GourmandeMom™

Saving a Farm - with the help of cocktails: Springdale Farm Aid

As we had no Outstanding in the Field extravaganza planned for this year, Mollie picked this event to tide us over--and it was a great one for a good local cause: saving Austin's Springdale Farm.

Urban farms are charming, important, and an important part of Austin's culinary landscape.  But regulations abound, and the cost of compliance is killing the real work of maintaining this farm.  So Austin's food community rallied in a big way on Sunday September 28 for a fundraiser to help save Springdale Farm.  

For only $50 - a deal considering many of the food events Austin offers - we got exquisite cocktails (I vowed to stick to wine only, but then we tried what Cointreau was serving up) and samples of edibles from a veritable Who's Who of great Austin eateries. And we got vintage furniture seating areas, and music, and some Farm Games (Chicken "Poop" Bingo).  Given the really big crowd - and this is just a small part of it pictured below - I hope we made a substantial dent into the financial matter of saving Springdale Farm.

I lost my posse early on in the event, practically right out of the gate, because I paused a long time here at the table with the offerings from the Driskill Hotel.  I just cannot say no to anything involving roasted corn.  So I said yes to two of those little plates.

And all that was mixed in with some finely blistered shishito peppers.

Smart planning that the organizers had all those food offerings right up front. This allowed for something solid on the tummy to absorb the potent offerings over at the cocktail stands.  Many local favorites there representing the cocktail scene (e.g., Tipsy Texan):

There were wine offerings as well, from another local favorite: Austin Wine Merchant. Reminds me I need to stock up on Belle de Brillet over there for holiday parties. 

Have never seen a more beautiful or more herbal gin and tonic than the one we sampled from here.  A few sips were plenty.  Those things were powerful.

Then it was time to figure out what that really long line was all about: it was Sonya Cote holding court over some pig and pig fixins.  We asked what this offering of hers was called.  She told us it was a "Pig Bar."  Like a Bloody Mary bar, with the garnishes and all, but here the main event was a pig that had been grilled out over a large open grill right there.

A+ for the styling here: roasted lemons, thinly sliced apples tossed in a very light dressing, carrots in a like manner, without the creamy coating -- all served on a silver tray.  

Here we saw up close some of the beautiful bounty of the farm: these eggplants (everyone was using produce from the farm in their offerings).

The Hightower turned these eggplants into this elegant offering, with crème fraiche and tomato gastrique.  Yes, that beautiful pear-shaped item is in fact a very firm and tasty thin slice of this eggplant.

It was a fine afternoon, if a tad humid.  

Many thanks to my friends for hanging out on a bench while I waited close to 30 minutes for that Cointreau cocktail.  More on that later.  

But most of all, many thanks to the many chefs who donated a lot of time and a lot of fantastic food to this most excellent cause.  

Urban Roots Austin Hosts (Another Great) Outstanding in the Field (a lesson in eating all your vegetables)

My new Greenling #LocalBox arrived--though I'm not done with the sweet potatoes from 2 weeks ago yet--but because of the recent consciousness-raising dinner via Outstanding in the Field, held this year out at Austin's Urban Roots, I'll be darned if I throw away any of these unconsumed veggies. I will--repeat--I will figure out an efficient way for my tiny family of two (2) to consume all of those sweet potatoes.

Outstanding in the Field is dedicated to hosting "Farm Dinners' In gorgeous settings, with local chefs and local local produce, thus connecting dining folk to the land, and making us think thrice about where food comes from and the people who are out working hard, in a field, to get it to us.  Like last year, I came away from this year's farm dinner recommitted to sustainability, emotionally and financially.

One other great place connecting people to the land is Urban Roots, an urban farm out at 7651 Delwau Lane.   The web site says this about their unique non-profit mission:  

Urban Roots uses sustainable agriculture to transform the lives of young people and increase access to healthy food in Austin. Founded in 2007 as a program of YouthLaunch, Urban Roots has transitioned to become an independent non-profit agency in the fall of 2011.

Urban Roots provides paid internships to Austin youth, age 14-17, to work on our 3.5 acre urban sustainable farm in East Austin.  Each year, we have a goal of growing 30,000 pounds of produce with the Urban Roots community of youth, community volunteers, and staff.  We donate 40% of our harvest to local soup kitchens and food pantries and sell the other 60% at farmers’ markets, through our Community Supported Agriculture Program, and wholesale.

After an array of passed appetizers (the homemade pretzel bread sticks and spicy cayenne-flecked mustard being our favorite) we got a tour of the farm. We heard young Joe here talk about his many hot days in the field.  We learned how they decide what to plant, what makes the most money, what life lessons the kids learn from getting out there and living la vida agricultural.  Most interesting factoid: okra is a pain in the butt to harvest.   I still have fresh okra in my fridge from the Greenling #LocalBox a while back.  Now I think to myself: "I don't care how much I do not feel like making gumbo: if Joe can work hard out there in the field to harvest okra, well, by golly, I will consume it."  

There's Joe, one of the young promising leaders of the kids out at Urban Roots, in the Urban Roots t-shirt.  We asked him if there were other programs like this one anywhere else in the US.  He said yes.  In NOLA, they have a "youth farm" program called "Grow Dat." 

Here's part of the group making its way through a field.  

I did the tour armed with my second glass of a cold lager.  Oh, what was it called: it was this:  a pale lager, "The One They Call Zoe."  Crazy about this stuff. They describe it as "based on pale and vienna malts, light to golden in color with a beautiful white layer of foam that rests atop the beer, constantly delivering floral and citrus dry hop aromatics with every sip."  

I thought, back then, early in the day: "With beer (lager, whatever) this good, and served in a wine glass no less, who needs wine?"  There was plenty of wine later on. And apparently I did need some of it. 

The next star of the show for me, after that cold lager, was the bread. 

Mark was manning the bread oven.  There will soon be this fine array of bread available for everyone else, so I seem to recall hearing, as part of the grand opening of Odd Duck at its brick and mortar reincarnation.  

One last look at The Table, in its lovely setting, before we all would descend upon it. 

As the tour was over, and we were summoned to head over to the table, I was delighted to see placed on the table, on each of the tables joined together, Mark's bread.  

