In The Moment

Food Coma

So, the birthday food extravaganza continues. Like I said before, Mr. Lucas had a birthday coming up, it was last Thursday. I asked him what he wanted me to cook for him on his birthday. He thought about it for a few seconds. I thought he was going to ask for something that I have made before. Maybe something that he really liked that I have made before? His reply was "Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo"....um, OK. Gosh, I have never made THAT before. But, I put my big girl panties on since it was what he wanted for his birthday dinner. I knew it involved a lot of fattening ingredients. That kinda made me scared and happy all at the same time; I don't really like to cook with a lot of fat but have always dreamed about it. 

Now was my chance. So, I went all out. In my search for recipes I figured the Pioneer Woman probably had a pretty good recipe for it. Boy, did she ever. A whole stick of butter, equal amount of heavy cream and 2 cups of Parmesan cheese! Then, I found on her blog a recipe almost as deliciously bad for you as the fettuccine. "The Bread" as the Pioneer Woman calls it. Oh man, the bread, Get ready for this. You slice a loaf of french bread down the middle and put one stick of butter on each half!!! OMG! Yes, folks. That is what you do and that is what I did. It feels so wrong but so wonderful all at the same time. It's damn good.

OK, I confess. We are THOSE people who eat dinner on the couch and watch TV. I have made a vow to eat at the table more often which frankly I have not been that great at. But sitting at the dining room table for a birthday dinner seemed appropriate.

Oh the bread. Ohhhhhh...............

To top it off I made a strawberry cake, a rather delicious strawberry cake and the recipe has been in my family for years. He thought I was going to make him blow out 33 candles. I went easy on him in his old age. 

So, with all that said I gained about 15 pounds in one night but I kinda think it was worth it. Happy Birthday Mr. Lucas! We are fasting now. 

Cheers! 

Elote=Yumminess

I love street corn. It is so gooooood. I especially love street corn from Torchy's or the corn in a cup you can get from your local Mexican food store. I thought it would be fun to give it a whirl myself  Its super easy. Here is what you do....

Get several ears of corn. Pull back the husks and remove the silky stringy things. Then, pull the husks back up over the corn.  Next we are going to grill it but so it does not catch on fire or blow up your grill and you in the process you need to soak the corn in cold water for at least 20 minutes. I usually do 30 because my grill cooks at a higher heat.

Then, place your corn directly on the grill and grill until the corn is nice and tender...or for how ever long you like to grill your corn!

While your corn is grilling mix up about 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and some fresh squeezed lime juice; I used one whole lime. Place 1/2 cup of crumbled cotija cheese on a cookie sheet or a plate. Grab a few limes and grate them for the rind. Combine the rind shavings and chili powder in a small dish, or you could just mix it up in the cheese which I may do next time.

Hmmmmmmmm, Cooootijjjja!

Take your corn of the grill when it is done cooking and peel back the husk.  You can leave the husk on for a little fiesta flare but I went ahead and cut mine off. Be careful not to burn your fingers! 

Slather each ear with the mayo and lime juice combo, then roll in the cheese, and sprinkle with chili power/lime rind to taste. There you have it! If you want to make corn in a cup just take the corn off the cob, place in a cup, and pile everything else on top! Yum!

Cheers and Happy Grilling!

In The Moment

About this time next month, I will be sitting on this casita patio looking at this view sipping on a glass of sangria. Here I come Santa Fe. I can't wait to relax and reflect. There is no better place for it. 

Cheers

Now That Is A Big Ol' Hunk Of Beef!

I am so thankful that we have our own rock star celebrity chef here in Funky Town. Yes folks, Mr. Tim Love himself belongs to my town. If you find yourself in town and want a festive atmosphere with delicious food, head on over to The Woodshed. If you want a dang good burger, head on over to the Love Shack. AND, if you want a fine upscale dining experience, go to Lonesome Dove in the Fort Worth Stockyards.

The Woodshed really is my favorite of all 3 places. But, call about a week ahead for a weekend reservation, otherwise you will find yourself waiting about an hour and a half to be seated. Mr. Lucas has a birthday today. He is 33. Apparently that means you are an adult in Hobbit years. So, in order to celebrate...we went to the Woodshed on Saturday with my brother-in-law and sister and ordered the beef shin like any good Hobbit would. You can order off their dining with friends menu where there are about 4 different dinner choices that will feed 4 people. Get ready for this. The beef shin. Served on a wooden board with tortillas, beans, ricotta cheese, and kale salad.

