those three special words

I love you.  Those are three words that everyone wants to hear.  Some people wait lifetimes to hear them, some kill to hear them and some sacrifice everything to hear them.  Those three special words.  I love hearing them, don’t get me wrong, but I have a more favorite triad in the English language.  Oh yes, friends.  You and I both know that few words get me as excited as these: Food and Wine.  What a glorious combination of syllables.  So simple and yet, so very satisfying.

I am a fan of pretty much any kind of festival.  In my family, we are “festival people.”  A sort of snooty carnie, if you will.  We like to hang around food people, we really like to hang around wine people, and when the day is done, who isn’t thankful for a bit of art and music on the side (those are regular pairings with the magic three, don’t you know).  So, when my big sister from my sorority (are you really surprised that I’m a sorority girl?) told me that she would be participating in the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon and wanted to do the Wine and Food Fest the next day, I agreed to attend pretty much immediately.

Fast forward several months.  Lindsay ran and it was very exciting.  It was her first half marathon and she absolutely killed it.  She had been eating very healthfully for about two weeks prior, so to celebrate, the day of the race, we prepared and bought wine, cheese, desserts and crackers from The Fresh Market, parked on the couch until the 10pm race was to start, and relaxed.  As we were too tired to actually eat the cheese at 2am after the race finished, we decided it would be the perfect and most appropriate breakfast for our F&W day.

After a healthy dose of lactose and alcohol, we set off to Epcot to journey around the world and taste the many delicacies they offered.  Before eating, however, we decided to check out a few of the “rides” at the park to have a full Disney experience.  I have to say, one of my favorite things about Epcot is the wonderful irony of it all.  This park was supposed to be the focal point of Disney World in Orlando (thanks, Magic Kingdom, for killing the dreams of the big golf ball), and was intended to be a permanent Worlds Fair, with the main part of the park as a sort of “future world.”  What is so fantastic about Epcot is how outdated everything is.  The rides and attractions talk about the “future” that we are supposed to have and it reads a bit more like a ’70s science fiction novel than it does an accurate depiction of the future as we now think it will be.  But it is awesome.  I just love rides that haven’t changed since the late ’80s.  Really makes you wonder what they’re spending all of their money on…

After lots of laughs and sarcastic/snarky comments, we went to try all of the delicious food.  With two cash cards loaded and in hand, we went to Hawaii to taste the pork slider with pineapple chutney and the tuna poke with seaweed salad and a taro root chip.  I have to say, this was a great way to start off the day.  The slider was delicious; the pork was tender, the pineapple wasn’t too sweet, and it was on a sweet Hawaiian-style roll (go figure…) which was to die for.  The tuna poke was also very tasty.  The taro chip was a bit of a miss for me, but the tuna was fresh and cool and the seaweed salad was a great salty compliment.  Feeling good and ready for more, we went to Argentina for the beef empanada–also delicious.  The ropa vieja from the Caribbean tent was pretty good (although the rice was not very well cooked), and the mahi with coconut lime sauce and hearts of palm over rice from Brasil was surprisingly tasty.

We were on a roll.  Next was Mexico for the shrimp tacos for Lindsay which she loved, and the Swedish meatballs from Scandinavia (for me) which were just ok.  The sauce was not as flavorful as it should have been, the lingonberries were incorporated with the sauce, thus not really impacting the dish, and the meat was fine.  A let down, but I still ate them.  Linds and I shared the rice pudding and it was bizarrely unevenly cooked.  I don’t really understand how they accomplished crunchy rice pudding, but they did it.  Wanting to cleanse our palates of these let downs, we decided that a visit to the cheese tent was a must.  They had an Artisan cheese plate and another dish, a cheese fondue, which I was pretty pumped about.  Linds saw the Germany tent across the way, so while she went to go get some apfel strudel, I waited for the cheese.  When I went to place my order, I was very distressed to learn that they had run out of Artisian cheese and would not be replenishing their stock for another 15 minutes.  I proceeded with ordering the fondue and found Lindsay and the glorious looking strudel.  The strudel did not disappoint.  It was just as it should have been.  The fondue, however…well, it was weird.  They just didn’t cook it long enough.  The wine hadn’t burnt off its alcohol and the cheese was still in warm shreds.  Nothing had incorporated together to form a sauce.  It was thrown out.  And that’s saying something, because I will eat pretty much anything.  Really, I will.  This was just not worth the stomach space.  And you might be surprised, but space was running low.  We were hitting a wall and we were only about halfway through.  We also had spent about $15 each.  Who knew that it was so inexpensive to gorge yourself at Disney World?

Not wanting to lose momentum, we went to the Werther’s caramel store in Germany and each bought a dessert.  I ate mine promptly (a brownie with caramel sauce drizzled on top).  Lindsay judged me and said she wanted to “hold off.”  Not cool.  Next was Poland for the kielbasa with pierogi.  So good, and so heavy.  I would have eaten a full serving of that any day, though.  Doesn’t get much better than potato-filled noodles.  Then we went to Singapore to try the shrimp cake on a sugarcane skewer with Singapore noodles.  This dish was just not tasty.  The shrimp cake was way too shrimpy (although, in defense of the dish I really don’t care for shrimp so much) and the noodles were altogether bland and oddly flavored.  We even tried to chomp on the sugarcane as a little treat but the shrimp cake had permeated the flavor of the cane and it was just not a good situation.  So we got a snow cone to make up for the loss.

