holiday musings in June

right now i'm sitting in La Tazza Fresca, on the corner of 37th and Guadalupe, this lil cozy place offers nice soothing music and a killer iced minty mocha latte with whole milk that reminds me of hiding in coffee shops when it's cold outside...make sure to check this place out sometime...parking is kinda limited but this place is open late and has a good cupa strong coffee to offer the late night crowds.

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on a whole different note, i visited Crave, the new sushi/thai fusion place on 21st and guad and let's just say i had a not so satisfying experience. first of all...i get the feeling that the wait staff hasn't really been trained to know the menu or the foods they're serving very well. 2ndly, the spring rolls i ordered were CUT in half! it's not too bad when the rolls are wrapped nice and tight, but basically, the rolls fell apart when i tried to pick them up. Also, my spring rolls were served with the fish sauce usually served with eggrolls which kinda lowered my taste for them even more...basically the staff seems to late communication with each other and even tho the decor was lovely, I dunno if i'll be going back soon.

yummy pastries :D

so i went to half-price today and bought a cool new pastry making book...the recipes were simple and straightfoward which i loved and i quickly tried out a couple tonight alone.

1st: cherry-almond windmills...yummy...i cheated a little and bought pre-made frozen pastry dough tho...you can get it at your local grocery store in the frozen deserts aisle.

2nd: john came over and we tried the chocolate eclair recipe...yummy, i made him do all the hard whisking work...hehe...i did provide all the materials and equipment :P...we also substituted half of the vanilla in the creme for almond extract to give it a twist.

busy busy FAT bee

yea lotsa fooding lately...working all the time and not getting enough sleep doesn't help...

anywayz...now that the last 5-6 crazy days are over, i have tons to share


hmm so being from the valley (RGV that is, NOT the california valley from clueless -_-) those taco cravings hit me pretty hard sometimes...mexican food just isn't the same in austin unfortunately. BUT, fortunately, my former roommate Ha and I stumbled upon El Tacolote on North Lamar one night our freshman year. To this day i still find that when i get the craving for authentic mex food, i make the drive there despite the distance from campus. it's located just north of Rundberg and Lamar, across from a HEB. chances are if you've been to chinatown center, you've passed by it. besides delicious plates, esp one called "El Tacolote," the chicken enchiladas, burritos, flan, and salsa are fantabulous.

oh yea and they're open LATE at night....on a weekday to about 2 or 3am and on weekends til 4am...the cantina attached to it definitely adds a more authentic air to it as well as livens up the experience.



**so The Best Wurst experience didn't go so well unfortunately -_- we didn't realize it was a sunday and apparently most food stands aren't open....buttttt a taco bell run was in order instead...and i ate those el tacolote enchiladas as the guys were wolfing soft tacos and fire sauces down.

Here's my food album for yall to browse, there's some stuff i've been bakin, places i've eaten at, things i've eaten etc...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2467278&l=d9cc8&id=7958489


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what i've made lately:

*carrot cakes with fresh cream and dark chocolate drizzle
*fettuccine with chicken, broccoli, mushrooms, sun dried tomato alfredo sauce
*kimchee with ground pork and zuccini
*fish shaped pancakes with red bean filling
*beef fajitas with chinese black pepper sauce
*yellow tofu curry with coconut milk, potatoes, carrots, mushrooms over steamed rice


***currently i'm baking up some heart shaped buttermilk taro cupcakes with a fresh red bean cream filling.

why am i still awake? oh yeaaa

so, after all the food adventures miguel and i have embarked on just in the couple of weeks i've been back in austin thus far, i've decided it's a shame not to chronicle any of it!

yea so my crazy ass decided at 7 AM!!! to get to it and start this blog for all your viewing pleasure.

i plan on posting pics/reviews/recipes/etccccc...and just about anything foodie related that i come across.

so in post numero uno: EVERYONE WHO COMES TO AUSTIN HAS TO VISIT KEBABALICIOUS! it's only open past 9pm at night til the early morn so it's perfect for those of you craving a lateeeee night fooding or for you drunkies who have the munchies. it's on E. 7th street between trinity and neches so sometime during your busy longhorn lives, go! we both got the king (12in pita) beef/lamb kebabs and it was AMAZING...i really wish my car could smell like those all the time -_-...we also got a couple of dolmas (stuffed grape leaves) that weren't exactly what we were expecting...not great, not bad...but oh my that kebab...in the words of rachael ray --> YUM-O. definitely going back and taking pics for all of yall next time too!

~on a side note, the workers are friendly and the drunks with munchies are quite entertaining.

*just a random pic of the trailer i found online*

anywayz...i love yelp.com. i just found a list of top austin food stands...so hopefully this summer we'll be able to hit them all!

1. the best wurst (hopefully sunday night!)
2. kebabalicious (check!)
3. torchy's tacos
4. lulu b's
5. p. terry's
6. big daddy's
7. hot rock'n & pop'n kettle corn
8. taqueria la canaria
9. barbecuties
10. la guera taco truck

http://www.yelp.com/search?find_loc=Austin%2C+TX&cflt=foodstands