I’ve received lots of positive feedback from my readers, mostly emails from my out-of-town friends and family, drooling about the topic, Tantalizing Trailer Treats. Even my mother is ready to drive down to Austin just to spend a day sampling the trailer fare. My response? “C’mon down!!
Someday we’ll try out new trailer eateries, I promise. But, for now, we’re gung-ho on Ugly Banjos and Bits & Druthers! The other evening, after determining that neither one of us was in the mood to cook dinner, Gene and I returned to the East Side Drive-In for more gourmet-to-go.
Gene needed another fish & chips fix (sans the chips) from Bits & Druthers (he can't get enough of that wonderful, deep-fried haddock), and I wanted to try the “real” Jimmy Cracked Chicken at Ugly Banjos. As you may recall, our first fabulous food fling at these two eateries was during the SXSW Music Festival. The trailer eateries had pared down and, in some cases, modified their menus in expectation of large crowds.
My first observation on our return trip was the East Side Drive-In is much more festive in the evening. Everything is lit up with fancy neon signs, and it’s easier to see inside the trailers as the culinary artists, or hash slingers, whichever applies, are busy at work. Plus, it is much cooler at night.
Surprisingly to me, Matthew Schaefer, co-owner of Ugly Banjos, remembered us as he delivered my order of Jimmy Cracked Chicken to our table. How nice, and what great service! But, I digress. What’s important here is THE FOOD! Oh….my….goodness! If I thought the Jimmy Crack Chicken sandwich I had before was wonderful, this full-blown version of the Jimmy Crack Chicken meal was over-the-top scrumptious!
The cornmeal-crusted chicken breast, served with honey truffle butter, was sliced atop a bed of indescribably delicious hatch green chile macaroni-and-cheese and fresh, spicy collard greens. I ate half the mac and cheese before I made it back to the car.
Let me stress that I never order chicken when I go out to eat. I usually prefer to order items that I wouldn’t normally cook for myself. But, this…Jimmy Crack Chicken…oh my…it plays music on my tongue. The flavors and texture are simply wonderful.
I really will try a different trailer eatery soon, y’all. I promise. But, first I just gotta try Ugly Banjos’ “Mom! The Meatloaf” Sammich and their Chicken Fried Steak. I’ll let you know what I think.
“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.” -- Luciano Pavarotti
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” -- Virginia Woolf
One morning in the not-so-distant past, I was awakened at 5:30 a.m. by the most invasive bird’s song.Some little bird, who had nested overnight in our front shrub, decided to announce the arrival of a new day, although it wasn’t even daytime yet.
I lay in bed, trying to ignore the trills and chirps of the boisterous birdie, but I began to sense a sinister plot. We have a love-hate relationship with the birds. We have a bird feeder out front, so we can view the lovely cardinals and doves. Gene puts food out in the backyard during the winter for the birds, so they won't starve. I thrill at the sound of a red-bellied woodpecker working on a tree trunk. But, the grackles poop all over our cars and deck. And, now it was The Austin City Bird Singing Festival at 5:30 a.m. in my front yard. Isn't there an ordinance against that?!
My need to sleep would not be silenced by the sound. After about 5 minutes, I jolted myself out of bed, pillow in hand, and marched out the front door.In the dark in my pajamas, I began to beat the shrub with my pillow.The bird stopped singing.I had no thought for the condition of the bird’s health, only that the sound would cease.
I returned to bed and snoozed until the sun had risen and it was truly time to get up. My husband thought it was funny that I was so grumpy and insistent to have my early morning hours of slumber.
Before dawn the next day, my little early morning intruder blasted more alarming birdsong out his little beak.This time, my husband heard it and got up to see what all the ruckus was about.The first thing Gene did was to turn off the yellow porch light.
The singing immediately stopped.Chuckling, Gene returned to bed and told me the bird must’ve thought our porch light was the sun. Turn out the light, the party’s over!
