Austin ModHouse

Honk! TX winter FUN!raiser at Spider House Ballroom: 

We stepped into the Spider House before the event.  I've been wanting to visit this place for more than a decade, I loved it!  We walked in to be greeted with Galaxie 500 playing on the house stereo!  Ceremony!  and they have a fantastic selection of draft beers. 

Then we stepped next door to the Spider House Ballroom....

It's a fun place.  We approve.

DOMINGO! 

the Yes Ma'am Brass band played.

The Minor Mishap Marching Band performed

We didn't stay to see the last two bands.  Kat did manage to rack a few more wins from the Silent Auction fund raiser for HONK! TX. 

Posted by paul at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another big FREEZE came to town.  This time it brought sleet and ice. 

I noticed kat had started hoarding old dog food bags.  Now, their true potential has been revealed.  She used the bags to assemble cold weather shelters for her precious citrus trees. 

Every couple years, they suffer a deep freeze and it really gets her down.  This year she planned ahead. custom fit tree shelters!  I hope we get a lime this year... 

The cold and sleet didn't stop us from getting the kids to Cotillion.

The daughter won first prize in the Junior Assembly Dance contest.  I don't have pics as I've been taking #1 son and my Mother has been escorting the daughter, different dances/times.

Yes, I've got some food pics from this week:

We enjoyed a Happy Hour at FINO.  The drink on the left is a Spanish Bargain with God, Kat enjoyed a glass of Cava.  The kitchen sent us an amuse bouche, two spoons of Provencal soup.

This small plate had some of Kat's favorite things, pork belly and octopus. 

Here's a tip for you, Check-In via Yelp app and you can get one free small plate.  Kat was happy to get the blistered shisito peppers using her check in.

Sullivan's Steakhouse:

The dining room at Sullivan's is nice, and we got to sit near the kitchen. 

I like to see the food in process. 

I knew ahead of time what I wanted, the crab cake!  Although it didn't live up to the cake part, it was delicous.  It was more of a crab pile.  With no real bread or mayonaise, just lots of jumbo lump!  I'm OK with that.  This is served as an appetizer.

We went in with the $39 Prix Fixe in mind, but we somehow changed lanes. We landed a $52 bone in beef tenderloin (no sides included at that price).  It was good, and at 10 oz (not counting the bone) it was big enough for us to share.  It was WELL seasoned and had a lovely crust on it.  They offered us a sauce to go along with it, the garlic gorgonzola butter was way TOO salty to use. 

So, we tried their "bone-in tenderloin" and it was good, but I think next time we'll stick with the $39 prix fixe.

Posted by paul at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The first of two official Pre Parties for Carnaval Brasileiro with the Austin Samba School.

We found the drums and dancers warming up back stage.  There was spontaneous shakin' goin on all over the place!

Yeah, these girls love to dance.  Then, they all lined up and filed out towards the stage. 

The tiny stage couldn't hold them all, they shuffled on/off in groups. The drums never stop, the dancers never stop.

I managed to jump in for a quick pic.  What else would you expect from me?

Then, Kat started Dancing! 

Follow the hat...

Even he seemed surprised when she threw it down for some impromptu hat dancing. 

Then they all filed backstage again, we followed.  That is where the real party was!

Less organization, just drums everywhere and dancing all over the room.  That was fun!

First Video below is when they all filed out to the stage.  Second is the party in the back room after the main event on stage. 

Posted by paul at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cotillion 2014: 

I hate being late.  but we made it on time!

Dance parties are best done with friends. 

Happy Hours...

Kat and I finally made it to Eddie V's Seafood for Happy Hour.  It's widely regarded as one of the best in town and the crowd there competing for a place to sit did reflect that. 

Oysters are just $1 each. 

The calamari was really good and the portion HUGE.  Crabcake (in the back) was also HUGE but I didn't care for it.  It tasted too much like mayonaise to me. 

The Fried Oysters are also worth the trip to Eddie V.'s Happy Hour. 

The winter weather has a hint of summer.  Kat opened up the doors off the master bath and cranked up some New Order.  I caught her dancing while #2 son enjoyed a bath.

Then we went downtown (only 5 miles from home) and did a bit of window shopping and enjoyed HH at TRACE.

According to Yelp, Kat and I are the Duke and Dutchess of TRACE!  We like it there, so we'll take it.  I'm also banking Starwood points with each visit! 

We ordred one of everything off the HH menu, $5 per item.  These Empanadas with spicy chimichurri were really delicious. 

