Family Time

We had a wonderful Saturday in Austin, starting with lunch at Vivo (I thought it was Bevo) with Mike and Shannon, followed by a visit at Chris’ house (where he and Louis were making a dove appetizer) and then on to Jessie and Troy’s for dinner and visiting.

I wish I’d had my camera with me at Vivo’s to take pictures of their outdoor garden. It’s everything you want in a patio garden – lush and green with lots of flowers. The inside of the restaurant was also nice. The ladies restroom had a series of beautiful black and white photographs featuring an absolutely gorgeous black man and white woman – the guy was all muscles and strength while the woman looked fluid and smooth like she’d been practicing dance or yoga for about a million years. My favorite photograph was of the woman tossed over the man’s shoulders, with her long hair hanging straight down around his knees. Did I mention they were nude?

When we arrived at Chris’ house, he and Louis (his roommate) were making homemade dove bites – a dove breast, small chunk of cheese and slice of fresh jalapeno wrapped in bacon and baked. When they were almost done, they slathered some BBQ sauce on top. They were a perfect combination of flavors and absolutely delicious!

When I was growing up, my dad used to make Jack Daniel’s Doves – as I recall the recipe called for browning the dove breast pieces, then cooking for hours in a mixture of Lipton’s Onion Soup and Jack Daniel’s so they would get tenderized, and then serving the doves and sauce atop a wild rice medley. They were delicious. I remember though, that in addition to lots of bourbon, it was important to cook them for hours so they’d be tender.

Anyway, Chris’ doves were absolutely fantastic after 30- to 45 minutes in the oven. Maybe all those years ago we should have made the Jack Daniel’s sauce and topped it with doves that had simply been lightly browned for about the same amount of time it takes to cook a chicken liver. Hum.

Jessie and Troy’s new place is just perfect – nice layout and perfectly sized for their family of 3. They live in an “adult” place with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a nice sized living room and dining room and a large outside deck. I think Jessie’s “bohemian East Dallas” livin’ days might be over. I suspect those days were fun, but there’s a lot to be said for a nicely made bed, and plenty of wide-open carpeted area for a toddler to use as an indoor playground.

We also had a nice visit with Rory. She is doing well, and has a beautiful new Explorer in the drive. I’m proud of her! Rory, Adam her boyfriend, Lauren (Chris’ girlfriend), and Keith and I played several hands of Crazy Eights. Do I need to share that I have a hard time remembering what the different suits are called? Hearts and diamonds are down, but I’m afraid I get a little fuzzy with spades and clubs. Why isn’t the club simply called a paw, or a clover?

Saturday night we stayed at our favorite Austin hotel, Barton Creek Resort & Spa. We’ve stayed there several times and really like rooms 173 and 174 – they are at the end of the hallway in the Spa area. Here’s the view from the very small balcony. The room, by the way, parallels the view – with a king sized bed and good linens (“we must upgrade our linens” Keith says each time we stay there) plus two chaise lounges. If we had a giant bedroom, and if we watched TV in our bedroom, I would want a couple of the chaise lounges in our bedroom.