Menil Art Festival

Posted on March 13, 2010 by erinparker75

I just have a few words about this amazing festival…

perfect day – free entrance – free music – free shows – free beer

No, you did not read that incorrectly. And I’m not talking Bud Light either. I wouldn’t drink Bud Light if they PAID me. It was St. Arnold. Mmhmm. That’s right. Free good beer. It just scares me that I almost missed out on this masterpiece cause of the stupid St. Patty’s parade downtown that caused anger-inducing traffic jams. Not anger-inducing in me of course…I’m driving better these days, member?

The contrasting colors of the church against the sky were almost too much to bear. I had to pause for a moment and let the beauty of the moment sink in. I love the stark white church with a slit for a door, proudly displayed against the topaz sky. Did I mention today was perfect?

the boys

my fearsome guard dog

sitting on the grass listening to a string quartet. ahhhhh

Please go next year if you missed out today!

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Lemon Tree Review

Posted on March 8, 2010 by erinparker75

Hated this place!!! Ugh. I have reached a new low. I always pride myself on picking exceptional restaurants, and here I faltered horribly. Here is what happened at Lemon Tree:

The night started at 8:30pm on Friday night – dinner with a friend. The website claims BYOB so that’s what I did. As soon as we march in with our bottle of wine, we are informed (by the very sweet hostess, mind) that they are not BYOB anymore since receiving their liquor license 2 weeks ago. Not a problem, I understand, but could you send the manager over? Maybe he will make an exception this one time since the BYOB part was 75% of the reason we chose the place AND the website says so. The hostess comes back over to apologize, and delivers the message that if you look at the website, the restaurant on the west side is still BYO, while the midtown one claims otherwise.

Alright. Irritated that the manager did not come over himself to tell us. And upon further investigation after arriving home, I discovered that there is not a separate website for the Midtown location, it only mentions the one on the west side. And it claims BYOB. There is nothing on the site stating that there is a new location in Midtown nor suggesting that they do not let you bring your own wine. Strike 1.

Our food – not good. I ordered the lomo saltado which tasted like cheap Chinese stir fry. The meat was cheap and overcooked and the sauce was bland. My friend ordered the ceviche (a Peruvian specialty!) and it was horribly fishy and not fresh at all. We barely touched our meals. The only saving grace were the Pisco sours we were dutifully sucking down to fill our bellies somehow. Strike 2.

About 2 hours into our meal, our waiter comes up and says that they still have enough Pisco sours left in the machine for 2, and since they are closing soon they need to get rid of it. Did we want some more? We were working on our 3rd glass of water by this point and conceded to his nice offer. He brings them over and we are slowly sipping and chattering away. Bad food doesn’t interrupt our conversation! Then 20 minutes later, he brings over a bill. We had already paid. I open it up, and he was charging us for the drinks! Hell. No. No sir. No way no how. We put our feet down, so to speak. My friend went up to the bar and politely told him that we thought he was offering the drinks on the house, and had we known that they were not free, we wouldn’t have accepted. We had barely touched them and didn’t really want more in the first place. Well, he wasn’t happy about it because that wasn’t what he meant, but he took the bill back and we didn’t have to pay. Strike 3.

Bottom line: don’t go here. You’ll get more authentic food by befriending a Peruvian and having them invite you over for dinner. Hell, I make better ceviche than what was on that plate. Awful service, awful food. 1 out of 5 stars. For the Pisco 🙂

If you want Peruvian food, just splurge and fly to Lima for dinner. You won’t find it in Houston.

Posted in Foodie Love, Review | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 26, 2010 by erinparker75

I’m a bit tardy with this post but meh.

I know many women who hate this day. To be perfectly frank – I never have. Simply because I have never given it much thought. So I don’t understand the angst. When I was single (which was for quite some time), the day would come and go and if I wasn’t reminded, I would forget. Now that I’m in a relationship, I still don’t seem to care much which either makes me a) a cold-hearted monster or b) completely unromantic. You be the judge. It’s not that I hate over-commercialized holidays either. Just ask any of my college roommates what month I start playing Christmas music….

HA! Trick question! I play it year round. BOOM!

