Austin City Limits Superlatives

Best "New to Me" Band(s)--Grouplove, the Mogwli's
These two band were so high energy and crazy. The Mogwli's were like a shot of B12 in concert form. So happy. So full of energy and enthusiasm. It was contagious.
Grouplove was just crazy and fun. The audience was eating it up and their lady singer was rocking a leopard print unitard as well as anyone ever could.

Best Walk-By--Vampire Weekend/Artic Monkeys
We didn't get to see much of either group, but we liked what we heard when we strolled by!

Band That Should Have Been Given a Bigger Stage: Phoenix
We couldn't even get close. It was INSANELY packed for their show.

Band That My Dad Would Like (that's a compliment): Dawes
They were like old time rock n' roll. They had elements of Rush and Kansas and a great, experienced sound.

Most "Its probably better on headphones"--The National
I have no doubt they're great. I've heard great things...but their mid-afternoon concert lacked energy and I'm not sure their style of music translated well into the outdoor festival setting. They're getting a lot of Pandora time from me right now, though!

Most "I didn't love the album but I loved the show"--Fun.
I'm not Fun.'s biggest fan. I liked Nate Reuss' older band, The Format, more but there is no question that they put on a good show. "Some Nights" sounded surprisingly awesome live and Nate has an great operatic quality to his voice that shines in person. Plus, his dance moves are about as good as mine.

Band with the Most Songs I Knew--Jimmy Eat World
We were late to their set, but I still got to hear "Praise Chorus", so I was happy!

Band I Forgot I Liked Until They Reminded Me (PLUS Bonus Second Viewing Award)--Franz
Ferdinand
You guys, "Take Me Out" really stands the test of time. Its still a great song. Plus, "This Fire" is an amazing song to sing along to. Its so angry!

Best Stadium-Type Show--Muse
What can I say? Either you love Muse or you don't. They can be kind of nuts and their lyrics occasionally sound like they're ripped from the pages of an insane conspiracy theorist, but man, they sound great live. Their show ran over and the plug was pulled at 10:00pm on the dot right in the middle of a song (I can't remember what...Natural Selection, maybe?) and the crowd was NOT HAPPY. Luckily for those of us who stuck around, they played one last song in the end and it was completely worth the wait. Because THEY WILL NOT CONTROL US!

Best Audience/Performer Relationship--Lionel Richie
He looked good. He sounded great. He had the audience eating out of his hand. Atoms for Peace were playing their show at the other end of the park and were SO LOUD Lionel was confused and asked what the "noise" was that was coming through his monitors. "Is that God?" he asked? No, Lionel. It was just an obnoxious supergroup with no respect for your greatness.
Hilights included
-his comedy routine about going through the stages of a break up and always turning to the true source of comfort and happiness: crappy wine and LIONEL RICHIE (on cassette tape, CD or 8 track).
-a 10 minute jam session version of Brick House
-Endless Love with the audience singing the Dianna Ross part
-"Hello...is it me your looking for" and the most epic audience sing along I've ever participated in

ACL was a great experience over all. The people were friendly and considerate. The bands seemed genuinely happy to be there. They sold wine in WATERBOTTLES! I'm a believer. Hopefully I'll be back next year.

What I Cooked This Week (9/23-9/29)

Pesto Peas & Pasta: I used the last of the basil Beth & Marcus gave me to make this pesto. I don't make a lot of pasta at home because I HATE cooking pasta. Isn't that stupid? I think its because pasta doesn't need my help. You just have to wait. And be patient. I'm not good at those things. I need my food to NEED me back, you know? Maybe I've said too much. 

 It was delicious. The end. 

Fall Salad

I needed to eat something I felt was healthy, so I tossed up this salad. There's some goat cheese, walnuts, avocado, tomato, grilled chicken, Honey Crisp Apples and a homemade dressing with dijon mustard and maple syrup. It was so good it almost made me forget I was eating a salad. Probably because of the bacon. Did I mention there was bacon? 

Whipped Feta on Baguette with Roasted Tomatoes:

I've been seeing this recipe for whipped feta around on the internet lately and decided to finally give it a try. Its basically like the tastiest cream cheese you've ever eaten. Its super salty, like feta, but completely smooth. It would be great on pretty much anything. Bagels. Pizza. Mixed into tomato sauce for pasta...I bet it would even be good with a drizzle of honey on toast. I'm definitely making it again. 

Eggs in a Basket: 

My dad used to make it for me when I was a kid and I crave it every now and then. This is probably my most successful attempt at it because I made it using the griddle plates on my panini press, which, unlike my stove, is an actual flat surface. Delicious childhood memories, right there :)

Brown Sugar Pulled Pork

Since its chilly and fall like now, I feel justified in busting out the crock pot. This recipe worked like a dream. Completely easy, not too many ingredients, could feed an army and most importantly, makes your house smell amazing. The key is the roasted garlic. Don't skimp on the roasted garlic! 

