FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Lake Austin: Dam To Dam

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Lake Austin 2013

Perhaps it has something to do with my upcoming birthday (30!),  a couple months of ehh sleeping, or it being ages since Tut and I went on an adventure, but today… was exactly what I needed.  I headed up to the lake for some super strong coffee and then we hopped on the lake house’s newest addition: “Tom the neighbor’s” boat.  Like most of our adventures, I had no idea where Tut was taking me.  We ended up on a successful three hour tour, going from the Tom Miller Dam to the Mansfield Dam.  We cruised  beneath the 360 bridge (twice), smiled at all of our boating neighbors, explored some hidden canals, and spotted a celebrity house (or four).

And for curious eyes, a video of our dam to dam trip to the tune of “Secret Meeting” by The National.

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Fourth Recap

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Hope everyone had a wonderful ‘Merica day!  My day got off to a super slow start, but I woke up knowing I had to pull it together to wear my 4th of July bathing suit, drink some American beer, and most importantly…  Test out Dickie Boards!!!

Ever since I moved to Austin in February, I’ve heard Dickie (pictured above) talking about his new paddle board company.  I had a mini idea what they’d be like, but didn’t know entirely what to expect.

At first glance, I was already excited!  Aesthetically, they were nicer than any board I had ever seen.  Bamboo boards and paddles with color coordinated grips and rims?  Dickie Boards are sharp!  But the best part was the ride.  They are shorter and thinner than the boards I’m used to, which meant you had a ton more control of the board.  I loved using my core and slight bends in my knees to weave through boat traffic rather than back paddling like an Austin Powers champ.  I can’t wait to ride these boards all summer!

Congrats and thank you, Dickie!!!

Feed Those Boys

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Since my first trip to Wade’s lake house, the majority of my weekends involve his place in some fashion.  Swimming, porch hanging, grilling, vegetable planting, guitar playing, ridiculous song singing – it’s the best of times among the best of company.  Seriously, the best.

And to show my appreciation for including me in all the goodness, I try to always bring something totally homemade and completely yummy for the boys to munch on.  This also gives me the opportunity to be the baker I love to be without consuming ridiculous amounts of baked goods myself.  A winning situation if I ever saw one!

A few weeks ago, I asked Wade for dessert requests.  He said lemon meringue pie.  I said easy.  He said really?  I said oh yeah, I’ve got this!

You see, I‘ve been making lemon meringue pie, crust and all, since I was a wee one.  I still believed in Santa but could bake a mean pie.  True story.

I whipped it all up and headed slowly to the lake, aware of even the smallest of turns, bumps, and hills.  I may have added an extra ten minutes to my journey, but the pie arrived in perfect condition, which completely validated my overly-cautious behavior.

Thanks a million Wade for another perfect day!

Lake Goodness

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Jenny and I spent all day at the lake yesterday and had an absolute blast!  We hitched a ride back to downtown with a friend and fell asleep right away.  When we woke we were both craving some brunch action, so we texted Elisa and were on our way to Blue Dahlia in no time.

Right as we put our name on the list, the heavens opened up and it started pouring.  Unfortunately, this doubled our wait time since the patio was no longer an option.  Fortunately, we could slurp on coffee while we waited.

The soup of the day was cauliflower leek, which exceeded my super high expectations.  It had the perfect amount of flavor and creaminess and I’m a little sad knowing that this soup won’t be available all the time.

I also ordered the hummus and taboule plate.  The taboule was different than I expected (barely any parsley), but still pretty tasty.  The rest of the platter was s0-so.  Hummus needs pita, or veggies, or almost anything but thick, dense slices of bread.  I wasn’t a fan.

After brunch, Jenny and I headed back to the lake to meet up with the boys.  We hopped on paddle boards and continued the fun that we left late last night.  We both agreed that this group is the best around and can’t wait for the work-weeks to pass so the weekends can be filled with more lake goodness!