Embracing 2008, looking forward to 2009

Props to the hundreds of thousands of bloggers, especially those with children (whom I will NOT automatically call mommy bloggers :)), who can keep up with photos, videos and heck, even posts themselves this time of year. I find myself at the end of the holiday months, the longest and best I've had in years, if not ever. Work simultaneously invigorated and overwhelmed me. We welcomed lots of new friends in a new house. Julian could identify Santa Claus and open presents on his own. Ian and I kept up our positive attitudes and couldn't pinch ourselves enough to make sure all this happy goodness was real and not just some wistful dream from earlier in 2008.



People keep saying what a crappy year 2008 was. It most definitely held unprecedented lows, both personal and economic, but with a new president, a new job, a new partnership, a new home, a new social circle (even for Julian) and a new wardrobe and subsequent quasi-fame, I am having a hard time remembering anything but the good from '08.



In terms of my own person growth and change, 2008 was right up there, if not ahead, of 2001, 2003 and 2006. Look at the hardship and joy suffered in those years: starting college and 9/11, followed by exiting adolescence and living in Spain, then moving to Austin, losing Troy and embracing Julian.



I'm just thankful that this year, like the others, the lemonade we made quenches our thirsty lips.



My hope is that our collective momentum will continue into this new year. 2009, as every year before it, holds countless opportunities for my family and yours, and my wish is that we all greet them with open eyes and a straight head.

Holiday cheer and a happy boy

(If no pictures show up, then you either need to log in to Flickr or become a contact on Flickr.)

November and December have been a whirlwind. From planning and executing more than a dozen holiday-related stories, columns, live chats, blogs and events at work to moving from our old apartment a mere 85 steps to a duplex, which now seems like world away from our old home.

Julian has been helping more in the kitchen, peeling onions and putting things in the pot. He's developed quite the sweet tooth; he usually wakes up in the morning and goes to the freezer, asking politely for ice cream. After the move, Julian got a table and chairs, an easel, a rocker and his very own rug. He got to play with markers and the easel for awhile, until ripping out the ink-saturated tips was more fun than coloring with them. We also put the bars on his crib back on after a week of trying out the toddler bed, and we're all sleeping much better because of it.

We're going to Missouri the day after Christmas, but until then, I have a few last minute things to wrap up at work, including a column about what I'm looking forward to in 2009, which inevitably means I'll have to reflect on 2008. I thought that deluge of holiday food coverage would make me weary this far into the season, but it's quite the opposite. So far, this has been one of the best Decembers I can remember. Lots of good times and fun people. A happy family. Oh yes, and good food.

Hip to the news

The Statesman did this TV commercial a month or so ago to start branding itself as THE place to get local news first.



Not too bad if you ask me. With all its Twittering, social media-ing, blogging and, oh yeah, hard-working journalism-ing, I think think the paper is doing a fine doing transitioning into the next generation of newspapers. What do you think?

The boys are back in town

Ian and Julian were in Waco for a few days this week, which left me alone in this house for more hours than I've been alone here since Julian was born (not much of an exaggeration, even with the long days of work I had this week...). Toddlers don't leave you much space or time for yourself. It's just a fact that parents of young ones grow to accept. I fight it still (Putting him down for a nap at 9:30 instead of 10 or ignoring his shouts of "mom" that start 20 minutes after we both go down for a nap, for example.) but there's little use. He's interested in everything in the house except his things. The DVDs are particularly of interest, especially since he's figured out how to reach the eject button even though it's as high and far from his reach as we can get it. Friends, babysitters, even family members — everyone but fellow newish parents — have a hard time really understanding the attention and energy required to tend to, much less entertain and educate, a 19-month-old.

That's where Ian gets the super gold stars. I've officially decided that staying at home with Julian full time is not anything I'd want or would be capable of doing. It's getting to the point where Ian, too, is having to make the conscious decision to continue with the current childcare situation. We've been talking about finding somewhere for him a few days a week, which I hope will happen in the next few months. It would be good for everyone in this house to have some more time to him or herself.

My time away from the child is taken up pretty wholly with work or work-related activities. Thankfully, that also means I've been eating some fine food and meeting some fabulous people. I even got to go to the circus this week! That food price story on Wednesday ended up being more work than I thought it would be, but it was worth it to try to explain why some of H-E-B's prices have dropped amid the largest food price increases since 1990.

Thanks to neighbor/sound guy Pat, we got to see the lovely Patty Griffin last night at the Austin City Limits studio on the UT campus. It was a great show; the live rendition of "Bad News" kicked ass and her last song, which she wrote for a graduating class, brought tears to my eyes. Sunday is My Morning Jacket, which I'm having a surprisingly hard time finding a partner to go with. Triste. They are too good to miss.

