Firebowl Cafe

A couple weekends ago, we took Kimchi and Ramona to Firebowl Cafe for dinner.  Colby and I used to eat there all the time when we lived in north Austin, and now occasionally go back when we're in the area. Colby's brother, Dustin, moved into our old apartment complex right after Ramona was born, so we found ourselves in the area.  I've never really blogged about the food there because I categorize it as slightly-fancier-than-McDonalds food that we eat when we don't feel like cooking.  What was spectacular, however, was the combination of natural light and the food setting on my DSLR and the resulting photos.  At least, these may be the best food photos that I've ever taken.

Kimchi chilling with Uncle Dustin

beef bulgogi -  $8.25

crab rangoons (aka my excuse to eat a ton of mae ploy sweet chili sauce) - $5.25

Friday Rituals

For the past month or so, Colby, Ramona, and I have been going to Central Market every Friday for dinner and grocery shopping.  It's sort of silly, I guess, but I get super excited about it.  It gets me out of the house, I don't have to deal with cooking and cleaning, and I've always loved grocery shopping.

Steak salad

My dad and his wife, Denice, visited us this past week and left on Thursday.  We had a really nice time, but ended the week devoid of groceries.  Thus, Colby, Ramona, and I went on our usual Friday outing and had a nice dinner.  Their steak salad is always a favorite and their specials usually merit consideration.  Seeing that we went grocery shopping too, it's probably time for a weekly menu.

California Cobb Pizza 

Saturday

grilled chicken and zucchini 

Sunday

beef bourguinon with potatoes

Monday

Fish tacos with Asian slaw and green rice

Tuesday

Bavarian Sausage and balsamic roasted brussels sprouts

Wednesday

tuna melts with sauteed broccoli

Thurdsay

bacon and spinach quiche with salad

Friday

Back to our usual haunt.

Sambal Green Beans

I haven't done much in the way of creative cooking in the kitchen for a really long time.  Mostly, it's been tried and true dishes that I found to be easy to throw together and quick to cook.  This was thrown together in about 10 minutes from inception to table.

1/2 lb green beans, cut in half
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 t salt
2 t sambal
1 t honey
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4-1/2 t sesame oil

Heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add in green beans and salt.  Cook for a few minutes, or until tender-crisp.  Add in the sambal and honey and stir until it evenly coats the green beans.  Add in garlic and stir until fragrant.  Remove from heat and drizzle with sesame oil.

You can increase the amount of sambal to taste, depending on how hot you like your beans.

6-0.

It's one of those milestone birthdays, you know?  It's not nearly as big an ado as 50, but it's a decade and decades are still significant.  From what I've been told, my mom always hated her birthday because it was a sign that she was older.  I think, though, that this year she would have been much happier because right before she turned 60, her first grandchild was born.  Years that end in 2 have always been significant to me.  My grandma was born in 1922 and will be turning 90 in May.  My mom was born in 1952 and my parents got married in 1982.  And now there's Ramona.

So happy birthday, Mom.  Our gift is this picture and a promise that we'll never forget your birthday.  We wish you could have been here to enjoy it.

Love,

Julie and Ramona

Austin Terrier

At some point in December, we brought our Boston Terrier to Austin Terrier.  It turns out that they had mostly closed the outdoor seating because it was "winter" and it was about to start raining (seriously snow = winter, rain = not winter), but they were totally accommodating.  In all, the food was pretty good, though I was hampered by pregnancy (again!), so it definitely deserves another try when I can eat things like soft cheeses that aren't heated.  Plus the decor is totally cute.

trio of fries: sweet potato, truffle oil+parmesan, and paprika+mustard - $5.95

Buffy on wheat - $7.95

side of slaw

Travis Pie: pesto pizza with chicken, feta, red onions, and basil - $8.95

my personal Austin terrier

Introducing... Sticky Baby Hands

I have a food blog.  You know this because you've, presumably, read this blog before.  It's about something that I find endlessly interesting and enjoyable.  And yet, lately, when I sit down to write about my latest restaurant review or a even a simply meal plan for the week, I find myself stuck.  It's not that I don't have anything to say, it's just that my thoughts revolve around this little one.

For the past six weeks, my world has been turned upside down.  I spend my days and nights breastfeeding and changing diapers and rocking and snuggling.  Some parts have been awesome and other parts have been horrifying.

less fun.

Food has taken a much smaller role in my life and it's reverting into mere nutrition (or lackthereof. *ahem*) from its place as entertainment.  I vowed not to turn my food blog into a mommy blog and so my solution is to start another blog.  Introducing Sticky Baby Hands, where I chronicle my time with Ramona and all things mommyhood-related that just don't belong here, because I'm guessing that most of my readers here just don't care about what the best kind of disposable nursing pad is out there.

6 for 4

I love when Cupprimo has sales.

Week 5: A Menu

I can't believe that it's already April.  I know that people are wont to say that at the beginning of every month, but March 2012 is one month that both flew by and dragged on.  I blame the sleep deprivation.  March was a month where we were all getting our bearings and trying to figure out the best way to proceed, from breastfeeding, to sleeping, to trying to find some semblance of our new normal.  We have survived.  Now that it's April, it's time to go beyond mere survival and begin to thrive.  Yesterday I baked something for the first time in months.  They were only so-so tasting chocolate muffins that I didn't eat because I don't like chocolate, but the act of making something edible that was slightly more complicated than frying an egg felt wonderful.

It's time for us to reclaim our kitchen and stop eating so many carry-out dinners.  I have a (very small) cache of food in the freezer that will help us use the kitchen and eat things that aren't completely nutritionally bankrupt.  And I totally concede that I'm not above getting things that aren't as from-scratch as before.  Thank you, Central Market's prepped food section.  Here's what our menu looks like for this week.

The freezer is our path to independence

Monday
grilled chipotle lime flank steak, grilled asparagus, polenta - the flank steak is from Central Market and prepped and the polenta is from a tube.  baby steps, damnit.

Tuesday
food tree dinner - the wonderful Melanie of My Rubberbandball and more set up an AFBA food tree for us.  So far, we've had two dinners delivered to us and it's been great.  the first meal came the night my in laws left, so the timing couldn't have been better.

Wednesday
beef bourguignon - This is another prepped meal from Central Market.

Thursday
salad with grilled chicken and whatever odds and ends I find in the refrigerator

Friday
wild card - this will either consist of leftovers or ordering in, depending on how much we go through this week.