This and That

A parody of Serial.

Free holiday tag download.

Long exposures of firefly trails.

People reading poorly chosen books in public.

Pretty: DIY rosemary wreath gift toppers.

Cool posters.

Cinnamon rose rolls with frosting.

(Photo via Pinterest)

My Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes

It's finally cold in Austin! Which means it's time to start planning what'll make the cut for this year's Thanksgiving menu. And also time to put together this year's music playlist.

When my sister and I both lived in Brooklyn, we made a habit of listening to Dolly Parton every Thanksgiving. Because it seemed appropriate? Actually, I'm not sure why. But I do know there's nothing like standing in a tiny, warm kitchen with a spatula-mic in your hand singing along to “Jolene” with your sister with the smells of a turkey roasting and pumpkin desserts cooling swirling all around you.

So what I'm saying is that, this year, I'll be most thankful for Dolly. Obviously. And also maybe these pretty great recipes that I've turned to more than once during the holiday season.

Two-hour turkey and gravy.

Sausage and apple stuffing.

Martha's macaroni and cheese.

Roasted Brussels sprouts.

Pancetta crisps with goat cheese and pear.

Pumpkin cheesecake with caramel swirl.

(Image via Pinterest)

This and That (Featuring Peggy Olson and a Secret Bookstore)

The evolution of Peggy Olson.

Love this: Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space.

A secret bookstore in NYC.

Cute dress.

Craving mushroom bourguignon and butternut squash lasagna.

A little llama costume.

(Image via Pinterest)

Cats on My Mind by Marc Johns

This is basically an illustration of what is in my head an embarrassingly large percentage of each day:

Print available here.

(Illustration via Marc Johns)

Hot Honey: The Next Sriracha?

Honey on your pizza, anyone?

According to Grub Street, hot honey is supposed to be the next Sriracha. And you know I love me some Sriracha. (I even put it in tomato sauce once on a lark and it was amazing! That is the power that Sriracha has over my mouthfeels.)

So basically, I'm not afraid to jump on the hot condiment bandwagon. And the fact that this HuffPo article mentions using hot honey on ice cream, chicken wings, ribs, a breakfast sandwich, and various roasted veggies without even making you click to the next page is enticing and horrifying to me all at once.

Bees Knees Spicy Honey

Mike's Hot Honey

Whole Foods will start carrying two varieties soon: Mike's Hot Honey (the OG) and Bees Knees Spicy Honey (from MixedMade).

Will you be picking up a bottle? I definitely will. Now I only need to decide if I should try it first on a giant rack of ribs or a bowl of Americone Dream ice cream...

(Images via here and here)

This and That (Featuring a Cute Kid and Tom Hiddleston)

Two and a half blocks in two and a half years.

Beautiful stone walls.

A floating library on the Hudson River.

Lovely desk set.

Three-ingredient natural fix for frizzy hair.

NikeEames.

Tom Hiddleston coloring book!

(Photo via Pinterest)

First Look: Dai Due (with a Special Shout-out to Bending Branch Winery)

Another new edition to the neighborhood! As a resident of Cherrywood for almost five years now, it has been so exciting to see this area of Austin grow and evolve.

I had only tried Dai Due's offerings once before: at Oktoberfest last year at the Real Ale Brewery in Blanco.

First impressions of the brick-and-mortar restaurant? Charming and delicious. We sat at the bar and ordered a la carte, but the supper club menu (see below) did look fantastic. I was also excited to find an offering from Bending Branch on their drink list, a winery Chris and I discovered in Comfort in February (and now adore).

(And for the Texas-wine-naysayers out there: I was once one of you! Try Bending Branch and you might just come back from the dark side. You know, the dark side, that special place where all Texas wine haters exist in vast numbers. Just kidding. That was a Star Wars reference. I actually used to copyedit a large amount of licensed Star Wars books, so I could probably Star-Wars-reference most people under a table. Just try me! I will Asajj Ventress you until the Wine Wars are over. PS. I won't really do that. And I know, it's the Clone Wars, not the Wine Wars. Honestly, I would probably want to be a female version of Obi-Wan, not Asajj. Although she is awesome in an evil way. Okay, I'll stop now.)

Pictures!

