Category: Misc

Restaurant Review

We’ve heard about Enrique’s Restaurant (in the Ponca City, Oklahoma airport) over the years, from numerous friends. We had heard that it was really good (run by some San Antonio ex-pats) and had really yummy, unusual tortilla chips and great food. Since we were driving near Ponca City on our way home from visiting friends in Wichita, KS, we decided to drop by and give it a try. I grew up with parents that planned our summer road trips around this book, so this doesn’t seem out of the ordinary to me.

The basket of chips, which were “puffy”, almost like little savory sopaipillas. The salsa was yummy and fresh, too, although it had a little more “heat” than I normally like (Hubby LOVED it).

Here’s one of the chips close up. They were almost chewy, rather than crunchy, like your everyday chip.

My chicken chimichanga.

Hubby’s burrito.

Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable meal. Very Tex-Mex-y, which is how we like it. The service was INCREDIBLE – super friendly and attentive. You can see the runway from the dining room, but being Ponca City, there weren’t a ton of planes taking off, so don’t go expecting to see lots of traffic. So, if you happen to find yourself in Ponca City, it’s worth a stop in.

This was the perfect light, Summer dinner. We had some pretty, fresh figs and cherries and some leftover rotisserie chicken. I put the chicken on a nice piece of Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat bread and put a little cheese and tarragon on top and toasted it until the chicken was warmed through, the bread was toasted and the cheese was melted. Add a nice glass of fresh-squeezed limeade and enjoy.

Mmmmm….

This is Boy’s idea of the perfect (made from leftovers) meal: protein (steak), protein (peanut butter and banana) and more protein (shrimp). I made him eat the green beans with it.

High School Band friends: Me, Jill, Amy, Isabel, Monica

The 20 year Reunion for my high school was this weekend. I was really nervous about going (I had skipped the 10th and don’t really keep up with anyone), but summoned up my courage and took the plunge (thanks, Staci!) and I’m SO very glad that I did. I had a blast and plan to get together with some buddies soon. Overall, the ladies looked great, but a lot of the guys looked really different (some better, some not). A surprising number of us still live in Austin, or have returned to Austin after living elsewhere for a while (including us). Also noteworthy was how many of my classmates have turned out to be quite successful. I was proud – we seem to be a pretty well-adjusted group of upstanding citizens – lots of REALLY cute kids, too. Maybe just the “success stories” feel motivated to come to the reunion, who knows, but it did seem that most of us have done well for ourselves – that was nice to see.

I tackled a big (OK, gargantuan and insane…….but also fun and rewarding) project yesterday and only got 4 hours sleep last night (more on the project later), so I had a bit of a short fuse at breakfast this morning:

Boy (in protracted, annoying voice): Yuh-uuuuuum!
(in response to candy “Dinosaur Egg” oatmeal)
Girl (in whiny, annoyed voice): STOH-OP!

Boy (in protracted, annoying voice): Yuh-uuuuuum!
Girl (in whiny, annoyed voice): STOH-OP!

Boy (in protracted, annoying voice): Yuh-uuuuuum!
Girl (in whiny, annoyed voice): STOH-OP!

Boy (in protracted, annoying voice): Yuh-uuuuuum!
Girl (in whiny, annoyed voice): STOH-OP!

Boy (in protracted, annoying voice): Yuh-uuuuuum!
Girl (in whiny, annoyed voice): STOH-OP!

I will leave out my seriously pissed-off interjection, shouted from the laundry room.
Tomorrow is the last day of school for Boy and Girl and we are in the midst of major end-of-the-year craziness (parties, ceremonies, projects, etc.), but I will get cooking and blogging again very shortly. Coming soon: Thai Chicken Pizzas and “The Way to a Teacher’s Heart is Through Their Stomach.”

If you’re going to force your children to help you demolish the old tile in your bathroom before installing the new tile, you should DEFINITELY make sure that they are wearing safety goggles.

Actually, they loved this (bang away at the floor and break stuff with hammers? what’s not to like?) and were very helpful…..

This is how we spent the day that Boy broke his arm – ripping out old carpet, padding and tile in the bathroom, then Hubby and Boy went up on the roof and cleaned the gutters. We needed a break, so Hubby took the kids for a bike ride (I chose to stay at home with a glass of wine). Would have been a fabulous day had the bike ride not ended with a trip to the ER…..

I made these cookies to sell at the concessions stand at the school musical that Girl was in. The show (“Into the Woods”) features all of the fairy tale characters, so I made cookies to represent all of the characters: a Witch (green hat and dress), Little Red Riding Hood (the red “cape”), “Milky White” the Cow, several princes and princesses (the crown with candy jewels), Jack (of Beanstalk fame) and his magic beans, the Hen that Jack stole from the Giant, Cinderella (the white sparkly slipper), Rapunzel (the blue dress), and a Baker and his wife (the bakery). The musical notes and stars are all purpose. The black bowler hat was a costume worn by our narrators and the black spangled, fringe-edged T-shirt was worn by our “Movement Chorus”.

I used my standard sugar cookie recipe with Wilton Meringue Powder (recipe on the box) royal icing. Make the thick version of the icing and use it to pipe a “dam” around the perimeter of each cookie, then thin it with a little water and blend to incorporate, then use that to fill in the rest of the cookie. Decorate with any desired sugar or sprinkles before the icing dries. If you want to pipe over it in another color (like the word “bakery” in blue on the house-shaped cookie), then let the base coat of icing dry first before piping over it.

I’m so sorry that I haven’t posted in such a long time. Thanks to Staci and Trish for spurring me on to get going again. I have been cooking some, and have even been taking some photos, but just haven’t had the time to upload or type recipes. I’m going to play a little “catch-up” tonight – brace yourselves!

This is what has been keeping me busy:

Trip to New York with my friend, J, and our daughters (her three, my one).

Boy broke his arm riding his bike (on April 15th), pictured here with the “Bounce Back Soon” cookie bouquet that Hubby’s office sent.

We are installing tile in our master bathroom (OURSELVES!!!). Do NOT try this at home! We’re almost done – we just need to grout.

Girl played “Little Red Riding Hood” in her school’s production of “Into the Woods”.

Wonderful congratulations to one of the most talented men on the planet. He should have won for Goodfellas, but he definitely deserves this.

This is what $180 worth of groceries looks like in my neighborhood. I don’t buy flowers often, but we were having friends over for dinner and I thought they were pretty. The herbs were on sale, too, so I couldn’t resist those.