eat! craft! live!

Cissi's RSS Feed

Last Wednesday, I dragged a friend out on the town for a little wine and free dessert. The event for food bloggers, Twitterers, Yelpers and regular folks was wittily named the "RSS (Really Sweet Syn) Feed" - how I could I pass it up? Cissi's Market on South Congress is one of those places that I've passed by a million times, but have never set foot in. And there's a perfectly logical reason for that! It looks completely out of my usual price range. The truth? It's only mostly out of my price range! Hoo-ray!

In all seriousness, the free sweets and discounted wine were definitely what motivated me to do something other than sit around my living room with M and the kitties, knitting and watching 30 Rock on Netflix. Which is what I generally do on a weeknight. And I'm glad I got out! It feels good to be around other humans sometimes. (Not that M doesn't count...he's very human.)

My friend and I opted to get dinner beforehand at Home Slice Pizza, which is conveniently across the street from Cissi's. Assuming (correctly, I might add) that actually eating dinner at Cissi's would prove to be a little beyond our budgetary allowances, the pizza was a nice fill-me-up before the main event. A couple greasy but delicious slices of pepperoni later, we crossed the street and entered a roomy space lined with giant windows and shelves of wine. We were early and there were plenty of spots to sit, so we perched at a high table by one wall of windows and people-watched while we perused the (really entertaining) menu. Waitstaff with trays of delectable goodies wandered here and there, asking, "Would you like some dessert?" Seriously? You had to ask? Who says no to free sweets? Between us, I think we managed to try just about everything. I nibbled a mini Sacher Torte, two skewered Belgian Ale doughnuts with toffee sauce, a surprisingly tasty tangerine financier, some sort of gingerbread muffin which wasn't on the menu so I can't remember what it was called, and two glasses of very pink bubbly wine. (And I have now revealed the true extent of my free food-induced gluttony.)

Here's what the folks at Cissi's had to say about the desserts:

• Belgian Ale Doughnuts: Warm Beer Toffee Sauce, Peanut-Fleur de Sel Toffee
• Tangerine Financier: Browned Butter Almond Cakes infused with fresh Tangerines
• Roasted Peanut Macaron with Caramelized Banana Ganache: Crisp and chewy Almond & Peanut Sandwich Cookies with a Caramelized Banana White Chocolate Ganache
• Mini Sacher Torte: Small Bite-sized version of the classical Austrian dessert. Dense layers of chocolate cake with housemade Apricot Preserves and Dark Chocolate Glaze served with a side of "Schlag" or whipped cream as is done traditionally.

They described them better than I ever could but I'll give you some brief impressions. The Sacher Torte was delicious and soft, but a bit melty which made for some, shall we say, indelicate eating on my part. I passed on the macaroon because the idea of banana ganache made me very unhappy. The thought of anything banana, except bananas, pretty much makes me want to run screaming. The tangerine financier was, as I mentioned, surprisingly delicious. I say surprisingly because I am not generally a huge fan of anything almond flavored, except almonds. (I sense a trend here...) It was moist and just sweet and flavorful enough without being overwhelming. The doughnuts were by far my favorite - they were the little treats I was looking forward to all evening but which were always absent from the trays when the waitstaff came by! I can only imagine that everybody got to them before the trays got to us. Warm, sugary and fried, with a deliciously sweet, warm toffee sauce, they made quite an elegant picture served skewered two at a time on long, narrow white plates. I assure you, they are not to be missed.

Oh yeah! I had wine too! Which led to an ill-advised shopping moment after we left Cissi's where I said to my friend before we entered the store, "Don't let me buy anything because I'll think it's all a really good idea!" I won't go into detail about the wine because I don't know what it was - only that it was pink, bubbly, sweet and delicious.

