Oh-so-Sweet Berry Farm

Kiddo is finally home! We arrived in Dallas Wednesday, and as soon as my Mom opened the door, Kiddo ran right into my arms. He missed us so, as we missed him. It’s so good to have him back home. I’m a Happy Mommy.

Husband took three days off at work, so we had plenty of time to do whatever we pleased. I decided it was the perfect time to go and finally visit Sweet Berry Farm in Marble Falls, TX., just an hour drive west from Austin. This little farm is a great way to spend time as a family picking strawberries, blackberries and potatoes. Next month, they’ll have tomatoes! We had a lot of fun and Kiddo learned a lot about how much of our food arrives from farm to table. He noticed what hard work picking the fruit was, and came out with a new appreciation for his food. And his passion for gardening was encouraged by this visit. How he cares for his squash, lettuce and strawberries. 

Austin Food and Wine Festival

Austin, TX. has most definitely become the Foodie Capital of Texas. From famous top chefs visiting and living here (such as Anthony Bourdain, and Top Chef: Texas winner Paul Qui), to Austin finally holding it’s first Food and Wine festival… when you’re in Austin, you have a plethora of choices when it comes to food, all given the thumbs up by these greats. I’m amazed by the high-quality, top notch cuisine served here compared to my old hometown, Dallas. And just so you know, the food here was Reason #3 we decided to call Austin home!

I had the most amazing honor of attending this year’s food festival, brought to us by Food and Wine Magazine. No one honestly knew what to expect, but needless to say, our expectations were definitely met above and beyond.  I had the most amazing samplings from Stubb’s BBQ, Tiny Pies, H-E-B, and Sullivan’s Steakhouse, to name a few. Stella Artois handed out beer in their signature chalice. Chefs like Masaharu Morimoto, Andrew Zimmern, Tony Mantuano and Marcus Samuelsson were signing books. There were demos galore! Gail Simmons had a demo that I unfortunately missed out on The bar was full of all the beer, wine, tea and water you could consume. East Side King, mmmpanada and The Peached Tortilla even made an appearance. As you can see, this festival was truly fantastic!

I really have to be honest here, there were a few things that bothered me. I’m not a fan of large crowds. The older I get, the more I realize I’m quite the introvert. So, I wasn’t feeling the crowd too much. But I tried my best to tune them out and just enjoy whatever was placed in front of me, even if people were so rudely shoving me around. Obviously out-of-towners. *sigh* Secondly, there was some gnarly high winds and the grounds they chose to hold this festival was mainly dirt. Talk about a dust bowl. I left early simply because I got dirt in my eyes, ears and it stuck all over my body. I understand they couldn’t control the high winds. But perhaps some advanced planning would have helped? Maybe having the festival at Zilker Park next year would be ideal, too. It’s grassy there. And the whole reserving four-five rows out of eight for the VIP badge holders at the cooking demos did not make sense. People that were waiting an hour or more were lucky to even get a seat in the tent. Only for three rows to fill up with VIP badge holders, leaving two rows for last-minute Weekender badge holders to take and not having to wait. I believe VIP badge holders already have so many perks, the whole priority seating at the demos is one they should consider leaving out next year.

There were pros and there were cons to the whole event. But seeing as how it was their first year having this festival, I understand the whole “learning through living” process. I do hope Food and Wine learned from this year and make next year’s festival even better!

If you would like to see more images, feel free to check ‘em out on my flickr: ATX Food and Wine Festival.

Did you attend the Austin Food and Wine Festival? What did you like/dislike the most?

My Adventure with Austin Eats Food Tours

Thanks to Yelp Austin, I won a giveaway for a FREE bicycle food tour around East Austin. To say I was ecstatic is an understatement. I was over the moon! I couldn’t wait to hop on a bike (mind you, the last time I rode on a bicycle, I was 15 years old) and eat my way thru East Austin.

The Yelp Austin Food Tour Gang (with a few members missing)

If you’re not familiar with Austin Eats Food Tours, it all started from a couple’s experience in a food tour they had taken in another city. They couldn’t believe Austin didn’t already offer one, so they took it upon themselves to start one up. Before they knew it, they were the hot tamale. I mean, why wouldn’t they be? Even for native Austinites, it would be silly to not use an afternoon to explore the amazing eateries in your town. Our tour guide (and founder of Austin Eats Food Tours), Andy, was awesome. This guy knows his food!

The Zilker Park Kite Festival, Talk About Family Fun

This past weekend, Kiddo, Husband, Brudder and I paid our first visit to the Zilker Park Kite Festival. Let me say, I was impressed. It’s as if my inner child was released. I basked in the glory that are kites (yes, kites can be pretty glorious, if you ask me). What kind of kites did we NOT see? From Angry Birds to unicorns, to geometrically intriguing to “Yeah, you’ll never get that one to fly”, it’s as if every kite imaginable gathered together on this day and made us stand in awe.

