Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Summer has begun! Trailer Food Tuesdays are Back

Yesterday after work, Andrew & I met up at The Long Center & celebrated an ordinary Tuesday by stuffing our faces with Austin trailer food goodness, all while taking in the Austin skyline from a grassy hill & listening to Rosie & the Ramblers.  The weather was almost perfect, not too hot & a little breezy.  It was a great evening to kick off Trailer Food Tuesdays.

If you live in Austin & haven't been to Trailer Food Tuesdays, you need to get on it!  On the last Tuesday of each month from April through October you can find a variety of local food trucks, live music & all kinds of fun set on the back drop of one of the best views in town.

We sampled delectable dishes from Tapas Bravas, Gonzo, Burro Cheese Kitchen & The Peached Tortilla.  Everything we tried was delicious!



We started out with the Goat Cheese Peppers from Tapas Bravas.  If I hadn't been worried about keeping room in my tummy for other treats, I would've eaten both peppers by myself.  I loved that these peppers didn't have a lot of heat (I'm kind of a spicy wimp!) and the creamy goat cheese, honey & pine nut mixture they were filled with was a wonderful combination of sweet & savory.  



Next up, we had our first of two pork entrees, the Pig Roast Sandwich from Gonzo.  This sammy was packed with flavor...& so much moist Hawaiian pulled pork it dripped over our hands.  Usually not a bad sign in my book.  Served on Texas toast & topped with provolone, carrot slaw, brown mustard & sweet chile chipotle dressing this sandwich had a great mix of textures that kept me eating until the juicy sticky fingered end.



After a break to passers by & listen to the band, Andrew & I each took $10 & went off in different directions to see what looked good.

Andrew came back with the perfectly grilled, ooey, gooey Via 206 from Burro Cheese Kitchen.  Stuffed with aged cheddar, gouda & balsamic apricot fig jam, this sandwich was amazing & just what this cheese lover dreams about.  The sweet punch of jam with the melty goodness of the cheddar & gouda along with the just-crunchy-enough sourdough bread was heaven.



I chose to brave the long line at The Peached Tortilla.  And oh my, it was totally worth it. (As I had expected.)  I got us each a banh-mi taco & I think, just by a landslide, this was my favorite of the night. The pork was perfectly paired with cool, crunchy veggies & a slightly spicy sriracha mayo that I could probably eat by the gallon.  It was a tasty ending to our food adventure.



Want to try out Trailer Food Tuesdays for yourself?  You & your taste buds will be very happy you did.  Check out their schedule below & don't forget to visit trailerfoodtuesdays.com to see what trucks & bands will be there, as it changes for each date.

May 27, 5-9PM
June 24, 5-9PM
July 29, 5-9PM
August 26, 5-9PM
September 30, 5-9PM
October 28, 5-9PM 

Our Summer Vegetable Garden Project

One of my favorite things about summer is the fresh veggies!  Growing up on a cotton farm in west Texas, most years we had more fresh produce than we knew what to do with.  My parents often grew corn, okra, squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, watermelon & black eyed peas perfect for canning.  I miss those black eyed peas....nothing you can get in a grocery store shelf can compare.

Before we bought a house, having a garden never really crossed my mind.  I've heard of growing veggies completely out of containers, but it always seemed like a hassle.  And my thumb is no where near green.  But, after being in our home for about a year, my husband & I both decided it was time.  Time to grow some food.  Our backyard is great for spending an afternoon with a book, or grilling but not the ideal spot for plants that need sun.  

We have a bunch of giant trees that canopy most of our backyard, so we decided to create a small garden box on the side of our front yard, where there would be some shelter from wind & storms, but plenty of good 'ol sunshine.

We started with three 2 x 6 pieces of untreated cedar.


 Then we headed out to The Natural Gardener, a really fun, very 'Austin' gardening haven just outside of Austin.  We ended up picking up 6 large bags of Hill Country Garden Soil, which is great for all sorts of plants, especially veggies.  We opted to go the easy & less expensive route of 'bagging out own' dirt.  

And of course, while we were at The Natural Gardener, we picked up several organic starter plants.  We got yellow squash, zucchini, a variety of colored bell peppers, a mild variety of the Jalapeno & cantaloupe.  It should be plenty for our first try & provide us with some of our summer favorites.


Andrew started by measuring the half-way mark on one of the pieces of wood & cutting it at that mark.  He then screwed all of the (now) four pieces together to create a rectangle.



He then placed the rectangle where we wanted the garden to be & started digging up the grass to create fresh dirt.



Then, he alternated between leaves from our yard (or you could use compost) 



and the soil from the Natural Gardener, being sure to wet everything down between each layer.



He created three full layers.  After wetting down the surface one more time, we planted everything, keeping the original stakes so we would know what's what.  I do plan on creating some cute chalkboard identifiers soon.  It's only been a few days since we planted everything, but so far, everything's looking really good & I think the plants are even growing a little taller!


Tuesday, April 22, 2014

My March with Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook, Vol. 3, Austin Edition

In March, I spent the entire month making recipes from Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook, Vol. 3 Austin Edition & let me tell you, it was delicious.