Raspberry Galette: 

This is my third time making this crust, but in the past I've used strawberries. The grocery store didn't have any decent strawberries this week, but I think I might actually like the raspberry version better. I can't wait to try with blueberries at some point in the future. Mmmmm sweet sweet pastries.

Grilled Brats and homemade potato chips: 

Chris bought a deep fryer at the church rummage sale and has been desperate to fry me something. These chips were hand cut (poorly...I need a mandolin really bad) and then sprinkled with Lowry's seasoned salt. They were an excellent salty companion to the brats I grilled up on the panini press. Plus, look how proud he is in his penguin shirt. He cracks me up. 

Apple Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread:

I know Pull Apart Breads are soooo last year, but I never got the chance to make one and this one seemed really easy. It reminds me a lot of the monkey bread my mom used to make when we were kids. Pilsbury Biscuit Dough dredged in cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg and then layered up with apple slices that are dredged in the same all baked up into a loaf of gooey goodness and then drizzled with frosting. What more could you ask for in a fall snack? Not much else. 

What I Cooked This Week (9/16-9-29)

1. Grilled Steak with Caprese Salad

I don't know if you know this, but Dancing with the Stars started up on Monday and the cast this season is AMAZING! My fears were realized when Bill Nye graced our screens to do the most awkward dance of all time, but at least I had steak to comfort me. I'm trying to squeeze in a few more grilling sessions before the weather gets to cold. Roommate Jen and I like our steaks VERY RARE and I think I nailed it here. A nice tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil salad with a generous sprinkle of salt, drizzle of olive oil and splash of reduced balsamic made it a great start to the week. 

2. Steak and Blue Cheese Panini    

I had 1/2 a steak leftover and some baguette from the weekend so there was really only one thing to do: make a panini. I whipped up a cheater version of my dad's amazing blue cheese dressing by crumbling some blue cheese in with a few tablespoons of mayo and giving it a sprinkle of garlic salt. I sliced the steak up as thin as I could and then heated up the panini press and threw the steak strips on for a few minutes to warm 'em up. Then I assembled the sammy and tossed it on the press for 5 minutes or so. It was incredibly delicious and a great way to use leftover steak. 

3. Soup with Smoked Gouda Crostini

We go a lot of rain this week and rainy fall days are always better with soup. I polished off the last remaining bowl of Broccoli soup from the batch I made last week and then made a quick crostini with some leftover baguette. Just drizzle some olive oil on the bread and pop them under the broiler for a minute. Literally, like a minute. Then take them out, grate a little cheese on top and put them under the broiler for another 30 seconds until the cheese melts. Carb heaven. 

4. Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies
Since fall has arrived (more or less), I thought I'd jump in with a pumpkin recipe. I had a party to go to on Friday so that seemed like as good an excuse as any to make these awesome Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies. Who can resist cream cheese frosting? Not me. However, when I got to the store on Thursday, I got the LAST CAN of Pumpkin Puree they had. What madness is this? Its not even October yet, people! To make a long story short: these were amazing. Highly recommended. 

5. Buttermilk Cake

What's a girl to do when she's sitting on the couch on the brink of a nap that she shouldn't take (insomniacs know that naps are baaaaaad news) with 2 cups of buttermilk in her fridge that are about to expire? She should make this buttermilk cake. Then she should eat 3 pieces, forget to take a picture of it and send the rest of it away with her brother. 

Or at least that's what I did. 

6. This next section is less "What I Cooked" and more "What I Ate" since I was in Chicago with my pal Jenna on Saturday.

First up: Wildberry Pancakes. I love love love Eggs Benedict and its something I never make for myself since I can't poach eggs (or rather, I'm too scared to try).

These were a bit of a disappointment. The hollandaise was really bland. However, Jenna's mom got the signature Berry Bliss French Toast and I stole a bite. THAT is what I would order next time. 

7. Bold and Beautiful Wine Flight at Bin 36 with a Cheddar Plate

Presented without comment:

Ok. Just one comment: that is wine jello on top of the apples, just in case you were wondering. 

8. Antipasto Platter and Citrius Olives with a glass of Sangiovese at Tesori

The perfect end to our day!

I really recommend the method we chose, especially if you're planning a trip and trying to save some $$$. Order a big breakfast (or brunch) and then just snack your way through the day. A total win! 

