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By Amber, on December 28, 2010, at 10:00 pm We had a great Christmas in Austin with my parents, my sister, and my aunt & uncle. Too bad about the part where I left all of their gifts on the dining room table in Houston!
We didn’t make it to any cupcake trailers this time because my parents’ kitchen was full of treats. I think I ate about three pounds of chocolate cake and red velvet cookies, plus a pound of chocolate-covered pretzels. It was beautiful.
On Sunday we drove out to Llano for some authentic Texas pit barbeque. Choosing from their pit is like shopping at the meat candy store, as you can see from this photo that I stole from their website:
Inside you sit down at long benches and spread your meat on a piece of paper to eat it. It’s rustic and friendly and very Texas, and it was well worth the drive, which was slightly longer than advertised by certain parties. :)
Did you eat anything exciting over the holiday?
By Amber, on December 23, 2010, at 11:58 pm December has sure flown by. I had thought about doing a 12 days of Christmas thing until I found out that the first day of Christmas is actually the 25th, but it’s just as well because the month has gone by so quickly that had I attempted it, I would probably still be on 3. We didn’t even put ornaments on the tree this year, except for one I bought a week or two ago.
We’re looking forward to seeing my parents and my sister for Christmas and then catching up on some sleep. Unfortunately we won’t see Mark’s side of the family for the holidays this year, but we will see them in a few more months.
I don’t have much to post tonight because I’m going to spend what is left of the evening with my husband whom I’ve barely seen for the last few weeks on account of his recent brutal schedule. If you are celebrating this weekend, I hope you have a joyful and relaxing time, whether it’s time you’ve claimed for yourself or time you are sharing with loved ones.
Merry Christmas!
By Amber, on November 21, 2010, at 10:00 pm 
The polar bear is buried somewhere in a box of carefully (and identically) wrapped fragile items, but this is the little donkey I told you about last week. He hangs out in the china cabinet (where else?) with some beautiful, cobalt Hungarian lead crystal glasses that used to belong to my grandmother and some amazing hand-painted table service treasures that Mark’s parents have brought us from Italy and Vietnam. I hope to one day be as well traveled as my kitchenware!
I spent the weekend cooking everything that can be frozen ahead of Thanksgiving. I’d tell you what that is, but my guests read my blog and I’d like to have some surprises! Now dinner is in the oven and I’m too tired to make my lunches for the week, but I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving — even if it doesn’t have its own candy like a proper holiday should.
By Amber, on November 18, 2010, at 10:00 pm …and something in my favorite blue:
Now that we have been in this house for over two years, we are finally getting our bedroom set up as something other than box storage. I want to share the finished room here, but it’s not finished. It’s starting to come together nicely, however, so I thought I’d share a few of the elements that make it home.
We decided on dark furniture, and I wanted white lamps on the bedside tables. I wanted a single white decorative object next to my lamp, and I spent an afternoon scouring antique shops for the right one. I found tons of treasures, but not the right white object. Then I saw something in a display case that made me realize I’d had my object at home all along.
On my bedside table (OMG I have a bedside table! We had overturned moving boxes for two years):
The lamp is new, but the pelican is over 50 years old. My mom got it as a birthday present from a friend when she was five or six and it’s part of a set — pelican, donkey, and polar bear. I have no idea why those things should go together, but I have them all. The pelican and the donkey have a little strip of fur glued to them, but the pelican’s has seen better days. I say it adds to his charm. Regardless, I’m thrilled to have ended up using an antique from my family rather than from some stranger’s.
His tag reads: PETE, FLUFFY PELICAN — TAKE FROM ME, I’VE A MOUTHFULL OF ADVICE
Being who I am, you know there have to be some creepy crawlies someplace in the room:
The spider was invited for Halloween, but I believe he’s won year-round status on Mark’s bedside table. I wonder if I could find a tiny Santa hat.
