Texas Music & Food – My Addictions | 10.25.10

I just heard on the news that Club 21 dancehall in Uhland, Texas burned to the ground last night. The southern phrase “if those walls could talk” comes to mind when I think of the stories that they might have told…cowboys meeting their first wife (or future ex-wife), kids learning to two-step, a damn good bar-room brawl over who knows what or why. Where I come from, you go to a dancehall to let off steam, to dance, to watch, to drown a little sorrow, and sometimes even raise hell. I wrote “Monte Carlo”, a song off my last record about just that life…

So Blue
We’ll dance til the mornin’
Til’ we fall down or we shut down the lights
Oh darlin’ I love you
Like the cowboys love to fight
Like the Rednecks Love Saturday Night

I actually never went to Club 21, though I have passed by about a million times heading from east Texas to our Ranch in the Hill country and feel sad that I never stopped. I am sure that the town has much history to tell outside of the footprint of that old dancehall, but what I remember about that stretch of Hwy 21 that traversed the small town of Uhland, Texas was that Dancehall …no other details of the town stuck out so vividly in my memory.

I know that it feels like we live in a different world now, and we don’t rely on places like dancehalls for our sole source of entertainment, relationships, shenanigans, and hell-raisin’ anymore. Hell, I know I saw/heard some shit as a kid that probably wasn’t “appropriate” for young eyes/ears. But playing grab-ass while Adolph Hoffner sang about Pearl Beer and doing the Schottisch and Herr Schmidt gave me culture and attitude that can’t be replicated outside of these precious establishments. Did I mention dirty feet too?

After my parents got divorced, I spent even more time in dancehalls…my Mom took off with a cowboy [kind of like the one Sissy shacked up after she left Bud, in Urban Cowboy] and my Dad tried to raise all of us four dirty-feet Robison’s. We started going to dancehalls most weekends – I think two-stepping a little kept him from feeling so lonely. I remember once, him crying when the Jukebox (or cover band) played Kenny Roger’s Lucille…”you picked a fine time to leave me Lucille, four hungry kids and a crop in the field”…guess it hit a little too close to home.

Dancehalls were the place you went to feel good even when things were hard. If only I had more time to lie on my back next to the hound dog like Grandpa and Junior Samples did on Hee Haw and tell more dancehall stories… note to self, need to write a song about dirty feet.

This week, I salute my favorite tex-mex starter Guacamole

The best guacamole, in my opinion, has very few ingredients…avocados have a delicious flavor and too many times get covered up by too much lime juice, sour cream (wha???), or seasonings.

Guacamole & homemade tostada chips

Fresh Avocados
A hint of fresh squeezed lemon or lime
Salt & pepper to taste

The key is to whip the hell out if it, no lumps.

**make ahead of time but be sure and cover the guac with plastic wrap and extend the wrap to be in contact with the entire top surface of the dip. This will keep the guac from turning brown (seriously!).

For the chips, cut fresh thin white corn tortillas in triangles and fry in canola oil until golden brown. Season chips with dash of garlic powder, chili powder, and cumin. Serve hot.

**Note this whipped guacamole is an amazing substitute for butter on roasted corn on the cob!

Happy To You

Author: admin
Published: October 26, 2010
Filed Under: Blog

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