Starting with Austin

 

Original antlers at Uncommon Objects in Austin
Original antlers at Uncommon Objects in Austin

Picture this. A log cabin the size of a mini-mall looms amidst a gigantic parking lot the expanse of two football fields. Roasty gray smoke billows from the restaurant’s chimneys and wafts towards your nose. You look ahead towards a line of blinking taillights and a large, unshaven man stumbling from the back of a faded brown party bus. A security guard approaches your Prius and announces a 2-hour minimum wait for barbecue, while the oncoming rush of fellow meat lovers towards the check-in point is about like that of me stalking Kerry Washington and/or John Besh on a street corner.

This is the passion of the eaters in Austin, Texas.  It is the city- inspiring, challenging, beautiful, original and unexpected. And Austin changed me.

The change was subtle and slow. It was an initial shift that grew over the following days into a reminder of who I am, what I want this blog to be, and who I hope you find that this blog is. What I realized is this: Luv Cooks is for you, it’s for me, and it’s on a journey.

Without boring you with the details of my inner psyche, I’ve felt lately like I am on the edge of a growth spurt- feeling the ache in my bones for height, but not exactly sure what the final product will end up looking like. Austin clarified for me what I want to grow into. Y’all- just ok isn’t good enough anymore- and while there were some good food moments, I realized how important great food is to me. Not just for taste, but for nourishment- physically, spiritually, emotionally. And the growth spurt has made me hungry. Hungry for better recipes, better food, better health.

So I offer to you a new commitment. I want Luv Cooks to be a place of beauty and well-being. Not in an over-the-top, health-crazed, helicopter-parent kind of way. In an oasis, come here for refreshment and rest and renewal kind of way. I want you to be renewed by the beauty of food and all it has to offer to your life.

So in lieu of a recipe this time, I leave you with food and Austin-spiration. I can’t wait to see where our creativity goes next.

 

Beef brisket at it's finest, Black's BBQ
Beef brisket at it’s finest, Black’s BBQ
The best root beer in town
The best root beer in town
Veggie burger with chipotle-pecan pesto at Bouldin Creek Cafe
Veggie burger with chipotle-pecan pesto at Bouldin Creek Cafe
The line at 9 a.m. Friday, Franklin's bbq
The line at 9 a.m. Friday, Franklin’s bbq

 

The infamous Austin Hotel
The infamous Austin Hotel

 

Smoked sausage, divine field peas and jalapeño cornbread at Black's
Smoked sausage, divine field peas and jalapeño cornbread at Black’s
A Mexican twist on a cinnamon twist, delicious
A Mexican twist on a cinnamon twist, delicious

 

Vintage finds at Uncommon Objects
View from the top of Mount Bonnell
View from the top of Mount Bonnell