Spent the past hour making a surprisingly small quantity of GF peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and chocolate macadamia sea salt bark to take to a couple of parties this evening. I could've been napping or blogging. Go me.
17 December 2011
15 December 2011
easily amused
I recently discovered that Stephen Tobolowsky, who plays Sandy Ryerson on Glee, also portrayed Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day. Are Ned and Sandy related in their fictional universe? Pure coincidence, or did the creators of Glee give Sandy the same name as Ned on purpose? I certainly hope so because I think that's just awesomely clever. Groundhog Day is an excellent movie; watch it sometime with the director's commentary on, totally worth it.
14 December 2011
chicken soup for the sick
Rather than bore (or disgust) with tales of just *how* sick I've been the past several days with a heckuva sinus infection (yay for antibiotics), here's a quick rundown of places to get some good chicken soup in Austin.
Top of the list is Julio's in Hyde Park. There are only two reasons to eat at Julio's (three if you count their stout margaritas, but I'm don't). The roasted chicken and the chicken soup. Their chicken soup fits the "medicinal qualities" bill and is both simple and flavorful. Chicken stock, sizable pieces of torn chicken (mostly white meat, possibly from the roaster), chunks of squash, celery, carrot, and onion, several slices of avocado, and a section of cob corn fill a huge bowl. Includes tortillas, salsa, and sometimes a lime wedge. You can get a side of rice to throw in. Physically & emotionally comforting.
The rest are in no particular order.
Maudie's. I just had theirs tonight because it was close, and I didn't feel like cooking. Not bad. More of a traditional tortilla soup, with cheese and tortilla strips included. It includes a side of rice, fresh cilantro, and fresh onion you can add. The soup is chicken stock, shredded chicken (white & dark), bits of carrot, green pepper, tomato chunks, onion, and two thick slices of avocado. I'll easily get two meals out of it since I got it to go. It was tasty, but not on par with Julio's. [edit: decided I really like sweetness and crunch of the fresh onion in this soup]
Chuy's. Pretty similar in makeup to Maudie's, slightly thicker stock, replace the green pepper with green chile. Haven't been to Chuy's in awhile, so not much to go on here. Good, but (again) not Julio's
Jorge's on Hancock. Jorge's tortilla soup uses a tomato-based broth, which changes everything. I haven't had theirs in awhile either, but recall shredded chicken, standard veggies, and cheese. They use red & yellow crispy tortilla strips. No rice, but extra tortilla strips or chips on the side. It's a hearty soup, but not quite chili-esque, and, not Julio's.
Vietnamese Pho is another good soup when not feeling well, but that's a post for another day.
Top of the list is Julio's in Hyde Park. There are only two reasons to eat at Julio's (three if you count their stout margaritas, but I'm don't). The roasted chicken and the chicken soup. Their chicken soup fits the "medicinal qualities" bill and is both simple and flavorful. Chicken stock, sizable pieces of torn chicken (mostly white meat, possibly from the roaster), chunks of squash, celery, carrot, and onion, several slices of avocado, and a section of cob corn fill a huge bowl. Includes tortillas, salsa, and sometimes a lime wedge. You can get a side of rice to throw in. Physically & emotionally comforting.
The rest are in no particular order.
Maudie's. I just had theirs tonight because it was close, and I didn't feel like cooking. Not bad. More of a traditional tortilla soup, with cheese and tortilla strips included. It includes a side of rice, fresh cilantro, and fresh onion you can add. The soup is chicken stock, shredded chicken (white & dark), bits of carrot, green pepper, tomato chunks, onion, and two thick slices of avocado. I'll easily get two meals out of it since I got it to go. It was tasty, but not on par with Julio's. [edit: decided I really like sweetness and crunch of the fresh onion in this soup]
Chuy's. Pretty similar in makeup to Maudie's, slightly thicker stock, replace the green pepper with green chile. Haven't been to Chuy's in awhile, so not much to go on here. Good, but (again) not Julio's
Jorge's on Hancock. Jorge's tortilla soup uses a tomato-based broth, which changes everything. I haven't had theirs in awhile either, but recall shredded chicken, standard veggies, and cheese. They use red & yellow crispy tortilla strips. No rice, but extra tortilla strips or chips on the side. It's a hearty soup, but not quite chili-esque, and, not Julio's.
Vietnamese Pho is another good soup when not feeling well, but that's a post for another day.
12 December 2011
cows on parade!
This summer Austin was host to a Cows on Parade public art project. Normally, I'm a big fan of art in public places, with the exception of giant red metal sculptures, but I was initially vehement in my contempt when the art cows began to appear on sidewalks. Not one to get riled up about much, it was funny for my friends to observe me with the following bones to pick:
A. The cow parade is old news - when I heard about the original cow parade in Chicago a number of years ago, I thought it was brilliant. It seemed like an old idea by now. Insert bad jokes about milking it until the cows come home here.
B. Didn't we just do "Guitar Town" - an Austin, "Live Music Capital of the World" take on the cow parade theme? At least that was an original twist to an old idea.
C. There was at least one other thing bugging me about the cows.
Then I saw one up close as I was leaving Barton Springs one morning. A dad was taking his kids' pictures on it; super cute, OK. Then I discovered the title of the piece was a pun, or wordplay, and I was totally charmed. And insisted on saying "cows on parade" with the same inflection/emphasis as "Pigs in Space."