You can eat it all individually but we chose to put those tortillas to good use and made the ultimate taco! The beef is so tender and just falls right off the bone. 

Bonus, they wrapped the shin bone up for us to take home to Penelope.

She was in love. 

And we are in love too because it actually so much food we had left overs for dinner the next day.

Cheers! 

Funky Farmz

For a while now I have been interested in joining a produce/fresh food co-op. I did a little research and decided Funky Farmz was the one to join. Apparently DFW has many co-ops to choose from but to be honest, it's the name that got me. I joined and have participated 4 times now. I absolutely love it. They offer fresh produce, farm fresh eggs, local organic meats, and much more. The produce basket is my favorite. It is only $30 for a large laundry basket full of produce. 

This picture doesn't do it justice. We've gotten avocados, cherries, potatoes, sweet potatoes, lettuce, broccoli, lemons, limes, oranges, apples, cabbage, cauliflower, mushrooms, onions, garlic, eggplant, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and the list goes on and on and on.

Have you ever had free range farm fresh eggs? They are so much better than the store bought kind. My sister and her family raise chickens and bring eggs to me when they visit. These eggs are just like them. Can't beat it. 

We also got some of the local organic beef which is also so much better than the store bought. So, we celebrated with making hamburgers! 

If you haven't tried a co-op in your area I highly suggest you do. I have really saved myself money on groceries because now all I have to do is supplement with a few items from the grocery store. If you need help locating a co-op in your area here is a link.

Cheers! 

Lost Oak Winery

We celebrated Christmas today, Christmas in June anyway. For Christmas Mr. Lucas and I purchased a Groupon from my dad to go to the Lost Oak Winery for a tour of their facility and wine tasting. They did not expect to have such a huge turn out with their Groupon so they have been pretty booked. We just happened to have our your today and it was lots of fun. If you live in the Fort Worth area or ever come here to visit you must go! The winery itself is so pretty and the store front is very festive. You can rent space for a party or even a wedding. They were setting up for a wedding today. They have been awarded best pick for weddings by The Knot! Check out their calendar, they have lots of events! Yeah, there is a craft fair next weekend.

Joy lead us on our tour of the winery. She knows so much and has such a friendly personality. She told us that we could volunteer at the winery and would be able to help harvest the grapes and bottle the wine among much more! Jeff and I were pretty excited about that because we want to learn more. We would love to have a bed and breakfast winery some day. So, we figure what a great way to start learning how it all works.

She told us all about what grapes grow best in Texas but also said that Texas is still trying to figure it out. We have such crazy weather here and that can really make it difficult for the growers. You can even tell what grapes have been damaged by hail because the hail bruise them leaving black streaks on the grapes. All the grapes I saw were perfect. 

They have to also worry with wild pigs, deer, raccoon, and other pesky critters that want to harvest the grapes for themselves. They have to use electric fencing in order to keep them out. 

We ended our tour in the crushing room. Its where they crush the grapes up to be placed in the barrels where they will sit for several months before bottling. It was nice and cool in there on this hot June day. There, we were able to get a taste of the Blanc duBois. She asked us to to smell the wine and swish it around in our mouth to try to determine what fruit was in the grapes. Mr. Lucas immediately said green apples and he was correct! He should have won a bottle of wine. Meanwhile, my dad was cracking jokes and having a good time. It was pretty cute. 

After the tour we went back to the store front and listened to live music while we sipped on tastings of wine paired with cured meat, cheese, fruit, and nuts. We all got a list of the different wines they make there an picked our top 5 to taste.

After we finished the wine tasting we couldn't stop there and bought a bottle of Tres Uvas. This wine has made me appreciate white wine so much more. This was so much fun which was really needed for everyone.

In fact, we enjoyed ourselves so much we all became members of their wine club! Every other month for wine club members you go pick up 2 bottles of wine at discounted prices. On the pick-up day they have a party! Yep, that is my kind of wine club. We also get invites to special events, are the first to taste new wines, and receive free wine tasting and can bring up to 3 friends with us among so much more. This is going to be fun I think.

Cheers!