Bellhorn Family

I was rather disappointed at missing my chance to visit Kreuz Market while in Lockhart a couple weeks ago. Last week a plan was formulated to rectify this unfortunate situation. I would undertake another road trip on Saturday afternoon ensuring Kreuz would be open for business. Delicious, delicious business! The plan was pure simplicity.

As with most plans, it did not hold up through execution. In fact the plan was altered far before Saturday even arrived. Fortunately the alterations only enhanced the plan's enjoyment potential.

Additional barbecue explorers joined the swelling ranks as word of my epic quest spread through the land. Eight adventurers in total embarked from Austin last Saturday. Our destination was Black's Barbecue. While this establishment was not included in Texas Monthly's Top 5 BBQ restaurants, it was deemed a more palatable initiation into barbecue adventures. They provide plates, utensils, and even (gasp!) sauce.

We hoped the onion skull was not a portent of things to come.

I partook of their jalapeno cheese sausage once again. Unfortunately the leap of faith did not result in a greater reward. My slices of brisket were quite good, but several of my fellow travelers received extremely dry selections. It appeared to be luck of the draw as to which section of meat was sliced.

A clock tower stood above the surrounding buildings as we left Black's. A unanimous decision led our intrepid group on a side quest to discover where they originated. We quickly arrived at the Caldwell County Courthouse a couple blocks south. My friend Bic showed off his new boots for a picture.

Another educational nugget was gleaned when I spotted Smitty's Market one block further south. This establishment was ranked second by Texas Monthly. It is housed in the original location of Kreuz Market before a family feud resulted in two competing locations. One brother took the Kreuz Market name a few blocks north while the other brother retained the business location. Surely this will be a future trip's destination.

My descriptions of Kreuz's addictive jalapeno cheese sausage intrigued my friend Bic. He expressed a desire to purchase some of their cold sausages to try later in the week. I fully backed his plan and purchased a case of sausage for myself. Hopefully this will quell the necessity of another trip in the near future.

Having said that, my travel mates all expressed a desire to traverse the distance back to Lockhart to try Kreuz Market for themselves. Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter in our barbecue adventures.

A couple of my friends were married last weekend. Their families are from Houston, so that is where they decided to hold the wedding. It was a lot of fun seeing all of the people we used to work with at Edge of Reality. In some ways that seems so long ago, but there are also times I am shocked to realize that was over a year ago now.

Johnny tried to plan the date so as to avoid the UT vs. OU game. Alas they chose this year to break a 76-year-streak of not playing past the second week in October. On the plus side, it gave Johnny inspiration for the groom's cake design. :)

The ceremony was on the north-west side of Houston. Most of my experience has been driving to the south side of town. This time I decided to drive down highway 290 despite the long stretches of undivided road. It was a much straighter trip and provided some different scenery. As you can see here, this provided a chance to "take a little trip down memory lane".

On the way back to Austin, I drove along side of Bastrop State Park on my way to eat lunch in Lockhart. It was a beautiful trip in the "Lost Pine's" shadow. I learned later this is isolated area of loblolly pine trees which normally do not grow this far west. I am planning on heading back sometime to walk see more of the park.

Lockhart is the "Barbecue Capitol of Texas", so there were some options for lunch. I headed over to Black's Barbecue since they are open on Sunday. The brisket was pretty good, but the jalapeno and cheese sausage did not taste like jalapeno or cheese. My original plan was to eat lunch at Kruez Market on Saturday since their jalapeno and cheese sausage is extremely addictive. Unfortunately I was running to far behind schedule.

Some friends were inspired by my trip to the "Barbeque Capitol of Texas">Barbeque Capitol of Texas. They all want to head down tomorrow to try some of the food. I think we are going to try Black's Barbeque this time due to their large variety of side dishes. Plus they offer utensils and bbq sauce.

My mother has decided I no longer eat dinner. Having recently watched Julie and Julia, I figured it might be simpler to post photos of what I cook rather than explain it all the time. Besides it sounded like something fun to try. I'm not sure how many different types of shots I will be able to attempt. Hopefully I can figure out a few Iron Chef type images. Here is a picture a frittata I made last week. So far I have been able to keep up the daily log.