Adventures with Melissa!

Brandon's parents left, but now we have Brandon's sister! She is crashing on our couch, and we are having a great many adventures.

Over the weekend, we went to Austin and did some hiking. First hiking trail was short, and the only major focal point was a tiny cave, surrounded by a rock wall to keep people from falling in. So naturally, we hopped the wall to check out the cave.

Siblings on the rock wall.

It was less of a cave and more of a tiny hole in the ground.

Up-close pictures made it look more cave-like.

Oh yeah, I was there too!

It was so hot out. So, for our second hike we decided on a trail that supposedly lead to a lovely little swimming hole under a tiny waterfall. We soon found out that "the dry season" means just that. 

This is the riverbed. We are standing in it.

So we walked along the riverbed for a while!

...Until we came to the famed waterfall and swimming hole.

We sat in the shade for a bit,

Melissa saw her first Texas lizard!

And then, naturally, we decided to climb the waterfall.

And chill out on the rocks.

After regaining my energy, I got in on the action too!

Upstream, Brandon found a plaque in what would be the middle of the river.

The rock formations were really pretty. Everything was very smooth.

We climbed around for a bit,

Cooled off,

And hung out. 

 After a while, we had our fill, and went back to Austin for a bite to eat...

TO BE CONTINUED!

Shameless Plug

My friend Hal is a writer for Brighthub.com - as in, this is actually his livelihood. Which is pretty impressive, if you ask me. It's also the only reason I would ever promote something on this blog that has nothing to do with my life here in Texas. ... ... Also Hal is a damn good writer.

Hal reviews video games on BrightHub. He's written some interesting articles, including one on Facebook credits: What even are they?

And this one on Minecraft, which is a game I'm hearing more and more about lately.

So, if you're into video games, go check out his profile and see if he's written articles on anything you're playing. His game guides are really useful and easy to understand. Also, he gets paid by the pageview.... so... help a guy out, will ya?

Alright, that's it for my shameless plug.

Family!

Apparently I give just enough hints on my Facebook as to what I'm doing to be annoying, but not enough details to satiate my mother's appetite for information. She insists - no, DEMANDS! - more photos of Brandon's family. And here they are.

We went to the Alamo!

And hung out in the courtyard!

We went to a flea market!

There were silly hats!

And action figures!

... One of which, Brandon bought!

We went to Rudy's BBQ!

Brandon's sister arrived!
Then we went to Mi Tierra's downtown!

Reading the menu!

Dos-rita!

Mariachi bros!

Attempts at getting photos of the whole table!

Crazy decorations!

The whole gang!

Next week, on Texas blog: More Texas!

Parents!

Guess who drove the full 1,354 Miles to see us? Brandon's parents! (And yes, I *am* very excited about being able to use that line.)

They got in town late last night, so we went to Lulu's for their famous 3-Pound cinnamon roll. We've been to Lulu's before, but we didn't blog about it because we wanted to keep at least one thing a surprise for people who come to visit us. And a surprise it was!

Kathleen cracks me up.

Ta daaaa!

Brandon's mom, Kathleen, is pretty much my #1 commenter here on the blog. So it's sort of hilarious (and fitting) that now she's finally on it herself!

Brandon's parents will be staying a full week, and his sister arrives on Tuesday. She'll be staying about a week and a half. So we'll be balancing work and sightseeing and family time over the next couple weeks. I'm pretty excited. ^_^

Yaaaay family!

Basil Lemon-Lime Shortbread Cookies

My mom sent me some cooking magazines a while back, and she got me a subscription to Bon Appetite for my birthday, so I've been combing through those magazines for fun summer recipes that I can make while Brandon's family is in town. First, I wanted something snacky to put out when we're taking breaks in between sight-seeing. I found this shortbread recipe in last month's Bon Appetite. It sounds weird at first, but it's really delicate and satisfying. It's not overly sweet, and the basil really does something for the buttery taste that I can't quite explain.

Lemon zest and lemon juice.

Lots of fresh basil.

Our super-safe food processor (Don't try this at home).

Brandon got a little artsy.

The dough was a bit green...

Action shot!

After rolling them into balls, the recipe insisted that I flatten them into 2" discs, and use confectioners sugar to keep them from sticking. I tried sprinkling it on top... That didn't really work. I ended up smearing the confectioner's sugar on the jar lid I was using to smoosh them flat. That worked fine.

Smoosh!

When they came out of the oven, they were no longer green. Which was a bit of a relief for now, a bit of a let-down for St. Patrick's day. Oh well.

Finished product.

The batch is very small, so I had to double it. But now I have something light and slightly sweet to serve with iced tea when Brandon's parents arrive tomorrow!

Cooking Post!

We've had a couple minor cooking projects over the last couple weeks.

Firstly, Brandon made some beef and potatoes in the slow cooker. It was delish.

He layered the potatoes on top of the beef.

 So many delicious herbs.

Technically, that's it for actual cooking (its been a busy couple of weeks) but we have had some ridiculously fatty breakfasts the last couple days. One morning I caught Brandon eating leftover nachos from Chacho's with scrambled egg and some other veggies thrown on top. It was terrifying. 

But I can't really talk, because I decided to learn to make hollandaise sauce, and had myself an eggs benedict for breakfast this morning.

Brandon added the green peppers at the last minute, saying "Please don't die."

Delicious.

 

So, basically I need to survive off of iceberg lettuce for about a week if I don't want to have a coronary. Time for some lighter meals...