Posts tagged ‘food’

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October 13, 2011

Austin: Target Downtown Cook-Off

Target, which btw donated $60,000 to Texas Wildfire Relief, is hosting a cook-off and grocery giveaway downtown. In celebration of the fresh food additions to Target stores in the Austin area, celebrity food critic Gail Simmons (judge and critic on Top Chef, host on Top Chef Desserts, and Food & Wine special projects manager) will host a cooking competition between local acclaimed chefs Shawn Cirkiel (parkside and the backspace) and Paul Petersen (Vivo Lake Creek). Target will also offer giveaways and sampling throughout the day while supplies last.

Friday Oct 14 / Congress Avenue and Fourth Street / 8:30a–5p / Cook-off 12:30–1:30p / Parking lot opposite Frost Bank Tower

… sometimes I miss working downtown. Perfect lunch break!

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July 19, 2011

Austin: Day ‘o the Week Breakdown

I love nothing more than a theme party, so you can imagine how excited I was to hear that two Austin standbys, old and new, are hosting themed events every day of the work week throughout the summer! Check out the Day ‘o the Week Breakdown for West Sixth’s Star Bar and South Lamar’s Gibson—almost everything includes FREE food!!

Monday

Gibson: Mustache Mondays—$3 Maker’s special all night for everyone with a mustache. All guests receive a free mustache and prizes are awarded to the most impressive ‘stache.

Star Bar: Crock-Pot Creations—complimentary homemade soups or queso bar, all night happy hour and $4 Makers Mark.

Tuesday

Gibson: Trivia Tuesdays—free pub quiz starting at 8p complete with special prizes and bragging rights.

Star Bar: Texas Tuesdays—complimentary Frito pie, $3 local drafts (Live Oak, Independence and 512 brewing),  $3 Deep Eddy regular and sweet tea vodka served in mason jars.

Wednesday

Gibson: Wine Wednesday & Steak Night— complimentary cheese plate from Antonelli’s Cheese Shop (so hot right now!) with each purchase of a half or full bottle of wine beginning at 4p until the plates run out. Half bottle pricing starts at $10 and full bottles start at $15. Luke’s Inside Out also offers a grilled steak paired with two sides for $12 on Wednesdays.

Star Bar: Wine and Cheese Wednesdays–complimentary cheese plate from Antonelli’s Cheese Shop with each purchase of a half or full bottle of wine. Plate includes a variety of cheeses, Italian meats, grapes and flatbread. Half bottle pricing starts at $7 and full bottles start at $19.

Thursday

Gibson: Bubbles n Bitches (and Bingo)—Gibson has added Bingo to their popular Bubbles n Bitches night … In addition to complimentary variety plate of chocolates and strawberries with every order of bubbles, free Bingo begins at 8p with host Trevin from 101x and a chance to win great prizes.

Star Bar: Star Barrio(haha!)—happy hour complete with complimentary homemade salsas and an enchilada bar featuring Ranch 616 enchiladas, rice and beans. Drink specials include Palomas and buckets of iced Mini Sols.

Sunday

Gibson: Sinner Sunday– service industry happy hour all night.

Star Bar: Doublewide Sundays—complimentary chicken and waffles, Pop-Tarts and a variety of cereals. All day happy hour and drink specials include vodka Capri Suns, SunnyD Mimosas, Strawberry Quik White Russians, and $2 Lone Stars.

BONUS! Free Smoothie Fridays from McDonald’s: Try the new Mango Pineapple Real Fruit Smoothie at local participating McDonalds with free samples every Friday in July from 7am – 7pm.

I’m not endorsing your Mickey D’s stops, just letting you know about free stuff. The new Mango Pineapple Real Fruit Smoothie combines mango and pineapple with low-fat yogurt. It’s all about choices—visit this site for McDonald’s nutritional info.

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June 24, 2011

Austin: Praise, Pies & Pinatas at HOPE Farmer’s Market

Hope Farmers Market is putting on Praise, Pies & Pinatas during the regularly scheduled market time, 10am-2pm, Sunday, June 26. There will be a FREE Pie social, with coffee and ice cream, pinata workshops and smashing, and praise music from Son Armados and Anthropos Arts! Also, proceeds from donations will benefit Out Youth, a non-profit that supports GLBT youth in Central Texas.

Pie Hope Farmer's Market Austin

Despite the paleness of this poster, I think the PPP event is going to be a blast … pie from Pie Fixes Everything, coffee from Irie Bean Coffee, and plenty of ice cream. You can make your own piñata and/or smash the HOPE Piñata at 1pm.

