Note of the Living Deb

Whenever Robin brings me to 99 Ranch (an Asian grocer) at Airport and Lamar, I go to The Gaming Goat (a game store) instead and wait for him there. This time, he had a lot of things on his list, so I took a detour to 85°C Bakery Cafe, just to look, but could not resist some of the pastries. So pretty and delicious looking!

How it works

I watched other people to figure out how to properly buy things. Turn right inside the door and pick up a tray, a paper, and some tongs. Then use the tongs to get the things you want onto your tray. (Keep the tongs on your tray rather than putting them back.)

Everything is labeled with names that don't quite make it perfectly clear what you're getting, but they also list what appear to be common allergens, so that's nice.

Then they have an amusement-park type queue, but shorter and with standing-height tables where you can set your tray and slide it along while you're waiting. When you're next, the cashier calls you, etc. They put each thing into its own separate plastic bag and then put all the bags into a bigger plastic bag or cardboard box. I was able to talk her into putting two like items into the same small plastic bag.

You can eat there, but we brought our things home and toasted them on "medium" in our toaster oven and that was perfect.

What we got

After Robin met me, I lured him over there and he couldn't resist getting something, too.

First I got a wheat mushroom (photo by Diana G.) bread that was obviously covered in melted cheese as well. This was soft and delicious.

Then I got potato croquettes. They were not like the ones in Amsterdam, but still good, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, with a bit of mashed potato/corn filling and a delectable aroma.

Finally I got a chocolate cream cheese bread, which is not pretty when you open it, but was tasty, with a layer of cream cheese and chocolate chips melted inside a large chocolate roll.

Robin got a spicy sausage (picture by Tintu V.), also soft and delicious and definitely spicy hot. Quite unsubtle, unlike the other things.

All of these things were super fresh: soft on the inside and, if they were supposed to be, crispy on the outside.

He had also gotten a pastry from 99 Ranch, which also has the self-service tong system. It was a delicate flaky pastry with curry inside, also delicious (assuming you like curry).

There is plenty of parking, plus bus and tram stops.

More information I got from reading the website and reviews

The name comes from the perfect temperature for coffee.

This is a Taiwanese bakery chain; the founder wanted to make fabulous baked goods at affordable prices. (Most of my things were about $2.) I'm starting to think I prefer Asian baked goods over Mexican baked goods. Neither are super sweet like American baked goods can be, but Asian ones tend to be more like Leonidas Belgian chocolates, where even the bad flavors are still delicious, though the Mexican ones are still better than Whitman's Sampler chocolates, where even the best flavors aren't very good.

It looks like the favorite is egg tarts, which are apparently custard tarts. The taro buns and matcha choco buns are also popular. But perhaps not the cakes or the tiramisu. And there are all kinds of interesting and fabulous beverages.

Apparently they can't warm your pastries for you. And it can get quite crowded and they can run out of baked goods.

I also learned some new vocabulary words from the reviewers:
* pastes de nata - custard cups, a Portuguese dessert (I can't tell if this is the same thing as the "egg tarts.")
* carbovore - ha!

The Austin Eater likes to list the 38 essential Austin restaurants and update that list each month. I think restaurants are like music albums and authors--I don't want to call one the best unless pretty much everything is wonderful. I'd prefer to talk about dishes (and songs and stories), but I still have the problem that I haven't been to every restaurant. But, that doesn't have to stop me. Let the discussions begin.

Here are my favorite dishes*:

Barbecue: - Franklin's - the line is crazy long, but everything is good; my favorite is the chopped beef sandwich

Barbecue, runner-up for brisket: Rudy's - the only other brisket in town that's so flavorful it doesn't need barbecue sauce

Barbecue, runner-up for ribs: Salt Lick - a little sweet, but tasty

Burger: not sure; ever changing. Currently I like North by Northwest's angus beef burger with huntsman (cheddar + bleu) cheese and Alama Drafthouse Theatre's spicy blue cheese burger.

Burritos: Freebirds (chain)

Chicken tikka masala: Bombay Bistro

Chocolate cake: tie - Texas French Bread's Hyde Park fudge cake and whatever Santa brought me from Cheesecake Factory (chain) (blackout cake?)

Chocolate cake, runner-up: Mother's Cafe's Belgian chocolate cake (vegan)

Corn bread: East Side Cafe's jalapeno cheese cornbread (sadly, totally evil according to the recipe in their cookbook)

Enchiladas: Corazon at Castle Hill's chicken enchilada's suizas - "Two enchiladas filled with achiote-lime roasted chicken, cilantro, and jack cheese, then served in a sauce made from swiss cheese and sour cream. These are topped with ancho chile adobo and charred poblano salsa fresca. Includes sides of rice and beans." Very interesting.

