Tooting The Horn Of Plenty

My favorite gambling aunt went to lunch with us yesterday. Not that I have a plethora of gambling aunts. She's the only one. But my favorite of the aunts. Lunch was her idea. We haven't been gambling in a while. She offered to take me any time, but since the last time I rode with her we ended up on the wrong side of the road at a light facing oncoming traffic...I'm not sure if I want to ride on the wild side.

We went to a local catfish house. Mmm...catfish. And chicken. And shrimp. And slaw, cucumber salad, baked beans, fries, mashed potatoes, and hush puppies. Did I mention it was all-you-can-eat? I was shocked, SHOCKED at the amount of food they brought out for the three of us.

Let the record show that The Pony, Farmer H, and I went there for supper last week. We also had all-you-can-eat. The amount of food delivered to our table was about HALF of what that waitress brought us today. And my aunt is about half the size of Farmer H. I was kind of pissed about it, actually. Why in the world would she bring out so much? And at lunch time, too. Not dinner. The hush puppies and fries had their own basket. The shrimp had its own basket. The only thing on that overloaded platter was chicken and catfish.

So...after we ate our fill, and talked another hour, my favorite gambling aunt asked if I wanted any of that cucumber salad, because she wanted to take it home. Let the record further show that I had not partaken of the cucumber salad at all, because it gives me heartburn. To which MFGA said, "Oh, then you can eat it twice."

I was of the assumption that one cannot get a doggie box at an all-you-can-eat establishment. "I don't think they'll let us take that home. Because then people would come in and eat all they can, then ask for more, then ask to take it home."

"Well, what are they going to do with it? It's already on the table."

"I know. They can't serve it again. Farmer H usually breaks it in half, or puts it on his plate and mixes it up. Just to make sure. He used to poke his thumb in every roll. Not that we ever had any left once we had the boys. They LOVE rolls."

"I'm going to ask. They shouldn't waste this food."

So the waitress came back, and MFGA said, "Can I take my tea with me? And can I have a box for that cucumber salad?"

"Yes. Would you like a box for anything else? I'll bring out a couple." She returned with a small box for the salad, a medium box, and a large box. We thanked her. I said I didn't know we could take anything home. "Oh, if you didn't ask for refills, you can take whatever is on the table." So actually, she had done us a big favor in overloading that platter and those baskets. For that price, she should have!

MFGA only wanted cucumber salad. I scraped up the baked beans and mashed potatoes for Farmer H. And the hush puppies and fries and shrimp and chicken and fish for the rest of us to share. Farmer H couldn't believe we brought home so much food.

I guess the trick is to go at lunch, not supper when they are crowded and only bringing out a little at a time to make you beg for more.

Or maybe we were getting stuff left on the table Sunday evening.