Viva Vivo!

*photo by Rebecca

Last night, a group of us ended a very leisurely spring day in Austin, complete with laying out in the 80 degree weather, with a fun dinner at Vivo...the Tex-Mex restaurant that serves gorgeous magenta orchids in their delicious drinks ranging from Cucumberitas to the Vivo Ria (Sangria...my favorite!). They don't take reservations, so this would be a good spot for a Spring/Summer evening when the weather is nice and you can wait for about an hour and a half, which goes by quickly with their delcious drinks on a tropical patio, and chips and really spicy salsa with a kick (just the way I like it...coming from El Paso where I learned to have a high spicy heat tolerance). The service was not exactly speedy, but if you are just looking for a chill night to enjoy dinner and drinks with good company in a nice atmosphere, this would be the perfect place! And, they even give all senorita guests a rose before leaving...a special touch!

Chill Night/Fun Drinks/Mexican Restaurant/Nice Outdoor Patio Recommendation: Vivo! on Manor (Dean Keaton, or 26th Street, turns into Manor when you head North past I-35)

Icing on the Cake!

*Photos by Rebecca (Allyson and I with instructor Summer Pruett left)

Yesterday was the day Allyson and I had been waiting for...the day we were taking the hands-on cake decorating class at the Whole Foods Culinary Center on 6th and Lamar. I unfortunately miscalculated the start time, so we missed the first 20 minutes, but we caught up quickly and jumped right in, cutting, layering, and frosting our individual cakes to decorate. We learned frosting techniques and how to create several icing detail designs as we worked with the buttercream frosting. Summer Pruett, of Stardust Pastry, her very own local Austin "pastry boutique specializing in wedding cakes," and the Texas Culinary Academy, instructed the class of about 15. Her steady hand demonstrated how to ice the cake so well, her final coat was as smooth as fondant. And, she successfully taught all of us how to create a decorative rose out of frosting, complete with leaves and vines. Notice my final work of culinary art that I made for the Austin Breakfast Club which held it's 2nd meeting today! It was a big hit!

My favorite moment during the class, was when Allyson had icing trouble, and actually took her hand, and grabbed the 2-inch less-than-perfect frosting rose, and threw it off of her cake in frustration. But, she got through it (with messy hands), and with Summer's patience and expertise with cake disaster recovery, and the end result didn't show any traces of the struggles Al had just minutes before.

If you're looking for culinary fun, Summer is also teaching a Pastry Workshop on April 9th, a Couture Cupcakes class on April 11th, and a few sushi classes too!

Culinary/Arts, Weekend or Evening Activity Recommendation: Take a cooking class at the Whole Foods Culinary Center! Some are demonstration-based, with tasting, of course, and others, like this one, are hands-on. Take a look at the schedule here (updated monthly). Sign up if you find a class you'd like to take because they fill up fast!

P.S. I also put this under the Green Entertaining category because Whole Foods is based on environmentally-friendly and socially-responsible practices and products.