In our case, fact. I’ve lost 27 pounds, my wife reached her ideal weight at 112 pounds, and our good friend, the tennis coach, has lost 25 pounds. Did we eat lettuce leaves and celery sticks slathered with yummy, non-fat yogurt? No!

We learned that taste is everything–lots and lots of sparkling good taste that is so satisfying to the palate that eating larger amounts of food just doesn’t happen. Case in point, our typical Sunday night meal. This was so good that I wanted to share the details with you and assure you that this is a perfectly good way to diet.

First of all, I shucked some fresh, salty oysters with my trusty oyster-lead and my grandfather’s hand made knife. Just four apiece, but served with really stinging-hot, high-quality horseradish tamed with a few drops of fresh lemon juice. We smacked our lips over the shellfish and took a few sips of the Three Tree wine that I had chilled for this purpose.

My wife unrolled the paper around our whole, smoked whitefish and separated the meat from the bones while the coach sliced up portions of Porter cheese, some Cedar Grove, peppery goat cheese, and broke off small chunks of something that tasted like good Havarti  from Buckaroo Cowgirl Creamery (I kid you not).  The crackers, or flat bread, were crispy, seed-encrusted  bars that wouldn’t intruded on the delicate taste of the smoked whitefish. A dish of tart green olives was available to cleanse the palate between cheese.

My wife’s small salad added a bit of bulk to the dinner. She likes nuts and a few currants over halved cherry tomatoes from our garden. This mixture is bedded in the torn leaves of butternut lettuce. Champagne dressing with a hint of Spanish olive oil really blends these tastes together.

I’d planned on serving my dessert specialty which is a ripe peach-half heated in the microwave, covered with a tablespoon of sour cream, and laced with agave nectar which I also use instead of sugar for baking bread–the glycemic index is much lower than regular sugar or honey. However, we were so stuffed by our tasty, yet small meal that we had to put off dessert until the following day. I decided to have one last bit of Porter cheese as dessert.

Which brings to mind a question I’d like to ask. What exactly is Porter cheese?

You can make a loaf of excellent bread by dipping out 3 cups of flour ( like unbleached but who cares) and putting this aside. Don’t bother to be too precise because you’ll learn to adjust the liquid after a few loaves.

Put 2/3 cup of warm water in a microwaveable bowl, add a pinch of salt, half a stick of butter, 1/4 cup of agave nectar (the cheapest), and a couple of tablespoons of flax meal if you want healthy stuff. Don’t use flax seed as this will go right through your system without doing you a bit of good.

Heat this up in the microwave a bit until the butter is just melting or real soft, add an egg, and stir this stuff up. Best thing is to check the temperature at this point and bring the bowl of liquid up to about 118 degrees F.  Pour into a mixer with a regular spade blade (no dough hooks please) and start mixing.

Add a tablespoon of dry yeast (don’t use the little packages, get a cheaper tin of yeast), mix some more, then add all except a few tablespoons of flour  a serving-spoonful at at time until the whole thing is a rather firm, yet sticky mess. Add a teaspoon of water if it gets too dry. Scrape it out using a spatula onto the small mound of flour which you should have spread out on a cutting board. Now, don’t knead this too much because you don’t need to (ah, there’s a pun). Just kind of push it together and slap it around rather carelessly and roughly, taking up most of the dry flour you had on the board. Butter up that loaf pan real well and push the dough into the bottom of the pan, distributing it evenly. If you want a thicker crust, wet your hand and slap a bit of water on it. Put the pan with dough in a warm place. I use a couple of cheap, foil turkey-roasting pans turned top-to-top over the loaf pan and placed on my warmer at the back of the stove. If you got it right, you should begin heating the oven right away because in about 20 minutes your going to need to start baking it. Wait until the loaf rises and starts to peek over the lip of the pan (which you better have included in the buttering process.)

Bake at 375 for 50  minutes on a middle shelf in the oven. Take it out, dump it out on a rack immediately, and wait five minutes before you cut a hefty slice off one end, slather it with a thick layer of butter, savor the flavor, and wonder why in the world people seem to think bread-making takes hard labor and hours of time.

Normally I don’t like to give a negative review. I realize that on any given night it’s possible to make mistakes on some dishes. But last night’s meal was so bad, so depressing, and so unlike any experience that I’ve had in Corpus Christi, that I am compelled to speak out. Fortunately there is a silver lining at the end so bear with me.

First, the bad stuff. Snoopy’s fish and  shrimp tasted of old grease. The chips were limp, the hush puppies cold. The slaw was good, but the portion was minuscule. I felt queasy all evening and consumed 3 Pepto Bismols. Not to mention the severe depression at having driven all the way out to the island and having to sit where the smell was like the wet fur of an unwashed dog rather than the pungent smell of salty seaweed and good cooking.

This morning I walked across the street to the City Diner on Water Street not far from the beautiful shoreline in downtown Corpus. The sign said “Open for Breakfast at 7 AM”, but the door was still closed. We were going to walk away, but the door opened behind us and we were persuaded to come in with many apologies. Inside, the black and white tile and the general decor is like a genuine old fashioned downtown diner. So was the good breakfast. The hash-browns were excellent, not greasy, the egg turned perfectly, and the wheat toast buttered out to the edge. The coffee was fresh and rich in flavor.

 Our waiter recommended the meat loaf for lunch since “we hand make it ourselves fresh everyday,” he assured me. “The grilled amber jack is really our best dish,” he went on, “but I wanted to make sure that you had the opportunity to try something that we make from the ground up.”

Amazing how this simple act of good will, well served food, and a friendly conversation turned our impressions around. Now I find that I am looking forward to the rest of my stay on the Bay Front. I will try and forget Snoopy and suggest you do also. If you come to Corpus Christi, Texas, look up the City Diner and Oyster Bar at 622 N. Water Street and enjoy yourself.

Now, I’d have to say that although Holliers is good at what they do, a little place called the Boiling point at exit 21 on I10 makes even better ones. A little milder, perhaps, but worth while. Drive north a little ways and look on the right. THe oyster po-boy and the crayfish sandwich are works of art.

Sorry to say, our favorite stop in Crowley no longer indulges us with their giant version of the fried rice and sausage confection!