FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Urban Farm Bike Tour

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What a day!  Seven of us gathered at the SFC Farmer’s Market at Republic Square this morning to begin Edible Austin’s Urban Farm Bike Tour.  We began our adventure by hopping on the super scenic Town Lake Trail, which took us over to the East Side.

Our first stop was the Hope Farmer’s Market where we were greeted with piping hot baked oatmeal.  None of us had eaten breakfast, so this oatmeal totally hit the spot.  We chatted, put together a game plan, and were quickly on our way.

Next we headed to our first farm of the day, the Hope Community Farm.

In addition to picking up some snacks and coffee, we were able to see the community farm in action.

By this point, Lauren, Anna, and I decided that were had no intention of being as ambitious as the rest of our group and opted to be the ladies of leisurely riding.  We let the rest of our group ride ahead as we peddled close enough together that we could continue the conversation between stops.

From there, we made our way to Boggy Creek Farm

Boggy Creek Farm was completely beautiful and, in my opinion, had the best food overall.

Butternut squash panna cotta with a perfectly placed fall-fallen leaf.

And a spicy black bean empanada.

And then we were off to HausBar Farm, where kale was a plenty.

HausBar also had a ton of animals: chickens, baby bunnies, donkeys.  It was random and adorable.

Our first bite at HausBar was shitake, bison, and barley soup.  And I have to tell ya, I had a tough time stomaching meat while looking at baby bunnies.  Looking at animals while eating animal is not. my. thing.

We shifted gears quickly by sampling the butternut squash ice cream, which was uniquely delicious and had a wonderful spice.

And then we headed to our last stop (everyone else continued to another farm), Springdale Farm.  I discovered this place when I attended the Austin Food Blogger Alliance Potluck where we shot the bulk of the photos that will be in the AFBA cookbook.  I was excited for Anna and Lauren to see the place that I had raved about weeks earlier.

After all of that touring, we were pooped.  Thankfully my office-basket-turned-bike-basket was large enough to hold all of my belongings so I could dump my stuff in there and head home to Yellow Jacket Social Club and have Lauren’s Matt scoop us up and take me back to my place.

Overall, this tour made for such a wonderful Saturday.  It’s days like today, events like the farm tour, and friends like my peddling pals that make me so happy to call this place home!

November #FoodiePenpal

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At the risk of sounding painfully redundant, where has this year gone??  How has Thanksgiving already passed?  How have I been in Austin for 10 months?  And how, oh how, is this already my third month being a Foodie Penpal?

It’s seriously beyond me.

This month I received a package from Amber, who sent me a Trader Joe’s themed package.  And since Austin is sans TJs at the moment, this package was welcomed with open arms.  The box was also full of salty/sweet goodness which is totally the key to my heart.

I can’t wait to bake something sinful with the gingerbread baking mix and sweet & spicy pecans.  Amber mentioned that she was going to attempt a sweet/spicy pecan pie and I have every intention of doing the same.  In the meantime, I’ll be snacking on apples, a cherry pie Larabar, and the super delicious S&P dark chocolate (that I’ve already broken into).

Thank you Amber for this box of goodness!!

Because You Know Better

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There are just some things you shouldn’t do because you know better.  Like…  Spend a decent amount of dollars on scallops at Whole Foods when you have cold and can’t taste a darn thing.  Or experiment with your new favorite spices from Savory Spice Shop on your decently dollar-ed scallops when you can’t taste a darn thing.  It makes the whole sick thing just a tad bit more of a bummer.

I distracted myself by dusting off my 100mm lens and getting severely close to my food.  Those who can’t taste, take pictures?

I thought for a while that I jumped the gun on the 100mm and should have started with the 50mm (that I keep on my camera 95% of the time).  But I re-fell-in-love with the macro tonight, just in time for a photo-filled weekend in Austin!