April 1, 2025 • 21 mins
In this discourse, we delve into the intricate nuances of contemporary food trends, with a particular emphasis on the phenomenon of pumpkin spice, which serves as a focal point for our conversation. The dialogue progresses as we reflect on the implications of processed flavors and the perception of authenticity in culinary experiences. We examine the evolution of traditional Thanksgiving preparations, advocating for methods such as spatchcocking to enhance the efficiency and flavor of turkey preparation. Furthermore, we share personal anecdotes regarding family culinary practices, revealing both fond memories and aversions to certain dishes. Ultimately, our discussion underscores the significance of thoughtful food choices and the evolution of personal tastes amidst the backdrop of societal food trends.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Painted Hills Natural Beef
- Amazing Ribs.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:33):
Welcome to Barbecue Nationwith JT And Leanne.
After Hours, the conversationthat continued after the show was
done.
Hey, everybody, it's JT andthis is a special version of Barbecue
Nation.
It is brought to you in partby Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Beef you can be proud to serveyour family and friends.
That's Painted Hills NaturalBeef, everybody.
Welcome to After Hours here onBarbecue Nation.
(00:55):
I'm JT along with Ms.
Whippin today and Clint Cantwell.
I'm looking for my notes hereif you missed the regular show.
It was a rousing session aboutfood trends, especially this time
of year.
It all started with Clint andI going back and forth on social
(01:16):
media with pumpkin spice.
Just.
Just.
Just.
No, just.
No, don't do that.
You know, that's a.
A good synopsis of the last 50 minutes.
Yeah, just.
Just don't do that.
And we talked about some otherdifferent food things that over the
(01:37):
years that we do.
And.
And, you know, I think themain thing is I have this vision
when you talk about pumpkinspice or any of these things we were
talking about.
When I think about that,because I'm a very visual guy, as
we all are here, I don't seethat vision in my brain as there's
(01:59):
pumpkin and a little bowl ofsugar or cinnamon or nutmeg, whatever.
I see chemicals.
That's all I see is chemicals.
I don't want to go off and belike Robert Kennedy Jr.
Here, because we don't do politics.
But that's all I see when yousay stuff to me like pumpkin spice
or any of these things you seeon the store shelf, and you whip
(02:22):
it up and you look at thelabel and it could say with kumquat
flavoring, but there's nokumquats in it.
You know, that's.
That's the way I think.
Unfortunately, that's wherewe've progressed to anyway, is what
it is.
What.
(02:43):
Speaking of Thanksgiving,which is coming up, Clint, what is
your favorite thing to do on Thanksgiving?
Cook.
Food wise.
Cooking.
Oh, cooking wise.
I was going to say put onpants, since normally I'm at home
working by myself, so I don'tput on pants.
But when the guests come over,I have.
(03:04):
So that's.
That's rule number one on Thanksgiving.
Put on pants.
And.
But I don't really have, youknow, I don't have some signature
go to dish.
I have started spatchcockingmy turkey on Thanksgiving because
I think that it just cooks alot more evenly and it cooks a little
(03:28):
faster.
You don't have that Perfectlittle photo op at the table with
the beautiful ground bird, youknow, Norman Rockwell style.
But I think it's just a.
It's more effective, efficientway of cooking a turkey.
So that's.
That's the one thing that I do.
And then Brussels sprouts with bacon.
(03:48):
I'm a big fan of brusselssprouts, so that's my go to side
dish.
I'm not really into to thebaked goods on Thanksgiving, but
obviously you have to havereally good pies there.
Do you like dressing?
I do.
When it's done, right?
(04:08):
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm.
I'm a dressing fan.
Yeah.
You know, like stovetop stuffing.
I'm just not.
No, no.
Down for that because it, youknow, it kind of comes out as a mushy
little blob.
Right.
But if you make it yourself,it can be really nice.
Yeah, I do that.
(04:29):
I do the.
The, you know, they look likeminiature croutons.
And then, yeah, I do that.
And I put some mushrooms andcelery and onions, and I actually
put water chestnuts in it andsome seasoning and a lot of stock.
(04:50):
I create stock from a coupledays before, and I've got that.
And I usually have too much.
So I put some of that stock inthe dressing as it's cooking and
make a nice crunchy crust onthe top of it.