It was around this time that we decided to not eat anything more, save for the fisherman’s pie in Ireland, which Lindsay had been planning for since we’d read the menu (so about 48 hours).  Deciding not to eat anymore is not as easy as it sounds.  Because we passed Belgium and couldn’t resist the waffles with berry compote and a chocolate truffle.  The waffles were actually delicious, and the mussels they were serving looked awesome too.  When we finally rolled our way over to Ireland, I was fairly certain I’d never eat again.  But Lindsay had really been looking forward to the fisherman’s pie (with lobster and scallops, and a mashed potato top), so I put on a brave face and dug in.  I’m glad I did, because this was absolutely the stand out dish of the day for me.  I was surprised at how much I liked the combination of seafood with tomato cream sauce and mashed potatoes.  Bravo, Ireland!  Thanks for ending our day on a high note.

We made a quick pit stop to taste some of the sodas from around the world before departing and heading our separate ways.  Overall, we had a wonderful day.  Nothing says true friendship like letting someone watch you consume more calories than you did the entire month prior.  And all for a pretty decent price.  Epcot, I will be back.  Just maybe with a more discerning eye…

❤ Amy

you make me sing (nashville)

Starting the day out with Frothy Monkey is a must when in Nashville. It’s this hip little coffeehouse/café with good food, great brew, and cool clientele. This being my fourth trip to Nashville in a year, I always make sure to stop in here. It also helps that it’s super close to Cindy and Kate’s house. (Which, by the way, sits across from a Sara Lee bakery…so awesome.) Cindy joined us for breakfast before heading to work. She ordered the special breakfast wrap, filled with Tasso ham, an over medium egg, avocado, spinach, and cheese. Amy and I both ordered the Plain Jane – scrambled eggs on everything bagels with Swiss and tomato. I, of course, added sprouts and avocado…Amy did not. This was our first outing together in Nashville and I think Amy (much like myself during my first visit a year ago) was surprised about the people and the environment. People tend to associate Nashville with NashVegas, country music, and neon lights, but the benefits of being a cool college town aren’t boasted about as much as the former.

After our (late) breakfast, Cindy headed off to work and we headed off to Grimey’s Record Store. I had been here before – it’s hard to resist a great record store that’s only a couple of miles from their house. I had a growing list of CD’s I wanted to get – some from ACL, some new releases. I was able to find everything I wanted (and more). Amy spent quite a while perusing the holiday vinyl. She was thrilled to walk away with a Frank Sinatra Christmas album and an Elvis one.

All of that shopping really wiped us out and we decided to treat ourselves to some mid-afternoon pajamas and a movie. We rented Bridesmaids and laughed a lot. I had seen this in the theatre, but I forgot how funny it was. Amy had not seen it and I enjoyed hearing her laugh through the movie. After the movie we decided we were not done with the lounging and we settled in for some Cheetos, peanut butter/Southern Oregon homemade fluff sandwiches, and Modern Family. Amy is still trying to make it through Season 1 to catch up with me. We watched about 7 episodes back-to-back (I fell asleep and missed 1) before we had to get ready for the evening. Our hosts were returning to their home and we had wonderful dinner plans in store.

Now, I’m recently reunited with seafood. I have been a pescatarian for 11 years, and then gave up seafood a little over a year ago. I’ve missed it. I’ve missed sushi most of all. I love veggie sushi, but I love some good spicy tuna as well. Well, tonight it was going to happen for me. We went to Virago, Cindy and Kate’s favorite sushi place. The earliest reservation we could wrangle was 9pm. We got there a little early and got seated a little early (lesson for us: being early can pay off). We started the meal with some edamame. All salty and warm, yum. We then decided to share some small plates. Virago is a very trendy sushi spot. The small plates we ordered were lobster friend rice, robata grilled pork belly and tofu, and sake steamed Brussels sprouts. For me the clear winner was the Brussels sprouts dish. Steamed al dente, browned in a sauté pan, and finished with a touch of truffle oil and a sliver of Parmesan. I absolutely loved these and I would say they are in the Top 10 Best Dishes of the Road Trip (a list soon to come). Our sushi orders were modest, with one roll each. Cindy got The Bomb (tempura shrimp, avocado and asparagus on the inside, baked jumbo lump crab and spicy mayo on top with a touch of unagi sauce and scallions), Kate got the Crunchy California Roll (crab, avocado, cucumber, tempura crumbs, spicy mayo and honey fire sauce), and Amy and I shared the Spicy Strawberry Maki (tuna, avocado, asparagus, mango and jalapeño wrapped in avocado and strawberries with honey fire sauce and strawberry sriracha) and the Sake Sunrise (crab, asparagus and avocado wrapped with seared smoked salmon). I enjoyed all of them very much. We’ll call it a four-way tie since I liked each of them for a different reason. This dinner was a great way to celebrate both the end of our road trip and Cindy’s birthday, as well as show our appreciation to C & K for allowing us to takeover their guest quarters.

Overall, I would say we had a wonderful day.

 

Joellen

 

surprises everywhere

I’m not going to lie, I didn’t have very high hopes for the culinary scene in Birmingham.  Or really, for Birmingham at all.  It’s in Alabama, and I might be a tad bit prejudiced against Alabama for the mere fact that it is, well…Alabama.  We wanted Greek food.  Like falafels and greek salads, and I really wanted potato salad atop my bed of greens.  If you haven’t had this, you need to.  We first stopped at Taziki, a regional chain with a Mediterranean flair.  After standing in line for a few minutes looking at menus, we decided that it really wasn’t for us.  It had nothing that really got us excited, so we went back to the car to try again.  Thanks to our trusty concierge, urbanspoon, we were ushered on to The Olive Branch, a mostly-Greek Mediterranean place.  When we drove up, we saw a sign that indicated they had Coca Cola products.  I wasn’t leaving.

