We have a new hobby. Well, I guess it’s not actually new. We’ve dabbled off and on with the idea of making cocktails at home. Unfortunately Sean’s stubborn wife (me) was too dead-set against anything that smacked of being “too sweet.” Consequently, I didn’t venture much beyond an occasional Manhattan. Well, this past fall, we began delving in earnest into the delightful, if sometimes difficult to clearly recall world of cocktail mixing.
It was only a matter of time before I talked about Imo’s Pizza on this blog. People love or hate this pizza; there’s rarely a middle ground. While I expect that some of you will never trust my taste buds again after this, I have to admit a love of this pizza that no span of time or leap toward adulthood can undo. Every year when we go back to see my family in Missouri over the holidays, we must, at least once, hit Imo’s to partake of a cracker-thin bacon pizza with a side of toasted ravioli.
I didn’t catch on to Top Chef at the beginning of its life cycle, and I didn’t last beyond a couple of seasons before the drama seemed like it overtook the interesting cooking. In fact, the last season I watched was whichever one found Richard Blais and Stephanie Izard vying for the top spot. (I think there may have been others at the end, but for me, it was down to those two.) After watching them cook through that season, I’d happily try food that either of them had a hand in, and at least with Mr. Blais, I found my chance while traveling over the holidays. Turns out, there’s a Flip Burger Boutique in Birmingham, AL.
It all started at a ham and bourbon party (the best things always do). We overheard someone talking about their friend’s new trailer. That he was serving Asian street food type items and that he was thinking of branching into molecular gastronomy techniques. All from his little trailer. Naturally, we were curious, so one fine weekend not long ago, we headed over to the east side to check out Not Your Mama’s Food Truck.
Our first night on our recent mini-vacation to Port Aransas, we snagged a reservation at Venetian Hot Plate. In doing my dab of pre-trip research, Venetian Hot Plate came up again and again and again as a recommendation. I was a little uncertain about a touch of Italy in coastal Texas, but figured, why not.
Back before I was gainfully employed, a nice lady emailed me and asked if I’d be interested in doing an interview for Spectrum Radio for their Geeks Cooking series. After some noncommittal emailing on my part, I found out the “Spectrum” in that title referred to the IEEE Spectrum magazine. IEEE, for those not in the know, is the professional organization for, basically, electrical engineers.
It’s been a while. A lot has happened. For one, I got a job. You’d think that with the gift of a solid two years to work out what I really wanted to be when I grew up, I’d have figured something out. But you’d be wrong. I’m back to doing the same kind of engineering job I’ve more or less always done. And because the group I joined had undergone some staffing issues in the recent past, I think I was part of the company for about five minutes before I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of work that had been assigned to me.
I consider myself a reasonably adventurous cook, generally gung-ho to try out cuisine with unpronounceable ingredients (at least for me) or making some item that any sane person would normally purchase. But sometimes I get stuck in a rut, and outside influence can be helpful. To that end, I decided to join the Daring Cooks and take part in their monthly challenge (read more here).
About a month ago now, we were invited to Fleming’s downtown Austin location to check out their new menu additions. Sean and I have several times visited their north location for their very reasonably-priced happy hour, but hadn’t experienced their proper sit-down menu yet, so we jumped at the chance.
Ages ago, I decided to deal with my incurable cookie habit by trying to make a cookie that wasn’t pure sugar and flour and butter (though those are utterly lovely). The likely candidate was an oatmeal cookie, but my problem with most oatmeal cookies is the inclusion of raisins. Sure, they could be omitted, but that makes for a rather dull cookie. Eventually, we wound up at chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.