Boots in the Oven

Struggle in a minor key

Sigh. Yeah, the blog has been just about defunct lately. It just hasn't felt like home to me, anymore, and I can't help but feel that the person I am now is very different than the person who started Boots in the Oven back in 2005. I'm not sure what direction to go in, but I know I want to keep blogging. Perhaps a shift to a lighter (and less weighted down with history) wordpress site? I know Tumblr isn't enough for me, though the blog we keep there is a nice diversion.

What to do? Perhaps just a little more navel-gazing for a bit, until I land on What's Next.

Well, for now, here is Us Lately (and I hope Crystal doesn't mind me taking inspiration from her posting style!):

The Book of Mormon at the Bass Concert Hall was all we'd hoped for and more. I'd love to see more musicals. Especially hilariously irreverent ones that cause the gentleman next to you to have a brief apoplectic fit.

We went to a wedding in Washington, DC last weekend, and got to catch up with my dad's side of the family. There's a new baby! Logan had to jet in and jet out for work, but I was lucky enough to stay with my aunt Ellen for a few days, with visits to the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia and a meetup with a high school friend I hadn't seen in eons. It's a wonderful, warm feeling to sit down with someone you haven't seen in 15 years and reconnect like no time has passed.

Logan's folks came into town at the end of September and we all went to New Braunfels, where we enjoyed the rain and the German food.

I've been working on a campaign of healthfulness, by which I mean I'm trying to move around more. My fitbit pedometer is incredibly helpful with this goal (if you have one and want to add me, here's my profile) and I'm really enjoying my barre-style classes at Dancer's Shape. Except for today, because I've come down with a fall achy/sniffles/cold thing that yuck.

And, well, except that on my way home from DC last week I had a layover at Chicago Midway, where I found me a Chicago Dog, thank you.

Please rest assured that, if I do move to a new blogging home, I will definitely direct people to it. And Boots in the Oven won't go anywhere anytime soon. It's still our little corner of the Internet, a faithful little place that was my refuge for years. It'll be here.

Houston at the last minute

Hey, are you following me on Instagram? Because I post there as bootsintheoven, shock. 

And here's proof, from an impromptu trip to Houston the weekend before last!

Houston has one of our favorite museums, the Menil Collection, which does not allow photography inside. Sigh.

But they have pretty tree-lined walkways.

And really nice guys working a PB&J truck. Did you know that half a PB&J, on wheat bread, with apple slices, spicy peanut butter, and strawberry jelly makes a delicous, nutritious snack that will keep you going for hours? Monster PB&J truck knows. They'll even make you THAT VERY SANDWICH in exchange for money.

Many thanks to our friends for their Houston recommendations, btw. After our museuming (hi, Magritte and Klein and Max Ernst and Forest Bess, you self-surgery practicing oddball!) we went to one of Kristi's recommendations, the Grand Prize Bar. It was nice and divey and musty and had a great cocktail list. Rum phosphate with allspice dram? SURE! 

Also, this picture shows that Instagram filters can't always be trusted, even in the hands of incredibly talented photographers like me. Cough.

And then, the Cooper Speedball, the Texas Two-Step, the... upsy-downsy. Coffee after a drink. The Black Hole Coffee House provideth, although they wouldn't provideth Logan with a straight unadulterated shot of their coffee concentrate. Insisted on diluting it with water. 

And then Anvil Bar and Refuge, for another drink before dinner! One must counteract all that caffiene, right? I had a Badminton Cup, with red wine, amontillado sherry, maraschino, cucumber, and soda. It was just as strange as it sounds and twice as delicious.

And then, 9:30 reservations at Oxheart! About which more will be said later. Super local, lots of vegetables, a James Beard semifinalist, and a reservation list that normally opens up (and closes down!) a month ahead of time. We were super lucky to get last-minute reservations, especially since we scored seats at the long bar with a view of the completely open kitchen.

Indecent happy-cat is indecent.

Our in retrospect ridiculous plan had included driving the 2.5 hours back to Austin that night. While still eating at 11PM we realized fully how awful that would be and what an unhappy counterpoint the long drive would make to an otherwise wonderful day in Houston, so Logan excused himself for a moment and called the Modern B&B, where we'd last stayed while preparing to leave for the big trip. We were lucky they had a room available.

And a good sleep was had by all.

Next morning! Jewish deli food! Thanks, Jodi! I got a yooge bowl of matzah ball soup with kreplach. We got smoked sable. We smeared chopped liver on bagels. My Jewish heart thrummed with the happies. Kenny and Ziggy's, I appreciate you. (Not necessarily your Flash website and auto-play music, though.)

and THEN we had the drive back to Austin.

Much appreciation to Houston for the good times, good food, and good drinks. 

Lenoir Birthday

Lenoir, you little jewel-box of a restaurant... you precious salon. Thank you to you and your chef, Todd Duplechan, and your on-point waitstaff (Hi, Melinda) for making my birthday so wonderful.

Lenoir is pretty terrific, guys. They have a prix-fixe menu, where you can choose three courses for $38. Considering that most of the items are local and everything is so carefully considered and prepared, this is a screaming, honking deal. I don't know how it's possible that we'd missed going here for so long.