We settled in.  All that walking around in a field drinking a nice cold lager can really make you work up an appetite.   We polished off our loaf of bread in about 32 seconds, along with the plate of sultry salty butter.  For the next 1.8 hours, I would glance every now and then at the group of people at the table next to us.  

"Why do they have bread left?  Who doesn't finish the bread?  How could you stop yourself from eating this bread?  Who ARE these people?"  

I composed myself.  I forced myself to look away from their half loaf of crusty bread, sitting there, alone, ignored, unloved, on the table next to me.

A beautiful large platter of our first course arrived.

This was the "Lightsey Farms field pea hummus...Pure Luck goat feta, okra...Urban Roots squash, eggplant & crispy Texas rice."

And then our kind server was nice enough to say we looked like a fun bunch and proceeded to give us some healthy pours: some Argus Cidery Idalou Brut was up first, and then a 2011 Duchman Family Winery Viognier (Texas wine). This was may been more of that delightful pale lager though.

There was another dish that came and went, as in it was devoured.  It was "Bandera quail stuffed with dirty rice...Top of Texas apples, cedar."  Lovely.  But those little bird legs were gone in no time.

The star of the show was about to arrive: the smoked Windy Hill goat.  But just before that was a platter of huge slices of "butternut squash, mesquite granola, yogurt."  With those lovely grill marks, the smoke of the grill, the sweetness of the squash, we could not hold back.  Our server urged us to wait just 3 minutes to pair the squash with the goat.  We couldn't do it.  

The large shallow bowl of smoked goat brisket arrives.  The goat heart is pointed out to us. I served myself a little bit of both. 

We also finally scored the bread on the table next to us.  They still had not eaten it. We adopted it.  Gave it a good home at our table.  

Thankfully, dessert was petite.  It was "Swede Farm goat's milk panna cotta...sorghum, pecan streusel, pumpkin ganache."  That had Barley Swine written all over it.   And no wonder, thanks to Barley Swine's Bryce Gilmore doing all the culinary magic out there in the field.

And then, they - we - were done.

Thankfully (for us), Allison's spouse spent most of the time out standing in the field (that one never gets old with us), on the phone for work stuff.  He missed/avoided/ducked/ignored gracefully all our drinking antics and drove us all safely home.    

 

 

"Les Accroche-Coeurs Approchent" : Angers (France) Food Prep in High Gear for Austin-esque Taco Stand

Austin's sister city in France--Angers--is in high-intensity mode for their big city-wide art and culture festival--les Accroche-coeurs--which attracts some 100,000 people. It will be held September 6-8. Stay up to date here, on their Facebook page.

"Cultural arts" festival does not really describe what makes the festival so special: it's really all about the high level of civic involvement.  As my angevins friends were describing it to me this summer when I was in Angers, it is a tremendous community-building festival, with residents of Angers providing the entertainment: performing in plays, for example, both silly and serious, just to name one of many art forms going on everywhere alone the Maine River.  I am sorry to miss it, but Austin will be well represented anyway.  Because of St. Edward's University's campus over there at l'Université Catholique de l'Ouest ("le cato"  or "OCU" as they say over there), some Austin students will be on hand to help with, yes, taco prep for the Austin food stands.  The theme for this year's festival is "the West" so they are featuring their sister city of Austin, Texas among the many other food booths.  More on that below.

Checking out the line-up of events gives one some idea of the scope of the festival and how it will be pretty much taking over life in Angers for this coming weekend. There is dancing in the streets, literally, and "déambulations" - sort of like public art/performance art ambulating around town, and--in tribute to the sister-city connections and how much our Angers friends in high places throughout the creative industries in Angers have already explored Austin--a film festival.  Part of the festival offerings includes Robert Rodriguez's "Planète Terreur" (Planet Terror) paired up with Tarantino's "Boulevard de la Mort," perhaps better known as the very Austin-themed "Death Proof."  (See IMDB: "In Austin, Texas, the girlfriends Julia, Arlene and Shanna meet in a bar to drink, smoke and make out with their boyfriends before traveling alone to Lake LBJ to spend the weekend together.")  

Those films will be showing at the great little theatre on the rue Claveau - Les 400 Coups (named for of course that classic black & white Truffaut film - "les quatre cents coups").  

Taco prep in Angers, France

I met the energetic, very well-organized leaders of the Office de Coopération Internationale d'Angers, when I was in Angers in June, as part of my serving as impromptu ad hoc consultant on the Austin food booth.  But they are already very well-informed.  Our Angers friends have been to Austin many times and have documented Austin life very well for bringing a little bit of it to Angers for Les Accroche-coeurs.  [My Angers friends love Barley Swine and Second, by the way.]

At first they were thinking about some Shiner Bock or some Real Ale  to have as their beverage for the Austin booth's offerings.  So I brought over a couple of bottles to France this summer for them to check out.  Alas, distribution hurdles got in the way, and no can do either one of those at the Austin booth for les Accroche-coeurs. 

The planning for the food booths is nothing short of impressive. I am receiving updates along with the rest of the committee members.  The documents are gorgeous--in terms of layout and format. They are detailed with great precision with clearly-defined goals, assignments, equipment lists, shopping lists, and timing for shopping, staging, etc.   Those French.  They do good work.  Seriously.

But what I really love in the most recent missive I received as part of this intense organizational effort: a short power point slide show/quiz on food safety, done up in a very fun way, but making it very clear that food safety and food safety rules are very important. (E.g., the correct temperatures for food at all times, hand-washing, etc.)

What the residents of Angers will think of Austin and our food ... it's all up to our very pro-Austin friends in Angers.  Bon courage my friends.  I will be thinking of you this weekend while I am in Louisiana, post-Cleanse, enjoying some red wine, at long last (in great moderation) and my beloved Poilâne bread from Paris (in maybe not so much moderation).

 

Not a photo of anything that has to do with Les Accroche-coeurs but yes has something to do with Angers: part of the masive Saturday market that takes over several streets. 

Food, Family, France : A Jeu de Quilles Lunch in the 14eme (Day 3, Trip No. 18)

There are a couple of good reasons to be in the 14eme around the Alesia metro stop. First, my lawyer friend Bill lives there - could not wait to see the new baby.  Second, Hugo Desnoyer's boucherie is over around there.  Which means that the charming small well done venue of Jeu de Quilles is right next door.  And what do you know.  It was open for lunch.  And I was there at lunch time.  Why not.  I email Bill and tell him I will be a little late...

