The Austin Food Blogger Alliance celebrated its third birthday this year with a cozy food blogger potluck at the Sustainable Food Center. Food blogger potlucks are pretty magical. Imagine a room full of food-crazy people geeking out over a common meal. The company is great, but the food is even better. What a spread! There were tarts, pizzas, dips, salads, and pies galore. I tried pretty much everything, and didn't regret a single bite. AFBA people, can we cook, or can't we? If you want to find out more about the potluck party, and everything we ate there, check out these lovely follow-up posts from Relish Austin, Full and Content, and Oh Spooning.
Because I am utterly ice cream crazy these days, I came with a batch of fresh made dairy happiness. The flavor this time around was Almond. I used almond butter, almond extract, and chopped roasted nuts to make it just about as nutty as humanly possible. Despite how quickly it melted it was still well recieved, so I am going to mark it up as a success. I'm sharing the recipe later this week, so you can find out how it tastes for yourself.
Another party went on this weekend, my baby shower! My Mom and sisters outdid themselves by throwing an amazing travel-themed party. There were fun games, adorable favors, cute decorations, and of course, plenty of delicious food. They spoiled me with a spread of sushi from Roll On Sushi Diner (one of my favorites), along with a whole international appetizer buffet. There was Swiss fondue, Italian tapas, and French crudite, among other goodies. The dessert table was just as impressive, with homemade Swedish crescent cookies, Dutch stroopwafels, and ice cream sandwiches from Cool Haus. Continuing the Mary-themed food madness, everyone went home with a jar full of Dill Pickle Popcorn from Cornucopia. Yum!
Those who see me often in the "real world" know my dirty little secret already, but I'll let you in on it here too. I've been supplementing my vegetarian diet with a little meat here and there to help keep my protein quotas up during the pregnancy. This wasn't an easy decision, but it felt necessary, especially when my midwives limited me to one or two servngs per week of soy or tofu. After measuring out how many beans it would take me to get there every day, I made a tough call and reached for the BBQ.
Anyway, one of my takeout staples has been pollo al carbon, Mexican style grilled chicken that comes from a smokey shack near my house. I was getting ready to chow down on my last piece this morning when Mr. Pickles (my fluffy white ragdoll cat) jumped up on to the counter and licked it. WHAT THE…
I chased him away, said a few bad words, and sliced off the licked bit. I ran to the bathroom (because that baby just can't stop head-butting mama's bladder) and when I came back, the other cat was up there going to town!
Now we are at war. You don't take a preggy's pollo. You just don't.