Adam’s Bubbe, Bessie Holzband, is ninety eight and a half years old. We love to spend time with her when we visit Houston for holidays like Passover and most recently, Thanksgiving.
I’ve known Bubbe for less than a year but she introduces me as one of her grandchildren to the staff and residents in her retirement community. It’s very sweet. I call her Bubbe which isn’t a conflict of interest for me because: a) all of my grandparents have passed away and b) my grandmothers were known as “Mama” and “Nagymama” …

I’m looking for the first night of Chanukah, beginning at sundown tonight when we’ll:

Light the first candle of the menorah (Hanukkiah) with the shamash (while in reality a candle, the shamash doesn’t count as one of the eight candles — their only purpose is for viewing).
Recite the Chanukah blessings and sing songs.
Eat fried potato pancakes (latkes), and sufganiyot (donuts).
Play dreidel and eat chocolate gelt (potentially Twix this year as I haven’t been to a store that sells gelt yet).

In honor of this fun time of year, I wanted to share …

It’s my pleasure to introduce a new Tasty Touring guest blogger, Marc Matthews. Marc, a white Mormon who has lived in Taiwan and Beijing, recently moved to Austin with his new bride, Megan. They’ll hopefully share some experiences cooking at home and exploring the Austin Asian food scene.
The background below was what Marc sent around the office yesterday after sharing some traditional Moon Festival goodies for us to taste.

Tomorrow is the “moon festival” in China. It dates back 3,000 years and is a celebration of the end of the summer …

Betsy is one of the people whose opinion I trust most when it comes to fresh seafood and cajun-style cuisine. We have eaten together at Perla’s, Nubian Queen Lola’s, and now Shuck Shack. I heard about Shuck Shack first via Maggie’s Austin, another local food blog with awesome photography.

Below is Betsy’s review — I’ll follow up after to add my two cents (although I generally agree with her).
Shuck Shack’s website prominently proclaims “The Gulf Coast Comes to East Austin.” As a Gulf Coast native who is generally disappointed in …

I love spending time with guest blogger Laura S. and her main squeeze Mike, so was very pleased that they were invited to attend the food blogger’s happy hour last night at Gumbo’s.
The restaurant is beautiful and location on Colorado between 7th and 8th in the historic Brown Building. While I’ve never experienced a meal at Gumbo’s, I did recently blog about Vault 55, the super exclusive wine storage facility in the basement of the building.
Gumbo’s would be perfect for a quiet business lunch, or a romantic dinner. There’s …