Will Hill Banner

William Hill Poker

Monday, April 16, 2012

I wasn't sure what to write about, but since last week was our One Year Anniversary of moving to Texas, here are the three strangest things I find about Texans:

3) Kids start school later here.  Many of the kids in G's class are like a year older than G on average.  There's a kid in the second grade who just turned 10, and G is only 8 and in the 3rd grade.  Umm... WTF?!?  I realize that G will always be one of the youngest kids in his class because his birthday is in the summer, but seriously, how can a non-retarded kid be TEN(!!!) years old and still be in the second grade?!?  I think it has mostly to do with sports (because unlike in the Northeast, sports is like everything down here).  But seriously, do you really want your kid to be some kind of man-child in elementary school?  Maybe it impresses the ladies?

2) The people here (on average) have unusually short legs.  Now I should be one to talk, since Koreans on average have shorter legs, but I just find it kind of interesting.  It wouldn't be as interesting to say people down here were "bigger boned," since that would be kind of a given - Texas is regularly in the top 15 of Fat States.  On the bright(?) side, this is Les Murphy Country - land of the BBW.  But back to the topic at hand...  When Kelly Clarkson (she is from nearby Fort Worth) was first on American Idol, Mrs. Fly would say, "she has really short legs".  I guess it didn't stand out to me at the time.  But now that I've moved here, it seems like a larger percentage of the population has short legs.  And I'm not counting all the Hispanics.  In before racist ban.  I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having shorter legs - I am their leader after all.  Having a lower center of gravity is better for a lot of things.  I'm just sayin'.

1) They don't know their beef!  I had always figured that moving down to Texas was moving down with my peeps - fellow beef aficionados.  But seriously WTF at so many people down here not knowing good beef?  Now that Mrs Fly has befriended many of the local butchers, apparently the supermarkets down here carry a lower grade of beef because many people assume "redder is better."  NO!!!  You need MARBLING!!!  So many of the supermarkets in the area don't even carry USDA choice beef (a standard in the NorthEast) - because choice is better marbled.  The butchers and Mrs. Fly do simultaneous face-palms regularly.  I think the butchers get a kick out of a cute skinny Asian woman talking about fat like Paula Deen.  But at least now they save us the best cuts of whatever beef they get - because they know we'll appreciate the fact that better beef is supposed to have MARBLING!  It's so sick to look at the manager's specials filled with the better marbled beef.  We're not complaining.  And I have never met so many people who claim to looove beef and like their beef well-done.  Seriously, WTF?!? Go chew on some cardboard.  It's up there with people who claim to looove sushi and only order California rolls.  If that's what you like, then fine, but don't claim to be qualified to give any kind of opinion on the subject.  Mrs Fly doesn't give opinions on how to solve partial differential equations (easily the worst math mind I know - especially for an Asian), and I don't give advice on how to stick to an exercise plan or how to run good (even tho I just did).  In before someone says I'm not qualified to write about winning poker.

Anyway, I love it here...  It's just a little different y'all!
Posted by Doublefly at 9:00 AM
Labels:

7 comments:

  1. Maybe its just the people you know, because here close to denton which is a hop and a skip from you, but everyone i know like medium rate atleast and i do agree with you on the meat. Unless you go to a butcher all you get is crap at the stores. Also most beef people end up buying a cow with 2 to 4 people and splitting the 600 pounds of beef. Now that is quality greatness :)

    ReplyDelete

  2. Burgers shouldn't even be well done----Medium rare ftw. My brother orders his steak well done and it just pisses me off! I have a friend who asks for A1 sauce regardless of the quality! :sigh:

    Can you give some reccomendations on sushi? I am a complete sushi noob and want to try some but am scurred. What should I try that won't freak me out? I'm a white 20 something American from the Midwest who doesn't eat a lot of fish.

    ReplyDelete

  3. Why would you need to split a 600 lb cow? Are you a vegetarian or something?

    I've noticed that by default the burgers and fajitas here seem to be more well-done than in NY/CT. so we always have to specify that we want it less cooked.

    I think salmon, eel and yellowtail are pretty safe for noobs. The eel sounds gross, but it's cooked and kind of tasty, so if you can get over the fact that it's an eel, you'll probably like it the best. Salmon seems to be reasonable at most sushi places. The yellowtail can be hit or miss depending on your local place, but the flavor is very subtle, so there's less for you to object to. I can't recommend tuna because the tuna in the US is generally crap (apparently Japan buys almost all of the best tuna in the world), but since undercooked tuna is so common on many US menus (like seared tuna), you may be more familiar with it. GL.

    ReplyDelete

  4. hahaha that's the meat that will come from the cow. So 2 people would split 300lb each. That would be about 150lb of hamburger and various steaks from there.

    I would agree that by default they cook it more well-done down here, unless you tell them too. For some good Fajitas go to Uncle Julio's if you haven't been. They have AMAZING Fajitas.

    ReplyDelete

  5. mat, we love uncle julio's beef fajitas! they have this chain in va (where i'm from), so we are familiar w/their fajitas. i esp love that they cook the beef to order. when we moved here, we were so stoked thinking we'd get even better fajitas. wrong. nothing even comes close. we went to joe t's in fort worth with friends who raved and raved about this place. it was looking real good when we saw the huuuuuge crowd waiting outside. it was looking even better when we saw how the restaurant expanded their space to accomodate the crowd.
    BUT!! i knew it was all hype when i asked the waitress to cook my beef for the fajias super rare. she couldn't meet my eyes and muttered, 'i'll try... i'll tell them...' as soon as i saw the beef, i knew it was wrong. it wasn't sizzling on the iron plate. why? b/c it was precooked. it was the worst tasting thing i've ever eaten. dry. tough. salty. our friends who took us were mexican (well, the husband is anyway) so we had high hopes but we should have known better when he told us he didn't anything cooked with onions. didn't eat guacamole. or eat beans. or drink tequilia. doh!

    as for how texas like their beef:
    - the butchers i've met in texas admit that most customers eat their beef too done.
    - sitting around a crowded hibachi table, all the texans order their beef tenderloins med well to well done...huh?? just eat beef jerky...
    - at restaurants, i've learned to order my steaks super rare so it comes to me rare. if i order it medium rare, it comes out medium...

    that's all... from mrs doublefly

    ReplyDelete

  6. I completely agree with you at restaurants. Depending on the place you need to order rare to get medium rare. I always get chicken at uncle julio's just because i don't trust the beef being took tough. The chicken is amazing!

    Hahaha if a waitress looks at you like that, then she has no idea what she's doing.

    Thanks for the reply btw, and glad you are liking the north texas area.

    ReplyDelete

  7. mat, their chx fajitas are just ok for me and doublefly. i'm not gonna lie but if we're gonna eat chx breast, we're going to eat it as chx parm not fajiats;-( here's a hint why julio's chx fajitas are pretty good tasting though - they brine their breast meat in salt and sugar solution so it's super moist and carmalize when it hits the grill. i can do chx fajitas better than most places (sorry for the brag) but for the life of me, i can't do julio's beef fajitas justice.
    can't. do. it.
    so tender and juicy... they must put crack cocaine in their marinade b/c it's damn addictive! i just got a saliva squirt thinking about them...

    okaaay, back to the kitchen for mrs. doublefly

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)