What I Ate: April 22, 2009 (Luvianos)

We had to run out to get some supplies so we could start cooking at home, so, on the way, we stopped at a local restaurant in Kyle - Luvianos Mexican Restaurant (804 W Center St, Kyle, TX‎ - (512) 268-4380‎). I ordered the Luvianos Combination which is one chalupa, one tamale, and one enchilada. They were okay, but I wouldn't recommend this place or go out of my way to eat here. I look forward to trying some other Mexican/TexMex restaurants in Kyle.



For dinner, Tina and I tried to cook. It's our first time in our unfamiliar kitchen with only a fraction of the kitchen supplies I'm used to having. The first (and last) problem we faced was the ridiculous sink. We have a pretty common sink style - it's a stainless steel double basin sink that's fairly shallow - about 5.5 inches. The faucet is controlled by two knobs. This really doesn't facilitate quick and easy cleaning in the kitchen. I had to buy smaller cutting boards since my large wood ones can't really be properly cleaned in the sink. Sinks should be large and deep with faucets that are controlled by one lever so I don't have to continually stop and turn both knobs to shut off the water and adjust the hot/cold ratio. We also didn't have access to any of my sheet pans (which would have been one time use anyway since they don't fit in the sink and don't fit in the dishwasher. Oh, the dishwasher is also ridiculous - it's laid out in such a way that I can't efficiently arrange plates for a full load. There's also no center column to allow a second spray arm. I really want to replace the sink, faucet, and dishwasher, but it's not going to happen. This is a rental house and any upgrades we do to it aren't going to increase the property value by much and we're probably not going to get more than a year's worth of use out of them. Without sheetpans, I had to cook my oven roasted potatoes in a pot so they didn't end up tasting how I like them.

I also cooked a steak in a pan with some butter. I miss having a grill…

Tina cooked up about two pounds of turnip greens. (Unfortunately, she used a colander than almost doesn't fit in the sink. What a pain to wash.)