Anywho, let’s talk about this year. Since I’m still of the unemployed persuasion, I didn’t want to go too crazy ESPECIALLY since we just spent a heck of alotta coin in Napa over Christmas. And speaking of Napa, we had brought back with us this brilliant bottle of Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon, our pride and joy. Seriously. Sometimes I would take out this bottle and caress it like a baby. That’s how much we love it. So I thought it would be a great occasion to cook at home and open this sacred vessel.

I found a recipe online for lobster risotto from a great French restaurant here: Le Mistral.

Here’s how it went down:
Cook 1 cup risotto according to label, but use 1 cup white wine, 1 cup water, and 1 cup fish stock, instead of all water

Chop up 12 oz lobster tail (organic from Central Market of course), then saute in butter with salt and pepper
*tip: be sure to have them cut the shell at the market – makes it SO much easier to extract the meat

Add a handful of chopped shallots to the pan and then flambe with 1/2 cup sweet Vermouth
(the flambe-ing did not work out so much for me – was more just a “pour in the Vermouth”)

Add the lobster mixture to the cooked risotto and then toss some Spinach into the old lobster pan and saute
Add to risotto

Next is the heavy cream. I LOVE HEAVY CREAM. Recipe calls for 1 cup, which seemed like too much

….and I was right – too soupy. I would recommend only using 1/2 cup

To finish it off, add 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan, 2 tablespoons butter, and 1/2 cup clam juice

We paired it with a Viognier from Darioush. Heaven.

I was stuffed after this endeavor, but we still had an entire entree planned:

filets with garlic butter and bleu cheese
sauteed vegetables
pan-seared scallops in a tomato cream sauce with linguine

Max watching me cook – so proper with his legs crossed

 

So that’s it. Let me know if you try out the recipe and how it goes. And if anyone out there is a master flambe-er, please, help a sister out!

 

Posted in Foodie Love, Recipes | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Food, Inc.

Posted on February 25, 2010 by erinparker75

Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhh!!! That is me typing my frustration at the meat industry in this country, along with shaking my fist. Take that, FDA!

I watched Food, Inc a few weeks ago, and while my passion isn’t as fresh, it has grown from a little baby to a mature and controlled anger. Here’s the thing: I always “knew” something wasn’t quite right about all this factory farming and growth hormone nonsense, but I never understood the capacity of it all. And the brilliance of this movie is that they aren’t trying to push some whack political agenda…they simply want people to eat better. And they want us to have the right to know what we are eating and to be able to choose! Choice! Choice! Choice! I love that word, yet it seems to be taken away from all of us.

But I digress. I do love a good exposure bit, and Food, Inc. delivered on just that. A few things that I have a problem with:

1. The newest thing for Tyson is to build chicken houses where the chickens never see the light of day (their entire life) and are instead kept in these dark sheds that are ventilated with fans. They are crammed in there, fed feed consisting of corn (common filler, government subsidy), antibiotics (easy to get sick in close quarters), and growth hormones so that they will grow fast and get on the shelves in the market even faster. But here’s the kicker – they grow so fast that their muscles and tendons can’t keep up, so they end up schlepping around on their stomachs. Um. No.

growth hormones at their finest

2. McDonald’s is the largest purchaser of beef in the United States. Did you know that? Did you also know that because of that little fact, they determine the quality of beef for every consumer in this country, regardless of whether you eat at McDonald’s or not? The reason is because McDonald’s requires that all of their beef tastes identical, to maintain consistency in their “restaurants” across the States. Because of that, the slaughterhouses have to meet that demand. Do you think they are going to take the time to make sure my beef is higher quality than that served in McDonald’s?

3. Politics. God bless it. There is so much intrigue and deception wrapped up in that one little word I almost can’t even touch it. But here goes: The FDA and USDA and White House are bedfellows. Not shocking, I know. But when you look closer, and see the former CEO’s of the meat packing companies (there are only 5 in the US) advising our presidents (plural!), you’ve got to wonder a little bit about the bottom line. You can only imagine what that pillow talk sounds like.

4. Corn. Ahhh that innocuous golden kernel. Who knew what would become of you? Now, thanks to government subsidies, you’ll be hard-pressed to find any processed food on the shelf that does not contain high fructose corn syrup. Gotta love those cheap fillers. Do you have a dog? Check out the first ingredient in his food. Oh and don’t forget: it’s also used in cow feed, even though evolutionary speaking, cows are not made to process corn. So it causes a lot of sickness in the bovine world, which is what leads to E. coli.