What I Cooked This Week (9/8-9/15)

What I cooked this week: 

1. Cheater Pizza--one of my New Year's Resolutions this year was to learn to make bread. I've been...moderately successful, but the one thing I've nailed is pizza dough. Or so I thought. My grocery store recently started carrying chilled pizza dough so I picked up a bag this week to give it a shot. It kick's my dough's ass, I'm sad to say. Still, I topped it with homemade pesto I made with basil from Beth & Marcus' garden and topped it with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and some leftover sausage. Dang it was good.

2. Sweet and Spicy Peppers--I love pepperoncini, so when Amateur Gourmet posted a recipe for homemade sweet and spicy peppers I knew I needed to get down to the Farmer's Market and buy some peppers. Before I could a kindly co-worker brought in a huge pile of peppers from her garden and let me take all of these for freeee! Mine have been pickling since Friday and they taste better every day. I think next time I'll use a little less sugar since I like mine a little more on the spicy side and less on the sweet side. 

3. Lex's Chocolate Chip Cookies--I was meeting Ellie at her new apartment for a night of curry and anime (I know...). Ellie was in charge of curry so I was in charge of dessert. After work I whipped up a quick half batch of my mom's chocolate chip cookies because unlike YOUR mom's chocolate chip cookies, these are the best ever. I used half milk chocolate chips and half semi-sweet chips and it worked out perfectly. These cookies are so rich, the semi-sweet chips balance it out with just a touch of bitterness. And since I never got Ellie a proper House Warming present, I gave her a roll of Emergency Cookie Dough to keep in her freezer for...well...emergencies! 

4. Steak Salad--My old roommate Megan dropped in for an impromptu visit Saturday night and since we're all trying to save a few bucks, we decided to stay in. I made us The Pioneer Woman's Big Steak Salad. Man oh man was it good. That dressing is KILLER. I used a porterhouse steak because they were on sale, but I'd probably suggest a strip steak of some kind for future use. After sitting on the back porch and catching up over a bottle of wine. I grilled up the steak while Megan tossed up the salad. We topped our greens with bacon, blue cheese and tomatoes. Megan even said she thought she could convince her husband to consider this salad a meal. That's the power of steak, friends.

Oh yeah, plus, I pan fried the leftover store bought pizza dough and tossed them in parmesan cheese and garlic salt to make giant "croutons". Worth it! 

5. Strawberry Galette--I made this last time Megan was in town and I wanted to take one more stab at it before strawberries are completely gone for the season. Its still amazing especially since this time I had a vanilla bean to use in the crust AND some vanilla sugar that's been marinating for a few weeks with the husk of an old vanilla bean. A total winner, plus, its super pretty. 

6. Green Juice--I bought a fancy new blender a few weeks ago and decided it was time to really put it to the test. I saw this recipe forGreen Juice that you can make without a juicer. It worked like a charm. My biggest mistake was using Golden Delicious Apples. I thought I'd start with a softer green apple just in case the blender had trouble. Next time I'll probably choose a more flavorful one, but the juice is still tasty and helps make up for...well everything on this list.

7. Creamy Broccoli Soup--This is a miracle soup. I completely planned to make a batch and then separate out half to give to a friend of mine who is vegan and then add a healthy glug of cream to my half. I skipped the cream altogether because this soup is so creamy without it. The sweet potato does all the work for you. Its velvety and thick and creamy. Perfect for a chilly rainy Sunday like today. Highly recommended with a big chunk of fresh baguette. Mmmmm...healthy comfort. 

Family in Town

My brother Dain (see below) is getting married next weekend. In Minnesota. Where it is still SNOWING despite the fact that it is now May. 

(This is what happens if you hand Dain some cookies and say "try and fit these all in your mouth!". He's a team player that way)

Since my parents didn't relish the thought of driving straight from New York to Minnesota, they stopped in Michigan to visit Chris and I for a few days before we all trek west. 

I wanted to treat my parents to some fun while they were in town, but since they lived here for 20 some odd years, its hard to find new things to do. I was able to come up with a few. Here they are:

Stop #1: "Family" Dinner at RyeBelles in St. Joe 

(from Left to Right: Dad, Mom, biological brother Chris, adopted brothers Mike and Will. DJ not pictured because he was late)

My brother Chris always travels with an entourage. If I'm meeting him for drinks, I always count on him bringing at least 2 extra people. Believe it or not, after that picture was taken, another dude showed up. Still, family is family! 

[Sidenote: we totally scared that couple behind us away with our shenanigans  After that, the restaurant didn't seat anyone within 3 tables of us]

Stop #2: Greenbush Brewing Company in Sawyer

My mother went off to a Ladies Tea at the church that my father, brother and I had no interest in attending. Since it was nice out I thought it would be fun to check out a local brewery. 

