Austin's Tasty Up Trailer Tour

Because it's rainy and ugly, and I want it to be the weather where I could do this again right now.

Jackie and Ryan joined the four of us for Austin's Tasty Up Trailer Tour,

the brainchild of Addie Broyles and Jodi of Tasty Touring. In the spirit of the latest and greatest craze of delicious and local food, the Tasty Up is a fabulous concept involving under $3 menu choices at some of the most delicious trailers tour stops around Austin. As a result, allowing one to try way more than one trailer on one budget, and one tummy. Our first stop was La Boite

for our nametags

and free french press coffee

starting the tour off right. Their concept of french pastries makes me excited to try them again.

This was the absolute fabulous scene that greeted us and made my heart smile.

Our boys joined us for this event, and surprisingly buried themselves in books

while we enjoyed our coffee then waited at our infamous second stop.

Our second stop was The Texas Cuban, a hot pressed sandwich joint that reminded me of a bbq joint mixed with a little international flair.

Unfortunately a forty minute wait ended with a refund as they were totally unprepared for the crowds that awaited them and started giving out refunds by the handful.

Hope they took me up on my suggestion of announcing via twitter another day where you could obtain their Trailer Tour specials to make up for it. Unfortunately, I'm not aware if they did. Their one redeeming quality was their Dr. Pepper with Imperial Sugar.

Quite a treat for my boys who are normally denied soda by Mommy.

Our third stop was Odd Duck farm to trailer, a fabulous concept of small plates of gourmet food, headed up by Bryce, former sous chef of Cafe 909 in Marble Falls, who also happens to be the son of the owner of Z'Tejas Grill. Fortunately we were fourth in line because the line quickly grew.

Shawners was fascinated with the cooking process,

as was I last time I came. The choices this time were equally amazing.

We ordered the grilled half quail with sweet potato puree, pecans, and sage,

the carrot soup shot with paprika,

and the gulf shrimp with citrus marinated cauliflower.

The only item I wasn't a fan of was the shrimp, with it tasting a little fishy to me, but the rest of the group loved it. The carrot soup shot was absolutely amazing. Shawners had his first quail ever in the form of a tiny drumstick, and wanted more when he was done. I had to have a picture, but he was very upset about that.

Our fourth stop was Gourdough's.

Delicious yumminess in the form of doughnuts - and in this particular case, five donut holes. If I remember what all they were - Flying Pig, bacon with maple syrup icing, Slow Burn, habarnero pepper jelly with cream cheese icing, Miss Shortcake, cream cheese icing with fresh cut strawberries, and Coco Loco, coconut filling with cream cheese and pineapple icing.

I wish they offered these on a regular basis because it's all I can handle of the overboard calorific deliciousness. As a side note, a doughnut from there does last me five days.

Our fifth stop was Austin Daily Press, a hot bed of panninis, only on crispier, crunchier, yummier bread.

Oh. my. goodness. My favorite stop on the trailer tour at this point.

I ordered the Mozzarello, Roma Tomato, and Balsamic Pesto,

and Jackie ordered the Meatball, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Marinara, both which came in their adorable and ecogreen wrapping.

Both were amazing, although I preferred mine. Especially because I gave my square of the meatball to Brando since he couldn't eat the pine nuts in the pesto.

The setting here struck me the most

with the fire pit

next to the babbling brook,

the painted spools to gather around, eat, and talk on a warm summer night,

and the fun little kid toys my boys had way too much fun with.

They have this location on South 1st during the day and are open in the parking lot of the Mohawk at night for a healthy late night alternative when you've had too much fun watching live music and drinking good drinks at the Mohawk, Stubb's, or Emo's nearby.

Our sixth stop was the much talked about G'raj Mahal, an Indian food trailer with a totally unexpected outdoor seating area

and even more unexpected art.

Even though their undeveloped website makes me giggle with! the! exclamation! marks!, I don't really think Indian food sits well with me at all. This is the second time I've had it and the second time I wasn't impressed. The first time Brando had a major allergic reaction (apparently they use a lot of pistachios in there sauces, the nut Brando happens to be allergic to most - who knew?). The second time neither of our throats or stomachs sat well afterwards and all we had was a samosa.

Also, the Kulfi was not a hit with even our most ice cream loving man, Shawners. As I read the description now "pistachio-cardamom kulfi" I'm realllly glad Brando didn't eat it. The rest of our group seemed to enjoy their samosas though.

Our next stop was not on the trailer tour, but a pleasant little surprise nonetheless. Town Market serves as a teeny little two story

natural convenience store for the apartment building above it and around it. Their selection gave you a healthy array of plenty of quick meal and snack options

and their bread display was enviable with a view of the lake on one side and a view of the high rise condos on the other.

Tiny, but adequate, we spent a good fifteen minutes in here chatting with the guy running it,

who informed us the store was an offshoot of Cissi's Market, another local favorite.

