Food

So, in case you weren’t aware, Rob and I love food. We search out the most wonderful places to eat and the most wonderful ingredients with which to cook. Here’s some of our most recent foodie adventures.

Mary’s Cafe in Strawn, TX

We read about this one in Texas Monthly’s Bucket List issue (and you should too – there’s places all over Texas to visit, maybe an undiscovered (to you) gem right down the road!) We went with our small group on the way to Lake Granbury, taking a short detour off I-20. Mary’s is known for their chicken fried steaks… quality AND quantity… and that’s what we got!

I do not advise this place when you’re on a diet. Rob and I split some chili cheese fries as an appetizer before this GIANT chicken fried steak. So, did Mary’s deliver? Yes! Expect comfortingly delicious deep fried goodness with every item on the menu. C’mon, you only live once.

The Dixie Pig in Abilene, TX

We drive by the Dixie Pig on our way to and from the farmer’s market on Saturdays and have always wondered (the parking lot is always packed, unlike in this photo). Recently, we visited for a late breakfast after our farmer’s market trip. Decorated with an eclectic pig collection (antique ceramics, clocks, carvings, toys and more) the Dixie Pig serves up classic diner fare – eggs, bacon or sausage, biscuits and gravy, etc. The people-watching was one of the highlights as the customer mix includes older couples on a breakfast date, families with young kids, the table of huge blue-collar guys (I imagined they were “honey, I’m going out with the guys”-ing it), and adorable little couples (like us!) out for a lazy Saturday breakfast.

Riverhouse Grill in Glen Rose, TX

Rob and I joined the Howard clan (minus Martin) for a family reunion in Glen Rose, TX this weekend. We stayed in a very pretty bed and breakfast with a fantastic view and grey foxes that came to visit the grounds each morning and evening (the owner feeds them).

Friday night, we ate at Riverhouse Grill, a historic Victorian home repurposed to a restaurant. We got the “red room” upstairs and enjoyed our own private dining room where Matt (bro) won at food this time with his very scrumptious cut of beef – a great cut of meat, but we decided they could have done a little more with it in terms of seasoning, but very good nonetheless. I competed and failed with my salmon and Ashley came in a very respectable second with the maple-glazed seared pork loin.  Overall, a nice dining experience – especially for a small town!

And finally! Doc’s Soda Shop in Dublin, TX

Celebrating it’s 119th year, the Dublin Dr. Pepper bottling plant is one of the Meccas of Texas. Only here, can you get a Dublin Dr. Pepper frosty (seriously probably the second best thing I have EVER tasted – first is certainly in Budapest here – and I have tasted a lot of wonderful things!) You can also get fountain Dublin Dr. Pepper (even better than from the can or bottle) and of course purchase Dublin Dr. Pepper by the case.

 

We picked up two cases of cans (one for the Kings as thanks for taking care of Gus for the weekend) and a case of bottles. If you come to visit us, please help yourself to our plethora of amazing soda!

And of course, we got frosties! And they were heavenly! And gone way too soon!

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!

 

Abilene is a surprisingly cool town! At first glance it seems like it will be boring and flat, but when you actually look for fun things to do, there’s coolness galore!

Abilene has a pretty decent zoo and over Memorial Day weekend, Rob and I decided to make a visit.

And there really were lions, tigers, and bears! oh my. BUT, in the heat of the Abilene mid-day, they were visible but not very photogenic lying in the shade…

I fell in love with the flamingoes and decided I wanted to keep some on my future farm… we’ll see, but they are delightful to watch!

Feeding the giraffes is one of the highlights of the Abilene zoo. Yes, giraffe tongues are THAT long.

Later that weekend, we went to Lake Granbury with our small group from church. Kayla’s parents took really good care of us and we all left happy and stuffed!