By the way, beating the bird in the bush is not the same thing as beating around the bush. One is much more direct than the other. The likely origin of the phrase, beat around the bush, is derived from early hunting techniques in which unarmed men would walk around the forest beating tree branches and making noise, so as to flush out the prey from the bush. This allowed the hunters to avoid directly approaching the game. The technique was most often used in boar and bird hunting. For boar hunting, this was done primarily as a safety measure due to the razor sharp tusks and the likelihood of a boar charging a hunter. In bird hunting this was to scare the birds from their cover so that hunters could shoot them easily.
“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” –Miguel Cervantes
"A bird in hand is a certainty, but a bird in the bush may sing.” –Bret Harte
“A singing bird in the bush before dawn may never sing again.” –Grayson Nelson
At My House, the Early Bird Gets the Boot, Y’all!
Artist Credits (in order of appearance): Bird in the Bush - Barbara York Bird Flu - Unknown Girl Screaming with Birds - Unknown Sleeping Bird Red - Kimberly Palencia Bird in Bush - Margaret Fane Bird in Deep Night - Kelly Riccetti Cat with Dead Bird - Tex Norman
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! It’s that time of year again, all you lucky Texans! Bluebonnet time is here! Fill up your gas tank, throw the kids in the backseat, grab your camera and head to the Hill Country for blankets of bluebonnets.
On second thought, with gasoline up around $3.40 per gallon, maybe it would be better to drive the family down to Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center in South Austin. That’s what Gene and I did this past Saturday as we attended the Artists and Artisans Festival at the Wildflower Center. The featured artist, Ken Moore, was on site to answer questions about his beautiful bluebonnet paintings. Although Mr. Moore never formally studied painting, his artwork is wonderful, and it captures those feelings of spectacular awe many of us have felt while admiring the fields full of blue Texas blooms. Ken Moore’s bluebonnet paintings will be on display at the Wildflower Center through May 30th. (Top: Ken Moore’s Edge of the Hill Country #662 oil painting. Below: Ken Moore’s “Spring At Last” #694 oil painting.)
Also exhibiting at Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center is Shou Ping, paper sculpture artist. Ms. Ping takes paper that has been painted with watercolors and cuts them into pieces, creating amazingly beautiful 3-D sculptures, set behind glass, much like a painting.
The day was perfect to walk through the grounds at the Wildflower Center, where we took time for pictures by the bluebonnet field, an annual ritual in Texas. I mean, you just can’t have Spring without a bluebonnet picture!
Walking down the various paths, my nose picked up on a pungently sweet scent that I had to hunt down. It turned out to be a Texas mountain laurel bush, which I now have on my list of landscaping plants for our yard. The plaque stated the blue blooms of the Texas mountain laurel attract long-tongued butterflies. Well, that sold me! Let those short-tongued butterflies find some other place to go!
The open-air square at the Center had a number of tents set up with artisans’ wares. My favorite was the iron art, specifically the shaman yard art, based on ancient petroglyphs.
I think the shaman figure below may have been based on one of the Teletubbies. See what you think.
Anybody else doin' a double-take?!
The crowning moment during our outing was a visit to the indoor artisan gallery. Since 1987, Gene has been trying to find a men’s turquoise and gold ring. While on our various trips, we usually check whether local jewelers carry any turquoise and gold ring combinations. It’s quite rare. Even those we have found haven’t been exactly what Gene was searching for. That is until now. We happened upon Fred and Barbara Stockbauer, Goldsmiths (www.fredstockbauer.com), who had a beautiful selection of men’s turquoise and gold rings, along with all their other exquisite jewelry.
When Gene tried this one on, we knew it was the ring he’d been looking for. The stone came from the Morenci Mine, located in Southeastern Arizona, and is a collectable turquoise since the mine is now depleted.
In every way, it was a wonderfully blue day – blue skies, blue laurel, bluebonnets and turquoise!