South Austin Airstream Tour

Last Saturday, as I mentioned in my last post, I went on the South Austin Airstream Tour. Well, sort of. I dragged along a somewhat willing friend for the adventure and we showed up at Flip Happy Crepes around 11AM, only to see a very long line. Despite the chilly temperatures (and the wind!) we waited patiently to place our orders at the window of the delightful Airstream trailer. My friend got the salmon and I ordered the (heavenly) ham and gruyere with mornay sauce and green onions. Oh. My. Heavens. Delicious! The crepes were perfectly cooked and deliciously eggy. My fillings were warm and well-proportioned. And they are surprisingly easy to hold in your hand and eat, even though it looks, at first glance, like it's going to be a nightmare of ham blobs and dripping cheese. My only complaint about the place is the extremely limited hours!

Next up was La Dee Dah, which I skipped in lieu of going to Hill Country Weavers instead to buy some yarn. Because...it's conveniently located directly across the street from the last official destination - Hey Cupcake!

I've mentioned Hey Cupcake! before, I think... When you're selling sweet, tasty cupcakes out of a shiny Airstream trailer with a giant rotating cupcake on top...well, it's just really hard to go wrong! I got my usual, the Snowcap - chocolate cake with vanilla icing. I always forget that their chocolate cake has chocolate chunks in it, which I adore. The icing is nothing special and a bit too sweet for me, but the atmosphere (and the proximity to a yarn shop!) is hard to beat.

So why the "Well, sort of" up the first paragraph? My main complaint about the day, and it has nothing to do with any of the places we actually went, was that I never actually met the other "tourists." Since the whole thing was organized over the internet and I didn't already know anybody that was going, I wasn't really sure who to look for. There were a handful of people I was pretty sure were part of the tour, and I think I saw the organizer, but all in all, I didn't feel overly social. Which is largely my own fault, I'm sure...I'm not exactly the most outgoing person. (Far from it!) Hopefully, at the next event I attend along these lines, it will be a little more obvious who's there as part of the group and who's just there with their kids on a blustery Saturday morning!

For a few more photos of the tour, check out my Flickr set.

a plate of local

It wasn't until I actually sat down to eat my burger this evening that I realized nothing we were eating had come from very far away. What a wonderful, unexpected surprise! It's because I recently discovered Greenling and I am hooked! It's a local grocery delivery company and they are my new best friend. I used to pass by their little booth at the farmer's market but I never really looked into it, figuring it would be way out of my price range. Until a couple weeks ago, when they started following me on Twitter. I followed them back and figured I should actually do a little research before I dismissed them, at which point I discovered that it was a totally accessible grocery option for us! Yay!

So for the past two weeks we have had a delicious box of produce and other groceries delivered right to our door and it's been wonderful. It's like Christmas. (OK, maybe not quite like Christmas.) In addition to locally (and not-so-locally) grown fresh produce, they also have baked goods, dairy products, meat, eggs and loads of other stuff. We may never have to go to the grocery store again! (OK, again, I'm exaggerating, but it really has cut down on our Central Market trips.) This time, among other things, we opted for some bison, buns, local onions and baby lettuces. I've mentioned the bison before and I can't say enough about how delicious it is. The buns were tasty and substantial - like real bread, not the puffed white things in most stores. The baby lettuce made it feel fancy. And if you know me, you know I love fancy. Especially easy, simple fancy! They come in little bunches and all I do is tear some off and throw them on a burger or a sandwich and it looks like a chef put it together! Fancy! And delicious - tender and sweet.

If you're in Austin, I highly recommend Greenling - especially if you're already accustomed to the slightly higher prices of a farm, market or higher-end grocery store. There's no delivery charge, though your order has to total at least $25. And many of your options have at least one local choice. For example, they have "regular" organic milk and local milk. The same with eggs and other items. It's not cheap, but it's barely more than what we were already paying and now we don't have to drive all over town! And being car-less like I am, that is worth it. (Especially now that the buses are on strike! Sheesh.)

