Hey Folks,

We just got in to Austin for the 2013 PaleoFx festivities! We’re super excited to see many of our friends, meet some new faces, and listen to some of the brightest minds in Paleo. We are slated to do a cooking demonstration on Saturday afternoon, and we’re making a very special recipe… our General Tso’s Chicken from Gather! Speaking of which, we FINALLY got our first copies of the book and it looks *bleeping* incredible. Expletives abound. It is exactly as we envisioned it, and we are thrilled for you all to start receiving it!  If you want to pre-order a copy, you’ll be among the first to receive it, and you’ll also be guaranteed the lowest price offered by Amazon from now until the ship date. So order yourself a copy.

Yesterday, we flew into Houston for a pair of special events our dear friend Karen organized. The first, a book signing at the River Oaks Bookstore was a nice chance to meet with some of our H-town fans and followers. The folks at the store put together a very nice signing, and we thoroughly enjoyed chatting with folks and showing off our new book. Everything rolled over into a fabulous Paleo dinner at the Corner Table. Chef Bruce Molzan put together an amazing 4-course menu of Paleo dishes for the evening. The restaurant was filled with Paleo folks, and we had a great time dining with some new friends and old friends. Chef Bruce’s dishes were simply incredible. He EVEN served a cheesecake and brownie based on our recipes from Make it Paleo!  After dinner, he gave us a special tour of his restaurant, which is breathtaking and full of amazing artwork and custom built furnishings.

We had a great time in Houston, and are really looking forward to our next visit! The food, the people, and the weather were all amazing.

One of the best parts of our trip to Houston was seeing my lifelong friend, Chris (and his lovely girlfriend Janna… Chris, she’s a keeper!) It was great catching up with my old friend, who now happens to be a CrossFit coach at CrossFit West Houston, and is also a huge fan of Chris Kresser.

 

 

 

And we also got to meet Josh Weissman, the promising young talent behind Slim Palate  (Seen here with another familiar face, Charissa of Balanced Bites). If you haven’t checked out his amazing blog (and story), you should. He totally turned his life around by going Paleo and losing 100 lbs! And also, fans of the food porn around here will take note he’s already taking photos that rival some of the best in the Paleo scene. His site will be the one to watch this year…. mark my words.

The staff at the restaurant was kind enough to put several tables together so that we could all enjoy eating as a group!

 

Chef Bruce Molzan created an incredible meal for everyone! Everyone who had dined there before raved about his Paleo fried chicken, and also said that you can get the “clean” version of just about anything on the menu (and there is typically Paleo stuff on there to begin with!)

It was a special night for us because, for the first time ever, we got to carry around more than one of our books! A big difference between the two is that Gather is a hard-cover book, and will lay flat on your kitchen counter (or coffee table)!

We had a wonderful time with our “Texas family” – the Banks. Karen organized both the signing and the Paleo dinner, and we also got to attend Jenny’s yoga class this morning (which was great!)

 

The first course of the evening was a lamb gyro with roasted leg of lamb, onions, tomatoes, and tzatziki sauce.

 

Their almond flour wraps for the gyros were legit!

 

The second course was this incredible pulled pork salad with apple chutney. The dish included roasted and braised locally raised pork, kale, arugula, almonds, and an apple reduction vinaigrette.

 

The kitchen staff ran the event like a swiss watch. There might have been 5 minutes between courses, and everyone got their food all at the same time. The dinner service was perfect!

 

The third course was a spring snapper, served over squash noodles and topped with a citrus grape salsa. Many people said this was the best dish of the night!

Dinner concluded with a decadent Paleo dessert – Chef Bruce’s take on two of our favorite desserts from Make it Paleo – the cheesecake, and the dark chocolate brownies.

 

After our evening with friends, we passed out easily. This morning, we woke up and headed off to Jenny’s yoga class at Big Yoga. The class has movements for students of all levels, and at times (at most times) I felt pretty challenged! However, yoga seems to be one of the few things in life I can do without feeling super competitive, so it was a refreshing morning on the mats. We followed up yoga class with an amazing brunch at Karen’s house, prepared by herself and her daughter Sarah. By the end of the trip, Hayley and I were referring them to as our “Texas Family” … and the sendoff brunch was no exception. Sarah even brought some of her special US Wellness Meats bacon from her private stash. When someone shares their good bacon with you, they’re a true friend. They also made a great frittata, some sauteed Brussels sprouts (which I helped cook), sweet potatoes, and a refreshing salad.  And then I followed it by polishing off my slice of cheese cake from the previous night. oops!

After brunch, Hayley and I made our way up to Austin to join our friends for the second annual Paleo Fx conference in Austin. We are eager to see many more of our friends tomorrow at the conference. If you are attending, come say hello! We will have a copy of Gather with us (Duh!) which we will gladly show off if you want to see it.

See many of you tomorrow morning!