Macadamia

Dec 3, 2016 @ Mauna Loa macadamia nut visitor center and orchard

# Hardest nut shell - 300 lb

# No shaking trees, only picked up from the ground

So flavorful pasta

I haven't yet impressed with the vegetarian restaurant, Mother's that's located in Hydepark area of Austin, TX until I tried this very fresh and savory capellini pasta.

It had olive oil (must be good olive oil), garlic, basil, parsley (roughly chopped), kalamata olives, capers, tomato chunks, and crumbled feta cheese. Yes, only looking at the ingredient description on the menu made me excited!

After anxious 10 or 15 minutes of waiting time the dish was arrived. It looked beautiful at the first site and herbs and garlic scent made Paul already asking me what in the world I had ordered. I knew it was going to be good! Generous serving of sauce-especially the pond of extra virgin olive oil-was a good sign. And how can I say.. it just tasted really good! Every ingredient was fresh and flavorful while not ruining others' flavor. The noodle could have had more texture but I was very happy about my order.

Paul almost wanted to swap his enchilada dish with my pasta bowl but I didn't let him. But I couldn't stop him from eating a third of my pasta in the bowl! I can't wait to try this pasta in my kitchen with spaghetti or other larger pasta noodle. This pasta sauce would go well with seafood especially clam or scallops also.

Texas vs France

Yes, Texas is a state as big as France. Texas has interesting culinary culture that's affected by Mexican food but people may not try to compare with the history and sophistication in French food.

Paul and I went to a cooking class from Central Market on Sunday afternoon that was prepared by Ellise Pierce who's an author of the cooking book, Cowgirl chef. The class setting was interesting that attendees sit in a class room and see how the instructor prepares the food and listen and talk to her. It wasn't a hands-on cooking class which was what I expected but rather a nice group dinner with learning what we are eating at the table. There was champaign and wine served by the kitchen staff members.

Savory short bread cookies with cheese and chili powder was not ground breaking but there were certainly small things that inspired me about cooking. Tapenade that was roughly chopped was a great match for rich and nutty roasted salmon fillet. Olive oil was very flavorful yet the kalamata olive and capers give salty and savory accent and the basil and parsley lighten up. Little bit of lemon and vinegar gave it a good balance of different flavors. Paul really loved it because salmon, olive, and capers are his favorite ingredients for dinner table. He demanded me to use more of those in the future. Soufle was good because it was as hot and just-got-out-of-the-oven as it could be. A dash of peanut butter flavor was a good add for the chocolatey soufle even though it wasn't good enough to change Paul's turn-off for peanut butter with sweetness combination. The crunchy edge that I was expecting was not there even though the body was as soft and light it can be. The next part of the night was the cantalope soup. Salty and milky blue cheese, roasted almond slivers, and mint and basil were great garnish to add. I think using honeydew with some avocado to the blender might be an interesting tweak for the recipe also.

After the class the author-signed cooking book was in my bag on the way home.

Cupcake tiramisu w/ hibiscus lemonade

Quack's bakery in Hydepark area of Austin, TX has good selection of baked goods (mainly dessert kinds, no artisan bread) and reasonably priced decent drinks.

This afternoon I found tiramisu cupcake on the shelf and couldn't resist to try one since it was one of the baking items that I always wanted to try and bake. Who could resist the savory combination of coffee and flavorful creamcheese! They served me the cupcake in a nice transparent plastic container that clicks and closes like a magic. The cake itself wasn't too sweet and had a good balance in flavor of coffee and mascapone creamcheese. They either digged or opened a hole in the middle of cupcake to get the bottom soaked in the coffee syrup and filled with creamcheese icing. There was subtle crunchyness in the icing and I believe it was black vanilla beans. It was a great refreshing sensation after rich creamy texture of the icing. The cake was very moist but not too soaggy. I think it would have collapsed if the cake part was too soft like the ones you can get from super stores' bakery section. The top of the icing was sprinkled cocoa powder and decorated with a thin chocolate piece. What a great casual version of tiramisu! It went just well with iced hibiscus lemonade.

What a perfect tea time in the middle of hot summer in Texas!

Linden tea

During June, the sweet scent from Linden flowers was the greatest pleasure. I was so excited to see beautiful green leaves and popping blossoms. That was what I had been looking for since last summer I came in the US. That's because this small town was full of Linden trees and I've never seen the flowers before.

Actually, that was in Turkey when I first try this tea. I drank this tea in Goreme, Turkey when I went there for backpacking in my undergrad. I loved this tea but I couldn't figure out what kind of tea it was. Fortunately, my interest in trees and plants finally guided me to figure it out.

So, I brewed Linden tea with the flowers and got a beautiful result. Pick a bunch of flowers and rinse with clean water and steep in hot water for minutes. The flowery scent of the tea was pleasing me in the late afternoon. That's all I did.

Second time, I brewed those flowers with green tea to add more flavor. You can add some honey too.

I love Linden so much. :-)