5. During the outbreak of Mad Cow Disease, Oprah made a comment on her show that she would be staying away from beef for a while. She was then sued by Texas cattlemen for loss of profits, which tied her up in litigation for 6 years and cost her around 1 million. So much for freedom of speech.
(America = Cuba?)

It angers me that my government goes out of their way to make sure I have no idea where my food is coming from. Everyone is happy as long as no questions are asked, I suppose. But I demand more! So I am boycotting the meat industry. I want quality in life, not quantity. No more meat, unless it’s farm raised and growth hormone free. I refuse to contribute to their profits any longer. The amount of people getting fed up with this treatment increases every day. You are what you eat. Remember, every time you pay at the cash register, you are voting. Make your vote count! If we demand higher quality food, that is what we will get!!!

As I vented to one of my best friends, who happens to be gay: let’s pray for a world where you can get married AND carrots are cheaper than a cheeseburger.

Posted in Rants n Stuff | Tagged | 4 Comments

Kanomwan or Bust

Posted on February 18, 2010 by erinparker75

After a hankering for some Thai one Friday night, Raul pulled out his restaurant bible (zagat) and did a little perusing to see what new haunt we could scare up. Pun intended 🙂

Enter Kanomwan. The kicker for us was that it’s BYOB. Since we are bonafide wine snobs and like to carry our own bottles anyway, this really suited us. We grabbed a (warm) bottle of Chardonnay and headed on up to the East Side.

Now, I’ve read the reviews. People say the area of town is wretched, and the service is even worse. A little bad service doesn’t scare us as long as the food is good. And I have been stomping in the 2nd ward since I was a wee tot, so if you can still call it the projects (since Houston’s newest thing is reviving the east side) well that doesn’t bother me either.

Kanomwan is located in a parking lot adjacent to a bunch of other random places, including Bohemeo’s, a coffee shop after my own hippie heart.

We walk into Kanomwan and are not suprised to see that it is full of white people. I do have to pull out my sunglasses to shield my eyes from the harsh fluorescent lighting (no romantic dining here) and garish teal walls, but I’m not going to crucify them for it…..yet.

After being seated, this is what our exchange with the owner sounds like:

Owner: you order? (in his gruff, unsmiling way)
me: Hi! (smiling brightly as birds land on my shoulder) Yes, but first, can we get a bucket and ice for our wine, and can you open this for us?
owner: no
me: no?
owner: no, you do it. (slaps corkscrew on table)
me: ok, can we get some ice?
owner: no
me: why not?
owner: we don’t do that
me: (looking at raul in confusion. is the task difficult? i’m not sure) ok, i’ll have the green curry
owner: you order? (looking at raul)
Raul: I’m not ready, can you come back?
owner: you order now!
me: he will in a minute, you need to come back!

Exit owner.

Ok. So far, expectations met. Raul orders a SPICY chicken dish and we get a side of fried rice as well since what the hey? We won’t have an alcohol charge.

However since our wine is warm, we attempt a makeshift cooler by hugging the bottle with our water glasses. See below.

It didn’t really work, so we had to result to the ultra-classy method of ice cubes in the glass. Yeah!

Here’s my delicious (and shockingly spicy) green curry:

The cooks have a heavy hand indeed when it comes to the Thai chilies. My mouth was on fuego the entire time.

After 1 appetizer and 3 entrees, our total bill was, wait for it…..

$30

And that my friends, is why I love BYO’s with NO corkage fee.

Go for the food people, not the service.

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Reef Restaurant Review

Posted on February 4, 2010 by erinparker75

The fella and I had our date night at Reef last Friday night. With both of us craving seafood and never having been, we put on our Sunday best and headed out.

Mmmm this place was so ethereal and watery. Literally. With the ice blue decor, wavy architectural lines and floor to ceiling windows, we felt like we were dining under the sea. The adorable crystal chandeliers are even shaped like sea anemones.

Good thing we made reservations as it was packed. They were running a bit behind so we hopped over to the bar. I got a Corona. Normally I opt for the more exotic but the beer list left something to be desired.

We had barely finished half when the cheery hostess scooped us up for our table.

Down to business: can we have the wine list?
It’s 2500 pages long?!
Heaven.

I almost shrieked with joy when Raul happened upon Laetitia Pinot Noir on the list -our absolute fave pinot. Not to be out done, Reef had another trick up her aquamarine sleeve: Darioush Viognier. DARIOUSH?!?! Could it be?? You might remember Darioush from such blog posts as Napa Valley Christmas. We LOVE it. We looked no further and ordered their last bottle. Poseidon surely was smiling down upon us that night.

Sea God

Unfortunately I forgot my camera so have no accompanying pictures. As blogs without pics are frightfully dull, I’ll keep this short and sweet:

Appy: crab cake
Entree: Raul- Tuna, Erin – Amberjack, *and fried macaroni and cheese (oh I so did)
Dessert: Panna Cotta with Dr. Pauly’s Ice Wine

Crab cake was crunchy on the outside, flaky and delicious on the inside. And large enough to share for 2 hungry tummies. I like my cakes with an abundance of crab and not a lot of “filler” – this cake did not disappoint. The meat was fresh with a bit of tang that paired splendidly with the salad it was resting on.

Raul’s tuna was borderline too good to be true. Fairy tale tuna if you will. There was virtually no sauce to speak of (and we are sauce FIENDS) and still the tuna was bursting with so much flavor I had to keep taking bite after bite in order to decipher what made it so darn good. I HAD to. Better yet, it came with tender broccolini that had just the right amount of crunch. I do hate an over cooked vegetable.

My amberjack probably would have been better had the tuna not been there to trump it. Sorry amberjack.

The panna cotta was a tad bit gelatin-y and slimy, whereas I like mine creamier, like the way DaMarco does theirs. I had a few bites then was done. However the ice wine was a nice pairing. But I won’t order that dessert again.

I give Reef a 4 out of 5 stars. Our waiter was from Syria and so delightful we wanted him to take a seat and eat with us. Impeccable service and timing, surprising wine list, amazing food – we can’t wait to go back.

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La Comida De Peru

Posted on January 31, 2010 by erinparker75

There’s nothing that I love more than a heaping plate of fresh, homemade ceviche. And my little Incan import delivered on just that tonight! Along with “poor man’s paella” * which was deeeeeeeeeeelishus for sure.

*poor man’s paella – only consisting of rice con aji y ajo (chili and garlic) and some succulent little shrimpies. divine!

Doesn’t my plate look like I’m dining beachside in Lima? 🙂

Buen Provecho! May everyone eat as well as I do….

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New Year’s Resolution – To Not Die

Posted on January 27, 2010 by erinparker75

January is the month for resolutions: hitting the gym five times a week, limiting alcohol consumption, putting a stop once and for all to drunk dialing your ex….

I usually dismiss the resolution craze since I don’t like to wait until January to make any serious lifestyle changes. This year is different though. While driving in my car last week and reflecting on just that – driving – I decided maybe 2010 was the year I became a better driver. And not for reasons you might think.

You see, I live in a pretty dangerous city. People carry guns with them at all times: in their car, in the club, at the grocery store – you never know when or how someone will be packin. And nothing can  provoke someone more than road rage.

My name is Erin, and I am a Road Rager.

It’s true. I’ll admit it. My rage can get out of control when I’m driving. But it’s not my fault! I am an exceptionally efficient (if not distractable) driver, who is only impeded by all of the other idiots on the road. And believe me, there are a lot.

So sometimes they make me angry. Sometimes when someone cuts me off on the freeway, pulls out in front of me from a dead stop, or slows to the point that I have to drop down my speed by 50MPH, I can get a little worked up. Sometimes I may retaliate. Yeah, not so fun when it’s done to you, huh?

These fun and games backfire however as I come back down from my vengeful high and find myself cringing involuntarily. Cringing so that maybe my head will miss the bullet that is coming straight at the back of my head rest.

Another incident that made me reconsider my driving style was one balmy night out driving with my bestie on 45N. By mere accident (as in, the freeway entrance caused me to get in front of a large white van going at least 30MPH more than I was) I angered this unknown driver. He honked and flashed his lights and I simply laughed at his d-baggery. Whaddyagonnado? Get out of the merging lane if you don’t want slower cars cramping your style. So I continue puttering along (maybe I did or did not speed up) and he only gets angrier. I needed to get into the other lane so I could exit, and at the exact moment I change lanes, so does he in an effort to get around me. This was clearly not the right move in order to appease Mr. Angry Pants. He guns it and nearly swipes poor little Ariel as he blasts by. And as he’s zooming by, me and the bestie duck a little lower in our seats and lean away from the window. Why? BECAUSE WE WERE AFRAID OF BEING SHOT.

