Smoked Salt & Pepper

Mac n cheese is a tricky one. Everybody has their personal favorite style. Every person has their emotional ties to either a comforting bowl of ooey, gooey mac 'n cheese or homemade baked mac 'n cheese. I already have one post dedicated to one mac 'n cheese recipe . I'm a personal fan of the blue box kind. That's what I grew up eating. Powder cheese for me. Plus milk, butter, and good 'ole elbow macaroni noodles. Reid's family makes it this way. The Bolding's Mac 'n Cheese recipe Ingredients: 1 lb. macaroni noodles ~2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese ~1/2 c. reserved pasta water lots of pepper optional: butter Directions: Boil noodles per package directions.  Reserve about 1/2 c. pasta water.  Drain pasta and return to pot. Add cheddar cheese and stir to melt.  Shake in lots of pepper (or to taste). Optional Christine spin: melt about 1 tbs butter with the cheese and pepper serve immediately

I now work in South Austin and have been trying to explore the eats around I-35 and William Cannon.  That's how I've come to start eating an occasional lunch at the DK Sushi South location.  I have been a fan of DK Sushi since around 4 years ago, but have always frequented the North Lamar location since it's closer to my house.  I even dragged a few of my friends to a karaoke night there years ago, before we all had kids.  It was....quite the spectacle.  DK himself hosts their karaoke nights and there may be naked pictures of women on the lyric screens...Let's just say, it's not something you can do with a 2-year-old.  I think we also witnessed DK get one of his employees, who's birthday it was, really really really drunk.  Sake bombs were involved prior to each song. Anywho, now that I've been getting into a better groove at work and have some time on Friday if we don't have meetings, I've been using the time to explore nearby eateries.  Since ...

Custom cookies or baked goods are a sure fire way to my heart. Hayley Cakes and Cookies were randomly introduced to me via Instagram and my Insta-savvy cousin, Yvi. Yvi lives in the Los Angeles area of California. How she stumbled upon Hayley Cakes beats me, but once she shared their instagram page I was sold. So since I was the designated 'local,' I had to peep into their store and buy some cookies. Ok, I bought a ton of cookies. Like a bucket-full. Or pants-load full (Dragons Love Tacos reference here for those who aren't in the know ;) ) I was like that's cute. and that one. and that one. ooo that one, too! They weren't for me, so they were guilt-free cookies. The first box I purchased were for Reid's grandmother, Mimi. Mimi, or Margaret Bolding, is amazing. She's like, this super-hero woman who has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live ( no joke, check those commercial breaks) and can strike up a conversation with just about anyone. Mimi is one o...

I've been exploring South Austin a little more on some of my lunch breaks from Century Animal Hospital (a little self-promo never hurt anything, right?). This Pakistani food trailer was on my list of places to check out. My roomie back at UT, Fauz, is Pakastani and I had to check this out to report back to her. She lives in Houston now, with abundance of good Pakastani food around her, but I had to see if Austin has anything that can hold a candle to all the delicious foods she had introduced to me. Also, I like chatting up Aunties. Spoiler alert, there was no auntie at the trailer. But there was a very nice, helpful young lady who walked me through every menu item and gave me a recommendation. I ordered the aloo something and some samosas. The time took a little while, because there was just one person working in the trailer on the cold day I visited, but that gave me some time to check out the Thicket trailer park. Very cute and cool area with tons of trailers and option...