Pimento cheesin'

Fairly recently I have gone from eating meat occasionally to full on vegetarian, all day everyday. Not sure how long this will last but I'm liking it and the way I feel and have no plans on relapsing into the meat world. Every now and then I have an intense craving for bacon (or today, prosciutto), but for the most part I don't miss meat in my diet.

However, I am having to get creative with meals, specifically lunch. Ironically, lately I've been craving sandwiches. I've never been a huge fan of sandwiches, but veggie sandwiches are my jam (was that a food pun?). While we were in Ruidoso I had two truly fantastic pimento cheese sandwiches and wanted to make that magic happen at home. This was my first attempt at pimento cheese and it's pretty dang good!

I used this recipe and am fairly satisfied with it. It's definitely not the deliciousness that I had in New Mexico, but it's good. It has a bit too much of a mayo flavor and not quite enough pimento for me. I will continue to experiment. But this is great as a sandwich filler and great as dip. And it makes quite a bit and it keeps for a while. Perfect to have on hand if you're a lazy constantly hungry snacker like me.

Also, check out this Pyrex we found the other day!

We haven't been on the Pyrex game as much as we used to, mostly because I have accumulated an INSANE amount of Pyrex, but we hit up our usual spots the other day for the first time in a while and hit the motherlode. This stuff is in great condition and the bottom two lighter ones with the gold (!) designs are patterns I've never seen before. Also, LIDS? So rare to find stuff with lids. But seriously, I have way too much Pyrex. In fact I have a few doubles of some things, including that brown baby up there. Anyone in Austin want some Pyrex? There's absolutely no reason for me to have more than one of the same dish... right?

Butternut squash soup

By a couple requests via Instagram, here is the butternut squash soup recipe! I adapted it from Deb's Summer Squash Soup. I subbed quite a bit of ingredients out based on what I had on hand, but it's very similar to hers. I'd be nowhere without Deb.

soup:
6 tbs of butter
2-3 cloves of garlic (depending on your taste, how much do you love garlic?), chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 decent sized butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2 carrots, chopped
4 cups chicken broth

pistou (drizzle sauce as I call it):
4 cloves of garlic (I LOVE GARLIC), chopped
handful of fresh basil leaves, I'd say like 10 or so good sized leaves, more if they're smaller, chopped
1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 tbs of water
1/4 tsp salt

Throw your butter in a big ol' sauce pan and melt it up. Brown it for good measure because browning butter is always a good idea. Just as it's beginning to brown, toss in your garlic, cook for like 45 seconds and then add your chicken broth and veggies. Bring to a boil and cook partially covered until tender; took my veggies about 15 minutes.

While your veggies are boiling, make that drizzle sauce! Throw your garlic and basil leaves in your food processor and process (is that the correct verb?) until everything is of a fairly small and uniform size, and slightly like a paste. Add the olive oil and water little by little and continue processing until you've got something like a watery pesto.

Once your veggies are tender, set the pot to the side and let cool for 10 minutes or so. Then pour everything into a blender and puree, little by little. Return to your pot (by way of a bowl) and put that baby back on the stove. Add your salt and a little water if it's too thick, I added like 1/2 cup. Cook for a few minutes, then ladle that business into some bowls. Drizzle your pistou over it, as little or as much as you like (this business is garlicky, watch yo'self!). Serve it up with some toasted and buttered bread of any variety. It is unstoppable on buttered bread.

And that's it! Super easy, although peeling and chopping that butternut squash up is a tad labor intensive. Honestly, it's such a pain. But this soup is real good. And healthy! This vegetarian-esque lifestyle is forcing us (me) to get creative in the kitchen with veggies. Not all my experiments are successful, but this one definitely was!

Oh and HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! I am proud to be an American and proud of the progress we're making in this country. Good things are happening and although they aren't happening easily, they are happening and that's what matters. Food to politics? Phewww! Go 'merica! Eat some squash soup!

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!

The Great Austin Burger Quest - Hopdoddy

Hopdoddy Burger Bar. If you like burgers and live in Austin (and there's one in Dallas now!) you know about Hopdoddy. If you don't, what's wrong with you? We have eaten there a gazillion times, but we still needed a burger quest visit. We went to the original on South Congress with a couple friends and it was awesome as always.