But it's fluffy inside, not gooey.
And you don't.
You don't put it in the bird, right?
No, no, no, no.
I cook it.
I actually cook it in a.
(05:11):
An old roasting dish.
Roaster, electric roaster.
Got it.
Oh, okay.
You know, all of our moms hadthose, and I still got my mom's,
which is.
God, that thing's probably 80years old now.
Surprised it doesn't blow up,but, yeah.
My grandmother had one, andshe would stick like an 18 pound
turkey in there the daybefore, and it would cook for 36
(05:34):
hours and just dry as dirt inher little turkey roaster.
It always smelled great, butit was.
It was not her best dish.
You know why?
She kept going back to itevery year.
My mom was the same way.
She would get up at 5 in themorning and put the turkey in the
oven.
Yeah, we.
(05:55):
We didn't eat till like threeor four in the afternoon.
Right.
And that thing was just aschewy as my flip flops here.
You know, it's just.
It's just like that.
But I wanted to go back tospatchcocking because Leanne and
I have talked about this onthe show.
And of course, Meathead He's ahuge proponent of batch cocking.
(06:17):
It's just so fun to say.
Yeah, yeah.
And if they don't know whatyou're talking about, they kind of
give you the eye, like.
But I think it's easier to cutthe burn up too, once it's cooked.
It's easier to get the breastoff and get proper amount of the
dark meat and all that.
(06:38):
I just think it's easier tohandle when you do that.
And so I always cook a coupleof extra.
We got a store here thatcarries some big turkey legs, so
I will put three or four extralegs in my smoker the day before.
(06:58):
Smart.
And because a lot of thiscrowd really likes dark meat, but
we do make enough gravy to getthrough the white meat too, you know,
like that.
And that's just the way I do it.
So I think we've evolved in that.
But there is absolutely nopumpkin spice involved in anything
that I do that day.
(07:19):
And obviously you need mashedpotatoes with lots of butter and
heavy cream.
Yep, yep.
Or artery clogging wholecloves of garlic into my water when
I'm boiling the potatoes.
And it mellows it out and it'sreally good when you mash it all
up.
Oh, yeah.
Smart.
Very good.
(07:39):
Yeah.
Whole clove.
Just throw them right in thewater when you're boiling the potatoes
and then when you mash themup, they mash up with it and they
mellow out and it's delicious.
How many do you put in?
I would say for a five poundbag, I would put in probably six
or seven cloves.
So quite a bit.
That's really good.
I also add a little sour creamto my mashed potatoes.
(08:02):
Not a lot, but I just cup 3/4of a cup or something depending on
how many people we're having.
But I'm with the butter in theheavy cream, a little sour cream.
I'm going to try your garlictrick this year.
Yeah.
So very easy and good.
(08:23):
Yeah, I like that.
Anyway, let's get back toobnoxious foods.
Lima beans.
I do not do lima beans.
My mom would most vegetables,but lima beans are.
I don't know, maybe it's PSDor from.
(08:45):
From grade school.
No, I think they used to serveme lima beans in the lunchroom and
it's turned me off ever since.
Pts not pst.
My.
My mom would make lima beansbig pot and she'd throw some ham
(09:06):
in there.
Probably a ham hock.
I don't remember, honestly.
But I knew there was somethingin There, like that.
And I could tell as soon asyou opened the back door to go in
the house, that smell would come.
Can't do it, folks.
You may, you may be a limabean grower up in the Midwest.
(09:28):
I have no idea.
You're a fine person if youdo, but I cannot eat lima beans.
What about black eyed peas onNew Year's Day?
Do it every year.
Yeah, every year.
Yeah.
Yeah, I add those.
I make a black bean soup forNew Year's Day and gotta do your
(09:49):
greens.
Yeah.
And put some black eyed peasin there.
It's great.
So then there's a.
Isn't there a dip called likeblack eyed pea caviar or something
like that?
It's.
I haven't had that.
Yeah.
Oh, cowboy caviars.
Oh, cowboy caviar.
(10:09):
Yeah.
Which is good.
Yeah.
So, you know, I like hummus.
If you're talking about thosetypes of things.
I like hummus.
Not really big on tabbouleh.
To me.
It's a little bitter, but youcould eat it.
But like that.
