The expression of, “This ain’t my first rodeo,” is of course only applicable to people who understand that rodeo really is a way of life. Not ours, yet I’ve lived in a couple of places where you can learn about it. There have been lots of different movies depicting the mindset; some of which have at least accurate segments. And so this is the weekend for Homestead with the 74th rodeo founded back in 1949. There have only been three years of interruption; one relatively early in the history; the year Hurricane Andrew destroyed the grounds; and 2021 due to COVID. Apparently it is a sell-out crowd for part of the time. It kicked off Friday night, was held yesterday afternoon, and concludes this afternoon, Jan 29th. I’m not attending this year, but Hubby will be there to shoot the event. He does get some amazing photos, even though he is definitely not a fan of horses. We did go for a while to the Blue Jean Ball last night. That’s one of the traditions and is the main fundraiser for whichever woman’s group holds it. The Homestead Soroptomists took it over a few years back and it’s always a fun time. Who provides the food also changes out periodically and when you’re serving a couple of hundred (or more) people, it can be tricky. It is buffet and there is the dinner option or just come after for music and dancing. Texas Roadhouse had it this year and they did include a chicken option. I was glad to see that as I’m not a big prime rib fan. I like it from a flavor perspective, but I generally find it too fatty to want to deal with. Anyway, the food was good and the band was too. We don’t stay long and the crowd was pretty much at capacity as we left.

Announcement of the Rodeo Queen took place on Friday although I didn’t catch who it was. Unlike some contests, the Rodeo Queen is determined by who brings in the most ticket sales. A couple of months before the event, posters go up around town and on social media and the contestant often make the rounds of other events to garner support. All are accomplished riders and carry on a long tradition.

I know there are people who object to rodeos, but in reality the animals are well cared for because there is a very special bond between owners even though the horses and bulls for riding aren’t what one can call “cuddly”. They do each have their own spirit.

One of the things about travel, whether living somewhere else or as a tourist, is learning about new food. As I’ve mentioned before, I grew up in small towns in North Louisiana and we didn’t travel far for vacations. Our cooking was basic and we certainly didn’t have access to different cuisines, although there was Mexican due to agriculture, and some Cajun. When we went to the big city, we were far more likely to go to the Picadilly Cafeteria than any thought of say one of the few Italian restaurants. I’m sure there probably was a Chinese restaurant somewhere, but again, not anything we would have known about.

My first airplane ride and foreign encounter was the summer session in Canada followed closely by the year I spent in France. I detailed the French part in previous posts. While I was wasn’t overly adventuresome in what I was willingly to try, there was a definite expansion of my tastes and I did become accustomed to more seasonings/herbs, and cooking techniques. Later, my initial Army training was at Fort McCellan, AL, so no great culinary changes there from where I grew up. Going to Maryland though included lots of fresh seafood. (Being in North Louisiana with limited truck transportation back then meant mostly freshwater fish and little shellfish).

My assignment after training to Germany is where I broaden my preferences in both food and wine – well, beer, too. German food has quite a range and Italian, Chinese, and other cuisines were commonplace, although I didn’t venture into the Middle Eastern ones. Anyone who has lived in Germany is aware of how many ways schnitzel is prepared. The basic meat is pork or veal and one of those is Rahm which is similar to country fried steak. In fact, the large German population in Texas introduced the meal with it changing from pork to cubed steak due to that cut of beef being more available. Our Publix doesn’t always have cubed pork and I noticed it the other day. I picked some up and that’s why Rahm Schnitzel is what we’re having for dinner. I admit I’m not making the sausage gravy from scratch and am using the prepared version instead.

Air travel during the holidays is always subject to frustration and this year was no exception. Unfortunately, once again, what should have been the kids departing at 5:45 yesterday turned into much later with extra “airport time” because the exact departure time was a bit uncertain and better to be at the airport just in case. Anyway, it was after midnight when they managed to get to their condo and I’m assuming they were able to sleep in. That was part of the reason to fly them back Jan 1st; it allowed for one down day (today) in case of issues and trying to re-establish routine. It was a great visit though with perfect weather. Not as much pool time this trip due to other “adventures” and that was okay, too.

Hubby always laughs at me for buying too much food for the holidays although it doesn’t change that ingrained habit of mine. I’ll be distributing items among friends and neighbors over the next couple of days to get things back in order plus we will be creative with leftovers for most of the week. The only culinary disappointments for the kids was something really odd happened when they were supposed to have lunch at Chefs on the Run and they weren’t open. Also, Exit One didn’t work out schedule-wise, but we did go on to Capri which they were very happy with. Amelia and I still don’t eat sushi and Suvi has enough other choices so the kids got their “fix” the first night they were here. White Lion was the usual hit and with four people to share we were able to have the big brownie dessert. We would have had five sharing except granddaughter wanted a Sprinkles cookie which might also have been part of her breakfast the next morning. And there was the slice – well, slab really – of chocolate peanut butter cake that came home to be consumed the following afternoon.