Tempting to order the Hugo foie gras, or some Hugo charcuterie, but these are large platters or portions for more than one person. I will stick with the menu of the day.  As I am nul with the wine, as we know, I just asked the kind man to pick some for me to go with the melon/feta/prosciutto.  It was that lovely white Beaujolais.   Next, I chose the "paupiette de poulet fermier." A "paupiette" is nicely succulent, boneless - perhaps thigh - with some light seasoning on the inside, no distracting stuffing here as is sometimes the case for this preparation, or so it seems based on tonight's research.  

Good call on that ordering.  Except that, channelling my Dad I guess, I dribbled some of that rich sauce onto my white shirt.  

It was as good as it looks.  Again with the wine selection done for me: a light red Beaujolais, so good and perfectly paired with this dish I had to ask the name.  I promptly forgot it.  

But all the while, more and more people are coming in.  Mostly families.  A family of 4 up at the prime table near the kitchen.  With their huge stroller with a new baby, plus the two little ones.  Another table with two dads with their kids just above toddler age.  The kiddos are eating some intense steak of some sort.  The family by the kitchen.  I was enchanted by them.  The mom, completely focused on the kids, and her conversation with her husband.  Promptly taking the baby out whenever it uttered a sound.  But effortlessly it seemed.  I observe all this on the heels of a great article, on point, that HiP Paris Blog did on French women/French mothers, parenting in France, and the role of family time in French culture.  We think we are family-oriented, but I was reminded again today that we were really have nothing on the French.  The article will address that.  

And recalling that I always feels guilty about these trips, even though they are work-related trips, I still feel a little guilty. I'm getting better.  It has been a rough year of mostly solo parenting - and not all of it great on my part.  

We have much to learn from the French parenting style - including the no guilt-parenting paradigm, which is nevertheless still extremely family focused.  This might suggest there is "balance" here -- a word I thought was wrongly used when we used it to deal with women lawyer issues ("work life balance") at big law firms.  There is no such thing unless you are thinking of "balance" as not a static equilibrium but the ebb and flow of sometimes self comes first, sometimes work comes first, and sometimes family comes first.  The balance just weighs in one direction more than another sometimes.

I was glad to pay a visit to a surrogate mom of sorts, the local pharmacist, to have her feel sorry for me and my horrific allergies: eyes burning red, nose running incessantly (which is no fun over lunch at Jeu de Quilles or walking down a major thoroughfare or walking up and down and up and down stairs in the metro stations...I did manage to hold on at lunch long enough with the runny nose and maintain some dignity to have dessert:  a scoop of chocolate mousse, with sprinkles of a crumbled pistachio macaron, raspberry coulis, and a tiny hint of Chantilly whipped cream.)

The kind pharmacist was as sympathetic as I was hoping she would be:  "Oh, yes,"

she said.  "It is everywhere. Welcome to Paris."  What she gave me worked like a charm.  It worked so well that I was able to hit some gypsy jazz, or jazz "manouche" at a club/restaurant/bar just 5 minutes away it turns out, at the l'atelier Charonne.

Sound bites available on my Twitter feed.  Eventually.

Does not look like I will make that guided tour of the Mosque of Paris tomorrow morning at 10h15, now just a few hours away.

Austin Food and Wine Festival--to do and not to do and yes would do again

It's a smaller-than-I-expected event, this Austin Food and Wine Festival (only in its second year).   At first glance on entering I was underwhelmed.  But it grew on me.  And grew and grew.  And now I am thrilled at its manageability and the set-up, despite the pretty awful combination of Saturday's suffocating humidity, quasi-dehydration, and mixing tequila and vodka tastings in between the wine demos.  Bad idea that last one.  I thought I could do without Day 2.  But after sleeping off Saturday's sins, I was ready to go.  Pacing is everything for a food and (lots of) wine festival.

(Jealous of the folks who got there early for hands-on grilling class.  I think I saw someone Tweet that only VIPs were able to get into these popular first-thing-in-the-morning classes.)

Day 1 (for me), Saturday, started out well when the heart-stopping telltale colors of Veuve Clicquot were spotted right on entering.  Their super cute VC-themed Airstream was air-conditioned, so I lingered a long time checking that out.... Champagne was a great way to start the day...at 11 am or so.    

Finally we get in line for the H-E-B Grand Tasting Pavilion to open up for the masses.  We had only a "cheap" ($200 for early bird special) Taste Pass.   But now I know why the cost. There is a LOT of alcohol at this event.  A lot of water too have to say.  But there is a lot of alcohol at this event.  

At 12 p.m., folks with the Taste Pass can enter.  I need food, badly, after standing in the sun sweating after 3 small tastings of the VC champagne.  At first it was hard to find the food.  I must have been delerious.   But we found it.  And dug in.  

These grilled carrots, with a tangy yogurt sauce drizzled on them, just set out there in a gorgeous array of color for the taking: I took about 3 (small ones).

Thrilled to stumble across a stand for Pâté Letelier.  Have been following them for some time.  Now just need to get their goods into my fridge.
And then who can resist big baskets overflowing with beautiful bread?  Had to stop and ogle the bread and yes take more than a few samples. But this bread really needed to be savored.  And though the name did not turn me on, a pretzel roll bread, I took a sample anyway, and it changed my world.  The bakery is Flour, and this pretzel roll bread is really pretty astounding in terms of its taste and texture. 

These eye-catching displays of a kale and beet salad, crunchy tasty croutons, some bacon in there, a little feta, all encouraged me to have 2 of these in rapid succession.

Despite all this talk about the food and the wine (many, many samples on that Day 1 in the Pavilion), we did make it to some demos.  

Demos for Marcus Samuelsson, whom The Food and Wine Magazine Editor introduced as the "Swedish Ethiopian Urban Cowboy," were always SRO.  I love that he called Scott on his cell phone -- that judge on Chopped -- for us to tell him, in unison, that he was "too mean."  (Scott did not pick up; Marcus had us leave a message.)