But yeah, I like hummus andany of that.
(10:29):
That type of stuff.
I'm always willing to try things.
I've never, never, you know,like that.
The one you talked about school.
One of the things that Icannot do.
I.
I think they've banned them.
I think they've actually madethem illegal because the EPA said
it's not good.
But is candied beets.
They used to serve as thesediced candied beets when I was a
(10:53):
kid in school.
Oh.
They never stayed with me too long.
Something about them.
I.
The janitor had to come cleanup my lunch area several times till
finally the janitor walkedover to the head cook and said, quit
giving this kid those goddamncandy beets because I'm tired of
(11:14):
cleaning this up.
So I never had to eat themafter that.
But square pizza.
Square pizza was huge.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
In the cafeterias in grade school.
Yep.
Yep.
I don't think you see itanywhere else outside of a cafeteria.
Square pizza.
Well, they never.
They probably never had thebudget to buy a real round pizza
(11:36):
pan, you know?
Yeah.
Because they multi purpose there.
So they were baking otherthings in them.
So we had square pizza too.
And it was usually pretty dang chewy.
Not.
Not real heavy on the cheeseor toppings.
No.
But a lot of thick, chewybread like that.
(11:56):
So I don't know.
We've come a long ways in thefood world.
I think a lot.
And there's some things that.
Like what we've been talkingabout that hang on since we were
kids.
But sometimes I really have towonder how the new.
I don't know, what do you wantto call them?
(12:17):
Foodies?
Something doing stuff.
Like we were talking aboutpeanut butter and pickles and some
of those.
I mean, they're, they'retrying to be creative, like you said.
Clickbait.
Trying to start a fad.
Yep.
Not very.
Not very good.
You know, it's not like all ofa sudden you're selling purple shirts
(12:39):
or something.
It's.
This is stuff people.
You expect people to eat.
Is there a food, Leanne, thatyou just can't touch because you
overdid it at a young age oryou just can't stand the sight or
smell of.
One thing that I just neverate and I won't eat.
I just, I'm not a chickenliver person, you know, so it wasn't
(13:03):
something that I OD'd on andnow I don't eat it.
I just don't eat it and don'teat it.
I mean, if it's with a lot ofonions and bacons.
Bacon in there, I'll do it,but it's not my preference.
What about, like, I can't eatany liver.
My mom served me what she saidwas chicken fried steak.
(13:24):
Oh, God, it's about 12 and itwas battered liver.
She thought she was going tofool me and it just turned me off
the liver the rest of my life.
I believe it at a friend incollege, he wouldn't eat liver.
He goes, liver tastes like dirt.
I don't eat it.
Would never eat it.
I happen to like chicken livers.
(13:45):
Small doses, like, you know,six or eight pieces wrapped in bacon
or something.
About once a year.
That's.
That's enough for me.
But I'll eat them.
I like gizzards too.
And I like hearts.
Growing up on a farm, we hadto utilize, you know, all the animals
that we, that we slaughteredor harvested, you know, so we did
(14:07):
that.
So we actually used to fightover me and the brother and sister,
but they were much bigger andmuch older than me, so I didn't stand
much of a chance.
But if, you know, a gizzard ora heart or something and I, and I
got delivered because theywouldn't eat the liver.
So that, I guess maybe that's why.
(14:28):
Lucky you.
Yeah.
But no, can't do lima beans.
There was a few things like that.
My mom used to make oyster stew.
I like oysters.
I like oysters on the half shell.
Yeah.
You know that type of thing.
A few fried oysters Once in awhile is fine.
But she would make this bigpot of this milky, greasy.
(14:58):
You're really selling it here.
I am.
I am.
I'm trying to remember.
And it was kind of yellow.
Kind.
She put a lot of butter in it, too.
And then she'd put these.
She'd buy a, you know, acouple of pints of petites or something
and put them in there.
And she thought this stuff wasto die for.
Wow.
I just thought it was death.
I didn't want it to die for.
(15:19):
It was.
To me, it was just.
Yeah, it just couldn't do itin this.
Now, were you.
Did you grow up in a coastal area?
Why did she have this.
This abundance of oysters?
Her family was originally fromSweden, and I have no idea if that's
applicable, but she alwaysloved oysters.
(15:40):
I love clams.
