ice cream snowballs
One of the people I’m saddest I never was able to meet is Shawn’s mother, Sharon. She passed away a few years before Shawn and I met, and though I was never able to know her, I feel that she still has an impact on our life together. Shawn always tells me stories about her and it’s easy to see how much she did for her five children. She was a talented cook and went out of her way to make celebrations special. When Shawn and some of his siblings went vegan, she would adapt her recipes to make vegan versions.
Often times, Shawn will tell me something she used to make and we’ll try to recreate it. These snowballs fall into that category. A simple to assemble treat that is exponentially more tasty because it is fun to eat. With warmer weather rolling around (maybe?) I can see we’ll be making more of these.
Start with a scoop of your favorite non-dairy ice cream.
Roll it around in some coconut. Use your hands. It’s not even that messy.
Place on a cookie sheet and freeze for 10-30 minutes. That’s it! You now have a snowball.
Now personally, I’m not a fan of coconut, but I didn’t want to be left out of the snowball fun, so I made some “dirty snowballs” with crumbled cookies instead.
Perfect.
Thank you Sharon for still being an inspiration, even though we never met. Mostly though, thank you for raising such an amazing son who I adore so much.
primo passo
This past week I was able to visit the new Primo Passo Coffee Company on the west side. It’s a beautifully modern space with delicious coffee. I was pleased with the subtle flavors of their espresso. I’ve notice recently that coffee roasters have edged towards more bold brews to make their coffee stand out, ranging from strong citrus notes to intense woodsy flavors. My latte from primo passo, on the other hand, had a delicate blend of flavors that make it enjoyable the whole way through. Beyond just good coffee, I loved the open design of the space and hope to visit there often. And now, I think I’ll go have another cup of coffee.
apple butter
We had a bunch of apples and they were coming to that point where something had to be done with them. I knew they weren’t going to be eaten on their own as I really only like the tart green apples. As much as I enjoy apple pie, I just wasn’t in the mood to make one. It had to be something new. So despite the fact that it’s not really the season for apple dishes, I thought it was finally time to try my hand at apple butter.
I blended the apples into a sauce, and simply cooked it down with a bit of sugar and some spices in my slow cooker. 24 hours later I had creamy, delicately sweet apple butter. I didn’t get all fancy and preserve the jar, I just popped it in the fridge as there’s only enough to last about a week (less at this rate).
As a complement, I made some simple English muffins so I wasn’t just eating the butter out of the jar. I love the combination of the savory muffin and earth balance with the apple butter. I think it would also be great stirred into some oatmeal or in the middle of a layer cake. Yes please.
With summer fruits around the corner, maybe I’ll get daring and try my hand at some jellies and jams.
Austin food and drink
With a schedule full of film watching in Austin, I didn’t expect to do a ton of restaurant sampling. Shawn, on the other hand, plotted out the best places to go based on everyone’s recommendations. Thank goodness for a husband that balances out my movie madness, since some of the meals were not to be missed.
Possibly my favorite of the restaurants was Bouldin Creek where I had two of the most delicious breakfasts. The first, a vegan benedict, was so good I insisted we go back another day. I’m not sure exactly how they prepare their tofu, but it is amazing: seasoned and lightly coated in nutritional yeast. Their potato cakes are also worth a mention as they’re far beyond any hash brown I’ve ever had.
I was also a big fan of Veggie Heaven. In particular the tangerine mushrooms were the kind of thing I crave often. It is the sort of dish I see on a menu in many places but never lives up to what I’m imagining in my head. Yet, these saucy & perfectly breaded mushrooms were everything I hoped they would be. The steamed buns were also very good. Let’s not forget the bubble tea, it was the best.
We also happened upon this adorable place that had just opened called Hillside Farmacy. There were only a couple of vegan options on the menu, like the soup of the day, which happened to be carrot cardamom, but the interior is lovely and they have Stumptown coffee and a bar. It’s definitely worth a visit just to check out the beautiful renovation they’ve done of the space, and of course, have some coffee. I wanted to live inside this shop.
Not only does Austin have some lovely vegan friendly restaurants, there are also some very nice bars with mixed drinks I love. The drink menu and atmosphere at the East Side Show Room was by far my favorite. And of course, as I mentioned before, Austin will now be known to me as the first place I ever tried boba and subsequently fell in love with it.
Even though we’d visited Austin before, it was great to go to a completely new set of restaurants and food trucks. Can’t wait to go back and try some more.
mad men party
Well, the Mad Men premiere party was a success. I managed to make all the dishes on the menu we planned (despite my kitchen sink breaking the day before, sad times). On top of that, Shawn set up a photo booth and made some awesome Mad Men masks.
I loved the episode and it was nice to have all the characters back. More so, it was fun to watch with friends and I was super happy that everyone dressed up. I see more tv theme parties in our future. A Twin Peaks marathon has already been discussed.
