Where do I begin? We only spent 2 days and 3 nights in Austin, but boy did we pack in a lot of fun and it will take at least 3 postings to do it justice (just a hint of what's coming...a funky, famous chicken place in Round Top, TX; Madalene Hill's gardens at Festival Hill, a trip to see Mexican bats on Segways, some great food, an afternoon watching chicken sh#et bingo, just for starters). And gardens all along the trail.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
CHAD AND SUZY!!!!
Josh's niece and husband, Suzy and Chad, and their delightful 6 month old son, Liam, very generously offered to come and give us a weekend on our own. What sweet people and I am so grateful for their kindness. (Of course, letting Liam and Great Grandma Barbara get acquainted, was great, too!. They bonded immediately).
It's always a pleasure to see other people's gardens and one of our first stops was at our long time friend, Lucinda Hutson's garden. Austin's famous purple house, Lucinda's home, has been on my list of places to visit for years. I know the house from her books, from numerous articles in Southern Living and many more, but I had not actually seen the house myself. We've known each other for years but this was the first time to visit Lucinda at home. What a sweetheart she is!
Lucinda is, without a doubt, the most colorful, fun-loving person I know. From her house (inside and out) to her garden, her views on food and writing, this is one fun lady. Look at the pic, below. This is the back steps of her house. (Click on the picture to see the embellished cat door). Does your back door look that good? Ours certainly doesn't.
Lucinda is a landscape designer and has a perfect eye for decorating the outdoors, and in. Even the very flowers in her garden are seemingly beyond reality. Check out this one in her front yard (sorry, I don't remember what it is).
And this vine, below, which I wish I could grow here. Notice the top of the house is purple, the wall behind the vine, is yellow. Do you have the courage to use color that way? I wish I did.
Or this, a great Mexican bathtub set in her mermaid garden. When Southern Living came to do the photo shoot of her garden, they bashfully covered parts of the mermaid with a leaf. Above the grotto with the mermaid tub is another mermaid and lots of plants. It's a small garden and it would seem crowded were it not for Lucinda's eye for design. Instead of crowded, it unfolds like small rooms, each with fascinating features that invite you to keep moving forward to see more, and more beyond that. (I've had dreams like that, when sleeping on my Creative Dreams Dream Pillow).
Lucinda's garden rooms showcase a wide variety of plants, from cactus to vines, bloomers and lots of herbs. Herbs are everywhere and Lucinda and I share a love of herbs and food. She's known for her innovative cookbooks which you can see on her website.
That's Lucinda and Josh on her back patio, her very rustic-elegant writing office to the left where she creates her books, and a garden shed to the right. What a delightful visit we had and no photos can do Lucinda's garden justice. . More of Austin to come. But today, after weeks of dry, hot weather and dragging garden hoses around - we got rain!
Here's a recipe from Lucinda's Herb Garden Cookbook for Frijoles Negros en Olla(black beans in case you don't speak Spanish). A dish of lack beans is one of my favorite meals, over brown rice, topped with fresh salsa, diced avocados and a dash of hot sauce. Last year I grew black beans, aka frijoles negros, in the garden to see what they looked like in bloom.
1 pound dried black beans Water or broth to cover to about 2 inches over the beans 3 T. olive oil or bacon fat 1 whole onion, quartered and studded with 2 whole cloves 4-6 garlic cloves 1/2 tsp. whole cumin seeds 1 bay leaf 1-2 whole dried chile peppers (ancho or pasilla) Salt to taste 1 tsp. crumbled, dried Mexican oregano 3 sprigs fresh epazote - (epazote is known as "pig weed" in the Midwest), or substitute. Mexican mint marigold leaves
Wash beans well to remove dirt and any stones. Cover with cold water or broth, and remove any beans that float. Add oil, onion, garlic cumin and bay leaf and bring to a boil; immediately reduce heat and cover. Add chiles and cook for approximately 2 1/2 hours. If necessary, add more water to prevent beans from bursting. When almost tender, add salt, oregano and epazote. Uncover and cook another 15 minutes. When beans are tender the liquid should just barely cover them.
