Bittersweet: Flowers

Texas Dining: Chez Roux

The last week in July I went to a conference in Montgomery, Texas, on Lake Conroe. I haven't been to this area of Texas many times, mainly because it's near Houston, and not Austin or San Antonio. Along the Interstate 45 drive, there are few stops worth making, and I'd argue there aren't any to my knowledge. Some folks would argue that Buc-ee's the infamous (glorified?) gas station is worth stopping by. Not in my mind. Also, we stopped at a Texas Burger to have a bite, and I wasn't thrilled with the result.

There's a shining star in this story, however. During our trip, we ate at Chez Roux, which houses a Michelin-stared chef. Their Web site states that Chez Roux "was created by Chef Albert Roux, a revered name in the international restaurant world. Chez Roux is his first-ever American establishment and offers a contemporary French menu with heavy emphasis on local and fresh products. Chef Roux and Executive Chef Gray bring their exceptional cuisine to La Torretta Lake Resort & Spa." Sounds fabulous. And it was!

Here are some photos of my food, eaten next to a wall of windows, lakeside, while the sun was setting.

Petite Fours, served with coffee.

Rooster motif. (Pardon the side view.)

My Dish

My dinner was a green salad, dressed simply; green peppercorn-glazed duck with asparagus, cheddar polenta cake and roasted peach; a malbec; and a plate of petite fours with strong coffee. Delicious!

Food Trucking in Dallas

Austin has always been cool. To me at least. Austin has a lot going for it - nature, outdoorsy activities, unique shopping, and FOOD. In the past 10 years, Austin has been collecting and growing it's food truck scene, as have other large, 'cool' cities in the United States. Dallas is just now catching up. Within the last 6 months Dallas has adopted an ordinance allowing for mobile food units, aka Food Trucks. Go Dallas! It's about time.

Originally I heard about this news on Twitter. I came across a food truck reporting twitter feed, and the rest was history. Original Source: @BigDFoodTrucks
D Magazine is trying to catch up. End of story.

First Round
Il Cane Rosso "Food Truck" - Wood-oven grilled pizzas
I'm not sure who first tweeted about this "food truck," but it is definitely a "Portable Oven." It even says that on the Il Cane Rosso's Web site. So, that's was a letdown when we arrive on a weeknight to the Sigel's parking lot on Greenville. They were parked outside under the awning of the liquor and spirits store. We were told by the oven workers to go inside for a quick wine tasting, then peruse their menu before ordering. Once inside, the wine tasting folk told us they only had 4 dough balls left, and could only make that many more pizzas. With no wine in hand, we rushed back to the cash register to order a pizza quickly. Once we ordered, we started making conversation with the Pizza Maker and Manager. I said I was thrilled to come try the pizza and didn't know it existed before hearing about them on Twitter. The pizza maker asked if we wanted the dough recipe. We said sure. He said, "It's water, flour, salt and yeast," or something to that effect. I replied that's how pizza doughs are usually made, but I'd need the proportions in order to make it correctly. He said "yeah right" and went on making our pizza. Attitude much?
We went back inside to get away from Tacky the Pizza Maker, and looked over the selection of pear and raspberry liqueurs. I looked up after a while and the Oven Manager was holding up my pizza and shaking it towards us. No one came in to let us know it was ready. So after being told to go in, quickly pay, harassed about dough, etc., I was finished with Il Cane Rosso. Maybe I insulted them by saying I'd never heard of them, but that was no cause for rudeness. Plus, the pizza was overpriced and nothing fantastic.
Result:
Customer Service: 2
Taste of Pizza: 6
Price: 3

Stay tuned for the next Food Truck I try!

Change.

“Sunrise” by Georgia O’Keefe


"Change means that what was before wasn't perfect. People want things to be better."
Esther Dyson

Things are changing. We are changing. We should be honest with ourselves and know when something needs to change. But that is hard. Hurtful. Tearful. But it's necessary to move on, and live life.

I'd say live and let live.
Somethings are worth saving.

Denton Dining

Admittedly, I work in Denton quite often, so I am forced/allowed to eat lunch there. Since I've had this job (almost a year!), I've eaten at the good, somewhat bad and a little icky in Denton.