I’m starting to accept that this is not a normal reaction. I should not genuinely be afraid of being shot while driving – just because I piss someone off. But, I can’t get around it. If the system is stronger than you are, you must conform to the system. I don’t think I would be a very good bullet shield.

I think about ways that I can counteract this. Like, control my tempter. And don’t piss anyone off, ever. Or if someone pisses me off, to just let it go. Or by continuing to stagger my car at red lights so that the person next to me can’t just stick his arm out the window and blow out my brains.

You may scoff, you may laugh, but my boyfriend has seen 2 shoot outs (car to car) in the past 5 years, just driving down the road and being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So, while all my friends out there are committing to losing weight, eating better, or volunteering more, I’m choosing life. Literally.

I have to control my driving temper so that I don’t die. Cause let’s be honest – bringing my taser to a gun fight won’t win me any friends.

Leaving you with my hands at 10 and 2….

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A delightful salad indeed, sir

Posted on January 20, 2010 by erinparker75

Es pretty good. All I’m sayin….


It’s easier to get Raul to acquiesce to “vegetarian night” when there is polenta and avocado involved.

Nom Nom Nom

Posted in Foodie Love | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Napa Valley Christmas – Day 4 & 5

Posted on January 4, 2010 by erinparker75

Day 4 – CHRISTMAS

Christmas day was a little awkward. Raul and I were in the frozen foods aisle in the grocery store when my old lover happened upon me and touched my sleeve. Naturally, I jumped, in the process spilling my purse.

Wait, wait…I’m confused. That was Christmas EVE. Christmas day was actually quite lovely. We woke up to a lovely view and a lovely breakfast.



After eating we hop in the convertible for a long drive on the windy roads with the top down, screamin’ out money ain’t a thang.


…and we brought a few snacks for the journey

We find Smittle Creek to work up an appetite for lunch. Yes that is a glass of wine in my hand. We needed nourishment!

After a long and dangerous hike where we encountered gnats, withery dead trees, and leaves that seemed to jump and swirl for no reason at all, we decided to stop tempting fate and head back for the chef (me) to prepare lunch.

Spiced lamb meatballs with tequila jalapeno mustard from Peju, along with sauteed Swiss chard with onions and tomatoes, paired perfectly with the Avante Garde Pinot Noir.


Nom Nom Nom

little obsessed with wine glass shots

Day 5

  • Nichelini
  • Joseph Phelps
  • Hall
  • Reynolds Family

So this is the day we are to head to San Francisco. We wanted to check out Nichelini before we left, a mysterious winery we always saw on the ride home but was closed when we drove by every time.

Nichelini is the 2nd oldest winery in ALL of Napa Valley. We got the low down from the owners. Swiss origen, not Italian. Do not let the name trick you, as we were so tricked. They are Swiss to the core. And make a mean Zinfandel, of which we bought 3 bottles.

yeah his eyes are closed

We skipped on over to Joseph Phelps again with their groovy woodwork, this time they were open – it was 11am – and we had our snazzy complimentary tasting card.

I also tried to joke around with Father Time who was doing our pourings, but he wasn’t having it. Fine, Scrooge. You don’t laugh at my jokes, I don’t buy your wine. And we leave.

Hall was an impromptu stop. Raul had bought their Cabernet Sauvignon from Central Market once and loved it, so we decided to pop to the shop. And what a fruitful stop it was since we bought 5 bottles from them. Their wine is a-mazing. I’m salivating a little just thinking about it. GO HERE PLEASE.  You won’t be disappointed. But please note: you only get front row parking if you love the environment.

We so parked there with our eclipse anyway. Take that, Earth!

Our 4th stop of the day was Reynold’s Family. We weren’t that impressed, so decided that was enough.

I then slipped into my wine nap while my captain navigated the car to San Francisco. I heart not driving.

Did I mention that Raul planned this entire trip? I didn’t have to do a darn thing. And it was absolutely lovely. Mad props to my boo. After all, life’s too short to drink bad juice 🙂

Cheers! xxx

Posted in California, My Life, Travel | Tagged , , | 4 Comments