don't mess with TX (pie)

TX Pie Kitchen's caramel apple pecan pie is one of the best in town!

Pecan pie has always kinda been the unofficial pie of Texas.. but last month the Texas House of Representatives made it real official.  Because, you know: don't mess with Texas...or our state pie!  Next thing you know, it'll be illegal to pick bluebonnets and not eat this nutty pie when offered! :)

Check out my CultureMap round-up of five of the best I found around town... 



rooftop buzz

I recently had a chance to preview the apiary on the rooftop of the W, where over a million bees live!  I visited for a story I'm working on for Citygram, a brand new digital magazine that just launched today! Here's a sneak peek of what's to come...

true grits

I recently watched a very charming, hyper Brian Malarkey perform an entertaining demo at the Austin Food & Wine Festival.  Afterward, I picked his brain on grits for this Today Show article.  (Not only are they all the rage at each of his restaurants, in their own unique way, but they're popping up in restaurants all over the country.)

While writing this article, I couldn't help but recall my first grits experience... my friend Nili (a fellow Jersey girl) and I decided to go on a spontaneous spring break road trip during college.  While some of our classmates would spend the break diving in Belize or lounging in Tulum, we decided to just start driving south from New York and see how far we could get in the days we'd allotted...

a serendipitously sweet path to pastry success

Meyer lemon budino, strawberry merengue, champagne sorbet, toasted marshmallow, Maldon salt shortbread coins, strawberry powder

I love interviewing people who have such a great story, the article practically writes itself...Janina O'Leary is one of those people.  And can you believe I didn't even GET the entire story in our interview because she is just that humble??  I later found out some more of the details, and the feature  I was writing on her visually stunning, delectable desserts turned into an interview-style piece focusing on her serendipitous rise to success (thanks to Julia Child, Thomas Keller, Pichet Ong, and more).  I've already said too much-- just click here and read the full article on Serious Eats!

baking for a cause & a derby toast

Meredith made jam and I made cookies.. with pinwheel decor!!

Despite many approaching deadlines, I've been baking up a storm for the past couple days for a very worthy benefit.  Austin Bakes for West is the third of its kind.  The first two (for Bastrop and Japan) made $13,000 and $14,000 respectively.  The goal for this one was $15,000.  And guess how much was made across all eight sites?  Over $18,000!  

say la V, eastside!

corned beef tongue, marinated for 30 days and 

served on pretzel bun with whole grain mustard & slaw!

I recently attended the opening of a new food truck called Say La V.  Located behind Hotel Vegas, this food truck is different than the many others in town because it is actually the prelude to a brick and mortar, La V, set to open on East 7th (just north of the truck) in September.  As someone who lives on the eastside, I am always stoked to hear about new openings close to home!  So, despite the very uncharacteristically wintry weather that blew in, I headed out to the not-to-be-missed opening... 

a minty winner of a drink

I wrote a guest post for Gourmet VegMama's Thursday Cocktail series (though cocktails are just one of the things she posts about-- check out her blog for great vegetarian recipes for the young'uns and grown-ups alike!)  And read on if you plan on having an icy julep in hand this weekend...

pineapple julep- photo courtesy of drink.well

I’ve always been captivated by the Kentucky Derby.  An excuse to dress up, wear big hats, bet on horses with tongue-in-cheek names, and drink boozy, refreshing drinks? Umm.. yes, please!  You can bet my dress is already picked out with a hat to match for this weekend’s race.

But I’ve always wondered where the tradition of drinking mint juleps came from.  The combination of bourbon, mint, sugar, and water is so ingrained in Derby culture, it’s nearly impossible to hear the word “julep” and not think of the races!  The word “julep” itself is derived from the Persian word for rose water, but according to Wikipedia, “the origins of the mint julep are clouded and may never be definitely known.”  But the first American julep sightings occurred in the late eighteen century after Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky brought the beverage into popularity...

you CAN take it with you: where to BYOB in Austin

a tasty South African cabernet rose I discovered

at the Austin Food & Wine Festival

Ever since I relocated to Texas from the Northeast, I've noticed there aren't too many restaurants that allow you to bring your own beverage (BYOB).  I've always assumed that is because getting a liquor license in Texas is much cheaper and easier than nailing one down in, say, Manhattan.  (I'm sticking to my guns on that theory.)  And it's a known fact that restaurant-owners make bank on alcohol sales... 

But fear not, my fellow winos!  There are still a good handful of centrally-located BYOB spots, and I've compiled them into this round up for CultureMap Austin.  Know of some other great spots?  Definitely leave a comment letting me know where...I'll cheers to that!

one more time & some foodie feedback

Tim Love: off the glass and onto the bottle by 11am!

While I do say the Austin Food & Wine Fest is much like a culinary sxsw, I was feeling quite exhausted by Day 3-- so I can't imagine if this fest was really the caliber of sxsw (which has grown into a practically-two week affair with less and less of a break between the two halves...)

Basically, eating and drinking copious amounts takes a lot outta you!  And though the last day was to be a short one, I had a totally unrelated food event to attend later that night... 

this little piggy got roasted

celebrity chef tacos, tongue pastrami, & absinthe cotton candy

I was this close to titling this post "treadmills, beds, & ipecac"... after all, by the end of Saturday, a friend and I had decided that's all the Food & Wine Fest was missing this year.

I know: gross!  But I certainly felt like I needed any of those three at certain points of the day.  The treadmill to burn off some calories and make eating possible once again...the bed so I could collapse, drink in hand, for a short, woozy on-site nap... and the ipecac?  Well, it was late on Saturday when, still being presented with the most gorgeous food (and nowhere to put it), I wished I could just create an instant "clean slate," if you will...and this is after a full day of pacing myself like a champ, mind you!