Favorites:
Discow at Whole Foods
Scrabbull at City Hall Plaza
Eye Cowrumba at the Long Center
Cow-Moo-Flage (I think this is the one that hooked me)
Flamencow
Really, the Cows! On! Parade! are like stationary art cars (I still don't understand why there's no art car community in Austin), and are better canvases than guitars for depicting some awesome art puns.
My only disappointment was the egregious absence of a "Frida Cow-lo."
A. The cow parade is old news - when I heard about the original cow parade in Chicago a number of years ago, I thought it was brilliant. It seemed like an old idea by now. Insert bad jokes about milking it until the cows come home here.
B. Didn't we just do "Guitar Town" - an Austin, "Live Music Capital of the World" take on the cow parade theme? At least that was an original twist to an old idea.
C. There was at least one other thing bugging me about the cows.
Then I saw one up close as I was leaving Barton Springs one morning. A dad was taking his kids' pictures on it; super cute, OK. Then I discovered the title of the piece was a pun, or wordplay, and I was totally charmed. And insisted on saying "cows on parade" with the same inflection/emphasis as "Pigs in Space."
Favorites:
Discow at Whole Foods
Scrabbull at City Hall Plaza
Eye Cowrumba at the Long Center
Cow-Moo-Flage (I think this is the one that hooked me)
Flamencow
Really, the Cows! On! Parade! are like stationary art cars (I still don't understand why there's no art car community in Austin), and are better canvases than guitars for depicting some awesome art puns.
My only disappointment was the egregious absence of a "Frida Cow-lo."
11 December 2011
10 December 2011
sleep, and more sleep
Came across this on my morning walk with Gracie and it made me laugh...
Santa nodding off. In other news, I turned off all my alarms last night and slept in this morning, knowing I needed the rest to get over a chest cold. I had hoped to watch the lunar eclipse during my Saturday run. With the chest cold nixing that, I figured to see it while walking walking Gracie, then ended up sleeping right through it. However, it was a San Francisco cold, damp, overcast morning, so I wouldn't have been able to see it anyway. The ten hours of sleep was not quite as spectacular and rare as the eclipse, but awesome in its own way.
Santa nodding off. In other news, I turned off all my alarms last night and slept in this morning, knowing I needed the rest to get over a chest cold. I had hoped to watch the lunar eclipse during my Saturday run. With the chest cold nixing that, I figured to see it while walking walking Gracie, then ended up sleeping right through it. However, it was a San Francisco cold, damp, overcast morning, so I wouldn't have been able to see it anyway. The ten hours of sleep was not quite as spectacular and rare as the eclipse, but awesome in its own way.
09 December 2011
Sieze the Holidailies
Holidailies are here again. This year, expect short & sweet entries tucked in amidst marathon training, appearing in a holiday tap show, work, and the general holiday hub-bub. I appreciate the additional motivation Holidailies provides to get me to post more entries. I'm lucky to have a pretty rich and full life and privileged to have the health and resources to do many of the things I love. This holiday season, I want to celebrate the little things that I appreciate about living in the best city in Texas, as well as things that catch my eye, strike my fancy, or make me smile and feel glad to be alive. Enough meta.
To kick things off, here's my tap shoes, getting some action these days after a year on the shelf due to marathon training and injury recovery, both running and not running related.
I wrote the first part of this while sitting backstage waiting for my cue. Pretty awesome to be performing tap, and some consolation for having to skip tomorrow's run to rest & recover from minor chest congestion. A week and a half ago, I had no idea I'd be in Tapestry's Christmas show, then I heard they were looking for more "snow" (which may or may not be a euphemism for white girls who tap dance). From there, it only took a day of deliberation and some honest reflection from two friends about the excitement on my face when I talked about it for me to join up. Somehow, my biggest concerns about finding the time to fit this in among my other activities and responsibilities have been a non-issue. Similar to making a plan to hike the AT, when I chose to participate in something I love, the path opened up. I am grateful for the moments when that kind of synchronicity and ease is present in my life. I spent too many years watching/letting those kinds of opportunities slide by.
On a completely different note, here's the dawg, looking guilty on the sofa, although she earned a whole day's worth of sofa lounging for putting up with ear cleaning at the vet. Not the best picture, it's hard to capture such awesomeness on film.
To kick things off, here's my tap shoes, getting some action these days after a year on the shelf due to marathon training and injury recovery, both running and not running related.
I wrote the first part of this while sitting backstage waiting for my cue. Pretty awesome to be performing tap, and some consolation for having to skip tomorrow's run to rest & recover from minor chest congestion. A week and a half ago, I had no idea I'd be in Tapestry's Christmas show, then I heard they were looking for more "snow" (which may or may not be a euphemism for white girls who tap dance). From there, it only took a day of deliberation and some honest reflection from two friends about the excitement on my face when I talked about it for me to join up. Somehow, my biggest concerns about finding the time to fit this in among my other activities and responsibilities have been a non-issue. Similar to making a plan to hike the AT, when I chose to participate in something I love, the path opened up. I am grateful for the moments when that kind of synchronicity and ease is present in my life. I spent too many years watching/letting those kinds of opportunities slide by.
On a completely different note, here's the dawg, looking guilty on the sofa, although she earned a whole day's worth of sofa lounging for putting up with ear cleaning at the vet. Not the best picture, it's hard to capture such awesomeness on film.
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