I love.
I love clams.
Leanne knows.
I love crab.
I love, you know, fish like that.
But I just don't wanna.
You don't want a milky stew?
Yeah, I just think.
Yeah, I just.
That's just not.
Not good.
Just not good.
And, you know, if maybe the.
(16:04):
The toasted breads that shewould serve with it, they were always
good.
They always had, like, butterand garlic on them and stuff like
that.
Yeah, I'd eat a ton of that.
But maybe a quarter cup ofthat oyster stew with no oysters,
you know, in it, so.
Couldn't do it.
No can do, buckaroo.
It's like Leanne growing up.
(16:25):
Well, your mom and dad wereboth pretty good cooks, I think,
and very good.
Yeah.
You know, is there somethingthey made that you couldn't eat,
Wouldn't eat?
So my grandmother had whatthey call a beaten biscuit machine.
I don't know if you'refamiliar with that.
It's kind of an old crank, andyou run the dough through it over
(16:47):
and over.
I guess that's why they callit beaten biscuit.
It had a marble top on it, andyou just keep.
Till it's super, super thin.
And then you bake them off andthey just tasted like a dry biscuit.
And that was like the thing tohave with these old hams that my
grandmother would get.
(17:08):
And mustard.
And it was good altogether,but that was like a tradition that
I really.
I couldn't get into thosebeaten biscuits.
And I actually inherited that machine.
And I don't have it anym.
How much.
That's how much it meant.
Yeah, it would have made anice table, I guess.
(17:34):
Well, yeah.
Yeah.
There was a.
I had an aunt that couldn'tcook very well.
She tried.
She couldn't cook very well.
And I remember she made kidney pie.
We were going to her house fordinner and she made kidney pie.
And I remember my dad, whenshe set it down on the table and
(17:59):
gave him some Helius, lookedat her.
Her name was Myrtle.
She was about 5 foot 1, had areal scratchy voice, had a heart
of gold.
But she put that on his plateand he looked at her and he said,
mert, hell no.
(18:19):
So I, you know, there's thingslike that that I, I have never, I
don't remember eating anykidney pie like that.
I don't remember.
I know people do eat them orcook them and eat them.
It just be like to me eating achewy Super Bowl.
So I don't know, like that.
Well, fortunate for us,there's not a lot of those horrible
(18:42):
foods coming off of mostsmokers and grills right backyard.
You're not gonna get a smokedkidney pie at my house.
Probably not.
Probably not.
What was there something andwhen you were young plant that a
relative cooked?
Maybe not mom and dad, butsomebody else.
And no, that chicken friedliver just sticks with me.
(19:05):
Yeah.
No, that overwhelms all of mymemories of childhood foods.
But for the most part, my momwas very adventurous cook and a very
good cook.
And, you know, from an earlyage she got me and my brother and
my two sisters in therehelping out.
So I think that kind of formedthe, you know, the basis of my passion
(19:28):
for food today.
Yeah, yeah, I would say thatwas true.
My mom was a, a very good cook.
I had one aunt in particularwho was a very good cook.
They were farm wives.
They, they, they both workedjobs in local towns, but they grew
up on farms.
(19:50):
And so it was always kind offarm oriented, ranch oriented food
and, but they were bothexcellent cooks and they made, you
know, they were big on piesand cakes and we ate a lot of casseroles
and they were, for the mostpart, very, very good.
(20:12):
You know, there was just a fewthings that of course, I came along
a little later in life and somaybe the, maybe the efficiency and
technique was starting to slipa little bit by the time I got old
enough to really realize whatwas going on.
But, you know, for the mostpart, it was good.
(20:34):
Wells casseroles are a greatway to hide a myriad of mistakes.
Just throw enough stuff inthere and nobody knows what's going
on.
It's kind of like sauces, youknow, gravies or sausages.
Sausage and sausages.
You can throw whatever youwant in there.
Yeah, you can do it.
Anyway, I think it's time weget out of here.
(20:55):
Clint Cantwell, president ofAmazing Ribs.com.
He.
He started it with the pumpkinspice thing.
Yes.
It's started.
It's my fault.
Fault, folks, if you had tolisten to me ranting about pumpkin
spice for an hour.
That's all right.
It's all good.
(21:15):
I apologize.
