Lunch: We took my parents to try Rudy's BBQ. I ordered 1/4 pound lean brisket, 1/2 pound moist brisket, 1 pound St. Louis-style pork ribs, 2 jalapeno sausage links, a medium cole slaw, a medium potato salad, and a small creamed corn. Everything was pretty good but the ribs were a little too salty today. My mom would have preferred the ribs to be a bit sweeter and less salty - which made me realized why I generally like the ribs so much - they aren't sweet. So, if you like your ribs a little sweet, then Rudy's BBQ ribs aren't for you.

Dinner: Tina cooked a diakon and seawood soup.

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What I Ate: July 25, 2010 (Rudy's BBQ)

One cleaning product that we find indispensable in the kitchen is Bar Keeper's Friend. It's a fine white powder that contains no phosphates, bleach, or abrasive substances. It works wonders on getting stainless steel pots and pans sparkling clean, especially after sauteing vegetables or browning meat which often leaves a thin film and slight discoloration on the inside bottom of the pan after normal washing. Regular use of Bar Keeper's Friend also helps to prevent stain buildup.

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Things We Like: Bar Keeper's Friend Multi-Purpose Household Cleanser and Polish

Lunch: I had a quick lunch of liang ban mian which is a cold noodle dish. We ate it with cilantro, shredded beef, and carrots in a sauce of soy sauce, fresh minced garlic, sesame oil, and ample amounts of freshly ground black pepper.

Dinner: We went over to Jack's (from Eating in a Box) house for a sous vide get together where we ate a lot of food. Among the food that was there were the following:

Fresh figs from Ryan's (of Nose To Tail At Home) backyard, freshly cooked green beans with fat back, and salad (to offset the meat coming up).

Pork belly cooked sous vide with two different seasonings


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What I Ate: July 24, 2010 (Sous Vide Get-Together)

Lunch: Corn soup with zong zi (Chinese glutinous rice and pork "tamales") and cong you bing (scallion pancakes).

Dinner: Last of the Cottage Pie with sauteed garlic collard greens and cong you bing.

Lunch: Homemade bacon cheeseburger with avocado and a fried egg

Dinner: Sauteed fresh spinach with stir-fried onions, tomato, and beef with fresh avocado along with white rice

Dinner: We went to a food blogger invitational dinner at Kenichi (419 Colorado Street, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 320-8883‎) where they provided us a seven course meal with sake pairings. I only had a few sips of the sake because I had to work more that evening (and, from past experience, consumption of alcohol reduces my appreciation for food and deadens my taste buds), but even so I could taste a whole variety of different flavors that different sakes can provide. Many paired excellently with the food while some others just didn't seem to work for me.

red snapper salad tai sashimi with pine nuts, orange supreme, shishito peppers, sunflower sprouts and confetti sauce. I felt the sashimi was too mild of the strong flavors of the sauce and the sprouts. In addition, there were too many sprouts - in the end I left the excess sprouts with a small pool of sour dressing. It was surprising that there was a puddle of dressing left over since the person who brought my plate to the table managed to spill some of it on Tina's lap. She also spilled some on Natanya (of Fête & Feast), but I suppose it's excusable since she works in marketing and isn't one of the wait staff (helping out to accommodate the large group). I think much of the problem comes from the triangle plates which are easy to tip slightly and cause low viscosity liquids to slosh out. Thicker sauces on plates of that shape should pose no problems.

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What I Ate: July 21, 2010 (Kenichi)

Lunch: I ate a small bowl of leftover paella from FINO.

Dinner: I grilled up a few quarter pound ground chuck patties (blended with minced shallots, garlic salt, salt, and fresh ground pepper) and served it on a toasted pain au lait hamburger bun with baby spinach and arugula, tomato, and a fried egg.

Lunch: I had the last couple Domino's pizza slices.

Dinner: Tina made a cottage pie and I had a couple bowls of it for dinner.

Dinner: Just before shopping for groceries, we ate dinner at Central Market Cafe. I had the Sunday special which was a Country (or Southern depending on which sign you're reading) Fried Chicken with Mashed Potatoes, Corn, and Buttermilk Biscuit. The breading on the chicken was fairly thick - almost bread-like. I thought of it as dipping the chicken in Yorkshire pudding batter and then deep frying it. It's different and kind of good at the same time. The potatoes were a little bland, corn was too buttery, but the biscuit was excellent.

Lunch: We had lunch at Nordstrom Cafe Bistro where we split two salads. I started with their Warm Asian Glazed Chicken Salad which had a well-balanced sweet dressing and tender chicken.

The other salad we ate was a Cilantro Lime Shrimp which was also nicely prepared except for the fact that the shrimp was from the Gulf (and both Tina and I dislike the strong bromine flavor of Gulf shrimp).

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What I Ate: July 17, 2010 (Nordstrom Cafe Bistro, FINO)