“If you’ve never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.” –Audra Foveo
"Where flowers bloom so does hope." --Ladybird Johnson
“None can have a healthy love for flowers unless he loves the wild ones."--Forbes Watson
Everything’s Better with Bluebonnets On It, Y’all!
It was a glorious, sunny, Saturday afternoon, and we were in search of a fabulous hotdog. The traffic in Austin was beginning to build as Austinites and visitors to the Texas Music Capitol began embarking on the first weekend of the South by Southwest Music Festival, commonly referred to as “SXSW”. Gene was approaching his boiling point as we searched in vain for a fancy hotdog joint downtown. I suggested we get back to the East Side, the chilled-out area of Austin where we live. As soon as we passed under IH-35, I sensed that Gene’s stress began to dissipate.
We ditched the idea of hotdogs, and set out to find an East Austin funky food stop. The first place tried, the East Side Show Room, wasn’t open for lunch, so we kept driving down 6th Street. I nearly wet my pants as Gene hollered, “HOTDOGS!”, pointing to the left side of the street. There, peeking above a fence was a red, British double-decker bus with “cheese steaks”, “burgers” and “dogs” painted on the side.
We parked around the corner, and as we entered the East Side Drive-In, located at 6th Street and San Marcos, our eyes scanned the small semi-circle of trailers with trendy names like The Local Yolk, Ugly Banjos, Bits & Druthers, Pig Vicious and more.
We saw a small sign at the entrance directing us to fish & chips, one of Gene’s favorite dishes, at Bits & Druthers, so we quickly headed in the direction of the British flag.
Gene stepped up to the small window of the red, white and blue trailer and ordered his fish & chips. As we waited for the fish to cook, we chatted with Josh and Shannon (fancy fish fryers extraordinaire).
Friendly and full of entertaining information, these two chipper (pun intended) people explained how the owner started Bits & Druthers after learning to cook the UK staple of fish & chips while living in the land of the Queen Mother. We also learned that Bits & Druthers does not skimp on quality. The fish is fresh haddock from Quality Seafood, one of our favorite seafood stops, which I’ve previously blogged about, and the tartar sauce is homemade.
We didn’t even make it to the next trailer before I had to return to Bits & Druthers to let Josh and Shannon know that theirs was the best fish & chips we’d eaten in Austin. The fish was incredibly fresh, and the batter was…perfection! Crisp, delicious and not at all soggy or greasy. We can’t wait to go back for more!
Our next stop was Ugly Banjos, known for its homestyle cookin’. And, who could resist a name like that? It was a must-try for me!
The red trailer and colorful handwritten chalkboard menu, lined with bottle tops, boasted of several tempting treats. (Check out the Fried Oreos!)
Making a decision was difficult, but I eventually settled on the Jimmy Crack Chicken. With the anticipation of large SXSW crowds, Ugly Banjos decided to tone down their menu, which many trailer eateries were doing, but encouraged me to come back after the festival for the “cracked up” version of this soon-to-be-famous “sammich”. Even without the collard greens and hatch green chile macaroni and cheese (see the online menu), this sandwich was stand-alone genius! The buttermilk fried chicken breast contained a perfectly seasoned cornmeal crust, providing an interesting texture and awesome flavor. Served on a ciabatta bun with honey truffle butter for a tinge of sweetness, a big slice of tomato, cheese, lettuce and jalapeños, served with kettle-style potato chips, the Jimmy Crack Chicken Sammich was a lip-smackin’ delicious treat!
The co-owners, Matthew Schaefer, (right), and his sidekick, Michael Hegar (left), were enthusiastic about their food and location, as well as the décor for the trailer. Gene loved the fact that Ugly Banjos serves Dublin Dr. Pepper!
And, speaking of décor, I was immediately drawn to the cigar-smoking, mustached, yellow mascot standing outside on the counter. This commissioned piece of festive metal was made by local artist, Mike Poulson, located at Slackerville, 2209 South 1st Street, whose entertaining iron work Gene and I have seen.
