First Weekend in Austin

First things first, it just rained for 10 minutes!  Austin is in desperate need of rain so I think every little bit helps.  I miss seeing the lush green landscape of Minnesota!  Everything here looks parched, dry and yellow. 

OK enough about the weather.  This weeking is ACL (Austin City Limits) and the city is busy and swarming with sweaty, sunburned concert goers.  I wasn't here in time to get tickets, and don't know if I would have paid to see the line up this year but will be interested to see who comes to the festival next year.  Live music is honestly everywhere in this city; Austin certainly upholds it's reputation as the Live Music Capital of the Nation.  The thing is, I have yet to hear a bad band so it's easy to appreciate the music everywhere.

This week I worked with my manager and started going on calls in the Austin area.  I was incredibly suprised at how nice, welcoming and easy to work with all of the customers are.  Their kindness just makes me excited to get out on my own and get my name out there.

I'm having a lot of fun when I'm not working too!  My apartment building had a happy hour and I was able to eat dinner and have drinks with my neighbors and meet some other residents.  Last night I went out with one of the girls I met and her friends and had a ton of fun hopping from bar to bar.  Today I went to the farmers market and am going to try to find a church to go to tomorrow.  Once I get my tennis racket from home I'll be able to go to some tennis practices and matches too.

What I love about my apartment is the kitchen (duh).  I have so much space to cook and prepare meals.  This week I made one of my favorite recipes- Polenta Stack with Navy Bean Salad.  The foil pack is so easy to to clean up and you can bake or grill the foil packet.  Its delicious!  From http://www.self.com/.





Serves 4

 

INGREDIENTS

2 cans (15.5 oz each) navy beans, rinsed and drained

1 lb plum tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup basil, chopped, plus 15 leaves for garnish

10 oz crumbled feta, divided

1 tube (18 oz) prepared polenta, cut into 16 slices

1 lb zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices

2 bottles (7 oz each) roasted red peppers, drained

PREPARATION

Heat grill. Fold four 18-inch-long pieces of foil in half; unfold and coat inside with cooking spray. Combine beans, tomatoes, chopped basil and 5 oz feta in a bowl. Place 1/4 of bean mixture in center of 1 half of each piece of foil. Working 1 packet at a time, place 4 slices polenta in an overlapping circle over beans. Top with 1/4 of zucchini slices, 1/4 of red peppers and 1/4 of remaining 5 oz feta. Fold foil to close and crimp edges to seal packets; place on grill; close lid; cook until packets are fully puffed, 10 minutes. Carefully cut foil to open and garnish with basil leaves. Serve and enjoy!