Never.
Leanne, we're glad that you'resafe and sound.
Thank you.
Yes.
Like that.
And Leanne and I will be backnext week with another edition of
whatever it is we're doing here.
But Barbecue Nation, we thankyou for listening and taking the
time, your time to share withus, and we appreciate it.
(21:36):
So remember our motto here.
Turn it, don't burn it.
Take care, everybody.
Welcome to Barbecue Nationwith JT And Leanne.
After Hours, the conversationthat continued after the show was
done.
Hey, everybody, it's JT andthis is a special version of Barbecue
Nation.
It is brought to you in partby Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Beef you can be proud to serveyour family and friends.
That's Painted Hills NaturalBeef, everybody.
Welcome to After Hours here onBarbecue Nation.
(00:55):
I'm JT along with Ms.
Whippin today and Clint Cantwell.
I'm looking for my notes hereif you missed the regular show.
It was a rousing session aboutfood trends, especially this time
of year.
It all started with Clint andI going back and forth on social
(01:16):
media with pumpkin spice.
Just.
Just.
Just.
No, just.
No, don't do that.
You know, that's a.
A good synopsis of the last 50 minutes.
Yeah, just.
Just don't do that.
And we talked about some otherdifferent food things that over the
(01:37):
years that we do.
And.
And, you know, I think themain thing is I have this vision
when you talk about pumpkinspice or any of these things we were
talking about.
When I think about that,because I'm a very visual guy, as
we all are here, I don't seethat vision in my brain as there's
(01:59):
pumpkin and a little bowl ofsugar or cinnamon or nutmeg, whatever.
I see chemicals.
That's all I see is chemicals.
I don't want to go off and belike Robert Kennedy Jr.
Here, because we don't do politics.
But that's all I see when yousay stuff to me like pumpkin spice
or any of these things you seeon the store shelf, and you whip
(02:22):
it up and you look at thelabel and it could say with kumquat
flavoring, but there's nokumquats in it.
You know, that's.
That's the way I think.
Unfortunately, that's wherewe've progressed to anyway, is what
it is.
What.
(02:43):
Speaking of Thanksgiving,which is coming up, Clint, what is
your favorite thing to do on Thanksgiving?
Cook.
Food wise.
Cooking.
Oh, cooking wise.
I was going to say put onpants, since normally I'm at home
working by myself, so I don'tput on pants.
But when the guests come over,I have.
(03:04):
So that's.
That's rule number one on Thanksgiving.
Put on pants.
And.
But I don't really have, youknow, I don't have some signature
go to dish.
I have started spatchcockingmy turkey on Thanksgiving because
I think that it just cooks alot more evenly and it cooks a little
(03:28):
faster.
You don't have that Perfectlittle photo op at the table with
the beautiful ground bird, youknow, Norman Rockwell style.
But I think it's just a.
It's more effective, efficientway of cooking a turkey.
So that's.
That's the one thing that I do.
And then Brussels sprouts with bacon.
(03:48):
I'm a big fan of brusselssprouts, so that's my go to side
dish.
I'm not really into to thebaked goods on Thanksgiving, but
obviously you have to havereally good pies there.
Do you like dressing?
I do.
When it's done, right?
(04:08):
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm.
I'm a dressing fan.
Yeah.
You know, like stovetop stuffing.
I'm just not.
No, no.
Down for that because it, youknow, it kind of comes out as a mushy
little blob.
Right.
But if you make it yourself,it can be really nice.
Yeah, I do that.
(04:29):
I do the.
The, you know, they look likeminiature croutons.
And then, yeah, I do that.
And I put some mushrooms andcelery and onions, and I actually
put water chestnuts in it andsome seasoning and a lot of stock.
(04:50):
I create stock from a coupledays before, and I've got that.
And I usually have too much.
So I put some of that stock inthe dressing as it's cooking and
make a nice crunchy crust onthe top of it.
But it's fluffy inside, not gooey.
And you don't.
You don't put it in the bird, right?
No, no, no, no.
I cook it.
I actually cook it in a.
(05:11):
An old roasting dish.
Roaster, electric roaster.
Got it.
Oh, okay.
You know, all of our moms hadthose, and I still got my mom's,
which is.
God, that thing's probably 80years old now.
