I mentioned to Jill not too long ago that I wanted to bake a pie from scratch. She suggested a rhubarb pie and signed on to help make it.
Between the 2 of us, we have 4 pie dishes. So we decided to try 4 different rhubarb pie recipes. Actually, there were only 3 formal recipes - the 4th one Jill improvised. The first step was to collate all the different pie recipes and come up with a shopping list:
We found some fresh rhubarb at HEB, but it was a little stale:
We decided to go with the frozen ones. Overall, we ended up purchasing a lot of stuff:
By the time we finished gracery shopping, it was too late to start on the pies, so we went to Johnny's birthday celebration at Buffalo Billiards downtown instead.
Molly invited me to the Iron and Wine show at the Paramount Theater earlier this evening. She had really great seats on the 4th row, center. We were so close that we could actually see Sam wincing when he sang out of tune.
Afterward, we had dinner at the Roaring Fork next door. The food wasn't as good as their Stonelake location. In fact, we sent some of it back because it was burnt and overly salty. The service, however, was really nice - especially considering we were the last people in the restaurant:
Garden update: In the back bed, the purple hull beans, gherkin, and pumpkins are doing well. The Thai and sweet basil are starting to come up also:
In the front bed, the pole beans are starting to break ground too:
Last week was a bad week for eating out. I don't believe I ate a single dinner at home. I vowed to remedy that this week.
One of the few things I can make without a recipe is wontons and wonton noodle soup. Connie likes to cook and expressed an interest in learning new things, so she stopped by for a quick lesson. They're really easy to make, but take a number of ingredients:
and prep:
We made about 75 of these things:
And the resulting wonton noodle soup was pretty decent:
Connie originally wanted to take a bunch of pictures to document the process for her dad, who also likes to cook. I thought it'd be easier to just shoot a quick video:
Garden update: Looks like my pumpkins and gherkins are off to a good start (cork used to show scale):
I'm getting back into the rhythm of seeing my friends Maurie and Molly on a regular basis. They have very different personalities, so I can usually count on very different conversations. Dinner at Malaga and a movie at the Violet Crown Thursday, and dinner at Mikado last night. I think Malaga and Mikado have both seen better days. Both serve tapas, but the food and service at Malaga is very inconsistent (however, the duck pizza and lamb are both tasty). The food at Mikado is still good, but they've installed 2 giant flat screen TV's in their dinning room, which really kills the ambiance (btw, I'm not a person that usually uses that word).
Saw "The Trip" at the Violet Crown Cinema downtown. If you like British comedies about food, the human condition, and impersonations of Michael Caine, then this is your movie. I happen to like all those things and thought the film was hilarious. Btw, the Violet Crown is one of those theaters where you pick your seat when you purchase your ticket (either online or in person). If you go, try to get one of the front row seats - they're like easy chairs with a movable ottoman and are very comfortable (and sleep inducing if you're not careful).
I'm tired. My overseas work is finally taking off, so I had a call at 8:AM with India this morning and another one coming up at 11:PM tonight.
In between, I managed to have dinner with my sisters at Bess Bistro. My one sister who is out-of-town is in-town for a legal conference. I had the Roasted Red Snapper: "pan-roasted, line caught Gulf snapper served with grilled mushrooms and braised leeks, finished with a Meyer lemon beurre blanc." I'm a sucker for Meyer lemon anything. It was really good.
Speaking of food, over the weekend I potted the basil cuttings that Betsy gave me a month ago. The initial shock to the plants was pretty bad. They shriveled up and became all limp. Didn't think they'd survive, but it looks like they're recovering nicely.
Got to Town Lake a little late this morning. It was pretty hot, so I only did the 5 mile loop.
Afterward, I finished planting the garden bed in back (adding pumpkin, gurken, sweet basil, and Thai basil). The purple hull beans are doing well. I'm trying to go from tallest plants at the fence to the shortest the furthest away from the fence:
And started planting the bed in the side yard (adding snap bean, cucumber Mexican sour gherkin, and sunflower). I'll probably add some more herbs to the near corner:
Also finished reading this book:
And started reading this one:
Two trashy novels separated by 125 years. Good to know some things don't change.
Had a nice 3 hour dinner with my dentist last night (at La Sombra, then dessert at Apothecary). Hard to believe I have 3 hours of teeth talk in me. Must be a trend. Last week we had a 3 and a half hour dinner at Cafe Josie. Anyway, I ran the 7 mile loop around Town Lake this morning with the banjo-backed Mumford & Sons (2 songs on repeat - The Cave and Little Lion Man). Another humid morning in Austin.
After showering, I stopped by P.Terry's for a burger and shake. I've dropped another 2 lbs recently, so I've decided I should just eat and drink as much crap as I can to gain some weight back. An added benefit of losing all this weight is I can wear my clothes from 20 years ago. So I walk into P.Terry's wearing my 1992 Lollapalooza shirt (size Large, which is like an XS these days), and all these college students stare at me. I thought maybe I had bedhead or something, but then I realized that these kids were probably born after 1992 and just shocked to see a shirt older than them.
Didn't feel like cooking tonight, so I picked up a pizza from East Side Pies. It's glorious. The Wild Blue - olive oil, capers, goat cheese, and smoked salmon. I substituted basil for the red onions:
Speaking of basil, I still need to plant the basil cuttings that have been rooting on my kitchen window sill:
John invited me to go zip-lining with him and a few of his rowing buddies Saturday (I was a last minute substitution). It was my first time, but I'd definitely do it again. We went to a place out in Wimberley that had 8 lines total, varying in length from 500 to 900 feet. The top speed was around 35mph. Pretty fun. And they do a night version also where they ring the landing pads with glow sticks and serve adult beverages. May have to check that out.
Afterward, we went to Ino'z Brew & Chew for lunch. The food was pretty mediocre, but it was nice being outside by the river.
Oh, and I lost another 5 lbs recently. I'm down to 170 - which is starting to be a problem, because my underwear and pants keep falling down. I can put a belt on my pants, but not so much on my boxers.
Had a relaxing 6 and a half hour drive back from the Davis Mountains today. The rangers were very friendly when I checked into the park on Saturday. Told me I was the only person on the mountain and to be sure to sign out when I leave. I was then given a brief course on what to do if I encounter a mountain lion (do not run or turn your back on them) and also this topo map of the trail to the top of the mountain where the primitive campgrounds are:
Most people know I'm horrible with directions. Trust me, this blurry topo map (probably a 12th generation copy) did not make navigating any easier. What was suppose to be a 4.5 mile hike in turned into 7 or 8 miles. Overall, however, it wasn't a bad hike and only steep in a few places:
I made it to the top with plenty of daylight to set up my tent and unpack (it's nice that the sun doesn't set until about 9:20 these days):
Nice sunset that evening:
And sunrise the next day:
Here's a shot of the surrounding mountains from my camp:
I spent 3 days and 2 nights at the primitive campgrounds, but on the 3rd night I checked into the Indian Lodge, which is like a little hotel in the corner of Davis Mountains State Park. Built in the 1930s, it's been nicely renovated back to its original appearance. Apparently, I was booked into the honeymoon suite (really):
I did make it into Marfa one morning for a real breakfast at Squeeze Marfa:
This was my third visit to Marfa in the past few years, so I really didn't spend much time there (it's a pretty small town that doesn't change much). Most of my time was spent hiking, listening to my iPod, or reading. Perhaps not real exciting, but also perfect.
Finished the fence along the front bed today. Just in time too, as I have new neighbors moving in this evening. As they say, tall fences make good neighbors:
The beans are starting to grow in the back bed. Haven't seen any action from the New Zealand spinach, however:
