texas book festival

this past saturday, i had the privilege of volunteering at the texas book festival at our state capitol.  if you're unfamiliar with the festival, it was started up 16 years ago by my FAAAAAAVORITE first lady in the world, mrs. laura bush.  ah, i just adore her.  anyway, it turned out to be a beautiful day, as evidenced by my iphone photo of the texas capitol:

i found out about the festival through texas monthly and i thought, "hmmm...i don't have any weekend plans and this sounds like it's right up my alley!"  i was assigned to the google technology tent, which i soon discovered was not my forte.  i had to spend the entire afternoon convincing people of the magical, liberating, and dynamic powers of the e-reader (irivers, kindle fires, nooks oh my!) when i positively detest the idea of having one.  i realize this is the direction the world is going, and like many associates at google assured me, "you'd love having one on an airplane!", i still can't shake my old soul ways.  i need to smell a book, i need to feel it in my hands, i need to write my name and the dates i read it in the front cover, i need to dog ear the pages, i need to write my notes in the margin, and i need to place it in its alloted space on my book shelf.  (sounds more like a love scene in a telenovela i realize, but i do have a passionate affair with my books.)  as you can see, the tech tent was not a good match for me.  next year, i shall do author escorts.

the increcible part about the festival was that all of these remarkable authors were in attendance and from what i am told, it is a huge honor to be invited to the texas book festival.  i was giddy at seeing all of the people's names from texas monthly - mimi swartz, jake silverstein, and paul burka and i couldn't believe my eyes when i saw that sarah bird, molly shannon, and paula deen would be there!  surely by now you do know that paula is one my icons?  side note: before i married my husband, my grand plan in life was to move to savannah so that i could marry bobby deen and have paula as my mother-in-law...i'm not even being facetious.  i didn't get to meet her, but i did buy her new book which promises to be tasty and phenomenal.

one of my favorite parts of the day was going to tall of the cooking demonstrations and i sat in a fabulous one by virginia willis, author of bon appetit y'all.  she was gracious, kind, and a firecracker and she used to head up culinary arts for martha stewart!  she's from georgia, but she's french trained so she mixes the two to create her cuisine.  i am DYING to try out some of her recipes.

VERDICT: this festival is a must do!  who wants to join me next year? 

how 'bout them fredericksburg peaches!

hill country tour continued...


this little cafe RATHER SWEET is TO DIE FOR! first heard about it from levi and then the reviews just kept coming...i've been wanting to visit here for what seems like forever and it was totally worth the wait. restauranteur and chef rebecca rather (dan's daughter) serves up the best chicken salad sandwich i've ever eaten in my life and don't even get me started on the desserts! this is a little piece of heaven on earth.


found some great stuff for mi casa at double r dry goods. this place has some beautiful things and excellent service too...probably my favorite stop on main street. in addition to home furnishings (their specialty), they also carry rocki gorman, old gringo, and bb simon! ahhhhh i could spend some hard-earned dollars here.


spied these handmade crocodile boots at double r. i think i'll buy them for the future mister one day. who wouldn't look distinguished, dapper, and ruggedly handsome walking down the street with a pair of these on his feet?


you must experience the tasting show room of rustlin' rob's texas gourmet foods! holy moley, there are over 200 different dips, sauces, honey, preserves, cobblers, and jams to try! it's INCREDIBLE! you could really be in that store for days...a note of warning: don't think your bulletproof and try the def con hot sauce...sinuses cleared, throat burning, eyes watering just to prove that i could. i'm stubborn that way.


finally got to visit das peach haus and it was just perfect. it's on the outskirts of the town on highway 87 and the grounds contain a cooking school, winery, gift shop, and tasting room all based on peaches! the proprietor was so warm and welcoming and he even serves as the county judge in town. this place was spectacular and i will be coming back for many years to come.


love this little thing!


you bring the peaches, i'll bring the cream...

do you know what it means to miss new orleans?

y'all know i'm a texas girl through and through, but i just got back from spending six glorious days in NOLA and i already miss it very dearly. there is something so completely wonderful about the crescent city and i shall never adequately be able to express my adoration for it in words. i just think it's a fantastic place to get away and i think i will keep going there time after time for the rest of my life. besides, i'm much too addicted to crab cakes and those beignets to stay away for long!!!! i want to say a special thank you to brit for letting us stay at the "turquoise casa" and to my darlings cori jo, heather, and jessica for making it such a fun trip! a few things i love about nawlins...

I) JACKSON SQUARE & ST. LOUIS CATHEDRAL - not many folks know that this is the oldest cathedral in the USA and i think it's just stunning. during the day it's nice to catch a glimpse of a traditional new orleans wedding party doing the grand march with parasols in hand and at night, it's quite eerie (yet super cool) to wander around all of the eccentric palm readers and ghost hunters. however, my favorite thing to do at jackson square is to catch a carriage ride - it's an absolute must!



II) RANDOM TRIVIA - did you know that william faulkner had a house on pirate's alley? have you seen the house where tennessee williams wrote "a streetcar named desire?" did you know that lenny kravitz, sandra bullock, and nicholas cage all have properties in N.O.? i bet you didn't know that the oldest bar in america is called blacksmith's and it's on bourbon!