Now I've got to figure out what to do with collard greens, chard, Meyer lemons, apples, an unidentified herb perhaps belonging to the mint family, radishes, zucchini, eggplants, a butternut squash and an excess of milk...if you have any ideas, feel free to share! I think it will be an interesting weekend, food-wise...

be my sugar mama...

Sugar Mama's Bakeshop opened just a few days ago here. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I love cupcakes. I mean, I love cupcakes. So of course I wanted to try some as soon as I could! Well, that opportunity presented itself long before I thought it would, in the form of a friend's co-worker stopping by on her lunch break and picking up some sweet and delicious treats! I requested (in this order): The Odd Couple (chocolate cake with salted caramel cream cheese frosting), Frida (Mexican chocolate cake with whipped chocolate ganache and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar) or Marilyn Monroe (vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream). As luck would have it, my first choice was available so I feasted my eyes (and my tastebuds!) on the rich, decadent salted caramel cream cheese frosting and moist, delicious chocolate cake beneath. It was good. Really good. (Really sweet too...maybe a little too sweet.) In addition to being incredibly tasty, they're a pleasure to look at! I am a sucker for beautiful food. I even went so far as to carry my little box of cupcake around with me in not one, but two, stores so the little guy wouldn't melt in the hot car. It was worth it. I can't wait to go in person so I can gaze upon all the lovely cupcakes in the shop!

The Steeping Room

An update on yesterday's cupcake - it has now been consumed and was, in fact, incredibly delicious. I purchased the little chocolate wonder at a place I've been meaning to try for quite some time now: The Steeping Room at The Domain. It's an adorable little tea shop with clean, un-fussy decor, amazingly friendly staff and a heavenly-looking menu. Oh, and tea. So. Much. Tea. They dropped off, along with our menus, a packet of paper detailing their teas. I didn't count them all but there were about a dozen or so 8.5x11 pages of single-spaced text describing their myriad assortment of teas. Black tea, green tea, white tea, rooibos tea, flavored tea... I want to try them all, but last night I wasn't feeling very adventurous so I decided on a Madagascar vanilla flavored black tea. Steeped to perfection and served in a simple teapot with a wooden trivet, it tasted excellent alone or with a little sugar.

I elected to get the "scone set" which consisted of my wonderful pot of tea, two scones of my choosing, jam, and one spread. I chose a currant scone, which was good, though a little on the dry side, and a rosemary-cheddar scone, which was out of this world! The strawberry jam was tasty, especially when paired with the...clotted cream! Oh, the dairy deliciousness! A bit of nice thick cream and some jam really livened up that slightly-too-dry currant scone. My tea buddy opted for the grilled cheese, a tasty concoction involving white Vermont cheddar, sun dried tomato and basil. I was lucky enough to snag a bite and it was a darn good grilled cheese!

Today promises to be a fun-filled day involving a little bit of canning (more on that tomorrow, I'd wager...) and hopefully some new yarn, as long as my bank account isn't too angry with me! Also, some time this week I'm really going to try to do that post about the process of canning that I'd mentioned before. Hope everyone had a lovely 4th of July weekend!

Hyde Park Bar & Grill

More food...I know. I'm only on day 3 and I'm not sure how I'm going to last until the end of the month...we'll see!

Anyway, M had a bad day at work yesterday so I offered to take him out to dinner. My reasons were a little less than altruistic - we don't have much food in the house right now and I didn't feel like cooking, plus I'd scored a 20% off coupon for Hyde Park Bar & Grill from work. We managed to snag a nice window seat right at the front of the building, which meant (hooray!) that there would be enough light for me to take some photos! So I did! We decided to forgo appetizers, but I ordered a frozen strawberry margarita, just for kicks. Sweet and tasty and you'd never know you were ingesting alcohol until you turn your head real fast and the world slowly spins back into place.

M ordered a country fried pork chop or some such thing, and it arrived lounging on a large bed of creamy mashed potatoes with some macaroni and cheese hanging out beside it. I can attest to the tastiness of the potatoes and the mac & cheese, but I'm not a pork chop lover so I'll just say that M polished it off and was quite happy to do so.

