Better late than never.

I'd say "that's what I always say", but I don't always say it. Except for days like today...

I'm in the process of moving. My life in TX is winding down and a new life in Mississippi is calling me. Really, it's shouting at me rather loudly, but I can only do so much about that.

I had the opportunity to go test out that life in Mississippi for Thanksgiving. Except for the part where I got bronchitis, it was wonderful. Cooking Thanksgiving with my honey was a blast. We always have fun when we cook together.

This post is the highlights of that.

The man is a wizard with a grill. Give him fire and he will create dinner.  For Thanksgiving he decided to smoke our turkey.   Look at this...

This turkey was a little 6 pounder dressed only with a smear of olive oil. It sat on that grill for nearly 8 hours soaking up smoke from apple wood chips. Three hours into it he confessed he had never done this before.  But let me tell you! That meat was A-mazing.  Seriously. I had teased him about buying a deep fat fryer / homemade bomb for Thanksgiving since we were now officially in "fried turkey" land. He politely declined. And I'm glad. Yum!

For grins, I've decided to experiment with gluten free baking. So that's what I did for Thanksgiving.

When we were in Sedona to get married, we ate a Key Lime Pie that had a pecan crust. It was incredible and caused me to begin wondering about the possibilities of other types of crust besides the flakey flour kind.

The crust was made with chopped pecans. They were a little too course, truthfully. But it is a start. They were mixed with a little baking mix and maple syrup, then briefly baked. Then the filling was poured in and it was all baked for an hour to set the pumpkin.

The pie was good night #1. But it got better the longer it was out of the oven. Imagine eating your pumpkin pie and then finding you had a slice of pecan pie hiding inside.  It was the best of both holiday pies. Wow.

And just for grins. There's a dollop of homemade whipped cream. Can't beat it.

Happy adventures.

A Honeymoon Eat-fest!

Well....  eating is a huge part of any holiday. And since I was just on one with my honey (our "honeymoon") we ate a lot of good food.  Sadly, I've discovered that my iPhone isn't as good as I had come to expect from the photos I take. Bummer. But I'll do my best to execute sensational language for the descriptions below.

We started the trip with less than impressive fare. You know how travel food goes. As a result we had upset stomachs for the first 2 days. On day 3 we tried a vegetarian/vegan restaurant that had the most amazing food I've had in a long time. That there was no meat in sight of the plates was irrelevant. Did I think to get photo?  Of course not. Bummer.  

Just in case you are ever in Sedona, AZ though and feel like having a meal that will sit well and not tie you up in knots try this place...   Choco-la-tree    I had the falafel platter. On this platter was amazingly different baked falafel, hummus, and heirloom tomatoes that were YELLOW but tasted so lovely I didn't care that they looked funny.

For the evening meal of Day 3, we tried Cafe Elote. It was a nice restaurant and highly recommended. Overall, I was not-so-impressed. I think that was because I was still coming down from the fantastic food at Chocolatree and as a result the food at Cafe Elote felt very heavy. In fact, that is it. It was heavy. Full of flavor but very heavy.

I ordered the fish tacos off the appetizer menu. I had the option of getting rice and beans, but decided to just eat the tacos. (Forgive the poor photo) The chunks of fish were generous with avocado and cabbage slaw drizzled in a cream sauce that I can't identify. The corn tortillas were made in house - they were just that fresh. I easily ate two, but had to reconsider shoving in the third even though I wanted to.  Before I got the tacos we had nommed on huge bowels of guacamole and their version of salsa (which was very much like a gazpacho).  Go in hungry if you are going to eat there.  My honey had their lamb shank which was fall-off-the-bone tender. And amazing. It was Mexican barbeque and wow!  

The only truly sour note was the mojito I ordered.  I rarely send a drink, any drink, back. This trip I did it twice. The first was a glass of iced tea that was simply light brown water. The second was this mojito. There was very little of the mint, lime or syrup in that drink. The rum was all that I could taste. It was too strong and I sent it back. Mark the day and time. Probably won't happen again.

On day 4 of the trip, we got married and then hosted dinner at a fantastic Italian restaurant that was gracious enough to open 30 minutes early to accommodate us.  Go to Dahl and DiLuca for their menu. Then go to Sedona for a meal. It is totally worth the drive.

We started with their house salad - which was pretty good. Followed that with their bruschetta and calamari. The calamari was accompanied by two different sauces for dipping - the basic marinara (which was NOT basic) and a cream sauce. Both were fantastic. The bruschetta, in my opinion, is the tell tale sign of whether the restaurant was a good choice or not.  On this night I knew we were in for a treat! The bruschetta was phenomenal. I could have eaten that alone for dinner.

Then we ordered off the menu.

They make their own pasta there. I am now a firm believer that homemade pasta is crucial to the perfect Italian dish. I will be learning once I have time to cook again. I ordered a shimp dish with a marinara sauce. The dish was supposed to come with mushrooms in it too, but they were able (and happily so!) to leave those out for me during the prep. I wish I'd thought to get a photo of it. Simply amazing.  My mom ordered their version of chicken alfredo, which was also outstanding. Most alfredo sauces are very heavy  and all cheese. This one was different. It was light with a healthy dose of cheese, but wonderful saucy texture of fresh cream as well. I almost wished I had gotten that.