But luckily we did make it to the Cinema and Vino demo with the bad boy of wine, Mark Oldman.  Only after standing there to make sure we got a seat - for like 30 minutes.  He's also a co-founder of Vault.com, so it is no wonder he is fluent in the pricing of La Tâche wines.  He had many women lined up afterwards to get their picture taken with him (my group included).  One woman had him sign her arm with a Sharpie.  Right next to Tim Love's autograph.  

With all the fun and laughing, etc. and sabering of the champagne bottle going on for that event (and it really was champagne--Bollinger), I ended up drinking my friend's wine tasting samples as well.  This was the beginning of the end for me of Day One.  

She drove home.  Just in time for me to rest up for the Sel et Gras festivity at the W's Trace from 9pm to midnight.  Cannot pass up a "Paris in Austin" night.   The music: exquisite.  French pop, Serge Gainsbourg, Air - cool electronica.  The setting: gorgeous.  Windows wide open. A cool night.  Sure the rain had them bring everything inside, but it was still lovely.  I just have a thing for Trace anyway. Trace's Executive Pastry Chef Janina O'Leary's desserts - yes, again, fantastico.  The black and white French movie - with Jean-Paul Belmondo, yes? - très sympa.  The frog legs were the tastiest ones I've ever had.  But we could have used some more savory stuffs. No worries: just an excuse to have more of Janina's chocolates.

Day 2:  I am surprisingly eager to get going.  I skip the champagne this time.  I am all about education this morning.  The goal is "anything French" so I hit Anthony Giglio's "French Underdogs."   Thanks to him I have fantastic French wine finds and a newfound compulsion to get an ice bucket.  (You just had to be there.)   Let's just say the horror of putting ice cubes in your wine is indeed confirmed, but cooling the (red) wine in more appropriate ways is very à propos and indeed necessary.

These folks in the audience were intense: they knew all the grapes that went into a Bordeaux, for example.  They knew obscure villages in Beaujolais.  I left happy. Entertained.  And not too tipsy.

Each day had some intense outdoor grilling going on.  On Day 2, there were little guys like this one getting a good fire on them:

Lots more meat the second day it seemed over at the Grand Tasting Pavilion. The brisket from Stubbs? Wow. Had no idea that they had this good of a brisket.  

I must say this shaved pork slider from Jasper's may take the cake for favorite foods (but the Day 1 kale salad is right up there).

How they described this: "Shaved Pork Sliders, Ancho Barbeque Aioli, Housemade Pickles, Maytag Blue Cheese Chips."  Yep, it was as tasty as it sounds.

One more class with Anthony Giglio, this one on wines of Sicily - who knew I knew so little about Italian wines?? - and then I was about ready to call it a day.

The striking vista the blue and green chairs made on the lawns of Butler Park - this picture from early Saturday -  was harder to discern by this time on Sunday because there was not a single available chair.  

Growing tired and slightly annoyed by asking many times - "Is this (empty) seat taken?" - and having the person say "yes" - I decided I could use my standing time more efficiently by making my way back to the car at City Hall (free parking!).

By this time, I also had a few heavy books in hand.  Yes, I bought a Mark Oldman book (signed).  Yes, I bought the Marcus Samuelsson book "Yes, Chef: a memoir") (signed).  And why not take a few more bottles waters on the way out.  

And so ended my First Austin Food and Wine Festival, and Austin's Second.  

Will I go again.  Yes.  Will I drink more water, wear the hat and not care what I look like.  Yes.  

One can imagine this event growing ever bigger every year.  So enjoy the smaller, manageable, even sort of charming aspects of this still rather new festival - and get an early bird special next year for a pretty good bargain of a ticket price ($200) in the big scheme of things. 

 

SXSW 2013 - Rookie/Newbie Brain Dump on the 8 Days

As I prepare for real life again on Monday after 8 days of thinking, eating, walking, drinking at this, my first SxSW, I realize I can manage only a brain dump of a summary of the overall experience.  A mashup of random meetings and interactions and myriad suggestions and tips that led to the inspiring, the bizarre, and maybe even life-changing people and panels.

Memory Lane Stream Of Consciousness Brain Dump (from notes along the way)

Baconator attempted at lunch, over and over - oh why oh why is the dual-line system for this and the panky dog and the Cap'n Crunch and cous-cous delicacy SO confusing? Tired and cranky. Give up and try again another day for that pulled pork over slaw and spicy remoulade sauce in a bacon waffle cone. Head to Hackney House our East London connection with tech community; will backdoor into Angers somehow for technology enterprises and JVs, etc. etc. Follow up to follow.  Those Hackney House folks' sccents adorable.  Cannot understand them.

Back to Interactive. New to me buzzwords: market pane - huh? Oh: "market pain." Ergo SIRI: SIRI invented to diminish multiple steps/touches to web-searching that resulted in loss of users to get to transactional state (money/purchase). So true.  I give up after couple of clicks/touches.  

3-D printing is not weird printing fad to use and then look at through 3-D glasses but radical iteration of the first Industrial Revolution: e.g. I decide I need a pair of yellow flip flips or a toy figure of my own imagination and bam the Bre Pettis Makerbot can make that. THAT is 3-D "printing."  

Elon Musk...spectacular biceps -- flash: recall is TESLA guy and PayPal guy. SpaceX kind of mind-blowing: get it takes cool calm brilliance - arrogance? - to say we should go to Mars and I will do it if NASA will not.  Vision of reusable rockets here (after all we don't throw away a plane after one use, do we).  Elon shows us first - besides cameraman.  Via Johnny Cash Ring of Fire soundtrack successful test of reusable rocket.  Grasshopper.  Yes, I was there.  Saw it. One of the first.  Thank you EE for recommending I hit this.  Lessons here of failure, faith - yes money too, but failure and risk and failure again.   See also Twenty Feet from Stardom.  Failed - frustrated - paths to greatness for amazing black women those background singers (open with the Lou Reed song Take Walk on Wild Side); stories of why there, why stay, why and how cannot move up and out and the curiosities and cruelty of fate stomping down voices so magnificent: chills up and down and up again the spine.

Entrepreneur Lounge: Off site Fogo de Chao: tech companies/associations from Nantes.  Invites for them to meet the startup scene, Eve Richter, chamber of commerce heads, city leaders, way too many freely available Caipirinhas (below) boy that bacon-wrapped chicken and the sausage was great.  

Break time another lounge the Lounge Thing for SxSW not as glamorous as thought but great for charging phones.

