52 weeks of baking: 24 - quick bread(s)

This week when brainstorming what to bake (it's getting harder you guys. (that's what she said?) suggestions, I need them!), I wasn't really in the mood for something sweet. I know, I know. SAY WHAT? And so it has been documented, at one point in her life, Marie was not in the mood for something sweet. Moving on. I decided on bread. Yes, we've discussed how I cannot seem to bake bread to save my life, but I think I've finally figured my oven out (lower baking temps! shorter cooking times!), so I was ready to tackle the bread monster again. And guess what? Success, y'all! And I even went cray cray and baked TWO loaves in one night. Because this recipe is awesome and so easy and bread is yummy so why not?

For the first loaf I stuck with the basic buttermilk version and got with wild the second. For loaf number two, I added some oregano, thyme, subbed olive oil for butter, milk and lemon for buttermilk (because I ran out of buttermilk), and wheat flour for half the all purpose. Oh and I lowered the sugar to one tablespoon. Even in the first version I lowered the sugar to about a third of a cup (and it could go lower for sure), because like I said, I wasn't in the mood for sweet.

The first loaf is delicious, a tad on the sweet side, but pretty dang good. Perfect for breakfast. The second loaf is a tad too herby for my taste, I'd cut back on the herbs and load up on the cheese next time. And maybe skip the whole wheat flour, I am trying to get on board with that, but it's so... wheaty! The second loaf was still good though! Had a slice with a couple eggs fried over easy for dinner. Odd dinner you say? Well, seriously, all I have in my fridge right now is eggs and cheese. And one Miller Lite. Classy!

I could go on and on about how easy this bread is. I've already got the recipe memorized. Mix your dry ingredients, mix your wet ingredients, combine, and bake! Boom, fresh bread whenever you want. Although, it is a quick bread, no yeast involved, so it's slightly dense, but still, it's good and it's bread. And so quick. I love quick. I have the patience of a two year old. Just ask Brendon.

Definitely not perfect, but these babies are miles from my last loaf of bread. The texture is perfect, it's just the magic combination of flavors I have to figure out. Yay for bread that isn't burnt on the outside and doughy on the inside!

BAKE ON.

Inks Lake

Saturday we did another little day trip (we're all about those now that there's no pharmacy school to study for) to Inks Lake State Park. Inks Lake is one of the many lakes in the lower Colorado lake system, just a few lakes north of Lake Austin and Town Lake! It was an easy and very pretty drive, we are so spoiled to have such lovely things all around us.

We did some serious hiking all over this place. We hiked a good 4-5 miles around the lake and through the surrounding woodland area. Most of it was intentionally hiked, but we went the wrong direction at first so we started off with a couple bonus miles under out belts. It was hot, but definitely bearable and it actually felt pretty good in the shade. We made the mistake of only bringing one water bottle though, next time, two fosho! Sharing water is hard, especially when physical activity in the heat is involved. Also, someone (me) didn't put sunscreen on their legs, awkward tan line alert! Luckily it's mostly disappeared already.

It was a truly beautiful hike. So many wildflowers, this spring has been good to us. Not pictured: the sweet little swimmin' hole at the tail end of the park. There's a giant granite rock brave folks jump off of, we had lots of fun watching. We didn't actually swim because I'm a huge wuss and scared of water. Also, there were a ton of people there. Children. Everywhere. It's pretty neat though, they have kayaks and canoes you can rent! Also not pictured: the awesome rash my legs were covered in from hiking through grass. I'm allergic to everything.

And if you're wondering why our pretty faces aren't featured:

Changing your settings between photos is overrated I guess. Blurry people everywhere. WHOOPS.

Inks Lake though, y'all. You should go. Get your hike on!

52 weeks of baking: 23 - peach hand pies

WOO, cuttin' it close this week! It's been a very full and busy week, but I squeezed my baking in! Deb posted this recipe for rhubarb cream cheese hand pies Friday and I was like, yeah girl, lemme make those. Except with peaches because it's peach season!

Just a little butter, eh?

These little guys are real good! I wish I had put a little more fruit in the middle because dang that peach and cream cheese combo is amazing. But even so, these are very yummy. Deb's pie crust recipe is infallible, and this version has orange zest added in. It's as good as it sounds. These little pies are a taaaad labor intensive and create quite a bit of dishes, but they're worth it. I'm all about trying it with different fruits in the future.

We have eaten SO many of these today. We skipped dinner and just ate an unmentionable number of these. And I can't wait to have them for breakfast (and many snacks I'm sure) this week. I may or may not go get another right now.

