November 26, 2021 Lunch - Vanomos, Austin. Dinner - Muffuletta Sandwich at BIlly and Elaine’s

 November 26, 2021 Lunch - Vanomos, Austin. Dinner - Muffuletta Sandwich at BIlly and Elaine’s

We awakened a bit before 6:00 and showered and dressed and drove to Love Field to catch a flight to Austin to visit Dee Simpson, who has cancer.

He was doing really well, considering what he is going through.  He finished chemo two weeks ago and sat and talked for several hours with us and then drove us to one of his favorite Tex-Mex restaurants, Vanomos on Airport.  He told us it is owned by a family from McAllen, Dee’s hometown.  Dee and I ordered beef enchiladas with chile con carne.  The Chile con carne sauce was unusual.  It had a slightly sweet flavor and was really mild.  I guess it has a lot of guajillo chili in the sauce.  Also the enchiladas were topped with white queso Fresco.  The three rolled tortillas were filled with Piccadilla and the Refried beans were smooth as silk.  I loved the lunch.

Dee also ordered the beef enchiladas, but Suzette ordered tortilla Soup and fish tacos.

The fish tacos were interesting.  They were taco shells stuffed with a charcoal grilled piece of red drum.

We then returned to Dee’s house which has had a complete make over.  He took out walls on one side of the house and turned that one-half into a kitchen, family room and office and the other half he kept the original dining room, guest bedroom, bathroom, and his master bedroom with separate bath.  He also added a deck on the back of the house overlooking his garden and yard.

Dee is proud of the design changes and seems very positive in general.

When we returned to Dee’s house we we watched U Texas beat Kansas State.  I actually dozed for a while on Dee’s lovely new Italian leather sofa.  Tim Stroud came by at 3:00 and at 3:30 we started watching Iowa St. V. TCU.  Iowa State has the best tight end and one of the best running backs in the country and by the end of the 3rd quarter when Dee and Tim Drove us to the airport Iowa State was up 30 to 7 on TCU and Hall the running back had broken the college record for most consecutive games with a  touchdown at 26, after scoring a running TD and a passing TD in this game.

I got in two good long walks today, one through the Austin airport through security and then to the gate for our flight and about a mile hike from the arrival gate at Love Field through the main lobby and out the walkway to the remote parking lot where we had parked our car.

We reached BIlly and Elaine’s house at 10:00 and true to his word, BIlly had all the fixings for Muffuletta sandwiches sitting on the counter when we arrived.  He had made a lovely olive salad with chopped green and black olives, pimientos, and lots of olive oil.

BIlly pulled the center bread out of a square chibani roll and filled it with olive salad.  Then he placed a slice of mozzarella on top, a slice of Black Forest ham and f8nally another slice of mozzarella.  He heated the sandwiches in the oven until the cheese melted and served them with an amber ale.

We talked for a while as BIlly kept bringing out family mementos.  I was finally blown away when BIlly brought out my two junior high yearbooks.

I was amazed that I remembered many of my classmates.

We left and when we returned to the Warwick we fell into bed and slept until 7:00 Saturday morning.

Bon Appetit