This year our tamales were made with:

Lard we rendered ourselves,
Feral hog we killed and butchered ourselves,
And serranos we grew in the garden.

On another note, I was baking chocolate chip cookies earlier and was moving one of the loaded cooling racks around and one of its supports collapsed and ka-WHOOSH, there was a waterfall of hot, aromatic, butter-laden chocolate chip cookies pouring off the counter and right onto the dog.

For one brief, shining moment, the dog thought that it was the BEST NIGHT EVAR and his big brown eyes sparkled with a canine tear as he ducked his head to investigate the manna from heaven and I screamed, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! GO KENNEL!” and he realized that he probably did something very wrong to make the cookies happen and went to cower in his box as I burned my hands cleaning up Floor Cookies.

They only have a little hair on them.

Happy New Year, everyone!

The best part about working in the garden with the kids is that you can squirt them with the hose when you’re done. But then, with pre-meditated coldness, they insist on giving Mommy a big hug afterwards. The chumps.

Finally got the radishes, carrots, peas, and onions all set. Need to see if we can find some strawberry seedlings at the garden center, and maybe some spinach. The next batch goes in late March – stuff like cucumbers, squash, edamame, tomatoes, peppers, and corn. The viney melony/winter squashy stuff we’re going to plant in the front, unoccupied flower beds just for grins, because the watermelons took up so much real estate in the square foot garden last year.

I just discovered the neatest trick.

You know how, when you get a bag of microwave popcorn out of the microwave, your instinct is to hold it by the top and shake it? Well, turn it over and hold it by the bottom. All the unpopped kernels will come out of the slit.

My husband and I have been to Restaurant Jezebel several times, the latest of which was tonight. I keep meaning to blog about it and keep forgetting.

Today was our 10th wedding anniversary, so I made reservations for Jezebel and let them know we had a celebration. When we got there, we were seated promptly in their dark, cavernous-but-cozy dining room which is decorated with pictures of nekkid women. The kitchen is open to the restaurant and you can watch Chef Vora back there working his magic.

Jezebel is a little out of the norm in that they don’t put any pressure on you to order, switch courses, or pay the bill. To some, this seems like poor service; in reality it’s just a departure from the American norm of quick table turnover. You can sit and enjoy coffee and conversation until they close without being pestered to leave. It’s rather nice once you know the score.

Our waiter, TJ, was one we’ve had before and he’s wonderful. He asked if we would like to order some champagne for celebrating, so we did. We also got the table noshes: a tray of sauteed olives (wish I had the recipe for this), some bread, and a plateful of olive oil with a baleful balsamic eye in the middle for dipping.

For starters we both ordered the foie gras in sweet chili glaze. To be honest, one of the reasons we went to the restaurant in the first place was to thwart the austin anti-foie protesters who have targeted several places around town for both picketing and vandalism. Many issues with that – too many to go into other than to say why don’t they protest restaurants that don’t serve free-range beef and chicken? Because it’s hip.

Anyway, the foie gras was at an absolute peak tonight. I took a bite and it transported me. I closed my eyes and just let it take me away. I wanted to cry, it was so good. It’s a nice portion, too – probably 3-4 oz. Last time we went, I ordered it and they brought it out with the apology that it shrank more than anticipated during cooking and they would bring more ASAP; they brought out almost twice as much as what my husband got.

Tonight TJ asked if I’d like a little sauternes to go along with the course, and I happily said yes. The pairing was sublime.

Between courses was a palate cleanser of aloe vera sorbet. I’d have to say this was the only slightly flat note of the evening. It was refreshing, yes, but it was way too much like dining on hand lotion. I never realized that’s what aloe vera tasted like. I always thought it was just lotion fragrance.

My main course was lamb two ways – rack of lamb in a pumpkin seed crust and braised lamb shank. It came with a side of fresh greens (like watercress) and some horseradish mashed potatoes. TJ offered up a nice wine pairing with the dish, and hubby got himself a beer because he’s so not into the wine thing. His dish was a napoleon of filet with roasted tomatoes and a chipotle hollandaise. Both entrees were wonderful.

For dessert I ordered a creme brulee and hubster got the lemon curd mousse. His was ZING very lemon. Mine was really nice and creamy vanilla. TJ gave me some 40 year port to go with it.

With the check, they gave us a hand-written thank you note for spending our anniversary with them. The only liquor on the bill was the bubbly and beer – everything else was comped, as was hub’s dessert.