Renegade Yoga

 

So, I had this great idea to hold yoga classes every month or so in an empty warehouse or rooftop in downtown Abilene. Yesterday’s was the first one scheduled, to be held on the rooftop of The Grace Museum – it was during ArtWalk, the monthly downtown festival where all the museums are free and local artists and vendors set up along the street. As it was fairly warm that day (mid-90s) I decided we didn’t need a hot yoga class and we took it inside to the loggia (like a lobby).

It was great! The setting was BEAUTIFUL and everyone had a good time. There weren’t as many in attendance as I’d hoped, but that meant I could tailor the practice to the students a little more, rather than a general practice. Rob was a very loving husband and took some photos and said we looked like a “living art” exhibit in the museum.

He was also a great roadie and packed me up while I visited with students in order to get us home in time for So You Think You Can Dance. *sigh* I know he loves me!

Check out everybody up in crow pose!!

I’m toying with some locations for the next Renegade Yoga and may trespass, er, scout out some locations soon. Please bail me out if I get arrested…

String of Bad Movies

We have had a slew of bad movies delivered to us by those nice people over at netflix. I know, we put said movies in our queue, but surely netflix would have identified that we had a terrible lineup and adjusted accordingly. Sadly, they did not.

It began with The Last Unicorn. Curious why our parents put it on the list of “no-see” movies when we were kids after we’d already seen it, I decided to rent it. We almost didn’t make it through! While the story itself wasn’t bad, what ruined it for us were the songs by America…. UGH! Boring boring boring. Sounds assailing my ears make my brain numb. Little did we know this was only the beginning.

Our next netflix was Happy Feet. Never having seen it when it came out (we were enamored by the “other” penguin movie at the time – Surf’s Up – so awesome!), we figured it would be good. I know people who liked it… or thought I did. This one also had songs. Mmm, this isn’t a good sign. Also, I think I never could buy into the story. The main character penguin kept his baby fur through the whole movie! What?? While I did thoroughly enjoy the latino penguins for comedic relief I found the environmental undertone a little too “in your face” and annoying. So, ugh for Happy Feet. Or maybe The Last Unicorn put us in a bad mood.

But then, we watched Doogal. The voice talent is the reason we watched it. So. This movie made very little sense. I think the animators picked their individual characters completely separately from each other – there was a dog named Doogal (sure, okay, normal), a surfer-accented bunny named Dylan (an archetypal character they seem to be throwing in a lot these days to kids movies – do older brothers smoke so much pot that this is a normal character for a child?), a sassy diva COW named ERMINTRUDE (okay, now it’s getting a little weird) played by Whoopi Goldberg, and a rather large-for-the-scale-size SNAIL who is in love with the COW…. his name is Brian.

There’s also a good wizard (who looks like a bobble-head on a large spring – he bounces up and down from the clouds where he watches over everyone) named Zebedee. The characters summon him by shouting his name three times. His antithesis is an evil imprisoned wizard who escapes named Zeebad. Don’t you totally want to see this movie??

It makes about as much sense as a video game-turned movie. I actually wonder if it’s a children’s video game. One of the main things we didn’t like was the lack of a lesson to the story. The main character (Doogal) was flawed with selfishness and yet became the hero of the story while not growing as a character. So, kids are supposed to think that you can be kind of a jerk, but as long as everything turns out in the end, nothing has to change? Sad.

Monday in Abilene

Ugh. I do not enjoy waking up early. Early being defined as before 6am. There are other earlies, of course, but today was 5:15. So, after a few hours of email checking, facebook stalking, and online shopping (no purchases – I did our monthly budget and savings before I shopped), I am updating the blog!

Our blueberry plant has berries! Waiting impatiently for them to turn blue.

We replaced the dead blackberry plant (so sad!) with a matsuma orange tree (on sale at Lowe’s!)

Rob built a frame for our tomatoes to climb, and I painted it pretty. We strung twine between the frames to support the tomatoes.

