Friday, May 29, 2015

My Accidental Vignette in Three Steps

Step 1: Leave new, fancy copy of Jane Eyre on top of bookshelf because you need to rearrange to accommodate your new book.

Step 2: On a whim place Mjolnir on top of your bookshelf and on top of your book that you STILL have not made room for and put away.

Step 3: Place flowers in a jar on top of this particular bookshelf because it's the best spot for fresh flowers. Scoot the flowers closer to your book and Mjolnir because groups of three are lovely.

Now, take a step back and admire your work in creating a vignette. Pretend like it was all on purpose instead of a slow accumulation of things that you neglected to put away properly.






Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Is There a Polar Bear in My Family Tree?

Question: So Cali, how pale are your legs?

Me: Well, I'm glad you asked. My legs are so pale that I only realized I had a coating of white primer on my legs because a portion of my leg looked dusty. There was no color variation.

In other news: I accidentally sprayed primer on my legs. Oops. It was a solid coating. I guess they're ready to be painted now?


Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Good Ol' Texas BBQ - The Extra Stuff

Here are some extra pictures from the BBQ crawl.

Places we stopped and things we ate that were not BBQ related...

peach kolache and ground sausage klobasnek from the Village Baker in West, TX

Caldwell County Courthouse in Lockhart, TX. Isn't it beautiful?

Cutest oil rig ever in Luling, TX outside the Central Market.

Some of the beautiful country side outside of Lexington, TX. Dad stopped to take some photos of hay bales. Sadly, my hay bale pictures did not turn out well. 

Blue Bonnet Cafe in Marble Falls, TX. Here you will find delicious pie with ridiculous amounts of meringue. 

an old church building in West, TX. I adore old church buildings. 

The whole front of the church

Two of the best road trip stops in Texas. 


Good Ol' Texas BBQ

You might have heard of a pub crawl, you might have even heard of a baby crawl, but I am here today to tell you about a BBQ crawl.

Texas is known for some delicious BBQ. Brisket is king around here. The best way to prepare brisket is to let it smoke nice and long. The exact ins and outs I'm not knowledgeable about. My dad has picked up a lot about Texas BBQ and enjoys making his own brisket. He's the BBQ expert in the family. So for our BBQ crawl we deferred to his expertise.

My Grammy (dad's mom) flew into Austin and we met her there. Central Texas not only has the State Capitol, but it seems to be the state BBQ capitol as well.

Disclaimers:

  • I am going to throw in my opinions on what we ate and my favorites. I feel a little inadequate doing so because I am by no means an expert, but I know what tastes yummy to me. 


  • I'm also not going to get too detailed about each place because this post will already be quite lengthy, but if you have any questions or want to know more specifics, please feel free to ask. 


  • Also, if close up photos of meat gross you out, you might want to skip this post.  


Friday:

 My dad, step-mom, and I drove to Austin. Danny joined us Saturday afternoon. During the drive we stopped for kolaches and klobasneks (sausage rolls) from the Czech Stop and Village Bakery in West, TX. We also stopped at Buc-ee's. Those are mandatory stops while road tripping in Texas.

After we picked up Grammy, the BBQ eating began. Our plan of attack was to have small samples at each stop. That way we would not be too full of meat. I believe we got about 1/4 pound of brisket, a link of sausage, and a few ribs at each stop. That was plenty for four people to sample.

BBQ Stop 1: Kreuz Market in Lockhart, TX 

Kreuz Market in Lockhart, TX

Kreuz was out of ribs (what? weird day) We had brisket and sausage. 

Traditionally BBQ is presented like this. Meat piled onto brown butcher paper. They'll give you bread for sandwiches and pickles and onions are free. Most places also have sides such as beans, potato salad, and coleslaw for purchase.

I have been to Kreuz twice before. All three times have been yummy.

BBQ Stop 2: Black's BBQ in Lockhart, TX

Black's Barbecue in Lockart, TX

brisket, sausage, and pork ribs

Black's was also good, but I like Kreuz a bit better. Black's has more side options though.

