The Stars at Night...

Are big and bright, deep in the heart heat of Texas.  Temperatures have ranged between 103 and 106 degrees Fahrenheit.  There are countless photos that people have snapped of the temperature read inside their vehicles so I won't show you mine that read 113 degrees! in a parked vehicle, of course.

So how do we beat the heat, you wonder?

Like this,

and this.

We floated for hours at Reimer Ranch Park in Travis county.  We also visited Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels.  The lines were not as bad, mid-week, as I imagine they'd be on a weekend.  If you 're ever in Texas, these are not bad spots to visit.  

We stayed in Austin...was nice to visit my old stomping grounds.

This motel is smack in the middle of great dining and shopping on Congress Street, and just a few minutes from down town.  Actually, it's pretty central to a lot of Austin attractions.  You can easily get to Barton Springs pool and park, the capitol, 6th street, you get the idea.

We ate here, which is walking distance to the motel.  It's not my favorite Mexican food place in the world, but is in walking distance to the motel, is good, and reasonably priced.  

The scene was much the same, a few shops have changed...many have remained the same.  One noticeable change was the addition of many food trucks.  I like the "chicken" signage for this truck.  I suspect the recent tv show series on Food Network has had something to do with the food truck phenomenon in Austin.  I can say that there were slim to none on Congress, with the exception of 1st Thursdays, five years ago.

All in all, it was a nice little get-away.  Austin, I miss you.

Welcome

I'd like to welcome my latest followers...glad to have you visit my blog.

Recipes from Bon Temps, Louisiana- Burgers and Chocolate Cake

Some of you may have heard of Merlotte's Bar and Grill located in the made-up town of Bon Temps, LA.  If so, then you may have heard of Lafayette Reynolds; he's known for his burgers.  ; )

image source

Here's my attempt at Burgers Lafayette sauce...

Of course Merlotte's, Bon Temps, and Lafayette are all inventions of Charlaine Harris' Sookie-verse and I love Sookie-verse.  It's not enough that I'm completely enthralled with season 5 of HBO's True Blood which is based on Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels, I've also had the pleasure of delving even further into her fantasy by reading book 12 and, now, this book...  

Looka!  It includes a short story!!!

I've never read Ms. Harris' short stories so this was a first and I really liked it, but the best part of the companion was the inclusion of recipes.  I love books with recipes.  My favorite authors have been from the South and cooking has found its way into their books:  Mary Kay Andrews, Fannie Flagg, & Michael Lee West have all done it (included the recipes of foods mentioned in their novels) so I'm glad to see Arkansas native Charlaine Harris jump on the band wagon.  What better way to bring the book experience to life than by touching on our senses through food?!

Tonight, I made not only Lafayette's burgers, but Mrs. Bellefleur's prize-winning chocolate cake.

I think my husband is adding this to his favorites list; the icing is sooo good!

Of course, Mrs. Bellefleur's cake recipe was top secret in the books so I'm not going to give it away here.  You'll have to read the "Companion" to find out for yourself.  There are many fun recipes included in it.  I have it in mind to try the Country Porch Lemonade and the Mardi Gras Corn Salad.  You should check out the book, too, if you're interested in trying any of the recipes, AND if these recipes are  not enough for you, you will be pleased to know a True Blood cookbook complete with images from the series will be coming out this fall, I hear.  Sounds like a perfect Christmas gift.  (Hubs- this is a hint.  Wink, wink!)

For a sneak peak, here's the recipe for Burgers Lafayette Sauce

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped

1/4 stick margarine (I used unsalted butter)

1/4 cup vinegar (I used Sherry vinegar since the recipe didn't specify)

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp. salt

Dash cayenne

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup ketchup

Directions

Saute the onion in the butter or margarine.  Add all of the other ingredients.  Simmer for about 20 minutes.  Place the cooked hamburgers or leftover roast in the skillet and steep for at least 10 minutes.  Place the meat on a bun and put a spoonful of extra sauce on top.  Makes enough for about 4 hamburgers.  **Our burgers were on the small side so I was able to place six burgers in the sauce.

Recipe courtesy Charlaine Harris

Pimento Cheese

Classic pimento cheese sandwich, sliced homegrown tomatoes sprinkled w/ salt & pepper on the side.

