Views of the Neighborhood – Search for Spring

~ John W. Howell

Today we are going to try and find evidence of spring. It has been a challenging winter, and a lift of the spirits is in order. We are catered by Odd Duck of Austin. Our entertainment is Willie Nelson.

menu

starters

Gulf seafood ceviche, carrot leche de tigre, strawberry, radish, potato chips

Grilled kale salad, fennel, citrus, sunchoke dukkah, shiitake ranch

Charred broccoli, chèvre, mole spice, apple gastrique, sesame

Cast iron cheddar cornbread, green garlic butter

Mushroom tamal, kohlrabi cheese, field greens, cilantro

Smoked oyster chowder, turnip, pork belly, brassica greens, pork rinds

Main

Capellini pasta, sunchoke cacio e pepe, TX cheddar, carrot salsa macha

Blackened redfish, sourdough sauce, wilted romaine, pecan, lemon

Grilled quail, XO fried rice, braised greens, beet BBQ, fried chicken skin

Dry-aged wagyu burger, blue beer cheese, tostada, pork birria jam, cabbage slaw

Aged pork loin, tzatziki, caramelized fennel, beets, pepitas

Chile beer glazed short rib, radish kimchi, sweet potato, peanut

Dessert

Lime mousse, strawberry sorbet, puffed rice, butter mochi

Orange flan, amaro candied fennel, almond tuile, citrus, orange blossom water, fennel pollen

Sunchoke blondie, caramelized white chocolate, sherry vinegar caramel, cocoa nib ice cream

Picture of an old time school bus

Let’s go.

Our first sign of spring is a blooming mountain laurel

To double-check to make sure the first mountain laurel isn’t a fluke, here’s another.

The oldest redbud in the neighborhood.

Another redbud showing off.

A close-up of mountain laurel blossoms. They smell like grape Kool-Aid

 

A cross vine bloom and those waiting to pop.

Another large redbud.

A very happy fig. Of course, The Producer puts it inside when the temps are projected to be below freezing. Those days are supposed to be behind us. (knock wood)

The bougainvillea loves the warmer temperatures.

A lone rose left after the seasonal trim.

The greenbelt has blooms.

Another greenbelt bloom making a break for it.

I hope you enjoyed the tour.  It is now time to relax and have some food and listen to music.

 

99 thoughts on “Views of the Neighborhood – Search for Spring”

  3. It appears we’ve jumped right into summer, AC on and all! I love the variety of blossoms you get. Here I’m seeing hibiscus, periwinkle and a few roses. So I’ll take the pork loin and sit back to enjoy old Willie.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Once again you are tempting me with that grilled kale salad, John. But I don’t get Gulf seafood up here very often, so I’ll go with the ceviche. Then the aged pork loin, and I’ll finish that off with a sunchoke blondie.

    As for sings of spring, damn, you have green stuff! These are wonderful and hopeful photos. We may be weeks away (and we did get some snow overnight) but spring is coming.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. I loved seeing the mountain laurel! It’s a favorite, for sure. The purple flower in your last photo is spiderwort — another tough one, and an early bloomer that’s showing up here, too.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Always fun to see what’s going on in your neighborhood, John, and today I learned something new. Texas Mountain Laurel looks nothing like North Carolina Mountain Laurel, which is a cup-shaped blossom, usually pink or white. I love that yours smell like grape Kool-Aid!

    Thanks for sharing! 😀

    Liked by 2 people

  14. I had to wait for that gorgeous song to end – what a touching tune.
    As for our lunch, oh my goodness, so many delicious things to choose from.
    I love your signs of spring; they really are uplifting!

    Liked by 1 person

  16. The blooming is starting here as well – daffodils in the meadow where a farm once stood and threatening to open in our patio box. Pear trees are creating arbors of white blossoms (although they do stink). Very early though.
    I think I’ll just have the seafood ceviche with the corn bread! Yum!

    Liked by 1 person

  18. These are delightful, John — thank you for sharing early Spring. Those of us longing for the warmer temperatures and flowering trees really needed it! (Not that our winter has been so terribly awful. In fact, according to the weather guys and gals, it’s been unseasonably warm. But gray. Lots of gray.)

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Nice to see those spring blooms, John 🙂 I think it will be a while before we see that or even daffodils under all this snow.

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Nobody compares to Willie. That menu is amazing, John. I’m glad I haven’t had lunch yet, because I would have been hungry all over again. And how wonderful to see so many gorgeous spring flowers already. Thanks so much for this warm and lovely collection. Hugs.

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Spring has arrived in your neighborhood for sure. I love the Mountain Laurels. They grew everywhere out in the brush where I grew up. I don’t think I have ever heard this Willie Nelson song. Thanks for brunch!

    Liked by 1 person

  29. Buds’n’blooms?
    Lucky!
    We’ve got snow’n’shovels!

    Yet, I feel fortunate… happy … a sort of inner bloom.
    Have a great week, John!
    🐂💋🐂💋🐂💋🐂💋

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Our azaleas are blooming over here as well as some Redbuds. I’d like our temps to be a bit cooler, but I hope we don’t get any more freezes. It would be sad to see all those blossoms turn to mush!

    Liked by 1 person

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