BBQ Stop 3: City Market in Luling, TX

City Market in Luling, TX

brisket, pork rib, and sausage


City Market has my favorite pork ribs. Franklin BBQ (see below) has the most tender ribs, but City Market has a little different rub or preparation or something that provides a slightly sweeter flavor. Whatever it is, it works well with pork. 

Those three stops were all the BBQ for the day. After City Market we stopped at another Buc-ee's so my Grammy could enjoy all the glory of Buc-ee's. 

For dinner we ate salad at Panera. After all that meat, those veggies tasted great! 

Saturday:

Saturday morning we woke up early to drive an hour to Lexington, TX to a place called Snow's. They are only open on Saturday and they open at 8:00. We ate BBQ for breakfast. 

Actually, I was a proper Hobbit on Saturday. I ate a bit of yogurt and fruit at the hotel, so the BBQ was my second breakfast. Pippin would be so proud. 

Continuing on...

BBQ Stop 4: Snow's BBQ in Lexington, TX

Snow's BBQ in Lexington, TX

pork ribs, turkey, brisket, regular sausage, and jalapeno sausage
Snow's was delicious! The turkey was amazingly tender and perfect and the brisket almost melted in your mouth. 

Down the street from Snow's was a cattle auction. That was a little awkward. "Hi cows! I'm going to go eat your cousin. Thanks for all you do!"

BBQ Stop 5: Southside Market in Elgin, TX

Between Lexington and Austin is a town called Elgin. We stopped there for our fifth and final BBQ stop of the day. 

Southside Market in Elgin, TX


brisket, coleslaw, cheese, mutton, and pork ribs
Southside BBQ was a similar style to a Rudy's, Hard 8, or Ten-50. I mean it was more of an open-all-day-restaurant instead of a open-till-you-run-out-of-meat place like Snow's and Franklin's. 

It was good, but not my favorite from the trip. 

I had never tried mutton before, so that was fun. 

After Southside we were done with BBQ for the day. We drove around Austin for a bit and ate at an Amy's Ice Cream. Then we went back to the hotel to rest and wait for Danny.

After Danny found his way down to Austin, we all drove to Marble Falls to a lovely diner called the Blue Bonnet Cafe. I love that place. I love diners. I love pie. 

That evening we all gathered in the hotel lobby and visited. 

Sunday:

We slept in a little on Sunday. Our only plan was to eat at Franklin's BBQ.

BBQ Stop 6: Franklin Barbecue in Austin, TX

Danny and I got to Franklin's at 9:30. They open at 11. There was already a substantial line. This didn't shock either one of us. We've been to Franklin's before and it is delicious. We got our food a bit after 12:00. After eating the deliciousness that is Franklin Barbecue, you forget all about the long wait. 

Franklin  BBQ in Austin, TX

coleslaw, beans, sausage, turkey, pork ribs, and brisket
We bought more food at Franklin's because it was our actual lunch (and only BBQ) for the day. 

Franklin BBQ is delicious. Their brisket and pork ribs are so tender that you can barely pick them up with a fork. 

The ribs literally fall off of the bone. It's true! Look...

That is some turkey, then some rib meat just barely hanging on to the bone. 
Franklin definitely has be most tender meat. So good. 

After lunch Danny and I headed back home. We stopped at Buc-ee's and the Czech stop again. 

For dinner that night all I wanted to eat was zucchini. I cut up a zucchini into spears and Danny said, "What are these green ribs?" 

green ribs
Which is great really. I think I'll make the name switch permanent. Green ribs, everyone! Be sure to eat your green ribs.

I had a wonderful time on the trip. My dad and Danny are some of the best people to road trip with. 

That my friends, is how we do a BBQ crawl in Texas.

Cali's Favorites:
pork ribs: Luling (closely followed by Franklin and Snow's)
brisket: Franklin and Snow's
sausage: hard to tell. Sausage all tastes similar to me. Probably Franklin though.
turkey: Snow's