Dessert was special. They have a pastry chef who is on staff at their sister restaurant, but she does all the special events.  Seth and I were able to decide on tiramisu bites, cheesecake wedges and a fruit tart.  I will admit I didn't find myself all that excited about a fruit tart. After eating it, though, I will also admit I was completely mistaken. The desserts were the perfect finish to a perfect meal. Each one was a bit of heaven on its own. The cheesecake had a tiny little lemony gummy thing as a garnish that was my final bite of that dessert.  I can't even describe how delightful each was.  Here. Just look at the photos. I took two - one for the presentation and one for a better look of the desserts themselves.

The tart was a combination raspberry, kiwi and blueberry bits. It had some sort of sweet sauce as the base for the fruit. I would hate to have to pick a favorite, but for the surprise of what it was, the fruit tart definitely won that prize!

I would have gone back to Dahl and DiLuca several more times this trip, but so many other good restaurants were available in Sedona Seth was reluctant.  Suffice it to say, when I next go to Sedona (and I will return!), one of my first stops will be at Dahl and DiLuca.

One of the last meals we ate in town was at a pizza joint in town that had also come highly recommended. (Rule # 83 of traveling with children: At least one meal during trip must be devoted to either spaghetti or pizza).   Picazzo's pizzeria was a lunchtime adventure. We had hiked around a while at Red Rock Crossing and decided to stop for lunch and dinner fixin's before heading back to our cabin. The restaurant's take on things is to make organic Italian food. You can even get gluten free meals there.

Instead of getting the usual large round of pizza, we opted to do their lunch menu. By doing this we could get a slice of pizza and a salad. The pizza is good. The salad selection is out of this world.

I would have liked to get something more than pepperoni pizza, but the puttanesca pizza that Seth ordered was topped with olives in addition to the artichokes, tomatoes and whatever other yummy stuff was on it. So my plate (above) looks a little boring compared to his. I had the pepperoni and a Greek salad. Both were exactly what I would expect, and both were very good.

Below is Seth's plate. 

The pizza is puttanesca - tomatoes, spinach, olives, artichokes, and goat (or feta) cheese. The bite I had convinced me that it would have been worth it to pick off the olives.  The salad he got was another crazy amazing choice. Pear gorganzola with raspberry vinaigrette.  I'm not a huge fan of mixing fruit with my vegetable salads. Just seems unnatural to me.  However! Once again, I will have to reconsider that notion. This salad was too good and should never be paired with a piece of pizza. The chef should require patrons to eat either the salad alone or the pizza with another salad. There was just too much yummy on that plate. The dressing was "raspberry" but was hardly noticeable. It added a tang to the sweetness of the candied pecans and mustiness of the cheese. It was the perfect mouth party. 

Our parting meal from Sedona was at a restaurant in the historic district where we paid for the location and had underwhelming food.  The Cowboy Club and Grill served a salsa with catcus which was very good, an amazing prickly pear mojito, but after that it fell off. I ordered salmon which was seared on the grill and ended up tasting burnt despite the hickory plank it was set on to smoke. Seth ordered a buffalo (?) steak, I think. At any rate the best food on the table was the baby back ribs plate for the little girl. All in all, it cost way too much to be worth the quality of food. I walked out wishing I had spent my last night in Sedona with the people at Dahl and DiLuca. 

I've heard a story that New Orleans is such a foodie city that bad restaurants just can't make it. I think (other than the Cowboy Club) Sedona might be much the same way. Chain restaurants are hard to find because of their scarcity and because they are hidden pretty well. McDonald's was hidden and unobtrusive and only Burger King was highly visible. 

Go there. Visit those places and eat. A lot. 

Happy wanderings.

A study in vapor

Summertime in TX brings heat. Always heat. But with heat comes thunderstorms. Sometimes.

What follows are pictures of some of the clouds this summer.

I was fairly certain this would be the cloud bank that would bring an evening of wonderful and much needed rain.

There was no rain from this; it moved through quickly, but I was so glad that I had forgotten my camera in the car.

This following set was one I captured on driveway. I had just stepped out of the house to take the dogs for a walk when I was stunned by this....

and this...

I realized that taking my camera back inside before the walk was going to be a mistake.  I'm glad I carried it along.   This next photo was altered only to brighten it up a it.

 I can almost imagine the hand of God reaching out of some of these to point out the places where we've screwed things up...

Journey on,

Saturday Entertainment

My neighbor put in a sprinkler system about a year ago or so.  No one in my yard had ever paid much attention to it.  Until Jack.

Tonight I'm sitting on the couch doing nothing important and I hear a muffled banging from outside. I can't imagine what it is so I go out to investigate.

Jack is jumping at the fence. Because the neighbor's sprinkler is running. Henry used to run at sprinklers and bite the sprinkler head. But to stalk a sprinkler through a fence?

Let's see how this unfolds.

I had just come out with the camera after seeing him doing this crazy thing. He's waiting for the next sprinkle by...

Wait for it...