Enchiladas, enchilada plate: La Palapa's beef enchiladas with red sauce - my favorite Tex-Mex enchilada plate--not too greasy, but still has the magic flavors

Enchiladas, green: El Chile's enchiladas verdes - normally I prefer ground beef or cheese enchiladas with red sauce, but these green chicken enchiladas are excellent (and the best thing at this restaurant).

Fajitas: Lupe Tortilla (chain): best flour tortillas in town with extremely delicious meat (both the beef and chicken)

Fried pickles: Second Bar + Kitchen's buffalo fried pickles - I used to think fried pickles sounded disgusting, but it it turns out that when you slice them, bread them, fry them, drizzle hot oil on them, and then provide a bleu cheese dipping sauce, they become irresistible to me

Fried Rice: tie - Tan My - I get the chicken and ask for extra bean sprouts to be mixed in; there's another place down south I can't remember

Gelato: La Dolce Vita's dark chocolate (or maybe I like gelato from all places; not sure)

Ham and Cheese: Upper Crust Bakery's ham and cheese brioche (available Saturday mornings only)

Ham and Cheese, runner-up: Hyde Park's fried egg sandwich

Ham and cheese, other runner-up: the Monte Christo at Bennigan's (chain)

Hummus: Star Seeds Cafe, open 24 hours - always different, but always good

Ice cream: Amy's (though I've still never been to Marble Slab)

Macaroni and cheese: Hyde Park Bar and Grill - very cheesy with seasoned breadcrumbs on top

Migas: Cisco's - I like the migas taco and it's super cheap and filling, too.

Milkshakes: 24 Diner and also Sonic (they both have peanut butter shakes; it's possible that I like milkshakes everywhere)

Muffins: Z'Tejas apple muffins (really carrot cake muffins)

Pizza, stuffed: Mangia's spinach flavor stuffed pizza, of all things

Pizza, thin crust: tie - Brick Oven (though I was disappointed last time) and Niki's Pizza (in Dobie Mall on campus)

Salads: tie - East Side Cafe's mixed field green salad (the key is the blob of fried goat cheese) and Hyde Park Bar and Grill's Asian chicken salad (just a good combination)

Salads, runner-up: Mimi's Cafe (chain) - don't remember which, but I do remember I quite liked them.

Salad, side: tie - Monument Cafe's with their house dressing, a vinaigrette, and La Madelleine's Ceasar salade

Strawberries: la Madeleine (chain) - always delicious as if they are always in season, even without the Romanoff sauce

Sushi, fake: How Do You Roll (click on link for review)

Sushi, fake, runner-up: Roll On Sushi Diner's Cholesta Roll (chicken fried steak and a green bean surrounded by mashed potatoes and a soy wrapper, tumpura fried, served on a bed of cream gravy); the Grouch looks good, too (roasted chicken, green chile, jack cheese, caramelized onions, arugula, chipotle aioli, and rice in a soy wrapper)

Tacos, chicken, soft: Lupe Tortilla - flavorful chicken rolled up in a delicious flour tortilla and covered in sauce and loads of sharp cheese

Tomato soup: la Madeleine's tomato basil soup - the regular is slightly yummier than the light, but both are winners

Beyond Austin

Artopitas: Artopolis - this is a savory stuffed pastry; all the flavors we tried were good; they also have an interesting excellent potato salad (tastes like it involves sour cream)

Blueberry sauce (for crepes, blintzes): Bellagio buffet (Las Vegas) - actually tastes like blueberries instead of flavored syrup

Cheese sandwiches - Pret a Manger (chain) - sort of like pimento cheese, but with cheese, green onions, and mayonnaise.

Chicken tikka masala - actually the best I've ever had was from a grocery store in London (I forget which one)

Chocolate croissants: that bakery in Belgium down the street from where my sister used to live; they also had great custard-filled things of all kinds

French toast - "Sputniks" at Sherman cafeteria at Brandeis (Waltham, MA) - French toast with a "surprise" inside, which turned out to be ice cream

Gryo cheeseburger: Max's Take Out (Chicago) (admittedly, the only gyro cheeseburger I've ever tasted)

Omelets: Disney World's Denver omelet (even though I don't much like green bell peppers) (Florida)

Pizza: Athen's Pizza (Atlanta); haven't been there in ages, so I'm not sure if it's still a favorite; one of the cheeses in the toppings is feta

Tuna salad sandwiches - some gas stations in Belgium; it's not really a great idea to have tuna salad on baguette bread because it all squishes out the side when you bite it, but sooo yummy.

