Merry Christmas, friends.
Out and about today on WacoFork business, everyone seemed to have that laid-back, holiday easiness. Most of us have our Christmas shopping and wrapping done and now it's just a matter of coasting out the rest of the year.
Speaking of the rest of the year, I'm looking forward to writing a "Thank you, Lord, for Texas" blog from the Alamo Bowl next week.
Today's photo of the Amelia's/Sironia chicken salad sandwich and spinach salad comes from local photographer/WacoFork friend Katie Burch.
During the course of creating this WacoFork thing, we've been thrilled by the way people want to participate with us. Burch and I, who see each other at the coffee shop and the pub pretty often, spoke about food pictures. I encouraged her to snap photos and send them to me and I would use them in blogs.
And that's how I ended up lunching at Amelia's/Sironia for the first time today.
For those in WacoFork land who will be hosting this Christmas weekend, remember Waco has some attractive take-home dinner options.
There's no shame in calling on Secret Chef or Crav to fill out the Christmas Eve or Christmas Day menu. Only delicious food. Also, nobody has to know it didn't come from the host's oven.
My Christmas gift to myself today: chicken fried steak, eggs and hash browns for breakfast, neatly wrapped in gravy and Tabasco sauce at The Coffee Shop in McGregor.
Or maybe it was a stocking stuffer, if the stocking were my belly.
As of Thursday, there are TWO great reasons to drive to McGregor for lunch or dinner. Actually, there might be more than two reasons, but I'm focusing on the two dining options right next door to each other just down Highway 84.
Coach's opened this week to a full parking lot and lots of customers interested to try Central Texas' newest barbecue joint. Coach's is the new next-door neighbor of The Coffee Shop, which has long been one of the area's best options for good old country cooking.
News flash, people, we've arrived at the middle of December and our little town still has important football games ahead of it.
If you grew up a Midway Panther and went on to be a Baylor Bear, then your two football teams have a combined record of 21-5 this season as the Panthers prepare to play in the Class 4A Division I state championship game on Friday and the Bears look forward to meeting Washington in the Alamo Bowl.
Now that's a reason for happy hour.
Just a quick hit blog today with a couple of WacoFork reminders.
If you're out with friends and family doing some holiday dining, keep us in mind and write a review. Remember, we're giving away an iPad2 when we hit 1,000 reviews and we're getting closer every day. We're about 300 reviews from that goal and every review you write gives you another entry and a better chance at winning the big prize.
I discovered something today that probably should have been obvious. It's just that in certain circumstances, one tends to go with the program rather than ask questions.
Such is my experience most of the time I visit The Coffee Shop in McGregor.
The fruit cake is in flight.
On Thursday, we purchased a large fruit cake from Collin Street Bakery in order to conduct a little experiment (or play a game, depending on how seriously you think we take ourselves). So I announced via Twitter and Facebook that we would give away this fruit cake to the first taker. The only catch was that they had to let us know, if they passed it along, to whom they gave it.
