Food - A Family Legacy: The Coffee Pot

The Coffee Pot

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with my love of cooking and eating, but my dad's family owned and operated a diner in downtown Ponchatoula for about 40 years.  It opened in the early 30's and closed in the early 70's.  Below is an article in the paper that gives an early history of the restaurant and my grandfather, Paul Williams.  A special thanks to local historian, Jim Perrin, for finding this article and some of the pictures. 

It was a place that was open 24 hours a day.  For most of its history, it did not even have locks on the doors.  Later they began closing for Christmas, but my grandfather felt this was a service to those that needed a place to eat.  I remember hearing that the first time they closed the restaurant was when FDR died.  My grandmother, Mabel Varnado Williams, was a huge fan of the president and was too distraught to work. 

I have some memories of visiting the restaurant.  I would stop by on my way to swimming lessons at the town pool in Kiwanis Park.  At that time we lived on West Willow - just a few blocks from the restaurant.  I was especially fascinated with the milk dispensers and would enjoy chocolate milk as often as I could.  I remember a long curved counter and booths along the wall.  There was also a candy counter and maybe ice cream near the front.  I also remember my dad bringing home supper in large plastic jars.  My mom was the baker in her home growing up, but did not learn to cook.  We would joke that she didn't need to learn since dad could bring home leftovers from the restaurant each day.  I don't remember eating very much at the restaurant - just stopping by every now and then. It closed when I was around 11 years old - soon after my grandfather died.  By that time the downtown area of Ponchatoula was struggling, with the addition of the interstate, and my father had 5 children to support.  

Unfortunately, when it was time to close the restaurant, my dad was so ready to leave this all-consuming business that he did not keep very many items from the restaurant.  Also, unfortunately, he is no longer here to ask questions about the restaurant.  I will share some of the stories that he did share over the years in upcoming posts.   If you or someone you know has a memory or artifact from the restaurant, I would love to hear about it or see it. 

Here are a couple of other pictures of the restaurant:

This picture was taken when the Ideal Theatre was caught fire in downtown Ponchatoula.   His future wife (my mom) worked at the Ideal - he did not know it at the time. 

Here is picture from the 1955 PHS Greenback.  These were two class favorites that some may recognize as members of their family. 

Culinary Discoveries: Hawaii - Loco Moco

This blog series will feature discoveries that I have made in my travels - near and far - that I have incorporated into my cooking repertoire.  This discovery was made on a trip I took with my sister, Holly, to Hawaii several years ago.  The trip was one of those "free" trips if you listen to the timeshare presentation.  Although resisting the hard sale on one of the days of the trip was tough, the trip was wonderful.  Here a just a few pictures from the trip. 

Although I tried several new dishes on the trip - including attending a church pot luck that included included some traditional dishes like poke' - the dish that I loved and have repeated at home is "loco moco."  I had it the first day as we drove around looking for something to eat and stopped in a shopping center at a placed that looked like typical chain restaurant.  I saw a dish on the menu that intrigued me.  It was a series of bowls called - loco moco.  Each featured white rice, a freshly cooked hamburger pattie, and some type of gravy or in my choice - chili.  All of them also featured a fried egg or two on top.  Once you cut open the egg and mixed all of the ingredients together - it became a very satisfying meal.  One that I realized I could easily recreate at home.  On many occasions since - especially if I have leftover rice and/or make a pot of chili - I make this dish.  Since my first one was with chili I mostly make that version - but can imagine that the one with gravy is equally delicious.  

I don't have a picture of the one that I had in Hawaii or ones that I have made since, but here are a few pictures I found that represent the dish.

Do you have any culinary discoveries that you have repeated once returning from a trip?  If so, feel free to share.   

Trey Yuen - Past and Future: Part 3 - Special Memories

Trey Yuen has been the place for some special memories.  One of the most consistent has been hosting the Ponchatoula High School Key Club's end of year banquet.  This is my 30th year with the PHS Key Club and we have probably done about 20 of our banquets at Trey Yuen.  I don't have digital pictures of the early days, but those were special times for me as I remember each group of outstanding students I had the privilege to work with.  Trey Yuen had a nice and large banquet room (we needed space for 80-100 at times) .  We used their buffet menu (Joe let me substitute Tong Cho for the sweet and sour sauce on the pork).  The students (and I) enjoyed going back for seconds.  Below is a group from about 5 years ago. 

We also held board meetings there at times.  Below is a picture of our officers at a board meeting in one of the private rooms.  They called them "VIP" rooms - which made them seem special. 

As I  mentioned in my first post, we have convinced my mother to come once or twice for special family get togethers at Trey Yuen.  When my sister, Holly comes to visit from Chattanooga, we like to all get together.  This time it was on a Monday night and we had to go to Trey Yuen.  Mom reluctantly agreed.  Just another example of how she will do anything for her children.

  For the family, we have also been to Don's, Café Nola, and Buddies - all great places for special events.  Still not sure where we can have our Key Club banquets with such a nice large room and reasonable (and filling) menu.   I guess it will be time for some new traditions.  The memories of these special occasions just helps to add to the feeling of loss - like a good friend who was always there for you when you needed them. 