The festivities are free, but HOPE will gladly and gratefully accept donations. Any proceeds benefit Out Youth, a non-profit organization whose mission is to support and provide services to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth ages 12 to 19 in Austin and Central Texas. Any donations will also gain entrance to a raffle for prizes from vendors and neighborhood partners, including Buenos Aires Cafe and Progress Coffee.

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June 15, 2011

ASPEN: Food & Wine Classic

I just got back from an Aspen Business Luncheon with Food & Wine Publisher and Vice President Christina Grdovic. She was an excellent, fast-paced speaker, and her talk really got me jazzed about the upcoming weekend! Even though I don’t have passes to the actual events, there’s plenty for me to do … ASPEN magazine, Aspen Peak, Mario Batali, lots of scotch companies, and countless others are throwing non-official parties (think SXSW ’08, before all the “non-official” parties were too big).

If you’re lucky enough to be attending, you’ve likely already checked out foodandwine.com/classic, but I find the website confusing and not all that interesting. Better to download the free app and follow the hashtag #fwclassic on twitter throughout the weekend for the REAL news. If you’re not attending, no worries, the town is abuzz with crazy energy, and you’re likely to spot some serious starpower … last year I saw Giada de Laurentiis heading up the Gondola and Mario Batali with his fam at Bruno’s. It’s a blast, tickets or no.

Also note that the Saturday Market starts up this Saturday, so there’s tons of local merchants and farmers selling their goods, and it’s a great place to wander enjoying the Aspen sunshine.

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May 17, 2011

Austin Food & Wine Festival

… just another way Austin and Aspen are uniquely synchronized:

The Austin Food & Wine Festival

C3 Presents with Chef Tyson Cole, Chef Tim Love & Jesse Herman are creating the Austin Food & Wine Festival March 30-April 1, 2012 in locations throughout Austin. It is presenting sponsor Food & Wine (yep, the same as Aspen)’s first festival involvement in Texas.

Austin Food and Wine

“Our passion for food is integrated into each of our festivals—with the influence of culinary ambassadors Graham Elliot at Lollapalooza and chef Tim Love at Austin City Limits helping keep the local flavor of each event on par with the entire festival experience,” said Charlie Jones, founding partner of C3 Presents. “It seemed only natural that we expand this passion to host a culinary destination festival in Austin, Texas dedicated solely to food and wine, where the food scene continues to surprise and delight us.”

The popular Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival will turn into a 501 C (3) nonprofit organization called the Austin Food & Wine Foundation and be the designated beneficiary of the Austin Food & Wine Festival.

www.austinfoodandwinefestival.com / facebook.com/austinfoodwine / twitter.com/austinfoodwine

*Aspen just released its one-day Food & Wine tickets for $395.

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May 11, 2011

Nali Loves Nutrish Just 6

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Nutrish for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Like her owner, Nali is a picky dog. She noses around in her food to make sure it’s not poisoned before she eats it (I don’t do that), she likes it best if you put a little of your dinner on top, and she doesn’t always eat.

But, like the first time she had Nulo, when I put Rachael Ray’s Nutrish Just 6 in her bowl, she came over to check it out and immediately started scarfing it down.

I interviewed her to ask her how she liked Nutrish Just 6:

… I think she likes it.

Nutrish Just 6 doesn’t have any corn, wheat, or soy (good for dogs AND humans!). It’s a lamb meal-based kibble, with five other ingredients (although really there are more, all relatively harmless and some good: Brown Rice, Ground Rice, Dried Beet Pulp, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Natural Chicken Flavor, Sodium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Niacin, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of vitamin K activity), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Folic Acid.).

Nutrish dog food

Want your pup to try Nutrish Just 6? Click here for a free sample!!

Visit Sponsor's Site

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May 5, 2011

Austin: Giveaway! Tix to Advance Screening of Forks Over Knives

“The answer is so simple it’s criminal: people starting to take responsibility for their health.”

This trailer is for FORKS OVER KNIVES, a film examining the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods*.

*You know that I am a meat-eatin’, raw milk-drinkin’, cheese-lovin’ omnivore. I don’t eat a lot of grains or sugar or corn or soy. I am very interested in health and wellness and firmly believe in the premise of the film: that diet, what you eat, can and WILL affect your health. When I first heard about this film, I loved the idea, but didn’t necessarily agree with the vegetarian/vegan message. That’s A-OK. What’s important here is the notion that processed foods are killing us, and we need to eat more whole foods, plant or animal based.

Back to the synopsis of the film … The major storyline traces the personal journeys of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, a nutritional biochemist from Cornell University (and yes, the controversial author of The China Study), and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a former top surgeon at the world renowned Cleveland Clinic. Inspired by remarkable discoveries in their young careers, these men conducted several groundbreaking studies.

Their separate research led them to the same startling conclusion: degenerative diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even several forms of cancer, could almost always be prevented—and in many cases reversed—by adopting a whole foods, plant-based diet. Despite the profound implications of their findings, their work has remained relatively unknown to the public. Bringing these scientific concepts to life, cameras follow “reality patients” who have chronic conditions from heart disease to diabetes, and are taught by their doctors to adopt a whole foods plant-based diet as the primary approach to treat their ailments. The film features leading experts on health and tackles the issue of diet and disease in a way that will have people talking for years.

*GIVEAWAY* WIN one of FIVE pairs of tickets to an advanced screening on Monday, May 9th at The Regal Arbor in Austin. Just leave a comment below or email me at thisislifeinaustin@gmail.com BEFORE Sunday, May 8th, at 6PM CST.

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April 2, 2011

Food + Travel = Perfect

It’s the weekend, so let’s all dream of vacations, particularly those in my beloved Italy, shall we? Petite Peche & Co., a boutique culinary travel food company based in Austin, recently released its schedule of culinary tours throughout 2011, complete with French and Italian destinations. Travelers can choose a “city” or “country” experience, both of which provide insider access to artisan producers and seasonal epicurean events.

Petite Peche Co Provence Tour

I traveled to Italy solo when I was 20, and I absolutely loved it. Because I was traveling solo, I got treated more like a local than most women do in Italy, despite my limited Italian vocabulary! Tours like this allow you to see a distinctly more local side of Italy with experts who know the country—but speak both English and Italian!

I’d be lost in France, I fear, so The City Tour of Paris would be perfect: it includes culinary walks and market tours, as well as introductions to the chefs and proprietors of renowned restaurants, boutiques, huileries, patisseries and chocolatiers. In Provence and Tuscany (country tours), most evenings are reserved for hands-on classes in the basics of regional cooking. Most tours in 2011 are seven-day, six-night trips, and each tour coincides with major seasonal culinary happenings like truffle season, lavender, olive oil (years ago I met fellow travelers who were traveling across Italy just working in the olive harvests!) and wine harvesting, or festivals celebrating citrus, almonds, or cherries.

New in 2011, Petite Peche’s “Signature Tours” offer two 10-day experiences: Christmas in Paris or a spring trip to Paris and Provence. Both include five-star stays at top Parisian addresses, private visits to some of Paris’ most glamorous destinations, multi-coursed dining in famed eateries, opera and art. The spring tour is followed by a peaceful week in Provence.

Dreaming of getting away? Petite Peche & Co 2011 Tour Schedule:

The Classic Tours

5/1 – 5/7          Florence & Tuscany                           $3,950

6/12 – 6/18      Provence – Lavender Harvest            $3,250

9/11 – 9/17      Provence – Olive & Wine Harvest      $3,250 (Wait List)

9/18 – 9/24      Provence – Olive & Wine Harvest      $3,250

10/30 – 11/5    Florence – The Truffle Hunt                $3,950

The Signature Tours

5/18 – 5/28      Paris & Provence – “Our France” tour PLATINUM $6,500 /RUBY $5,500

12/21- 12/27    Paris – Christmas in Paris tourPLATINUM $6,500 /RUBY $5,500

For more info, petitepecheandco.com

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March 13, 2011

SXSW Six Odds and Ends

People, we are in FULL SWING. I have never seen Interactive so full of people and parties, and of course panels, but that’s almost a second thought. Below are six things that I haven’t yet talked about because they don’t fit because there isn’t always free “Stuff” or whatever.

All-Inclusive Hotel & Indie Day Party: Travaasa Austin + StyleCaster

Travaasa Austin is a new destination hotel in Austin overlooking Lake Travis in the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve and debuting mid-April. For the sneak SXSW preview, Travaasa Austin partners with StyleCaster for Hit The Lights, March 17-20, with exclusive accommodations and packages and an outdoor bash at Cheer Up Charlie’s on the east side on March 19 with an all-star Indie lineup that includes Dan Deacon, Pains of Being Pure at Heart as well as Heavy Hawaii, Diamond Rings, Dirty Beaches, Writer and Manhattan Murder Mystery. Sponsored by Wonderful Pistachios and Sigg.

The rooms include locally-sourced organic breakfast and free shuttles between downtown Austin and the Travaasa Austin hotel on Friday and Saturday to provide easy transportation for hotel guests andconcert attendees. Single occupancy is $249, double $299. To book (a perfect last minute choice!), call (855) 868.7282 or visit www.stylecaster.com/sxsw/vip.

