Dallas Asian Festival

This was our first time going to the 23rd Annual Asian Festival in Dallas, and let me tell you, it was more than worth the free admission and $5 parking! No, but really, it was a lot of fun. Pork on a stick, the adorable kid dancers, perfectly refreshing boba/bubble tea from Delish Bubble Tea in McKinney, finding the perfect Totoro to take home, posing with said Totoro everywhere and generally having a great time on the first truly warm day of the year.

We even continued our current Pinkberry obsession as we searched the Dallas area for all things Studio Ghibli. We finally made it by Anime Pop which is a wonderful stop for all things anime. A very hot, yet fun, but still quite dorky way to start up the summer!

New Orleans City Park

While we try to visit New Orleans every few months, this was our first time to City Park in the northern part of the city. The park is a beautiful and very large 1400 acre complex that has something for everyone. We got the sounds of Jazz Fest brass bands, echos of The Black Keys on the main stage, actors performing Shakespeare in the park, we got some bicycle riding in, enjoyed the fresh air, people watching among the always kind people of NOLA and New Orleans Museum of Art Sculpture Garden. The great joy of New Orleans is always the feeling you get when you arrive and you hear that random and unexpected music playing in the air and the city comes alive. It’s a great place to be, and can we just say how we had the best grilled cheese of our entire life at Il Posto in Uptown. A great first day back in our favorite city. More to come…..

(And lastly, can I just say that these new shoes I purchased are the most bike friendly shoes I own!)

Smattering of Here & There

We’ve been super busy over here. And loving every.minute.of it!

P.S. Cinnamon Sugar Popovers, are a must. Give them a try if you are up for deliciousness.

Popovers

Valentine’s Day came very early for us this year. My parents were incredibly kind and generous in that they surprised us with a brand spanking new iPad Mini. Something we quite needed to make our business even better! But as Apple products are so versatile, we know that it is not just for Lost in Drawers Vintage but also for recipes in the kitchen (I mean why not)! And being that a new recipe was to be tried, we found ourselves buying a new popover pan and trying these Blarney Castle cheese (similar to gouda) & Black Pepper popovers to go along with our soups that we have been making. I mean, who doesn’t love bread and cheese and butter and cheese again?

And we do have to say they turned out pretty great, crispy on the outside and soft chewy and cheesy on the inside.

Try popovers!

ingredients
2 cups whole milk
4 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 ounces Gruyère cheese, cut into 16 small cubes, plus freshly grated cheese for garnish

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 375˚ and position a rack in the bottom third. Place 2 muffin pans (or enough to make 16 popovers) in the oven to warm.
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2. In a small saucepan, warm the milk over medium heat until it is hot (about 125˚) but not boiling. Remove from the heat. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the salt and black pepper until smooth. Slowly whisk in the warm milk. Add the flour and whisk until the batter is just combined. (It may be slightly lumpy.)
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3. Remove the muffin pans from the oven. Spray the pans generously with nonstick cooking spray. Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter into each of 16 muffin cups. Set a cube of the cheese on top of the batter in each cup.
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4. Bake the popovers until puffed and deep golden brown, about 40 minutes (do not open the door or they may collapse). Remove the popovers from the pans, sprinkle with the grated Gruyère and serve immediately.

Recipe

Food Friday

Perfection all wrapped up in a little pie! Can not wait to make this!

Salted-Caramel Apple Pie
makes one 9″ pie, serves 6-8 adults
(can be shared with kids 12+ mos)*

For the pie:
your favorite pie dough, chilled, enough for a 9″ double crust pie (I use Martha Stewart’s Pate Brise)
6 large apples (mixed variety, if possible), peeled, cored and very thinly sliced
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling (optional)
2 tablespoons flour
1 egg, beaten

For the caramel (adapted from Gourmet; makes 1 cup):
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel, plus more for sprinkling (optional)
3/4 cup granualted sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. On a floured work surface, roll dough into two circles with a diameter slightly larger than 9-inches. Press one of the circles into a pie plate. Place the other one on parchment or wax paper and cover with plastic wrap. Place both in the refrigerator to chill until ready to use.

2. In a large bowl, toss apple slices with sugar and flour. Set aside.

3. Make the caramel: bring cream, butter and fleur de sel to a boil in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and set aside. In a separate heavy saucepan, bring sugar, corn syrup and water to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil, without stirring but gently swirling pan, until mixture is a light golden caramel color. Carefully stir in cream mixture (mixture will bubble up) and simmer, stirring frequently, until caramel registers 248°F on thermometer. Take off heat, pour into a tall glass or ceramic container and set aside.

