Monday with Mom

Our mani-pedis were awesome this afternoon!

Pretty (ugly) toes:


Talking Cooper & Marshall for a walk before dinner:


Amy & her sweet new ride:

RIVALS

Joseph and Mike leaving this morning for Houston...




Go Dodgers!

Dinner with Cousins & 2nd Cousin, or maybe 3rd Cousin?

Tonight we went into Austin to have dinner with Mom's cousin Geoff and his family. They live in Austin but I don't see them often, so it was fun to get together while Mom was here. We went to an AMAZING restaurant on South Congress (right near the famous Congress Ave bridge with all the bats) and had a spectacular dinner. Vespaio is Taylor's favorite restaurant, and since it was her birthday today (10), that's where we went. I wish I had taste like that when I was 10! Anyway, it was delicious and really nice to catch up with family.

During the meal we tried to figure out how we are actually related to each other. We're kind of dumb, apparently, because we still don't really know. Geoff and Mom are first cousins. Does that make Geoff my 2nd cousin or Taylor my 2nd cousin? Hmm? Either way, Taylor is a beautiful and completely lovely little girl and it was a pleasure to spend her birthday with her.

Here are a few photos of our dinner with Cousins Geoff, Jenifer & Taylor.






And for those of you who enjoy reading about food as much as I enjoy eating, writing about and cooking it, this is what we had:

Housemade Mozzarella & Heirloom Tomato Salad
Hummus & Foccacia
Parmesan Polenta with Wild Mushrooms & Gorgonzola butter

Mom had Spaghetti Carbonara with Bacon, Proscuitto & a poached egg.
Joseph had the Grilled Meat Trio, which strangely had four items and two of them were poultry. Regardless, it was all delicious... Grilled Quail, Duck Confit, Parmesan Crusted Short Ribs & Osso Bucco.
I had the Mixed Seafood, which had an amazing Crabcake with hollandaise, grilled Salmon with Pesto & Giant Poached Scallops with different, but equally delicious polenta.

Taylor had some blood orange sorbet with a candle, but the adults were all too full.

Amy's (& Amy's Mother's) Late Night Deli

Not only did she drive my new car to me all the way from Ohio, she went to work with me at the deli when she got here. And she worked.
Thankfully, Mama Lisa was prepared to "play restaurant", personalized matching pink apron and all.

Little Baby Gecko

While watering my flowers this afternoon, I made a little friend. A brand new baby gecko, just starting to get it's color. He was chilling in a pot of mums but he jumped right into my hand. Here he is in Joseph's hand:

We're Ready

Our house is clean (er, than normal). There are fresh flowers all around. The lawn has just been mowed. There is Diet Coke and Krabby Patties a plenty. It's official, we are ready for our houseguests!




We are going to be really busy for the next few weeks. Mama Lisa left Columbus this morning in my new blue Saturn! We will be expecting her tomorrow around dinner time. How awesome is she for driving my new car 1200 miles to deliver it to me!? We're going to hang out at the lake, get pedicures and eat sushi.

On Monday, Joseph and his longtime LA/Houston Rival buddy, Mike are going to Houston for a couple days to watch the Dodgers play the Astros. This is year 3 in a row that they've been able to go see a summer series, something that they both thoroughly enjoy. (Mike met us in San Antonio for a Spurs/Lakers game a few weeks ago, too) They'll be home Wednesday, the same day that Mom flies back to Columbus.

Then next Monday, Chris, Mandy & their girls arrive for their visit. They're driving all the way from Ohio too! Yes, summer roadtrip, childhood isn't complete without a few good ones. We will spend lots of time at the lake, a waterpark & some waterfalls. We'll do a lot of grilling too, I know how much Chris loves some grilled meat. We're looking forward to spending time with family we don't see enough.

Lots of pictures of all the family fun to come, don't you know it!

Midnight Snack

After we close Lorraine's and the deli on Saturday night it's usually about 3am. We are exhausted, usually one of us is grumpy and we're both hungry. But it's like our Friday at 5 so we always try to enjoy ourselves and have a nice evening, even if it doesn't begin until the sun is on its way up. This was the snack we had on Saturday while we watched How I Met Your Mother, Season 1:


2002 Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet


Steak, Onion & Mozzarella Crostini with Red Pepper Aioli


Mozzarella, Tomato & Basil Panini w/ Balsamic Rosemary Glaze

Two Babies Coming Soon

Not to us, duh. To our sisters.

Our combined collection of beautiful neices and nephews is growing. (More pictures!) My sister, Kate and Joseph's sister, Elizabeth are both pregnant. In fact, they are only 8 days apart in their pregnancies.

This is very exciting! Soon enough we'll know whether Jack and Noelle are having baby bothers or sisters. Either way, we're hopeful for healthy pregnancies for both Mamas and two big fat babies, arriving later this year.

