Homemade Crock Pot Pho
Continuing my goal to try more crock pot recipes, I made pho! It was missing a key ingredient that made the taste slightly off, but otherwise, it was delicious!

Homemade Upside-Down Peach Cake
I also made this scrumptious upside-down peach cake for a dinner party and we gobbled it down! I will definitely be making this one again. The recipe is from Austin360 and I substituted with gluten-free flour.

San Antonio eats
If you’ve been following along my Instagram and blog, you saw that I started this month eating my way through San Antonio. Watch out, Austin! San Antonio’s culinary scene is heating up and there are tons of tasty eats. Check out this post for the full details about craft beer, fine dinners, and amazing breakfast.

Lunch at Boiler Nine
I was excited to try Chef David Bull’s newest restaurant Boiler Nine. Lunch was nearly flawless.

• Appetizers: the beer bread and steak fries were perfect. The beer jam that comes with the beer bread is made with my fave beer, The Lone Pint Yellow Rose IPA. The crispy steak fries were seasoned very well and it was hard not popping all of those in my mouth.
• Entrée: I got the Confit Fried Chicken Thigh sandwich for my entrée and it was a little messy but scrumptious! My lunch mates both enjoyed their burgers and said it was a top choice in Austin.
• Dessert: For dessert we split the chocolate cake, churritos and banana cake. The griddled banana cake with malted milk, white chocolate, and grape ice cream was a clear winner. It may sound and look funny but the flavors blended perfectly. Highly recommend this dish.

Appetizers at Boiler Nine: Beer Bread and Steak Fries

Boiler Nine: Confit Fried Chicken Thigh Sandwich

Boiler Nine: Chocolate Cake

Boiler Nine: Banana Cake

Dinner at Saffron
This Indian/Asian fusion restaurant in Northwest Austin was a hit! We each got a different dish and had a bite of each. I enjoyed my Saffron Goat Curry and my other favorites were the Murg Shahi Korma (boneless chicken in creamy cashew and pistachio sauce) and Saffron Chicken Lazeez (minced chicken and fresh spinach in creamy sauce). I’ll definitely be coming back here to satisfy my Indian food cravings!

Pizza, Cookies and Sparkling Wine Cocktails at ATXBloggerMixer
At the ATXBloggerMixer, our sponsor Salvation Pizza provided us a huge selection of delicious eats! I really enjoyed the pizza. Our other sponsor Shortbread Baking Co made these cookies that are pretty and mouth-watering! And finally, Mighty Swell Cocktails brought the drinks and since I had only tried the Grapefruit previously, I now have a new favorite – the lemon!

Good, Healthy Eats at True Food Kitchen
Yes, I went to True Food Kitchen twice in one week. Back in December, I visited the location in Dallas for brunch and really loved it, so I was excited when they opened an Austin location recently! I LOVED the ancient grain bowl with chicken. On the second visit, I enjoyed the kale guacamole, asparagus and mushroom pizza and the kale salad.

Homemade Steak and Veggies
I shared one of my boyfriend’s go-to home-cooked meals on the blog this month. Steak and veggies. It is always a highly satisfying and hearty meal packed with flavors! Check out the post to see how to make it for yourself.

Whole30 Eats
After starting Whole30, my boyfriend and I have been eating in and taking homemade lunches to work. While some days include a lackluster salad, most days have involved making new dishes like Turkey Mushroom Salad Bowls, Pot Roast Bowls and a whole lot of Chia Seed Pudding with fresh fruit. Check out the Austin360Cooks post about my chia seed pudding!

What delicious things have you been eating lately?

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The post Flavors of the Month: July 2016 appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Butternut Miso Soup at Kor180
I attended a Kor180 preview party hosted by my friend Amy.  Kor180’s Chef Tanner created some healthy snacks for us to try, including a tasty Butternut Miso Soup. You can find the crock-pot recipe on their blog.

Charbroiled Oysters and Beer at Whole Foods Domain
As I’ve mentioned in Flavors posts before, one of my favorite weekend chill spots is the Draft Shack at the Whole Foods at the Domain. An afternoon of craft beer and fresh, spicy charbroiled oysters and sometimes live music and football can’t be beat!

Eats in Tamarindo, Costa Rica
I ate plenty of fresh fish and fruit in Costa Rica at the beginning of the month. Take a look at my travel guide here. The above photo is from Nari Pizza.

Pork Sausage with Sauerkraut at Banger’s
I told you all about our Austin Food Blogger Alliance happy hour at Banger’s in my January Captivations post. We enjoyed freshly made and grilled sausages topped with house-made mustard and sauerkraut.

Kouign Amann and Apple Croissant; Avocado Toast and Cafe Scramble at Cafe No Se
Cafe No Se at the new South Congress Hotel is a cute and trendy place for brunch. Ooo crispy and buttery pastries! I really enjoyed both the Kouign Amann and Apple Croissant. My friend Sarah and I also split the Avocado Toast with a soft-boiled egg and Cafe Scramble. Both satisfying by its portion and flavors.