We walked in and took our seats at the bar, a prime spot for viewing the goings on in the kitchen.  We quickly ordered sodas and decided to start with the grilled mushroom appetizer.  It was basically just button mushrooms that had been cooked on the flat top, but they were very tasty.  Savory and perfect with the complimentary pita bread.  I was excited.  Joellen was a tad nervous (they cooked the mushrooms next to some meat).  We both ordered the falafel lunch special and waited for what felt like an eternity to taste our fried chickpea deliciousness.  And deliciousness, it was.  Joellen ranks the falafel at Olive Branch in the Top 3 that she has had–ever.  That’s pretty big.  They were crisp on the outside and moist and flavorful on the inside.  Not an easy feat to accomplish.  Our falafel patties sat atop some awesome wild rice, and we were also given greek salads, pita and hummus.  We unfortunately dressed our salads with the house dressing, which looked really tasty but tasted like olives (no bueno), and it was all I could do to just scarf it down so that I would feel good about having some green.  Joellen didn’t even try.  She just gave up.  We couldn’t finish our falafel, leaving two each for left overs, and decided to split the walnut baklava and the pistachio baklava.  I was convinced that I’d prefer the pistachio, but the walnut was just stellar.  Sweet and flaky goodness.

After our lunch, we got in the car and made the short and easy drive to Nashville (I’m a little ashamed to say that I slept for a good part of the drive), and started on our next project: cooking dinner for Cindy and Kate.  Cindy is a friend of Joellen’s from college and she has a birthday this weekend, so to thank her and her partner, Kate, for letting us stay, and to celebrate her birthday, we decided to make them dinner.  Not wanting to do anything complicated, we decided to make vegetable lasagna with salad and a cake (from scratch).  Somehow things become a little bit bigger than we intend for them to, but I’d like to think we usually pull it off.

I started out by making the cake batter to get the most time consuming aspect out of the way.  I used Bobby Flay’s coconut cake recipe (just for the cake part–frosting was of our own creation) and was very hopeful about the results (I’ve used it once before and it came out really great).  Next, we started on the lasagna.  We cooked the noodles, roasted some yellow squash, sauteed spinach with garlic and onions and sauteed some mushrooms in the same fashion.  After making the ricotta-mozzarella-herb mix, all that was left was to puree the fire roasted tomatoes that had been doctored to our liking, in to a sauce.  After much laboring and the addition of more mozzarella and pecorino romano cheeses, the creation was complete.  To be fair, Joellen made the entire thing.  I just lent my hand in the seasoning of the sauce and the turning on of the burners.  We also roasted some beets and cut up different vegetables for a mini salad bar.  Joellen made a tangy honey dijon dressing with cider vinegar and I made a goat cheese dressing with shallots that got some mixed reviews (it was excellent with the beets, though).  I am determined to try and try again until I succeed with that one.  The cake came out looking great, although the strawberry cream cheese frosting lost its volume at the addition of the strawberries (which hardened the butter) and subsequent warm down (which melted the butter too much).  It was more like a thick glaze, but all diners were very generous with their reviews and nobody had a morsel of food on their plates.  I’d say it was a very successful foray back in to the kitchen for the two of us after such a long hiatus.

We’d like to thank Birmingham for surprising us, not only with the food that they host, but with some really friendly people.  We’d also like to thank Cindy and Kate for housing us and for lending us their kitchen to make a huge mess of.

❤ Amy

reunited (and it feels so good)

We checked out of Hotel Monteleone at 12:15pm (I think you get the idea not expect anything else if you ever find yourself traveling with us). Also, is it alarming to know that you’re traveling with someone who can break the code of your hotel safe with one guess? A testament of how well we know each other, I suppose. Please advise if I need to call LifeLock sooner than later. We quickly made it our mission to be one with sought out bagel. We did some research (which included Amy calling places to make sure they did more than just sell a bagel and cream cheese). So glad she did this bit of research and found Surrey’s. Surrey’s is a small artsy café advertised as a juice bar, but with so much more. I think it could possibly be top on the list of “hidden gems” found on this trip. Amy’s friend, Nicole, had mentioned hearing of this place, but not yet having found it. Nicole, GO! There was an extensive breakfast and lunch menu that included homemade bagels and house-cured salmon (lox). Amy ordered two scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, and an onion bagel with cream cheese. She made and consumed about twelve perfect bites to reveal a clean plate (well, I think she left some bacon – a little shocking, actually). I had the lox plate with an onion bagel. I love lox, but mostly for the caper/cream cheese/bagel combination. They also served this with an avocado mash – which was such a nice touch. I ate every bite and am not ashamed of that at all. I also washed it down with some awesome coffee. I like to think that Surrey’s has it all figured out – those that know, go; those that think it’s Jamba Juice, don’t. Oh, elusive bagel – today you were finally ours.

After brunch, we circled many blocks looking for the post office. Glad I finally got the chance to pass through a metal detector on the way to mail some postcards…that’s now checked off the bucket list. We made our way out of the Vieux Carre (we’re pros now), crossed the Mississippi, and headed on to Birmingham. Today’s drive didn’t contain as many profound moments as the drive from Austin to New Orleans, but we managed to keep each other entertained for the six-hour drive. We arrived in Birmingham with enough time to change our clothes and meet Amy’s friend, Smith, for dinner. Smith lives and works in Birmingham and I was more than thrilled to get to meet another one of Amy’s dear friends. After seeing Smith’s house, we headed to the Mountain Brook area for dinner at Avo. We had scoped out the menu en route to Birmingham and we were excited to try to options. We started with the fried okra sticks accompanied by a lemon-caper aioli and the homemade pimento cheese spread. Both delicious starters. For my meal I ordered the grilled cheese and tomato soup. The cheese was light and it had avocado, but the star was the sourdough bread. So toasty and sourdough-y – I loved it to the last crunchy bite. Amy had the panko-crusted chicken on polenta and she was pleasantly surprised by her dish. (I could tell she had hesitations about the chicken breast being dry and lacking flavor.) I looked over and it was quite juicy and it just looked appealing. The polenta was nicely cooked. Smith ordered the roasted beet salad and the bacon mac and cheese. She approved of the dishes by not leaving any leftovers – which was something we all did. We indulged in a few alcoholic beverages and a lot of conversation before heading back to the car. We got back to Smith’s and returned to our hotel (Holiday Inn Express in Birmingham, I love you) for a full night’s rest.

