Poco-Cocoa – Page 119 – Things & Stuff

Matt’s El Rancho

First of all, thank you all SO MUCH for your awesome comments and messages about the book! It’s such a scary process… it helps so much to know I have all of you rooting for me. 🙂 Also, though I’ll probably be posting lots of restaurant photos in the upcoming months, I won’t be able to post them all, and I won’t be able to tell you which ones will be in the book (not because it’s a secret, but because I won’t know myself until it’s all said and done, really). Still, I love sharing food photos with you guys, so I’ll try to keep doing that as much as I can! There will likely be much more photos than words from now on… my food words are being all used up. 🙂

We tried Matt’s El Rancho again a few nights back. We had been there before a few years ago, but I don’t remember anything about the food because while we were there, this older couple sat at a table across from us, and were quite distracting… there was much groping (he grabbed her boob! in front of everyone!) and flirting and lewd conversation. I was pretty much scarred for life. But! Matt’s has been around for a bajillion years, and we decided to go back and try it again.

Bob Armstrong Dip… queso with a dollop of guacamole and a spoonful of taco meat.

Brisket tacos.

Combo fajitas (and a Mexican martini in the background).

August 1, 2010

Austin, Edibles
Spilling the beans.

Okay, it’s time to tell you all the source of my stress/anxiety/excitement.

I’m writing a book! Specifically, I’m writing The Food Lovers’ Guide to Austin. Can you believe it?!

A friend told me of an editor who was looking for Austin food writers for a project. I contacted the editor to see what kind of project it was, and she answered by saying that she had been reading my blog, and thought I’d be the perfect person to write this book! So within, oh, two weeks or so, I was up to my eyeballs in research and planning and contracts and outlines and such.

I’m so excited about it! It fits my writing style and personality perfectly… this is not a critical review of Austin restaurants, it’s a positive look at some of the best eateries, specialty markets, cooking classes, and food festivals that Austin has to offer. I hate writing negative things (so much so that I have chosen not to blog about lots of bad or mediocre restaurants in town, rather than to blog about them in a negative light). I would much rather sing the praises of the places, chefs, bartenders, and food that I love, and now I get to do that in my very own book!

I’m so excited about putting together a cheat sheet of great food and drink in Austin. I can’t tell you how many times a week I get asked for restaurant recommendations from friends and coworkers, and it’s nice to know that someday soon, I’ll have a book to refer them to. 🙂 I love that people from all over the country (world?) might use this book when they come to visit Austin, and that my recommendations might lead them to visit my restaurant/chef/bartender friends and the amazing food establishments they’ve created. I love that maybe someone will search for “food in Austin” on Amazon.com, and maybe my book will pop up, and maybe they’ll buy it, then decide that Austin is in fact a food heaven, and that they should come for a visit. I love that I get to represent my amazing city and it’s fabulous food culture with this book.

My deadline is very, very soon… I have only a few months to pull all of this together, so I’m a tad bit stressed out. These days, I might get up at 5:30 to write before work, then work all day, then come home and do a bit of research, then go out to a restaurant, then come home and try to write or organize… and by then it’s time to go to bed and repeat the process. I’m tired and a little scared and frustrated, but the excitement outweighs all of that.

So! This is why you’ve seen so many restaurant posts lately. And why you’ll probably see lots more to come. And probably no home-cooking/recipes until maybe November.

I’m always looking for suggestions on restaurants and markets I might have missed… so if you have a place in mind that you adore, please, send the info my way!

Anyway, internets, thanks for your support. Have a great weekend!

July 30, 2010

Austin, Random Thoughts
Keeping it together
Sometimes I get overwhelmed with life and all of its details. Sometimes it seems like I just don’t have enough… not enough time, or money, or energy, or life to give. Sometimes I feel like everyone and everything is pulling at all of my strings, and I’m slowly unraveling. I want to scream out, I want to curl up in a ball, I want to wrap my arms around myself and hold myself together.