4. Drain any liquid that may have accumulated in the apple bowl. Remove pie plate with crust from the refrigerator. Add about a quarter of the prepped apples and drizzle about a quarter of the caramel sauce on top. (Note: if the caramel has set to the point where it will not pour, place the glass or ceramic container in the microwave for just a few seconds or place in a hot water bath to liquify the caramel.) Repeat three more times, adding a quarter of the apples and a quarter of the caramel each time, until all of both are done. Be sure to finish with the caramel.

5. Remove the top crust from the refrigerator and use it to cover the pie. Crimp around the edges and make several slits or cut out holes for venting. Lightly brush the top of the crust with egg and sprinkle with granulated sugar and, if you like your sweet-and-salty treats on the saltier side, just a little fleur de sel.

6. Line a baking sheet large enough to hold the pie plate with aluminum foil. Place pie plate on the sheet and bake uncovered until the crust turns a light golden brown, about 35 minutes. Cover loosely with tin foil and continue baking until the pie is bubbling and the crust is the perfect golden brown, another 15-25 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

*Note: Though there is nothing in this pie that is unsafe for early eaters, I recommend this for kids 12+ months due to the high sugar content. Regardless of kiddo’s age, be sure to serve age-appropriate portions. A little bit of this sweet treat goes a long way with little ones!

Photos and Recipe via One Hungry Mama!

Thank-full

Let’s just start this out by saying we had the privilege of having both of our families over to our house for thanksgiving. Considering the wealth of  experience our respective mothers have hosting holiday feasts, needless to say the bar had been set.

So, we tried to put on our Sunday best, for when family is coming over you want to go all out. Bo wore quite the manly lumberjack shirt, Emory donned his Pilgrim hat and I wore a dress I bought 5 months ago. And if Thanksgiving isn’t a time for polka dots, then I just don’t know what is.

We really tried not to stress out about having family over. Both families in OUR house has never occurred. Our families haven’t really had the chance to be around each other that much.  Throw in the fact that there would be cooking and decorating involved? It is apparent stress would tend to come on full force. So, we tried to be on our A game.

I decided to use a LOT of flowers in all the Mason jars Bo keeps insisting we buy, and an assortment of vintage plates. Not that it mattered what they looked like, as every plate was covered in my husband’s feast. I was proud of him when everyone at the table said his turkey was the best they had ever had. (I mean they have to say that, right? No but really it was incredibly good.) It was an incredibly traditional thanksgiving (full of brown food?), and we are thankful to be well fed.

And we are so blessed and the list of things to be thankful for starts with family. We love our families so much, and to be around them for the holidays and all the trips my family makes to see us is a major blessing. It’s a part of what makes our life so great. So, while our families are different (in the best ways), days like to day show what a premium it is to make memories. We have a great life together, full of more joy than challenges. So, here is to a Thanksgiving together with those we love and a Happy Holidays to come.

Twenty-Eight

It’s here, my 28th year is finally here. And what better way to be in your late 20s better than hot pants, standing on a rock and while we’re at it, Austin BBQ!

28 years. 28 years of learning about life, making so many mistakes, growing into maturity, failing,  and succeeding. My life has been full to the brim so far, and while the challenges are present every day, I don’t think I would change most things.

Looking back at all I’ve lived, what would I tell myself at 18? I’m worlds away from the girl I was at 18. I would tell myself to have patience.  To be brave and bold with every choice and action. Also, to slow down and breathe in the good in the world.

So, being from Texas and it being my birthday, why not make a special trip to Austin via a stop at West, TX for kolaches. Can we say enough about Czech Stop of West TX? Simply the BEST kolaches and we may have purchased too many? Never past West without stopping. Ever.

Austin was busy and very hot as always. But hot or not there was BBQ to try. We decided on Stiles Switch BBQ in north Austin, and it proved central Texas BBQ is always amazing. (Best ribs of my life) The capital at dusk was very nice, but soon enough it was time to get back to a certain Pomeranian waiting patiently at home.

All in all, a full day as my 28th year ramps up, for Disney World among other things!

Here’s to you, twenty-eight.

We Love You New Orleans

Without the bad, we wouldn’t have the good. Right..right? This is something people say, yes? No, but really our trip to New Orleans for our 3rd anniversary began with quite a series of challenges. We were along on our trip, listening to music, talking about life and what not. And what do we hear? A big bang – as our brand new tire completely shreds and takes half of our bumper off! Nice. We were stranded on the side of the road, with puppy in tow and in a Texas summer…not cool, life. Not cool at all. But we didn’t give up. We limped on our spare tire to family, where a home cooked meal by Heather’s mom made everything okay.

