Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Teenie & Gene's Most Excellent Food Adventures - 8/17/12

Well Gene and I normally have some kind of date night at least once a week. After trying to decide where to go for dinner we decided on hitting some food trucks in Austin instead. (Also, I just got through watching a show on TV about different food trucks around the country. LOL!)

Our first stop: Dock & Roll Diner
 
The "Maine" Event Lobster Roll: Freshly picked lobster knuckle, claw, and leg meat served cold with Dock & Roll mayo, old bay lemon butter, and chopped chives. We shared this and it truly was the most yummy, decadent thing I've ever eaten! Gene's only complain about it was that it was pricey, but hey, it's lobster!!
 
We shared the root beer, which was AWESOME by the way!
 
Our second stop: Izzoz Tacos
 
The Padre: Braised Carnita pork, sliced avocado and Pineapple Tomatillo Salsa.
 
The Slowrider: Braised Machaca beef, caramelized onions, Cotija cheese and chopped Cilantro. We took turns eating these two delicious tacos! SO glad we decided to stop there. We'll definitely be coming back as the prices were very reasonable and the food was excellent.
 
Our third stop: Gourdough's BIG.FAT.DONUTS (Thank you Andrew Zimmern for showing this place on your show!)
 
I am a major, MAJOR bacon junkie! So seeing that this lovely creation had bacon on it it was definitely a given for me to try. Flying Pig Donut: Maple Syrup Icing topped with crispy bacon strips.
 
Funky Monkey Donut: grilled bananas, cream cheese icing and brown sugar. Beyond words on how good this one was!
 
Our fourth stop: Holy Cacao
 
The Mexican Frozen Hot Chocolate: Hot chocolate infused with ancho chile, cayenne and cinnamon; blended with Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate ice cream and ice and topped with fresh whipped cream. We really enjoyed that unexpected bit of heat in the back of the throat from the chile peppers.
 
Our fifth stop: Love Balls Bus
 
Classic Takoyaki: pan-fried pancake balls with chunks of octopus, pickled ginger and scallions and topped with savory brown sauce, kewpie mayo, powdered seaweed (Aonori) and bonito flakes. Thoroughly enjoyed this dish! Plus, the bonito flakes fluttered in the breeze which was SO cool!
 
Our sixth and final stop: Chi'Lantro
 
Kimchi Quesadillas: caramelized kimchi, Korean BBQ beef (Bulgogi), Cilantro, onion, Chi'Lantro salsa, magic sauce and sesame seeds. This was also AMAZING!!
 
All in all our food truck hopping date night was a hit! We loved EVERYTHING we tried!! I have to say to anyone who wants to try something adventureous, give food truck hopping a go. You'll never know what kind of cuisine you'll run into out there!
 

Monday, July 9, 2012

SPI Trip Cont. (From Our Balcony)

Just some random pictures I took from our balcony.











SPI Trip Cont. (Our Nephews)

Just some pictures I took of the boys.

little Brady just had to have his picture taken on the bed lol!

silly boys posing for the camera

Brady, Tyler & Dylan

D & Brady chillin in the hot tub

Brady for some reason always wanted to hang out in the hot tub lol!

ha D spotted me!

"Hi Aunt Teenie!"

Ty smilin for me

Ty (top) & D (bottom) can't you tell they're brothers lol!

D checkin out some duds in a suveniour shop

my lil Brady!

Ty bein well....Ty lol!








Monday, June 25, 2012

SPI Trip Cont. (Crab Hunting)

Saturday night after everyone else was in their room, Gene and I sat outside with our drinks and just enjoyed the salty sea air. We then noticed people out on the beach with flashlights and wondered what was going on. After a few minutes we decided to head down there and see what was going on. Using our lights on our cell phones we started looking around and noticed some shells. We walked along the surf and I looked down and noticed a spotted shell half buried in the sand and reached down to dig it out. Well to my surprise two small pinchers reached up and almost got me and I screamed my head off! Gene grabbed the spotted crab from the back and I took a picture of it. So now we know what all these people were doing on the beach at night with flashlights! We walked around some more and came across another type of crab which I call Ghost Crabs as they are extremely fast and here one minute and gone the next.

the little sucker that almost got me

We decided we need to tell the rest of the bunch when we get back to the condo as we know how much Dylan loves stuff like that.

The group decided to go crab hunting the following night and these were a couple of pictures I took of what we found. Needless to say, after that night I hardly got back into the ocean!

one of MANY Ghost Crabs we caught

Man-o-Wars: these were the reason I didn't want to get back in the ocean after this hunting trip! there were SO many on the beach every night since Sunday until the day we left.

Dylan was in heaven catching all these crabs, but he was sad that he couldn't keep em after!!


SPI Trip Cont. (Condo Pics)

Took some condo pictures. Of course I forgot to take pictures of what the outside of the condo looks like....oopsie!

the dining room & kitchen

it was a pretty decent kitchen

living room w/sliding door that leads onto the big balcony

Glen, Mandie & the boys' room

Gene & my room w/sliding door that leads out to the balcony

our bathroom (I didn't take pictures of the laundry room or their bathroom)

our awesome balcony

and our totally awesome view we have from the balcony

our condo's private pool & hot tub : )