Queenie's Treasury

Happy Monday evening, all! I'm so sorry that this week's Treasury is late. I had quite a whirlwind weekend, between Nick and Louisa arriving in town, making dinner for Jeremy and Miriam on Friday night, and seeing theater on Saturday (Company) and Sunday (Jerusalem). I'm ready and raring to go with the Treasury, though, so let's get to it!

First up, take a look at these mouthwatering doughnuts from LA's Donut Man. Fresh doughnuts stuffed with, fat, juicy, sweet in-season strawberries. My mouth is watering at the thought, let alone the image. Thank goodness Louisa and I already have plans to visit Doughnut Plant this weekend. (Via Serious Eats.)

A couple of weeks back, I spotted this incredible Stockholm apartment on the blog Bodie & Fou. I'm in love with its all-white kitchen, its giant windows, and its wall of bookshelves. I think I'll move in tomorrow.

Finally, courtesy of the always inspirational SwissMiss, an amazing wood mug. I agree with Tina - I'd love to know what it feels like to drink out of this. I think it would be a perfect gift for a tea or coffee enthusiast.

Pool time is the best time.

So, the weather in Austin was pretty insane. While the mornings would start off foggy and misty, the clouds generally parted by lunchtime to reveal a sunny sky and 85-degree temperatures.

Pretty much the most perfect pool weather on earth, and we'd be fools not to take advantage of it.

And we are no fools.

Getting around.

Hey, folks! It's my day for posting over at You + ME* Equals, where I've shared one of my very favorite recipes: romaine hearts with lemon, creme fraiche and fried capers. So clickety on over to read about why salad is comfort food, and why you should make this one today.

Bloody Marys for the beer lover.

While I'm not normally much of a vodka fan, I do love a good Bloody Mary. And by "good," I mean spicy, salty and preferably garnished with a wedge of lime and at least one pickle. I also love all things bubbly - soda, seltzer, champagne and beer. And so the idea of a Michelada - essentially a Bloody Mary made with beer instead of vodka - appealed to me immediately.

While I'm sure that Micheladas have a healthy, rewarding life outside of the city of Austin, I'd never seen one on a menu before my visits there. I can't help but hope that they'll somehow magically catch on here in New York before the summer sets in (Twitter campaign, anyone?). I can't think of a better summer brunch drink, especially if you factor in local August tomatoes.

The ones we drank at South by San Jose (a free mini-festival sponsored by the amazing women behind the Hotel San Jose and the folks at Jo's Coffee) were delicious: salt-rimmed plastic cups filled with peppery tomato juice and topped with cans of Modelo. A squeeze of lime and they were good to go.

Like Bloody Marys, Micheladas are really all about personal taste. (Here's Rick Bayless' recipe, for inspiration.) How spicy, salty or peppery you make yours is entirely your business. Will you make yours with Tabasco? Sriracha? Cholula? Worcestershire sauce? Do tell!

Remember The Salt Lick?

My favorite Austin barbecue? From this post? Well, we went back.

And this time, we brought beer.

Winter's on the wing.

I went to the Union Square Greenmarket inhumanly early this Saturday in the hopes that I'd snag a healthy portion of the season's first ramp haul. Sadly, it was not to be.

No ramps appeared, but I did see some gorgeous flowers (tulips, hyacinths and potted ranunculus), lovely lettuces and adorable, teeny little onions.

I skipped home with dug legs, pea shoots, farm eggs and a few handfuls of the tiniest, sweetest cipollini onions I could find.

Consolation prizes these are not.

Oh, and, yes: that title is something of a wink to my fellow musical theater nerds. Hi there!

Serious business.

Austin is pretty serious about queso.

In Austin-speak, queso translates to "cheesy dip served with tortilla chips, often garnished with or served alongside particularly tangy salsa." It's somewhat reminiscent of Velveeta (but is way better), and is arguably the city's signature food - certainly its signature snack. In my two trips there I've sampled many a version.

My favorite thus far is made by Torchy's Tacos, a small local chain that started (as many Austin and New York restaurants now do) as a food truck. While Torchy's makes a perfectly solid taco (see my review of them here), it's their queso that I crave. It's creamy but not too thick, and coats the warm tortilla chip just enough. It's also the spiciest version I've found; its zest comes from the toppings (salsa, guac and peppers), but also from within. It's well-seasoned, is what I'm saying.

And nothing goes better with a cold Mexican coke.