Burger:
Brendon got the Thunderbird which was the specialty burger of the day. It was a green chili chicken patty with a fried egg (always a win), roasted poblanos, chipotle mayo, pepper jack cheese, and tortilla strips. I had the Primetime, which was a fancy beef patty, brie, truffle aioli, argula, and steak sauce. Both these burgers were boss, as is every burger I've had there. Brendon loved the chicken patty, although he was a little wary at first. Between us we've had almost every burger on the menu. Brendon's favorite at the moment is the Terilingua and my standard is the Ahi Tuna Burger. That Ahi Tuna Burger is where it's at. And their buns... oh man. They bake them in house (they make every thing they serve basically, from their patties to their ice cream!) and it smells like heaven. The best thing about this place is that their ingredients are just so good. They put the best things on their burgers and everything is super fresh and super local. They even have a chalk board where they write what Texan farms the ingredients are coming from!

Sides:
The french fries. I think we've discussed how I'm not really a fan of fries, but I love Hopdoddy's fries. They're thin and crispy and just perfect. We actually kind of got a funky batch this visit, kind of like the bottom of the fry bowl. Usually they're more golden than brown, but even then they were still really good! Fries are pretty much it when it comes to sides. Although they do have milkshakes! I've never had room after my burger to try a milkshake, but I've heard they're delicious.

Atmosphere:
The only downfall of Hopdoddy is how it works. You wait in an usually ridiculous line, order and pay for your burgers at the counter, are assigned a table, and then you wait for your food at said table while a cocktail type waitress gets you anything else you need. So theoretically you'll have two tabs if you order your burger and then get say, a margarita or beer at your table. Not terrible, but not good. The line is always crazy, unless you go at like 2 or 3 in the afternoon. In the evenings it wraps around the building, although it does move surprisingly fast and is definitely worth the wait. It's a cute little place, but it's just always so busy.

Value:
These aren't the cheapest burgers in the world but they are definitely made out of quality ingredients so I think it's a fair price. Your burger comes with nothing, you order fries on the side, but the fries are a good portion, Brendon and I split the smaller order of fries and it's perfect. The drinks aren't real cheap, and I have no idea if they have specials but they have lots of fun drinks and local brews. Pricier than your usual burger joint, but not by much and it's worth it.

Bonus:
Green chili queso. This queso, y'all. Put it on everything. It's meant for your fries and but is heavenly on everything. And alone... like good enough to eat it with a spoon and/or just pour it into your mouth. It's amazing and you have to get it. I need some right now.

Overall, Hopdoddy is amazing. The awkward ordering style and insane amount of people constantly there are my only qualms, but those burgers are so damn good it's worth it. If you are ever near one, GO or we might not be able to be friends.

The semester is over (WOOO!) and Brendon's pharmacy school partner in crime, Mike (top left), is moving back to El Paso to finish his last two years of school. Last night was his going away shindig, and we celebrated good times with burgers and then believe it or not we went to 6th Street. And not even West 6th! We played pool and shuffleboard and I got verbally abused by a homeless man for wearing the Denver Bronco's colors. It was a good night and we will miss Mike. Brendon's going to be lonely without his bff here. I guess some road trips to El Paso are in order!

The Great Austin Hamburger Quest - Opal Devine's

I swear we don't just eat all the time. Food is just all I blog about apparently.

Next up on our quest-o-burgers; Opal Devine's. We'd never been before, for burgers or otherwise, but I'd heard good things and we live suuuuper close to one. It's an American food kinda place with an excellent selection of adult beverages, and a killer patio.

Brendon got the Bandera Burger (fried onions, bacon, pepper jack, and bbq) and I built my own (pickles, mayo, fried egg, and cheddar)! Now for the deets:

Burger:
Pretty damn good. Thick handmade patty. Our favorite part was the plethora (Brendon's word) of toppings. I got a fried egg on mine! They have tons of toppings and bun choices. They also have a black bean burger that I was tempted to try, but a veggie burger with an egg on it just seems weird. The buns were delish. I got regular white and Brendon had a jalapeno cheddar bun. This place makes a damn good burger y'all.

Sides:
I am a huge fan of a place that has side options that are not fried. I am not nuts about fried food. I got black beans, but they also had veggies (!) and mac and cheese (!!) among other things. Brendon loooooves fries and he approved of these. They were loaded up with pepper, in a good way. He said they were "da bomb.com". My beans were yummy too!