Homemade Roasted Garlic Hummus
One of my culinary goals this year is to make one “classic” dish I’ve never made every month. I started off this goal with one of my favorite snacks – hummus! I roasted garlic, made tahini, and used chickpeas. It was a successful start to this goal.

Teriyaki Curry Chicken Toast Lunch Plate with Kale and Potato Salad at Sa-Ten
I’ll admit, the deciding factor to choosing this place for brunch was the squirrel wallpaper. It was a good choice though because I really enjoyed the flavors of the teriyaki curry chicken toast. I didn’t enjoy the thick toast and I wish there was dressing on the kale but I liked the interesting potato salad. My only complaint about my chai was that I should have gotten a large instead of a regular! I also tried some of my friend MJ’s salmon toast and equally liked that one.

Homemade Crock-Pot Khao Soi
Another one of my culinary goals this year is to make two new crock-pot meals a month. I got a crock-pot for Christmas and want to put it to good use. While my first recipe – Chicken Masala – was a sad fail, my second recipe – Khao Soi – was very tasty! This traditional Thai dish has become my favorite when I go out to eat and I’m glad Rachelle Lucas of The Travel Bite took the time after her latest trip to Thailand to discover and share this recipe!

What delicious things have you enjoyed this past month?

The post Flavors of the Month: January 2016 appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Fried Chi’ken Sandwich at Chi’lantro
My friend Aaron sent me a promotional photo of this chicken sandwich and I responded with tell me when. A few hours later we were at Chi’lantro having dinner and splitting a burger and the limited edition chi’ken sandwich. It was a party in my mouth and I don’t usually say that about savory food. The crispy breading was so light. They should put this on the menu permanently.

Horchata and Peaches with Rosemary Scoops at Lick Honest Ice Creams
One of my favorite dessert spots, Lick, opened a new location up north! I HAD to try their horchata (because I love drinking it) and their peaches with rosemary (because peaches). I loved both! Also, it was my first time trying their waffle cone and exclamation marks! If this were how everyone did waffle cones, I wouldn’t have disliked them. Their cone is more like a vanilla wafer instead of tasteless cardboard, which is what I usually associate with waffle cones. I’ll be getting those from now on!

Bites at Pay It Forward
I got to attend the Pay It Forward with Daniel Curtis event (thanks, work!) and ate many fantastic bites. This Peaches and Mascarpone from Olive and June was one of my favorites.

Brie and Fruit Board at Dolce Vita
Happy hour at Dolce Vita is great! This plentiful brie and fruit board was $4. They also have drink specials and other food options.

Homemade Gluten-Free Peach Cobbler
Family dinner is one of my favorite activities because my friend and her BF (who happens to be my BF’s brother) and my BF and I all get together to make dinner and hang out. This dessert was a group decision because it needed to be gluten-free, I wanted peaches (surprise, surprise) and my BF loves cobbler. As I mentioned on Instagram, it disappeared pretty quickly. What I didn’t mention is my BF ate half of it himself. Ha! Here’s the recipe if you want to try it.

Thai Meatloaf and Home Fried Chicken at Kin and Comfort
We’ve gone to Kin and Comfort a bunch this year because it’s so darn close and so darn good. My favorite dish is the Thai Meatloaf and we also tried the Home Fried Chicken.

Cold Meat Board at Dai Due
We went to lunch at Dai Due for my boss’ birthday. We were all looking forward to trying it because of all the great press the restaurant has been getting this year. We started with the Cold Meat Board, which had a variety of pate, rillette, sausage and slices. I thought this was the high point of the meal because the meats all tasted great! Each meat was unique in its own way. For the entrée, I had the American Breakfast (eggs, venison sausage, potatoes, biscuit) and my co-workers ordered the Pastrami Sandwich and Chili Hot Dog. For dessert we had the Pear Upside-Down Cake with Hoja Santa Ice Cream and the Caramel Tart.

Homemade Pavlova
I hadn’t heard of pavlovas until I saw the Camille Styles recipe. I made it for my DIY Marbling Party and it was pretty and delicious! Find more photos and the recipe in this post.

What yummy things have you been eating lately?

The post Flavors of the Month: August 2015 appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Homemade Cherry Pie
While this Fourth of July pie didn’t get made until the very end of the full weekend, it was eaten within days. I thought I wasn’t a fan of cherry pie but the sweet, ripe cherries made it perfect. It was a store-bought crust but the cherry filling was pitted and made by hand and spoon.

Margherita and Kale Pizzas at 40 North
The new edition of the Austin Passbook is out, so I thought it was time to get stamping. Linda and I tried 40 North’s pizzas. These pizzas were pretty tasty and with the great trailer food weather and evening lighting, these pizza shots were on point.

