It doesn't hurt that I'm living in a house where I can look outside and see all manner of creatures from squirrels and rabbits to raccoons and possums. I've heard tell of foxes as well but have yet to see any myself.

I do miss the mockingbirds, house finches, and grackles, which were so plentiful in my East Austin neighborhood, but I'm excited to explore this new birdy environment in Brookside. Daily, my feeders attract black-capped chickadees, house sparrows, finches, Northern Cardinals, tufted titmice, white-winged doves, and jays. During walks, I've spied on fat robins, many many murders of gossiping crows (A wise person will be respectful and sheepish around them), and several terrifying hawks that glared back at me beady-eyed from their choice posts, usually atop the highest points on churches and three-story houses, which, I think, lends them a gargoylish air.

And then there are the trees and their palette of colors in green, yellow, orange, brown, salmon, purple, and deep, blood red. What is it about Autumn? I think seeing everything dying around you makes a person feel more alive and eager to savor every last moment. At least that's what it does to me, hence why it's my favorite season.

Here are some of the glorious trees in our yard. I've had so much fun raking all these lovely leaves.

(I apologize for the picture quality. I've been a very good girl this year, so Santa will definitely be bringing me a new DSLR camera, probably even before Christmas.)

And some of the trees from my walks . . .

And, of course, you know that I always have to bring a bit of the outside inside.

The cats are enjoying getting to really be outside for the first time since they were kittens in Iowa. It's bringing out the inner Wild Things in these two old ladies. They're both 16.

Mimas, giving me a bit of lip, which is just so her. 

io, on the prowl. She will go to great lengths to never walk on grass. 100% city cat.

And I'm enjoying some new experiences, too . . . like getting to shop for antique furniture. Shane has agreed that these old houses don't mix well with our modern furniture. So, I get to pick out gorgeous old (new to me) stuff for this house, and someday we'll build a little high-tech cabin in Iowa for our modern things. ;)

Here are a couple of French pieces from the Paris Flee Market here in Brookside.

As Autumn winds down, I'm full of thoughts of change, as I've had so much of it lately. I still enjoy this blog, so once I get my new camera, I plan to keep it up. But I'm working on a couple of new projects, too, ones that will hopefully challenge me in new ways. More later. xo 

But despite my dissatisfaction with words in general and these photos in particular, I'm very happy. I have this fabulous new office, which I call the Treehouse, since the view out my many windows is all branches, leaves, and chattering squirrels. My family is curious to see what I'm getting up to here, so I thought I'd share a few pics, albeit mediocre ones, to give everyone an idea of what my new life looks like.

First off, here's me looking tired & frazzled, because I am tired and frazzled. But things will settle down soon.

The view from my office

Another angle

My messy desk. Shane loves not having to look at my stuff all the time now that I have my own room.

My desk

Desk and printer

Yet more space

I was so excited when I found out that I was going to get my own office space. I kept quoting this scene from Step Brothers about how I was going to have so much more room for activities. :)

This customer was waiting here for me when I arrived. It's now my treehouse office mascot.

Before I left Austin, I hurriedly pressed some flowers from my old neighborhood, so I could take a little bit of East Austin with me. I really don't have a clue how to press flowers, so these are inexpertly done, but I'm going to make frames for them anyway. I'm also going to try to pick and press a new flower every time I go back, which I'm sure will be often.

Life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think.

-Jean de La Bruyère

Gelato has a special meaning in my life. To me, it's a symbol of hope in the face of adversity, and of learning to find the funny side of hardship and even horror. Not because of what gelato is, exactly, but because of one particular experience that I had several years ago.

I was at the Dobie theatre watching a documentary called The Tibetan Book of the Dead: A Way of Life. I vividly remember the long, sorrowful funeral that showed a Himalayan villager being guided through the stages of death by Buddhist monks who read aloud from the Tibetan Book of the Dead. It was sad, truly terrifying thanks to the readings, and wonderful all at once. Most of us sat enthralled by the spectacle, many of us crying.

