Mothers Day

Last Sunday we met up with Jim's family for a brunch picnic at a park in Georgetown. We all brought a dish or two to share. The weather was beautiful as was the park. Jim's mom had rented out the pavilion to ensure we had a place to sit. It was nice to catch up with everybody and eat homemade food. The only thing I would have changed would to have paid a barrista to be there so we could have free flowing coffee :)

Jamie brought a breakfast casserole, very tasty!

Jill brought biscuits and sausage

I brought mini quiche's (ham, spinach, onions and cheese)

When trying to see who was taller, this was Cadens method rather than stand back to back. I can't remember the outcome, but I think they are reallllly close

Caden being timed while running to and from the tree

Me, Jim and Jamie

Leave it to a nephew to bring up a critter from the mud :) He was not a happy camper

Playing catch
In the background, Tammy, Matt and Lindsay. Jim's cousins (Lindsay is married to Matt). In the foreground is Ryan

Caden making an announcement that he will NOT be getting any birthday spanks at the picnic.

Maddy (Jim's cousins kid) playing with the bubbles

The park also had a couple of donkeys. We fed them left over biscuits and some leaves. They were VERY used to people feeding them. Jim said that I couldn't take one home. Party Pooper.

Jim playing catch with the nephews



Judy, Jim's aunt

Ryan chillin while eating a doughnut

Takoba x 2



Last weekend we ate brunch at Takoba for the first time. I have been hearing the buzz for a few months on Takoba and was excited to try out the restaurant. About a year ago (maybe longer?? can't really remember) I had one of their tacos that they served out of a trailer in front of East End Wines. It was a simple pulled pork taco, but I remember it being very good.



Fast forward a year or so and now they have their own restaurant on East 7th. I love the building design and lay out. They have a great covered patio and a smallish inside section. The inside is really loud so the both times we opted to eat there, we sat on the patio.

The chips were thicker than I normally like but they were fresh and went well with salsa. The salsa was more liquid than chunky and didn't have much heat to it. But that didn't stop us from almost finishing the basket of chips ;)




I decided to go outside of my normal order for brunch (Migas) and ordered the Torta De Chorizo. I'm not sure what I was expecting but this sandwich was AWESOME! In the picture it looks a little bready, but I didn't mind it at all. According to the menu this bad boy had 2 eggs, house made choizo, jalapeno escabeche, queso fresco, and salsa secreta. I could have sworn that there was also avocado on the sandwich. Normally when I think of chorizo I think of grease but the grease factor wasn't that bad. Jim and I shared our breakfasts so I gave him half of the torta and he gave me half of his migas.

Jim's migas were pretty damn good. The eggs were cooked perfectly and were nice and fluffy. To many times in restaurants they will either not scramble the eggs before it hits the cook top (not terrible, but doesn't create fluffy eggs) or they put in WAY to many ingredients and then the eggs are non existent. There wasn't much heat to the migas, but overall they were very good. The only downside to the plate was the potato's... they were cooked well but hardly seasoned.

Jim ordered the White Sangria while I stuck with the $1 Mimosas (Hello... FANTASTIC deal on those puppies!!). The White Sangria was infused with pears, apples, oranges and cinnamon. They finished the drink off with a splash of champagne. For me, the drink was refreshing but the cinnamon really cut through the fruitiness of the drink. I like cinnamon but wasn't a fan of it being such a big flavor in the drink.

On Friday night we met up with Jim's sister and cousins for dinner at Takoba. I made the reservation while we were there for brunch the previous weekend. I couldn't wait to try their dinner. I was feeling ambitious that night and tried a Pisco Sour. A Pisco Sour is made with Capel Pisco, egg white, fresh lemon juice (bartender used an entire lemon), gomme syrup, and angostura bitters. I'm not going to lie, I had to look up most of what the ingredients are :)

Capel Pisco:Pisco is a brandy or aguardiente distilled from the white muscat grapes grown in two main regions of South America: the area around Pisco, described in A miracle of man and the desert, and the Valle del río Elqui in central Chile.

Gomme Syrup:Gum (or gomme) syrup is a drink sweetener that was commonly used instead of simple syrup in many classic cocktails. The advantage to using gomme syrup is that, especially in heavy-alcohol cocktails such as many of the classics, it adds a silky texture and softens the alcohol's flavor. It also prevents the syrup from crystallizing

Angostura bitters:said to contain over 40 ingredients — although few can know for sure, since the recipe, which was developed as medicine by a German doctor in Venezuela in 1824, is a closely guarded secret.

The drink was very tart and was a sipping drink. It was good but not something I could drink all night. Part of me was worried about the egg white being slimy in the drink, but it was mixed up well and made it more creamy than slimy. I'm living on the edge, drinking raw egg whites :) The rim was covered in sugar which helped cut down on the tartness of the drink.

We had horrible lighting for pictures, and I didn't have my little light to use. I ordered the Tacos De Carnitas Estilo Don Alberto. A whole lotta words to say pork tacos ;) They were delicious, the meat was tender and juicy. I ordered the rice (which was forgettable) and the side salad was lightly dressed in a vinaigrette and had slices of oranges and (I believe) feta cheese.