My Fit (and Fast!) Foods

The first time I heard/saw My Fit Foods, was at my local HEB grocery store. I quickly glanced at their meals and thought, “Great, another tasteless health food.” and walked away unimpressed. Because, to be honest, I’ve tried those meal plans where food is delivered to your home (thanks, Mom!). Tasteless and gross pretty much sums up my thoughts on that. Not to mention the membership and shipping costs. Last time I checked, my last name wasn’t ‘Rockefeller’.

Food Truckin’

East 6th Street Trailer Park & Eatery

This past week has been quite the adventure in food truckin’. Our family has promised ourselves to ditch chains and fast food, and stick to local and yummy food trucks and restaurants (although, the occasional trip to Carl’s Jr. may be inevitable). We want to support local businesses, after all. So, during our first week of the new year, we visited two food trailers inside East 6th Street Trailer Park & Eatery and a long-time favorite a few miles away…

Waste not, Want not…

How many times have you heard that? I know I’ve heard it a lot. Which is why wasting food is one of my biggest pet peeves. I absolutely abhor it. When I see that some tomatoes or lettuce have gone bad in my fridge (and I mean, rotten not like, assaulting people), I hate myself. I get angry and whoever crosses my path is bound to get burnt.

The Blanton Museum of Art had a free screening last night of a rather neat documentary by Jeremy Seifert, titled “DIVE!“. I can honestly say that I knew we Americans wasted A LOT of food, but I wasn’t too sure about how much. I came into this screening thinking that this doc was going to be more about saving money by going dumpster diving, rather than putting us to shame on our wasteful habits. I can also say that I’m glad that Mr. Seifert did (with humor and heart, mind you).

Some shocking statistics from Dive!:

• Every year in the US, we throw away 96 BILLION pounds of food.
• That’s 263 MILLION pounds a day
• 11 MILLION pounds an hour
• 3,000 pounds per second
• Americans throw out a whopping one-half of the food we produce and import. This wastefulness coexists with a devastating recession and record numbers of Americans dependent on food stamps-one in eight of us, to be exact. Our propensity to waste has now reached beyond our means to do so, and yet we keep up the bad habit even while our neighbors go hungry.

  I couldn’t help it, but I was almost on the verge of tears and basically disgusted with the gluttonous lifestyle we have been leading. While there are children in Ethiopia eating mud pies made of dirt and salt to curb their hunger pains…

Jeremy Seifert realized how much food was being wasted after his friends visiting from Pennsylvania raided his local Trader Joe’s dumpster. Being new to dumpster diving, he was astounded at not only the quantity but also the quality. Sure, this was considered trash by the store, but a lot of the stuff he found was safe for consumption by himself and his family. They are eating trash. They are eating “fancy” foods they couldn’t afford. All from the dumpster of their local grocery store. Incredible.

A quote he mentioned in his documentary was the final straw in me saying, “You know what, I’m going to dumpster dive soon.”:

“Forfeit your sense of awe, let your conceit diminish your ability to revere, & the universe becomes a market place for you.”
- Abraham  Joshua Heschel

Amazing! I shouldn’t lose my sense of awe for what has been created for me. I shouldn’t be so easy to just throw it out, disregard it. It’s a shame that we have become so wasteful of something so precious.

So yes, I like to think that I came out of the Blanton a newbie food waste activist. I am eager to learn more about dumpster diving and will be contributing to my local food bank. No one should go hungry. There is just no excuse. I highly suggest you watch “Dive!” (available on Netflix and iTunes) and take into consideration how much you waste, and perhaps make a change.

Town Lake, aka Lady Bird Lake, aka Heaven in ATX

A few weeks ago, Husby and I visited Lady Bird Lake for the first time since we moved to Austin six and 1/2 months ago. I was bound and determined to do the 4 mile jog around it. Nothing was going to stop me. I was eager. Mind you, the MOST I’ve walked in nature was been 2.5 miles. Needless to say I simply speed-walked and by 2.5 miles I was ready to kneel over and die. But I kept going. I thank my biking and elliptical-ing. Those two machines have help my cardiovascular system tremendously. My heart was the ONLY thing keeping me going for those 4 whole miles. My legs were ready to quit, but my heart was their cheerleader, telling ‘em to Rah-Rah On.
But besides my body’s tug-of-war, the view of it all was amazing. The greenery, the lake RIGHT NEXT TO YOU. It was just beautiful and I am glad we went.



Walking through the trail at Lady Bird Lake made me so freakin’ happy to call Austin home. Moving here was the bestest decision we have made for ourselves and our little family. I love this city. 
Here are some other shots I got. Expect more of the nature-y side next time we go. These were just what I got from our starting point on the bridge near Auditorium Shores.

Any other trails in ATX we ought to give a try?