Anywho, I survived Saturday.  Sans beds, treadmills, or ipecac.  And here are the photos to prove it:

Andrew Zimmern's worldly barbecue knowledge, grilling with Jason Dady, a lotta Malarkey, Animal-style slacker cooking, and Graham Elliot's philosophies on life and food

One of my favorite things about the Food & Wine Festival is-- not only watching the presenting chefs cook in real time! up close and personal!--but also talking with them after their demos, getting a little glimpse of their off-camera personalities, inquiring about their latest obsessions and pet peeves...and hearing their ramblings on food and life in general.  I was covering the fest for The Today Show's website, so I'll be adding links to various articles as they post in the next couple weeks.  For now, here are some of my favorite highlights from Saturday:

many tastes of Texas and beer with Delta Spirit

Hard to believe it's already been a year, but the Austin Food & Wine Festival-- which is seriously the sxsw of the food world-- had arrived once again!  And once again armed with a press pass, I was eager to see what this year brought to the-- ahem-- kitchen table.  I kicked off the weekend with the Taste of Texas event at Republic Square Park...

bent out of shape (with beercheese and pretzels)

photo by Chris Perez of Metropochris

I love pretzels.  So I couldn't be happier that they keep continuing to trend, contorting their way onto menus all over the place.  Ciabatta?  Psshhhht!  I'll take a pretzel roll any day.  Salty pretzels crumbled into ice creams and shimmering atop buttercream?  Yes, please. 

Needless to say, writing this article for Today FOOD (for National Pretzel Day) made me crave a doughy knot or two.  And then Easy Tiger generously shared tips for making their Bavarian-style pretzels AND  their beercrack cheese dip!  As soon as the Austin Food & Wine Festival is over, I can't wait to put their twisty tricks of the trade to use... 

giveaway: win a pair of Boz Scaggs tickets!

This Friday (4/26), the legendary Boz Scaggs will perform at ACL Live.  He's known first for his involvement with the Steve Miller Band and then for his soulful, bluesy solo projects.. but did you know he is also a winemaker?  Scaggs Vineyards, out of Napa, is committed to organic, artisanal winemaking practices, producing an annual 350 cases of a Rhone-style red blend and just 100 cases of a grenache rose.

I have two tickets to give away to this Friday's show!  To enter, "like" and share My Well Fed Life's Facebook page (or leave me a message if you're already a fan!)  A winner will be announced tomorrow by 5pm!

post-wedding camping & a pieous return

beautiful AND delicious: perfection

Carson's dad Skip and Terri, his lovely fiance, got married out in Boerne this past weekend.  We entertained the thought of making a trip to San Antonio while we were so close to it, but instead Carson, Willi, Juliette, and I decided  to camp! 

decadence on the half shell

Perla's oysters don't need much accompaniment, but I do love their mignonette

Oysters: everyone's got an opinion on 'em!  Some might rave about a newly discovered West Coast variety or profess their reputed aphrodisiac qualities, while others will gag at the mention of the mollusks.

Anyone who follows me on Instagram knows how many oysters I've been eating lately.  I almost began to wonder if I could tire of them.  (Apparently, that is just not possible.)  The reason I'd been sipping shells all over town was to research this Austin-American Statesman round-up -- find it in today's paper!

You might wonder which spots were my absolute favorite, but it's just so hard to choose!  However, I did run into some unexpected pearls along the way... 

skip the cocktail and go for the eponymous Deckhand sauce!

maque choux magick

I'm gradually getting better and better at kitchen foraging.  There's nothing worse than having to throw out leftover ingredients which got tossed into the crisper and forgotten about.  And my pantry seems to get more and more crowded by the week.  I decided it was time to dig around and make a concerted effort to only use ingredients I already had lying around...

We had a ton of fresh, shucked corn left over the day after the crawfish boil.  So that was a start... 

bloggers and barbecue: a toast to the new AFBA cookbook!

barbecue and bubbly at Freedmen's

I just recently attended the Austin Food Blogger Alliance cookbook release party at Freedmen's, the relatively new pourhouse in a historic building near campus.  But, unlike most establishments in the area, this ain't your pitcher-slingin', co-ed hangout (at least I hope it doesn't go too Greek on the weekends??).  Freedmen's carries some great local beer, craft cocktails, and barbecue that went above and beyond my expectations!

boudin for the boil: it's crawfish season!

my first mudbug headsuck

Around this time every year, crawfish boils start popping up all over town in Austin.  While we don't take the seasonal seafood cookouts nearly as seriously as those from Houston or south Louisiana do, the bayou is just a hop, skip, and a jump away, so it's easy to get our hands on fresh crawdads, which are essentially small, freshwater lobsters.

But I'd never hosted a crawfish boil before, and it's something I've been meaning to do in my now-seven years living in Texas!  In fact, I'd had a large mason jar full of Dai Due crawfish boil seasoning in my freezer for quite some time now!  My friend Voltaire, who's from Houston and went to Sarah Lawrence with me, has hosted many a boil but not any recently.  So we decided to team up-- the veteran and the newbie-- and make it happen.  I might not know much about crawfish, but I sure know about fiestas!

spring has hatched!

I recently got to relive something I hadn't experienced since third grade-- the hatching of baby chicks!!  Though I'd had a chick-sitting stint over the holidays, I hadn't actually witnessed the cycle of life, chick-style, in a very long time!