Grandsonville......and renewing my love affair with Gizzards!

     We arrived in Marlow, Oklahoma escaping the worst of the early cold front that reduced much of the Midwest to shivering far too early this year.  SW Oklahoma was still very cold with nights in the low 20s.  We camped at a local RV park about 5 miles north of town; nothing fancy, but the essentials at a fair price.  For the first night we still ran the portable space heaters to keep pipes clear and on the morning of the next day were able to successfully pump and heat water without any damage.  Of course, the first hot shower in a couple of days was a welcome experience.  We now own a 'heated water hose' which ensures good flow in any type of cold climate (hopefully). 





       Our grandson is now 13 years old and attends middle school here.  I am not going to
elaborate further except to reiterate '13 year.....middle schooler'.  Yep, those days of innocence are gone.  We enjoyed some great times together, but did include daily inspections of the backpack to ensure there was no 'forgotten' homework.  We do share a common serious interest in classic Sci Fi movies, especially the old ones in black and white.  I picked up a few more of my favorites (that I could find) for us to share during our visit.  He is HEAVILY into the gaming culture, but far and away his passion is old Sci Fi flicks.  I'll take what I can get.  Apparently he missed the opportunity for school pictures this year so we spent an afternoon with him at the local park taking plenty of shots which we saved to CD for his mom and dad to have printed as they please.  We also did our Christmas shopping for the lad although he didn't seem to appreciate waiting on Grandma's love of gift wrapping as much as she did.

 

 

 

      Down to the nitty gritty.  I LOVE GIZZARDS, always have ever since my grandmother made them for me at a very young age.  Of course, you won't hardly ever find them up north so my visits down south sometimes center around this delicacy.  I don't know what it is about that buttery, crunchy, lean taste of a chicken gizzard that makes me feel warm, fuzzy, and down home all over.  There is also BBQ and plenty of catfish.  This is the home of some of the finest southern cuisine you can experience.  The key to healthy eating is proportions and control.  We did not harvest a deer this fall so we made do to restock part of our freezer with local fare such as hot links and a great ham.  I used to love my trips back to Oklahoma to purchase a great piece of brisket, sometimes on sale for $.89/pound.  The price of beef has skyrocketed in recent years and with the drought the prices now hover around $3.89/pound.  We took one day to drive up to Oklahoma City to do some shopping for hard to get items.  I returned with 4 pounds of alligator meat, 3 pounds of boudin, and 2 containers of roux mix.  You know, the important things!

     We did dine out quite a bit with our grandson, but still managed to create a Reindeer Casserole and a Cajun Venison Andouille Chorizo Cassoulet for him at the RV.  He LOVED the Reindeer, polishing off half a 9" x 12" dish by himself!  Actually, he loves just about anything within reach of his fork.  I know Grandpa wishes he could still eat like that without packing on the pounds!

 

       We celebrated Christmas a bit early as well.  Brock now has several new games for his system and about 6 more classic movies to watch to fuel our future debates.    



     We had a great visit, staying about 2 weeks.  We always thoroughly enjoy our visits to Oklahoma and this trip was no exception.  Next up for us:  we head further south beginning our search for the "Holy Grail"......the Top BBQ joints in Texas.  Of course this may be a bone of contention between my recommendations from the Food Channel and local friends we intend to visit.  It will, of course, all work itself out on our own taste buds. 

 

WiFi courtesy of Dave and Sharon's RV Park.