The Salad Spinner Report

Kevin! The comments were from me!

Well, it's been a hunnerd years since I've written anything professionally it seems, but in the last week I finished an article for www.chefs.com, had an aricle proposal accepted by Eat & Drink Austin Magazine, and have been chosen to be a contributor to www.austinist.com. That's new and exciting.

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Still no movement on those articles.

Yesterday went to Porchlight Popfest with Rose and Roman and ran into a million of the usual suspects. Man, was I grouchy! Sometimes I get that way ... surrounded by a million fun people I just get bored.

Porchlight is cool though. SXSW (So by So What) is so not my deal, but Porchlight is a cool oasis in the middle if the mayhem. There were 14 bands playing 30 minutes sets - an ADD dream. Beatty's new band kicked ass, and as usual it was awesome to see Prescott Curlywolf and the ubiquitous Fivehead. Good times.

Aftwerwards, we went to Hut's Hamburgers for ebola.

Forgot to mention that we started the day with a trip to the Pedernales Lofts pavilion for a Butler Brothers party. Nice guys.

I’m attempting to write an article for chefs.com about food related books that don’t fit neatly into the cookbook category or that offer some narrative beyond a recipe listing.

So far my loose list includes:
• Food Lover’s Companion – Sharon Tyler Herbst
• Wine Lover’s Companion – Ron Herbst
• The Cheese Primer – Steven Jenkins
• Kitchen Confidential
• Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
• On food and Cooking – the science and lore of the kitchen Harold McGee
• Alton Brown – I’m Just Here for the Food
• Like Water for Chocolate – Laura Esquivel
• Spice – a history of temptation – Jack Turner
• Salt/Cod - Kurlansky
• The History of Food - Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat

The issue is, I am suffering from horrible writer’s block.

In other news, I ate dinner at a little Pflugerville restaurant called Mangu last night that, while somewhat delicious in some respects, caused some nervousness and bellyache via swimming-pool-flavored tilapia.

My new policy is that I won’t eat at an ethnic restaurant more than 15 minutes from any major metropolitan central business district.

Duh.

Speaking of pretty:

I remember, quite clearly, making funnel cakes with my grandmother. Summers in Dublin, Texas, were full of simple activites - making funnel cakes, walking to the creekbridge with my cousins, playing with the Bible Stories Felt Board in the game room on the north side of the house. I don't know what made me think about these things this morning.

I had a wonderful dinner with Jane and Kevin the other night at the Clay Pit. I drank wine and they drank brightly colored tequila drinks and we all ate Naan and dishes that were so spicy, but none of us were willing to eschew any flavors for the simple inconvenience of a burned tongue. I thought about their families a little while we ate - creative Kevin with his beautiful husband Jack, their big baby-dogs and unconventional gardens, and erudite Jane's two smart, smart children and her kind husband, strange little dogs and soon-to-be-adoptive-daughter from Colombia, Nataly. As I drove home I was compelled to evaluate my own family, but my gears slipped past my brash lesbian half-sister, my man's man step-brother, my four parents (simultaneously buoying and damaging), and my niece and newphew - little packagesl of pure potentiality - to my family at home - my best friend, Boston Rose, and her boyfriend, the ubiquitous genius Roman.

As I worked over my thoughts of everyone I started to think of us all as not really parts of different families, but instead all members of one enormously huge family full of tons of people who haven't yet met one another.

It's not very often that I have thoughts like that lately, but I can't say I didn't enjoy it.

Last night was First Saturday Mass and I drank lots of wine. Tonight is the Oscars, come what may.

A full day of work, followed by trout meuniere, arugula salad with duck, and profiteroles, then a quick trip to the Long Branch for Rose's thing for the mayor. Angela and Shawn, Matty and Roman, as well as surprise visits from HEather (who is doing Guerilla versions of Six Feet Under) and a Courtney-Brandon-Jericho-Amy-Ratgirl drive-by. Wicked cool day.

Thursday is dinner with Kevin and Jane at the Clay Pit, or as I have been known to call it, the Pay Clit, Yay!

Tomorrow though, that's what it's al about baby. Project Runway.

Quick! Everybody make out with Danny V!

Friday is First Saturday Mass. Everybody come.

Rose and I just went to Central Market for a little weekly shopping. We threw our fists in the air and parked in the "Customers with Children" parking spaces.

You may have chosen to experience the miracle of life, which is very exciting I'm sure, but that doesn't mean I have to park on the other side of the parking lot so you can wrangle your snotty little brat into the store with more ease. I have decided that if anyone should ever challenge me on the decision to park in the customers with children parking spaces, I will just tell them that the kids are at home. Or were abducted.

I'm starving!