Taste the rainbow

It was our turn to host our monthly wine club last weekend. Truth be told, as much as we maintain the pretense of caring about wine, it's really become more of a dinner club where we just happen to get drunk. The focus is 100% on the food. We normally pick a region, country, or cuisine style as a theme, but this time I got a little more conceptual. Inspired by a book Sam gave me (specifically this one), the theme for each course was a color. With so much fresh summer produce right now, it didn't seem like too much of a challenge. Plus it finally gave me a chance to buy the purple cauliflower I've always been curious about. 

It seems fitting that I include some photos of our escapades:

Orange: pimento cheese dip and monkey gland cocktails to start

Green: salad with greens avocado, shaved asparagus, and cucumber

Purple: Blue corn tacos with chorizo, purple vegetables, and a purple potato based salsa. Yellow: corn salad

Most of our colorful menu was all natural colors, but we certainly weren't going to say no to these rainbow cupcakes

As a bonus, here's the purple vegetables before roasting. Aren't the beautiful? 

 Definitely a very tasty and fun meal! I might spring the extra $1 for purple cauliflower again sometime.

The Gulf

Last weekend, we took a little drive south and east to the Port Aransas/Corpus Christi area. I had been craving a beach trip for a while, and since at that point I hadn't just read an article about someone getting flesh eating bacteria from swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, it seemed like a swell way to spend a weekend. We left on Friday night after work which meant hitting a bit of traffic and just barely making it to the Dairy Queen before it closed (apparently freeway exit Dairy Queens that are the only thing to eat for miles close at 8 pm on weeknights), but otherwise it was an uneventful, and actually rather scenic drive. 

The sunset as viewed from the Dairy Queen. Some days I think about getting an Instagram, but then I remember I already have a blog.

Prior to the trip, there had been a 90% chance of rain forecasted for the weekend. We vowed to bring martini fixings and to suck it up and make the best of it. As it turned out, it didn't even rain once (although we did experience some actually rather pleasant cloud cover). Now I feel vindicated in my usual lack of trust in and ignoring of the weather app. We didn't spend too much time at the beach, which is how I managed to not get sunburned despite negligent reapplication of sunblock, but I did take a few photos. These are from the random public beach near Mustang Island State Park.

Under the fishing pier. Don't know if people were having any luck, but there were tons of fish jumping in the waves.

The beach we went to was nice enough and pleasantly uncrowded, although that could also be because some people are more scared of foreboding weather than our crew. There were decent waves to make attempts at body surfing, and the sand wasn't outrageously hot. That coupled with the lack of jellyfish made it an instant win over Galveston.

Those skies look ominous, but it was all for show. 

Sam kicking back with his monster margarita at a restaurant by our AirBnB.

All in all, it was a fun trip. I didn't quite get my fill of the beach, so I might try to go back later in the summer. Flesh eating bacteria be damned!

3 Years

This past Memorial Day weekend, we did a great deal of errand running and moving. The good news is Sam's parents have made a lot of process. The house is really looking like a home. I think they're starting to settle in, although it's done nothing but rain since they've been here, so at some point they may think we lied to them about Austin having a sunny, arid climate. They arrived on Sam and my anniversary, which was an enjoyable gift! We did sneak away to have dinner the next night at a restaurant and apiary out in hill country. I wanted to post a couple of pictures because, after all, we will only have one three year wedding anniversary. Posterity demands we record these things.

Flowers Sam got me. The rest opened up over time. 

Sam at Apiary with his amuse bouche. 

Our first course

I included the last photo because the presentation of my scallops was really interesting. You can't really tell in the picture, but it was served on a large shell on top of a bed of kelp-like seaweed and little rocks. I was in the process of remarking on how funny I found it, when the waitress rushed over to make sure I knew not to eat the seaweed and rocks. I assured her, I understood they were intended to be decorative, but she said it happens all the time. The seaweed, I can understand, I guess, even though it was not the kind typically served as a garnish, but pebbles?

At any rate, the last three years seem to have just flown by! It seems like just yesterday I was getting ready to head to Queens Farm to meet up with Sam and feed some llamas. Although in that time, we've moved across the country and bought a house, so I suppose some things have changed. Looking forward to the years ahead and all the new joys and changes to come!