Musings of JR Simmang

There is an abundance of good people within my family and my wife's family combined. In that abundance there are numerous good cooks. My family started and sold a successful restaurant chain in Nacogdoches called The Hot Biscuit. My wife's family has traditions passed down from generation to generation that have been tweaked, augmented, simplified, and purified. That being said, my wife and I developed an improvement on an old family recipe, Calabacita. For those of you who don't read, speak, or understand Spanish, Calabacita means 'little squash.' Based on that ginormous context clue you can assume the dish has something to do with squash. Normally, the recipe calls for as many squash as you want. We traditionally add three medium sized zucchini or yellow squash for 4-6 servings. However, after digging through the veggie crisper we found that we had only 1 zucchini and 2 chayote squash. We picked up the chayote on a whim. I had heard from a Spanish friend of mine t...

I'm going to be up front with you, all five of you that have peaked in your head. This article has nothing to do with love. In fact, it has all to do with the opposite, hate. I commute more than thirty minutes to work every day, weekends excluded. I know, compared to some that's just a walk in the park. For me, I can't stand being wrapped in 1300 pounds of steel and fiberglass sitting behind another person encased in the same unless I'm in the drive- through line, which I hardly ever am. I think it all comes back to elementary school. I wanted to be the first in line. I wanted to have the responsibility of leading the pack to PE. I wanted to set the pace. I didn't like staring at the back of Kyle's head. I didn't like having to pace myself behind the other kids' heels. I want to be in front. Naturally, things change. Now, it's not so bad. I've learned that there are lines everywhere, some good and some bad. You have the lines leading up to Maria...

Here's my first post. My wife and I are consummate foodies. We eat, and we eat well. I worked for Central Market a while ago, and there I became acquainted with the kiwano, kiwi, heirloom tomatoes, russet potatoes, and whatever else you can eat raw, eat cooked, or just use as decoration. I worked as a Food Demo and then as a Foodie. Our friends are foodies, our families are foodies. Naturally, we tend to eat at places all over the fair city of Austin. That's part of the charm of this city. There is definitely no shortage of great restaurants. We were on the search for such a restaurant when we stumbled upon a little gem of an eatery named Somnio's. Right on First St., next door to Sugar Mamas (which I will highlight later), there's this little shack with limited parking, 'Somnio's' painted along the side of the building. Parking is in back, so my wife and I pull in, turn off the car and walk up the stairs opposite the handicap ramp and pull the handle to the...