I tried my hand at a refreshing Limeaid, decant French Toast, two quick & absolutely yummy dinners perfect for weeknights & soft coconutty goodness in the form of a cookie.  Getting to know Trailer Food Diaries latest cookbook was a blast & armed me with a treasure chest of new recipes from some of my favorite Austin food trailers.  I'll be coming back again & again to make my favorites & experiment with recipes that I haven't had a chance to make yet.  Homemade Ravioli may just be next on my list.



Below, you can read up on what I thought of all my March Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook dishes.  Spoiler alert: they were all simple to make, quick to prepare & most importantly tasty.


Pecan Pesto, Regal Ravioli 



Mint Limeaid, Guac N Roll



Chicken Kabobs, Wholly Kabob



Slammin' Banana French Toast, Greengo's


Big Chewy Coconut Cookies, Little Big Mike's



Monday, April 14, 2014

Package Pals (What I Got)

My March was definitely a fun one & part of that fun was participating in Package Pals, hosted by C.R.A.F.T. and Stars & Sunshine.

Package Pals is a crafty pen pal project for adults!  Through C.R.A.F.T. and Stars & Sunshine I signed up for their twice yearly Package Pals event.  Early in March, all those who signed up where paired via email with another crafter & throughout the month, you exchange notes, getting to know each other & your respective crafting styles, & at the end of the month you send your new pal a fun box of craft supplies, goodies you've made her, or a mix of both.
  
It's a great way to meet crafty friends from all over the country.  My Package Pal for March makes her home in New Jersey.  I had a blast getting to know Erika from To D.I.Y. For Daily and checking out the cute, approachable sewing, home & baking projects she has on her site.

Click here to see what I sent Erika.

Erika loaded my mailbox up with lots of goodies.  She is awesome & so talented!  I forgot to take a photo of the package before I opened it, but it was decorated with bright orange polka-dot washi tape.  It made receiving a cool package that much more special.

The first thing I noticed after I tore into the package (yes, it was a little like Christmas morning, haha) was this beautiful hand-sewn turquoise bag.  The pattern is perfect for Spring & I love that it even has a personalized tag tucked inside.  So sweet.  Turquoise is my favorite color & I've just started a new job where I park about a mile from the building I work in, so having bags to carry things I need throughout the day is essential.  The bag Erika sewed is just the right size for my iPad & keyboard, perfect for getting in a little writing at lunchtime.



Next, I found these adorable button magnets (complete with a stamped bag!)  These went right up on my fridge....after my husband stole a couple for his magnet collection at work.  I think these were Andrew's favorite. :)



I loved everything that Erika made for me, but I think my favorite were these creative dish towels.  I love that she used Frutis & Veggies as stamps & vibrant colors (she knows my love of bright shades!).  They will fit in well with my Fiestaware & turquoise kitchen walls.  I'm also really excited about these vintage style recipe cards.  The design is adorable & I love hand-writting recipes.  It reminds me of my great-grandma, who had a big tin of written recipes & magazine clippings.  There's just something so special about putting treasured recipes in your own script.



I'm so excited to use all of my crafted wares from the fabulous Erika.  And I can't wait until the next round of Package Pals! 

Package Pals (What I Sent)

How was your March?  Mine was great & a big part of that was Package Pals, hosted by C.R.A.F.T. and Stars & Sunshine.  What is Package Pals you ask?

It's a crafty pen pal project for adults!  Through C.R.A.F.T. and Stars & Sunshine I signed up for their twice yearly Package Pals event.  Early in March, all those who signed up where paired via email with another crafter & throughout the month, you exchange notes, getting to know each other & your respective crafting styles, & at the end of the month you send your new pal a fun box of craft supplies, goodies you've made her, or a mix of both.
  
It's so fun!  And a cool way to meet crafty friends from all over the country.  My Package Pal for March makes her home in New Jersey.  I had a blast getting to know Erika from To D.I.Y. For Daily and checking out the cute, approachable sewing, home & baking projects she has on her site.  You should definitely check out her site, like, right now.  Erika is awesome, a real modern day super-woman, finding time to have a blog, sew/crochet/create crafty goodness and bake all while having a super-fun sounding job in fashion and raising 3 kiddos under 6 with her husband.  Wow! Told you she was awesome.

So for my new friend Erika, I made a wreath, with some of the colors she had talked about using as inspiration, and hopefully sunny enough to ward away some of the cold days that New Jersey has been experiencing lately.



I love the way the grapevine wreath turned out.  I used a deep blue yarn, as a throwback to Erika's love of crocheting and then added some whimsical flowers found from Michaels to add a pretty Spring touch.  And since no warm welcome is complete without a hearty hello, I painted a small turquoise plaque and adorned it with a glittery Hi.



I also packed in some fun new crafting supplies that I hope Erika has fun with.  I almost kept these myself, everything I found was so cute.  But starting from the left, I included some pastel easter mustache stickers for the kids (or adults!), felted hearts, mason jars toppers in cute patterns that can be personalized, some Martha Stewart love in the form of these pretty paper flower stickers, washi tape in sewing designs, and because I thought she needed a taste of the south, some rope ribbon & a vintage-feeling Texas magnet.


I hope that Erika has fun with all of her new crafting goodies!  Click here to see what she gave me!