Between these photos was a missed jump, but I caught the aftermath...

He had just jumped at the fence and has literally hit the ground running as the sprinkler moves on...

Down the fence, there it is again!

Almost caught it...

But it moved again, now closer to the door!

Try...

... and try again!

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to have a shutter finger fast enough to catch an airborne Jack Russell terrier?  I counted myself lucky for getting these few and went inside.

Happy adventures,

Just Brande

The Last of the Springtime Glory 2010

I've been remiss lately in getting anything posted.  I was playing with other photos from the New Orleans trip. Then SDC reminded me that I hadn't posted any of the photos he had taken at the end of April.  Here they are... Untouched, unprocessed, un-anything.

Someone once said: Flowers are God's way of laughing.

This year it must have been one helluva BELLY LAUGH!

Sting sang about Fields of Gold. I doubt he ever saw this bit of field in my subdivision. I always thought his "fields of gold" were wheat. But after seeing the transition of the wild flowers from the brilliant blues of the blue bonnets this amazing sanctuary for Black-eyed Susans, I can't help but wonder: was he spending a spring watching the floral fireworks somewhere when he wrote that song? This photo doesn't even do it justice.

Not only were they dizzying looking across the field, but they overwhelmed everything around them. There at the bottom of this photo (above) you can just glimpse the last of the blue bonnets trying to have their last hurrah for the season.  

If you stare at this one long enough, you'll get dizzy.  I look at the contrast of colors and textures in these pictures (above and next two below) and just marvel at nature.  She throws together colors and shapes we'd never try when decorating a room. And somehow it always works out for her. Reds and pinks and yellows and golds and purple.  That's the color scheme thunk up while on a good acid trip. But you look at these photos and you can't even imagine an acid trip. All you can see is "WOW!"

Believe it or not, this last one here is real. Not altered by any program at all. I had a good friend lift it out of my facebook photos because she liked it so much. She said it didn't even look like it had happened without pasting in some fakeness.  But I promise. It did. This was the last photo I took of the flowers this spring.

 Enjoy. Happy adventures.

New Orleans Style

Taking photos of people is challenging  (or at least I think so). However, I think I enjoy that more than I enjoy taking photos of places and things because people tell a story with just being themselves.  I found that the people in New Orleans were great stories.

We were in New Orleans over the weekend of April 18. On Sunday morning, there was an marathon. I have no idea when these poor souls started the race. But by the time we were out and about around 10 am, they were starting to drag - and I do mean drag - themselves in. But the French Quarter loved it. There were people lining the streets and out on the balconies of their homes watching the race come to its end.   This man happened to have the best seat in the house.  And was dressed just as you would expect a man in New Orleans to dress.

Later I was leaning against a post and I see this coming down the street toward me. I snapped a quick shot. Then looked down to change the settings on my camera. I brought it up again just in time for him to see me sighting on him and he shook his head at me. I think this is my favorite photo from the whole trip.

As he walked by I asked, "Where you going with that?"

"I'm going to a gig. Whaddaya think?"

"Well, you never know! There are so many people walking around down here carrying tubas."
(I realize now it is not necessarily a tuba, but hey!)

We spoke, but he kept on walking. Gotta get to that gig...

New Orleans, April 2010

A few weeks ago I took some leave to go check out my next duty assignment.  On the way to Biloxi, we drove into New Orleans for a couple days.  Here's some of the shots I got. Clearly I need to go back. The old architecture, the interesting people. This place is a photographer's paradise.

Here are just a few shots of the buildings. The years of wear, the patina of age and the dignity of these things. Just amazing. We really don't appreciate what a lasting impact good workmanship can have.

And this is only the selected few I've had a chance to clean up and take out distractors like TV towers, cars and naked boobs.
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OK. Just checking to see if you were really reading.

Not the naked boobs. I didn't photograph any of those. But I could have. Chose not to on this trip. Right? Trying to keep my first experience of the Big Easy clean and family oriented.

Sure.

Wild Flowers in Texas Spring 2010

Texas has had a drought since fall of 2007.  This is a sad thing because the Texas state flower is the bluebonnet, which requires adequate rainfall to bloom.  So for the last 2 years there have been absolutely no flowers. Anywhere.

Last fall and this spring, the drought broke and we have had rain nearly every month since October or November. Because of this, the wild flowers have been incredible this year. So incredible that whole families pull off the side of the road to plop their children into them for family photos.

So, yeah. Amazing. 

A Festival Just for Strawberries

This year the annual Poteet TX Strawberry Festival happened April 9-11.  This year I went.

I must say... It was nothing like what I expected.  I mean, NOTHING.

I had expected there to be strawberries everywhere.  There were strawberries, but nothing like the "died and gone to strawberry heaven" that I had envisioned.  It was more like a normal ole small town festival on steroids. There was the carnival. The vendors selling food. These were all local raising money for all the usual organizations - Project Graduation, Volunteer Fire Dept, Band Booster, St. Somebody's Church Youth Group. You know the drill.

I would have felt it was a complete waste of time if I hadn't walked away with a half flat of those beauties up above.  Coming up next.... REAL strawberry shortcake.