I find myself in the Great State of Texas this week, having a fun Girlfriend's Weekend in the middle of the week, which makes it even better. I flew into Houston on Tuesday -- in advance of the trip I called up LK&C subscriber Danny Trace, the executive chef at Brennan's of Houston, and asked him to see if his fish supplier could drop off ten pounds of Gulf shrimp for me to pick up to boil for my friends. (I travel with seafood, or smoked meat.) 

He did arrange for the shrimp, but oh so much more. I stopped by the restaurant right in the middle of lunch service Tuesday, and Chef Trace filled my car up with shrimp and okra gumbo, all the ingredients for shrimp and grits including quarts full of goat cheese grits, seafood boil vegetables, a quart of remoulade for my boiled shrimp, freshly baked French bread, and of course ten pounds of shrimp. So all I had to do Tuesday night to put a fantastic dinner on the table was boil up some shrimp, heat what needed to be heated, and cook a pot of rice. Delicious, and all our thanks and compliments to the chef.

Yesterday our limo arrived at 11:00 for a winery tour around Austin; we tasted some astoundingly good wine. We had barbecue at the Salt Lick in Round Rock, retired back to my friend Zoe's house to lounge on the couches for a while to revive, waited until almost 5:00 to open the first bottle of wine, and resumed gossip. There were just five of us on this trip- we're a group of friends who have known each other for more than a dozen years. We're spread all over the globe these days, and don't see each other as often as we'd like, but what's better than exchanging a close hug with someone you've not seen in a while? Instant recharge for my batteries.

This week's recipes include Southern Hush Puppies, Shrimp with Pickled Vegetables, and Italian Sausage with White Beans. Click here to access the full newsletter with links to the recipes and a list of upcoming events around the state.

Best,

Susan