Google Killed the Recipe Box
Thanks to Google, I seldom make the same recipe twice these days.
When I was growing up, three or four recipe books lay in a designated kitchen drawer. My mom kept a green box on the refrigerator, the receptacle of index cards with handwritten recipes for sour cream coffee cake, sugar cookies and the like. Most cards were taped with recipes from the newspaper or circulars. Mom and her co-workers would exchange recipes.
Without fail, you’ll a find a blotch here or there on every card. Spatters from ingredients being mixed and mashed and creamed together. Read the rest of this entry »
Have You Had Your Pan Y Agua Today?
Welcome to Pan Y Agua
Today the husband and I stumbled upon Pan Y Agua restaurant at 3215 Westheimer. This is in the old Palazzo’s Restaurant building, where I celebrated the big 22 just a few years ago.
The plan had been to eat at Churrasco’s, a South American place, one of the world’s best restaurants. But it was shuttered.
We turned into the empty parking lot at Pan Y Agua. I had to poke my head in the door to see if this place was actually open. Unlike every other restaurant on Westheimer it looked like a ghost town. But inside, a wee bit fancy. The hostess pulled out my chair; the waiter placed the napkin on my lap. I asked about different dishes on the menu, as usual, and the waiter, Manuel, responded kindly.
When the bread came out, the butter had these huge salt crystals on it. Everyone knows I love butter and will bathe my rolls in it with no shame. But this salt-infested butter ruined my bread experience.
With the bread came flat crunchy discs that looked like pappadam, a South Indian staple I’ve eaten since birth. Benjy’s in Rice Village had served pappadam when Sajan and I went there for Valentine’s. Pappadam must be trendy now. Well these flat crunchy discs at Pan y Agua were definitely not pappadam because they tasted like tortilla chips, and I liked them better than pappadam, and the sauce we dipped them in was real good. Read the rest of this entry »
Ike, Yikes! Take a Hike and Other Rhymes
Yesterday my keyboard at work was drenched by tears. And sloppy handprints grace my monitor. Because I cried. I cried and I tightly embraced my computer, giver of Internet. Internet I dearly missed and longed for in the wake of Hurricane Ike.
Now my blood can flow through my veins and my lungs can unabashedly take in the air on God’s green earth. Me and Internet are together again.
Our house is powerless, waterless.
We don’t sleep there, but the neighbors are sticking it out. Fences are down. Sajan straightened our almost horizontal tree back to vertical today. Today our kitchen floor was kissed by the ooze of melting ice from the freezer we neglected to empty because we thought the ice might stay frozen because we weren’t opening the freezer and thought it might stay cool. Sajan mopped it up. He also went to my cousin’s house to fill a cooler with water to give to the neighbors so they could flush their toilet with that water instead of the bottled water they’ve been using.
I love me a good burger. On Sunday, we ate some from Tornado Burger at Avenue E and Murphy in Stafford. Some of the best hamburgers on earth, I must say. I’d been wanting to try this little hole in the wall place ever since reading Alison Cook’s review in the Chronicle. Before eating our burgers, we saw a national guard c-130 plane fly over Stafford with two helicopters behind it.
On TV that day, I heard the word “efforting” used as a verb on two different occasions. Ugh!!
Six Months, Baby!
Sajan and I are marriage veterans. As of Sept. 8, we’ve been married six months.
How Busy Are You?
This has been one of the longest stretches of time I’ve gone without posting here.
Life has been busy. Teaching adult ESL Monday and Wednesday evenings. Exploring writing/biz projects outside of work. Weekend engagements. Evening networking. Dinners have consisted of a quick box of Pasta Roni, macaroni or soup. Or leftovers stolen from one of our parents’ houses. I have stacks of unopened mail to go through.
I’m in the process of becoming more efficient.
The first few months of married life were amazing and luxurious because on plenty of days I could come home from work, plop on the couch and watch TV with Sajan. We spent multiple nights a week socializing and abundantly enjoying ourselves.
Now it’s back to having a fuller schedule, and I’m readjusting.
Some key questions I started asking based on a recent presentation at work about managing priorities: 1) What task will have the most impact or visibility? 2) What task most interests me?
Lifehacker recommends looking at how important and how difficult a task is.
Can you recall the one of the busiest seasons of your life? How did you prioritize? What mistakes did you make? What lessons did you learn?
Cracker Barrel in My Backyard
Breaking news. I can barely contain my excitement.
Cracker Barrel is coming to Pearland. This is not a joke. Everyone’s favorite Country Store just became more accessible. In the past when Cracker Barrel would come up in a conversation, we would wish the restaurant wasn’t located only on the outskirts of town.
No more waiting for pit stops on out-of-town trips to savor this bastion of southern comfort. Cracker Barrel is coming to Shadow Creek Ranch near Beltway 8 and 288.
Rockin' it out after a big meal at Cracker Barrel
This past Sunday, a group of us stopped by the Cracker Barrel in Conroe on the way back from Carolina Creek Christian Camp north of Huntsville. The rocking chairs, the country breakfast served all day, the homestyle chicken battered with buttermilk, the cornbread, the biscuits, the walls teeming with history. Sigh.
On another note, I do wish new Pearland would embrace more mom n’ pop shops.
Meet the Band – Fake Promo Photos
A partially constructed building is an awesome place to take fake band promotional photos. I used the Canon SD750. Simple camera with great manual features.
We just happened to be checking the progress of the Living Waters Christian Church construction on Labor Day, and random camera moments manifested themselves.
Where do you go to take inspiring shots? Any places or events you would recommend in Houston? I tried asking a few wedding photographers at a bridal show last year, but they tended to be vague. Hotel Icon is one spot I’ve heard. But abandoned buildings would be more fun. Warehouse District, anyone?