I missed attending the Garden Writers of America Conference last year but didn't want to miss this one, held in Dallas at the downtown, Hyatt Regency. I always come away encouraged, inspired, flattered by folks who follow this blog, rejuvenated and refreshed after a GWA conference. Why? Imagine 500 people, nearly all of whom are interested in the very things you are. These folks are highly creative, eager to share their experience and information, and are there to learn new things, and have fun. It's an impressive cross section of garden publishers, radio and t.v. personalities, movers and shakers in the plant research world, and writers of all kinds. The conference is also where the wholesale plant industry introduces their newest and best plants for next year, and the tool companies show off, and give away, the niftiest new gardening tools that aren't on the market yet.
Plants like this pretty amazing Pink Lemonade Blueberry, above, developed for patio container growing. The name? It relates to the pink to red to purple blueberries, extremely sweet and blue-berry-ish, at any stage!
Plants Neuveau introduced several stunning, new echinaceas this year, including 'Hot Papaya' Echinacea, below. Angela Treadwell-Palmer, President of Plants Neuveau, was there to introduce the media to her incredible line of long-blooming Echinaceas. (To see more, visit her website).
The various companies host small parties for their supporters and friends and I'm always tickled to be included. Angela had just mixed (I forget the name, anyone know this one?) me a drink, half chocolate liqueur, half raspberry something or other. Yum! And in the background, you can see Kelly Norris, the wildly enthusiastic iris grower/blogger/aficionado, along with another person taking my (?) photo, who I don't recognize.
It's worth the price of the conference, just for moments like the one, below. The notoriously grumpy Grumpy Gardener, aka Senior Garden Editor of Southern Living, Steve Bender, having had one too many of those chocolate-raspberry beverages, trying to make time with the dummy in the corner. (You'll notice the link to Grumpy's blog, on the right of the page in the list of blogs I follow. Check him out, he's always full of grumpiness and off the wall plant advice).
To further prove we always have fun, and not take ourselves too seriously, here's the notorious Jim Martin from South Carolina (below), representing the Novalis plant company. Everyone awaits Jim's annual pilgrimage into the floral depths of gaudy-acious outfits to draw attention to Novalis's new plant introductions. (You can find Jim on his Compost.in.my.Shoes blog).
The next post will be a view of some of the gardens we toured in Dallas at the Conference. Meanwhile, we're packing the truck with my books and wares and we're driving east for the first annual, Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, PA. I'm speaking and we'll have a booth and hopefully sell, sell, sell. (If you are anywhere nearby, attend the Fair and stop by and say hi, please).
Until then, Happy gardening and thanks for visiting here!
The garden is always about the food it produces. From tomatoes for sauces to garlic for seasonings. We enjoy food when we travel, and of course, the gardens, too.
But no barbeque?That's what readers have been asking...how could we go to Texas and not have BBQ? Well, we did. A few years back I wrote about the big hullabaloo the bird seed companies were making about "squirrel-proofing" the birdseed by adding cayenne pepper. The theory was that birds can't taste cayenne, but squirrels do, and will leave the bird seed alone. Baloney! My proof?
About 3 years ago when I previously visited Austin, I was sitting outside on the patio of the Iron Works BBQ on Red River St, a long time favorite spot. It was mid afternoon and few people were eating outside. I noticed that the plastic tip of my bbq sauce bottle was whittled away, so looked around on other tables for one that didn't look like it had been shot with a shotgun, discovering every bottle had a ground away top. I squeezed out some of their "hot'n spicy" sauce on my ribs and while I ate, a squirrel climbed up the rock wall from the creek below, hopped up on a table and knocked over a bottle of hot sauce. Soon, other tables each had squirrels, and each squirrel would lay down, pull the bottle of hot sauce over, and nurse like a baby, often for 5 minutes or more, licking their lips in between. It was obvious they liked the hot sauce (they were ignoring the mild and sweet sauces). There is no truth to squirrels not liking hot peppers, these were as addicted to the heat as I am. So we returned to the Iron Works, where their ribs are still really good, but now they keep the hot bbq sauce bottles indoors and you carry one out as you go. I'd wanted Josh to see the squirrels' antics.
We drove over to Festival Hill because Josh had never seen Madalene Hill's gardens. (To see her, and more of her gardens, follow this link to my previous posting). We got as far as Round Top, a town of 77 folks, and I stopped at a little cafe for directions. The owner, Mrs. Royer, was restocking the soda case out front. We went on our merry way to Festival Hill and in the 100+ degree heat, walked the gardens and grounds of this amazing place, created as a home for the late Madalene Hill's collection of herbs.
Madalene's garden looks like ruins of old buildings, what she asked for, for her extensive collection of herbs. One of the last times I saw Madalene I asked her if she had an index of her culinary and medicinal herbs and she said, "We were working on it but got stalled for other projects. At last count we had 2,167 herbs on the index." It was Madalene who gave me my first start of Green Pepper Basil, a rare basil from Oxaca, Mexico.
After about 2 hours we had completely wilted in the heat and headed back to Round Top. Royers, the little cafe we'd stopped at earlier, had cars parked around it, as well as on the square, everywhere. We thought we'd stop for some iced tea. As we walked onto the porch, I noticed articles from lots of national magazines and newspapers, most titled something like, "Royers Round Top Cafe, famous cafe, best place to eat in Texas." There were stacks of cigar butts, neatly arranged by year, on top of the soda case.
It didn't make sense, we didn't know who bud was, or why the butts. Josh pushed open the door and Bud, whose butts we'd just noticed, greeted him He's the owner, greeter, sometimes cook and overall seating arranger. "Here to eat?" he asked. By now, because it was Sunday noon, and we were in a notorious place, we said, Yes. "You'll have to sit at a table with someone, just look for a table with a vacancy." We did and introduced ourselves.
Our table mates had driven 2 hours from Austin, just for the fried chicken. As Josh and I looked over the menu (read it here), with lots of tempting items, our table hosts said, "It's the chicken people come for, and the pie." So we ordered fried chicken, which is served family style with real mashed potatoes, creamed corn and rolls. I have no idea how many chickens were on that plate for just the 4 of us, but there had to be 10 pieces left over after we'd all eaten our fill.
There are lots of things unique about Royers. First, it's in a tiny town, and yet has a huge following. Round Top and nearby Fredericksburg are in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, and the center of huge antique sales events. And I'm told that in antique festival times each year, you have to pay a fee in advance for a reservation to get into Royers. But this day, we got right in, but as we left, there was a long line of people waiting to get inside.
The Granny Smith apple pie (made with a dozen apples per pie, topped with about an inch of crunchy Texas pecan crisp), fresh peach and Texas pecan were only a few of the pie offerings. I chose apple, which was outstanding.
It's a family style place and you sit wherever there is space, allowing for meeting interesting people. Our table companions, from Austin, were lots of fun to visit with.
As we ate and visited, our dinner companion was telling about her work with kids, and was quietly folding a dollar bill. When we were all through eating, she had finished and had an beautiful origami heart, with a quarter tucked in the front. Very cool! we both said. She reached across the table and handed Josh the heart. "Here, a reminder of our meeting and your first meal in Royers," she said. Wow, you don't get that eating in a MikyDonalds!
If you can't read it, this is a painting done by a fan and says, "Remember the Ala Mode." As we left, passing Bud and his stacks of cigar butts, all smoked while he sat on the front porch and visited with customers who are waiting on a table, the piles of cigar butts made sense. A lot of time visiting, making people feel welcome, and enjoying a cigar while he does.
It's not just the fried chicken (soaked in minced garlic and buttermilk for 24 hours before pan-frying), nor just the pies, nor even the funky, quirky, colorful inside, but the people you meet while you enjoy your meal. I love finding unique, out of the way places like this - it's one of the reasons I love to travel! Thank you Bud, and to our delightful dinner companions for another great meal in Texas.
I received an email today from Bud Royers (aka the Pie Czar) and he said Southern Living magazine is featuring his Texas Pecan Pie in an upcoming issue of the magazine. He also said this: "
As many of you already are already aware the café has been HONORED to be one of the 20 finalists out of 1000s of customer submissions in the ABC NIGHTLINE PEOPLE’S PLATELIST CONTEST.bit.ly/cvxTgv.
This is our 3-minute video about the café bit.ly/9nh6nK if you'd like to watch it."
So, here's the video, for a real view of this quirky place, filled with food from other people's gardens.