Beatles Complete on Ukelele

Remember this marathon from last year? It’s SO Austin. At SXSJ on Wednesday, March 16th from noon to 6pm, stop by to see tons of artists performing the full 185-song Beatles catalog … the main reason I’m posting this is because one of the Beatle-crooning musicians is the group Bowling for Soup (“Mexican food sucks north of here anyways”), which is so freshman year of college. Others include Drew Smith, Amy Cook, Ben Kweller, and more.

Friends Play SXSW: Jones Street Station

An email from a dear friend: “I LOVE this band, and I am so excited at the potential for you to hear their jams. Danny Erker is the older brother of one of my best St. Louis friends (aka I grew up with him in a sense). He is an AWESOME guy and very talented musician, so just wanted to get the word out. Go to their show if you can and chat em up!!!”

Support my friend’s friend’s older brother’s band:

What: My Old Kentucky Blog’s “Glitter Taco Smoosh Party” – RSVP Link
When: Friday, 1:00pm
Where: Peckerheads – 402 E 6th St. (at Trinity)
What: Texas Rockfest
When: Friday, 3/18 @ 6:45pm
Where:  Roial – 120 W Fifth St (bet Colorado and Congress)
What:  ATN Showcase
When: Saturday, 3/19 @ 2:30pm
Where:  Bayou Lounge – 500 E 6th St (bet Neches & Red River)

New Late-Night Bites: Haddingtons

You can be certain you’ll hear more about the most amazing burger I had at Second Bar & Kitchen the other night, late, but like 9pm late not like 1am late. For the 1am and on crowd, Haddingtons is having a limited SXSW late-night menu now through March 19, 11pm to 2am. The menu includes the infamous Toasted Pots; Bleu Burger with caramelized onions & blue cheese; Fish & Chips with celeriac remoulade; Roasted Lamb Sandwich with arugula, red onions & mint aioli; TLT Sandwich smoked sun-dried tomatoes & brun-ustoo cheese. Valet parking during SXSW 5pm to 2:30am.

More Hotel Love: The Omni

All week through March 15, the hotel is offering its guests an Early Riser Bar, 6-9am with complimentary breakfast tacos and Bloody Mary Bar. There’s a late night menu too, from 11p to close, with breakfast and burgers, whichever tickles your fancy. Guests, you already know they greeted you with a pretty sweet swag bag…

App: The “Pandora of Social Restaurant Recommendations”?

Obviously there are tons and tons and tons of apps being released right now, so sorting through them is kind of a madhouse. But Grubster promises to help you choose not only the restaurant but what to order (though I never liked that specificity) in a Pandora-style fashion. If it works, it’ll be awesome.

The iPhone app is currently available in the App Store here, and the website grubthis.com functions the same way as the iPhone app.

Phew! So there are six more things about SXSW. Does your brain hurt yet?

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March 10, 2011

Austin: Savory Spice Shop

Like so many things I’ve discovered, Austin and Colorado, Denver in this case, are so interconnected. Take, for example, Savory Spice Shop, the dedicated spice shop that opened last November on West Sixth. It started in Denver, and many of the blends are named for counties and areas in Colorado! But let’s focus on the Austin one, shall we?

With wood floors and friendly sales associates in green aprons, walls lined with more spices than I’d ever dreamed, Savory Spice Shop feels like walking in to your grandma’s house—assuming that your grandma, like mine, is a most excellent cook. They’re as helpful as grandmas too: tell them what you like, and they can find you awesome spices. For instance, I picked out Summit County Seasoning (for slow-cooking and stews, something I incorrectly assumed I’d be doing plenty of this winter) and Colorado Plateau Citrus Pepper. I got to the register and the woman looked at my spices and said, “Are you sure you don’t want another?”

Savory Spice Shop

“Um, do I? What’s the best one?”

She led me over to the Roman Pepper Steak Seasoning:

Roman Pepper Steak Seasoning

(yes, I need some lotion stat on my hands)

I sampled a little in my palm and HAD TO HAVE IT. It’s amazing! Italian-y, peppery, salty, it’s awesome.

I bought these three spice combos just a few weeks ago and am flying through them! I’m going to have to restock soon. If you have ANY questions, the staff at Savory Spice Shop can answer anything! I definitely recommend you hit it up to spice up your cooking!

Currently, they’re giving you $1 off for every old bottle of spices you bring in, so recycle AND save money!

http://www.savoryspiceshop.com/aboutus/austin6th.html / 512.524.1093 / @savryspiceon6th

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