Cheesemania without a single curds and whey joke!

Lots been happenin' at work in the past few weeks, including several how-to videos you can find on the statesman's multimedia page. A column about making cheese, butter and yogurt is in tomorrow's paper, and the above video goes with it online.

My favorite line? "I got some whey in my mouth. Mmmm" (The part of me dropping the big curd ball and splashing whey everywhere got cut.)

Blueberry pickin'

We're back to Texas and back on the busy train. Wrapped up the blueberry/recipe column, which has the above video to go with it.

That Jessilyn Akin, she's a wonder. After we did our interview and were just catching up on what keeps us busy these days, she said to me, "Ed would be proud," referring to my grandfather, under whom she worked as a teacher for many years. Brought tears to my eyes and joy to my heart to feel his loving gaze upon me, picking blueberries with the most important women in my life (GaGa, my mom, Rachel, Rachel's mom Susan and Erin) and doing a bit of work with a blueberry farmer he also had much respect for.

More on the road trip later...

Work, work, work, today. Off to Dallas tonight. Arrive in Missouri with Erin and baby J tomorrow afternoon to see Rachel and Russman! It's been a year February since we've seen them. Julian was just 4 weeks old and nursing (he had his first bottle with them!) when they saw him last. We took our first road trip with the baby to San Antonio while they were here, too. Oh, how quickly things change.

On this road trip, it will be just the three of us (Ian's staying here for some quiet time.) for just a few days. Floating the James River and picking blueberries are on the agenda, as are unforgettable times with many of my favorite people on Earth.

But before I go, I've got to finish next week's column and go out to a rabbit/chicken/duck farm for an interview.

Missouri, here we come!

Wine and beef jerky?

Gary says yes.

Gary Vaynerchuk is on purpose

I wonder if Gary Vaynerchuk and Wayne Dyer know each other. Both Dyer, the spiritual teacher and author, and GaryV, the host of Wine Library TV who I wrote about in today's paper, spend a lot of time using their natural ability to affect change on people.


Dyer does it outright with all those books and seminars (check him out if you don't know him), but Mr. Vaynerchuk uses, of all things, a wine blog in which he shouts at plastic wrestling figures, spits in a bucket and asks viewers about the last thing that made them smile. Don't groan. He means it. He wants to know where the love is at.

When you are achieving your destiny, Dyer calls it being "on purpose." Those Ask and It is Given folks says you are in vibrational harmony with the source. I got the essence of what people love about him. The sincerity, the passion, the heartfelt words. I've met few people who are so truly on purpose as him.

Garyvee is on path in his role as a uniter and motivator. We had such interesting conversations about media and community, two things that are merging so publicly and virtually with the explosion of social networking. But talking about that led us to talk about strengthening our real-life relationships with friends and family. What gives us true joy, what losses hurt the most, what events will bring the next wave of personal change. I met a ton of people at a wine tasting with him in Houston who left the party feeling closer with the friends they came with. When I got home the next day, I kissed my family a little longer.

Gary's keenly aware of these interviews and public appearances and the process through which his words make it into newspapers, magazines and Web pages. So, even though these quotes from the drive (they didn't make the story) are out of context, I think they really give some more insight into what Gary's up to.

"I'm so not into things that separate people into groups."

"People talk about the romance of opening up the newspaper. There was a romance to making smoke signals, too."

"I don't feel like a jerk talking about (my charisma), because I don't think I deserve credit."

"I'm never half pregnant."

"If you think, 'Ooo, video blogging, I'm going to make money doing that,' you've already lost."

"It is my life to build community."

"LeBron James didn't read about being a great basketball player. I didn't read about marketing."

"Until I know someone, I'm not going to judge them. It's the same thing with wine."

"People are scared to go after what they want because either their parents or society told them not to and they believed them."

"People don' t understand how hard I really work. That's the part that's not sexy."

"I think the reason I'm so in tune with my palate is the same reason I'm so in tune with my soul."

Wish you could be on 'Top Chef'?

If you can't get on the show, you can always bring 'Top Chef' home:

FOOD & DRINK

'Top Chef' comes home

For tonight's finale, this group plans to cook Polish food

By Addie Broyles
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Up-and-coming chefs try to whip up fabulous (but sometimes mediocre) meals to impress models, journalists, restaurateurs and celebrity chefs on Bravo TV's hit reality show "Top Chef."

Some Austin friends who meet each Wednesday night for their own "Top Chef"-style competition and watch party just want to impress one another and earn a few bragging rights.

