Since moving to Texas I’ve become smitten with barbecue. I know, nothing special, but it’s true nonetheless. I’ve had my fair share, ranging from the disappointing to the divine. With a brand new barbecue spot opening (a trailer, no less!) in Southwest Austin I rallied the troops for a day of fun starting with a visit to Woodpile BBQ. Hope you’re hungry!
The “Establishment”
Fresh ingredients, simply prepared, generally make fresh, simple sandwiches. At Hey!… You Gonna Eat or What?, you will not find one of those sandwiches. From the snarky quote bubbles, garish red paint job, and bold menu, you get the feeling that this bus plays by its own rules. No doubt you’ll find fresh ingredients, but HYGEoW works some dark magic to create unexpected twists on classic sandwiches.
Summer. The season of burn bans, watering restrictions, mosquitoes, sunburns, drought, heat stroke grilling. And nothing says “grilling” more than burgers. If you disagree, well you can just leave. However, for as much as I love grilling burgers, we don’t do it often enough. So when we invited friends over for a good ol’ fashioned cookout, it was little more than a formality to discuss what we’d cook.
Because burgers happen only every once in a while, we go big*. That means cutting no corners.
To the meat grinder!
I grabbed some steaks at Central Market (a pound of chuck and a pound of sirloin), butchered them like a pro, and got the grinder ready for the carnage to come. It’s one of the easier things you can do, but I wouldn’t recommend inviting any vegetarian friends over to parttake in the fun.
*We’re already home, so “go big or go home” only leaves us one option anyway.
At this point I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. I’ll say that the burgers, topped with hatch chiles, were a big hit and devoured by all. The process takes more time for sure, but no question it’s worth it. It’s just the burger way of life.
Preparing for battle.
The aftermath.
Taking shape.
The result.
For four days Ev and I were hosting one of our good friends (Mike) from high school at our house. Here’s a chronicle of our escapades broken into each day’s debauchery.
Get caught up with Day 1.
For four days Ev and I were hosting one of our good friends (Mike) from high school at our house. Here’s a chronicle of our escapades broken into each day’s debauchery.
Trailer Food Tuesdays kicked off this past Tuesday as a new series of events meant to promote and provide exposure for Austin’s somewhat saturated food truck market. The idea is to bring the fun and promise of the Gypsy Picnic back to Austin each month without the long lines, sold-out food, and general chaos of the big annual event. Instead, Trailer Food Tuesdays invited out nine of the city’s favorite trucks to create something of a centrally located pop-up food trailer park for all to enjoy. Without further ado, here are my thoughts.
The triathlon season has officially begun for me now that the Couples Tri is in the books. My goal was to beat last year, and [spoiler alert!] I did! But my overall feelings about the race are mixed. Here’s why…
This Sunday is the Couples Triathlon. I did it last year as my last hurrah
in the world of triathlon before decidedly switching back to a running-only lifestyle. A ton has happened since last year running-wise: I started and completed the Austin Distance Challenge, I ran the Chicago Marathon with Team Volkswagen, I ran on my company’s team for the Cap10K, and I qualified for Boston at the Vermont Marathon! Looking back, it was a big twelve months. Which brings us to now, two days before my first triathlon of what will be a long journey that will hopefully take me across the finish line of an Ironman.
The Couples Triathlon is a pretty typical sprint tri –800 meter swim, 11.2 mile bike, 3.1 mile run– that takes place in and around Decker Lake just east of Austin. My goal for this race is easy… do better than last year. That means I better be faster than:
Swim 800 m: 18:15
Transition 1: 3:05
Bike 11.2 mi: 36:05
Transition 2: 1:23
Run 3.1 mi: 23:06
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p>The “twist” on the Couples Tri is that you sign up with a teammate (friend, spouse, stranger) and then your times are combined for a team time. Last year I signed up with a coworker (and he was way faster than me). This year I just signed up solo, meaning I won’t have a combined team time. I’m excited to see where I stand in terms of fitness with less than 4 months to go until my Half Ironman!