I ordered the sautéed crab cakes which came with spiced roasted sweet potatoes and my choice - creamed corn. Yeah, I know, creamed corn sounds a little strange. But the one time I had creamed corn there before, and it was a good long time ago, it was heavenly. Absolutely delicious. And now they've apparently changed how they handle side dishes - it used to be that they made two or three sides every day and wrote them on the board in the entry way in colorful chalk. Creamed corn always went quickly and I could never manage to get it by the time we had dinner. Now they seem to have a set side menu and you get to choose which one you'd like. Corn! But, unfortunately, it wasn't as good as I remembered. Oh, the tragedy... It was still tasty, but it didn't have the thick, creamy texture that I remembered from several years ago.

The roasted sweet potatoes, however, were delicious. A refreshing alternative to the frequently overcooked-on-the-outside-undercooked-on-the-inside chunks of pale potato that so often accompany a plate of otherwise mouth-watering food. I've only recently begun to appreciate the humble sweet potato and if I had ordered my meal a year or two ago I probably would have asked to sub out the sweet potato for something else. I'm glad I didn't!

And the crab cakes. What can I say about the melt-in-your-mouth wonder of crab cakes? Born and raised on the coast of Maine, I am an avowed fish lover and have long suffered the lack of seafood in my current living situation. (And no, catfish most certainly does not count.) In addition, I live with a man for whom eating fish is about as pleasant as eating sand, which means I don't often get to cook it at home. So, crab cakes. They weren't the best crab cakes I've ever had, and I'm always a little disappointed in the crab-to-cake ratio, but they were still a balm to my poor, seafood-less soul. I even went so far as to eat only one of my precious crab cakes, and half of my sides, so that I could extend my lovely meal into lunch today. Oh, the discipline! (Plus, I really wanted to eat dessert...)

And what a dessert it was.

Upon sitting down, I had the bright idea to look at the dessert menu ahead of time to see if I should save room for a tasty treat. And I saw this: strawberry-white chocolate roulade. Strawberry jam and white chocolate mousse rolled up into a white sponge cake, topped with vanilla buttercream. Heaven. It was...wonderful. It could have been a wee bit better with a few minor improvements. I would have liked it to be a little colder upon serving, but maybe that's just me. I also would have liked a little more substantial cake. The firmness of the white chocolate mousse was at odds with the crumby, squashy, delicate sponge cake. Which is all to say that it tasted phenomenal, but if I had to make it at home (hmmm...) I would make a few alterations.

I hope all you folks not in Austin will indulge my local restaurant review, but if you're ever here visiting maybe it'll be handy!

The Omnivore's Dilemma

I just finished reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma a few evenings ago.  (I love my library!)  What can I say that hasn't already been said about this book?  For those of you who aren't familiar with it, he takes a very engaging look at the natural history of four meals.  (Yep, that would be the sub-title, right there...)  He starts his story in the enormous world of commercial, conventional, processed corn-based food, moving on to the "conventional organic" realm, then on into alternative farming and finally ending up hunting, gathering and growing most of the ingredients in his final meal.

Pollan is an engaging writer and a competent storyteller and he makes the world of food come alive while imparting a great deal of knowledge.  I imagine if this was one's first foray into the world of this type of food writing, it would be incredibly eye-opening - I'm somewhat familiar with his topics and I still found it very interesting and informative.  I laughed, I cried, I cringed, I nodded in agreement...  It reinforced that the food choices I have been working my way toward for the past ten years or so have been the right ones.