Trey Yuen - Past and Future: Part 2 - Tong Cho

As I mentioned in Part 1 - I loved the food at Trey Yuen and there were a few items that I thought were outstanding.  I'm not sure when they started serving it, but ever since I tried their Tong Cho sauce, I was hooked.  I had to have it every time I went there.  It didn't matter what it was on - chicken, pork, shrimp, crawfish, or catfish - I loved it.  There was a time when they sold jars of the sauce and I bought it a few times.  However, with Trey Yuen's prices being so reasonable and the location so convenient, I usually just let them do the cooking.  The sauce was a sweet and slightly spicy dark brown sauce.  It was usually served with slices of carrots, bell peppers, and onions. 

One of my favorite combinations to get (from the lunch menu) was the Number 11 (fans will know what I am talking about) with Tong Cho pork instead of sweet and sour.  The number 11 (pictured below in front) included the sweet and sour pork, double happiness (they used to call it four happiness), fried rice, barbeque pork, egg roll and fried wontons.  All of this for a reasonable price.  It probably started at $5 or $6 years ago and probably was around $10 when they closed.  In addition to anything Tong Cho, I liked their egg roll with the duck sauce (haven't found a good substitute for that yet either), the wor wonton soup, and the sweet and sour soup. 

Even before they closed and much more now that they have closed, I have tried to find a recipe for this sauce.  I have not had time to try any of these recipes out yet, but there are others who have tried to copy (see below).  If someone else has cracked the code - please let me know.  It would really help me get over the closing of this restaurant. 

TONG CHO SAUCE - Recipe Circus

recipecircus.com/recipes/CookinKat/RECIPESTOTRY/TONG_CHO_SAUCE.html

TONG CHO SAUCE. Source of Recipe Internet Recipe Introduction Hopefully this is close to the famous Trey Yuen Tong Cho Sauce List of Ingredients Tamari Glaze

Recipe(tried): Trey Yuen Tong Cho (copycat recipe ...

www.recipelink.com/msgbrd/board_14/2013/SEP/38149.html

I adore trey yuen, ... so I cracked the code on this one. It's pretty close. TREY YUEN TONG CHO 1/2 bunch green onions, ... Tong Cho Sauce (sweet and sour sauce)

Recipe: Tong Cho Sauce (sweet and sour sauce ...

www.recipelink.com/msgbrd/board_14/2010/MAY/35178.html

ISO: Trey Yuen Tong Cho Sauce: Board: Copycat Recipe Requests at Recipelink.com: ... Tong Cho sauce is a sweet and sour sauce with the main components of sugar and ...

My next post will be about another special connection that I had with Trey Yuen.  Great memories. 

Trey Yuen - Past and Future: Part 1

This is my first post in a long time.  I have recently retired and hope to be able to add more content.  I have continued to do research over the years, but have just not had time to share.  Today I would like to talk about Trey Yuen.  If you live in the Hammond area you know that the Hammond location has closed. 
http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/communities/livingston_tangipahoa/article_7e587fc6-460e-11e7-82cf-1bde0bec3dd3.html

I still can't imagine Hammond without Trey Yuen.  I have not even passed by the location since and I am not sure how I would react to the vacant spot.  You see I grew up with Trey Yuen and it was a major part of my life for the past 40 years.  My earliest memories are going to the China Inn location with friends in the late 70's and early 80's.  I also remember my excitement when they built their new building and called it Trey Yuen.  I'm not sure when they started doing their lunch menu on Monday nights, but you can't be from the Hammond area and not know about that.  Both the restaurant and take-out were slammed with business every Monday.  To me, Mondays were Trey Yuen night - only a true foodie would understand. :) Countless outings and take-out were done on a Monday night.  I remember family game nights on Mondays where we ordered take-out from Trey Yuen.  I will also never forget when they added the Wardline Road exit off of the Interstate 55.  I called it the Trey Yuen exit.  It gave us a straight shot to the restaurant.  I could get from my house to Trey Yuen in 10 minutes. 

Of course I didn't only go on Monday nights, their dinner menu was also great.  I had two different friends that moved out of state and when they would come back to visit we would go to Trey Yuen.  It was automatic - a tradition.  We would always get the Dynasty Dinner.  It included appetizers (soup and egg roll), entrée, and dessert (lotus banana).  Another time a group of us foodies (you could tell we liked food) had eaten dinner there and cleaned our plates - there was not a piece of food left.  When the waitress came and asked if she could box any leftovers we all started laughing because there was nothing left.  I'm not even sure if the waitress knew why we were laughing, but it became one of the inside jokes that we repeated over the years. 

We also had a few family events there.  My mom wasn't a fan, but we talked her into it once or twice.  It was also nice that one of the owners, Joe, would call me by name every time he saw me.  People want to feel appreciated and remembered.  He did a great job of that.  I felt that we were friends even though our only interactions were at the restaurant.

Now you may be wondering what all the fuss is about, but in their heyday - they were considered to have some of the best Chinese food in the United States.  It was a step above anything else that was available and that is why people fell in love with it.  Part 2 will explore some of my favorite menu items.