Rest assured, Gene and I will be back to try every single item on the menu at Ugly Banjos!!
Yesterday, on St. Patrick’s Day, I returned to the East Side Drive-In to celebrate Tami’s birthday, a dear friend of mine. Naturally, I wanted to take her to Ugly Banjos or Bits & Druthers, but we arrived too early in the day and were too hungry to wait until noon. So, we tried our luck at The Local Yolk.
Like Ugly Banjos, the Local Yolk had trimmed down its menu, offering only a few sandwiches, but The Florence was a yummy early lunch for two gals that hadn’t eaten breakfast. The Florence consisted of a fried egg sandwich with pesto, mozzarella and tomato. Good flavor and fresh.
For some reason, just being in this cozy group of trailer eateries made me think of Roger Miller’s “King of the Road”. (Actually, Gene does have a trailer for sale.)
Tami and I ate and talked and watched all the entertaining young people. The best outfits by far, though, were two young guys enjoying SXSW in their green garb for St. Patty’s Day. The young man on the left was originally from Russia, now living in Austin, and was giving a plug for music on Thursday nights in the bar at Hotel Vegas on 6th & Comal. The fella on the right was in town for SXSW visiting from Austria. Dig those brown suede leather britches! Yodel-ay-hee-hooooo!
There are so many trailer park eateries in Austin to try that I may just have to change the name of my blog to The Texas Trailer Twang. It’s got a certain ring to it, dontcha think?
“I don't know what I did in this life to deserve all of this. I'm just a girl from a trailer park who had a dream.” –Hilary Swank
“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.” –Harriet Van Horne
(Update: As of 3/13/11, the name of the quilting club has been changed to Sisters-in-Stitches.)
Last month while participating in one of my favorite pastimes, Girl Chit-Chat, Patricia, a friend of mine from church, and I discovered that both of us were quilters. Patricia, being fairly new to quilting, suggested we get together from time to time. Another gal from church overheard us and said she’d be interested in joining us and had a daughter-in-law who also was an avid quilter. That is the moment we created the Austin Ward Quilting Club.
Last night was the first monthly meeting of the Austin Ward Quilting Club. Patricia and I had gotten the word out through flyers, email and Facebook. I enlisted the help of my dear friend, Tami Horvath, Decorator Extraordinaire, to setup the meeting room with me. And, as the meeting kicked off, five women were in attendance.
I was the speaker for our first meeting on Quilting Basics, and as the night progressed, more women showed up. By the time I was halfway through my lesson, I counted 14 women, which was the number of chairs I had set out. Some of the ones in attendance had not previously expressed interest, which means we may have more members at future meetings!
For decoration, Tami strung thick gauge wire across one wall of the room and draped three of my quilts over it – The Bear’s Paw Quilt, The Dresden Plate Quilt and my wall hanging. My only regret is that I didn’t bring a camera to take pictures. What was I thinking?! I do have other pictures of the quilts that I can share, though, to give you some idea of what the club members saw at our meeting.
Below is a picture of the Bear’s Paw Quilt I made for my father. This quilt was machine-pieced and hand-quilted. It was a bit of a bear for me to make, which is appropriate, since the recipient is a bit of a bear at times, too. This took a year for me to finish, simply because I kept setting it aside to work on other things.
Here’s a picture of the Dresden Plate Quilt I made for my mother, which was all hand-sewn, appliquéd and hand-quilted. I consider this my “therapy” quilt, which I made during the year I was unemployed, living on the Double M Ranch with my parents. This quilt took 2 months to make.
The last quilt displayed on the wall was my appliquéd wall hanging. I hand pieced, appliquéd and hand-quilted this antique-patterned quilt in two months. I made it while working for Visa. I lived in northern Virginia and traveled twice a month on a 5-hour flight to Visa’s headquarters in San Francisco, California. I stored the pieces in baggies and used my fingernail clippers to cut the thread, since I couldn’t take any scissors aboard – needles and clippers were acceptable, though.
