Home Rentership
November 21st, 2010 § Leave a Comment
I love fall. The wind picks up giving the air a refreshing coolness and fills the sky with dancing orange leaves and post-war rooftops.
Rooftops? Yes, rooftops.
Apparently the recent wind blusters did more than just pull leaves from the trees, it also pulled the rooftop siding from our house. It’s times like these I am glad I’m not a homeowner.
Trailer Treats
November 16th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Some argue that Austin put breakfast tacos on the map (though personally I was eating breakfast tacos from Casa Galaviz long before I moved to Austin—call me a trendsetter). It could also be argued that Austin is making food trailers the hottest new commodity in urban dining. Obviously street food has been around the block (ha) but Austin seems to be taking it to a new level.
This weekend we hit up Odd Duck and Gourdoughs, two South Lamar trailer favs. I’m embracing the uprising in trailer eateries for several reasons.
1. It’s a great way to eat cheap. You skip on the service (though I’d say trailer servers have often outdone the more traditional table service staff on friendliness) and you can forgo the traditional 20 percent (if you’re a good human) tip. Additionally, most places are BYOB which helps when trying to save that extra cash.
2. Ambiance. There is no better way to experience Austin than right on the street where the action is happening. Maybe you get a little traffic noise, but it’s all a part of city living.
3. The food is good. And it’s usually pretty original. Trailer food isn’t mass produced, so it’s usually a little more unique and often fresher than the frozen meat patties and economy sized cans of tomato sauce generally stocked in sit-down restaurants.
Gourdough’s offers a unique twist on the traditional donut, adding candy, syrup and creme cheese toppings to an already over sized pastry. Pictured here is The Peach, but they also had an option called Bring on the Heath, which made us giggle.
Odd Duck serves tiny portions of gourmet food. Some of the menu items include quail, pork shoulder and duck egg. It may be gourmet, but all menu items range from just $4 to $6.
Christmas Consumer
November 12th, 2010 § 1 Comment
In the past I shuddered to myself as I watched grocery stores and shopping centers begin decking the halls for Christmas in mid October. Christmas celebrations aren’t allowed to begin until after Thanksgiving. But recently I’ve changed that school of thought for two reasons:Shiner Holiday Cheer and Nutcracker Sweet.
The holiday concoctions of these two beverage companies have me jumping for joy and licking my lips as soon as they hit the shelves. Heck, I’m even ready to start celebrating Christmas in September if it means I get to taste these bad boys just a few months earlier.
Shiner Holiday Cheer is the Christmas creation of the Texas based brewing company by the same name. The dark wheat beer has a subtle fruity(peaches) and nutty(pecans) taste that is a little heavy but remarkably delicious. Plus, I always feel better about drinking it because I know it’s from Texas.
Nutcracker Sweet (great for the morning after indulging in one-too-many Shiner Holiday Cheers) is the caffeinated Christmas creation of Colorado-based tea company Celestial Seasonings. In January, when supermarkets strip their shelves of wreaths and bells in exchange for chocolate hearts and “I Love You” cards, I stock up on as many boxes of these as is considered socially acceptable. It usually lasts through spring break. The tea is great on several accounts. First, it’s warm and winter is cold, boom. Secondly, it’s caffeinated which gets me through many nights of mid-term paper grading. Thirdly, it has this irresistible blend of cinnamon, vanilla and nuts that wreaks of Christmas memories. Maybe they should change the name of the company to Sensational Seasonings. Finally, and this one only really works for me, I love that they named it after the Nutcracker. As a former ballerina and frequent performer in Denton’s local production of The Nutcracker, I appreciate any reference that gets me thinking about those glory days of dancing.
If you’ve never tried either of these holiday treats, do yourself a favor and give it a shot. Christmas will get a little sweeter.
A Highball Birthday
November 12th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
The Highball is a ’60s themed bowling alley/karaoke/ski ball arena/lounge that is just awesome. We spent most of November 5 causing damage to the bowling lanes, wrecking havoc on the ears of anyone passing by our karaoke room and scoring major tickets on the ski ball machines. Don’t believe me? Have a look.
Uchi
November 11th, 2010 § 1 Comment
Every year, to celebrate the anniversary of my birth, Heath surprises me with a dinner to a fancy restaurant. This year’s treat: Uchi. I’ve long heard of the wonders of this magnificent Japanese/sushi restaurant, but never had a chance to experience its greatness until now. It won’t be my last visit.
The restaurant is located on South Lamar, maybe a mile or so from downtown. It’s really a prime location, just minutes from the hustle and bustle of downtown festivities, but close to the hippy chic areas that make Austin weird. But the location is probably the least interesting part of this little gem.
The red patterned wallpaper and dim lighting lends Uchi a welcoming ’60s-like quality. As an avid Mad Men fan, I appreciate this nod to eras of the past. The menu spans multiple pages and is painted with unfamiliar words and combinations of ingredients. Lost in the bewilderment of exotic entrees, we asked the waiter for suggestions, which turned out to be one of the better ideas we’ve ever had.
Under the direction of both friends and our waiter, Heath and I opted to go the appetizer route, ordering small portions of many dishes on the menu so that we could sample the widest variety possible of Japanese delicacies (how American of us). We began with a cold dish, maguro sashimi and goat cheese, which we devoured in under 2 minutes, even armed with chopsticks, which severely slowed down our ASE (average speed of eating). Then we moved on to bacon steakie followed by two different plates of sushi. The zero sen is yellowtail with avocado, crispy shallots, yuzo kosho, golden roe and cilantro. Heath’s favorite, the shag, is also a house favorite and is made up of a delightful and equally unexpected combination of salmon and tomatoes and is tempura fried. We ended the night with a dessert independent of any flavors and texture I’ve encountered, a brown sugar sorbet and ginger consomme.
After 2 hours, 2 Japanese beers and an unfortunate chopstick mishap (a neighboring table got out of control with the dinner utensil which concluded with a chopstick down my shirt), Heath and I left with food in our bellies, smiles on our faces and a delightfully tasty sensations still dancing on our tongues.
Circus Cats
November 9th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
There is much still to be reported on as far as the festivities of last weekend, includingBIRTHDAY happenings, but until then dream about the events that will be occupying our time this Saturday, namely: Circus Cats.
Floored
November 1st, 2010 § 1 Comment
This weekend Heath and I took a wee break from our gallivanting to tackle a project that has been a long time coming. We replaced our kitchen floor. The original floor was this very retro (but not in the good way) parquet tile which was coming up in many places. Someone had obviously tried to fix that problem before because a few tiles were a different pattern of parquet which led me to get a crazy, dizzy feeling every time I looked at the floor. So clearly it was time for an update. Friday was all about demolition and Saturday we put the new ones down. I think it turned out pretty good for amateurs.
[Before. You can see here where the old tiles don’t quite match up.]
[After. Aw, that’s better.]