Surprised it doesn't blow up,but, yeah.
My grandmother had one, andshe would stick like an 18 pound
turkey in there the daybefore, and it would cook for 36
(05:34):
hours and just dry as dirt inher little turkey roaster.
It always smelled great, butit was.
It was not her best dish.
You know why?
She kept going back to itevery year.
My mom was the same way.
She would get up at 5 in themorning and put the turkey in the
oven.
Yeah, we.
(05:55):
We didn't eat till like threeor four in the afternoon.
Right.
And that thing was just aschewy as my flip flops here.
You know, it's just.
It's just like that.
But I wanted to go back tospatchcocking because Leanne and
I have talked about this onthe show.
And of course, Meathead He's ahuge proponent of batch cocking.
(06:17):
It's just so fun to say.
Yeah, yeah.
And if they don't know whatyou're talking about, they kind of
give you the eye, like.
But I think it's easier to cutthe burn up too, once it's cooked.
It's easier to get the breastoff and get proper amount of the
dark meat and all that.
(06:38):
I just think it's easier tohandle when you do that.
And so I always cook a coupleof extra.
We got a store here thatcarries some big turkey legs, so
I will put three or four extralegs in my smoker the day before.
(06:58):
Smart.
And because a lot of thiscrowd really likes dark meat, but
we do make enough gravy to getthrough the white meat too, you know,
like that.
And that's just the way I do it.
So I think we've evolved in that.
But there is absolutely nopumpkin spice involved in anything
that I do that day.
(07:19):
And obviously you need mashedpotatoes with lots of butter and
heavy cream.
Yep, yep.
Or artery clogging wholecloves of garlic into my water when
I'm boiling the potatoes.
And it mellows it out and it'sreally good when you mash it all
up.
Oh, yeah.
Smart.
Very good.
(07:39):
Yeah.
Whole clove.
Just throw them right in thewater when you're boiling the potatoes
and then when you mash themup, they mash up with it and they
mellow out and it's delicious.
How many do you put in?
I would say for a five poundbag, I would put in probably six
or seven cloves.
So quite a bit.
That's really good.
I also add a little sour creamto my mashed potatoes.
(08:02):
Not a lot, but I just cup 3/4of a cup or something depending on
how many people we're having.
But I'm with the butter in theheavy cream, a little sour cream.
I'm going to try your garlictrick this year.
Yeah.
So very easy and good.
(08:23):
Yeah, I like that.
Anyway, let's get back toobnoxious foods.
Lima beans.
I do not do lima beans.
My mom would most vegetables,but lima beans are.
I don't know, maybe it's PSDor from.
(08:45):
From grade school.
No, I think they used to serveme lima beans in the lunchroom and
it's turned me off ever since.
Pts not pst.
My.
My mom would make lima beansbig pot and she'd throw some ham
(09:06):
in there.
Probably a ham hock.
I don't remember, honestly.
But I knew there was somethingin There, like that.
And I could tell as soon asyou opened the back door to go in
the house, that smell would come.
Can't do it, folks.
You may, you may be a limabean grower up in the Midwest.
(09:28):
I have no idea.
You're a fine person if youdo, but I cannot eat lima beans.
What about black eyed peas onNew Year's Day?
Do it every year.
Yeah, every year.
Yeah.
Yeah, I add those.
I make a black bean soup forNew Year's Day and gotta do your
(09:49):
greens.
Yeah.
And put some black eyed peasin there.
It's great.
So then there's a.
Isn't there a dip called likeblack eyed pea caviar or something
like that?
It's.
I haven't had that.
Yeah.
Oh, cowboy caviars.
Oh, cowboy caviar.
(10:09):
Yeah.
Which is good.
Yeah.
So, you know, I like hummus.
If you're talking about thosetypes of things.
I like hummus.
Not really big on tabbouleh.
To me.
It's a little bitter, but youcould eat it.
But like that.
But yeah, I like hummus andany of that.
(10:29):
That type of stuff.
I'm always willing to try things.
I've never, never, you know,like that.
The one you talked about school.
One of the things that Icannot do.
I.
I think they've banned them.
I think they've actually madethem illegal because the EPA said
it's not good.
But is candied beets.
They used to serve as thesediced candied beets when I was a
(10:53):
kid in school.