Then, suddenly, during a lull in the monks' chanting, an old woman sitting near me leaned over to her female friend and "whispered" loud enough for the whole theatre to hear: DO YOU WANT TO GO GET A GELATO?

For a second we all held our breathe in mass shock at her behavior, and then everyone burst out laughing right in the middle of this deeply moving scene. It was so inappropriate and so liberating, it was as if the Buddha himself had popped up in the form of this old lady to remind us that we can always find a reason to laugh, even at the worst of times.

Since then, whenever I start to take life too seriously, I think of that incredibly loud whisper: DO YOU WANT TO GO GET A GELATO? And I say, You know what? I do. Let's blow off this funeral and go get a flipping gelato.

(Today is FoodJoy's one year blogiversary, by the way, so Happy Birthday to me!)

Corn Gazpacho, chipotle, coriander, avocado crema, crisp tortilla

Pepperoni Soup, San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella, garlic croutons

Shane is crazy for the pepperoni soup at Second Bar + Kitchen. Happily, Chef David Bull shared the recipe at Tasting Table, so I can make it for Shane at home.

Roasted Salmon, coconut jasmine fried rice, nam pla glazed okra, cilantro, mint

Bar Congress Burger, house ground brisket + chuck, shallot confit, gruyere, greens, tomatoes, horseradish pickles

Espresso

Until this visit, I was largely unacquainted with the wines from the Duchman Family Winery, but these were some of the best Texas wines I've ever tasted, and I'll definitely be on the lookout for them when buying wine in the future.

Thanks to KLRU-TV (Austin's PBS) for hosting this wonderful event. 

Duchman Family Winery

Bocce

Tasting Room

Tasting Menu

2010 Vermentino, my favorite

2010 Grenache Syrah Mourvedre

2010 Montepulciano, my 2nd favorite

Duchman Family Winery, Driftwood, TX

In my quest to learn as much as possible about food, drink, and pretty much everything else during my brief time on this planet, I tend to adopt a go-with-the-flow mentality, paying close attention to whatever crosses my path on a given day, and allowing myself to become fascinated by these things, even if they hadn't remotely piqued my interest the day before. If it pops up in my life, then I figure the time is Now, and I delve right in. So it was with sherry.

I'd never really considered sherry much until I stayed in a charming bed & breakfast that furnished each room with a small decanter of oloroso sherry. I wasn't overly fond of the rich, amber liquid that reminded me of raisins, almonds, and (let's be honest) fruitcake, but I liked it enough to want to learn more, and so I began to research sherry and was pleased to learn that there are other varieties, fino sherry for example, that aren't as sweet and cloying as the oloroso I had tried.

Before buying a bottle, I did a little research and decided to give this Tio Pepe fino a try. I was a bit nervous, as this article in the Telegraph describes it as having an iodine flavor . . .

"Tio Pepe Palomino Fino Sherry, González Byass, Jerez, Spain (widely available, about £9.49) That very rare gem: an excellent big-brand wine. Tio Pepe fino has notes of preserved lemon, green olive and iodine, a definite whiff of briny sea air. An unparalleled aperitif."

. . . but it turned out to be exquisite and far more palatable to me than the oloroso had been. As for the whiff of briny sea air, yes, this stuff would be amazing with shellfish. I can't wait to try that combination. And it was lovely, too, with Spanish Garrotxa cheese, salty olives, prosciutto-wrapped watermelon, and dried plums.

So, I look forward to continuing on my sherry journey. And come Halloween, I'd like to try an amontillado sherry just so I can raise a glass to the deathless Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. :)

If anyone out there knows a thing or two about sherry, feel free to give me tips. I'm always ready to learn.

Tio Pepe Fino Sherry

Sherry, Garrotxa, olives, prosciutto, melon, dried plums

I haven't been in the mood to post pics of food, so I'll post my favorite face in the world. Words can't express how much I ♥ her, my very old, sickly sweetheart.

