Food lover finds show up in the most unexpected places. Evidence: local family-owned and community-focused All Star Burger in the Hill Country Galleria offers inventive burgers sourced from local farmers and markets. Further evidence: the Visionary, a rich Angus burger complimented with tart goat cheese, slightly sweet roasted garlic and sun-dried tomatoes, and woody rosemary. The crisp lettuce grounds it all with a bit of crunch and freshness. You can even go skinny style and swap the bun for a lettuce wrap. Pair with sweet potato fries and their secret, smoky dipping sauce. And don’t forget a glass of wine, poured yourself on the honor system, because that’s just how they roll at All Star.

Hint: goat cheese not your style? Try the BD Street for a blue cheese-stuffed, bacon-topped not-to-be-missed taste experience.

Pimento-stuffed and chicken-fried, the olives at Second Bar + Kitchen pay homage to Southern favorites in a single, scrumptious bite. Just right ratios of cheese filing to briny olive are wrapped in a light breading that adds crunch without being overwhelming, make it impossible to eat just one. Even if you think you don’t like pimento cheese you’ll find it a sweet and creamy foil to the salty olive. More than two guests at the table? Ask for an extra order (or two). Otherwise you may find table-mates coming to fisticuffs over who has had more than their fair share. Pair with a white wine that’s easy on the oak or even better a rosé sparkler.

Note the excessive use of “re” in the previous sentence doesn’t include the word “resolution” because resolutions come with too much baggage and expectation for my taste. Intentions offer a kinder, gentler approach to priorities and the associated life tweaks that come with them.

Cook More

You’d think that between my day job at Whole Foods Market and my hobby as a food blogger I’d cook all of the time. However, with my newfound role as mom’s Taxi service, with drop-offs as soon as after school and pickups as late as 8:30 or 9:00 at night, cooking has become a real challenge. I’ll admit sometimes I’m just plain tired and unmotivated. Fast food and restaurant fare have become the preponderance of our meals and that’s not okay with me. This directly contrary to all of the work I’ve done to loose unwanted pounds and maintain a healthy weight, not to mention it doesn’t really support eating food I know is of high quality and well-sourced. WSome of the tactics I’m considering bringing to bear to help me cook more are:

• Freezer meals. While I don’t think right now that I want to do an entire month’s cooking in one weekend (although the cooking marathon could be loads of fun), I need to use my freezer as more of a resource. I’ve even started a Pinterest board to collect freezer-recipes to get me started.
• Cook once, eat twice. Sunday’s slow roasted pork shoulder can become pulled pork sandwiches on a busy Tuesday night. With a little extra prep work I can make meatloaf at the same time as I make burgers. And the possibilities of a second roasted chicken are endless.
• Revisit my expectations. I find myself falling into a trap of wanting every meal I make to be a new experience and an adventure for me in the kitchen. Sometimes a simple dinner of pan-seared chicken with a steamed vegetable and herb-spiked rice is the best possible experience over fast food and I need to remember that more often.

Waste Less

As I was cleaning out my fridges and freezers after Christmas I was simply appalled at how much food I was throwing away. Cutting myself some slack for the overages in food that come with entertaining, I realized that I still throw away much too much food. Several years ago we committed to recycling more and generating less trash and we’ve done a great job – reducing our trash by almost 1/2 and getting smarter about what we can recycle, upcycle, or reuse. I think we can tackle this issue too if we:

• Buy less. Bulk bins, small packages, and loose produce are one of the first places to start. And when I have to buy a package bigger than I’d like, plan ways to use it twice. Tostada shells can become chips for nachos over the weekend with just a few quick snaps. Slider buns can become breadcrumb topping for a mac and cheese or even a crust on a rack of lamb for a special Sunday dinner.
• Inventory the fridge and pantry before meal planning each week. Really, those two cans of black beans and enchilada sauce are just waiting to be chili or enciladas if I just remember they are there. Those leftover carrots can go into a stew or a roasting pan. The greek yogurt into a chicken salad or even a smoothie.
• Freeze more. I’ve read a lot about how to save fresh herbs, stock, and other ingredients we tend to buy in packages bigger than we need. Now it’s time to try some of those techniques.
• Keep a freezer inventory. The freezer might as well be a black hole for me. I forget what’s there, great labels and organization not withstanding. I’m keeping an updated list of what’s actually in the freezer where it’s easy to see so I can remember I already have a package of chicken thighs before I buy a new one.
• Grow my own herbs. I’ve tried this before and, well, I always kill every plant I bring into my life. While I’d like to attribute this to a genetic black thumb, I know in reality it’s a priorities issue (funny how things keep coming back to that). I have to make it a priority to water and check in on my plants every day. Just like I check social media or my email. Or maybe instead of one of those digital checkins.
• Compost. Given that I’m only taking baby steps back to growing things with herbs I am far from having enough confidence (or hubris) to attempt to plant a garden. I do know though that I throw away many scraps that should be compost even if I’m not going to use the compost. Our local farmers market takes kitchen compost so with an extra 15 minutes every other Saturday (another priority to set) for a quick trip to the farmers market compost bin.

