Busy Month

I have been super busy this month and haven't been even thinking of posting for awhile now. I apologize. I just started a new job and will be starting another job next week, and I am starting to actually get a social life, so I've been a bit distracted. I still am thinking of food all the time, and one of my jobs has very much to do with food, so the blog is not in too dire of circumstances. I enjoy gussing about good eats and whatnots, so I'm going to continue to try and keep this blog running, despite my busy schedule!



This picture is actually of leftovers. I was so hungry at the Thai restaurant, Titaya's, and so antsy for thai food, that I just kind of inhaled the food as it hit the table. I failed to take a picture of the Tom Kha soup, of which I will talk about shortly.

In Portland, I was hella spoiled with Thai food. There are a ton of options, and they are almost all good and each one distinct and varied in prices (Baan-Thai and Khun Pic's are my all-time favorites), so I was pretty hesitant to venture into the uncharted territories of thai food in Austin. I'd been to Thai Kitchen on Guadalupe and was absolutely not impressed. There was no love in the food, not one bit, and this is an essential ingredient in Thai cooking, at least for me. Hmph.

The picture above is of the Pad Sen Mee, vermicelli noodles stir-fried with yummy things. I was pressured to get this from my boyfriend and the waitress, both of whom agreed I needed to start with something totally new and not try to judge from my staples. This ended up being a great suggestion, as each of my staples that I've tried thus far (aside from the soups) has been less than impressive and just okay.

By now I've had the Pad Thai, the spring rolls, and the Pad Kee Mao, and they were all alright, but not nearly, nearly as good as the following: The Beef Waterfall (picture below), my boyfriend gets this every single time we go, and, I have to say, it's absolutely the best thing I've had on the menu so far. It's super spicy and still very flavorfull; it makes you want to get up and dance. It's giddy-inducing good. The Green Curry is surprisingly good also. I think my parents got it once and I was reminded of why I like curries. I used to avoid green curries because they tended to be weak in a lot of restaurants, but this one is very decent. The Tom Kha and Tom Yum soups are AMAZING. Jeebus, these are essential starters; so much better than Thai Kitchen's.


I can't wait to try more here. Really, I'm happy to say that there is good Thai in Austin. There's another restaurant I've been told to try, and I'm still a total novice when it comes to restaurants here, but this is a solid place. Even the just okay food is...at least okay, though I would avoid the spring rolls and Pad Thai. Try new things here, as that route seems the most promising at this place. Yay, new things!

Oh, the house red wine was unfortunate.

That Pumpkin Pie

Here's a better picture of that pumpkin pie (better than this one) I was slightly obsessed with this fall. This was maybe my best of the, um, five pies I baked. Just enough moisture and cooked just long enough. I felt this one call to me when it was ready. Eatttt meeeee.

Milk and Brownie!

This is the vegan walnut brownie from Wheatsville. It's taking a lot to not go to Wheatsville right now and get this again; this picture looks so good. I absolutely adored it. I was in chocolate and nut ecstasy, mmmmm....*drool*

Man, I think I'm going to go get one. Oh, and it's especially good with this:


I originally found out about this particular hempmilk from Karina's Kitchen pumpkin pie recipe. The recipe itself is awesome. I've made that pie at least five times since Thanksgiving (and, yes, I'm a little burnt out on it unfortunately - it's just so easy!), and it's always been nice to have the leftover hempmilk. I'd never had it before and this was a good excuse to give it a try, as Karina specifically mentions the Living Harvest Hempmilk in her entry. And it is delicious, lemme tell you. I like almond milk a lot, but hempmilk is a slightly richer, different kind of nutty flavor. It's a little thicker and more satisfying as a tasty treat. It fits the whole milk and cookies test, that's for sure.

Quickie Dinner

It is so nice to be living near Wheatsville (super cute co-op), especially on these nights when both Nathan and I are super tired and hungry for yum. This particular night we had some leftover fried rice, but not enough to satisfy our respective hungers, so we hopped over to Wheatsville and checked out their deli case, which I have salivated over many a-times. I don't really buy prepared foods much these days (I either cook or go to a restaurant), but I've been wanting to try Wheatsville's food for awhile; it always looks so good.

We had the chicken-fried tofu and then just got some greens to add as a simple side (I'm telling you, we were REALLY tired). It was all SUPER delicious! We reheated the tofu in the oven, to keep the crispiness, and then cut it into strips. We were both very pleased.

Pasta and Some Tempeh Tacos

It's rather impressive how much I can give myself to do on a "free" day. I end up more stressed than my regular days, and I hardly get through my to-do list. Today was one of those days, but I'm at least getting to my (lazy) posting!


Above is a delicious spinach pasta I made early in December. I don't remember and can't find any inkling of what recipe I used, and I know I used one, but I thought I would put up a pic anyways. I do remember that we used a rice pasta of some brand, and it was tasty. Oh, the background on the picture is our new table cover! It's very festive and I love it.


Here, there's a pic of a more inspired night - I kind of winged a tempeh taco. I chopped up some onions, crumbled up some tempeh on the stove, added water, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, cayenne, salt and a pinch of cinnamon and sauteed it for a bit. It wasn't the best texture, but with the spices, it was super tasty. Add cilantro, avocado, lime juice and Valentina sauce on a crispy corn tortilla and I was in heaven. Tacos....mmmm...*drool*