I generally try not to mix business with pleasure on this blog, and most of my business doesn’t happen in Austin. It generally takes place on an hour-long conference call  with clients in other time zones, via e-mail chains, and at occasional out-of-town meetings.
The weekend before last, I happily mixed the two parts of my life on a road trip from Capitol Chevrolet down to the Pearl Farmer’s Market in San Antonio with a group of local food bloggers. Below is a slightly edited version of a blog I wrote …

When I noticed that Nancy and Jim have a solar oven, I was obsessed with having the chance to try it out. They use the Global Sun Oven, the best brand according to the sites that I read. It’s not cheap on the company website but I saw it for $240 on Amazon. You can also make your own sun oven if you are adventurous and handy.
When cooking in a solar oven, it’s important to allow lots of time for it to cook. All we did today was mix together …

I’m pleased to introduce you to Lenny H., who submitted the post below on Cupid’s Hot Dogs via an e-mail to his son (and my boyfriend), Adam, who forwarded it on to me. After last week’s KGSR radio show and blog post on Frank, a fancy hot dog restaurant and bar in downtown Austin, both Lenny and Adam’s cousin Evan wanted to spread the Cupid’s gospel. Lenny grew up in the Los Angeles area and Evan still lives there. Take it away, Lenny:
The all-time BEST hot dog I’ve ever tasted …

A very belated “Thank You” to our Brooklyn friends — Josh, Laura, Lenny, and Danny. We visited them in late April and had dinner plans on a Thursday night. They told us to meet at Josh’s apartment at 5 pm for dinner at a place that was as famous for the long waits as they were for their pizza pies. It’s in Carroll Gardens and is called Lucali.
Lucali is BYOB so we picked up a large bottle of red wine at a nearby bodega. Inside, there were only about …

Poor Tom. He’s so desperate for good food and company that he went back to The Red Hen again the next day. I couldn’t resist another TB post but am I the only one who thinks the photo of the chocolate appears disturbingly similar to that of the sausage. Are you sure that was dessert, Tom?
“Weren’t you in here yesterday?”
The place was empty at the tail end of lunchtime. I sat at the kitchen counter and watched a virgin sausage-maker get his pork legs; browsed the chef’s copy of …