jess mebane

ABRA! I'M STILL PALAVERING OVER ABRAKADOODLES OF COOKIES!!! ...but I plum forgot to send big ups to Chefpeon for those rockin' labels and boxes. Where o Where did you find those? So pretty, and not retro in a beat-you-over-the-head kind of way. BIG UPS, CHEFPEON!!@! WAY, WAY BIG UPS!

See ya in '07; or as I like to call it, "The Year of the Shrimps". Beaux Noelle, y'all...........

ABRA! ABRACADABRA! So, from Texas, which direction should I strike out upon to meet you for a box of Heaven in a Bainbridge Box?! You need disciples! A book for all mankind! A nap! ............................And I need a box of those cooooooooookies! (enthusiasm brought to you by the Sesame St. show playing in the background)

Success in this endeavor? I'd love to go a round of jambalaya with whomever's interested. or gumbo, but that would be more of a roux burns and skin graft comparison with me............

I'm running behind, compadres. Anyone else buy their birthweight in butter this week? Holla!

I'm sure you do, and if we are to judge by this soft opening of a pilot store you're also spot on; however, the Brodie store will have a rotisserie and call-ahead din-din capabilities. This is just Spec's getting its feet wet in Austin, but if we're to compare apples to oranges, then yes, whatever you said there was right. We spoiled, fortunate Austinites are at the ground level of a Houston Spec's v. San Antone Butt's Smackdown, and I, for one as an innocent bystander with purchasing power and no patience for lines and bad service, am totally stoked for it. Oh, did I forget to mention I am H-town from the get-down?! Silly me........

Spec's opened in Austin, perhaps today or this week, on Airport next to Highland where the old Pier One died. I went in to browse, came out $91 lighter and I'm not ashamed to say I hugged the cheese/deli man, Richard. I think I actually began to cry, I'm not sure, but I had to call one of my MILs to come and shop with me for support and restraint before it was all over. He will be having a Parmesan show Saturday, and you should go. Tell him Jessica sent you. Highlights: Cheap hooch triple creme brie baked ricotta manchego that's cave aged one year sharp english cheddar with carmelized onions italian ham, herbaceous with rosemary olive/pickled artichoke/pepper/dolma/ bar White Toque line of frozen goods, incl. pastry sheets to make Pep. Farms eat caca boulder ice cream frozen taglietelle from Italiatelle Marquez sausage with lamb, beef and other goodies fondant icing powder chicory bacon mustard made by Sierra Nevada, yes the beer people Their goal, by the time the store on Brodie goes in is to take 35% of Central Market's prepared foods share, and I've got a brand new $20 that says they'll do it inside of a year. No lines, Extra no snotty help, and a 5% discount on cash and carry. Go nuts! Lemme know what you selected!

So, what does the resulting cornbread look like? She asked, nonchalantly..........

Looks like a soda can, so....12oz?

Darlin', get your big chief tablet and a pencil: Tomato Soup 6-8 of your fresh tomatos, blanched, peeled and seeded 1/2 of a red onion, small dice 2 cans tomato juice only, no V8 or somesuch one can chicken stock or fresh equivalent (turkey stock might be nice 'bout now) 2T butter 1 1/2 stick butter 1 c. cream basil chiffonade S&P In a small pan, sweat your onion in the 2T of butter 'till clear and soft. Take your Time. In a soup pot, throw in your peeled tomatoes, juice and stock, simmer on lo-lo about 30 mins. Add S&P as desired. After 30 mins, carefully process the soup in a blender in batches, or with an immersion blender, choose your weapon. Add your butter in pats, stir in your cream and soft onions 'till all is well. Add the basil at the end. Serve with parm or sour cream dollops, and fresh bread. Puts up well in the fridge, but a person should share this soup on such a lovely weekend. Happy Thanksgiving!

Jaysus, I searched this topic to see what my pms screed was in case I repeat myself, and yes, still brie and sushi (sigh). Guess I'll take the good advice of two years ago and "lay in some red wine". Thanks, Magali...... Oh! But recently I must say I've added thai yellow curry with lots of potatoes and carrots to stem fleeting thoughts of spousal homicide...

Sorry to interrupt, but I feel honor-bound to mention that I bought some brillat savarin brie today that makes you want to fly 8 hrs just to kiss a French cow. 'course, it's only a few more bites of this stuff until you can stick a beret on me and I'll be une bovine francaise, but there you are.....

