jess mebane

The food is good, the atmospheric can be a little too precious "charge extra for pie served without Blue Bell ice cream". They could sell tables with the armband system during 'tique week, tho.

Honey, if I was offended by such, I wouldnae be worthy of the title. (insert stetson-wearing emoticon here)

Good Lord. Somebody please hand me my tastebuds, crying over there in the corner.....

Actually, there is a slight interest, and Spec's cornered that market years ago...we Houstonians are a deceptively simple lot when it comes to whine and cheeze...good luck, tho.

Back among the living, yips and hollers to the horizon! We have a beautiful new baby boy mebane which leads me to the question: If after starving yourself for over 12 hrs pre- surgery and 24 hrs post-op, what is the first meal you want smuggled into the hospital? For me it was sashimi takeout from Chinatown......

As a matter of fact, this he-he-HEAVILY pregnant chica can vouch for delicioso y muy cheapo pan dulces; after the meal I waddled over to the glass case pretending to feign only mild interest in one sugar-dusted confection, and the gal on the other side of the case raised an eyebrow and said, "Mamacita, they're only fifty cents. Have one of each to know which you like for next time." That's Austin to me, mi amiga. p.s. pray for good luck and good drugs--delivering the next Mebane a la manana.....

This just in: Joe's Bakery on E. 7th has the definitive interp of migas. My heart will always belong to nasty ol' Cisco's, but my stomach knows the dark truth after a late bkfst/early lunch this past Sunday. This place is not for the faint of heart or hard of hearing, as it does not boast the gringo crowd of Juan in a Million or Maudie's or Cisco's, and it is so busy as to almost drown out the Tejano jukebox. But if you tuck yourself against the wall at any table #15-17, you will be rewarded with the biggest (and hottest) damn plate in town. The peppers are so fresh and crunchy they make themselves known in the back of your throat even before you take a bite, and the tomato chunks are sliding out from under their blistered skins from the heat of the cheddar. Good onions and beans too. And when we left I saw a band walking down the slight hill on Webberville with their gleaming white straw hats and instruments, heading to someone's quincinera, I guess, and it made me glad to think that parts of Austin, and yea verily, Texas, are still wild.

Italian--any of the Vallone family outposts, like Tony's or Grotto, but Grotto has better food and not such a cozy romantic atmosphere, so maybe not. Chinese--Empress of China is renowned for haute cuisine and prices to match, but still very good after the initial critical buzz Cafe Annie is an obvious safe bet, but take my advice and think about River Oaks Grill: They had a chef change about a year ago, so the food is even better than I remembered, and the service there is wonderful without being overbearing or ingratiating. I had quail and my esposo had the cowboy steak, and after lots of wine it was just a short stumble back to our hotel suite. Really, they treat you like Bogey and Bacall there.

Yes! I'm interested to see how she uproots Holiday House . . . or did she? It's been awhile since I expeditioned down Exposition.....

I made a great tomato soup with homegrown tomatoes and herbs, and since it was noteworthy enough to repeat, what's the best way to freeze soup (for next batch)?

no. Fetish Food Porn; not all chiles have to hurt you.

The dirty secret behind Ray Kroc's global, monolithic success is based not on the beef fat content of the fry grease, but this very premise: familiarity breeds contempt only until you're 1,000 miles from your own backyard and scared of the local water. Then a #1 combo consumed from a purgatorial plastic yellow seat spells supersized traveler's comfort. And by happy accident there are good fries. It's the mother (with a glowing, capital M) of all safe chains. Is it also urban legend that McDs in France use horsefat for the fryer? Read an ancient Vogue article that claimed this was the only way to make a good pomme fritte.....urp

I wholeheartedly agree. Even an infinitesimal dice of bp in any dish is guaranteed to leave me repeatin' like a howitzer.

no. THIS is low-brow: White Trash Nachos- Take yer bag of Lay's BBQ potato chips, a mess of sour cream and what's left over from an 8 oz. bag of co-jack shredded cheeze. Dip, scoop, repeat. If yer lucky enough to have an ancient, almost hairy can of bean dip lurking in the back of the fridge, voila--Deelux WTNs.

that's pure genius. I plan to steal your idea for next year so I can gift people with the overflow seedlings. I concur with JSD about getting enough moisture to the roots in this manner; would mini French drain systems installed in each cooler with rocks and PVC ameliorate this problem? Perhaps at that point you'd have an over-engineered mess....

Miss Sb, if you tent the patch a' la Don Corleone (Godfather I, death scene), you can buy a few more precious, pre-90 degrees.

Brace yourself my dear hopleaf, as I warm to the topic and really begin to drone onandonandon about the blessed tomato. Here in rural Texas we consider growing a backyard patch our civic duty.... 1. You can have great success with patio crops. While you still have the summer's worth of long sunny days and some measure of heat control, start your container garden with whatever variety you wish, with the proviso that all small plants that begin to thrive in these warm weeks will eventually need accommodations in 5-gal pots each, minimum if you are planning to move them inside later on to borrow a few more weeks out of a late season. 2. plukkin': a.If you wish to pull 'em green and thwart the birds, follow the aforementioned dark shoulders advice I saw earlier in this thread for reds and pull a greenie when its blossom end is noticeably darker than its jade-ish butt-end. b.This is an old wives' tale, but if you keep greens on their heads in a cool dark setting, they will turn faster and you can window-cure them once they are a light orange. c.This advice is particularly arcane, but I have an old red plastic coca cola crate, and line red paper between two layers to "quicken the cure"; frankly, it may be hogwash, but some local gardeners here go so far as to buy red mulch netting to encourage the same effect on the vine. I can tell you it is faster than paper bags. 3. heirlooming seeds: I've frozen okra and tomato seeds, and my uncle simply dries them on a towel and puts them in envelopes for the next year. He and I have success with our methods, so do as you like. He is partial to some really hardy, old-fashioned varieties that do well in our brutal summers: Lemon Boy, Merced, Celebrity and Early Girl. My earliest producers this year were Celebrity and Beefsteak. I do not recall your mention of climate or growing season, so some of the fancier or more delicate varieties mentioned by everyone else may be an option for you. My question to the gallery is this: Can anyone tell me how to dry/roast/smoke tomatoes like they do at Boggy Creek Farms?

Cisco's on E. 6th between Onion and Comal; ask if the Willie Nelson table is available, get a piccadillo while you wait, pick up some biscuits to go when you leave.

poor baby. You should start a support group with my husband, as he and I are at the same impasse, unfortunately. I've been mad for cherries, cereal and the new Vanilla Coke, if it makes you feel better--and yes, I'm disgusted with myself. This too shall pass, and in the first days when you think you'll never sleep again, it will even begin to seem like a pleasant but dim memory. Hang in there, and God bless. I think it's really sweet of you to canvass on her behalf, BTW.