HeyNowTex's Profile

Perfect timing on this. I was just watching a bunch of Top Chef reruns and one chef served goulash that looked really good, but when I looked it up I came across many of those ground beef recipes. Yours looks soo yummy. I was also just wondering how to braise meat (again, thanks to Top Chef).

All of The Middle's Valentine's Day eps are great. That show is totally underrated.

OMG, I would LOVE to take a subway or el train into work! Unfortunately, the only rail in Houston is about a mile long and already in downtown Houston (so you'd have to commute just to get to the thing) and it's at street level adding to traffic and car accidents. You have no idea how mad it makes me that the city doesn't do El trains instead of street level rails. I've vacationed in DC, NYC and San Francisco and I just love taking the subways there, it's truly a luxury when you live in a city where it takes over an hour to get from a suburb to downtown, where many major companies are located. Subways are just sooo fast and I've never had a problem with safety or cleanliness.

On the subway in SF, my cousins and I were talking to some young guys who helped us figure out which train to get on and I mentioned how nice the subway was which they thought was really funny. People who grow up with something so convenient have no idea how amazing it to those of us stuck with a daily 2 hour commute. The only option here is the bus, which a lot of people use to do the park and ride to downtown, but it's just not as fast or convenient. I've never used the park and ride myself, but I can imagine several scenarios in which it could be a pain and you can't stop to run errands in town on the way home. A well laid out subway/el system could take care of all these issues. Not to mention alleviate rush hour stress.

That said, there are times when I'm very glad i have a car- big shopping trips, moving, taking my baby nephew places, and when I need a place to nap on my lunch break!

Well I haven't had a banana in 8 years, but you don't see me bragging about it. Haha j/k, someone out there might get that.

The only way I would ever have the microwave over the range is with a really small kitchen/limited counterspace. It's not cuz they're ugly, just inconvenient. But I prefer it on the counter anyday. For one, I'm short, so if I'm heating something that I have to check on, I have to drag a stool over to see it and sometimes to get stuff down so it doesn't spill on me (ever picked up something with your bare hands but it's really hot and your instinct is to drop it? Much rather do that on the counter than high over the stove to break and where other stuff may be cooking). I use the microwave too much to deal with all that stuff. It's also annoying if one person is at the range trying to cook and another person needs to use the microwave.

I normally wouldn't agree with white, but it could work well in here, just make sure to add in colorful accents. If you want a color, I'd go with a pale aqua- the whole kitchen is shades of brown and brown always works with aqua.

The only new thing I made was parfaits (I got parfait glasses from my sister for Christmas) for the family gathering- Nutella mousse with a mascarpone cheese filling layer. The best thing I ate my uncle made, a smoked brisket, sooo delish, probably the best one he's ever made. Ate it for days after.

I do the same as the author. Growing up, we'd get to each pick our own ornament each year and add it to the tree. There's also an assortment of glass balls and gift ornaments and baby's firsts and what not. I love the tree like this, it's so personal and warm and when we decorate together there are a lot of memories. I'm not a fan of theme trees-they're so impersonal.

Don't forget Schweddy Balls!

I like the ideas, simple and natural looking. Can you get these at craft stores?

Yeah, I could so live here! I'm not usually a fan of exposed brick, but it really works here. Love the way it's decorated and the old glam movie stars hanging up. And I totally use vintage ads as art also!

Thanks for the description of this process, it's really interesting to see how the foods we eat come to our table and nice to see they reuse so much during this process. Carrots have long been one of my favorite foods. When I was little I was always snacking on carrots. At family gatherings, I usually ate all the carrots on the veggie plate and I loved to get the full size carrots with the stalk and eat them like Bugs Bunny. I also liked dipping carrots in ketchup for after school snacks. I rarely have problems with the taste of these carrots, every once in a while I get a not great tasting batch, but if you cook and flavor them they're fine.

Now I pretty much only use baby carrots, mostly for convenience- no peeling, usually no cutting. They are always part of my roasts, oven or crock pot, and they're perfect for a side I make with potatoes and ground cloves. Of course, they're always good for snacking. Thank you to the hard-working farmers for these yummy carrots!