Joellen

P.S. Is it wrong to title your blog post for your bagel reunion? No.

livin’ it up in the big easy

I was really excited to come to New Orleans for several reasons.  High among them was to see another college roommate, Nicole, who is now studying at Tulane.  I usually don’t mind arriving in new destinations late, but in the case of New Orleans, I was nervous that we wouldn’t have very much time and it kind of bummed me out.  After waking up late and struggling to get out the door, we were greeted by Nicole with open arms as she graciously offered to help us pack up the car before heading out to lunch destination number one.

Now, I don’t like to brag, but I’m a pretty good eater.  I’m sure that that has been made quite apparent to most of you, but just in case you’re new: I can eat.  I wouldn’t describe myself as a competitive eater and I certainly don’t strive to be one, but there was one challenge that I heard of that I really wanted to try out.  So much so, that I put it on my bucket list.  It was a big goal of mine to become a part of the 15 Dozen Club at Acme Oyster House in New Orleans, and although many scoffed, I knew that I could defeat this challenge with few to no problems.  So when I had the chance to go to New Orleans for the first time in March, I knew that the challenge would be my main goal of the trip, and after 40 minutes, I completed my challenge, having eaten 180 oysters, making me one of three (or four…) women to ever become a part of the 15 Dozen Club.  Among the many perks (really, it’s just like, three perks but they’re still cool) of being in this exclusive club, I was lucky enough to have my name put on the wall.  I have my own little name plate with my hometown and the date of my challenge.  I didn’t really care to have a full meal at Acme again, but I really wanted to see my name plate and perhaps milk the tiny bit of stardom that goes along with it.  I was very excited that some of the shuckers remembered me, and to my utter shock, someone wanted to take my picture.  Oh, the hardships of being a star.  We decided to have a small appetizer of chargrilled oysters, which are all the rage right now, and I can see why.  Grilled over an open flame with butter and parmesan cheese, these little suckers are salty, tangy and delicious.  They were the perfect first few bites of our time in New Orleans.

For our main lunch, we decided to go somewhere a little less fried-fishy and a little more vegetarian friendly, so thanks to urbanspoon, we happened upon Bennachin Restaurant, a little African place that caters to vegetarians and omnivores alike.  Since I was outnumbered 2-1 in this category, I decided to follow suit and order vegetarian so that we could all share.  But before I get to the food, let us first discuss the atmosphere.  With Afro-Caribbean music playing on a television just above the kitchen door and the smell of musty incense that hits you right when you walk in, Bennachin immediately makes you feel comfortable and ready for good food.  There was one server, who I can only assume was local (based on her accent) who was very friendly and knowledgable on the different menu items.  She offered her opinions and we quickly ordered and anxiously awaited our lunches.

To start,  we had the black eyed pea fritters with a tomato jam.  They were light, crispy and delicious.  I can’t really figure out which part was the black eyed pea, but none of us had any complaints about this dish.  It was a great way to start out the meal.  For our main courses, Joellen ordered the Kone ni Makondo, black eyed peas in a tomato sauce served with ripe fried plantains and coconut rice.  Her dish was absolutely delicious and even though I had my concerns about the coconut rice at first, I must admit that it was pretty awesome.   The flavor was savory and the coconut was present but not overpowering.  I had the Bikai ni Curry, a relatively spicy eggplant, bean sprout and mushroom curry which I ordered with cous cous.  The flavors were really on point, and although I could have done with a few more mushrooms, the eggplant added a nice meatiness that I wasn’t expecting.  The sauce was spicy without being too hot, and had a really good, strong curry flavor.  Nicole’s dish was the one that surprised me most.  It looked like it was just a plate of bland, steamed vegetables over rice but it was so, so much more.  She got the Baham, which was broccoli, cauliflower and carrots in a light ginger sauce over rice.  What really excited me about this dish was the savory ginger-garlic broth that was ladled over the vegetables and the rice.  It was so flavorful and really played well with the coconut in the rice.  If we have a chance to go back, I am definitely getting this dish and will probably (shamelessly) lick my plate clean.

During lunch, we found out that one of our next stops had fallen through, so we decided to stay an extra night in New Orleans and spend some time in Birmingham before heading to Nashville.  Although we were sad that we had to miss Panama City, we’re excited to make it there in the near future, and we were happy to have a little bit more time in the Crescent City.  We took our time in making it back to the Holiday Inn, and on our way stopped in some fun little shops on Decatur Street.  After perusing what the local markets had to offer and purchasing some very necessary fall decorations, we stopped at Cafe Du Monde for an after lunch treat.  Joellen had her first beignet and we enjoyed all of the people watching and re-caffienating.  Nicole had to go to class, so she left us after a little walk through Jackson Square with the promise of seeing us later that evening.

Since we were unimpressed with the Holiday Inn, we decided to switch hotels and stay at the Hotel Monteleone to have a true New Orleans experience for the night.  We got the car from one block away and drove it four blocks (thanks, one-way streets) to the hotel where we unpacked and relaxed for a few hours.  Feeling ashamed that we hadn’t really done much since lunch, we got ready and waited to hear from Nicole about dinner/drinks.  Since she is a good student, she told us that she could only meet us for one drink and that we’d have to be on our own for dinner, so I wanted to make that drink count.  When I was in New Orleans last, I really wanted to go to the bar at the Monteleone because it looked classy and very retro.  So we went downstairs to the Carousel Bar to check it out.  Aside from a rude bartender and a disagreement over what constitutes a Bellini, we had a pleasant time at this rotating bar (hence the name).