Robin and Tom Gerrow started hosting these "Top Chef" parties for their foodie friends several months ago when the fourth season started. The season ends tonight with "cheftestants" Lisa Fernandes, Richard Blais and Stephanie Izard vying for the $100,000 prize.

The Gerrows had enjoyed watching "Top Chef" with their friends for several seasons, and while watching the finale last season one of them had the idea that they should host their own cooking competition before the show started each week.

Continue reading...

What it's like to be a food writer, so far

I haven't written much about the new job, well, because I've been writing a lot at the new job. Stories, yet, but you wouldn't believe how many keystrokes go to blogging and e-mails alone. I do love me some technology, however, and have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon (broylesa is my name, so have a look and see what you think.) and have been trying to blog like crazy over at Relish Austin. By doing it regularly, I'm hoping to get some readers and get myself used to that blend of work/personal, laid back/professional. It's a tricky balance right now, but I'm working on it.

Since getting back from my road trip last week with Gary Vaynerchuk, I've been booking it on some stories and trying to keep my head above water with e-mails, possible stories, contacts and reader feedback.

The e-mails are mostly from PR folks wanting me to check out a new product, Web site, cookbook or strange berry from South America that will lower my risk of cancer. Some reader mail, which is always fun to reply to. (Only one or two nasty ones, a pretty good record I'd say, seeing as how people take their pie pretty seriously in Texas.) Not too many comments on the blog still...(hint hint and thanks to those who have)

Oh and the snail mail and packages. Even before I started my job officially, I was getting tons of promotional items from companies hoping I'll write about their product. I've received everything from charcoal to spices to a block of Parmesan cheese. And don't forget the books. It's easy to get buried beneath the piles of books, on subjects ranging from cupcake decorating to kosher meals to the best clam shacks in Massachusetts. I donated a bunch to the company book sale earlier this week, the profits of which go to charity. I've held a few back for reference and taken a few home to try.

Speaking of the blog, the "What's in Your Fridge Friday" feature I'm really excited about. I've already lined up a couple of great locals (a hip hop artist/VJ and a nationally renown author) for the next few weeks, so give it a look. And send me a photo of your fridge :).

I'm also going to start a monthly meetup, where I get together with whoever the heck wants to at some random place in town to get to know folks and talk about anything remotely related to food. Appetizers with Addie. I'll launch it this week, probably to take place the week after next. Where should we go? The Ginger Man? Jovitas? Some place up north I don't know about yet?

It's weird being around food (and everything food-related) all day and simultaneously thinking about your own food needs and likes and dislikes. I've already learned that going to our weekly food meeting leaves my stomach painfully grumbling after it's over. Hearing Dale Rice talk about his recent trip to China and all the good food he ate and learned to cook, or listening to our designer regal us with stories of her garden's bounty.

I got caught eating a cup of instant noodles (I was in a pinch, promise!) when I first started, but around the holidays, I'm sure I'll be able to sustain myself on office food alone. Haven't gained any weight — so far.

I've received some new products I thought would taste great but that actually tasted horrible (olive oil, certain trail mixes) and some products I thought would be gag-worthy but that were actually pretty good (cocoa almonds).

Just shows you can't judge a food by anything but its taste.

Millions of peaches

Here's a taste of this week's Relish Austin column on peaches...

Cobbler, schmobbler.
For me, a pie is just peachy

By Addie Broyles
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Think of fresh Hill Country peaches, and you can almost feel the juice trickling down your chin.

Well, grab some napkins, 'cause peaches are here.

The first batch popped up at local farmers' markets several weeks ago, but June marks the height of the season in Central Texas, specifically Gillespie County, where about a third of the state's peaches are grown....

Now, what to do with those heavenly peaches? Jams, cobblers and even smoothies are grand, but for me it's all about the pie. And I promise this column won't be just all stories of my grandmother's incredible cooking, but it would be baking betrayal not to share her peach pie recipe.

This is my favorite of her pies, and she always makes one for me when I visit my hometown, but I'd never seen her actually put the thing together.

So when my grandmother and mother were both in town last week, we made a pie using fresh peaches I bought from a roadside farm stand in Oak Hill.

My grandmother Carolyn Cook started by sifting the flour for her never-fail pie crust, which uses shortening instead of butter, while my mom and I peeled and sliced a large basket of peaches.

"You know, I don't do this at home," my grandmother said of the exact measuring. "I've always done it by guess and by gosh. Hardly anybody measured anything back then."