Atmosphere:
Badass patio. I love me a good patio. This place is right on South Congress but you feel like you're miles away. It's up on a hill so all you see are trees! I loved loved loved the patio. I'm sure it's not so awesome when it's 105 degrees out, but they have misters everywhere so it's probably not too bad!

Value:
Pretty good! Mondays are buy one get one half off on burgers. Also they have a legit happy hour, plus half price apps. Happy hour + patio? Yes please. We got a couple margaritas and they were on point and cheap. And I'm a picky lady when it comes to margs.

Bonus:
Aside from the phenomenal patio? There's a strip club next door. Plus or minus, take it as you will. Thighs and fries anyone? (< Brendon responsible for that query, obviously)

Overall, this place is awesome. Good food and an excellent place to chill. One of our new hangouts I'm sure. Aaaaand it beat out Dan's Hamburgers, sorry Dan!

The Great Austin Hamburger Quest - Dan's Hamburgers

Introducing, the Great Austin Hamburger Quest! Or the GAHQ if you will. I'd love it if you pronounced it that like Gak, that weird jello-eqsue puddy stuff Nickelodeon came out with in the 90's. You know what I'm talking about. Floam too, y'all.

ANYWAYS, Brendon and I have been planning on doing this for a while, but never had the time to get our shiz together. Brendon is a burger fanatic. He LOVES burgers. His grooms cake was, a burger. Long story short, he's a fan. I think burgers are good too, just not to the extreme he does. So a few months ago I pitched the idea of hitting up all the best burger joints in Austin, trying them out, and finding our favorites. And blogging our thoughts. Brendon was on board of course, eating burgers is all he needed to hear. Thus, the Great Austin Hamburger Quest was born.

(On a side note, Austinites, yes, we've been to Hopdoddy. Yes, it is the bomb and our favorite so far. We are trying to find other great burger places, but we will include Hopdoddy in this quest-o-burgers.)

Our first stop on the GAHQ was Dan's Hamburgers at Manchaca and 35. I reached out to Facebook for good burger joint suggestions, and Dan's came up. I'd never been, and Brendon had only been to Fran's. Back story time! Dan and Fran were married and owned a chain of burger joints here in Austin. They split up and Dan's Hamburgers belonged to Dan and Fran's Hamburgers belonged to Fran. Fran's just shut down I believe, at least the one in South Austin, so that's kinda sad. Dan's is still kickin' though.

We've got five categories of comparison for burger joints. Burger, sides, atmosphere, value, and bonus (any extra tidbits of awesome/not awesomeness.

Burger:
We both got a medium sized hickory burger, which is basically a burger with bbq sauce. Really good bbq sauce. I thought it was great, and it was extra fresh. Brendon thought that the bun could use some improvement and he wanted more topping choices, but the burger itself was seasoned well. And the cheese was probably just American but it was melted into some sort of queso perfection. Oh and did I mention the sauce? The sauce was the boss.

Sides:
They had more than just french fries which is saying something for a burger place! They had regular fries, curly, and onion rings. We got curly fries, but I saw a plate of onion rings and got food envy real bad. They looked amazing. The curly fries were your average curly fry variety, a la Arby's. But they were super fresh and I approved! We split the large size, but they also have a small.

Atmosphere:
This is one of those order up front and they call your name when it's ready places. Very dated and a little grungy, but I liked it. Even though you know a gazillion people had been in and out of that place (I'm pretty sure it was a Pizza Hut previously) everything was kept clean which is a HUGE thing for me. I have problems with dirty places. Brendon says it has a "good old boys feel". Not sure what that means, but there you have it.

Value:
This place is real cheap! Totally an excellent value. Our two medium (and that medium is the perfect size) cheeseburgers and large side of curly fries was like $11. Super affordable and definitely worth it. Quality food for fast food price.

Bonus:
We got to meet Dan's sweet grandson! He was working the register and was super friendly. Bonus, bonus, bonus, we LOVE nice people. He spoke highly of the place and seemed very proud to be to there. Family owned and operated, for realsies. Way to go Dan's grandson, you won our hearts (and tummies) over.

Thanks for the burger Dan! I was seriously impressed. I was not expecting it to be much of anything, I mean the outside of the building isn't doing it any favors, but it was pretty damn good. That bbq sauce man... put it on everything!

Not sure where our next stop will be. I'm looking forward to it though. We had a blast comparing notes and pretending we were little burger connoisseurs. Any suggestions for future burgers are highly appreciated! They don't even have to be specifically burger joints, just a place to get a good burger! Our only limitations are that it's local(ish) and they serve burgers. QUEST ON!

Bacon

One of the best parts about living in Austin is all the dang good food we're surrounded by. My friend Tyler and I hit up Bacon this weekend to try it out. Bacon, the meat not the restaurant, is a thing this days. It's like... skinny jeans, but food. I'm not complaining, bacon is good.

The restaurant is in this cute little house just northwest of downtown. I took zero photos of the actual food because, well, I ate it too fast. I think there's a shot of my broken egg BLT on instagram (now conveniently linked right here on the side bar!). Tyler got the bacon waffles. Sounds odd, I know, but they were GOOD. My egg topped BLT was delicious but his waffles won. They were awesome, definitely what I'm getting next time! Also, they have ridiculous mimosas. They're $6, but it is seriously a big ol' glass of champagne with a splash of OJ. On point.

In the mood for fried pig? Go try bacon! We only did breakfast (which they serve all day) but their lunch looked legit too. I will be returning for sure!

And just because it was a beautiful day outside, here's our pretty city:



I can't wait until there are leaves on all the trees again. Spring in Austin last year made me fall in love with this city, it is just so green and vibrant! Where my wildflowers at?

Quiche on the fly

Do you ever have those days where you feel like you have NOTHING in your kitchen? Like zero food? But it's not at all true because they are cans of beans and cream of mushroom soup hanging out in your pantry. You just don't want creamed beans (how 'bout that phrase? YUM).

That was yesterday. I got home from work and was FAMISHED. Your girl works hard, y'all. I had plans to go grocery shopping with Mr. Hogan that evening (grocery shopping sucks and must be tag teamed) but he had a forgotten pharmacy school dinner to attend, so I was on my own. On my own and hungry without a whole lot of choices. I scoured the kitchen and deduced that there was no combination of food I deemed edible. I hit a low point when I had all the ingredients pulled out for homemade mac and cheese and realized I had no pasta. I almost gave up and ate that can of beans. But I took stock of what I had going on and got serious. I spied a frozen pie crust (don't judge, I swear I can make them from scratch!) and thought, BOOM. QUICHE.

And thus a quiche was born. It's the perfect throw-some-random-stuff-together-and-bake-meal, aka my favorite thing to cook. I had some frozen broccoli, garlic, eggs, and enough cheese to feed a small army laying around my slightly deserted pantry and fridge. So Martha and I teamed up and made this, except I used an obscene amount of garlic instead of onions.

Don't let that cute serving size fool you. I had a second piece.

Not bad for my first quiche. Actually it was really good and I was impressed with myself. Still am. It was fluffy and garlicky and the broccoli was just the right texture. Even my shady pie crust didn't taste the least bit freezer burnt, which is some sort of miracle because that pie crust had been in my freezer for a while.

Moral of the story, impromptu thrown together meal? Success. Quiches have been conquered. Now someone come eat all the leftovers.

Burgundy Mushrooms

For Christmas my momma got me this awesome cookbook, the Pioneer Woman Cooks. It's yummy stuff, y'all. Delicious home cooked goodness. Recently we made the Burgundy Mushroom recipe. It was actually a long while in the making. I tried to make it one evening a couple weeks ago and upon closer inspection of the recipe I realized it takes NINE HOURS to cook. NINE! So you've got to start this baby early. I started ours at like 9am. And it made our apartment smell divine all day.

Now here's a bunch of shots of mushrooms:

Crazy how dark they get, huh? Aside from the length of time it takes to cook, it's a super easy recipe. You just throw it all together and let it do it's thing. And it's pretty dang good. We served it over egg noodles, the sauce is super rich and delicious. My only complaint was the mushrooms were pretty salty and I didn't even add "salt to taste" at the end. I blame it on the bouillon cubes, next time I'll cut that number in half. Also I had to improvise a bit; it calls for a LITER of red wine and I only had a 750mL bottle, so I made up the rest with... beer. Because that's how I roll. Beer in everything.

So if you've got 4 pounds of mushrooms, a big old bottle of red wine, and nine hours to spare, I highly recommend this recipe! Mushroom it up, y'all!