After bidding adieu to Nicole once more, we made the very short walk to Deanie’s, a popular seafood place, in search of some po’boys.   Joellen ordered the crawfish tail po’boy and I ordered the soft-shell crab po’boy.  While we waited, we were served boiled potatoes with Old Bay and butter…I could get used to that.  The service was quick and before I knew it, I was face first in to a Louisiana classic.  And it was just ok.  I think I had just been so excited about the chance of having boiled blue crabs or crawfish that anything else was destined to be a bit of a let-down.  They weren’t served with remoulade sauce, but we asked for some and that really amped up the flavor.  In the end, I’m glad that we made it to Deanie’s (it was another place that I had wanted to go to for a while), and I really did enjoy my sandwich, but next time we come to New Orleans, I think I’m going to need buckets upon buckets of boiled crustaceans to make up for this trip.  Feeling full and satisfied with our trip to the Big Easy, we made the short walk back to the hotel and promptly collapsed in to bed, thoroughly excited about the 12pm check out time the following morning.

❤ Amy

keep ya head up (austin –> new orleans)

Leaving Austin after four days was a chore. Being on the road with spurts of two-day stays has worked well for us, thus far. We were, however, thrilled to have the opportunity of being settled in one place for more than 36 hours (thanks again to Lacey and Tom – the best cousins two road trippers could have asked for).  The ability to take everything out of the car and have room for passengers – something we’ve taken for granted – was wonderful. Packing it all back in, not so much. This challenge was further exacerbated by the level of our exhaustion after three days of ACL and the intensity of the Texas sun. Nevertheless, we did it. It may have taken us 4 hours to actually vacate the house, but we did it.

Our first mission was a late breakfast/lunch. Our friend, Bryan, had recommended Wholly Bagel. We were so excited for bagel sandwiches that we could focus on nothing else. Unfortunately, Wholly Bagel does not keep Monday hours (hence the lack of hyperlink). We were frustrated and hungry and decided on Magnolia Café again. Easy, close, and quick. Oh, and good. We both started with their hibiscus tea (hibiscus is working its way into my mind and I can’t wait experiment with the leaves I bought Amy). We started with an appetizer of potatoes, cheese, and green chile sauce. We had this in Santa Fe too – I know, not very original. But, this creation was topped with their special lemon sour cream. This dish was more than delicious. I’m looking forward to making this at home in the future. For our entrees, Amy got the Flamingo Sandwich and I got the Flamingo Quesadilla. Amy’s sandwich looked amazing – bacon, turkey, hummus, Swiss cheese, sprouts, tomato, and tons of avocado on rye toast. My quesadilla had avocado, Monterey jack, pico de gallo, and mushrooms. We cleaned our plates and then headed to the gift shop next door where we learned a little about unbreakable gem eggs and Austinites.

After we accepted our fate of a bagel-less day, we set off for New Orleans. We got a late start to the day, which meant a late arrival into N.O. (it’s a nine hour hike). The drive was mostly uneventful, but I had the chance to educate Amy about several 80’s / 90’s pop culture events that were significant in my development. First off, she’s in training to learn the words for J.J. Fad’s classic (read: only) hit, “Supersonic”. I have vivid memories of my childhood soundtrack, and this is a big one (along with L’Trimm’s “The Cars That Go Boom”). I’m proud to say that’s she’s almost got it (except for the really fast part at the end that is almost impossible to recite). Next we moved on to Reba. Oh, Reba…where do I even start? I can’t remember if it was a life lesson, but I remember my dad playing “Fancy” for me when I was a young girl. I used to protest this (as I did Fleetwood Mac and solo Stevie Nicks), but now it conjures up such amazing childhood memories. When we listened to “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” I recalled the concert I attended in my, ahem, younger days. I thought that song was a little controversial at the time (even more so when released in 1973 by Vicki Lawrence), but now it seems so PG. Everything is relative and maybe it takes more to shock society now? It’s only natural that the lessons of female rap groups and a country superstar I would eventually lead to Tupac Shakur 101. I read the entire Wikipedia entry (it’s a long one) and we discussed the East Coast – West Coast feud in detail. I already knew most of the Tupac information, but I like to think that I revealed a less-than-known side of Pac (we’re close) to Amy. I won’t get into details, but his death was a great loss.

Driving through Louisiana had its ups and down. The bayou smells…probably like you would expect a bayou to smell. On the upside, boggy environments bring life. I saw so many deer roadside while we headed into N.O. They were unfazed by the passing cars (thank goodness since hitting an animal on the highway ranks extremely high on my greatest fears list). The lack of too much civilization also allowed me to witness my first falling star of the trip – I’m grateful for that, Louisiana.

We made it to our French Quarter destination (so excited about the Priceline iPhone app that made the last minute reservation seamless and a bargain). The Holiday Inn was nothing to write home about, but it was centrally located and safe. As we normally do, we put head to pillow around 2am and readied ourselves for a full New Orleans tomorrow. 🙂

Joellen

acl: day one

Austin. City. Limits.

So, I’ve never been to a music festival before. Last year I toyed with the idea of going to Bonnaroo, but I couldn’t really afford to take the time off from work. So when Joellen told me that one of the main reasons for the road trip, the Mecca to our hajj, if you will, was Austin City Limits, I got pretty excited. And nervous. I don’t do so well in the heat, nor do I care for large crowds or excessive noise (I may be a 90-year-old masquerading as a 20-something).  One thing that always bonded Joellen and me, though, is our love of music, so I could think of no better destination for the road trip.