Our final stop was on the east side and involved parking a ways down the street as we attempted an unsuccesful stop prior, but the walk was enjoyable and much needed for our full tummies. I love the feel of the east side and the unique character in the buildings.

Also, I love that Mai joined us for a moment on her last day before heading off for tour for way too long.

Trailer Perk turned out to be my second favorite of the day,

with their half price coffees

and hot chocolates for the boys suckering me in,

and their way too fresh and delicious Kasey Shayne sandwich with roast beef, provolone, fresh tomato, and chimichurri.

This was my first time tasting chimichurri, which appears similar to pesto but is made of fresh parsley, oregano, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and it was oh so delicious. As our last stop we stayed, chatted,

and rested (notice Brando in the back)

for a bit.

We were exhausted after our last round and all too content to go home full and happy. The way to our hearts was definitely through our tummies that day, and I can't wait to eat at the majority of these places again.

Wedding Bliss

Hello lovely readers. Where has time gone? Give me a Valentine's weekend and an exam and I have disappeared! As none of the posts I really want to post are actually written, and since wedding season is coming up I shall show you instead the lovely afternoon Brando and I spent

attending the Tribeza Wedding Day at the Driskill Hotel the other weekend. We had so much fun alternately announcing we were engaged, then married, then shocking people with the fact we've been married for ten years. I wish I had a video of their reactions. Thanks to Cori Ryan and The Cupcake Bar for believing us that while we are not engaged, we love to check out any and all of the resources Austin has to offer!

What a wonderful surprise it turned out to be. Tribeza puts on a wedding day annually and it was so upscale, relaxed, and uncrowded, it was an absolute delight to attend. Not to mention the free champagne, ohmigoshtodiefor wedding cake, Driskill created drinks, and seminars on how to pick the perfect photographer, florist, etc. What a perfect place to find out all about how to create the wedding of your dreams!

We were able to meet the delightful wife of the husband and wife owner team of Marquee Events. They have been married 50+ years and and she had nothing but wonderful things to say for us. I wish I could put her in my pocket and have her guide me through life! Her and her husband bought an event service and started Marquee Events on a whim because her husband wasn't happy in his engineering job and her perspective was, why go through life unhappy? Their work is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I have seen them setting up several times at Laguna Gloria, and Becky told us they have a custom made tent for Laguna Gloria which fits the walkways perfectly and transforms it into an elegant indoors only you're actually outdoors event. If you ever plan a wedding or event and need a tent this is the place to go.

We also, of course, said hi to Cory Ryan, and The Cupcake Bar, both of who had lovely booths. I so wish they had a vendor list so I could tell you who made this delicious wedding cake and rave on the other vendors, but, alas, they do not.

Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of the vendors. As it was my first time there I was completely enamored with the Driskill itself. The amount of detail

and the modern feel of the place in all it's old-world elegance absolutely captivated me. If I were to have a wedding indoors this would be the place. Actually, if it were to be a small wedding, I'd still have it outdoors on one of their gorgeous balconies.

I did manage to get a picture of their cake, and while Brando's photo was better, I love that I captured the model brides that were walking around in the background in mine.

The cake itself was absolutely divine - my favorite, white chocolate, vanilla, and raspberry. So very moist and perfect. And that's saying a lot for me since I'm not a huge fan of wedding cake.

They even had a scotch room for the men. Though in my opinion if your man resigned to the scotch room you might want to rethink your decision about marrying him in the first place.

Fortunately, for the brides that were there, the room was virtually empty, except for the few picking up a drink and leaving.

After our absolutely enchanting afternoon, Brando and I had a blast walking around the streets of downtown Austin for a moment and enjoying the downtown scenery.

My goofy man.

The view from the Driskill balcony.

A random alleyway.

A serious picture for once.

Sun Drop... Soda?!

Oh my word! I have a soda! Look!

I even have a t-shirt. I think I NEED this t-shirt, along with the Cherry Lemon Soda because of course it's pink. Ish.

Or even this t-shirt.

I even have recipes like Sundrop Pear Pie, Bubbly Sundrop Punch, Sun-Drop Cake, and my favorite the SunBeam. Hilarious. I'm not sure what these recipes say about the health status of the people who drink Sundrop soda, but I have yet to try it so who am I to say.

*Disclaimer: Okay, this really isn't my soda, and oh how I wish they had sent me product. Instead, I overheard of their soda at HOPE Farmer's Market today when a guy mentioned it in passing. How ironic, and of course I had to research the soda the first available moment I had. You can read more about Sundrop soda here as they are formerly owned by Cadbury Schweppes, now owned by Dr. Pepper Snapple.

Updated to add: Since I wrote this post, Sun Drop Soda has made a come back and apparently has it's own very funny commercial with the song "Drop It Like It's Hot". A ton of people have been searching for the Sun Drop shirt. So to be helpful, here is a link to a shirt similar to the girls' shirt in the new commercial here, and another vintage looking shirt here. Unfortunately, the shirts I posted above are no longer available on the site.