When I think of pimento cheese, I recall making sandwiches with Pringles original potato chips stuffed alongside the cheese spread in between.  I made this sandwich, almost daily, as soon as I'd come off the school bus which I rode to my Grandma's house.  My grandparents always seemed to have pimento spread in supply.  Sometimes we would line celery sticks with the concoction, other times it was spread on a Ritz.  Having been in track for many years, I was a hungry girl and could afford the extra calories of the mayonnaise-y, cheesy mix...today, not so much. ; )

I never gave pimento cheese a thought until I was grown and would see it in magazines like Southern Living.  Those write-ups and images put the spread on a pedestal and I thought how funny it looked under the spotlight.  Pimento cheese is humble, after all, but it's also good eating.  I guess it deserves a little spotlight.

If you've never tried pimento cheese spread OR if you've only ever tried the processed stuff from the grocery, try your hand at this recipe.  It's simple, cheesy goodness. 

1 cup mayonnaise (I only use Duke's mayo)

1 tsp. onion powder or 1 tbsp. freshly grated onion

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. cajun seasoning

1 tsp. worcestershire sauce or a tsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice 

a splash of pepper sauce such as Tabasco

1 lb. mild cheddar, shredded

1 (4 oz.) jar diced pimentos

Grate cheese and set aside.  In a medium mixing bowl, combine mayonnaise and seasonings, mixing until full incorporated.  Add shredded cheddar and pimentos, stirring until cheese and pimentos are completely coated in the mayo mixture.  Keep refrigerated.  Yields about 2 and 1/2 cups of spread.  Serve on white bread, toasted or not, for a sandwich.

This recipe can be easily tailored to your liking.  It's just the bones really.  You can finely grate your cheese or shred it coarsely, put it through the food processor or mash it with a fork; use sharp or extra sharp cheddar or a combination of the two.  Heck, you could even incorporate new cheeses, Colby Jack maybe?  People have added diced jalapenos or pickle relish to their spread.  Your imagination is the limit.  It's really just a toss up and your preferences may depend widely on how you grew up eating it.

I tried my sandwich with toasted bread, a piece of bacon, and my tomato jelly.  It was pure bliss.

Sharing at  and at A Slice of Southern's Southern Sundays.  Be sure to click on their links to find other great recipes.

Sick Days: Cooking, Baking, and Other Nonsense

Bebe's been sick; this is the sixth day.  A trip to the doctor proved to shed no light on this mysterious 6 day stretch of fever and occasional vomiting.  I'm mentally exhausted, worried, and we are both a little stir crazy.  Being house-bound this many days should give me ample time to bake, cook, and blog about it, but I just haven't had it in me.  My apologies.

We have made delicious dinners, though, and I even made my favorite chocolate icebox pie. Click on that link to make this easy chocolate dessert.

I tried Marguerite's, of Cajun Delights, crab cakes from this blog post, and I made this spicy avocado sauce to top them.  I baked them as Andrea of Recipes for Divine Living suggested.  The cakes were placed on a bed of salad and that was Father's Day supper.

I ought to mention that I attempted to drizzle the avocado sauce as Andrea did in her image below.  See? Pretty isn't it?

photo credit

This attempt, because I didn't puree the sauce and because I snipped the end off of a Ziploc baggy to pipe it, resulted in a clump of avocado blocking the opening, building up pressure, thusly exploding across my arm, counter top, and cabinets.

I should have snapped a pic of that.

It would have put a smile on your face.  I know it put a smile on my face.  Despite the pity party I'd been having for myself, I laughed out loud.  Hubby got a good laugh, too!  I declared that it served me right for trying to be a fancy-pants, piping avocado sauce to impress my fellow bloggers.

Well, the taste was good anyway.

Stay tuned, I've been working on this when Bebe's been resting...

I hope the end result of my first refurbishing project is how it appears in my mind. : )

Can you help me identify this spider?

Could you help me identify this spider.  It was making webs under the ledge of my kitchen cabinets and when I was sweeping it came scurrying out.  I damaged it with my broom, I think, but not enough to distort the body.  I'm worried it may be a brown recluse, but couldn't identify it by comparing images on the web.  Any thoughts would be appreciated.

To my Husband