We got up early (around 8:30…) and headed over to Zilker Park for day 1 of ACL. When we arrived, we were relieved to find that the lines were short and the sky was full of clouds. As I’m sure most of you are aware, Austin is experiencing a major drought and to see rain clouds in the sky is kind of a miracle. With hope of a good-weather day, we headed over to see Cults, but not before dropping by another, smaller stage to see what Miniature Tigers had to offer. An all male band with a familiar sound, they sounded a little raw and were alright, but not my favorites. Now Cults: I was not aware of this band, but Emily and Helen–Joellen’s friend from Kentucky and Emily’s high school friend–really wanted to see them, so we were all game. I really liked the band. They had a female front man (front woman?) and a somewhat dreamy sound that reminded me of something I would hear on the Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack (that is a good thing). I would up knowing one song (you’ll notice that’s a trend with most of the bands we saw) and really enjoyed my first music festival act. After Cults, we stopped by another stage to see An Horse who I also enjoyed. A male-female duet from Australia, they had a cool sound as well. It was a Joellen pick and did not disappoint.

We then took a break for lunch #1 and were so excited when we saw all that there was in the Austin Eats section of the park. There was so much to choose from so we decided to take it slow. We started with a grilled corn salad with a soft boiled egg from Odd Duck Farm to Trailer. It was really good. I wasn’t expecting it to be cold, but that was a very pleasant surprise. Really nice flavors that didn’t totally bomb in the heat. Definitely a good way to start off. Then we decided to have something small, so we each ordered a taco from Torchy’s. I got the green chile pork (on flour tortilla) and Joellen got the fried avocado (also on flour) and wow. They were so delicious. I actually favored Joellen’s taco, as it had a wider array of flavors, and I was really digging the fried avocado. Mine had just a touch more cilantro than I can handle, but I will definitely be making more trips to Torchy’s soon.

After our first lunch, we went to check out The Secret Sisters, a band I’ve heard Joellen mention a few times before. Now, given her usual tastes, I assumed they would be indie-alternative singers who may or may not be related (see: Tegan and Sara). I was really surprised when she told me that they did old-school country music. And did they ever. These Alabama girls were both energetic and demure, and sung beautifully. I was absolutely thrilled at how much I liked them. Check them out. Now. We then went over to a bigger stage to set up camp to see Brandi Carlile, who I was really excited to see. I’m just going to take this time to come out and say that I knew of about 5 artists of 130 who are at ACL this year. And Brandi was one of them. I discovered her on a Grey’s Anatomy Soundtrack and fell in love with her sound. She was awesome. Just really great. Just as I hoped she’d be, and so much more.

It was then time for lunch #2. We walked farther down the food section and found a lot more that piqued our interests, so we again decided to try/share a few little dishes. We first got the Kick Ass Nachos from Tim Love’s Love Shack, which lived up to the name. Joellen and I both have a secret (now not so secret) love of cheese sauce. This dish had plenty. And it was homemade, too. Nice job, Love Shack. We also got some truffled mac and cheese from Lonesome Dove Western Bistro which I devoured. I’m really in to truffles right now (see here) and this dish was flavorful without being heavy. It was delicious. They used orzo instead of the traditional macaroni which I liked and Joellen wasn’t crazy about. I would order this dish over and over, but again, when you’re using two of my favorite ingredients, that is a given.

We then went to meet with Emily and Helen at the Smith Westerns show, which abruptly ended 20 minutes before it was supposed to. Odd. We heard that Ray LaMontagne was onstage and went to go see him. Joellen really likes him and the more I hear, the more I like. I would have liked to stay, but it was so swamped that we decided to go to the stage next to his to wait for Cold War Kids and listen to him from the sidelines. I really enjoyed CCK. They were an Emily pick and a good one at that. Again, I knew one song and got really excited. I also did not want to stand up so I got a good glimpse of feet and tattoos. It was pretty great.

We went to the next stage (where Ray had been) and set up camp for Bright Eyes. They are a favorite of Joellen’s and I’ve liked them for a while too. I was introduced to them back in high school and have dabbled ever since. I’m ashamed to say that I fell asleep during their show, but it was a light, short sleep and I could hear how awesome Conor and the gang were.

Joellen and I left a little early to get a spot for my favorite act of the weekend: Sara Bareilles. I just love her. She sings one song that got really big, and I have been pretty excited about her for a long time (thanks, Andrea for letting me burn her cd!). She was awesome. Energetic and so talented. I wish that she was given a bigger stage/that she had played longer. Oh well, we’ll just have to see her in concert some day.  After Sara, we had dinner: spinach pakoras with a delightfully spicy/refreshing mint chutney from Royal Indian Foods and an fried avocado “cone”: fried avo with spicy sauce and sweet coleslaw in a flour tortilla situated in a paper cone from The Mighty Cone. It was actually really good.  Oh, and we also got ice cream. Amy’s Ice Cream, which is something that Joellen has been talking about since we got here.  Apparently it’s very Austin. We got the mint chocolate chip which was awesome. We then found Helen and Emily and settled in for our final show: Kanye. And it was fine; just what you’d expect: flashy, loud and crowded. We all enjoyed sitting toward the back and taking it all in.

To close, some observations about ACL (if I still have an audience, thanks for hanging in):

– There are so many nice people. Everyone is pretty like-minded and I have neither heard nor seen anyacts of violence. It’s all peace and love here.