Tell More Food Stories

A quick gander at the home page of this blog shows that I more or less stopped blogging in April of 2013. It wasn’t intentional but I prioritized my job, our non-profit, fitness, and other things over blogging. I’m not beating myself up for this – it’s part of the natural cycle of an effort-intense passion – but I do miss it so. As I’ve been thinking about what I miss most about blogging it’s the storytelling. There are so many great food experience in Austin and beyond that I’d love to share. Some ideas I’m currently mulling include:

• Challenge myself. I’ve been thinking about a post-a-day strategy where I challenge myself to tell a great food story in ~100 characters or less. Maybe I’d focus on a favorite dish/drink/experience at spots around Austin. And the photography would be in the moment (i.e. from my iPhone) to compliment the idea. This is a big undertaking through and frankly a little scary.
• Reconsider what storytelling means. Should I focus more on a different format? More Instagram or Twitter? A new approach to Pinterest? Consider RebelMouse or Storify and focus on curation? Hyper-focus on food events? One of my favorite things about Austin is food events. What if I make that my true mission for a while?
• Change platforms. This would be a huge step but I have considered moving away from WordPress to Tumblr for an easier-to-manage and more quick-hit format that might be easier to maintain.

Clearly I don’t have a clear path here so who knows what this storytelling journey will look like. I hope you’ll come along with me though – it will be much more fun.

There’s a saying about best laid plans and another one about the path to hell and good intentions. What really matters of course is action, which brings me back to where I began: priorities. In the coming weeks and months, before life’s next checkpoint the true question will be: did these priorities hold up for me. And if not, why not? And that conversation is just as valuable as all of the rest.

Do you have ideas, recipes, lessons learned, or tips and tricks to help me with my priorities? Please share them in the comments!

One of the hardest things about living in Texas is the anticipation of fall. When September rolls around the kids head back to school, football season is in full swing, and the stores are full of Halloween (and sadly Christmas) goodies. Unfortunately, the weather never seems to get the fall memo in September so we’re faced with 95+ temperatures into October. Summer releases its grip on our state very reluctantly.

So, in an attempt to personally will fall to show itself sooner rather than later by performing fallish activities with zeal,, I dove headlong into baking with pumpkin madeleines.

The fact that the air conditioner was on full blast and I was wearing shorts is neither here nor there.

I think I like madeleines – those lovely French cakes – because my favorite part of a cake or cupcake is the actual cake. Madeleines don’t bother with icing or decorations, they pack all of their punch in one sweet little cake that has the bonus of being pretty thanks entirely to the madeleine mold. You just make the batter, bake them, and poof, as if by magic, you have a beautiful dessert.

On my quest to marry pumpkin with madeleine I looked at a variety of sources including my favorite How To Cook Everything app, the wisdom of Dorie Greenspan, and of course the blogosphere. My final approach, was inspired by Pumpkin Pecan Madeleines from the Pastry Studio and Pumpkin Pecan Madeleines from Supper in Stereo.

       Print!    

50 grills, 100 food lovers, and 1 unforgettable experience at the 2012 Austin FOOD & WINE Festival.

* They’ll be breaking out the grills (and more) for this year’s Austin FOOD & WINE Festival.

During the Austin FOOD & WINE Festival, chefs pull out all of the stops – like this goat roasting over Chef Tim Love’s Love Box.

* What would you like to see roasting over The Love Box at this year’s Austin FOOD & WINE Festival?

Up close with San Antonio Chef Jason Dady at the Austin FOOD & WINE Festival . Seeing chefs at work is a great part of the festivities.

* Which chefs are you most excited to see hard at work at the Austin FOOD & WINE Festival?

Beef tacos at the 2012 Live Fire celebration of beef supremacy.

With the weather turning (in theory) warm and sunny, the food events are multiplying like the proverbial bunnies. From the crown jewel Austin FOOD & WINE Festival to Austin Restaurant Week and Central Market’s Passport to Brazil, April offers us one food event after the other. And while I think you should consider all events equally, these five stand out this as as particularly worthy of having a spotlight shined on them.

• Live Fire – Beef Supremacy and Beef Mastery: The Austin Food and Wine Alliance is hosting their annual celebration of beef on April 25 as the kick-off event for the Austin FOOD & WINE Festival. Head on out to the Salt Lick Pavilion to find out how local and visiting chefs like Rene Ortiz from Sway, Tatsu Aikawa from Ramen Tatsu-ya, Jason Dady from Jason Dady Restaurants in San Antonio, and Randy Rucker from Briar and Bramble in Houston will make beef dance on your taste buds. All proceeds will benefit the Austin Food and Wine Alliance culinary grants program.
• The Wine Down at ACL Live: Thursdays this spring enjoy the lovely weather, wines from Rex-Goliath, live music, and nibbles from area restaurants. I recommend you get a group of friends together for the music and wine then head out to a nice dinner in the 2nd Street District. Friday may come a little earlier than expected but it’s a price worth paying.
• Children’s Picnic and Real Food Fair: On Sunday April 7 help your family build strong connections to local food and food producers at this afternoon celebration of all things real food. Bring a picnic or buy one from the farmers and producers at the event, then settle in for fun and games. What a great way to spend the afternoon.
• Gazelle Foundation Fundraiser Dinner: As a runner with Gilbert’s Gazelles, this April 11 event is near and dear to my heart and I hope it can be the same for you. The Gazelle Foundation raises money to bring fresh water to families in Burundi, one of the poorest countries in Africa. The price of a ticket to this dinner will bring fresh waters to families for life and you’ll enjoy an evening of good food and conversation with like-minded Austinites.
• Foodways Texas, Our Barbecue, Ourselves: This year’s Foodways Texas Symposium takes a long, hard, tasty look at barbecue’s connection to Texas culture and history. Pitmasters including Aaron Franklin and Wayne Miller will join look food experts to discuss, for three fulls days on April 4 – 6, exactly what barbecue means to Texas. And yes, there will be tastings, many of them.

Which April events are you most excited about? How will you pace yourself?

The Chefs at the Austin FOOD & WINE Festival have genuine fun with festival-goers and one another.

* Learn more about the fun to be had at this year’s Austin FOOD & WINE Festival.

Points – so very many points – for having the cojones to pick this name for a beef business.