Dai Due

Dai Due Menu from Thursday

 Waiting patiently for delicious treats

Queso Flameado with 

Boar Chorizo, Mushrooms, 

Chilies, and Homemade Tortillas

 Grilled Blood Sausage with Butter Bean Stew (fave dish of the night)

Mesquite Sourdough Bread 

with Honey Whipped Lard

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Five Inspiring Ideas for Labor Day Weekend

The end of the summer is upon us! I don't know about you all, but I'm excited for the prospect of cooler weather and have been eyeing my long skirts and sweaters with anticipation. I've missed them. They are ready to be released from the confines of my closet.

But in celebration of the impending last hurrah of the hottest of seasons, here are a few ideas to liven up these final sweet gasps of summer.

End-of-summer sangria.

And put that sangria in a portable wine cup.

Maybe add some fancy ice cubes.

Drink it in the river while listening to tunes from your waterproof speakers.

And don't forget your summery temporary tattoos!

(Photos via respective linked websites)

Jessica Hische Print: You're Officially Awesome

This might be my most favorite thing I've seen all week. I am such a huge fan of Jessica Hische I would probably fan-girl faint if I ever met her.

(Photos via Jessica Hische)

This and That

Cute bikini on sale.

Furniture made from lava.

Meryl Streep on beauty.

Perfectly useless.

This dress is so pretty.

Love this story.

(Image via Pinterest)

Halibut with Sliced Potatoes and Wilted Spinach

We recently moved and I'm still in awe of our new kitchen. A stove with four burners that work properly! A deep sink! An island with places to put things on! I know this might make our old kitchen sound like a dump, but it really wasn't. It was just tiny.

So this is the first meal that I'm blogging about from the new digs. It's nice for things to be settled and back to normal. Well, normal with four burners that work, a deep sink, and a kitchen island.

This dish is good. And simple. Like life should be in the summer. If you like fish, definitely give it a try.

Halibut with Slice Potatoes and Wilted Spinach
Serves 2

Ingredients
1 baking potato
1/2 pound halibut
Sea salt and pepper
Olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of spinach

Directions
Preheat oven to 450. Peel and thinly slice the potato. Slice halibut in half. Line baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper. Place the potato slices in a few layers on top. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with some olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes.

Take out and place halibut halves on top. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Roast about 15 minutes longer.

While halibut is baking, mince garlic and chop up spinach leaves. Add two tablespoons of olive oil to a large skillet and cook garlic for one minute on medium-low heat. Then add spinach for a few minutes or until it begins to wilt. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide roasted halibut and potatoes among plates and serve the wilted spinach on the side.

(Adapted from Epicurious)

The Best Austin Map Ever

The fine folks at Holstee are putting out a map of Austin. It is so cute! And there's a Willie Nelson quote on it to boot. Definitely putting this on my wish list.

 (Images via Holstee)

Vintage Book Find: The Fat of the Cat (1925)

When Chris and I were in Comfort for our Valentine's Day weekend getaway, I found this book at one of the vintage shops in town, and I am sort of obsessed with it.

The other day I started researching the original German author Gottfried Keller and the American adapter Louis Untermeyer. According to Britannica, Keller was the "greatest German-Swiss narrative writer of late 19th-century Poetischer Realismus (Poetic Realism)." And Untermeyer was an American poet who was also the "author, editor or compiler, and translator of more than one hundred books for readers of all ages." He was also married to some pretty amazing sounding women.

The book has some lovely illustrations and a full-page of color that I keep looking at in the front matter.

Here's to amazing vintage store finds, y'all. Makes me want to hit up Room Service this weekend.

The Best Not-So-Hidden Texas Swimming Hole

Have you ever been to Krause Springs? Before my current stay in Austin, I lived here for five years while going to UT. And during undergrad, Krause Springs never even crossed my radar. 

And for that, I am very disappointed with everyone who knew about it and didn't tell me. 

Since moving back to Austin, Chris and I have been out to Krause Springs a handful of times, and it's honestly just magical. I mean there is no real magic going on there, Witches of East End fans, but you get those feel-good-summer's-gonna-last-forever vibes when you're out there. And if that's not magic, then I don't know what is.

Here are a few shots from last summer when we took my nephew swimming there while we were babysitting one day. Def try to go while it's still that nice kind of hot.

Let the good summer times roll, y'all.

How Julia Child Conquered the World

These illustrations are too lovely not to share. More info on the book they come from, Bon Appetit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child, at Brain Pickings.

(Illustrations via Brain Pickings)

This and That

The 120 Minutes Archive.

Drake-inspired poster.

Love, love, love this new Beck video.

Cute: like mother, like daughter.

A lovely interview about Corinne Day.

Michael Cera's new album True That.