Too Many Pictures

Joseph thinks I take too many pictures. He also thinks I frame and display too many pictures. I have pictures of the two of us (a lot of them), and pictures of all of our neices and nephews. And pictures of the dogs. And the lake.

I think I can never take too many pictures. I may reach a point when I stop buying frames, and then I'll just rotate the photo in the frame. But for now, this big old house is going to be filled up with pictures of all the things I love.

Joseph secretly appreciates that our home is full of pictures of the things we love. I know it. And he'll be glad that I'm such a good photo-documenter later on. :)

Here are a few of my very favorite photos:

Dinner Tuesday

On our way to dinner...


So we went to Cafe 909 for dinner tonight. It was simply incredible. Delicious, beautiful, unforgettable. Here's the course-by-course, play-by-play:

Pierre Sparr Sauvingnon Blanc
Smoked Tomato Bisque with lump crab meat and toasted wild seeds
Heirloom Tomato salad with fried capers, basil & sweet vinegar

~~

Seared Sea Scallops, roasted corn orzo with bacon
Grilled Romaine salad with bleu cheese & *sundried tomato vinaigrette (*on my deli menu, uh-huh!)

~~

04 Clos du Val Cabernet
Grilled Veal T-Bone with summer vegetable stew and mashed potatoes
Blue-corn Fried Soft Shell Crab with creamed corn, pea tendrils & bacon

~~

El Rey Chocolate Torte with Passionfruit sorbet
Pistacio Parfait with Burnt Honey Caramel (Food & Wine 2006 #7 on 10 Best Restaurant Dishes, I made it regularly while I was doing the baking there last year.) It's even better when you get to eat the whole thing, not just lick the spoon!

Needless to say, it was fantastic and we enjoyed it thoroughly.

Cafe 909

We're going on a date tonight to a wonderful restaurant, our very favorite in Marble Falls. The chef is awesome and his seasonal menus are always completely amazing and inspiring. I worked closely with him during my 4 months on the line at 909, and gained immense respect for him as a chef. (And he for me, because I kicked ass and he didn't think I would. He told me that in the beginning, for real) Going to have dinner there is always a special treat, something we enjoy about twice a year. I am excited to wear a pretty dress and go out with sexy, dressed-up Joseph. I'll take our picture before we leave, I just learned how to use my auto-timer, so I can do that now!

I hope everyone else is having as lovely a Tuesday as we are.

Hole in One!

Joseph has become quite a good disc golfer this spring. He began playing early this year and has made incredible progress. Last Friday, Joseph shot his first hole in one! I wasn't there to see it, but, as is disc golf standard, he had a sharpie in his bag, to autograph the goal... on Friday the 13th, no less.
Yay!
These photos are from April in Austin.

Amy's Late Night Deli - June Menu

This is the menu I've decided to stick with for the rest of the month. All these things have been good-sellers so far, except the twice baked potato, which is new to the menu. My desserts this week are: White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies & Butterscotch Brownies

Roasted Garlic Hummus
With Grilled Pita & Veggies $7

Loaded Nachos
Cheddar, Beans, Ground Beef, Tomato, Jalapeno, Sour Cream & Salsa $8

Summer Pasta Salad
Farfalle, Celery, Green Onion, Sun-dried Tomato, Feta, Peas & Pine nuts $5

Twice Baked Potato
One Pound Potato stuffed with Cheddar, Bacon, Butter, Sour Cream Chives & Something Secret $6

Chicken Salad Sandwich
All White Meat, Celery, Green Onion, Cranberries, Pecans & Parmesan on Toasted Wheat with Lettuce & Tomato $8

Turkey, Bacon & Gouda Panini
Peppered Turkey, Smoked Gouda & Crispy Bacon on Pressed French Bread $8

Amy’s Grilled Steak Sandwich
Rosemary-Balsamic Marinated Steak, White Cheddar, Caramelized Onions & Red Pepper Aioli on Ciabatta $8

*Sandwiches served with Chips & Salsa*

Amy's Homemade Desserts Change Daily!

Amy's Late Night Deli

Roasted Garlic Hummus with Grilled Pita & Veggies












Shrimp Cocktail



















Cold Peanut Curry Noodles

Peach-Blackberry Streusel Pie

and Chocolate White-Chocolate Brownies

The deli has certainly been keeping me busy, and tired, lately. It's quite a bit of work, nothing I'm surprised about or can't handle, but none-the-less exhausting. Here I am in my pink "Amy" apron.

Hello Blog

It is a rare day that Joseph and I are laying around the house doing nothing. It's a well needed break from our very hectic life. Joseph is watching a baseball game on the couch (or maybe napping?) and I decided to use this time to jump on the blog bandwagon.