Oh.
They never stayed with me too long.
Something about them.
I.
The janitor had to come cleanup my lunch area several times till
finally the janitor walkedover to the head cook and said, quit
giving this kid those goddamncandy beets because I'm tired of
(11:14):
cleaning this up.
So I never had to eat themafter that.
But square pizza.
Square pizza was huge.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
In the cafeterias in grade school.
Yep.
Yep.
I don't think you see itanywhere else outside of a cafeteria.
Square pizza.
Well, they never.
They probably never had thebudget to buy a real round pizza
(11:36):
pan, you know?
Yeah.
Because they multi purpose there.
So they were baking otherthings in them.
So we had square pizza too.
And it was usually pretty dang chewy.
Not.
Not real heavy on the cheeseor toppings.
No.
But a lot of thick, chewybread like that.
(11:56):
So I don't know.
We've come a long ways in thefood world.
I think a lot.
And there's some things that.
Like what we've been talkingabout that hang on since we were
kids.
But sometimes I really have towonder how the new.
I don't know, what do you wantto call them?
(12:17):
Foodies?
Something doing stuff.
Like we were talking aboutpeanut butter and pickles and some
of those.
I mean, they're, they'retrying to be creative, like you said.
Clickbait.
Trying to start a fad.
Yep.
Not very.
Not very good.
You know, it's not like all ofa sudden you're selling purple shirts
(12:39):
or something.
It's.
This is stuff people.
You expect people to eat.
Is there a food, Leanne, thatyou just can't touch because you
overdid it at a young age oryou just can't stand the sight or
smell of.
One thing that I just neverate and I won't eat.
I just, I'm not a chickenliver person, you know, so it wasn't
(13:03):
something that I OD'd on andnow I don't eat it.
I just don't eat it and don'teat it.
I mean, if it's with a lot ofonions and bacons.
Bacon in there, I'll do it,but it's not my preference.
What about, like, I can't eatany liver.
My mom served me what she saidwas chicken fried steak.
(13:24):
Oh, God, it's about 12 and itwas battered liver.
She thought she was going tofool me and it just turned me off
the liver the rest of my life.
I believe it at a friend incollege, he wouldn't eat liver.
He goes, liver tastes like dirt.
I don't eat it.
Would never eat it.
I happen to like chicken livers.
(13:45):
Small doses, like, you know,six or eight pieces wrapped in bacon
or something.
About once a year.
That's.
That's enough for me.
But I'll eat them.
I like gizzards too.
And I like hearts.
Growing up on a farm, we hadto utilize, you know, all the animals
that we, that we slaughteredor harvested, you know, so we did
(14:07):
that.
So we actually used to fightover me and the brother and sister,
but they were much bigger andmuch older than me, so I didn't stand
much of a chance.
But if, you know, a gizzard ora heart or something and I, and I
got delivered because theywouldn't eat the liver.
So that, I guess maybe that's why.
(14:28):
Lucky you.
Yeah.
But no, can't do lima beans.
There was a few things like that.
My mom used to make oyster stew.
I like oysters.
I like oysters on the half shell.
Yeah.
You know that type of thing.
A few fried oysters Once in awhile is fine.
But she would make this bigpot of this milky, greasy.
(14:58):
You're really selling it here.
I am.
I am.
I'm trying to remember.
And it was kind of yellow.
Kind.
She put a lot of butter in it, too.
And then she'd put these.
She'd buy a, you know, acouple of pints of petites or something
and put them in there.
And she thought this stuff wasto die for.
Wow.
I just thought it was death.
I didn't want it to die for.
(15:19):
It was.
To me, it was just.
Yeah, it just couldn't do itin this.
Now, were you.
Did you grow up in a coastal area?
Why did she have this.
This abundance of oysters?
Her family was originally fromSweden, and I have no idea if that's
applicable, but she alwaysloved oysters.
(15:40):
I love clams.
I love.
I love clams.
Leanne knows.
I love crab.
I love, you know, fish like that.
But I just don't wanna.
You don't want a milky stew?
Yeah, I just think.
Yeah, I just.
That's just not.
Not good.
Just not good.
And, you know, if maybe the.
(16:04):
The toasted breads that shewould serve with it, they were always
good.
They always had, like, butterand garlic on them and stuff like
that.
