7
" Barbecue, vegetable plate, baked beans, sweet tea, fried
cherry pie, and an apple
I'm almost catatonic as I hold the little slip of paper in my hand now. Harlan, Cody, and I didn't need Shawn to go into what "barbecue" meant. Classic Texas barbecue is a beef brisket, sausage, and ribs. A "vegetable plate" is traditionally a potato salad, raw white onions, and pickles. Not quite what most people would call a healthy vegetable plate, but this is how we do it in Texas. "
― Liza Palmer , Nowhere But Home
8
" No matter what anyone in North Star thought of my mom, everyone agreed on one thing: she was the best cook in the Texas Hill Country. She was known for her barbecue and fried pies. But she was most famous for one particular dish. The dish people people would drive hundreds of miles for was simply called the Number One. I imagine Momma was going to make a list of specials. The trouble was, she never got past the Number One. So there it sat at the top of the menu, alone, all by itself.
The Number One:
Chicken fried steak with cream gravy, mashed potatoes,
green beans cooked in bacon fat, one buttermilk biscuit,
and a slice of pecan pie
With Brad's words ringing in my head about my vague culinary vision, I decide to make the Number One for tonight's supper. After leaving the salon, I drive to various farm stands, grocery stores, and butchers. I handpick the top-round steak with care, choose fresh eggs one by one, and feel an immense sense of home as I pull Mom's cast-iron skillet from the depths of Merry Carole's cabinets. My happiest memories involve me walking into whatever house we were staying in at the time to the sounds and smells of chicken fried steak sizzling away in that skillet. This dish is at the very epicenter of who I am. If my culinary roots start anywhere, it's with the Number One.
As I tenderize the beef, my mind is clear and I'm happy. I haven't cooked like this- my recipes for me and the people I love- in far too long. If ever. Time flies as I roll out the crust for the pecan pie. I'm happy and contented as I cut out the biscuit rounds one by one. I haven't a care in the world. Being in Merry Carole's kitchen has washed away everything I left in the whirlwind of being back in North Star. "
― Liza Palmer , Nowhere But Home
10
" This brisket must have taken you hours," Hudson says, sitting next to me.
"A brisket like this takes all night, son," Shawn says, not even looking at Hudson. All of the guards laugh.
"Then you'd better walk me through how to serve this before I embarrass myself further," Hudson says.
"Definitely," I say, passing the brisket to Shawn, at the head of the table.
"You didn't have to agree so quickly," Hudson says.
"You can do it a couple of ways. The white bread and the barbecue sauce plus the brisket make a nice sandwich, like Jace is doing," I say, pointing to the now silenced doubting Thomas. I continue, "Or you can just have the brisket with or without barbecue sauce and with or without the ranch beans and slaw, kind of blending in, like turkey, cranberries, and mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving," I say.
"Isn't brisket supposed to be served with biscuits?" Hudson asks, serving himself some ranch beans.
The conversation at the table screeches to a halt. The guards and Warden Dale just shake their heads and continue talking and eating.
"I think from here on out, you just need to start actively censoring your thoughts and opinions. For your own safety," I say, laughing. "
― Liza Palmer , Nowhere But Home
13
" Oh, is that left over from Shine? I do hope we won't have to eat the food you served to a convicted murderer," Whitney says, clutching her pearls.
"He was a triple murderer and he ordered fried chicken," I say. Whitney and her Gang of Idiots are actually taken aback.
"Even for you, Queenie Wake, that's low," Piggy Peggy says, looking from Whitney to me. Yes, Peggy, you delivered your line perfectly.
"You'd know," I say, stepping forward. She flinches. "
― Liza Palmer , Nowhere But Home
