bluegrass to lonestar

I had to run some errands on the Eastside yesterday, so I grabbed a late desayuno at mi Madres. I ordered two tacos from the small counter right inside the door and grabbed a seat to wait. The place was super busy. A good sign. My tacos were ready in 10-15 minutes. I tossed them in my bag and headed out. I biked to a nice shady cul-de-sac and enjoyed a curbside meal.

The tacos were delicious (bacon, egg, cheese & potato and a machado). The salsa roja they gave me to put on them had just enough vinegar to cut through the fat. They cost a bit more than other breakfast tacos I’ve had in town but they were worth it. They felt like 2 bricks they were so stuffed with goodness.

The Meat Puppets played a free in-store at Waterloo yesterday. The crowd was a bit larger than the one for Bill Callahan but I still had a decent view. The show was pretty awesome. The Kirkwood brothers look a little grizzled but they can still play. The show lasted about an hour. The bassist made great ridiculous faces and it was cool to hear “Oh Me” live.

Lauren left for D.C. Saturday. She chose Top Notch, the drive-in from Dazed and Confused, as her last meal. Nostalgia aside, the food was well worth the trip. Curbside service was closed so we ate in, little seems to have changed in menu or decor since the place opened in the 70’s.

A friendly older lady took our order and gave us a number. From the restaurant you can see back into the kitchen and watch them cook your meal to order. No heat lamps. My burger was delicious. They grill over charcoal and you can taste it. It reminded me of home cookouts. The fries were pretty bland and worthless but the onion rings made up for it. Lauren got a BLT, an unconventional choice for a burger joint, but a good one.

The Thermals were in town with the Shaky Hands for a show at Mohawk. Even though I saw them twice at SXSW, I wanted to go to an actual performance not a truncated set. The show was on the outdoor stage taking advantage of the beautiful night. The Shaky Hands had a couple sound issues during their set but it was still really good. The new drummer rocks.

The Thermals brought their own sound tech so they didn’t have any issues. They played a well rounded mix from all their albums. I got to hear St. Rosa which was totally awesome. The crowd was very into it all, maybe a bit too much? Lots of fist pumping, but a fun time as always.

The CSA box had a lot of cucumbers in it, so I decided to try my hand at sour pickles. I tossed the pickled in a jar with some garlic, dill and peppercorns. I made a salt brine up and poured it over top. It’s going to ferment in my cabinet covered with cloth for a week or so. Hopefully I’ll end up with pickles and not some abomination.