Dinner at Swift’s Attic
Boyfriend’s mama was in town and the family got together to celebrate her birthday at Swift’s Attic. We shared a bunch of their plates, including the Charred Edamame, Blistered Shishitos (I still think about these), Korean BBQ Flank Steak, Squid Fries and Seared Scallops. We finished the delicious dinner off with the birthday song and Commander Crunch and the pictured Popcorn & a Movie.

Khao Soi at Chang Thai
As a long-time fan of Yellow Curry and Pad Thai, I am happy that I’ve found a somewhat combination of the two. Khao Soi is yellow curry with egg noodles, veggies and a protein, and has become my new go-to. As with most Thai dishes, this portion at Chang Thai in north Austin was huge!

Toast at Brunch Club
As you saw in the previous Totes Toast post, Brunch Club was all about toast this month and I whipped out some avocado toast varieties. Also consumed: French toast casserole, egg bacon sandwich, and raspberry lemonade champagnes.

Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings) from Wu Chow at Edible Escape
While highly anticipated Chinese restaurant Wu Chow’s opening date is still TBA, they’ve been wowing the culinary community with pop-ups around town and at local events. I tried their soup dumplings at Edible Austin’s Edible Escapes party and I was [emoji face with hearts as eyes]. In other words, I went back for seconds. This soup-filled dumpling is a little package of delight.

Mediterranean-Themed Dinner Party
I love my food-loving friends. Especially when they – well, mostly she – creates a beautiful homemade spread like this. My friend Sarah made the most amazing lamb shawarma, baba ganoush, and beet hummus. Boyfriend and I made tabbouleh and bought red pepper hummus. And as if that wasn’t enough, Sarah pulls out homemade basil with pine nut praline ice cream. Safe to say we left with full and happy bellies and hearts.

All the things in Chicago
One weekend in July was filled with Chicago eats and it was all fantastic. Hop over to my Chicago eats blog post to read all about it!

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream at Mandola’s
I was in the neighborhood and “needed” some sugar. I know, it’s slightly a problem. But Mandola’s has a really good cone! And they have a variety of gelato flavors.

French Toast and Iron Man Omelette at Café Java
I’ve talked about Café Java before in my flavors posts, and I will continue talking about it. This unpretentious and consistent breakfast spot is one of my favorites. They have all the favorite breakfast foods – sweet and savory. Their hashbrowns have secrets in them. To top it all off, their staff is always friendly, even when they have lines out the door on the weekends.

Unicorn Poop Ice Cream at Sweet Ritual
I know people exclaim “this is my favorite” recklessly sometimes. I’m not saying that for fun. This ice cream from Sweet Ritual is my favorite right now. First, it’s called Unicorn Poop. Second, it’s vegan coconut milk ice cream mixed with sprinkles and Skittles, a combination I wasn’t quite sure I would like (vegan coconut milk?) but I can’t stop thinking about.

What noteworthy flavors are you writing home about?

The post Flavors of the Month: July 2015 appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Chocolate Mousse at Quickie Pickie
I met up with my friend Ellen for dinner and we enjoyed this chocolate mousse cup for dessert/my birthday.

Strawberry Cake at Jacoby’s
This bad lighted photo is a good Strawberry Cake! Strawberry Cake has always been my favorite cake flavor and we finished this fun birthday dinner with some.

Lobster at Quality Seafood
This was a great decision one weekend: ordering a lobster each while watching some football. I learned the right way to crack and eat a lobster!

Texas Squeeze Pineapple Juice
Have y’all tried this yet? Made by the same people who make Texas Tea, this pineapple juice tasted very pure and tasty!

Kerbey Lane Pancake Mix
I was gifted some Kerbey Lane buttermilk pancake mix so we decided to try it out one weekend morning. They came out a little more dense than we thought they would but with our play-by-taste homemade strawberry syrup, we liked them.

Belgian Waffle at The Grape (Dallas)
Yes, this Belgian waffle with whipped cream, strawberries, pecans and bacon was as delicious as it looks. We also tried the award-winning one of the best burgers in Texas and the fried chicken jalapeno biscuit – both on point.

Pistachio, Salted Caramel and Vanilla Macarons at Joy Macarons (Dallas)
Stopped by this cute place for some macarons. Yum!

Homemade Pear and Apple Gallette
We won girls’ night by not only whipping up some steaks, mashed potatoes and asparagus, but also this pretty pear and apple gallette, all by intuition. It was a magical night.

This month I also enjoyed:
-an outstanding dinner at Tomo
-a great taco dinner at Taco Flats
–pasta dinner made by Linda
-Dim Sum at the re-opened Fortune
-a Christmas Eve crab leg dinner made by my boyfriend

It’s ok to admit it. What are the tasty indulgences you enjoyed in December?

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