So, there’s much to love about Abilene! Last Sunday afternoon, our milk and eggs supplier hosted a “customer appreciation day” at their farm about an hour outside of Abilene, complete with a homegrown lunch! I fell in love with the baby goats, beautiful pigs, hilarious turkeys, and chicken awesomeness!

Take a good look at the chicken coop! It’s an old cotton wagon and they drag it around the pasture giving the chickens new places to eat and fertilize the ground! The sides open from the outside so Joy can harvest eggs without having to go inside the coop and they just close up the ramp at night! Rob and I want one! (but you know, smaller)

Yoga classes are forming their own identities. The 5:30 class is my most difficult class to teach as the students vary greatly – some are energized and ready to try anything, while others get frustrated with the sun salutations. I remind people to listen to their bodies, but it’s hard to make everyone happy.

The Wednesday morning class is more moms who enjoy the challenge and we go to a lot more challenging places.

The Dyess AFB classes are always fun because everyone is capable of most things and willing to try! Although, I often need to remind them that yoga isn’t about doing the “hardest” every time…

I’m going to start more marketing to get more people to my classes – it would be nice to make a profit so I could buy blocks for student use and cover the cost of the upcoming yoga workshop I’m going to in Dallas. …and of course buy some stuff for myself.

More Abilene stuff, Thursday, Rob and I took Gus downtown to the monthly ArtWalk event – this month was DogWalk! A lot of the vendors and stuff were raising money to go towards the in-process Dog Park in Abilene – maybe they’ll get the money and finish it before we leave town.

See us behind the guy in the quilt? We’re marching in the dog parade!

Friday, Rob’s B-1 class had their squadron night. Basically, they all find out which squadrons they’re going to after Dyess. Rob got the 34th Bomb Squadron (Thunderbirds) in Ellsworth, SD. We’re pleased – although the anticipation wasn’t anything like assignment night – we already knew South Dakota and the B-1… hopefully the new squadron will be cool. I do really really really miss the awesomeness of the 95th Fighter Squadron at Tyndall – everyone was proud and enthusiastic to be a Bonehead!

It’s kind of like attending a school with amazing school spirit (Texas A&M) – you love it, it’s fun, you’re proud to be a part! On the other hand, a school with no spirit is lame, boring, and no fun. I like it when it’s fun.

Rob and I had a great weekend! We went to the movies and enjoyed Iron Man 2 and Robin Hood. Although I think the editing room floor got a few key pieces of characterization in Robin Hood that would have made it make more sense, there was plenty of action.

We went to the Beehive Restaurant for dinner (finally!). It’s a lot of people’s favorite place to eat in Abilene. While it was good, it threw me for a loop a few times – escargot was on the appetizer menu and they served drinks in mason jars; nice linen tablecloths on tables with paper menus that looked like old-time newspapers; and a classic cocktail served on a wanted-poster-style cocktail napkin… just some unusual choices, you know?

I like Abilene, but it does make me a little pouty when I think about my family and friends in Houston, Austin, or even College Station and all the wonderful restaurant choices they have. Not fair.

But, we don’t eat out as much, or when we do it’s often not too expensive – ie, amazing burritos and tacos, military Monday at Chick-fil-A, etc. AND, we eat at home more, which is healthier anyway. Can you tell I really miss restaurant selections? :-(

Anyway, I have made some great meals recently! We got some amazing spinach at the Farmer’s Market and I got excited and bought a watermelon at the commissary – top your spinach with chopped watermelon, add a few fresh basil leaves from your garden, sprinkle with fresh grated parmesan cheese (not from the green can), add walnuts, and drizzle balsamic vinegar and oil and voila! beautiful tasty summer salad.

Sunday, I made sticky pecan caramel rolls from my “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” cookbook and YUM! Totally worth it! Rob and I feasted outdoors on our rolls and farm fresh eggs!

We’re having a great time living here and hanging out together! I enjoy teaching yoga but still get a little nervous every once in a while. Rob is flying today! So, if you see a big B-1 over Big Bend this morning, that might be him!

