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A super casual dinner party
Growing up, our house wouldn’t fall into today’s standard of “clean eating,” but it definitely fit into the 80’s version of healthy. With the Texas recommended exception of Blue Bell ice cream we didn’t have a lot of sugar. Honey Nut Cheerios and Cinnamon Life were real treats compared to the Special K and Grape Nuts that generally rounded out the pantry shelf. Dessert wasn’t unheard of but it certainly wasn’t a regular thing, and white bread was definite no. (Does anyone remember Roman Meal?)
A trip to Memaw’s house yielded the exact opposite. To set the stage, she always had red jello on hand, and she didn’t try to pretend it was a salad by adding carrots or fruit to it. The cereal shelves contained whatever sugary goodness we desired. Crunch Berry’s all the way for me (though, the roof of my mouth hurts just thinking about them now). No whole grains were necessary in the bread, and dessert was not a sweet treat every once in a while, it was as important as the main dish and vegetable. You could always count on lemon meringue pie, banana pudding, or a strawberry cake. In addition to all of the sugary goodness (just thinking about it giving me type 2 diabetes) was her crowning glory: fried chicken. If we were visiting for a week you could guarantee that you’d be fed fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy topped off with at least a piece of pie twice during our visit.
Basically, Memaw’s love language was food. If you weren’t eating, something must be wrong. From those many trips across the state I learned to associate these great big full meals as Memaw’s sincerest way to show love and Texas style hospitality. Unfortunately, I never learned to fry a chicken (and Alex is happy to point out it is one of my 2 great failings and a Texas cook).
Flash forward a few… or 20 years, and I was perusing a Southern Living article on the best fried chicken in the South. Next to Emily Post, and the actual Bible, Southern Living articles are generally considered the God’s Honest truth of the matter. One of the places that made this illustrious list was a joint called “Max’s Wine Dive.” In addition to superior fried chicken, Max’s boasts that it was the first restaurant in Houston to serve award winning comfort AND have a curated wine list. YES PLEASE! While we lived in Houston at the time, we actually didn’t make it to Max’s until we stumbled upon one in San Antonio, but I digress.
Once we made it to Max’s they did not disappoint. The chicken certainly wasn’t Memaw’s and I won’t say it was better, just different. They serve it with a honey chipotle sauce that gives this southern delicacy a real Texas flare. It certainly didn’t hurt that they paired it with a Rombauer Chardonnay (Memaw wouldn’t approve).
Down the road a stretch, (we know we can’t eat fried chicken every day) Alex decided to give figuring out Max’s recipe a try. Yup, I said Alex. Why learn to fry a chicken when you’re married to someone that already knows how to do it? Over time we’ve upped the ante a little bit and started adding waffles to the menu. Nothing will make you feel more like you belong in a Zac Brown song than eating fried chicken and waffles, but I will exchange the beer for a bottle of the aforementioned Rombauer Chardonnay).
As our entertaining season came to a close, (We really seem to entertain starting in September and running until the end of May. This isn’t by specific design, but everyone is really busy in the summer, and people with pools are better suited for a July hang out than we are.) we decided to go with a more casual approach and serve up a full southern summer meal. The idea was to honor Memaw’s most celebrated meal, but give it a Lacey and Alex twist. We started the evening with appetizers: pimento cheese, deviled eggs, and veggie tray (who are we kidding?) and cocktails: Manhattans, Prosecco and maybe a dirty martini and definitely some wine. Once everyone was fully enjoying themselves, but before we were all stuffed on mayonnaise laden small bites, we headed into the dining room to enjoy fried chicken, waffles, mashed potatoes and salad for good measure. This was all topped off with chipotle honey and delightful conversation (made by our friends, not just Alex). We rounded the evening off with a slightly deconstructed banana pudding served up in individual portions. I’m a big fan of individualized portions. In a world where it seems everyone is watching what they eat, it allows guests to enjoy dessert, but also ensures I’m not stuck with half a pudding that will go to waste or worse, get eaten the next day.
As we sat enjoying the company of some of the world’s most fabulous people, I was thrilled to know we had accomplished an evening filled with food and love.