III) WHO DAT NATION - who dat? who dat? who dat sey dey gonna beat dem saints? i gotta say, spend a few days in this city and you'll be converted into a saints fan. they just have so much pride for their team and there is such a sense of accomplishment coursing through the veins of the city. not to mention, drew brees is pretty much worshipped around those parts. i hear from good sources that he's actually an incredible guy and very involved in the community (p.s. hot wife!.) i like sean payton too!



IV) CAJUN COOKIN' - oh my lawdy, i could eat cajun food ALLLLLLL day long every day!!! i think it is the best. i don't care if it's gumbo, po'boys, crawfish, etouffee, bread pudding, CRAB CAKES, grits, crepes, shrimp or alligator - I LOVE IT ALL! why am i so highly enthusiastic about the food? you just have to go there for yourself and see, i promise you won't be sorry...like we're talking if i had to pick my last meal on death row, send me something from NOLA. i HIGHLY recommend brennan's, court of two sisters, crepes a la cart (cute little stand on the tulane campus), zea's, commander's palace, and galatoire's. if you really want your bang for your buck, go to brunch at court of two sister's like my friends and i did...you can have as much as you want for only $30! oh yeah, don't forget to wash everything down with a hurricane or a john daly ;)



V) SHOPPING ON MAGAZINE STREET - if you're looking for strip or outlet malls, this might not be your thing...however, if you're looking for the places where the sophisticated socialites of the deep south spend their husbands' hard earned dollars, this would be the place for you. all along this quaint, tree-lined street, there are boutiques filled to the brim with the finest dresses and heels you ever saw! someday, i'd like to prance around magazine street in my tweed suit, big hat, sunglasses and gloves and pretend for just one day that i am southern royalty...



more than anything, i'd say there is a spirit to this city that i just love. i guess the people get it from their creole roots, but there is just an undeniable spark to the people and things that inhabit new orleans. just like in their fine cooking, there is an extra spice and downhome comfort that is discernible in everything here. COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS TILL I RETURN!

that's what i love about sundays.

today's been a good day and i sure am grateful for good days. sometimes they're rare, sometimes they're nowhere in sight, but most of the time i just think they go unnoticed. in an effort to recognize a swell day and give it the credit it most certainly deserves, i thought i'd share with my blog world.

first of all, church was just phenomenal this morning. had a great lifegroup with intersect, where i got to meet some really cool, really genuine people who raved about my paula deen brownies! then our pastor, robert emmitt - who is AMAZING!, delivered this awesome message based on mark 14 and dealing with life's adversities and the cup of suffering. he talked a lot about tony dungy and wow, that man's faith is just flat out inspiring to say the least.

i left church feeling renewed and recharged, but mostly, full of appreciation for all the struggles and hard times that God has brought me through. whether i acknowledge it or not, He's always right there walking beside me, picking me up when i fall flat on my face. i think to myself, "what do people do without faith in their lives?" i just can't comprehend going through the travesty and heartbreak that is life without Jesus. how hopeless and unbearable.

after getting home, i called miss ali to come over and help me with a little project. since i've moved into the new apartment complex, i've been wanting to do something special for all of my nearby neighbors who i've met as we come and go.

now don't get any grand illusions, i'm not a fantastic cook, but i do love to bake and i have this deep-seeded notion that a piece of pie does the heart good. with this in mind, i have spent all afternoon baking pies to take to the neighbors and just finished hand delivering them.



the reaction? well, my goodness, you would have thought i just told some of these people they won the lottery!!! they were so blown away by this small token of goodwill, they just couldn't believe it. you know, i'll always believe that homemade gestures have a way of really impacting people. i know, i know. it's ridiculously corny, old fashioned, and reminiscent of decades gone by, but it's a way of life that i think is worth preserving.

it's so unfortunate that our society has socialized us to become isolated, self-reliant, self-absorbed people who don't even speak to each other in person anymore. if you happen to live in the same vicinity as this little girl from shallowater, texas, she just won't let it happen. sorry. :)


(thanks for the picture al.)

doesn't get much better than this.

here it is, friday night, and i'm absolutely, positively thrilled about the possibility of staying in tonight!! this week at work was pretty grueling, by far the toughest week i've had on the job; therefore i am treating myself to a night of indulgences. hey, i'm a simple girl, that doesn't require too terribly much!

for starters, i'm going to crack open the new cookbook that i just received in the mail from my dear friend, miss callie montgomery - all the way from charleston, south carolina! callie sent me paula deen's new cookbook the deen family cookbook. i'm already head-over-heels for this brand new release from the paula franchise and i think i'm going to have a lot of fun doing some serious cooking. tonight i'm going to attempt "michael's crab cakes" and "aunt peggy's bourbon-bathed brown sugar pound cake." wish me luck and come on over if you want a bite to eat!



along with dinner, i'm going to have a glass of chianti and then i'm going to settle on the couch with my brand new book, american wife by curtis sittenfeld. i really like curtis' writing style (sharp, witty, culturally observant) and i've heard so much about this best-selling book. been dying to read it for a long time now, but just now got around to buying it this afternoon. read it along with me and we can converse...



last, but definitely not least, i shall slip into a steaming hot bubble bath and let the problems of the world melt away.



happy friday! hope you're able to enjoy the weekend and relax...