#1 son also had a bowl of their delicious chicken noodle soup, (not from the HH menu).

sealed the deal with some freshly made donuts and a trio of dipping sauces. 

But, one of the best meals we had this week was at home.  I made a Salmon Confit.  That is just another way to say salmon that’s been salt cured, then poached in fat.  I did it in the sous vide at 50C for 30 minutes in olive oil, some herbs and also just a bit of bacon fat.  It was good and I'll be doing this again.

big sigh of relief!  #1 son is done with his school science project that he worked on over the summer.  Summer in Texas is HOT.  TOO HOT for tomatoes to fruit (yes, a tomato is a fruit, NOT a vegetable).  BUT, if you really want to grow the best tasting tomatoes through the summer, you might have decent results with the Yellow Pear Tomato.  The best time to start them from seed is about now or soon. 

This was waiting for us by the front door when we returned from Happy Hour last night...  As frightening as this posture may appear, it was no match for the swift action of my boot. 

Posted by paul at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With warm winter weather in town for the weekend, we ran down to Wimberley to clean up our cabin.  We'd sort of been avoiding the place (long story, don't ask).  The boys enjoyed some time on the tire swing while we mopped the floors and shoveled mud.  A record rainfall (17 inches) had caused a real mess.  It's all clean now.  We might start going down regularly again...  it's time to move forward. 

I cleaned the screen room Sunday for dinner at home.  We enjoyed red wines from Napa ('08, '07 and '07).  Good Juice!

I made Susan Spicer's garlic soup.  It's a great winter weather dish that is easy to make, but not so pretty.  I added a spoon of parsley herbed ricotta (green swirl in the middle of the gravy looking soup)

I also made celery root au gratin.  Only two weeks into the new year and I've used up all my Pecorino and Scharfe Maxx. 

The evening was just cool enough for us to gather around the fire after eating. 

Then the headcrab showed up.  #GordonFreeman

Kat and I also redeemed a "Amazon Local" deal.  We enjoyed a ridiculous amount of food on a prix fix meal at Flour and Vine.  Kat was really impressed by the enourmous Parmasean crisp taco shell that contained the caesar salad.  #1 son should come with us next time, he LOVES Caesar Salad.  The redfish main course was delicious.  I didn't really care for the wine, it was way overpriced for what it was. 

My usual complaint with Prix Fix meals, the dessert course.  The waitress suggested the chocolate cake was "shareable".  I now understand that to imply it's way too big for one human to consume.  For us, we could barley eat half.  I broke my rule of no sweets (especially chocolate) in the evening and I was rewarded with insomnia. 

Posted by paul at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I feel like a lame-ass for not making it to this show sooner.  It's close to home and it happens every Friday night 7-9PM. 

BIG

the room is small and the sound was pretty good.  What more could you want from easy Friday night entertainment?

BIG

Wild Bill and the Lost Knobs is a good time, the show is part comedy and good music.  They even provided us with cake and green deviled eggs.  As if this wasn't enough, it's also Happy Hour.  I know, it defies all previous HH logic; Happy Hour is from 7-9PM at flips.  There is no cover and since this is a coffee shop, it's all ages. 

BIG

There is a tip jar to show your support and appreciation for the musicians, they need to eat too.

Posted by paul at 09:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I had this recording I'd made on my iphone.  #1 son was practicing for his guitar recital with his instructor, Tony Redman.  I thought the pracitce sounded better than the actual performance.  So I set the recording to some video, #1 son on lead guitar...

Posted by paul at 02:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While we traditionally stay home and go to bed early each New Year's Eve, we strayed from that this year.... 

We had some friends that live near over for dinner, and we did consume some Champagne, oysters and...  and, we had a "Tiger On a Gold Leash".

BIG

We had a fun variety of foods cooked in both the hot-pot and on the salt plate.

Selections of Rolf Beeler imported Alpine cheese also made the rounds. 

later that night, I noticed my NYr's Eve jacket matched the bathroom tile...

2014, the first day... it wasn't easy, but we'd already RSVP'd to two parties. 

We always enjoy Susannah and Baird's house. 

They have a nice collection of oddities interesting items.

I had a conversation with the future me, or the past somebody for sure. 

Many vintage medical devices and old baby doll heads complete the motif. 

The next party at Darla's: more Champange?  sure, let's do it again.

I heard the final dead bubble soldier count was 48 for this party.  2014 rolled in with a BANG!

CHEERS!

Posted by paul at 01:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)