We meet up with Jamie, Julie, Lori and Charles for dinner. It has been far to long since the last time that we have all met up and hung out. The weather was perfect when the wind wasn't trying to blow away the table. I think everybody enjoyed their food, and we all definitely enjoyed each others company.

Jamie, Lori, Jim and Julie.... the Cousins (and brother and sister)

Chasing a Toddler with a Camera


I met up with Courtney and Rachel to take some photos of the two for Mothers Day a few days ago. Originally we were going to attempt to find wild flowers to take pictures in, but this year is not the year for wild flowers... lots of grass no flowers :( Hopefully next year we get more rain so we can have a pretty spring. We decided to head to Mayfield Park to take the pictures. I love this little park, so pretty and every inch of the park is photogenic.


We met after work at the park and of course we picked the one day of the week that was the extreme hottest. It was freakin 97 degrees on the day we took photos.... in APRIL!! I'll save that rant for a different post :). Rachel was FAR more interested in the ponds, birds and squirrels than me but I managed to get some cute photos. And she is in that stage where she runs every where and she is quick. She was so enamored with her surroundings and it was fun to watch. I had to keep remembering to keep the shutter going to get the pictures.

Here are a couple photos I took of Rachel when she was a month old.

Rachel at 16 months!

I was actually running with Rachel, and I am damn lucky to have gotten this shot.

She loved chasing the squirrels... they just ran around her trying to get to the bird food

Crispy Treats

I bought package of Easter themed cookie cut outs about a month ago. I have been eyeballing them and trying to decide what to do with them. My mom mentioned to me that she made Rice Crispy treats for Easter and it clicked! Flower and rabbit shaped rice crispy treats would be perfect!!

I followed the recipe on the back of the marshmallows to make the Rice Crispy Treats. Once I used my muscles to mix the melted marshmallows and rice crispies (seriously, it was a sticky work out to mix everything), I cooled the mix on a cookie sheet pan. Once cooled I used the cookie cutters to create the cute little crispy treats.

To spiffy up the rice crispy treats, I melted some white chocolate, slathered it over the treats, and added some little crunchy candy. I only put the chocolate on half of the treats because I was worried it would be sugar overload. Jim and I took these to work (with some left at home for us) so everybody was able to enjoy!

Happy Hour

I met up with some ladies from work at Corazon at Castle Hill. This is one of those restaurants that Jim and I have talked about visiting but never seem to make it. We chose this restaurant because they have awesome happy hour prices on food and drinks. I was the first to arrive and the restaurant was fairly empty around 5:30. There is a parking lot in the back and some street parking, so I don't think there would be an issue with parking during the dinner rush.

I started off with a White Wine Sangria. This Sangria was on the sweet side but oh so delicious! It was $4 a glass and worth every drop. Next time I will have to try their red wine sangria.

Fried Goat Cheese

Breaded and fried cheese round with an ancho chili-sun dried tomato chutney

The fried goat cheese called out to me.... it said "eat my cheesy goodness and don't forget to slather on the chutney". This was a nice change to the chips and salsa. The goat cheese on it's own was good but lacked flavor, but once you added on the chutney it was a wonderful bite of food... cheesy, tart, sweet and a crunch with the crackers.

Guacamole

Made with ripe avocados, cilantro and lime juice

Perfect texture and flavor! No big surprises with this dish, just good guacamole.

Tacos al Pastor

Two tacos with chili and lime seared pork with pineapple, onion, and cilantro

The pork was slightly smoky and tender, and combined with the cilantro and onion for a fresh bite. The pineapple was lost in the meat but occasionally a bite had a slight sweet taste. I don't know what the green sauce on the side was composed of (got to busy talking with the ladies and I forgot to ask) but it had a great kick of spicy to add to the taco.

Overall we had a great time at Corazon. The appetizers were just right for happy hour, the prices were perfect, and service was prompt without being to pushy. I have already told Jim that we will have to give them a try very soon.

Quick Breakfast

I need to eat breakfast every morning and I'm not a donut type of a gal, I need substance. During the week some mornings I make scrambled eggs, eat hard boiled eggs, or have a bagel. I have a breakfast casserole that is delish, but then I found this recipe. Breakfast bites... sure, I'll give you a try! This recipe is very simple and yet you can totally add what you like to the mixture so that your breakfast bites are just the way you want them.

Breakfast Bites

12 eggs
splash of milk
1/2 cup shredded cheese
about a quarter cup of chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped ham or bacon

Crack eggs and beat with the milk. Spray your muffin tin with some type of cooking spray and then use a 1/3 cup and fill up the muffin tin. Once you have filled up the muffin tins with egg, then add in your toppings along with a pinch of salt and pepper. I debated on just adding the toppings into the eggs, but I wanted to have a more uniformed muffin, with equal toppings so I just added the toppings to the eggs once in the muffin tin. Put the muffins into a 350 degree oven and cook for 30 minutes.

Different view on eggs Toppings- I used cheddar, sliced ham, diced green chilies, and onions

These breakfast bites turned out pretty good. They reheat okay, but they develop a little bit of a crust type topping that I am not in love with. I'll be trying a few different versions to see if I can get it right, ya know, the way I like them :)