Texas Travels: White Oak, Texas

Yes, another Texas Travels blog post! I haven't had a stay-out in quite some time. Well, that's actually a lie now that I'm looking at my work schedule. I was out of town in May in a tiny town called Cooper, staying in another tiny town called Paris (as in Paris, Texas...don't be ridiculous. The State of Texas is going through a budget crisis, we can't afford to be gallivanting through France). Anyhow, this week I'm working in White Oak, Texas. Where is White Oak, you ask? I couldn't really even begin to tell you. I didn't drive out here. All I know is that I'm about 15 minutes away from Longview. I couldn't even tell you if I'm north, east, south, or west of Longview. But after doing a quick Google Maps search, it turns out White Oak is west of Longview. 

So what is White Oak known for? From the looks of it, nothing. I kid, I kid. But in all seriousness, I don't think White Oak is known for anything. Their official website tells me that the town is located 125 miles east of Dallas, has a population of approximately 5,600 people, and hosts something called the White Oak Roughneck Day Festival (I don't think I want to know what that is). Pretty much all I know about White Oak is that there is a state bank out here with THE biggest flagpole I have ever seen in my life. 

Truth be told, I didn't mind coming out to the middle of nowhere. Want to know why? It may sound ridiculous, but I was a little bit giddy knowing that I was scheduled to come out to the East Texas area...because of the food. Yes, the food. You see, on this job, we go to these small towns that we normally would probably never have gone to. And we get to sample the local cuisine. Now, White Oak doesn't have much to offer as far as local cuisine, but Longview...there's plenty in Longview. Such as...

Jucy's Hamburgers

Amazingly delicious hamburgers with patties bigger than the buns. The burger patties are so "jucy" that they literally fall apart and practically melt in your mouth. Avoid this place if you're on a diet. Everything in moderation, people.

Dudley's Cajun Cafe

Pretty decent Cajun seafood. I had the fried catfish, which came with more fries than I knew what to do with. If you go to Dudley's, you need to accept their offer for complimentary coleslaw before your meal. So good.

Random Sidenote: I took this picture at Dudley's - a basket FULL of saltine crackers. It reminded me of some of my coworker friends. While we were in Cooper, a few of us attempted the "eat 5 saltines in a minute" challenge. Have you ever tried it? Don't. Shelby opted for the 2-crackers-at-a-time technique. She realized her mistake after the first bite. Patrick also tried this technique and he ended up spitting cracker all over his sleeve. I was laughing too hard at the both of them to even finish one cracker. Epic fail.

Pizza King

Delicious, delicious pizza. Oh, so tasty.

Now these aren't the fanciest of dining establishments, by any stretch of the imagination. But they do serve some of the best food around. And, of course, no trip to East Texas is complete without a stop at the Country Tavern in Kilgore for some of the best ribs around!

Lastly, I just had to share this picture. This was my favorite part of the bank. And yes, I took my phone to the bathroom - that's what I call dedication to blogging.

Another One Bites the Dust

We don't have a whole lot of employee turnover here at the DOB. In the five years I've been here, only two people have actually quit (well technically three, but he was politely asked to resign).  Just recently, we had one examiner resign to go work for the Fed. Now, we have another leaving to work for a bank in Austin. We are all so sad to see him go - especially me, since for the last 4 1/2 months, or the last 7 bank examinations, we've worked side-by-side. I'm not going to lie, it's going to be a little strange not working with Brandon anymore. And as much as I roll my eyes and send disapproving looks his way for some of his red zone comments, I'm going to miss him!! So, while we savor our last moments with him at his last bank as a bank examiner this week, I thought it would only be fitting to bake some cupcakes! I found the recipe on my new time-suck Pinterest.  Sidenote: have you discovered the awesomeness that is Pinterest?? If not, browse the sight...I'd be surprised if you weren't hooked after 5 minutes. And if you'd like, I can send you an invite.  Anyway, back to the cupcakes: OREO CUPCAKES. 

That's right Oreo cupcakes. Oreos in the cupcakes and Oreos in the frosting. Can you dig it?  (Also fitting, as it was pointed out to me this morning by our  resident smart ass examiner - OREO in banking terms stands for Other Real Estate Owned...get it?). Anyway, here is the original recipe. I was feeling lazy running short on time, so I cheated and used a box white cake mix and just added Oreos to the batter.  And I didn't cut up whole Oreos like the recipe recommends, I just used the other half of the Oreo not used for the bottom of each cupcake. Also, for the frosting, I used a different recipe:

• 1 stick regular, salted butter, softened
• 1-8oz block of regular cream cheese, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups (almost 1 pound) of powdered sugar

Then I just added some Oreo cookie crumbs to the frosting. I attempted to be fancy and pipe the frosting, but failed miserably (again), so I ended up just glopping it on each cupcake and spreading it around. It was 10:30 pm and I was in no mood to figure out piping. Maybe next time... Anyway, just FYI I used almost an entire package of Oreos for this. I think there might be like 3 cookies left in the package. Enjoy! And of course, we wish Brandon the best of luck in his future endeavors. Vaya con Dios, bro. Heh heh.