Austin City Limits "Lounge" (okay alcove) at Convention Center. Decide to sit in there on couch and because tired and want to sit in green and red and purple light.  And charge phone. No care who else there.  Is band Orange County, CA just drove in ready to go on Beacon Lounge.  Beacon Lounge the fav.  (Well, no, Yahoo! lounge surprisingly cool at Brazos Hall.  Checked it out for architecture and ended up staying.)  When else are red bean bag chairs, outlet for phone, great salsa and chips all there for the taking?   Earlier in day had hearty oatmeal cookie with raisins for sort of protein at that lounge.  

Catch some of the Four Seasons live KUTX program one morning. Note: this is all the SxSW music I need.  No need for platinum badge.  Yep, this is the way to go. Hear Robin Hitchcock. Feel sort of in-the-know now.

Food Crawl Saturday with foodies:  Drag self to Long Center.  In drizzly rain. Get wristband. With 100s others.  Cannot deal with Tweeting and walking in rain to follow maps on secret site.  W cocktail instead.  Listen to music.  Meet up with Food Crawlers at Kenichi.  Food gal there met my Paris food startup acquaintance Cedric day before. Learn of BakeSpace, TechMunch: decide to attend food blogger seminar next day at Whole Foods in global HQ offices. In quasi-hangover state tell Serena next to me at the seminar that it would be cruel joke for me to win basket of Argentinean wine being given away that day because I am so tired of drinking and so do not need it.  I won it.  

New foodie friends, including lawyer who does Foodie Is The New Forty.  Note foodies are very thin.  Why do I feel so fat. Will deal with later.  Try cold brewed coffee.  Chameleon Coffee.  Tried at TechMunch demo day at Whole Foods with Horchata. Realize may never live in France because unsure can live without Horchata.  Food panel with Addie Broyles and others so surprisingly substantive and thoughtful: the whys and what-fors of food porn, molecular gastronomy, over-eating/doing (ironically, was my question to the panel....).  A re-Tweet by Addie.

Chef Remi for the Angers bands' big invasion of combining the music and food cultures to bring it all here for the Austin Angers scene gets hooked up for pork blood and other pork items (or reasonable substitutes under the circumstances and they are superb substitutes).  High 5 Trace at W and Slow Food Austin.  Sebastien comes to rescue.  All under control.  

I decided one day in late late late a.m. in cavernous Austin Convention Center that with protein depletion and inadequate hydration movie popcorn and red wine in a chair sounds good.  Why. Why do this to self.  Because I feel like a kid playing hookie and it feels bad (i.e., good) to do so.  But now yes those buttery kernels are stuck on my mid-section and require weeks of ab work and paleo.

Walmart run to help Chef Remi for coolers to get the food over to Bungalow for the showcase and the brunch preceding.  Gladly.  Drop off at Justines and hang out and wait.  Photo ops.  Justine's delicately lovely in a.m. before masses invade.  I check out kitchen.  Chat with Pierre en francais. Direct electrician as Pierre had left.  Stir some things on the stove.  Chef Remi arrives.  Approves coolers.  I leave.  I get TexMex at Joe's on way back to downtown.  Get parking.  Movie No. 2:  Finding the Funk.  Great seat. Call from home.  Leave.  All works out.  Go back to downtown.  Park again.  Take Nantes, France delegation to party out in country.  Sun setting over in the hilliness of Nutty Brown Road.  Lovely.  

Next day brunch via Chef Remi spectacular success duck tartare really something duck pate chicken liver pate all so lovely.  Austin-Angers music showcase stunning in colors and sounds and diversity amidst this superb food spread.  Stick around for rest of afternoon.  Charge phone.  While racing to outlet to charge phone, again, meet Episcopalian minister. Talk Jesuits and Pope and community and music.  Promise to go to his panel. (I did not make it.)  

Meet gluten-free Chef People's Pharmacy learn about French Paleo cookbook.  Meet Austin Music Foundation peoples and jazz trumpet awesome guy Jeff Lofton and his cool wife Dean.  Great glasses she had. We talk about and talk to people about jazz venues in France.  Get free CD.

Titi Robin Trio rocks it with the virtuoso guitar of Titi and that percussion. No wonder they are the band from this trip chosen to be on Fox morning show to spotlight in prime spot.  Get French Paleo cookbook signed.  Listen to Erin Ivey,  mpish voice and guitar.  Pause needed away from this Bungalow place.  Ice cream at new fav Ice Cream Social. Madagascar Vanilla and Salted Caramel the chosen flavors.  Topped with Cardamon Toasted Coconut.  Must nap. 

Friday wake up early to get band (Titi Robin Trio) for TV spot.  Get them south of Ben White.  7 adults in the MDX and the instruments.  Funny.  Stop at gas station en route.  Drive to Fox Station on 11th.  Do coffee run for band.  Translate some timing issues.  Agent Amelie handles better.  Nerves on edge from too much coffee too little sleep too many Brazilian cocktails.  Spot done.  Cut.  Done.  Get car. Drive to Justine's for the Friday brunch with the official peoples and later the bands. 

All food now.  No worries. Lovely day.  All the important people are there already.  

(Le Chabada co-director Francois here with moi in bloated state and Consul General of France, in from Houston Frédéric Bontems).

Again the nice Cultural Attache, Sylvie, from day before event also.  Austin Mayor.  Sunny skies.  Breeze.  Tables - pain au chocolat - coffee. Olivier whipping up espressos inside as adeptly as he handles those French 75s at crush time. I ask him if French 75s can be done.  He says oui.  I say see you soon.  Victoria joins me with wine.  (That white wine - the "vin nature" - so good.)  French friends shocked (again) with me but do not care so much by now as so relieved made it to here and so happy they are having this wonderful moment.

More wine.  More duck pate and duck tartare.  More music and bands. Victoria buys French 75s for us.

(Part of the Austin-Angers PsychFest decor for the stage at Justine's...I felt about like this gal here.  Just not as thin.)

Lunch at Justine's with Victoria.  For like two hours.  Thierry is our waiter.  New guy.  Never seen him before here.  I drink water.   She leaves for next engagement. Chat with Francois, Germain. Wonder if more friends can come or I will head downtown again for movie.  Amy arrives.  Admire amazing decor the Justine's team did.  Francois tells us they did all this.  

