Lunch: I made sandwiches for Tina and myself - eggplant, portabello mushrooms, sunchokes, and an egg with a side salad.

Dinner: Leftovers

Lunch: Leftovers - Sunchokes, Spaghetti and Meatball, and Potato Salad

Dinner: My parents cooked a bunch of food and my in-laws came over. We had stir-fried rice cakes (nian goa), sauteed Chinese vegetables of some kind (similar to bok choy but it wasn't), fresh shrimp (never frozen from the Gulf - a perk of living here in Texas!) with pecans, stir-fried rice noodles (chow mei fun), a soup of stewed pork ribs, and stir-fried dried bean curd.

Lunch: A large spread of leftovers shared between my parents and us.

Dinner: We went over to Tina's parent's place (and forgot my camera, so I used my father's point and shoot) for homemade pork and garlic chive dumplings.

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: June 8, 2009

So, I've never had a cherimoya, the South American fruit, before.

I tried one today (at the steep price of $5) and found mine to be very sweet with a flavor that reminded me of mild pear and bananas. The fruit also has a fermented taste, but I may have had an overripe one. The texture was interesting - it seemed to flake like a cooked fish and each flake was both smooth and grainy (like a ripe Bartlett pear). There were also many black seeds about the size of a Jelly Belly jelly bean. The flesh of the fruit was smooth enough and soft enough to just stick it in my mouth and spit out the seeds. I'm not sure I'd get another one at this price, but I may be willing to try it again in the future if I see it for $2 or less. It is definitely worth trying.

Lunch: I took my parents to The Salt Lick (18300 FM Rd 1826, Driftwood, TX‎ - (512) 858-4959‎) for lunch because for Sunday lunch they have Baby Back Ribs. (We had taken them to The Salt Lick last October, but not on a Sunday.)

We picked up a full rack of their baby Back Ribs.

We also shared a combination plate (brisket, sausage, and spare rib).

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: June 7, 2009 (The Salt Lick, Central Market Cafe)

Lunch: Home Slice Pizza (1415 S Congress Ave, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 444-7437). We had two slices - a margherita and a white spinach. Both were fantastic! They had thin crusts that were crispy on the bottom and not overly sauced (not soggy and wet) but still full of flavor.

The margherita had tomato sauce, mozarella, garlic, and basil brunoise which was baked. I think I prefer my basil fresh (placed on top after the pizza has been cooked), but this was still very good and had a wonderful aroma.

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: June 6, 2009 (Home Slice Pizza, Asia Cafe)

Lunch: Manna From Heaven Restaurant (602 W Center St, Kyle, TX‎ - (512) 268-6900‎).

I had the envueltos (3 rolled chicken tacos topped with a creamy chicken gravy and lettuce and tomato served with rice and refried beans). They were mild, but fairly good. The gravy was quite tasty, but I wish I had ordered something crispy since I was listening to Tina eat her chalupas which were served on crispy corn tortillas. I also had a really good limeade.

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: June 5, 2009 (Manna From Heaven, Phil's Icehouse)

Lunch: A sandwich of smoked brisket (from my neighbors Cody and Katy, thanks guys!) and an egg cooked over medium on ciabatta bread. I also had a large salad of fresh arugula.

Dinner: More beef: a rib eye steak with savoy cabbage.

Lunch: A sandwich of grilled eggplant, grilled portabello mushrooms, melted Swiss cheese with fresh arugula on sliced ciabatta.

Dinner: Tina stewed some chicken and we had that with left over kong xin cai and rice.

I also had some of the best honeydew that I've ever had in my life. We bought it from the HEB near where we live and it was grown in Texas, ripened on the vine (which all honeydews must) and is available for only two weeks. It really makes a difference how ripe this melon is. Usually honeydew is green and half soft and half crunchy - tasting more like slightly sweet water than a sweet melon. This one was truly honey like. $2.99 each at HEB.

Lunch: Tina cooked kong xin cai and a shrimp in hoisin sauce dish. The shrimp doesn't look as good in the picture as when Tina finished cooking because I was busy and couldn't eat immediately. By the time I photographed it, it had cooled down and the corn starch coating had absorbed much of the sauce giving it a lumpy, dull finish.

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: June 2, 2009 (Chi Buffet)