Despite, or perhaps because of, the exact measuring, this particular pie crust didn't turn out exactly as she'd hoped. After she rolled out the dough circles, they fell apart when she picked them up to assemble the pie. Like a true cook, she didn't throw her hands up in despair, but instead pieced the dough back together like a puzzle for both the bottom and top crusts.

As for the filling, the smaller peaches I'd bought added up on the shy end of the 4 cups required for the filling, so my grandmother added a half cup of blackberries and raspberries, which added a nice color and tartness to the final pie.

With this improvisational attitude, she can use this same recipe to make just about any fruit pie, just as long as the total amount of fruit equals about 4 cups and the amount of sugar is adjusted to taste.

The pie went in the oven for about an hour, and when it came out, it might not have looked flawless, but it sure tasted that way.

I don't know about you, but I prefer a pieced-together pie crust that is savory, light and flaky than one that looks perfect but tastes like it came out of a freezer.

It's the same way with peaches themselves. The small, dark, less-than-perfectly round ones we used for this pie were much tastier than the picture-perfect peaches I bought at the grocery store earlier this year.

Perfection, just as in life, isn't the goal in the kitchen.

And that's the great thing about a good pie. Unless you burn it, there's little you can do to it that a good dollop of ice cream can't fix.

Are Texas tomatoes safe to eat?

Check out my first news story for the paper, about the salmonella outbreak that's linked to tomatoes and more than 80 reported cases in 11 states.

Relish Austin

Ya'll reading Relish Austin yet?

A lot of my blogging time will be spent there in coming months, so check it out. Leave me a comment! Tell me what you're eating!

Here we go...

So many fun things to share today!

First, my debut as food writer for the Austin American-Statesman. I couldn't be more proud (and excited and nervous and giddy and all the other things you feel as the plane first lifts off the ground, heading toward somewhere you've never been). So far, I've met only wonderful people, like the people in my first lede story about the Austin Discovery School where students do most of their learning outside, in gardens. In my first column, I rekindled a memory of nearly burning down our apartment in Alicante, Spain, that was probably best left forgotten. The Relish Austin blog is up and running, with a couple of posts to greet you and, if I stay good on my word, daily posts on the weekdays after that (breaking food news notwithstanding).

Second exciting thing: I have some candidates for a wedding dress! I went on an exhausting shopping trip for both the Ian man and me, while he stayed at home to watch the kid. (It was a fair trade, I promise.) I spent something like 3 hours trying to channel my inner Stacy and Clinton to find the perfect stylish dress (not white, not frumpy, not long) and something equally fabulous for Ian. I ended up at the Armani Exchange (what? I've never shopped there in my life.) and found killer (and not that expensive) shirts and jeans for him and an awesome dress that I know Ms. London and Ms. Klum would approve of. We'll see if it's the winning number.

Third fantastic moment of my day: Julian has these berry/nuts that he collects outside, and when we come inside, he refuses to let go of them.

Today, we let him win.

See what fun he found.

Toys? Who needs toys?

More What Not to Wear

Astute reader Terry Sulsen tipped me off to this article on naturallycurly.com, a site that was started by some people who used to work at the Statesman. She interviewed me several weeks ago, but I had kinda forgotten that they were going to do an article.

Now, more apologies for not posting more, but I have an article of my own I need to get back to. My first story as the food writer is running on Wednesday, along with my first Relish Austin column. :) I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Ian and I got to sneak away for some shopping today. We both need something for the wedding, which is coming up a week from today, so we went by American Apparel and got non-wedding stuff. Makes perfect sense, right? Everything in this store fits Ian to a T. I'm so glad he finally found a place where he can buy (expensive) stuff to show off his cute little body. Still no dress for me, but I will find it this week. Stacy and Clinton would have been proud of me today. I tried on some good stuff, but I said no because I know that there's more out there.

Orange I happy?

I guess the phrase "when it rains it pours" can apply to both good and bad events in life. The Knox-Broyles house happens to be in a harvest time right now, and don't doubt for a minute we're not thanking the universe with every grain of our beings...

I'm going to be the new food writer at the Statesman! All this WNTW stuff really allowed me to flex my media and writing muscles, and so when the opportunity arose to apply for this position, which is most definitely what I could consider a dream job, I couldn't help but take it. Not only am I thrilled to be writing about food, I'm on cloud nine to be thinking about generating content rather than editing it. I feel like I have so many ideas and so many ways of telling stories that are just bottled up inside me right now. This blog has been the only outlet for some of it. Of course, I'm a little nervous about all the changes this job will entail (goodbye, long, lazy days with Julian and Ian; farewell, the pleasure of leaving work behind when I leave the building), but I can't wait to resume what I fell in love with so long ago: using words and images to tell people's stories.