The Omnivore

VIA 313 Detroit Style Pizza in East Austin

The Detroiter

Big thanks to our friends Andrew & Angela Ramsammy, not just for giving us this box of confections that they brought back from Buenos Aires, but for introducing me to a whole new food!

Until this past weekend, I had no idea what alfajores were. Similar in appearance to the French macaron, South American alfajores consist of shortbread-type cookies sandwiched together by dulce de leche. These Havanna brand alfajores are a bit more cakelike, tasting of honey, almonds, and hazelnuts. In Argentina, they're often covered in dark or white chocolate.

Alfajores are typically enjoyed around Christmastime, and I can see why. They would be great with a snifter of brandy or maybe dark rum.

Guess what? I can feel a new copycat recipe coming on. Must. Make. Homemade. Alfajores!

Fortunately, there seem to be a great many recipes online. I'm gonna jump in and be an alfajor-making machine come Christmastime.

Alfajores in pretty gold wrappers

Havanna alfajores. Sí!

I always get inspired at the Hope Farmers’ Market, and back in the spring I bought a terrific meal at the Royal Indian Prepared Foods stall (also known as Lamba Royal Indian). After Gurpreet had plied me with as many samples as my belly could hold, I decided to buy his frozen pumpkin parathas with a side container of tomato sabji to use as a dipping sauce.

As he handed over (but didn’t relinquish) what I hoped would be my supper, Gurpreet turned serious over the parathas.

“Now, you must not microwave these. You must lightly oil them and brown them on a hot skillet, first one side, then the other.”

I said, “Okay.”

He looked at me and repeated, “No microwave”.

Trying to look more sincere, and rather solemn, I said, “Okay”.

The way he held my gaze, I had the feeling that if I hadn’t agreed, he might have snatched my goodies back--No parathas for you! But in the end he let me have them, and I walked away impressed by how much he clearly cares about his products.

When it came time to reheat the parathas, I dutifully cooked them on my cast iron tortilla griddle until I’d achieved some nicely browned patches of which I think Gurpreet would have approved. 

Then I heated up some of his sabji, which contains a great amount of oregano, strangely, but is very good.

Once we were ready to eat, I think I got about two bites out of the whole meal as Shane inhaled the rest. It was then that I decided to make the stuff myself.

I used this recipe from Rak’s Kitchen for the chapati, including the use of ghee as the added fat. But I didn’t even bother making “fleets” as Rak calls them. I just rolled the dough out quite a bit larger than I would a tortilla and grilled it until cooked through.

The ghee, which I got from Tom’s Tabooley here in Austin, really gives the chapati a wonderful flavor both within the dough and brushed on top.

For the pumpkin filling, I dug some of my homemade pumpkin puree out of the freezer and cooked it down until it was thick and fragrant.

Next I sauteed half an onion in ghee until tender and brown and added the onion to the pumpkin puree.

Then I added about two heaping tablespoons of prepared yellow curry paste to the pumpkin mix and stirred, tasting, and adding a bit more until I was happy with it.

To assemble the pumpkin parathas: 

• Take a cooked chapati and spread a thin layer of the curried pumpkin puree all over one side.
• Fold the chapati in half, brush with ghee, and grill until browned and slightly crispy.
• Remove from grill, cut in half to create two triangles (a pizza cutter or kitchen shears work well for this), and transfer to a serving plate while you move on to the next paratha.
• Serve with sabji, yogurt, sour cream, or any other kind of dipping sauce you want.

Chapati recipe

Tomato Sabji

I used this recipe for the tomato/onion sabji, and it came out quite differently from Gurpreet’s, but it was still very good.

Can’t find asafoetida? The Savory Spice Shop carries it. Or substitute garlic or onion powder or a mix of both. I also used Savory Spice Shop’s Tikka Masala blend in place of the “Masala Mix”.

Note: You can make all manner of parathas, from spinach to potato, even sweet potato. I can't wait to come up with new ideas.

Also, this would make a great party food, something a little unusual, easy to eat by hand, and really, really tasty.

Enjoy!