– I love the flags. People carry around flags or balloons, inflatable animals, what have you on long poles and I love them. We have seen so many fun, creative and random flags. They’re also excellent for identifying location when you’re trying to find a friend

– There are so many kids here. And not just little kids with their parents, but 11, 12 year olds (seemingly just with a group of friends) who should maybe be with a chaperone. It’s a little alarming to see that once the later shows start.

– “So many young people with so many regrettable tattoos” -Joellen

– Rain happened. It was awesome, even if brief.

– This is the greatest place to people watch-EVER.

 

Until next time, Peace and Love from the ACL-ers

❤ Amy

dryland

I love the days when we aren’t tied to anything specific and get to simply enjoy our destination point without any pressure. Today was one of those days. Austin played a perfect host. We started the day with a late lunch (meaning it was scheduled for 1pm and we were quite tardy). Amy, Emily, Helen and I met my college friend (Andi) and Amy’s cousin (Jenny) at Magnolia Café. I had been to this restaurant before, but fell in love with it. In fact, last time I was in town (the only time I was in Austin) I ate here twice. After some catching up and my prolonged indecisiveness, we place our orders and shortly thereafter received the goods. I ordered the LOVE Migas. It was a dish of eggs scrambled with butter, garlic, and serrano pepper, mixed with a chopped corn tortilla, red onion, and green peppers (I forgot to ask for no green peppers), then topped with cheese. Served with black beans and avocado on the side. Pretty much my dream meal. I ordered corn tortillas and potatoes on the side so I could assemble my favorite meal of breakfast tacos. There was no disappointment to be had on my end. I loved every single bite of it…except the last one. Why do good things always have to come to an end? Amy ordered the Chef Salad – she’s been craving something cold and green for a few days now and I think this hit the spot. Andi, Helen, and Emily all ordered the Black Bean entrée, which looks so good and was a close runner-up for me. Jenny had a chocolate chip pancake and a buttermilk pancake, which she seemed to enjoy. I love Magnolia Café and I plan to stop there every trip we make to Austin.

After late lunch we headed to Zilker Park to pick up our wristbands for Austin City Limits (“ACL”) – our primary reason for being in Austin. ACL is one of the larger annual musical festivals held and Emily and I, after attending Bonnaroo last summer, had decided this festival was next on the list. We are so excited for tomorrow! The concerts go on for just about 12 hours each day, with about 130 bands playing over three days.

I waited exactly 381 words to complain about the heat. It’s hot in Austin. I think our arrival has coincided with a cold front moving in, where we’ll see temperatures in the 90s instead of the 100s. Bonus for us. The heat is bad, but the drought conditions are far worse here. All I can say about tomorrow is please hope for our sake that we can find some reprieve in a shaded area throughout the day. Wish us luck!

Once we picked up our wristbands, we headed to Andi and Bryan’s home in South Austin to visit with them and their three kids: Bug, Pepper, and Star. Bug is so grown up at five and a half (she wasn’t even three last time I was here). She was playing the role of big sister so well…it was adorable. Pepper, the lone boy, had the cutest things to say. We learned that his hair is very soft, though blue-green, that he may have a career in mixology, and that he is prone to random acts of acrobatics. Star is the baby and I can just see in her eyes that she is so very involved in taking everything in. I do think (and I shared this) that one day her mouth will open and full paragraphs will come out spouting her words of wisdom to her family (and the world). All of them are so special. It was also good the see Bryan. I feel so connected because of a photo blog he maintains daily, but it’s wonderful to get to hug the real thing and hear his voice – it’s been too long! I’m glad I got to spend giggly time with Andi and the family…they are near and dear to my heart. Saying goodbye was sad, but I know we’ll be back. Austin has too much to offer!

As dinnertime was upon us, we headed back to Lacey and Tom’s for a little grillin’ and chillin’. Lacey made some delicious appetizers of cheese (yes) and crackers, spanikopita, and chips/guacamole that were waiting our arrival. We prepped and Tom grilled. We had chicken (well, some of us did), halloumi, asparagus with truffle salt, and pineapple off the grill. Also, a nice salad rounded out the meal. All items were wonderful. This led to the chillin’ part where much wine and beer was consumed…great time had by all, I’d say. What great hosts we have here in Austin!

Joellen

higher ground

Starting your day with a hearty meal is important. Starting your day with a home-cooked meal from Amy is a total treat. She cooked a wonderful breakfast (read: brunch) of poached eggs, spinach, and an English muffin topped with a delicious cheese sauce (an unexpected improvisation for unsuccessful hollandaise – turned out to be a happy accident). Add a side of wonderful oven-roasted potatoes and I couldn’t have been happier. I can’t wait to be the recipient of many future cooking successes and failures. After the enjoyable meal and lengthy clean-up session we headed upstairs to pack and ready ourselves for the road that was awaiting us. We said goodbye to Alana and Steve (thanks for everything), hopped in the newly organized and cleaned car, and headed for Kanab, UT.