 

My life has almost completely followed the "story" arc of this book.  I started out as a "typical" American eater as a child, teenager and college student - fast food wasn't really a problem for me, though I never ate large quantities of it; I ate lots of highly processed foods; I didn't really think twice about where my food came from.  I always knew that it wasn't the best way, but I wasn't really willing to put in the effort to find anything out about what would be a better way.  After reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, I am intensely glad I no longer participate (at least mostly) in that way of eating.  The positives associated with it (convenience, low up-front cost) do not, in my opinion, nearly outweigh the negatives (health problems, environmental degradation, animal cruelty, mistreatment of farmers, farm workers and slaughterhouse employees...I could go on).  I know more about corn now than I ever thought I would and it astonished me to learn about the government subsidies that enable the cheap flood of corn to continue.  It also amazed me, though it shouldn't have, if I'd stopped to think about it for a moment, how much corn is in our food...and other products!  Corn oil, corn syrup, ethanol, corn starch and many more substances that are derived from corn are ubiquitous in most people's lives.  The amount of corn we eat fresh each year is a minuscule drop in the bucket compared to everything else. 

The other thing that was not altogether shocking, since I'd done a bit of reading on it before, but still difficult to comprehend, is the state of our meat industry.  It just amazes me what we'll put these animals through for the sake of cheap meat.  Fattening them up on cheap corn (there's that corn again!) that they were never meant to eat, pumped full of chemicals so they can live too close together in conditions that we ourselves would never even dream of, deprived of any way of manifesting their sheer animalness. It really made me reconsider my status as a meat eater.  Ironically, I was actually a vegetarian for most of the time that I more or less fit into the stereotype of the typical American eater.  I have only in the past few years begun to eat meat again, and I must say that I really enjoy it.  But I don't enjoy what goes into a factory farmed piece of steak or chicken.  I have no intention of become vegetarian again, but I do think that from now on I will really try to make the investment in meat that has been raised responsibly and sustainably. 

The next section of the book focuses on organic foods.  This seems to be the trickiest section of all, because people want to believe that organic foods are the answer to all our food worries.  But they're not...necessarily.  Organic foods can be as highly processed as conventional foods.  And is it really any better to eat organic vegetables, if they end up traveling further around the world than you have?  I'd say not.  But there is the undeniable fact that organic farming does keep vast quantities of fertilizers and pesticides out of the environment.  In that way, it is leaps and bounds better than conventional farming.  Unfortunately, just because the apple was grown organically, doesn't mean it doesn't have exactly the same post-harvest path to your table as a conventionally grown apple.  And that's the part I came to next in my life, and am currently still wading about in.  I began to realize that organic food was better - for me, for the environment, for the people who grow, harvest and process it.  But that's not all there is to the story and I began to realize, even more recently, that there is an alternative to "industrial organic." (My favorite example.)

Which brings me to the next part of the book - alternative farming methods.  Without even realizing it, I had read much of the source material for this chapter just before I started this book.  While looking for a book called Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal by Joel Salatin, which the local library didn't have, I stumbled across another book of his - You Can Farm.  Michael Pollan spends a significant amount of time discussing his week at Polyface Farm, which is where Joel Salatin lives and works his land, along with the help of his family.  They practice a method of farming based on nature's processes.  Bizarre, I know!  With intensive grazing and management, they have manged to build a stronger piece of land than what they started with, and it's very productive and whole.  It's the type of farming that you or I probably thinks of when we think "farm."  It's ultimately better for everyone, including the plants and animals, and more sustainable than many other models.  (Joel Salatin is a character with loads of one-liners and a strong opinion on just about everything.) 

The last chapter discussed what a small, but seemingly growing, amount of people like to do - hunt, gather, forage and grow their own food, the way our ancestors did many millennia ago.  It's simply not possible for everyone to do that anymore - there are too many people and not enough wild environments, particular where the people can get to them.  But there's something infinitely satisfying about knowing that you were directly involved in gathering every aspect of your meal, which is what Pollan tried to do for his last one.  He was only somewhat successful, but not for lack of trying.  It's the ethic behind this that prompts me to make my own bread, preserves, etc. and grow some of my own vegetables.  (I'd have chickens in a heartbeat if I could...but I get the impression our landlord is definitely not chicken-friendly.)

All in all, I highly recommend the book, it's a good read!