On the long, rectangular table in front of me, Tami draped the LeMoyne Star Quilt, which was the second quilt I made. This is one I created for my son, Eric, who at that time was 8 years old and picked out one of the hardest patterns in my quilting book. He also selected the fabric and colors. I learned my lesson that I don’t allow my “quiltees” to pick out patterns for their quilts. Atop the quilt, Tami displayed books, fabric, other sewing notions and quilting tools, which I explained during my lesson.
Susan, Janie and Patricia have experience making quilts, but the remainder of our club members have never made a quilt before, so this will be a wonderful opportunity to share our skills and talents with those who want to learn. Even Tami, who was just there to help me decorate, has caught the quilting bug and has decided to make an art quilt. Awesome!
Public Apology: I’d like to express my sincere thanks to Christine Cain, Young Women’s President, who allowed us to stay in the room where we initially set up the quilts. I had no idea there was a protocol for reserving rooms at the church, but Christine graciously moved her meeting to another room. Christine, I won’t make that mistake again. Thank you so much!!
“Methinks it is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics, when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew; especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts than while so occupied.” ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun, 1859
As a business analyst by trade, I swim each day in an ocean of minutiae. My world is made up of facts and words, and as such, I have a virtual red pen in my head. My eyes read over a sentence in a business requirement, a paperback novel, a magazine, a newspaper article, a blog, and as I ingest the content, I see the grammatical errors, misspelled words and misuse of words. While it is a blessing, providing me with a desire to produce professional internal and external documentation for work, it is also a curse.
As a younger woman, much more self-centered, I was inclined to dish out criticism without considering how it might sound to the receiving party. Over the years, I’ve worked hard on my personal and professional communication skills, my delivery of words and my ability to hear criticism. But, no matter how much I improve, I am still a work-in-progress.
Words have power – the power to communicate ideas, to create, to uplift, to cajole, to enlighten, to teach, to entertain, to provoke thought, to inspire action. And, words also have the power to demean, to offend, to insult, to ridicule, to stifle, to abuse, and to incite anger. Whether we desire a world of peace, joy and happiness, an accomplished goal at work or an eternal marriage, we must learn to use restraint of pen and tongue, think before we speak, ponder before sending an email or consult a trusted confidante before acting impulsively.
Most of us would prefer to avoid conflict with others on a daily basis. But, as human beings of unique creation, we will undoubtedly bump into others who do not share our vision or ideals on occasion. How we communicate with and react to others is a personal test for us all.
Am I offended by what you wrote, said or how you behaved? If so, I should take a look at myself, because I certainly have no power to change you. If your words or actions upset me, I must look at your motive. Is there one? Most times, a person’s behavior and words are not designed to harm me. In fact, they may have nothing to do with me. I may’ve just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The English version of The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi offers an outstanding guide by which we may each assess our own shortcomings as we relate to others.
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen.
In my quest to understand how I may best use my words for good, I have identified a pattern, or opportunity, that is recurring in my life, an area in which I need to improve – dealing with micro-managers.
If my manager or other leaders are attempting to micro-manage me, it is important to recognize that the behavior of micro-management is not about me. Micro-management is about control, narcissism, fear, emotional insecurity and ego. Wikipedia.com states that symptoms of micro-management include:
• Unwillingness to delegate • Need for overly detailed reporting • Bullying • Narcissism • Perfectionism • Behavioral dependence upon controlling others • Hyper-criticism
Life is beyond our control, so the micro-manager, which may be a boss or other type of leader in our lives, feels the need to control all things that may reflect back on her or him. Ironically, micro-managers do not gain devotion and respect from those over whom the leader has stewardship. Rather, they create resentment, lower productivity, disrespect and distrust among their group.
