On The Road Again
On most weekends, either on Friday afternoon or early Saturday morning, I travel from my home, located south of New Orleans, to Baton Rouge where I pick up my son. This weekend I made the two-hour drive on Friday. I picked him up from school at 3:30 pm., peak traffic time. There is no easy way to get out of Louisiana's capital city at that tijme on a Friday afternoon. All that is left to do is to choose what may be the "least of all the evils."
On our most recent trip out of B.R., I decided to take the backroads for a change of scenery and to crawl in a different pack of traffic. Well, that may a bit misleading. The route we took is actually very familiar to me. I have traveled those roads many times before, but in making the 2-hour, one-way trip four times nearly every weekend, we travel I-10 much more often.
A Ride In "The Country"
My son, now thirteen, rarely pays much attention to the details of which road leads where. Therefore, when I left the city of Baton Rouge and crossed the Amite River into Denham Springs, then turned south on 4-H Club Road, he didn't realize we would once again be passing right in front of one of his favorite "snack" places
This particular route would take us down a few curve-filled roads that lead out of the pine woods into the swampy lowlands that cover a large area of the north side of Lake Ponchartrain. The next area of habitation noticeable enough to be given a name is Port Vincent, LA. There we would re-cross the Amite River at one of the area's most popular summer party and play-grounds.
J & J's Famous Hot Boiled Peanuts and Snowballs
Located at the very edge of Port Vincent is a place called J & J's. It started out, many years ago as a very tiny stand serving to of the area's most popular non-alcoholic goodies...snowballs and one of my son's favorite snacks, HOT, BOILED PEANUTS! J & J's has now grown into a full-fledged "drive-in," but the same two staple items are featured. If my son or wife are in the car there will be no passing through Port Vincent without a stop at this place for a bag of boiled peanuts.
If you have never had them before, boiled peanuts are usually cooked in one of two ways; in water seasoned with salt or in water spiced similarly as one would prepare to boil crabs, crawfish, or shrimp...in other words, Cajun Style. I prefer the "plain" ones. Although these goobers are still "good eats" when they cool to room temperature, they are best when still warm and fresh out of the pot.
We Loaded Up
Once we had picked our ration of goobers, we were on our way again. Though I do not endorse the practice, for the next several miles I was driving with one hand and holding a warm peanut in the other in order to pop open the softened shell with my teeth and suck out the salty juice before devouring the cooked peanuts. My son put away quite a few as well.
What about you, do you like boiled peanuts? If you have never had them, do you think you would like them? I know a pair of good ole boys who can scarf down quite a few....
Thanks for riding along once again,
Robb
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 24
I am now proud to be your friend for two more reasons on an already lengthy list...enjoying boiled peanuts and giving at least one of us "good ole boys" a chance to win your love! You live up to your name in responding to my posts and I appreciate that very much as well.
If you have not acquired the taste, I am assuming you've tried them. If that's the case, then at least you gave it shot and have decided to leave your portion of boiled peanuts in the world to me! Thanks!
Thanks for the compliment. I have a sneaking suspicion that you were in the vicinity of J&J's for some of the other reasons I listed above and perhaps enjoying some of the other "goodies" often enjoyed in that area. I guess I'll ask about some other notable hangouts in the area: Freds? Berthelots? The Prop Stop? If the answer is yes to the last on the list, I will be looking forward to your future description, to the Gather Community, of that wonderful swamp icon and your experience(s) there!!!!
Its good to hear from you. I understand the preference. I like them both ways, but if I can get the warm, I prefer boiled. What do you think.........should I open a boiled peanut stand somewhere around here????
I love those little goober peas oven roasted, I love them in peanut brittle. I love them on peanut-butter-and-apple-jelly sandwiches. But, oh boy, do I love them plain ole boiled! (And I suck the shells, too!)
You are so right about peanuts any way they can be had. However, fresh-boiled and still hot right out of the pot...........the juice is the best part!
It wouldn't hurt to try...as long as you have an open mind. However, if your preconceived "ewww" is strong, you could certainly pass.......no matter the taste or texture, your brain would probably still register......"ewww."
thanks for stopping by..........
I certainly understand what you guys are talking about. I've experienced that in the many cultural differences that exist in only an 80 mile distance between the area of my birth and the New Orleans area where I now live. When many think of Louisiana they envison a population of crawfish-devouring cajuns. That's a far cry from the truth and I have been toying with the idea of writing an article about these very different cultures and where their basic dividing lines exist across the state. Nonetheless, I was born and raised in what is considered Southeastern LA, but I was not exposed to boiled crawfish until I was a teenager. I was raised on what is probably more in line with what Kate referred to as "Southern Cuisine," although it was more from the "poor man's larder."
HA! You almost nailed it......My deep-woods extended family raised many types of beans, but "white" was not one of the more common. However, okra (yes they pronounced it okree) was cooked by the whole pod in the purple hull variety. Also, "fried" okra was a bit too sopisticated. It was chopped and more or less smothered with whole tomatoes (tomaters) that my grandmother had "put up" the previous fall.
However, if you were to attend a festival in the area I now live, south of NOLA, there would be a booth somewhere around selling bowls of white beans with one or two fried catfish filets on the side......go figure.
Thank you much for the invite!!!!