Admittedly, I have a Slurpee addiction. Since living in Kentucky does not afford me the luxury of this treat, it was imperative to me to start the next leg with one of in hand. I’m happy to say it was a success. It only takes about 10 minutes to leave the lights of Vegas behind. And from there, it’s nothing but amazing. The views were stunning and it made the 5-hour drive seem like only 3. We lost an hour due to the time change, but I guess that was to be expected. We made it to Kanab around 9:30pm and checked in to the Quail Park Lodge. During the planning phase of the road trip (i.e. my unemployed days) I found Kanab – a small town that would allow us enough time to mosey out of Vegas and sleep in before the drive to Four Corners National Monument. The accommodations were a retro style motel with a neon sign. Check in was so pleasant that I had a feeling that I had made a good choice. The attendant was helpful and suggested a restaurant for us. Utah closes early; he advised us to head there sooner than later. I’m thankful we took his advice. Rocking V Café was a pleasant surprise (I think Kanab was too). We were delighted by the menu options and had a really nice meal there. We started with the polenta cakes that were topped with green chili sauce. The polenta was really nice and tasty – the cakes even got a little crispy on the outside (as they should be). The sauce was just ok for me, but we had no problem finishing them both. Next course was the soup that came with the main course. I got the tomato-basil soup and Amy got the Tuscan bean soup. Both good, but I liked mine better. (That being said, no tomato soup will ever compare to my mom’s.) The table bread was a soft rosemary focaccia with a balsamic dressing spread – interesting, but I preferred it dipped in the soup (apu). Four my main course I ordered the black bean and corn tacos (only because they used mole in the mixture and I am a complete sucker for mole done right). Oh, and the jicama slaw was a huge selling point. I was so excited to have more than a couple vegetarian options in a small Utah town. Amy got the buffalo meatloaf special. It was wrapped in bacon and topped with their chili con queso and baby heirloom tomatoes, and rested upon mashed potatoes and a garlic sour cream. She really enjoyed her meal as well. We ordered their award-winning key lime pie (I know what your thinking, KLP in Utah?) to go.

We got back to our quaint lodge and settled in for a movie and relaxation (and key lime pie). We hadn’t turned on a television since our departure and it was nice to enjoy the entertainment in the comfort of our suite at the Quail Park Lodge. The key lime pie was fair-to-good. The movie (Away We Go) was great.

Kanab was a treasure. We did a lot of research on the city while we were at dinner and in our room. Turns out Kanab is home to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and draws dog and cat lovers galore. I’m so glad that we made this a stop on the trip!

Joellen

 

vegas: most relaxing city award?

I know it seems that every other post we talk about how we “revamped” and “really needed it;” we talk about our friends who graciously let us use laundry facilities and how we reorganized the car and how whichever city was a godsend.  It is not untrue that Seattle and LA offered us relaxation, each in their own ways (cough cough, laundry), but Vegas has been a different beast altogether.  We’ve been staying with my friend Alana and her boyfriend Steve who have offered us unlimited laundry use and cold drinks galore.  And even though we have ‘reorganized’ before, yesterday we actually got to clean out the car.  I mean, everything was out and we threw things away and vacuumed and Windex-ed and Armor All-ed and it felt so good.  But, I’m getting ahead of myself.  Let me start at the beginning of our day:

We woke up late, apu (as per usual), and had a leisurely morning before heading to the Bellagio, where both Alana and Steve work.  Alana is a stage manager for Cirque du Soleil’s O (it is amazing, you must go see it) and Steve is an acrobat in the show.  They are a pretty awesome couple.  They keep interesting hours, but manage to be more energetic than we could ever dream of being.  So, we went to the Bellagio to have lunch at a restaurant that Alana has really been wanting to try: Todd English’s Olives.  I must admit, when I first read the menu, I thought a lot of the items were tired.  But when we arrived and tasted the food, my mind quickly turned.  I had a Bellini (when in Rome…) while Joellen stuck with water and Alana had a raspberry lemonade.  We ate some bread with different olive tapenades and tried to decide on what to order for our main courses.  It took me an unusually long time, since it’s Vegas Restaurant Week and there were so many options.

Alana had the Boston Bibb Salad and the Sea Scallops, Joellen had the Portobello Flatbread and I had the Caesar Salad (with anchovy fillets) and the Sea Scallop dish as well.  Alana really enjoyed the salad and scallops and Joellen’s flatbread was delicious.  Made with fontina cheese and white truffle oil, it was aromatic, slightly salty and really well-balanced.  My salad was so tasty (it was also nice to have something fresh and green…it’s been a while…), and the anchovy added a great amount of salt and depth of flavor.  The sea scallops were absolutely fantastic.  I mean really, really stellar.  Paired with a whipped yukon gold mash, fava bean puree, roasted beets and frisee, I was floored at how well balanced the flavors were.  The beets were, in my opinion, what made the dish.  The scallops were, for the most part, seared nicely, and who wouldn’t love mashed potatoes?  And the fava bean puree was just divine.  For a restaurant I was none too excited for, Olives really delivered.  The server even remembered to get me lemons for my Diet Coke (I might have had three drinks in front of me…caffeine, alcohol, hydration; they’re all key)–hooray for nice, attentive servers (to the server from Park Grill, you could take a few notes from Olives guy).

After lunch, Joellen and I headed back to Alana’s house, but not before stopping for me to get a manicure at a wonderful 24-hour salon , having a Starbucks break (very necessary) and seeing someone get arrested…for stealing from CVS…really?!  We went back and had the massive car cleaning session, which was just so fantastic and really cathartic.

Afterwards, we got cleaned up and decided that we would again stay in; after all, we’re in Vegas!  We sat outside sipping on our respective drinks of choice, enjoying the nice change in weather, reading.  Or at least I was reading.  Joellen was doing something on her computer.  We got hungry and so we decided to eat two of the tamales that we purchased in Grants Pass at the farmer’s market.  The girl who sold them to us said that re-steaming them was the best way to enjoy them, but that a microwave would also suffice.  I decided to MacGyver a steamer using a deep skillet to simmer the water, a large metal bowl to catch the steam, and a cooling rack to hold the tamales.  I was pretty impressed with myself.  It might have taken almost an hour, but the results were delicious.  Everything a tamale should be.  Alana came home and we had another drink with her before everyone turned in for the night.

So this might not have been the Vegas experience everyone dreams of, but it was truly blissful for us.  Being in the car for the bulk of our days is pretty tiring and having a nice soft bed and a washer-dryer is all we need to make us happy.  Now on to touch multiple states at once!

❤ Amy