The Lowe Blog » food

Thank you Benjamin and Panera Bread

Cheryl — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 03:10:12 +0000

So I’ve been feeling a little crummy for the past 48 hours due to some killer back and neck pain… I feel much better right now and praise God for that. Thought I would share a bit about this evening’s escapades, since pregnancy sometimes makes for amusing stories… (The short version is: My husband is wonderful, and Panera Bread saved my LIFE) : )

Long version:

At dinner time today, Hannah and I NEEDED some soup (preferably in a bread bowl, but trying not to be picky). Naturally, I set to work searching the Austin area over the internet for promising restaurants with yummy soup selections. If you know of a great place to get soup, please comment here and let me know! We had quite a time finding satisfactory soup!

We stopped at a new place for us that we found online, Kiefer’s Cafe, (great reviews) but they are closed on Saturday! : ( So, we stopped at Potbelly at Arbor Walk. They had 2 soup selections, neither appetizing… so we left. We even stopped to check out the menu at Mimi’s Cafe… not inspiring. We climbed back into the car, (Ben shaking his head at me, but wanting me to be happy) and drove toward the Gateway shopping center.

Lo and behold, there was Panera Bread! My friend Kristi recommended it to me a while ago, but I’ve never managed to make it inside. I knew they had salads and sandwiches, so I asked Ben to stop by so we could check out the soup selection. Much to my delight, they not only had yummy soup choices, but in beautiful sourdough bread bowls!!!

I had the broccoli cheddar and relished every bite. I can’t tell you how happy it made me! Isn’t it funny how the little things in life can be so enjoyable? I’d like to thank my sweet husband for his sense of humor and for driving me around town to my heart’s content, and of course – Panera Bread, for their delicious soup and bread bowl. Mmmmmm! : )

Uninspired

Cheryl — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:47:13 +0000

So, I am about 6 weeks away from meeting my little girl… Yay! I can’t wait to see her Daddy holding her. We are in the process of packing a bag for the hospital, figuring out how that car seat straps into the back seat, and finalizing our birth plan. I’m now visiting the doc every week. So far, so good!

One dilemma I’m up against tonight (and often, lately) is lack of inspiration to cook. Planning, gathering, and creating meals is just not flowing out of me lately!! Just going to the grocery store is exhausting. My old secret weapon, allrecipes.com, is even failing to light my flame of culinary creativity. (Sigh)

Sweet Benjamin has been very understanding and appreciative of the spotty instances of a well-thought-out meal… I eat lots of fruit, yogurt, cheese and such. (Smoothies… mmm) We enjoy eating out, but it’s too expensive to become habit, and so we are often left to add small things up and call it “dinner.”

I hope this cooking rut disappears when I have a little munchkin in the Moby Wrap to “help” me!

7 Layer Taco Dip… Get Excited

Cheryl — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:33:30 +0000

I just made this for a birthday party tonight and I can’t wait to EAT it!! : )

(Check out the Saltillo tile in our new kitchen!)

Ti Quan Yin vs. Frozen Peak

Ben — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 18:30:35 +0000

I find the Frozen Peak organic oolong I got from Tea Embassy to be much better than the Ti Quan Yin I got from specialteas.com. I’ll have to do a post on the tea samples I got sometime.

Trip to the Tea Embassy

Ben — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 04:22:22 +0000

Today I took a trip with some friends to the Tea Embassy for the first time. It is a little shop in downtown Austin off of 9th and Rio Grande. They sell loose leaf teas from all around the world, and today they had a special on oolong tea and related products. We sampled four different oolongs, and witnessed a demonstration of the Gong Fu method.

I got to speak with Jonathan, one of the owners, for some time. He was very kind and told me about himself, the shop, and teas. I ended up buying some Frozen Peak Organic Oolong that came from Taiwan. I also bought a little teapot, which I believe is called a Gaibei. I will use it almost exclusively for oolong tea, and will be able to do the Gong Fu method with it.

The Gong Fu method basically consists of steeping the tea multiple times, with each successive infusion lasting longer than the previous one. The different complexities of the tea can be tasted with each infusion and it is quite a wonderful experience.

I will definitely be going back to the Tea Embassy soon. If you’re in the Austin area you should check them out. They also have an online store at TeaTreasures.com.

Tea Embassy

Ben — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 15:39:56 +0000

I may be going down to the Tea Embassy today. Apparently they have a deal on monkey picked oolong (which is really good stuff.) I’m excited because I haven’t been down there yet.

Pasta Time

Ben — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 07:01:00 +0000

My parents bought me this awesome pasta maker for my birthday, and I finally got around to using it today! I found some semolina flour at the grocery store and made a basic pasta with it. For my next batch I will probably try to mix half and half semolina and all-purpose flour, since I hear that many people like to do that. The pure semolina was fantastic, but its a little more expensive.

More Bread…

Ben — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:09:00 +0000

Yeah I know I’m weird. This is 100% whole wheat sourdough. Its really strong. I like it.

Bread

Ben — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 06:23:00 +0000

Recently I’ve had quite a preoccupation baking bread. It started a couple years ago when I decided I wanted to make homemade pizza crust. Since then it has become some kind of delicious monster. I’ve even gotten some sourdough starter from my mom and have been using it to make sourdough bread, using only the starter and no yeast. Its pretty tricky, but when the bread turns out, it sure is delicious. Here’s a rather poor shot (because I was using my phone) of some sourdough I made today.