I don't start officially until the end of April, but I imagine there will be lots of planning and preparing that will be done in the meantime. I can't tell you how exciting this is for me, Ian and Julian. We're in the midst of a lot of change right now, but everyone is handling it tremendously. And there's no way I could take on this job without Ian's support.

:) I feel like the luckiest girl in the world...

A snot-faced little boy

Julian's been having a rough week. Either allergies or his teeth or perhaps some germs he picked up are simultaneously stuffing him up and giving him the snots and a case of the I-don't-want-to-sleeps. He's usually a great napper and sleeper, but for the past few days he's been up at night and refusing to go back to sleep in his crib. Now, it's nap time and he's got these big old circles under his eyes and he's refusing to sleep. I think it's probably because he can't suck his thumb like he wants with all that snot in his nose. And, if he's anything like his momma, the snot draining on his throat is making it sore, which is irritating enough in itself. Poor guy. I got some baby Vicks last night, but I'm thinking I should have gone for the full strength...

He's turning into quite the little boy. He started saying "ruff ruff" when we're talking about dogs. He's making the connection with signing "more" and "all done." He even acted like he was brushing his teeth last week when I brushed mine. His movements are getting so focused and intentional. His physical features are chiseling him into a toddler. It's so fun to watch. He's still got that crazy happy laugh of his, which Jenny noticed the other day when she and Ollie were hanging out with the Jules. And, look! He's already a drummer! Momma's so proud.

_______________________________________

The big "What Not to Wear" premiere is tonight! Yeah! I'm going to live blog at statesman.com/thegoods, starting just before the show airs at 8 p.m. central on TLC.

The Springfield News-Leader ran a story today in the Life section. My favorite part?

At the end of her week in New York, she flew back to Austin for the big "reveal" Feb. 1 at an engagement party the show hosted for her and Knox. The waiting crowd included her family from Aurora.

Broyles came out in heels, nice jewelry and a fancy dress.

His daughter's heels surprised him most, Dan Broyles says: "I haven't seen her in high heels since prom. It was kind of a shock."

My article is still up at Statesman.com.

Have fun! Let me know what you think of the show!

What Not to Wear article

So many exciting things are going on as the "What Not to Wear" premiere approaches! I've posted a glimpse at what the front of Thursday's Life & Style cover looks like, and here's a link to the story I wrote. There's also a video style writer Marques and I did the other day.

Don't forget to check out my live blogging on The Goods on Friday night during the premiere, at 8 p.m. central.

And, because you guys are awesome enough to keep checking this blog even though I've been super lame about posting lately, I'll let you in on a little secret: The jacket I'm wearing on that cover came from the Goodwill. Cost me 4 bucks of my own hard-earned cash.



More exciting things in the works. Or at least I'm crossing my fingers they are in the works. :) I'll keep you posted.

Things worth looking forward to

What a week! With the What Not to Wear show coming up on Friday, things have been picking up around here. I've been working on an article for Thursday's newspaper, talking to the three other contributors from the Austin area, doing interviews for the Aurora and Springfield newspapers, and, of course, taking in some South by Southwest. We also squeezed in a trip to Fort Worth yesterday and today for Ian's birthday. Whew. Makes me tired just recalling, but it's been an awesome week.

Has anyone else caught the What Not to Wear preview?? My in-laws saw it Friday night and I saw it yesterday afternoon. It seems like TLC is running it about every hour. It's just a snippet of clips from my ambush and when they trashed my closet, including a sound bit of Stacy telling me I'm being more like "Raggedy Addie."

It's so surreal to see myself on TV. It almost doesn't seem like it's me. It seems like some body double, who happens to sound and act like me. So, it's concrete now: Friday, March 21, 8 p.m. central.

I have to work this afternoon (always on the go, go, go, you know), but a small piece of wonderfulness from our trip to visit Ian's family yesterday.

He has a 5-year-old niece, Jenna, a sweet, sweet child who loves life and those around her. We love going up there to play in the backyard with her and her 2-year-old brother, Michael. We were talking about birthdays yesterday (Ian's been thinking about it a lot with the big 3-6 coming up tomorrow) and I asked her what she thought was the best age. "Five," she said. "Cause you can do stuff when you're a kid that you can't do when you're an adult."

Oh, I share that sentiment when I look at a set of monkey bars and wonder how the hell I ever swung all the way across them. But I think it's cooler that she loves the age she's at. Despite all the toys, the Hello Kitty, the Bratz, the television characters, she still loves where she's at, not where she's going. Something we can all strive for, no matter if we're facing 6 or 36 or 66.