*I'm not talking about things like gyros, spring rolls, and granola because my favorite places for those are gone.

And I'm not talking about favorites from outside of restaurants like asparagus (JA), biscuits (Mom), chicken pot pie (Marie Calendar, frozen), chocolate chip cookies (McK), crepes (P. family), devilled eggs (my family), mashed potatoes (Robin), meatloaf (JM), Mushrooms (Tam's old professor), pancakes (my family), pie (Mom), potato salad (my family), pumpkin pie cookies (LP), rice pudding (P. family), spaghetti (my family), or spiced nuts (WK).

I've lived near the Quality Seafood Market (at Airport and Koenig) for a decade and a half, and I've never gone inside until this year. That's because it looks like some sort of smelly seafood shop, full of smelly raw seafood. I don't like seafood, unless Long John Silver's counts. And I don't like cooking meat: if I leave it in the fridge too long, it goes bad, and if I leave it in the freezer, I never feel like thawing it.

Nevertheless, I like this place.

That's because it also has a restaurant. And the restaurant serves food I like. (Check out the menu.) The fried cod is not batter-dipped like at Long John Silver's, but it's obviously good fish, and it's yummy enough not to need any sauce. The salads are good and the bleu cheese dressing has plenty of flavor to it. The fries are fine, and the macaroni and cheese is very cheesy, though made with spaghetti for the macaroni, and probably with Velveeta.

I still want to try the cornbread, hushpuppies, and pie.

And Robin, who actually likes seafood, likes the blackened salmon best, but also likes the shrimp, the fish tacos (best with avocado sauce), the broccoli (though slightly more cooked than he likes) and the salads.

I started trying out the original dinner, but now I just order a la cart. One piece of fried cod and a side of macaroni and cheese are plenty of food for only $4.

Good seafood is not easy to find in this town, so if you've given up, Deb-Bob says try again.

The only problems are that it is busy (though we've always been able to find a table) and it's not open on Sunday.

Overall, it gets two thumbs up!

(My apologies if you think I'm writing about manga. If you accidentally read that, you know much more about manga than I do.)

Late this afternoon my dad called saying that he was working at a job in Marble Falls and would probably be done in time to meet us for dinner. Did I have any plans this evening? Yes, a hustle workshop from 7:30 to 9:45. Well, we might be able to do something.

If you know anything about my family, you know the answer to this is, "Ha!" You've got to admire the never-ending optimism, though.

I've learned probably all the hustle that my teacher would probably be able to cover in a 2.5-hour class, so we decided R. would go to that, and I would go to dinner.

Marble Falls is due west of my town, but there are no direct routes. Dad said he could arrive south, which probably has better roads, or north. I recommended the northern route because it's closer to his house, which is 200 miles north of my house. The north route brings him to northern Round Rock.

Did I mention that today is my dad's birthday? My dad's sixty-fifth birthday? A very big birthday. And based on what I know about my dad, he would not be thrilled. What I know about my dad is that I came into his bedroom the morning of his thirtieth birthday and said, "Daddy! Daddy! You're thirty today!" And he groaned, "Don't remind me."

So, anyway, he was in the mood for pizza. He likes Mangia. He also likes a Mr. Gatti buffet. We told him we'd find something up north.

Fortunately, it turns out there's a Mangia (Chicago stuffed pizza, home of the Mangiasaurus Rex) in Round Rock. You just go up to Round Rock, take a right on Highway 79, drive for a while until you see an HEB (an HEB Plus, actually, whatever that is), and look around in there.

Until today I'd been only to the Guadalupe location. This location consists of a kitchen, a counter to order at, and a couple of counters to eat at for a total of about five seats or so. Outdoor is a patio with maybe two wooden picnic tables. Next door is Amy's Ice Cream.

This place is completely different. When you walk in, it feels like a Denny's or a Bennigan's. It's huge. It has several large seating areas. It has a multi-page laminated menu. Creepy. But the food is just the same. And it is kind of nice to be able to sit indoors.