Meatloaf and movies

I have never liked meatloaf. I'm still not sure if I do, because these were really just big ol' meatballs. And they were good! Meatloaf has always freaked me out because ketchup is a key ingredient and I despise/fear ketchup. I hate the way it smells, looks, tastes, and I put my hand in it enough times on accident while waiting tables to tell you I don't like the way it feels. But this stuff has a sweet and tangy sauce that is damn good in place of ketchup. This lovely meal was straight from, you guessed it, the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook! Yes, again. It's a gold mine, okay?

So Mr. H and I were extra wild this week and saw two movies in the theater. We saw Sky Fall and... Breaking Dawn Part Two (poor Brendon, I know). Two very different movies for sure. Let us discuss.

I really enjoyed Sky Fall. Casino Royale was fantastic and Quantum of Solace was pretty good. Sky Fall was better than Quantum of Solace but wasn't quite good as Casino Royale. BUT it was still awesome. Daniel Craig is a boss and I love him as James Bond. He reminds me of my dad. Oh and Voldemort was in it. Kinda. I cannot see Ralph Fiennes in anything and not immediately think of Voldemort. But I liked him in this movie, he was great and I forgot about him being He Who Must Not Be Named after a while which gives credit to him as an actor. I loved all the throw back references and everything coming full circle. The movie was well done aesthetically, very visually pleasing. So many beautifully laid out shots. And that house at the end? Such a fantastic old house. Also, Q was EXTRA cute. Smart messy dark haired boy in glasses? Yes please. Obviously I have a type.

Breaking Dawn Part Two. Sheesh. Those movies are all pretty terrible. And I went into this one knowing that fact. I was prepared to watch a bad movie but secretly love it. But it was just really kind of bad. Worse than the others. Maybe it will grow on me, but I was mostly like "are you serious?" the whole time. Brendon and I were actually laughing at some points, and not because the movie was funny. I mean, it's corny stuff, but damn. Renesme was creepy. And the movie seemed a little short. To be fair, the material is uneventful in that half of the book. The end is pretty anti-climactic and I think they did a good job drawing it out and creating a little action. I feel like I'm being overly critical, it is Twilight after all. Over all it was a fairly entertaining movie, it was nice to see it all come together (and end). And the opening credits were really great actually. I like well done credits. Come to think of it, I didn't care for Sky Fall's opening credits at all. So I guess that means squat.

I'd go see them both (obviously only see Twilight if you've read the books/somehow got hoodwinked into being a fan of that nonsense). Sky Fall is great and Breaking Dawn Part Two is... well it's a Twilight movie.

I am very excited about the Hobbit coming out next month. I was a big Tolkien nerd when I was younger. My mom played the Hobbit for my sister and I in the car (on tape y'all) when we were real young and it was all downhill from there.

I love going to the movies! It's such a nice little escape from reality. If only it weren't so pricy.

The Chisty's in Austin

As if this weekend wasn't fun filled enough, Sunday we got to see one of our favorite families in the world, the Chisty's! Z lives all the way in Hawaii and although Sarah lives up north in Dallas now, she's about to move to Wisconsin! And Mrs. (and Mr., though not pictured, he was there in spirit!) Chisty live in Montreal! So I am very very glad we got to see them before they leave Texas for who knows how long.

We took them to eat at Hopdoddy (if you haven't eaten there, go, right now), last time Z was in town we tried to go but the line was too crazy. This time we braved the line and it was worth it!

After stuffing our faces with amazing-ness on buns, we meandered down South Congress and popped in a few shops. We definitely went a little crazy at the Big Top Candy Shop. Candy is good. Later in the evening we went down to Auditorium Shores for a little walk and Brendon got verbally abused for not knowing who Stevie Ray Vaughn was. Oh Austin, you are ever entertaining.

Also, I swear I took these with an iPhone, not a flip phone from 2006. Grainy is cool right? It's like, retro.

Bromance.

It was so good seeing Z, Sarah, and Mrs. Chisty. They are seriously some of the nicest people in the whole world. I am always blown away by how wonderful the people in our lives are! I will say it a million times over, we are so lucky! It is really sad that our friend-families live so far away. Oh well, sounds like a good vacation opportunity! Hawaii? Wisconsin? Montreal? I'm in! We miss you guys already. Come back to Texas!!