(Image via Pinterest)

Throwback Thursday: The Ladies of the 90s, Music Edition

I went to yoga last night, and among the many fine songs played during practice was Fiona Apple's "Criminal." Yes on so many levels, y'all. Here's to the ladies of the 90s, the ones who did not give any fraks. (So hard not to throw a BSG reference into basically everything all the time.)

To start, here's just a random amazing photo of the ladies from Twin Peaks that came up in a Google image search for "90s ladies":

And now to the music:

Fiona Apple "Criminal"



I was supposed to see her live a couple of years ago finally, but then this happened. :(

 L7 "Pretend We're Dead"



Still obsessed with this song.

Hole "Doll Parts"



So many middle school feels about this one.

The Juliana Hatfield Three "Spin the Bottle"



Ugh. Winona and Ethan. Reality Bites FTW.

Veruca Salt "Seether"


I dressed up as Veruca Salt for Halloween one year. They had me at Veruca. Also, REUNITED.

(Image via New Wave Crashing)

My Oprah and Deepak 21-Day Meditation Experience Attempt

Okay, so if you post something to your blog, it becomes real, right? A real thing that you have to do or face shame and embarrassment on the flip side? That's how the Internet works I think.

So I'm going to attempt to do this 21-day meditation experience doohickey that Oprah and Deepak (first name basis, y'all) are sponsoring and hopefully make it to the end. I've already found myself thinking, What if the meditations turn out to be really, really long and I don't have time?

At Winedale

But better to try and fail then never try. I'll keep you posted if I succeed. If I don't, let's never breath a word about this again.

This and That

New Bill Callahan video is strange and lovely.

Excited about Dinner: The Playbook.

Cool new (free!) app Pippit.

Gorgeous bracelet from Erica Weiner.

Built by Wendy iPhone cases!

DIY gold scalloped umbrella.

(Image via Pinterest)

Kitchen Tip: Veggie/Fruit Storage

These vintage storage bowls from Fishs Eddy are absolutely great for storing half-chopped veggies or fruits. This tomato has been in this pretty red lady for several days and still looks fresh:

You can get them with a NYC skyline pattern too. Super cute.

90s Music Tuesday

Always go forward, y'all. Except when you need to go back to the future that used to be. The 1990s. Here are some amazing songs from that wonderful decade that iTunes radio recently reminded me of. I am only genuinely embarrassed about liking one of them. Mm. Maybe two.

Primitive Radio Gods "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand"



So good! So v. v. good! Also, phone booths! So 90s!

Lyte Funkie Ones "Summer Girls"



This came out before I had any idea what A&F was. Youthful innocence.

Beck "Loser"


This video and song have such huge places in my middle school memories that it is. Just. Epic. Soy un perdedor indeed.

The Goo Goo Dolls "Iris" 



Embarrassed a little, but yes, I used to love this song. Just sway along and think of 1998.

Maybe the Best Day Trip You Could Take This Summer: Shakespeare at Winedale

Y'all, I love me some Shakespeare. Like, a lot. I once wrote a paper on the Shakespearian themes in Buffy the Vampire Slayer in college, and it was basically the most exciting paper I had ever written in my life up until that moment.

So: Shakespeare at Winedale! I've been to this lovely, lovely UT summer program four times. Once as an UT English undergrad and three times in recent years with Chris. Students from UT and colleges around the country and sometimes the world come together to live and breath Shakespeare for a few weeks in the summer. You can feel the excitement and camaraderie in the air, and it really is something quite special.

And now is apparently a good time to go. There have been worries that Winedale has become neglected over the years, and it needs support to survive.

The troupe this year is fantastic. Chris and I were super impressed by the talent, in particular Casey Nice as Katherina and Nina Bildstein as Tranio.

Winedale is just outside of Round Top, about an hour and a half to the east of Austin. The season runs until August 10 this year, and tickets are only ten dollars. Ten dollars! The Taming of the Shrew, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Troilus and Cressida are on the docket this time around.

Come early, bring a picnic, don't forget a bottle of wine, and stay late to walk around the grounds. You won't regret it. And if you do, I'll try to find my Shakespeare-BVS paper for you and maybe that will make you change your mind. Actually, that sounds like it might be torture for some people. You can regret it if you want. But I really should try to find that paper...

Day Trip Details
What: Shakespeare at Winedale
Location: Winedale Historical Center
Cost: Ten dollars per ticket
Why: Because awesome.

(All photos by Sandra Ogle & Chris)