Oh, and the object in the blue box? Something I have wanted for years and finally have a place for:
By Amber, on October 21, 2010, at 10:00 pm My second-favorite thing about the State Fair of Texas was livestock, up close and personal. We started petting some sheep, and this one wouldn’t let Mark stop:
Every time he tried to stop, it would nudge his hand to continue. How can you not love that? These snuggie-wearing sheep reminded me of Sweet Pea:
Separated at birth, yes/no? By the way, in case you’re wondering:
Next my mom and I rubbed shoulders with a champion (more like our shoulders, his butt):
Then it was on to the bunnies. Is there anything quite as sweet as a bunny face? Unlikely.
Granted, some bunnies are sweeter than others.
One last bunny to fulfill your Thursday cute quota:
Have a great weekend!
By Amber, on October 17, 2010, at 10:00 pm By ‘they,’ I mean ‘we.’
We met my parents in Dallas yesterday for the Texas State Fair, the USA’s official proving grounds for all manner of fried foods. Did you know that there are people in this country who spend a couple months a year frying fair food, and make enough money that they spend the rest of the year thinking up new things to fry? (If you don’t believe me, you would if you had seen the line at the tent selling fried butter, the one thing I would really have liked to try but didn’t.) If that’s not the American dream, then I don’t know what is.
A sampling of the things consumed by our party, starting with my holy grail, the fried s’mores pop-tart (the funnel fries were conveniently offered at the same stand):
I consider myself something of a pop-tart connoisseur in the way Imelda Marcos is a connoisseur of shoes, or Elizabeth Taylor is a connoisseur of husbands. As such I eagerly awaited this treat, and it did not disappoint. I hope it shows up at the Houston Rodeo this year!
I was on the hunt for fried sweets, so I left the fried frito pie and fried broccoli to the others:
I did make an exception for chicken-fried bacon, because bacon is meat candy. The stuff at the fair was far better than what we got at the rodeo a couple years back:
I didn’t try the dipped cheesecake, but it looked good enough that I may have some at the rodeo this spring:
The one thing I tried but couldn’t finish was the fried gummy worms. They were like mini-churros with a hot, liquid candy center — delicious, but overwhelming:
Other fried items seen but not eaten: fried cookie dough (I was going to have some, but it was at the same place as the fried butter and I didn’t want to wait in that huge line), fried lattes, fried margaritas, fried grilled cheese, fried Texas caviar (black-eyed peas), fried club salad. I read that there was also fried beer and fried chocolate, but I didn’t see those.
After eating our way through the fair, would you believe that we went back to our hotel and ate?
By Amber, on October 10, 2010, at 9:00 pm 
Six hours of driving, 28 hours in Austin, and too much fun and food to quantify. That pretty much sums up my weekend. We saw (dog tutus!), we ate, we shopped, and we ate some more. I was so full after my [second] breakfast today that had to take a quick nap before I drove home to Houston.
We have another eatapalooza on tap for next weekend, but in a different city. (Foreshadowing!) Until then: vegetables. Well, and the cupcakes I brought home. ;)
By Amber, on October 7, 2010, at 10:00 pm I’m heading to the capital this weekend!
Well, not literally. I’m going to Austin for some family time. I don’t know exactly what is in store, but Austin is always full of fun and surprises!
What are you up to this weekend?
By Amber, on September 14, 2010, at 10:00 pm Just some foolishness from the weekend (click for video):
She really seemed to enjoy that game (though maybe not quite as much as my mom and I did). She’s definitely better at twirling clockwise than counter-clockwise. And now that the replacement part for the robopooper is here, we all have something to twirl about!
Bonus photo from the Houston Eating Tour’s grand finale dinner at Rattan:
By Amber, on September 12, 2010, at 11:01 pm The Houston Food Tour, Fall 2010 Edition, is going well. We still have a day to go, so this will be brief.
Tonight we ate at Rainbow Lodge. Last week Mark and I tried it for the first time, and we’ve been talking about the food ever since. If you visit Houston, you MUST eat there. Last week I had duck gumbo and the mixed grill, which included game sausage (made from venison, wild boar, and nilgai antelope), a small wild boar chop, venison backstrap, and quail a couple different ways. Tonight I had the antelope steak with fava beans, white asparagus, and truffled wild mushroom & foie gras ravioli. So amazing. I wish we could go every week, but I think we’ll go at least once a month!
I hope you had a nice weekend! I’m extending mine one more day!
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