So we are on the way…we got to New Orleans at dusk and the city was alive at night, where you can feel the energy on every street. We settled in, not know what challenges lay ahead. We woke to a morning thunderstorm, which makes vacationing in a city with your puppy almost impossible. Frustrated at losing half a day, we waited out the storm and headed out into the city where our air conditioning in our car quit working. Granted, New Orleans is not North Texas but it is sub-tropical and steamy. You NEED air conditioning. All these things: the tire, the bumper, the rain, the A/C…it was almost enough to give up and go home. But we stopped down, we prayed over the car and everything else and we determined to stay. And you know what? We parked the car, went on a walk along the canal and ate lunch at Stanley (With the most delicious pancakes with vanilla ice cream and Louisiana cane syrup with blueberries!) in the Quarter.

We were determined. And when we started up the car as the temp rose over 95 degrees? The air conditioning began working, and even better than before. It was enough to bring one to tears of gratitude. And, our trip took off and we had a blast visiting favorites restaurants and exploring new corners of this city that we now love. The parks, the architecture, the neighborhoods, the food and the people. New Orleans has a sense of its soul as a city. As we took in the city the next morning as all was quiet, it was a time to be grateful that our prayers were answered and that we never gave up. It felt like we were in step with a city that in its own way teaches one to never give up. New Orleans, thank you for stealing our hearts…again.

We intentionally forget our Canon at home and just brought film cameras and of course our iphones-can’t wait to get our film back until then…a few shots from the weekend!

Peach Cobbler Pie

You may ask…what’s the deal with all the pie talk? Simply put I’m a bit obsessed with pie. First, some back story. Ever since I was young, I hated the kitchen (my mother is a beyond wonderful baker, but she just couldn’t convince to get myself in the kitchen). My family would poke fun at me about not even wanting to get corn dogs out of the oven. A corny joke still going on in our family today.

I’ve since grown to love our kitchen, as evident by the fact that I’m not afraid of the oven. This weekend my family came to visit for the 4th of July, and my mom, out of nowhere , brought me a present. As I reached in the bag, my heart skipped a happy beat. It was an entire pie making kit that she put together for me. I mean…what a mother. She is so giving and incredibly lovely. She knows that I’m much more into baking than actual “cooking.” Receiving this gift led me to look for days for a simple but perfect recipe featuring ingredients we had in our kitchen. Everything worked out, even the from scratch pie dough except for the lattice work…I guess you can’t win them all. And Emory watched over the whole scene as I made a mess with dough and flour flying. This is the first from scratch pie, let alone anything I’ve ever made from scratch. So, when it turned out great, let’s just day that I’m pretty pumped. What is better than flaky buttery pie crust, sweet peaches and Blue Bell ice cream? Nothing I tell ya! Today is definitely a good, no, a great day.

And please excuse the temporary table, as with moving and all, we still have things in boxes and have yet to get our kitchen a proper island! Hear that Bo, a proper island!

New Orleans Part Three

C’est Si Bon, New Orleans from Lost In Drawers on Vimeo.

We love Sunday mornings. Especially when in a new city like New Orleans, you can really get a sense of the soul of the city in the quiet of a Sunday morning where tourists are leaving and the locals are easily going about their day. The energy is authentic in such a moment, not manufactured by tourism or commerce. We had glimpsed so much of the heart and soul of this Crescent City all weekend. The music of the street performers drifting through the streets and back alleys, the love you felt in every bite of local food and the friendliness of people who love this town.

The first night we were in town, we had drifted through the Quarter, taking in the spectacle of Bourbon Street when we came across a duo of two street performers. These two ladies were engrossed in playing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” on violin and steel bodied guitar. It was a moment that while it was a performance, it was more a glimpse into the spiritual soul of a city. New Orleans has been through a lot, but its people showed us that they hold on and they make it and then make art out of the struggle.

We further felt out the city’s rhythm as we walked through the neighborhood with Emory, gave into the greatness yet again of Artz Bagelz (our favorite) and Community smoothies.  We took in the majestic oak trees of Audubon Park and then made our way back the French Quarter for time with family and to soak in all we could of a place that is now special to us. And what better way to spend a Sunday than with people we love, exploring shops and then finding brunch in a courtyard cafe with just a enough shade from the Summer sun. I don’t think we could stop smiling and yet wishing time would stop, because we really found something here in New Orleans. You can’t manufacture soul, and we really learned that:

“Dreams really do come true in New Orleans”

C’est le bon, New Orleans, C’est le bon!