Dinner: After watching an excellent performance of Groovaloo at The Long Center for the Performing Arts, we headed over to Star Taqueria for some lengua tacos. Unfortunately, they weren't open (guess the the trailer is closed on Sundays), so we kept driving and saw a Joe's Crab Shack (600 East Riverside Drive, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 441-1010‎). We've only been to a Joe's Crab Shack once many years ago (at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco), so we decided to stop in at this one.

The place was almost completely deserted (so we thought it might be closed), but it was open and they seated us promptly at the table of our choosing.

I also had a side salad - the photo shows half of the salad (forgot to take the picture until after I ate the first half).

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What I Ate: February 28, 2010 (Joe's Crab Shack)

Dinner: We went to Stubb's BBQ (801 Red River Street, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 480-8341‎) for an event benefiting the Sustainable Food Center called "Bad to the Bone". At the event three Central Texas chef's compete in an Iron Chef-lite mock-competition (one of the chef's was from Austin's Parkside Restuarant and his dish - the dessert - won the popular vote by a landslide as well as all four judges votes). Not a big deal since it was all for fun and to benefit a good cause.

All the chef's had to work with achiote (the plant whose seeds annatto is derived from), tangerine, and goat milk or cheese. The first we tried was David Bull's Achiote Glazed Salmon with Smoked Bacon Grits, Goat Cheese Crema & Tangerine-Spinach Salad. Since the event was outside, the food cooled pretty quickly (and didn't photograph well given the weird lighting conditions). While hot, the salmon with the grits was great. I thought the grits were excellent and paired well with the salmon while the salad was a bit weak in flavor. After tasting the pork dish and returning to the salmon dish, I found it all a bit bland, so I think this one held up in the cold the worst.

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What I Ate: February 27, 2010 (Bad to the Bone at Stubb's BBQ, East Side King)

Dinner: We managed to make our reservation for Paggi House (200 Lee Barton Dr, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 473-3700‎) this time. All in all, it was a so-so experience with none of the dishes completely satisfying.

Roasted Beet Carpaccio Baby Arugula, Goat Cheese Fondue, $8. The beets were sweet and clean tasting, but the arugula was dressed with something a little too acidic that pulled attention away from the smooth taste of the beets and mild pepperiness of the arugula. The white goat cheese liquid was pretty flavorless and didn't play well with the rest. It just didn't blend together.

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What I Ate: February 26, 2010 (Paggi House)

Being a shorter person (5' 4"), I need a step ladder in the house for reaching things on the shelves in the kitchen and closets, as well as for changing light bulbs and doing household projects. We had a steel framed 2-step step ladder which worked well, then I found this ultra-light aluminum step ladder at Home Depot which quickly became my go to step ladder since it's so easy to use and move around.

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Things We Like: Home Depot Ultra-Light Aluminum Step Ladder/Stool

I receive a lot of spam, most of which are caught by filters. Spammers try different tactics - sometimes posting comments advertising a product, sometimes commenting about the subject matter in a vague manner, and sometimes posting random sentences which don't make sense. Recently, I noticed a strange and intriguing trend - I've been receiving comments that are motivational quotes or philosophical proverbs (which have nothing to do with the topic). One of them even included attribution (to Steve Martin)! I decided to save some of them and post them here:

Colon Cleansing Website
In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later.
Success is the maximum utilisation of the ability that you have.

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Spam comments take an interesting turn… proverbs?

Lunch: I made a sandwich of roast beef and Cajun style oven roasted turkey breast with avocado. My sandwiches are uglier than when Tina makes them.

Dinner: Tina brought home a Honey Mesquite Roast Chicken which we ate part of with some toasted French bread.

Lunch: I made a roast beef with avocado and baby Swiss cheese sandwich on sourdough bread.

Dinner: Tina cooked Napa cabbage, bean vermicelli, and heated some teriyaki meatballs over rice. We had purchased the meatballs from Costco because we saw them yesterday and wanted to try them. They were a tad too sweet (when we expected when we bought them) and had a very soft and spongy texture (which we didn't expect).

Over the years, we've bought various bed sheets, but found ourselves using the same set over and over - Wamsutta Comfort Soft cotton sheet set, 400-thread count. We like it the best given its soft, smooth, and silky hand and because it stands up to repeated washing with minimal shrinkage and fading.

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Things We Like: Wamsutta Comfort Soft Cotton Sheet Set, 400-Thread Count

Lunch: I cooked some breakfast foods for lunch: a couple of eggs over easy, tater tots, and applewood smoked bacon.

Dinner: Our microwave oven stopped working, so we went to Costco to get a new one. After, we went across the parking lot to Chuy's (4301 West William Cannon Drive, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 899-2489‎) where I ordered the Steak Burrito (A flour tortilla stuffed with sliced grilled steak & cheese topped with Hatch Green Chile sauce. Served with green chile rice & charro beans; I had the sauce on the side) for dinner. I decided to eat half and save the rest for later (filling up on chips and chile con queso and salsa).

Dinner: I grilled a whole Mediterranean sea bass (or branzino) as well as zucchini, red bell peppers, and mushrooms.

Mediterranean sea bass

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What I Ate: February 22, 2010