Yeah, I'd eat a ton of that.
But maybe a quarter cup ofthat oyster stew with no oysters,
you know, in it, so.
Couldn't do it.
No can do, buckaroo.
It's like Leanne growing up.
(16:25):
Well, your mom and dad wereboth pretty good cooks, I think,
and very good.
Yeah.
You know, is there somethingthey made that you couldn't eat,
Wouldn't eat?
So my grandmother had whatthey call a beaten biscuit machine.
I don't know if you'refamiliar with that.
It's kind of an old crank, andyou run the dough through it over
(16:47):
and over.
I guess that's why they callit beaten biscuit.
It had a marble top on it, andyou just keep.
Till it's super, super thin.
And then you bake them off andthey just tasted like a dry biscuit.
And that was like the thing tohave with these old hams that my
grandmother would get.
(17:08):
And mustard.
And it was good altogether,but that was like a tradition that
I really.
I couldn't get into thosebeaten biscuits.
And I actually inherited that machine.
And I don't have it anym.
How much.
That's how much it meant.
Yeah, it would have made anice table, I guess.
(17:34):
Well, yeah.
Yeah.
There was a.
I had an aunt that couldn'tcook very well.
She tried.
She couldn't cook very well.
And I remember she made kidney pie.
We were going to her house fordinner and she made kidney pie.
And I remember my dad, whenshe set it down on the table and
(17:59):
gave him some Helius, lookedat her.
Her name was Myrtle.
She was about 5 foot 1, had areal scratchy voice, had a heart
of gold.
But she put that on his plateand he looked at her and he said,
mert, hell no.
(18:19):
So I, you know, there's thingslike that that I, I have never, I
don't remember eating anykidney pie like that.
I don't remember.
I know people do eat them orcook them and eat them.
It just be like to me eating achewy Super Bowl.
So I don't know, like that.
Well, fortunate for us,there's not a lot of those horrible
(18:42):
foods coming off of mostsmokers and grills right backyard.
You're not gonna get a smokedkidney pie at my house.
Probably not.
Probably not.
What was there something andwhen you were young plant that a
relative cooked?
Maybe not mom and dad, butsomebody else.
And no, that chicken friedliver just sticks with me.
(19:05):
Yeah.
No, that overwhelms all of mymemories of childhood foods.
But for the most part, my momwas very adventurous cook and a very
good cook.
And, you know, from an earlyage she got me and my brother and
my two sisters in therehelping out.
So I think that kind of formedthe, you know, the basis of my passion
(19:28):
for food today.
Yeah, yeah, I would say thatwas true.
My mom was a, a very good cook.
I had one aunt in particularwho was a very good cook.
They were farm wives.
They, they, they both workedjobs in local towns, but they grew
up on farms.
(19:50):
And so it was always kind offarm oriented, ranch oriented food
and, but they were bothexcellent cooks and they made, you
know, they were big on piesand cakes and we ate a lot of casseroles
and they were, for the mostpart, very, very good.
(20:12):
You know, there was just a fewthings that of course, I came along
a little later in life and somaybe the, maybe the efficiency and
technique was starting to slipa little bit by the time I got old
enough to really realize whatwas going on.
But, you know, for the mostpart, it was good.
(20:34):
Wells casseroles are a greatway to hide a myriad of mistakes.
Just throw enough stuff inthere and nobody knows what's going
on.
It's kind of like sauces, youknow, gravies or sausages.
Sausage and sausages.
You can throw whatever youwant in there.
Yeah, you can do it.
Anyway, I think it's time weget out of here.
(20:55):
Clint Cantwell, president ofAmazing Ribs.com.
He.
He started it with the pumpkinspice thing.
Yes.
It's started.
It's my fault.
Fault, folks, if you had tolisten to me ranting about pumpkin
spice for an hour.
That's all right.
It's all good.
(21:15):
I apologize.
Never.
Leanne, we're glad that you'resafe and sound.
Thank you.
Yes.
Like that.
And Leanne and I will be backnext week with another edition of
whatever it is we're doing here.
But Barbecue Nation, we thankyou for listening and taking the
time, your time to share withus, and we appreciate it.
(21:36):
So remember our motto here.
Turn it, don't burn it.
Take care, everybody.
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