Greenbush has an excellent Maple Brown Ale that I really like, but that sucker is like 8.9% so you must sip slowly and eat lots of Pub Cheese. Trust me.  

After that, we stopped in at the Sawyer Garden Center just because its an awesome place to walk around. Oh, and maybe they were having a small wine tasting? And maybe I ran into a few friends from my old wine class? It was awesome. I bought a Rose that I'm excited try. Just for the record, I think Rose gets a bad rap. Seriously, red wine drinkers! Its a red you can drink in the summer! Win Win! 

Stop #3: Salt of the Earth in Fennville. 

Since Mother's Day is next Sunday and we'll be in the midst of post-wedding madness, we celebrated a week early at one of my favorite restaurants. I have never had bad food at Salt of the Earth and this trip was no exception. We had fried risotto and pierogies as appetizers and then I got the hanger steak. This picture is terrible, but the steak was incredible. It was a really nice family outing!

I think the moral of the story is you can always find new and fun things to do in your local area, even if you've lived there for 20 something years.

Happy Monday! 

Next Stop: Dain's Wedding! 

Let the Madness Begin

WEDDING SEASON APPROACHETH!

 

 I literally just spent the last twenty minutes of my life checking registries and RSVPing to showers, bachelorette parties and wedding ceremonies.

Does anyone think its weird that you have to RSVP to a wedding you're IN? I did that today. It felt weird. 

Last week, we hit the One Month Mark before my brother Dain's wedding which will be out in Minnesota. In lieu of wedding cake, they are asking people to bring home made pies. They asked me to make some blueberry pies, but since blueberries aren't in season yet, I made a few of my personal favorite, Dutch Apple*. 

I found this recipe on Brown Eyed Baker and whipped up two of these babies Saturday evening. Here are my thoughts/confessions/regrets. 

1. I made two of these pies and used 10 apples. 5 Granny Smith and 5 Gala. This is way less than what a doubled version of the recipe would call for, but in the past, I always end up with extra fruit so I took a risk. It turned out perfectly! 

2. This recipe really called to me because after you cook the apples you reduce the drained apple juice with heavy cream and then pouring it over the pie. What? Yes. 

3. Instead of just doubling the recipe like a normal person, I baked two pies, side by side, completely separately because when push comes to shove, I can never distribute things evenly at the end of a recipe.

4. My second favorite part of this recipe was using melted butter for the crumble topping instead of cutting in cold butter. This method resulted in beautiful crumbles that were really easy to distribute over the pies. 

5. I sincerely regret not making three of these because I didn't get to try a slice! Rookie mistake. I might make myself one this weekend just so I can try a piece. My kitchen smelled like a heavenly combination of apple, butter and cinnamon and I was drooling. 

6. I chickened out and didn't make my own pie crust. I used store bought. I hope I will be forgiven, but sometimes you just don't have it in you, you know? 

These are now hanging out in my freezer, waiting for the big day! I'm hoping they're as delicious as they looked and smelled. 

Happy Tuesday! 

*Don't worry. I will still be making the requested blueberry pies for the wedding, but I'm waiting until I'm actually in Minnesota since that pie is much better fresh than frozen-then-thawed. 

Things Have Happened

You guys, its been an insane couple of weeks. 

Last week  2 weeks ago (curse my inability to post on time!) was Holy Week, which is always a busy week/really big deal for me. Here is a rough break down of things that happened. 

1. I gave up booze! I thought it would help me stay focused through the week, but mostly it just made me focus on how much I needed wanted a drink. Still, it was probably the right thing to do.

2. My friend Monica had her baby! And she is awesome, even if she did steal my miraculous day. 

3. Celebrated my brother's birthday. I bought him a Home Brewing Starter Kit. I hope he loves it and shares some of his beer with me. Maybe it'll even pop up on his podcast. Who knows.

4. I sang in 4 church services. I headed up and lead my church's Good Friday service, sang in our 8:30 Easter service, lead the 9:45 Easter Service and sang in the 11:00 Easter service. I pretty much do this every year, but THIS YEAR there was a power outage in my town and my alarm didn't go off. I woke up at 8:05 and made a mad dash to church and barely got my unshowered/barely made up self into my robe and seat on time. It was stressful stuff, you guys. 

5. I made a very wholesome and traditional Easter Dinner for Chris and Mike...NOT! 

6. I rejoined the masses on Facebook and Twitter! Giving it up for Lent was definitely a positive experience. I've been back on it for 5 days and I definitely don't feel as compelled to waste time there as I did pre-Lent. Still, I did make a running list of things I wanted to tweet about during my 40 Days of Exile but couldn't. Perhaps I'll share them here some day. 

I hope your Easter was great and you're not buried in snow like my poor parents in Syracuse. 

Happy Monday!