Good:
Love Shack
I Love Sushi

Somewhat Bad:
El Guapo's (How can you compete with Rosa's?!)
Greenhouse
The Cupboard

Icky:
shall remain nameless

This post is dedicated to the winner of all food competitions for Denton dining: Chef Tim Love's Love Shack. Now, this has nothing to do with the fact that I have a Chef Crush on Tim Love, or the fact that I respect his decision for building a fab restaurant in his hometown. Never forgot his roots. Tugs on the heartstrings, huh?

No, this is about the snap of the perfectly grilled hot dog that was sliced in half then topped with Love Sauce (similar to special sauce but more Chefy). This is about the hamburgers topped with a fried quail egg, dubbed Dirty Love style. Melt.

I've had food from the Love Shack twice now, and each experience builds on the previous one. Such a great place!

I hope to continue finding great lunch spots, and bolster my love for Denton dining.

Dallas Dining

Lately Michael and I have tried a few 'tried and true' Dallas restautants. I'm only going to share one review with you, readers, mainly because I am lazy. :)

Campisi's
On Saturday Michael and I decided to treat ourselves by going our to lunch. We chose to go to the original Campisi's on Mockingbird. For some reason, it's called the Egyptian House, or something similar, even though it has not a scratch of Egyptian food on the menu. That was lost on me.
We ordered the famous garlic bread, small dinner salads, a salami and mushroom pizza, and the combination pasta plate.
I'll make this short and sweet: It was mostly terrible. Everything seemed old, canned or not in the least bit fresh. The garlic bread was the only saving grace, with all of it's garlicly goodness.

Thoughts? Concurrences? Stories of your own?

Our waiter was very nice and unobtrusive. He received a good tip, but we'd rather not have paid for the food.

Suggestions on good italian food elsewhere? I am a fan of Villa-O, but I don't think it's a Saturday-for-lunch-type place.

Whoa, July?

It's apparently July. I'm not quite sure how that happened, but it did.

Time has been precious this past month and a half, mostly due to TWO federal grant applications at work, family, traveling and making life plans. While all of this seems very grand, it's actually very tiring.

With that being said, I will try to keep things updated around here a little better than I have before. Thus, the next few posts.

Enjoy!

Nose to the Grindstone - In Other Words, "Happy June!"

June has been the month of insanity. From applying for federal grants to cramming in work before going on vacation, June has been jam-packed.

I thought the summer would bring a break, but no such thing has happened.

My blog has been horribly neglected, but I hope to pick things back up after going to Las Vegas next week! Michael will be there for a conference, and Jamie, Mom and Dad and I (me?) are tagging along. It should be a good getaway, with hopefully tons of winnings. And awesome food. Ahh, the food.

More soon! Stay cool!
(This library is most certainly NOT cool. I need to find another hiding place that isn't 80 degrees.)

Pickles!

This past weekend I made spicy homemade pickles, based loosely off a family recipe my mother-in-law gave me. Her recipe was for bread-and-butter pickles, which aren't a favorite of mine. I prefer spicy or dill pickles, and I combined the two into my recipe.

I can't taste them until 8 days from now (pickling time is 10 days from jarring), so I'll have to let you know if it was a best or bust!

Here's how they look:


I added fresh dill, several chile de arbols, black whole peppercorns to the usual pickling recipe of vinegar and sugar. I also added several of my favorite spices.

Results soon!

Check Up & Granola

A few weeks ago I posted a small list, and I think it's about time to check up on my progress!

1. Blog More (At least 6 times before the month is through.)(DONE)
2. Call my Sister & Mom (I need to check up on them more often.) (MAKING PROGRESS)
3. Go to the gym or spin class every week. (Both.) (MAKING SOME PROGRESS)
4. Return Andrea's message on Facebook. (DONE)
5. Utilize my pantry for this month's dinners. (So many rices, quinoas and lentils!) (MAKING PROGRESS)

I'm beginning to blog more, but I feel like most of my posts are frivolous. I'm good on quantity, but not exactly quality. That's my new goal.

Finally, I've been taking a hard look at my pantry, and am trying to use some forgotten ingredients. A few weeks ago I made a lentil dish, and I've been incorporating rices into many meals. Today, I made a cinnamon almond granola with the old-fashioned oats and agave nectar that I had sitting in the pantry.


The result is fabulous! Also, I was able to utilize an ingredient that I've never used before: wheat germ. I've heard of it, but never really used it. It's similar in texture to bread crumbs or steel-cut oats. It tastes nutty. A great addition to crunchy granola.