Just got back from visiting with our daughter's family and am just now catching up.
I will add this one thing; I have known folks who moved to a isolated, rural area and the culture shock was too much for them. The residents considered anyone who was even from the next town as being foreigners. The area is near a lake, and a lot of city folks have settled there now, but their culture is separate.
This is also true. The pastor at a local church commented on this a while back. He's from the next town over and said he'd never been across the river until he took the job here. (Towns are about 20 miles apart with the river halfway between them.)
You are a popular guy. People are drawn to you naturally. This is a gift from God. It is a blessing and your way cannot be aped. Texans are friendly people. It's their self-confidence, I think. One time, a couple of rangy guys in blue jeans, cowboy hats and boots came into a restaurant in Paris where I was dining at. I cringed because the French are not particularly receptive to Americans. To my surprise, everyone smiled spontaneously at the sight of the "Texans" in their midst and applauded.
What made you go "rural"? From software engineer to a farmer with 49 acres is a big leap. What are you growing on your land? Where did your wife get her recipe for her pot roast? Is it a Texan version handed down to her or something she created herself? Please share it with us.
Thank you and, yes, God has blessed me many times over and we try to spread that around to others. I've been in Texas before, when my dad was stationed in Texas, then I joined the Air Force and was sent to Texas, then when my kids graduated, they got jobs in Texas so we moved to be closer to them and the rest of the family. I've always enjoyed Texas and the people there. I think they are some of the friendliest people in the US.
What made me go rural? I've always wanted to be involved in agriculture, I loved being on my uncle's farms. I looked into what it would take to buy a farm and farm full time when I was a senior in high school. It cost to much to start from scratch. We dabbled in gardens and experimented with different plants most of our lives while working full time and were part of the Rare Fruit & Nut society. Now that we're retired we can devote more time to our hobbies. We're talking about building a green house. I really like some of the tropical plants, especially Plumeria, Lipstick Palm, and orchids. All those need lots of light and warm temperatures year round. +56 degrees could kill some of those plants and we need several flats of annuals for our flower beds. As for what we grow on our 49 acres - it's pine trees. It's not lucrative, but it pays the taxes.
We don't have any true Texas recipes, we've appropriated some of our neighbor's cooking techniques and applied our own modifications to techniques and flavors. I like to experiment with cooking. (A secret to share: It's always best to have someone to cook for, other than your spouse. This is where the church comes in, they don't know it but they are the guinea pigs for new recipies. I do taste it first and have had a few failures, but those that pass at home, then get tried out at the Wednesday nite church dinner.) There is a bread baker in the neighborhood and she and I compare notes on baking bread from scratch.
Here's the recipe my wife created, and she informed me it's not post roast, it's beef stew.
In a large slow cooker place:
1 bayleaf
1 tsp coarse ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried celery flakes (to taste)
1/2 tsp paprika
Combine in a large measuring cup:
1-1/2 cups beef broth (low sodium)
1/2 cup red wine (do not use cooking wine, use one you would drink. We use a blended sweet red wine)
2 tbs Worstershire Sauce
2 beef bullion cubes crushed
Heat in microwave on high for 2 minutes, add to slow cooker
Add to slow cooker:
1 pound baby carrots, rinsed
1-1/2 pounds baby dutch potatoes, rinsed, large ones cut to bite size
1 medium onion cut into long slivers
Mix together in a plastic bag and combine by shaking:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
Trim excess fat from a 2-1/2# chuck roast, cut into 1" cubes, drop into flour mix as cut.
Shake to coat when all meat in is the bag. Then add all bag contents to slow cooker, mix well.
Cook on LOW for 8 hours. Enjoy, freezes well if there are any leftovers.