What can I tell you about my life right now? I am working full time. I am trying to maintain relationships. I am trying to feed myself and my husband and my cats, and I am working on a project so big that it threatens to swallow me in one gulp. I will tell you all about it very soon, I think, as soon as everything is set. It’s exciting, and it’s all I want to talk about, think about, work on… why can’t life accommodate that?

So much pressure, stress, lack of sleep… I feel impatient, and tired, and frustrated. I’m trying to tell myself these things:
- You have to take care of yourself, and do what is best for you. Even if it’s not best for everyone else. Even if it makes other people upset. Even if it means you’re not the “perfect” person.
- You have to know your priorities, and stick to them. Even if others want to put their priorities first. Even if they try to make you feel guilty.
- It’s okay to be grumpy. It won’t last forever.
- At the end of all this, you will be stronger, braver, more capable, and proud of your accomplishments (thank you, Abby).
So internets, I hope to have more lovely food photos for you very soon. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow I’ll wake up and everything will be roses. Until then, a few things that have been making me happy:

One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.

Be well, friends. Tomorrow is a new day.
July 28, 2010

Random Thoughts
Lamberts Downtown Barbecue

I’m not sure why it has taken us so long to have dinner at Lamberts. We’ve been there for drinks and appetizers at the bar, but never for a full-on dinner. What were we thinking? It’s billed as “fancy barbecue,” and I fancy it quite a bit. 🙂

We sat upstairs in a cushy black booth next to the window. Justin had a michelada, which was really tasty and fairly spicy. I had the sangria blanco, made with white wine, peach brandy, berries, citrus, lemon, mint and soda. It was so bright and refreshing.

The deviled eggs are sooooo good… topped with smoked paprika and caviar, with spicy cornichons and pickled onions on the side.

The soup special was green chile pork… the broth was meaty and aromatic with cilantro, and I loved the addition of creamy avocado.

I loved the cute bottles of house barbecue sauce, hot sauce, and mustard that were brought to the table.

Justin decided on the jalapeno hot links, which were juicy and delicious, and served with hot pink pickled cabbage and dijon mustard.

I had the chicken – I’m always nervous about ordering chicken, because it can be so dry if not done well, but this was so juicy and flavorful. It came with sweet charred red onion.

We had the mac and three cheeses on the side, and it came to the table bubbling hot with a crust of cheese on top. It was seriously creamy-gooey, with huge macaroni noodles.

Our second round of drinks were also great… Justin had a well-made sazerac.

I had the sour cherry rita… oh my, this was so good. It’s made with Cazadores Blanco, cointreau, lemon, cherry brandy, cherry bitters and brandied cherries. At first it tastes like a perfect margarita, but the finish is all cherry.

Of course we had to have dessert… we opted for the strawberry shortcake, which was simply but perfectly done.

I am seriously in love with this place. 🙂

July 23, 2010

Austin, Edibles
Let’s have a list.
Things I love:
1. When my little black cat curls up on my lap
2. Prosecco
3. Those little chocolate mints you sometimes get at restaurants
4. When you feel really tired and sleepy, and you get into bed and the sheets are nice and cool, and your pillow is fluffy, and you know you’re going to fall asleep right away
5. Twinkle lights
6. Justin’s awesome hairdo (sometimes he swirls it to the side, sometimes in a kind of faux-hawk, sometimes swooshed up)
7. My new laptop bag, which is hot pink inside
8. Getting a message from the library that my book on hold is ready for pick up (Momofuku!)
9. Listening to Zorbing by Stornoway, or Cut and Run by Electrelane
10. Getting comments, or emails, or flickr notes, or snail mail, or text messages (But not so much phone calls. I don’t really like talking on the phone. I know, I’m weird.)
11. Spaghetti and meat sauce at home
12. The sound of the needle hitting the vinyl on our record player
13. Songs that remind me of movies, or of places
14. Super soft pajama pants
15. Iced water
July 19, 2010

Random Thoughts

Matt’s El Rancho

Spilling the beans.

Keeping it together

Lamberts Downtown Barbecue

Let’s have a list.