Lunch: I ate seared pork belly slices over rice with a salad.

Dinner: I cooked half a New York strip steak sous vide at 55°C and ate it with cong you bing and sauteed turnip greens.

Lunch: I heated a couple of zong zi for a quick lunch.

Dinner: I ate leftover risotto from Trattoria Lisina.

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What I Ate: August 1, 2010

Lunch: We had a late lunch at Trattoria Lisina (13308 Farm to Market Road 150 West, Driftwood, TX‎ - (512) 894-3111‎). I ordered the Fettuccine con Prosciutto e Funghi which was a large plate of tasty homemade fettuccine pasta in a flavorful cream-based prosciutto with Parmigiano, mushroom, and garlic sauce. The only problem I had was that there was too much prosciutto making the dish a little too salty. I set aside a large portion of the prosciutto and ate all the pasta - enjoyed every bite. I took the excess prosciutto and sauce home to eat again with bread.

Tina had the risotto del giorno which was blended with lump crab meat and chopped fresh tomatoes. The rice was and excellent consistency - tender and slightly chewy - and the crab was plentiful.

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What I Ate: July 31, 2010 (Trattoria Lisina)

Dinner: We headed over to the nearest Five Guys Burgers and Fries after my friend Braden had tipped us off that they had good burgers there. I had a Bacon Cheeseburger which I thought was actually one of the better burgers in town. The fries were on the good to great side (soft and fluffy with the great one nice and crispy on the outside), but I think I still prefer Mighty Fine's fries and Casino El Camino still makes a superior burger. Of course, the style of burger is different - so comparing against other thin patty burgers, I'd have to say the Five Guys is the best I've had in Austin but, unfortunately, not quite as good as In-N-Out. For me, the bun was a little thick (although wonderfully soft) and presented a little too much sweetness. The beef flavor was not as pronounced as I had hoped (a little more salt on the patty would help) but the choices for toppings makes this a great burger for people who love lots of toppings. We'll be coming back here for sure - it's the closest burger place to where I live that isn't a Whataburger - thank goodness it's pretty good.

Lunch: Liang ban mian one last time. I like this dish, but I think after three days in a row it's going to be a long time before I eat it again.

Lunch: Liang ban mian

Dinner: My mom sauteed some zucchini and also cooked some pork which we ate with white rice.

Lunch: Liang ban mian

Dinner: Daikon buns and soy sauce cooked pork

Dinner: My dad and I grilled chicken that I had marinated in Greek yogurt with garam masala, cumin, cardamom, and cayenne powder.

To go with it, we grilled asparagus.

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What I Ate: July 27, 2010

We have two of these handheld blenders - one for soap making and one for soup making (I still get these two words mixed up sometimes!). I got the first one when I started making soap at home (as a hobby) in the winter of 2007, after I hand whisked a batch of soap mixture for an hour and thought my right arm was going to fall off. The stick blender works wonderfully after many batches of soap. Then we bought a second one when I learned to make dahl soup from an Indian friend, and we've been equally pleased with its performance in the kitchen.

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Things We Like: Cuisinart Smart Stick Handheld Blender

Lunch: Leftovers from Rudy's BBQ

Dinner: Ate another quick dinner at Central Market Cafe before grocery shopping. I had the Char Sui Chicken Salad.

After we moved and settled in, I got one of these laundry sorters with 3 bags and a hanging bar. We used to just throw everything in a laundry basket in one corner of our bedroom, and that was all the space I could afford to allocate to dirty laundry. Now our master closet seems to be as big as our old master bathroom, so I figured why not make laundry easier and be more organized :)? I really like this laundry sorter for several reasons:

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Things We Like: Seville Classics 3-Bag Laundry Sorter with Hanger