Here in Hampton Roads, the temperature on Friday was sunny and wonderfully warm at 77+ degrees - perfect weather for a date. So Clay and I decided to do just that, go on a date (which we do quite often by the way).
A date for us typically consists of us arriving in separate cars at an agreed upon public location - usually a restaurant, and then pretending to have known each other for just a short while, or maybe not even know each other at all. That makes for great conversation, not to mention it's fun.
Clay always asks if I am seeing anyone, and I always tell him, that's none of his business. Then I conspicuously look at his ring finger and ask him,
"So . . . where's your wife? You didn't tell me you were married."
He almost always says, "My wife is out on a date somewhere."
The conversation from there can get very interesting (different blog for a different day).
Anyway - we like to try new places to eat . . . I take that back, I like to try new places to eat, and I generally pick the place. My choice this time was Q Barbeque located in Peninsula Town Center. Not only had we not eaten there before, but they offer sidewalk dining, which in my opinion, outdoor dining is so beautiful for a date when it's warm.
Now the restaurant's logo, fashioned after a pig's snout, would make you think they only served pork barbeque, but that's not the case, They also serve chicken, and brisket. Not that I don't eat (and enjoy I might add) pork. Because I do. Yeah. Bacon, pepperoni, glazed ham, all of that. I'm just not a big fan of pork barbeque. I prefer chicken.
(Sidenote to anti-pork eaters - no need to leave a slew of comments about your views on swine. I respect your decision.)
They offer a bunch of sides - baked beans, cole slaw, collard greens, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, corn pudding, hush puppies, french fries, onion rings and something called 'pineapple hot dish." Hmmm. Choices, choices. I look at Clay; he looks at me. We often try to order different things so we can taste each other's food. "What are you gonna get," I ask. He grins his perpetual grin and shrugs. No help at all.
"Is the macaroni and cheese baked?" I ask the young lady patiently waiting for us to make a decision on a meat and two sides. Luckily, there was no line. She says no. "It's like Kraft?????" I ask aghast. She tries to explain to me what their Mac and Cheese is like, but then surprises me by saying,
"Would you like a sample?" You all know the answer to that. She offers me a tiny cup and spoon filled with creamy, very pale yellow noodles. It wasn't baked, glued together with globs of extra sharp cheddar cheese, or filled with textured baked eggs but I'm impressed; it's quite tasty! (Sidenote number two, if you do make super cheesy glued together, eggy mac and cheese, I eat that too so don't get offended okay?) I end up choosing the mac and cheese.
My second side is the Pineapple Hot Dish. It just sounds so interesting, how could I not try it? I mean, what's not to like about hot pineapples, right? Clay chooses the pork barbeque, with corn pudding and greens. We didn't have a baby sitter, so Davion was with us, (stifling our grown-folks-on-a-date conversation, no doubt) and selects the chicken (after he gets vetoed on chicken fingers, and then a hot dog . . . what is he thinking??) with onion rings, (I should have vetoed those too!) and got a drink and cookie with his meal. The tab for the three of us is $27, including drinks.
Surprisingly Q Barbeque gives you a number and brings your order to your table, so we go outside and sit under the sun, shielded from its direct heat by a large umbrella. Within five minutes, a young lady brings us our dinner on black plastic plates nestled in brown paper, and cradled in plate holders. The meat looks well cooked but un-barbequed (in my mind, it was supposed to be orange or burgundy with sauce), and the sides are served in small black cups that don't really look like much at all. The portions look tiny, which makes Clay raise his eyebrows, give a slight sigh, and shake his head. He extends his hands towards me and Davion, prompting us to join hands so that together we can thank God for the meal before us and the opportunity to enjoy another meal as a family. Then we eat.
The first thing I do, is grab my choice of barbeque sauce, which conveniently sits on the table in a squeeze bottle. There are three to choose from. Original, Sa-weet, and Hot-alizing. I like sweet stuff, (thus the tummy) so I choose Sa-weet, while Clay lifts a forkful of greens to his mouth.
"Mmm!" he comments in pleasant surprise. "You will like these." He knows that collard greens are way low on my list of food favorites, but is certain that I will enjoy these large leaves of deeply green veggies (not the kind that are shredded up into bits and swimming in greens juice.) and sprinkled with bits of red pepper. He forks me up some and feeds it to me. I have to admit - they are good! Full of flavor and slightly sweet. The taste is definitely unique. I ask for a second mouthful, which with greens, I'd never do!
Then I try my chicken. It's delicious, well cooked and well seasoned. With a full mouth, I nod in approval and offer some to Clay. He nods too, but then offers me a sample of his pork barbeque which he has enhanced with the Original sauce. OMGoodness!! That meat was soooooooo tender and succulent it almost makes me look at my chicken in disdain, and the original sauce was divine; better than the Sa-weet. I immediately add some Original sauce to my chicken.
It's official, we are enjoying our meal!
Next I try the Pineapple Hot Dish. Hmm. My best description would be a hot pineapple upside down cake on the mushy side, despite its inviting brown crust. :-/ It wasn't terrible, but I don't know that I'd try it a second time. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't so soft inside. Should have sampled it first. However, Clay thought better of it than I did.
I stick my fork into Clay's corn pudding, and this time a Campbell's Soup expression comes forth. The corn pudding was THE BOMB! I thought my Aunt Patti made some fantastic corn pudding, but now I have two favorites! I still love Patti's, but this one has a rich and kind of meaty flavor infused along with the sweetness (I told y'all I like sweet) that made it deliciously unique. I dig in for more while my feet flutter beneath the table.
Clay and I are making so many approval moans and nods, Davion decides he wants to be apart of the sampling so he offers us onion rings. They are battered, not breaded, which is my favorite way to enjoy them. They are browned just right, crisp and again delicious. Better than Sonic's and Hardee's. Two thumbs up.
Now getting back to the portion sizes. Again, they were not huge and falling over the plate, and although we thought the cups were rather small, there was more than enough for us to enjoy the servings, even with us sharing. I ended up trading half my pineapple hot dish for half of Clay's corn pudding, and had to make myself finish my mac and cheese which I immensely enjoyed. I could only eat half the chicken on my plate (not because it wasn't good, but I am not a huge eater). We left the table comfortably full (not miserably stuffed) and satisfied.
"Good choice babe," Clay says. Had we been pretending to not know each other, he wouldn't have gotten away with that 'babe' comment.
As for the rest of our date - who cares? I'm thinking about going back to Q Barbeque for Sunday dinner!
I visit other people's blogs. Really I do. However, I generally don't comment. Not that I don't want to . . . sometimes.
', and I'm about social networked OUT! So I'm taking the day off...kinda. Instead of posting on Facebook and managing tweets, I'm going to:
so we can talk about my book tour
about me going on the Mo'Nique show
about Bubblin' Brown Sugar
who is also contributing
about his next book
by Mary Monroe
. Just maybe. If I can find a gap in my day. Okay, maybe that part is just in my imagination.