Reservations are an absolute necessity because did I mention, tiny? The six of us took over just about the entire center of the restaurant.

Erin and Crystal, adorable as always.

Pose, gentlemen. 

Nat, Logan, and Justin are thinking deep thoughts. 

Much of the menu changes often, and has in fact changed almost entirely in the two and a half weeks since we visited. On the night we were there I fell in love with ceviches and poached char, salads and soups. 

Logan had called Todd before our meal to chat with him about menu items, and Todd pulled out all the stops. WHAT A FREAKING TREAT, GUYS. Can you say quail prosciutto? How about... goat terrine?

Desserts were gorgeous! Panna cotta!

And of course, much birthdaying was had, and the restaurant all joined in. It was... well, embarassing, yes, but also really nice to be in such a comfortable place, surrounded by loved ones, who are all singing ridiculously at the top of their lungs over a strawberry pie.

For special occasions or date nights or, well, just because it's a terrific neighborhood restaurant and you're in the neighborhood, I can't recommend Lenoir highly enough. Go there to find out what's fresh and in season and happening locally. 

Thanks, Mueller! (We LIVE!)

Life goes on! Obladee, obladaa, et cetera. Logan's working, I'm working (well, actually, strike that - I'm temporarily unemployed as of this morning, hooray end-of-project!), the cats are freeloading, and we've mostly been good little homebodies.

What else is up? Well, we clearly have not been feeding and watering this here blog.

It took us a bit of time after we got back from the trip to start hitting Austin's terrific array of farmers' markets (farmer's markets?). I like my litte Wednesday afternoon operation at the Triangle, which is usually nicely uncrowded and a perfect size, but a few weeks ago we chanced the one over in the sparkling new Mueller development.

The Mueller market has quickly become a new favorite. Always crowded, yes, but it's on Sundays (love), starts later (double love) and has had a great array of foods including at last count 10 separate egg vendors. And seafood! And multiple types of cheese from all manner of barn animals, not to mention veggies and meats!

Here's our take last week.

So many greens. Shallot AND garlic scapes. Shrimp. Dehydrated strawberries for adding to... well, I haven't decided yet. ARTICHOKES! And some truly terrific Indonesian food from Algiani's Indonesian, which I can't recommend highly enough. 

Well, that's us, lately. Logan's given me some more pictures to sift through, and you might be seeing those here... at some point. Meanwhile, a happy Mother's Day to you and yours, and we hope you're enjoying May!

Singaporean Pepper Crab! In Singapore!

Today here in Austin it's sunny and cool, a perfect Southern winter day. But I would chuck this glorious day and its eye-piercing brightness in a moment for Singapore's humidity and heat, if it meant I could stuff my face with crab.

Perhaps Singapore's most famous dish, chili crab (or pepper crab) can be found at any number of outlets around town, from the down and divey to the fancy shmancy. We tried the crab at Eng Seng, a metro ride and short walk away from where we were staying.

Eng Seng is famous, and we had to wait a bit before seating. It's also an early dinner kind of place; if you get there much after 7, don't expect there to necessarily be any crab left! So eat a light lunch and getcher butt down there.

You'll want some starch to go with that crab (the Singaporean version of "fries with that shake", perhaps?), at least if you're us. Enter the Mee Goreng. Hello there, fried noodles! And yes, those are greens in the back. Have I ever mentioned how much I love a quick wok-tossed Chinese-style green veg?

And then the star of the show, the pepper crab. Eng Seng, like many places, has a minimum order of two crabs, and these mud-crabs are quite large, almost ridiculously meaty, and not exactly cheap. Thus, we had to make the heart-wrenching decision between chili or pepper. After a bit of a wait, during which we covertly eyed nearby tables to familiarize ourselves with local crab-eating customs, this fantastic platter was set down before us.

Luckily, the crab comes efficiently and thoroughly cracked for you, but still be prepared to stickify your hands and face trying to get at the choicest bits.

The crab itself is plumply sweet and salty. The sauce is a sugar and spice amalgam that plays up the nose-tingling floral notes in the pepper; like crushed violets, nettles, and pine. It took us awhile to eat because we found ourselves licking the little bits of shell clean after hollowing out all the non-crunchy bits. It was time well spent. 

(Logan with the crab platter, for scale.)

We left Eng Seng just as they ran out of crabs. Dodged a bullet!

Across the street from Eng Seng, there was a little durian joint. We wandered in, because I'm always interested to learn more about this, well, polarizing fruit.

They had a selection of durian sorted by sweetness level, something I'd not seen before! We had to try one, so we got a medium-sweet. They cracked it open for us right there and handed us plastic forks.

So, I'm still not completely sold on durian (though I think Logan is!), but places like this could change my mind. The flavor is mild, but the scent can be overpowering and not immediately appealing to people who aren't used to it. I think of the flavor and texture as being much closer to a strong cheese than any kind of fruit I grew up with. 

Too bad neither of these places deliver. Of course, I'm pretty sure the 9800-mile journey wouldn't do either of them any favors!

Eng Seng is at 241 Joo Chiat Pl, Singapore 427932. Phone +65 6440 5560.