Judge not lest ye be judged: My skinny ol' Da was stuck on a boat cruising Italy for the past two weeks, and Motherdear sent a postcard wherein the poor man was heard to wail, "I'd give $10 for a bowl of grits." Moments later, a water materialized with a lovely dish of polenta with cheese and mushrooms, and peace descended over the Adriatic Sea ......

Dang, but I rolled double sevens on that there test, and a few of those Q's had me down cold for Texas and Houstonian--spooky! . . . and not for nothing, but the folks at Beard didn't mention how Texas was nothing but a Southern exile for disgraced second sons and criminals--I wouldn't claim us, neither. Where did Yankees send their insane and embarrassing kin?

Yes, yes, the hooch thread that would not die.....Just thought I'd give it a bump to mention the folks are on a cruise around the Boot, and Motherdear has discovered our little liquer, or as Da refers to it in email, "Lemondello". Apparently she's having it after every meal, incl. breakfast. Amazing how the grand circle of hooch goes 'round, no?

dang, but that is a shame, KW. I think we can all reasonably agree that you have put in the time and effort on this establishment, perhaps more than Fino deserved. I'm with Miss Amy on Asti--mighty fine for the price. There is an ever-increasing trend for Italian establishments to get all posh and "event-dining" skewed, and Asti just doesn't go in for all that folderol, anymore than any self-respecting Italian joint back east does. Perhaps the owners lost sight of something important there when Fino opened...... This also sounds like something Batali is suffering thru with the new meatpacking district place, albeit on a much, MUCH smaller scale.

This less-than stellar review seems like such a shame, especially to those of us who are so fond of Asti. Perhaps it's just that M/M Fox seemed to create such a serendipitous mise en place there in their cozy corner of Hype Park, what with the lovely food, ambience and gentle hippie holdout staff. I've not been to Fino, and now it appears I won't have to, but I'll hazard a guess that the owners are a little out of their depth in attempting the 'see and be seen' end of the resti biz. Emmet is a schmoozer on par, but I can see where it might be a little creepy and hollow if the food wasn't good. Any chance it might get better with a few bugs worked out of the system?

Por favor, where exactly on Airport is Chinese Palace? I used to traverse that street every other day while coming in from Lockhart to drop off the kids at MDO, and I've totally glommed by it, apparently. Have pity on an ol' Houston gal just trying to get her authentic Chinese on......

just bumped this to ask if anyone attended Boggy Creek's green corn project last Sunday? Was it full swing even with the rain? Thanks for the great pix, yimay. Listening to Carol Ann wax eloquent on the virtue and majesty of her chickens is worth the price of admission on any day. I think if more folks turned off and tuned in to listen to people like her and the other B.C. denizens, the world would go 'round a little better.

Milto's is cheesy, and adorably so when you factor in the cheerful collegians working the register, or the rolls of Wheatsville brown paper towels standing guard over rickety tables. Milto's pizzas are okay, but the Gyros are really, sloppy good. A little overstuffed, even. But great, pillowy pita bread and runny tzatziki sauce. The ground lamb is sliced a little too thick sometimes, but all in all, this is one of the last cheap good eats in Austin.

A cocktail waitress at a chi-chi joint in Houston recommended a dole-tini, which was very good pinapple-infused vodka; we're trying it now at home. Anyone else ever go Hawaiian?

Get thee to Phil's Icehouse on Burnet, dernit... Their baby hamburger sampler basket with the liberal intermingling of sweet potato fries will make your inner carnivore sing the body electric, mis amigos! And the buns are sweet in a way that pairs with grilled cow flesh like nothin' else your dad ever attempted on the backyard Lil' Smokey. Oh, and it's owned by Amy of Amy's Ice Cream, so there's that, too. I could go every week from now until my future cardiologist says otherwise.

Our first baby tomatoes are coming in, and I dream about bowls of Barilla angel hair with tomatoes, basil, S&P, oil and parm. It's pedestrian, I know, but so am I!

The use of quotes in this thread is giving me the bends...Austin, old or new is best discovered on the odd Tuesday morning at KL, or Cisco's, or El Sol Y Luna, or Y Mas, or Asti, or anywhere else up for argument, for that matter. Amateur hour begins Thursday afternoon and locks up the restaurant scene tight until Monday a.m. So chill, get a sunset cooler at Quack's, then march about Elisabet Ney's front yard 'till you feel better.

The Loeb Limoncello thread. Some things are timeless, I guess. Like Laarb, in a way. Happy summer!