I was a little disappointed in the food but they must have had 20 televisions, each with a different football game. It was kind of funny listening to all of these Texas fans cheering for Notre Dame... I don't think that happens very often. As for getting good BBQ, I think we'll stick with the local mom & pop places, or we could drive 200 miles to Country Tavern in Shreveport. Now there's a restaurant I miss. A couple of years ago they were on the "Best Of" show on the Food Network for their excellent food. Maybe we will make it back there before too much longer.

Speaking of the Food Network, the secret ingredient on tonight's Iron Chef America was crawfish. They made some of the weirdest things I have ever seen someone make with a crawfish. The worst part, however, was when the chefs would try to pronounce the secret ingredient. They would awkwardly switch back an forth between "crawfish" and "crayfish" as if they weren't sure how to pronounce the name of the critter. Well, I'm from a certain state where the crawfish is considered one of the basic food groups and back home we say "crawfish". The only Iron Chef judge to consistently pronounce the word correctly by my strict standards had actually been to Louisiana. Hopefully more people will become edumacated to the right pronouncification before they speakify the word. If you really want to say it right, just call it a mudbug.

A Word for Today
crayfish - a nocturnal freshwater crustacean that resembles a small lobster and inhabits streams and rivers (New Oxford American Dictionary); a mispronunciation of crawfish (me).