Wimberely, TX

Brendon and I had this weekend off together!!! Well mostly off, I had inventory Sunday night, but most of it was off with Brendon. This is a rarity you guys! Getting our schedules to mesh well is hard, and I write mine. Coffee shop hours match no ones hours unfortunately. So we took advantage of this off time and decided to go on a little day trip. Originally we wanted to go to Shiner, TX to tour the brewery but they don't do tours on the weekends. What's up with that, Shiner? After beer rejected us, Brendon suggested Wimberley and boom, an adventure was born. Wimberley is a small resort/touristy town less than an hour Southwest of Austin. And it just so happened that Saturday was the first Saturday of the month and a Wimberley Market Day! I've heard of this market day business, but had never been. It's basically like a giant garage sale/craft fair/flea market. It was great. So much stuff to look at. Also, if you're in the market for Pyrex, good lord this is the place to find it. I actually didn't purchase any because there was no thrill of the hunt. It was everywhere.

For my daddio.

Forgive all the photos of me. For once, all the photos in our batch of Brendon are blurry! I'm sorry Mr. Hogan, that's what I get for talking smack about your photo skills. I dropped the bomb this trip.

After meandering through thousands of booths, we checked out the little downtown area, which is right next to Cyprus Creek, so pretty! We grabbed some grub on the patio at a little place called Ino'z, which was surprisingly delicious. I love how green everything is here in Texas. So often everything is dried out and dead, it's lovely to see all the plants thriving from this recent rain. Keep it up weather, we need more water!

It was a wonderful day with my favorite human. Exploring places with Brendon is the best and greatest. Wimberley, you're cute! I can't wait to do this again soon. Small Texas towns, the Hogans are coming for you. Nearby states, you ought to beware as well.

The Great Austin Burger Quest: Doc's Bar & Grill

We are burger eating fiends lately. As we've gone pretty much vegetarian at home, we're basically getting all our meat lately from these burger quests. That's my excuse for the frequency.

Doc's has two locations, Doc's Motorworks on South Congress, and Doc's Backyard in Sunset Valley. We live near both, but we've only been to the one on South Congress. But I'm sure the other is great as well!

Burger:
I got the Bleu Cheese and Peppercorn burger and Brendon got the Chipotle burger. I think Brendon may have out ordered me, although mine was delicious. The burgers are big and the buns are yummy. It's amazing what a difference a quality bun makes. The burger patty itself was alright, nothing special really, it was the toppings that made the burgers so good. That peppercorn sauce was boss and Brendon's chipotle sauce was amazing. Reeeeally good on fries.

Sides:
Not a huge amount of options for sides. I didn't spy any veggies. We went with regular fries, but I think they have sweet potato fries as well as onion rings. As I've said before, I'm not nuts about fries and I wasn't nuts about these. They weren't bad, just nothing special. BUT, with the help of Brendon's chipotle sauce I ate a lot of them. That sauce man... so good.

Atmosphere:
Really awesome laid back vibe. Definitely a place you could chill out at for a while. You guys know how I feel about a good patio. And this place, it's got a good patio. It's not huge or anything, but it's got fans and misters and you can bring your dog if you're the doggie having type. And the chairs are super cute! There's also plenty of seating inside, and there's entertainment! There's shuffleboard and pool! And lots of tv's of course.

Value:
Decent price. Not super pricy, but pricier than fast food for sure. There are different drink specials everyday plus a happy hour Mon-Fri. Competitive pricing, probably what you'd pay at Applebees but it's waaaaay better. Ughhh Applebees. Did you live in Denton? Do you remember how often everyone went there?? It was like a thing. WHY?

Bonus:
I hate to be super pradictable here, but dang I like that patio. I'm all about patios, while the weather is still cool enough to enjoy them. It's an excellent place to people (and dog!) watch. It's right on South Congress so you can creep on everyone walking by. There are always fun folks on South Congress. Also, the fact that it is SUPER close to us doesn't hurt either. We are creatures of habit and we are very much in the habit of frequenting South Congress. It's just so easy.

Overall, good! Fun place to hang out and grab some drinks and grub. The burgers weren't technically the fanciest in the world, but they're good solid burgers. And the menu is huge if you're not in the mood for burgers. They have a fried avocado plate, y'all.

Aaaand here are the odd shots of your favorite Hogans, I know you've been waiting.

The above grainy awkwardness is evidence that we were again lazy, and documenting our burger quest via iPhone.

MAS HAMBURGUESAS!