I have to mention the ladies’ room. It’s really a sight to behold. Once your eyes accustom to the even deeper gloom in there, you’ll notice that the walls are covered in astroturf. There’s a squashy purple velvet armchair in the corner and another nekkid lady on the wall. There are baskets with feminine items as well as tooth flossers.

In short, this is our favorite restaurant in Austin and probably the world. I really, really hope they stay afloat. Give them a shot if you have a special occasion.

Some numbers:

2 – accounts hacked last week
? – number of days the cat box was broken while we were out of town, necessitating a game of “Piss and Seek)
2 – toilets clogged up the other morning
2 – children sick at the moment

In lighter news:

3 – feral hogs came home in the cooler
34 – pounds of meat from said hogs were boiling on the stove today
11.5 – pounds of usable meat in the fridge
10 – pounds of pork trimmings from the meat market yesterday
3 – quarts of lard rendered from said trimmings
lots – of yummy cracklins from the rendering process
9 – pounds of meat still needed for tamales
60 – dozen tamales to go (and maybe more)

Tamale recipe for kids playing along at home.

Halloween is here, and in the air is a strong scent of bacon.

WTF? Why does the street smell like bacon? It’s been bacon-smelling since we took the kids trick or treating an hour and a half ago. Now the smell is so strong, it smells like bacon in the house.

Not that I’m complaining.

But… bacon? Huh?

Some Halloween goodness. Our little devil and Spiderella, and the severed ladyfinger cookies I made for my classmates (yes, I’m baking cookies for my college colleagues… Hub keeps calling me a little old lady.

)

Restaurants we’ve been to lately:

Dirty Martin’s Kum-Bak Place. Still excellent after all these years. The back room now has three, count ‘em, three window air conditioners, so it’s frigid in there, yet still smells funky. Their sirloin sandwich is to die for. Cheese tots are a must. The kids (after complaining about the temperature and the smell) asked when we’re going back. Go.

Evita’s Botanitas. Before even bringing menus, the waitress brought us water, chips with 6 different kinds of salsas, and little cups of (complimentary) queso for the girls. The kids inhaled their food. I got the mole enchiladas and do believe it’s the best mole I’ve ever had. Previously I got gorditas there and they were similarly rad. Hub was happy with his al pastor. Go.

Taqueria Arandas. Delish Jalisco-style food. Hub digs the al pastor. Kids dig the enchiladas. I always seem to end up with the carne asada (they cook it with nopalitos, yum). Excellent horchata. Cheap. Good. Go.

Dot’s Place. (Note: Dot’s place is on Windermere, not Orchid. They burned down and moved a couple of years ago.) Simply put: you must go. They serve cafeteria-style soul food. $7.50 gets you a meat and two sides, and they’re enormous portions. $.30 for a roll or a piece of heavenly cornbread. The beef tips are excellent. The sweet potatoes might make you cry. The kids got the lasagna and loved it (child plate is $5). They’re open for dinner on Thursday and Friday from 5:30-8:30; else they’re just open for lunch. Go.

Quickie update – Cuervo’s still staying at the vet, but they have been calling us daily with reports. He’s “scarfing down food” and keeping it down. He’s also said to be in good spirits. The only problem is that they had to stop treating the big bad long-term problem in order to treat the big-bad short-term problem, so once his infections are healed, we have to restart the steroids and immuno-suppressants. And Kona is lonesome.

We hope to bring Cuervo home tomorrow.

Other stuff that’s been going on lately:

- Every time the neighbor’s AC goes on, our lights dim.
- I spent the night in NYC last Monday and had a great time. I left my camera in a cab, though. I did manage to grab the pics onto the computer beforehand.
- At least two more weeks of insane busyness ahead. I’ve also got a research paper due this week and a final exam next week. I’ve decided that I will not flip out if I get a B in this class. My GPA would still be a 3.9.
- We tried two new restaurants this week – Ventana (cooking school restaurant; okay prices, shaky service, uneven food) and Drakula (Romanian; good appetizer plate but when one makes polenta, one should use the salt; also, it smelled like someone’s grandmother’s house – a mix of cleaning products and cabbage – and was about the same 85 degree temperature atmosphere a grandmother would like, too).
-Two profs from last semester told me I should submit two different papers for publication.

Back to the grindstone!