Barbara Ann and I almost never order the same thing when dining out. Even if we both get fish, mine will be fried and hers, well, anything but fried. If I get catfish, she gets frog legs. If there is a salad bar, what she creates is the antithesis of what I have concocted. And so it goes. Vive la différence and all that. Often, she asks what I am going to order; I figure my answer paves the way for her to order something else. Saturday night, though, she had not even peeked at the Bardstown Cracker Barrel menu when she announced, “I’m getting that ‘Campfire Beef’ special.” “Me, too!” I replied, despite a recent disappointment. A couple of weeks ago, out on my own, I had ordered the Cracker Barrel “Campfire Chicken,” a meal in one dish. It was a letdown, though I ate most of it. Candidly, I grumbled on the way home because I had no antacid tablets in the car and I did not feel like stopping somewhere. Optimistically, I told myself, “I bet I would have liked the ‘Campfire Beef’ version.” OK, now was my chance to find out! We both got water, extra lemon, and we both asked for cornbread. Barbara Ann told me she’d heard the beef special was much better than the chicken special. I replied that might very well be the case. We’d soon see. No more than five minutes had passed when our dinners came out. After all, you can’t “slow-cook” something after the customers arrive. The meals were wrapped in aluminum foil and had no initial visual appeal whatever. We opened up our dinners and saw a nice portion of beef, red potatoes, carrots and two half ears of corn-on-the-cob. There were also some onions and a couple of tomato wedges, all steaming hot and sitting in small pools of au jus. Though the food arrived way too hot to eat, Barbara allowed that was just fine with her. She always wants her food hot; she even likes to drink water hot! So, identical meals, but different reactions. For my part: The beef was delicious, the veggies were OK and the corn was soggy. Barbara Ann, saving the corn for take-home, was impressed with the entire meal and really liked the “Campfire seasoning.” On the other hand, I found the seasoning too danged hot, and started sipping water to cool my mouth after most every bite. Some like it hot; I don’t. However, Barbara Ann did admit it cleared her sinuses, too. The desert card on the table featured something else, but we both wanted the “Baked Apple Dumplin covered with Pecan Streusel and Premium Vanilla Bean Ice Cream N’ Apple Topping.” At Barbara’s request, the waitress said she’d see it got a generous drizzle of caramel, as well. The dessert was not only delicious, but huge. We knew it would be, so we knew to get only one ($3.99) and share. Barbara Ann thought the Pecan Streusel was too sweet; I loved it. We dug right in before I thought to stop and shoot a photo, hence the obvious signs of “tampering.” When we both had quite enough dessert, a little more than half remained in the dish. We asked for carryout containers. Barbara Ann was pleased with the meal in its entirety, and she had enough take-home for Sunday lunch. While I love pressure cooked dishes and most anything slow-cooked, I found this all-in-one, slow-cooked meal again too greasy and too spiced up. One happy customer; the other wrinkling his nose — again. As we hit the road, I reached for the new bottle of antacid in my glove compartment; the main reason I has some tablets this time was my previous experience with “Campfire” specials. Yep, twice heart-burned!
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 11:54:55 +0000
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