How can I adjust to the feeling of new screws being torqued where perfectly tight screws already exist? I can say a prayer for that person (similar to The Prayer of St. Assisi), pick my battles, and manage my own expectations. I can practice the “art” of communication by choosing my words wisely, practicing love and tolerance of others.
And, what if you are someone who displays the tendencies listed above? Take the “I” out of micro-management, and please just stay out of my way.
"Go on, get out. Last words are for fools who haven't said enough."--Karl Marx
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” --Psalms 19:14
“When words are scarce, they are hardly spent in vain.” –William Shakespeare
Last Saturday, as my husband and I entered the grocery store, I was overwhelmed by the attack of red and pink – red and pink balloons, red heart boxes full of chocolates, pink cupcakes, red heart-shaped cookies and cakes, red and pink roses, wrapped in red and pink tissue paper with red and pink ribbons. I just about puked! As we walked past, I told Gene that under no circumstances was he to buy me anything for Valentine’s Day – no flowers, no chocolates, no cakes or cookies, not even a card. I know Gene loves me. He shows me every day. I don’t need anything red or pink on Valentine’s Day for him to prove it.
This year, for some reason, I am appalled by the commercialism of Valentine’s Day. Perhaps it’s because our country is still in economic turmoil. Maybe it’s because most anything I spend my dollars on costs so much more. (Do you remember when we all thought $2.00/gallon for gasoline was highway robbery?)
The annual Valentine’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions survey revealed what consumers intended to spend all that money on:
52.1% - Cards 47.5% - Candy 34.6% - Evening Out 34.3% - Flowers 17.3% - Jewelry 14.4% - Clothing 12.6% - Gift Cards 11.2% - Other Gifts
Valentine’s Day was originally called Saint Valentine’s Day, named after one of the early martyrs of the Catholic Church, Saint Valentine, and had nothing to do with romantic love. The holiday was established in 496 AD by Pope Gelasius.
In 1969, Pope Paul VI had the feasting holiday removed from the Roman calendar of saints, and said, "Though the memorial of Saint Valentine is ancient, it is left to particular calendars, since, apart from his name, nothing is known of Saint Valentine except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14."
We can blame the romantic association with Valentine’s Day on Geoffrey Chaucer, who in 1392 wrote a poem for King Richard II of England and Anne of Bohemia on the first anniversary of their engagement. It was entitled, Parlement of Foules, and began:
"For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese is make."
Translated: “For this was Saint Valentine’s Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate.”
I’d just like to stress once again that we don’t need a special holiday to celebrate the romantic love we have for our mate or partner. The most romantic thing we can do is to determine how our mate feels most loved - physical touch, gift giving, words of affirmation, quality time or acts of service (Read The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman) – and do something loving for that special person each day.
What did I do lately for Gene? I cleaned the house Saturday, and delivered a banana to his office this morning because he was feeling sluggish. (I thought the potassium might do him good.) Gene feels loved through acts of service.
What romantic thing did Gene do for me recently? He heard the song, “At Last” by Etta James, being piped in at Bed Bath & Beyond while we were shopping there Saturday. He surprised me while I was looking at the sheets on sale and began dancing with me and singing to me. I feel loved through physical touch and words of affirmation. I can assure you my heart was a melted loving puddle on the floor.
And, what about those who don’t have a special somebody in their lives?! How must they feel on this exclusionary, harebrained holiday? One of my friends at church has renamed Valentine’s Day to “Single Awareness Day”.
I vow no more frivolous Valentine’s Day spending for me or my husband!!
I'm a 53 y.o. native Texan woman who loves my Savior, Jesus Christ. I am the proud mother of my 23-year old married Navy Nuke son and wife to the World's Most Wonderful Husband. I'm so lucky to be a stepmother to 2 daughters (one is USAF) and another wonderful USMC son, and their 8 children. I love being a grandmother! I'm also a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
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