We totally went wacky with the food. Of course, this happens when you order a stuffed pizza, but we also ordered:
* fries - battered and spiced, served with "special dipping sauce." We got the waiter to ask the kitchen what's in the sauce. They do not know. It arrives premade. So it's secret special dipping sauce. One appetizer order is a gigantic basket containing many more fries than you could make from any single potato, even a gigantic one.
* Italian cream soda - the first good one I've had since I first tried one in Seattle. It's made with soda, syrup, and half-and-half, and is served with ice and whipped cream on top. I got the cherry flavor and it tasted like cherries, only sugary! Mmm.
* chocolate desert - I forget what they call it, but some kind of gooey brownie thing with ice cream and whipped cream.

I can't promise this will happen to you, but we got the kind of waiter who promised us the dessert would be free if we could clean the plate using only straws. (It all started when he'd meant to say he would bring four spoons, but he accidentally promised us four straws instead.) We tried. Actually, I didn't try, but I watched my sister and my brother-in-law try. Here's what happens: You scoop the whipped cream onto the straw. You carefully move it towards your mouth but before it even leaves the boundary of the plate, the whipped cream slides around to the underside of the straw and then falls off.

Since our waiter served this with four serving plates, which we did not use, we were able to show him clean plates, but since we had not cleaned them with our straws, we were disqualified.

My dad seems to be handling this birthday much better than his thirtieth. He says the main thing he's looking forward to is cheaper flights on Southwest Airlines. Also, someone told him he looks 56. (That is the sort of thing that feels much better on your 65th birthday than on your 30th birthday, I'm thinking.) Also he found out his (slightly younger) brother is having more health problems than he is, which is bad, but which certainly makes it feel not so bad to be older.

**

I slipped into class in time for the last 25. I'm so glad I decided to go. I was not disruptive at all--I did in fact know everything that had been covered so far, and I got to learn a new thing. And get a hint of exercise in.

So today I spent most of the day with probably two of my three most rabid--ahem--loyal journal readers. And now they are wondering what I'm going to say about them. Eek!

We met at a favorite Tex-Mex place, which T misses in Denver. But they charged $0.99 extra for a small container of sour cream, and $0.15 each for two (stacks of?) tortillas. And this is when three people ordered fajitas, which to my knowledge always come with tortillas, and when the extras included enough guacamole for 1/2 of the fajitas and no sour cream or cheese. Those tortillas were quite good, except that some were overcooked. So El Chile just made someone's "never again" list. So sad.

Then we went to S and R's house where I manfully refrained from falling asleep with my very full stomach, even though I was on the floor, with double carpeting, and pillows, and later even a blanket.

Then we played the home video version of a trivia game that Robin and S used to play in bars. It was more fun than I expected, with use of reflexes and attention added to the usual requirement for trivia knowledge. I learned that Malcolm X's autobiography wasn't published until a year after he died.

We went out to eat supper, too, which isn't that easy to do efficiently on a Saturday night. However, we left a bit after six, which should have been early enough to have things not be too insane. Yet, East Side Cafe had a two-hour wait! After continued negotiations, we ended up at Hunan Lion, which did not subsequently make anyone's "never again" list. We did that thing where we decided to all order something different and then share, and then we actually shared, substantially. That's so cool.

I liked mine best (sesame chicken, which had a very interesting mix of flavors, and which was on their own list of most recommended dishes), but it was nice to taste so many other things as well.

The best part of the day was the conversation, which I wish I could remember snippets of to share with you. Sorry. Sleepy.

I did a lot of sitting today.

Well, first I pulled weeds for 40 minutes.

Then Robin and I tried a new (to us) restaurant, Freda's Seafood Grill. A friend of Robin's recommended their Sunday brunch. Robin liked everything he tried (except the fried-looking thing that turned out to be French toast). I don't like seafood, but they had good greens, omelets, and fruits and very good desserts.

The name of the place reminds me of when some friends wanted to name their cat Freya until they found out she was a he. I recommended just adding a "d" to the end, so it sounded like saying "Fred" with a very interesting twang. They didn't like this idea for some reason. Me it still tickles to this day.

After brunch we went shopping. I got a replacement for this rainbow-colored belt I used to wear with jeans and brightly colored shirts. I got it in high school and finally had to throw it away a few years ago because elastic just doesn't last, um, twenty years. I assume it's hideous or juvenile or sending an untrue message, but I think it's pretty.

I also got a copy of On Writing by Stephen King. This has been recommended to me personally and it's also a very common recommendation at nanowrimo. I got a nice copy at Half Price Books, figuring that if I don't like it I can probably re-sell it pretty easily.

