Lunch: We headed to Luling's City Market (633 E Davis St, Luling, TX‎ - (830) 875-9019‎) which is supposed to be one of the best barbecues in Texas.

We ordered 1/2 pound brisket, 2 pounds spare ribs, and 1 sausage ring for Tina, myself, and Tina's parents.

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What I Ate: July 4, 2009 (City Market)

Dinner: Indian Taj Palace (20323 Huebner Rd # 107, San Antonio, TX‎ - (210) 497-4800‎) with Braden, Kelly, and Dan in North San Antonio for dinner buffet. I was quite happy with the food - lots of great flavor, just enough spiciness, and an ample mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian favorites. I had tandoori chicken, okra, samosa, aloo gobi, saag paneer, vegetable biriyani, chicken tikka masala, chicken curry, vegetable vindaloo, and finished up with a few desserts (kheer, mango pudding, and some soft cheese thing in sweet milk).

Lunch: We were late going down to San Antonio, so we grabbed chicken nuggets from Wendy's and ate it in the car. I, uh, forgot to take a picture.

Lunch: Had a late lunch and had to scrounge around in the freezer for something I could heat up quickly. Ended up with a batch of fish sticks and a pork zong zi (sticky rice with a filling cooked in bamboo leaves).

Dinner: I had a previously cooked ribeye steak in the refrigerator but nothing to eat with it. So, a few minutes before 9pm (when everything in Kyle is closed except the What-A-Burger), I ran out to the Railroad Bar-B-Que and picked up cole slaw and potato salad. I really liked the cole slaw (not too sweet) but the potato salad was a little too mustardy for me.

Lunch: I ate some left over deli items we had - mortadella, black forest ham, head cheese, cucumbers, and rosemary and olive oil bread with an egg fried sunny side up.

Dinner: Tina cooked an oxtail with daikon soup.

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What I Ate: July 1, 2009

Dinner: Tina cooked a green bell pepper, dried bean curd, and pork (Berkshire loin) stir-fry.

We ate that with leftover vegetable biriyani and sauteed broccoli rabe.

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What I Ate: June 30, 2009

Dinner: I cooked a large (2-1/2 pound) USDA Prime bone-in ribeye steak. Low and slow in the oven at 200°F until the interior was a little over 130°F. Then I finished it on the stove top in a fry pan with half a stick of butter. This piece had the largest spinalis dorsi (the ribeye cap) that I've ever seen. I trimmed the cap off the ribeye and served that to Tina and myself. This is the best steak I've cooked since moving to Texas and one of the better ones I've ever done. I'm especially proud since I previously did steaks only on the grill (which I don't have anymore) and it's been difficult for me to get my steaks to where I like them to be with my indoor cooking equipment.

I sauteed fresh okra pods that I purchased yesterday with a chopped up jalapeno chile in the butter that I used to form the crust on the steak. The beef and the okra together made one of the most satisfying dinners I've had in a while.

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What I Ate: June 29, 2009

Lunch: We went back to The Salt Lick for lunch. This is probably the last time for a while. The food's still good and the environment is a lot of fun, but there are a lot more restaurants in and around Austin to try, so we're going to take a break. The only reason we even went was last Tuesday's episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Food Network.

We weren't surprised that The Salt Lick was featured on an episode about the best barbeque celebrity chef's have had, but we were surprised that Bobby Flay chose it (two chef's chose The Salt Lick) for their Beef Ribs which are only available on Sunday afternoons. On Sundays, we always get the Baby Back Ribs (also a Sunday only special) which we think are the best barbeque at The Salt Lick. So, I made us go back again and order the Beef Ribs.

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What I Ate: June 28, 2009 (The Salt Lick)

Dinner: Tina and I attended a vegetarian Indian cooking class taught by Chaya Rao in her lovely home. Chaya used to be an IT instructor before changing careers and now teaches Indian Cooking (she's been an instructor at Whole Foods and Central Market in the past) as well as running Vegicurean.

I was photographing most of the time and didn't write anything down (Chaya will email the recipes to us later) so hopefully, I'll correctly identify what I ate. (If anyone else who was at the class reads this and can put in there two cents, I'd appreciate it!) Chaya started off the dinner by showing us how to make these deep fried potato appetizers. Seasoned Yukon Gold potatoes were riced, seasoned, rolled into balls, then dipped into a batter of chickpea flour, rice flour, salt, and baking powder before being fried. They were soft and fluffy and incredibly flavorful. She served them with a simple (but incredibly flavored) carrot salad and two chutneys she prepared beforehand.

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What I Ate: June 27, 2009 (Chaya's Indian Cooking Class)

Lunch: Chicken Marsala, Capellini, and Okra

Dinner: We went to the Luling Watermelon Thump and had street food for dinner. It was pretty hot out there so we started off with a large serving of shaved ice (with watermelon and strawberry syrup) followed by some pork rinds (we couldn't resist - Tina and I had been craving chicharrones for the last week). On our way out of the festival, we passed a stand selling pupusas - a Salvadorean flatbread stuffed with meat and cheese. We each got ourselves a pupusa de chicharon con quezo (according to the sign). There is definitely a joy to eating street food that I can't get elsewhere. We also had several large cups of aguas frescas - horchata, watermelon, cantaloupe, and pineapple.

Dinner: Pan fried leftover dumplings

Silken Tofu in Oyster Sauce

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What I Ate: June 25, 2009