Abilene Preservation League

Tuesday, I was so privileged to attend the luncheon for the Abilene Preservation League – the house we live in was redone by the owners (another B-1 family) and won the Beautiful House Award last October (a month before we rented it). At the luncheon, they were to announce the grand winners out of all the 11 monthly winners. As the husband was working, Kristen asked me to attend with her – so nice!

Just to clarify, this is the house we live in. I posted a photo of another house in the neighborhood earlier, but that was because of the astounding rose bushes it had.

I should have guessed, but the Abilene Preservation League is a big deal! We sat at a table with the mayor and many of the Abilene big-wigs were there. I realized further what a small town Abilene still is as I know the APL staffer from my yoga at the Elks Arts Center (they house the APL offices). Another couple at our table lives on our street, along with the VP of the League and a very prominent Abilene Police Officer who was recently killed in the line of duty.

We also learned some really neat trivia about Abilene!

Before Abilene was a town, it was identified as milepost 407.

Abilene came to be when the T&P Railroad moved to town.

Abilene was named after Abilene, KS as the founder hoped it would become a cattle shipping town.

The first building the Abilene Preservation League saved from destruction was the Paramount Theater (where I was so pleased to watch Red River last month!)

The Elks Building was used to house the Elks Lodge and later for USO functions in WWII… and also for yoga in 2010! :-)

And Lawrence Welk played at the Windsor Hotel (then the Hilton) for room and board in the 1930’s.

Bet you didn’t know Abilene was so interesting, huh?

So, now you’re probably asking, “aren’t you going to tell us who won the Beautiful House Award?” Well, our house didn’t win, but every home was really gorgeous and the winner was especially so, plus the owner was so poetic and beautiful in how she described older homes, that it made you want to cry!

In other news:

Mom gave me a sewing machine!!

I’m so excited! I think I’ll make some napkins first… I looked when I was registering for wedding gifts, but all the napkins I saw were so boring! Not for my decor at all! But, now!!!! I can make my own awesome napkins! YES! Plus, I think napkins are good place to start and practice making straight lines with the sewing machine. :-)

Yoga classes have been going well. The one at the Center for Contemporary Arts is my biggest challenge because there’s such a wide diversity of ability. There’s some young people who are up for a challenge every time and want more. And there’s some seniors that have trouble with the flows when we go faster. It’s really hard for me to lead a class that I feel makes  both extremes happy.

The Wednesday morning class at the Elks Center is my more advanced class – they’re mainly working moms who have done yoga before and some pretty advanced ones who don’t want to loose their advanced practice. It’s a fun class! Yesterday, we worked hips and Karen was so happy that she could touch her head to the floor in seated wide angle pose (upavistha konasana) that she wanted a little more… we had to take a photo! :-)

Dyess Air Show Weekend

My parents came into town and we did all kinds of great Abilene things! They even got to piggy back on some of the 25th Anniversary B-1 celebration, which was nice. The weeks before, Rob and the other B-1 students had been preparing for all the distinguished visitors. In briefing the students, the commander showed them photos of all the distinguished visitors and it went something like this “this is the commander of this squadron, this two star general did this, this 3 star general, this is the first guy to fly the B-1… Okay… if you see an old guy, better call him ‘sir!’”

Rob painted the bar… again… I think he’s used his painting skills in every squadron bar he’s been a part of!

Friday, we went out to Perini’s for dinner and checked it off our Texas Monthly Bucket List (63 Things you must do while you live in Texas). Mom and Dad also checked off another one by stopping at Dublin for a Dublin Dr. Pepper. Mmmm.

Here’s some pics from the Air Show where we spent almost all Saturday:

The sky looked beautiful, like a Van Gogh painting!

 

The B-1 taking off

C-17

 

 

The Thunderbirds are so fun to watch!

 

But Rob is the most funnest!