Okay, back to the sitting. We watched three episodes of "Dark Angel." You know, the lack of romantic development is getting annoying. They finally kissed, but then they had to take it back. There are great plot developments, but I like some of the plot to be about getting to know some of the people more. We did get to know Normal better in one episode. I know we're not supposed to like him, but I've been liking him since near the beginning. I was shocked when this overly conservative guy decided he was okay with dating a woman who used to be a man. That's the same episode where he tried to turn in our heroine again, so, well, let's just say he's an interesting character.

I also caught up on bills and dishes and did some sudoku puzzles. Just when I think I have a system, I see that I still need to spend a lot of time sitting around staring at the thing.

And my sister called and told me she was engaged. Not a big surprise, but still exciting for her. She said the proposal was the most romantic thing she's ever witnessed; she didn't even know the guy could be that romantic. And she says the ring is the most beautiful piece of jewelry she's ever seen, with topaz surrounded by four garnets, each representing a promise to his future bride. I'll probably get to hear what the promises are later. So that's a lot of nice icing for the cake.

And guess when the wedding is. No, not November! Ha! Did I fool you? Her friend asked when she wanted to get married. She said winter so she could wear long sleeves. So her friend declared they would be getting married this February.

I am to be part of the wedding party. I've never been in a wedding party before. I think her SCA friends are going to take over a lot of the planning, so I might not have to deal with as much craziness as regular wedding party people. We'll see.

I am also to make the wedding cake which is to be a gingerbread cake. I've never even heard of gingerbread cake before, so I will have to try some recipes and make them come taste the results. I also haven't decorated a cake in years, thinking it's not worth the trouble. I was never the greatest anyway, unless you enjoy refrigerator art and macaroni paintings. I will have to practice that, too.

She tells me her fiancé doesn't like sweets. So I'm trying to think of some savory cake-like thing in case a groom's cake is wanted. Like cornbread. Mmm, cornbread. Maybe with just some decorations made from cream cheese softened a bit with milk.

Edited to add that I seem to have been mistaken about some things regarding the name Freyad. It's possible that chikuru thought up the name, and even if he didn't, he certainly remembers it. And at least one of the owners of this cat doesn't remember hearing that name but thinks he won't forget it now.

I managed not to ruin my car by driving it hot too far. A heater hose was broken. (Cheap! Relatively.)

While my car was in the shop I also had them fix the air conditioning. It needed a new compressor, as feared. (Not so cheap.)

I also got the fluids taken care of.

So my car is back to good working condition.

Getting to my car to pick it up was a bit of an adventure. First I had to change from frozen office mode to outdoor heat mode. (I tied my jacket over my head. Stupid looking, but oh well. We're not supposed to care about that.)

I called my mechanic to confirm that the car would be ready today. He said yes, but not yet. Not until 5:00 (an hour away). He's so cute. Like I could get there in only ten minutes or something, with no car.

I could take two buses, but I decided that walking to the second bus might be quicker. The first bus couldn't run its regular route in the area I was in because of construction, and I wasn't sure which stops were still in use.

However, I had to go farther than I'd expected. At one intersection, I couldn't cross the street where I wanted to (south). I had to first cross east, then south, then west. The light had a very long cycle.

The bulk of the route was ugly: paths strewn with broken glass trailing past auto repair shops (that weren't mine) and warehouse-looking buildings. It got prettier at the end; I passed a high school and my favorite place for both Mexican food and burgers (La Palapa).

I ended up jogging some, even though I doubted I would make the bus, because last time I rode this bus it was running almost fifteen minutes late. I was right about not getting there in time for the scheduled arrival of the bus, but I was also right about guessing that it might be late, too, so I made it. Then it was one of those meandering buses, so it took a while. But it was one of those air-conditioned meandering buses, so it felt nice.

When I got there, the mechanic working on the car wanted to know who was singing on the CD in my car. He had correctly guessed Emmylou Harris.

On the drive home, both the engine and the interior of the car were cool.

It was rush hour by then, so I took my favorite back road route. But when I got to the place where one road hits another at the old airport, I was reminded that we are no longer allowed to turn left there like I want to. I had thought that when they started developing the land at the airport, it would be easier to travel through it. In fact I had hoped that this road would go straight through it, maybe with a traffic light. No.

I knew from experience that if I turned right it would be miles before I got to a legal place to make a U-turn. I don't even know how far it is, because I always give up and make a left turn and then a U-turn and then a right turn.

So I turned around and found another exit onto the road, but this one had terrible visibility. So I turned around again and found an exit onto my local highway. From there I of course had to go out of my way through the airport (using the jughandle. However, I also spotted another car taking a possibly slightly less annoying route than the one outlined by the detour signs. I'm going to check that out next time.