More music and sitting on bench with Amy and Francois in the sun ... through German hard rock group.  Paris acoustic group.   Discuss ideas of "the real Texas" with Francois and Amy.  Bands over now.  Official Justine's dinner time rolling around. Day Drinking at Justine's and lunch: marvelous.  I ask Pierre if he will continue.  Non.  

Sun setting.  More friends arrive.  Francois invites us to stay for dinner with the Angers contingent.  Amy stays.  I stay.  More wine, Chef Remi gives me gifts and intel on his new restaurant.  Chef pulls off the "sabrage" maneuver on the champagne - the champagne used for the Austin-Angers toast earlier in the day.  So classy those French.  Champagne (small, moderate amounts) for us all.  

Melanie, here with the group to donate her time to make a documentary about the Austin-Angers connection, now tells me she needs to interview me before I leave to go home.  Melanie: you realize I have been here since 10H30 a.m. and starting on the organic white wine at 11 a.m.?    No worries.  It works.  I am done. Will pick up the coolers next day.

While in line for Twenty Feet from Stardom earlier in week met Fitz, lawyer from Colorado.  Learn about free CLE on Saturday.  Look at CLE program see lawyer from Paris there.  Will go.  Wake up Saturday.  Go downtown. Get parking.  Get coffee.  Go to CLE.  Copyright reform underway.  Interesting.  Massive issues of Pandora, Spotify (good thing heard those talks earlier in the week); costs of content.  Costs of negotiating.  Battlegrounds for how the digital economy for music will be managed. What is fair for artists/consumer/the company that provides the service.  

Walk to Milk and Honey.  Walk back to Convention Center.  Paris lawyer talks about alternative financing for music groups and tax issues in US and France.  Talk to Paris lawyer at break.  Exchange cards. Meet Montreal company and cool publisher guy: Montreal indie music scene huge: 200+ indie record labels.  Get free CD.  Meet Venezuelan Latin dubstep gal.  Get free CD.  (Really love this CD.)  

Last gasp: movie at Stateside Theatre all the way back up on Congress. While in line, more music, bands, peace march down Congress.  Couple next to me in line, in 60s, in their "retirement home" condo downtown, do movie part every year. Had seen 12 movies so far this year.  Prince performing across the street that night from their condo.  

Glad stayed in line for Good Ol' Freda.  Nice to be in cool dark place.   It was then nice to be done with the movie.  It was nice to walk outside, into the fray of the Saturday night of Vampire Weekend of SxSW getting ramped up.  

And it was very nice to take off le badge, walk to the car, and drive home.  And sleep.

 

 

Thanksgiving Recap: Splurging, Exploring, Finding - in San Angelo. And Now Cleansing.

(somewhere in Sonora, Texas; November 2012)

Thankgiving Day in San Angelo has come and gone.   The gravy war ended in a truce. Dad made two gravies:  gravy his style and gravy Cathy's style.  We also had two dressings: a cornbread one a la Paula Deen and mom's traditional New Orleans Oyster dressing.  We had two pies: the sugar-free diabetic version Pecan Pie, best pecan pie I have ever had - really - ; and, again with the Paula Deen, that extremely decadent Paula Deen pumpkin pie recipe I had been eyeing but just could not bring self to make.  Cream cheese AND half-and-half?!   Good thing mom made it.  My son had two slices.  With whip cream on top.  

We had two turkeys.  One roasted per the traditional method but with some tweaks because of course you've got to tweak the system aiming toward perfection (letting it rest a long time before carving and serving was key to best roasted turkey ever - that and the optimal size).  And another one smoked, by a friend of the family, who knew my parents would have plenty of people in the house and thought we needed more food.  They must not know my parents well.  But both turkeys were seriously the best ever.  No overdone-ness, anywhere.  No dryness.  Just moist and tender all over turkey meat.

There also was a small squirmish over red versus white wine.  Dad hates Bordeaux.  I don't like Cabernet Sauvignon as a pre-meal wine.  I pined for a Cotes du Rhone, and Dad let me break out a nice bottle of one he had nearby, before the French Chardonnay planned for the meal.  We made it through all of them.  

But because of the extensive "apertif" time before finally sitting down, we almost burned those Sister Schubert rolls placed in the oven at the last minute.  Cathy noticed their absence.  The rolls were rescued.  And we learned that a little extra time in the oven makes those ridiculously tasty carbs even better.  Builds up a little crust on that bottom of all that buttery tender crusty stuff.

And before that food day, there was finding out that my little home town of San Angelo is growing up.  It has great new restaurants.  Like blow me away good food restaurants.  Cork and Pig Tavern.  Friendly service but not consistent.  Not a huge deal as the food had some serious standouts: Deviled Eggs with Bacon; Roasted Pork Chop with Cinnamon Butter and Asian Cole Slaw with Peanuts.  And some type of broccoli that left me speechless in wonder.  This?  In San Angelo?  

And then there was the old-fashioned soda shop, Stango's Coffee Shop, with ice cream soda classics in a very well done, not overdone, nicely finished-out old building on South Chadbourne.  Added bonus: nice font styles on a graphically pleasing menu.  I had the "Black Cow":  chocolate syrup, root beer syrup, seltzer, vanilla ice cream.  

Again, all this...in San Angelo?  

(San Angelo Visitor Center, from the Concho River side)

(My favorite piece in the public art sculpture garden, in San Angelo's Sunken Garden Park on Abe Street)

Thanksgiving, though a major food and other types of consumption holiday, compels us to be thankful for the non-material things.  As we all get older, we are clearly more grateful to be together at all for the holidays.  Sharing bathrooms and arguing over whether the house is too hot or too cold are all part of the gratefulness package.  For me, that gratefulness comes in the form of loving the raucously rowdy holiday dinner table conversation with my family that makes my son laugh like I never see him laugh elsewhere.

Some people think me crazy for doing this as we drag our full, red wine-laden tummies (speaking for myself) into an intense holiday party time, but I started in on a 21-day "cleanse" to detox the year's indulgences.  On the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Today is Day 3.  

