Tree Farm

Today Olivia and I chaperoned Jackson's annual class trip to the Christmas tree farm. First we decorated pine cones to hang on the school tree.

Olivia is excited to attend school next fall; in the meantime she is thrilled when she gets to be an honorary member of the class.

All aboard the train!

You've heard of dogshaming, how about donkeyshaming?

I love seeing Jackson in a different environment, hanging out with his school buddies. 

They are such goofballs at lunchtime. Poop is a big conversation topic.

Posing with the tree they chose.

I've been baking cookies to give as gifts. First I made some eggnog cookies of the dry and crispy cookie variety.

I prefer soft and chewy cookies. Isa's Rosemary Chocolate Chip Cookies, from her "Make It Vegan" video series, fit the bill. I love her tip of setting aside some chocolate chips to dot the tops of the cookies with before popping them in the oven. It makes the cookies look much more appealing! By the way, I've also taken a more traditional route and baked these cookies sans rosemary, and they are perfectly delicious (although I prefer the more intriguing, herbal/chocolate variety).

Finally, I need to plug Joni Marie Newman's latest, Fusion Food in the Vegan Kitchen. It's full of goodness. You can check out the recipes I tested.  Gotta love her Thai take on chicken n' waffles! 

Have a great weekend!

Birthday Ramen

I wanted to eat someplace new for my birthday. Tony, lover of all Japanese food, talked me into Michi Ramen. We started with a bowl of salted edamame, Jackson and Olivia's favorite appetizer. It keeps their little fingers busy.

Most ramen bowls are made with pork broth, but Michi offers a vegan bowl as well. It comes with chives, sprouts, cabbage, green onions, and wood ear mushrooms. I added sweet corn and mayu (blackened garlic oil). From first slurp, I was in heaven. The noodles were chewy, springy, perfectly cooked. The broth was hot and delicious. I finished the entire bowl of noodles and veggies, then slurped down the rest of the broth! 

Tony had some kind of pork bowl, and the kids had plain noodles with broth. They love using chopsticks -- they get right in there!

A cute little placard on our table advertised mochi ice cream desserts, so we let Jackson and Olivia each choose a flavor. They went with blueberry and strawberry.

Little scoops of ice cream sealed inside a chewy, glutinous rice package...they had never had anything like it. Instant approval.

"Mom, I love Japanese food!"

After one visit, Michi Ramen is now vying with Elizabeth Street for my favorite Austin restaurant!

On the way home, we swung by Capital City Bakery to pick up some birthday cupcakes. Olivia chose a confetti cupcake, vanilla with vanilla frosting and sprinkles.

Jackson went for one of the seasonal treats, a chocolate cupcake with peppermint buttercream, and candy cane pieces sprinkled on top.

I couldn't pass up an eggnog cupcake. 

I had a lovely birthday, attending a "painting with wine" class with some girlfriends, finishing up all my Christmas shopping and wrapping, and spending lots of relaxing time with my family. Couldn't ask for a better start to 37!

Cattle Everywhere

Today the kids and I met up with my friend Meredith for lunch. She is a UT student, so we met her at a food trailer court near campus. I had veggie tacos from Pueblo Viejo. I admit, I'm a bit of a food trailer snob. Sometimes I am impressed, sometimes not. In this case, most definitely impressed. Each taco had different toppings...one was portabellos, spinach and cheese, while the other was mixed veggies and avocado. Three varieties of salsa were available in squeeze bottles. I would definitely return.

While we ate and chatted, the longhorn watched over us, adorned with a giant 'stache.

Later, we took a little walk and encountered more cows.

Our destination on this walk was a little man-made lake, home to some very aggressive ducks. Luckily, we didn't have any food on us, so we were able to hang out and enjoy the view. The water level was much higher than last time we visited -- we've had lots of rain this fall.

Star Party

One Friday evening, the kids and I attended a star party. No, Kim and Kanye weren't present. But there was an inflatable planetarium, which is probably even better.

Jackson and Olivia had fun trying out a ton of different science experiments. Seriously, there were like fifty different hands-on experiments for kids. This was heaven for Jackson, my tactile learner.

Olivia got right in there, too.

Before the party, we had met up with my parents for dinner at Frank and Angie's. Their pizzas are giant, and loaded with tasty toppings. We ordered the Pavarotti, with portabello mushrooms, pesto, feta, roasted garlic, and big handfuls of fresh spinach thrown on top of it all. You guys, I cannot describe my happiness while I ate this pizza...at dinner, and also at lunch for the next two days. 

I hadn't had tiramisu in forever, so I ordered a slice to go. It reminds me of the days when Tony and I were dating, and we would go on dinner dates at some nondescript Italian restaurant located next to a highway rest stop in OKC. They had the best food, and we always ordered tiramisu.

Squash Salad

Olivia and I spent the morning at the park with Ironman.

Olivia and her friend took turns burying each other in the sand.

Babies love my son. They will crawl right into his lap. Although he loves to wrestle and play hard with his friends, he is very sweet and gentle with babies. It always makes me smile.

For dinner, I made a salad inspired by one I saw awhile back on Laura's blog. Lentils, spinach, roasted butternut squash, red onion, and feta cheese, dressed with Better than Balsamic Vinaigrette from Ripe from Around Here. The vinaigrette was a little tart for me, but the salad was lovely. I love how roasting butternut squash makes it all sweet and caramelized.

Dino Dig

Catching up from when Jackson was sick...here's a full day of eats from before the cold front came to town.

First, lunch buffet at Indian Palace. All was tasty except for the samosa which tasted like it came out of a deep freeze. Very rich...I was in a food coma after this meal and I only had one plate (plus gulab jaman for dessert, not pictured.)

After lunch, a paleological dig at the Austin Nature and Science Center.

The dino pit is always well-supplied with shovels, claws, and brushes for young explorers to dust off their "prehistoric" finds.

We followed up with a trip to Trader Joe's to check out their Christmas goodies. I adore pfeffernusse so much that I have a bottle of pfeffernusse-scented perfume oil, so it's appropriate that I eat the real thing around the holidays.

I had to try the Beurre Meuniere popcorn, described as having a butter, lemon and thyme seasoning. It was a little bland, for my taste. Olivia loves it, however.

A new product - dolmas in a tin! I love stuffed grape leaves.

When we finally made it home, Olivia relaxed by playing educational games while I started dinner.

We had the Smoky Split Pea Soup from Appetite for Reduction, an all-time favorite and light enough to enjoy after our Indian feast.

Ghost Tree

This morning we attended storytime at the bookstore. I told Jackson and Olivia they could pick out one toy as a little treat, and they chose the zombie bobblehead...a choice that made me feel like I might actually be doing this parenting thing right!

Since we were near Town Lake, we decided to walk over and see this temporary art installation. The tree floating above the water is supposed to represent all the trees that have died because of the drought here in Texas. A sobering thought, but also a cool-looking addition to the downtown landscape, in a kind of eerie, elegant way.

Sorry for phone pics; left my camera at home.

Ripe from Around Here is a cookbook that came out in 2010, and somehow it's taken me until now to fully appreciate it. The recipes focus on eating local, but they are also vegan.  For dinner, I coated pieces of tofu in the Barbecue Saucy (cute name), baked it, and served it over quinoa and smoky collard greens, spooning extra sauce on top. So good.