At the time, there was a space for rent just across the street from Eaton Hall. Carolina quickly grabbed the space and went to work on creating the Eatin' Hall Diner. The diner became an immediate success; though, d'Oasians soon became confused when a friend or business relation mentioned Eaton Hall (or Eatin' Hall) in a conversation. Parties who agreed to meet at one of the locations would lose track of each other as each thought the other was talking about the opposite location. Soon, d'Oasians would refer to the Eatin' Hall Diner as the "EHD."
The EHD serves the tastiest of meals and Carolina overseas the diner's activities during all business hours. They are open from 5:30-8:45 am for breakfast, 11:45 am - 2:15 pm for lunch and 4:45 - 8:30 pm for dinner. Miss Eaton loves to vary the menu and sometimes has theme nights to keep the patrons guessing and varying their palates. The most popular themes involve Mexican food, Thai cuisine, New Orleans Broil and Canadian Bacon Night.
Last evening, Meemaw, Teensy, Effie and I arrived on Hog Tied Night. All entrees included some sort of pork dish and Carolina cleverly attached an "s" to her house wine bottles and offered all her guests a nice glass of "swine." We all giggled at that play on words, though it seemed to make Teensy gag a little bit.
I ordered the Hawaiian Pork Steak served with pineapples. Effie ordered the Pork Chop Suey. Meems ordered the Pork Sausages au gratin and Teensy went with the Pigs in a Blanket appetizer. We like to order separate dishes and then share our treasures with each other. We each had a glass of White Swine and went to giggling about our days while waiting for our dinners to arrive.
Xenobia Addams dropped by the table to remind us that the Miss d'Oasis Pageant was happening this weekend at the school auditorium. I was anxious to give support to my sweet niece, Bianca June. She'd been practicing her talent portion for weeks. She had set the Declaration of Independence to music and would present her vocal interpretation of one of the greatest writings in history.
Oh, Xenobia Addams teaches Math and Living Skills at the high school and is the cheerleading sponsor. She's a tall, lanky gal. She tends to wear shoes with no heel since she towers over the men of this fine town when her height is elevated. She has been coordinating the Miss d'Oasis Pageant for ten years.
The minute Xenobia departed from our table, our food arrived. It was lovingly displayed on our platters and made the table so colorful. My Hawaiian Pork Steak was juicy and delicious. The natural flavors of the pork were heightened with the juices of the pineapple. Effie's Pork Chop Suey was served in a large wok - such an inventive mixture of flavors. Teensy's Pig in Blankets truly looked like little piggies wrapped in a blanket - so cute. Meemaw made a little face when she bit into her first Pork Sausage au gratin.
"What's wrong, Meemaw," asked Teensy.
"Well, I hate to ever make a fuss but I think these links are a little under cooked. Peggy will you take a little bite and see if you think they're under cooked?"
"I....don't know. You know what they say about the dangers of eating under cooked meat," I replied. Meemaw shook her head in agreement with a look of fear in her eyes.
"Maybe I'll just pop it into that microwave oven over there by the soda fountain," said Meemaw.
Meemaw swiftly took her plate to the microwave oven and pushed the warm up button. She returned to the table to continue our fellowship. We gals shared our food with Meems and went on giggling about what our day had been like. It seems Meemaw had seen that mother bear again - while looking out her back window. The mother bear was lurking around the edge of the woods at the back of Meemaw's yard. Well, Meemaw went into her hall closet, grabbed out her shotgun and proceeded to the back deck. She'd opened the door just enough to slide the barrel of the gun through the opening and pointed it skyward. One blast of that shotgun and the mother bear went running. Meemaw figured she'd be rid of that mother bear for quite a while. I remember hearing a loud boom that morning and thought maybe it was Connie Sue's car backfiring - again.
We had all been caught up in Meemaw's tale and didn't realize that there was a little commotion in the Eatin' Hall Diner. People were quickly heading toward the front and back doors. Once we realized there was a commotion, we also heard the beeping fire alarm for the first time. We looked around to find the source of the smoke that was quickly filling the diner.
Effie shot a look of uneasiness at Meemaw. At the same time, we all realized the smoke was coming from the little microwave by the soda fountain.
"Meemaw, are you sure you hit the warm up button," asked Teensy.
"Well, I'm pretty sure I did," said Meemaw, "I've used that thing more than once."
"And were you wearing your glasses when you pressed those buttons," I inquired.
"Um...er..no," replied a depleted Meemaw.
We quickly headed out the door with the rest of the patrons (taking our iced teas with us). Teensy let out a little cough as we made our way through the smoke and out the door. The fresh air was very welcome. We got out into the street and turned to see what actions would follow.
We were out there for about two minutes when Carolina came out the front door with a cloth over her mouth. Once outside, she announced that everything was all right. It appeared someone had put a plate of Pork Sausage au gratin in the microwave that had gotten overheated.
Meemaw stepped forward to apologize. "I'd merely wanted to warm the plate up a little bit, Carolina. I think I may've pushed a wrong button."
"It's all right Meemaw. Nothing is damaged and we're airing out the smoke right now. Y'all may come back in if you wish - though it's still a bit smoky. And all of tonight's meals will be comped, but I do encourage you to still tip your waitresses. They do work hard, after all." Carolina Dakota Eaton is surely a woman of character.
Until tomorrow...don't be tacky...Peggy!
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