No caffeine.  No alcohol.  Supplements.  Nothing but protein shakes (to replace meals) in the first 11 days.  All the vegetables one could want (some better choices than others), and fats are ok. Grilling asparagus in butter (in moderation) and garlic is not too big of a sacrifice.   Looks like I may finally use that kale in the refrigerator after all.  Kale chips totally on the menu. 

As ugly as these early days are - cold turkey no Starbucks dark roast coffee is no picnic - I'm finding it's really just another way of making Thanksgiving last a little longer.  Less focus on the self.  More attention to conversations, not looking  around longingly for the waiter to get another glass of wine.  More really being with the people who make up the great food experiences of our lives. 

Tomorrow is Day 4.  Day 21 is December 15.  Not that I'm counting.  

Pensive mediations on food notwithstanding, I already know the first substance I will have on re-entry.  A glass of Cotes du Rhone.  Among friends.

 

 

 

My Circuit of the Texas: Soirée Beaujolais / Après-Party chez House of Pies / Stephan Pyles: and Best Service Award Goes to ... House Of Pies!

I missed all the international vibe in Austin this past week and weekend.  Instead of the Circuit of the Americas, I was doing a Circuit of the Texas: exotic Austin/Houston/Dallas/Austin.  Instead of fancy cars whizzing by me in displays of driving prowess, I was stuck on I-35 going 5 mph or sometime as high as 20 mph, then 75 mph for 30 seconds, then back down to 5 mph, bumper to bumper, all the way from Waco to Temple on Saturday afternoon.

But the week and weekend were très international nonetheless amidst meetings. French food and wine, and tapas inspired by Eastern Mediterranean, Spanish, and Indian cuisines and - however you want to characterize the 24-hour cuisine of House of Pies on Westheimer 'round midnight.  

Out of all that food, and all that wine in all those places, I have to hand it to House of Pies.  We had the best service from perhaps the most helpful, perky waitress ever: the perfect combination of helpfulness and efficiency and cheeriness.   And that's not just because I was so happy to have a "vegetarian" omelette with tater tots at 12:30 a.m.  The run-down and scorecard:

1. The 29th Annual Soirée Beaujolais - French American Chamber of Commerce, Houston.

Of course Beaujolais Nouveau is not a fine wine at all, but the festive nature of the publicity stunt, uh, event and all the brouhaha is infectious.  I finally got my chance to attend this event in Houston, but I still would not have actually gotten there but for Maureen.  

I had looked up the prior years' photos to figure out what to wear and was disappointed that there was nothing visually interesting about the event at all: just a tired, staid obsolete hotel ballroom and some wine and food tables.  Big deal.

I would later eat crow, along with everything else I ate.  This was some party. They had to shut the music down and turn the lights up and extra bright to make us stop dancing.  

On first walking in, there are tables all over the place stacked high with not just Beaujolais Nouveau but plenty of other wines. And there are stations of foods lining the room - a fondue with beef tenderloin, airline chicken in a rich reduction on a purée of pommes de terre, paté on many trays garnished in a really lovely way with cornichon, a duck confit with that white bean purée with a touch of truffle oil, desserts - macarons of course.  

(These below were reinforcements, waiting to fill in the macaron tree as its constitutent parts were slowly devoured.  Maureen knew someone at the LeNotre booth displaying these goodies.  She talked.  I had a chocolate macaron.) 

Some of the food lines for the really prime items were far too long, so there had to be something else enjoyable.  And that would be the music.   

First, the accordionist upon entering the venue. Cliché. Loved it.

Second, the solo singer doing Edith Piaf.  Maureen was long gone by now meeting and greeting dozens of friends, not understanding why I needed to stop and eat in between all the talking with many old friends from my Houston days and new friends.

Third, when the crowd was all happy happy on confit and wine, after the can-can dancers, we picked up the pace and moved into the dance portion of the evening.  Cheryl Lynn, Got to be Real, and Jacques DuTronc - some French pop music from the 60s - really got the party started.  

Indeed.  I have found my people and my place.  A place where people dance while balancing a glass of red wine in one hand.  Who knew you could have such a great party in a harvest gold-toned hotel ballroom. 

2.  House of Pies, Houston.

Stroke of genuis on where to eat après la soirée: House of Pies on Westheimer.  I was beyond thrilled and delighted.  Had never been there.  Brown paneling.  Everywhere. Tones of orange and moldy red.   Old brown wood appliqué choo-choo trains on the walls as sculptural art.  So awesome. 

This venue choice was particularly amusing in that Maureen had a sparkly pair of Jimmy Choo strappy heels on.  I have a feeling those are not the first designer shoes to be at House of Pies post midnight.

The food - well -  it was fine.  It hit the spot.  Eggs and "tater tots" it turns out are a perfect coda to dancing with red wine in hand after a night of heavy lifting with confit and paté and macarons.

And despite the exemplary and stellar service of our server, A+++, we could not stay awake for dessert. 

3.  Stephan Pyles Samar (Dallas)

And then it was time to get to Dallas - to reunite with my Leadership Texas class of 2007 and celebrate 30 years of the Leadership Texas program, whose founders include many pioneering, outspoken Texas women, such as the late great Ann Richards.  Sure, there was a great keynote speaker at the conference - Patricia Sellars, Editor at Large, Fortune Magazine, with some different spins on women/entrepreneurship/bringing your whole self to work - but a group of us kicked off the heady stuff by meeting for dinner at Samar by Stephan Pyles.  Once you get over the pretentiousness of the name - which sounds like an overdone perfume commercial - you can focus on the food.   It was a good choice by our Dallas contact: small plates/tapas, and some large plates, feeding our frenzied intent to taste as many dishes as we possibly could.

As between the engineer from TI, the PR agency owner, the software company manager, the entrepreneur/self-made company owner, we were an opinionated bunch and ordered promptly, efficiently, and abundantly: 

• Spanish “Omelet” with Caramelized Onions, Potatoes, Romesco and Pequillo Pepper (C-; I had to comment that though the one at Malaga in Austin is far better, these are still not quite the real thing; my friend Melissa does that real thing version)
• Sautéed Rock Shrimp with Garlic, Brandy, Parsley, Dried Chilies, and Grilled Baguette (ordered only after confirming they were not frozen and were fresh caught; one of our group comes from a family that owns shrimp boats: B-) 
• Olive Oil Poached Corvina with Celery Root, Serrano Ham, Truffles, Olives, and Salsa Verde (D (but I only had a bite))
• Crispy Brussel Sprouts with Pomegranate molasses, Lemon and Red Beet Greek Yogurt (A+++++)
• Spanakopita Stuffed with Sweet Potato, Goat Cheese, Apple Chips and Maple Labne (A+++)
• Haloumi stuffed Squash Blossoms with Pomegranate Olive Salad and Tahini (A+++)   
• Roasted Baby Beets with Akawi Cheese, Candied Walnuts (A+)
• Chickpea Flour Tempura Vegetables with Yogurt, Tamarind and Mint Chutney (these were A+ until we got the other dishes; I give it B+)
• Spinach and Paneer Samosa with Mango Date Chutney (A- ... we were slowing down by then).

At home, the final day of Formula 1, I was back in Austin, at a park in the middle of nowhere in Cedar Park, settled in a chair, watching my son at baseball practice.  

We ended the day with burgers at Hopdoddy and a Walgreens run for new toothbrushes.

It is so very good to be home.  

 

 

Lots of The Other White Meat and Spicy Peppers ... at the Austin Film Festival Food Party

(out on the balcony - cheese!  from Whole Foods; great presentation and fun gals with whom I could discuss the whole French/raw milk deal and my indecision of which cow to adopt in Normandie to support local (in Normandie, France) Camembert producers)

Last night I finally attended, after years of ignoring the flier I get every year, the Austin Film & Food Dinner held as part of the Austin Film Festival's week or so of films.  It was a fairly economical opportunity I figured to sample food stuffs from all the restaurants I've been meaning to try (Swift's Attic), or already like (Foreign and Domestic), or had forgotten about (Sienna; Ranch 616; Ruth's Chris) or never really seriously considered even trying as a serious food destination (Trace, at the W Hotel), or had never even heard of (Jack Allen's Kitchen, in Oak Hill).  

I had to get over the realization soon upon arriving that this was not a sit-down dinner, duh, and did so with one of the Speciality Cocktails (unclear if the spelling was for real on that), involving local Tito's Vodka and St. Germain.  I was dressed all wrong for walking through the Driskill Hotel grand lobby and foyers, going room to room, sampling foods, while balancing iPhone notepad, camera, drink in plastic cup, and plastic plates of various foods.  And that fact that my poorly chosen attire of a clutch bag and a long scarf did some damage at the Carillon table and their gorgeously plated tiny little feta cheesecakes with basil puree, apple butter, juniper streusel & candied marcona almonds did not help matters.

We finally got into the groove of things and just started eating.  First stop was Foreign and Domestic: BBQ Pulled Pork on a Bacon Cheddar Biscuit with B&B Pickles.  And a pumpkin pie macaron.  Odd combo to offer, but a lot of places had a savory and a sweet item.  Good thing we tried the macaron then and there.  One hour later, when we were sated enough to go for dessert items, they were gone.

Right after the pulled pork biscuit was a table featuring Pork Cheek Hash Empanadas, with Jalapeno Sauce.  Out of the first two items I had tried, this was my favorite.

But what's with the pork?  It did not stop there.  Over at Trace, there was pork belly.  Over at Jack Allen's Kitchen, some pulled pork.  We were obviously in the pork room, a room dedicated to The Other White Meat.  I had two helpings of what Jack Allen's Kitchen was dishing up: roasted corn salad, served alongside that pulled pork in a nice stewy sauce, alongside giant rustic chip with spicy pimento cheese. Two, yes two helpings.   

(The Jack Allen's Kitchen Team...they would later offer me a third helping, but by then I really had nothing left...so sad...really fantastic combo and served up stylishly in that brown paper box bowl.)

Worst food mistake: opting for the Frito Pie over at Ranch 616's table too soon in the evening.  Not because it was not delicious - though spicy hot with some hot pico de gallo - but because like they told us, and they were unfortunately right, it was stick to your ribs type food.  But we loved the presentation - served up in the mini-bag of Fritos corn chips and all the ingredients all coming together in that little bag - the crunch of chips, warm with chili, cooled off with spicy pico de gallo and sour cream.

Good thing that right before that our palate enjoyed the spicy fried lobster of Ruth's Chris.   They fry up the lobster pieces, then roll them around in what I could have sworn she said was a serrachi pepper mayonaise.  Like I said, balancing plates, phone, purse, that darn scarf, and trying to write down things my autocorrect on the iPhone garbled into something concerning "lepers" - it was rough.  

Over here, at the table for the Driskill, in addition to the popcorn-esque snack in the clever red Burger King-meets-Chinese-take-out packaging, they would have some ginger ice cream floats, over which they were pouring a blackberry sorghum soda. Odd tasting, still not sure if I liked it, but the ginger ice cream was just the thing for calming the tummy.

We did a decent job on the food items, but really did not do much justice at all to one entire room.  I did enough to grade, however, before the palate was overloaded.   My incomplete, totally biased and subjective list of winners and losers:

Best savory food item:   That roasted corn salad, pulled pork, etc. from Jack Allen's Kitchen.

Best sweet food item:  Pumpkin Pie Macaron from Foreign and Domestic

Best convo with chef folks:  Swift's Attic.  I loved that he prepared a separate tasting of his dish for my friend with intolerance for spicy foods.  But then, alas, it just did not taste just right.  I also loved how he was so not judging of my over-40/hate to drive at night self and was helping me understand the parking situation for those guys.  So going there.  Soon.

Biggest surprise disappointment:  Olive & June.  Love that place; right near chez moi, but that pasta was way too salty.

Best French/France-related food:  Whole Foods.

The only Camembert I have ever liked has been in France, the nicely flavored raw milk kind.  But this, this Camembert with that bit of sweet in the confiture and that touch of Marcona almonds, well done.   I may even check out the cheese counter again at Whole Foods because of this (as I am generally always typically at Antonelli's for any cheese purchases).

Will I go next year to the 11th Annual Austin Film Festival Food & Film Dinner?  Maybe.  But going with friend(s) is key, as are good walking shoes and a healthy appetite.  And your favorite stomach-soothing holistic medicine item, in the event you have been on no carbs or sweets for a week when you start eating fried lobster, frito pie, and pork belly, also is highly recommended.

(one last look at the cheery team from the Driskill and perhaps the best display of their food items)