A Hill Country Kind of Weekend

This past Friday, Tate, J, and I packed our bags and headed out to Blanco, TX for some adventure. Some culinary adventure, to be exact. Tate's good friends Dean and George live in Blanco, and Tate accompanied them to the annual Blanco Gala, last fall, where he won at the auction a dinner for 10 to be held at the home of Blanco locals Chef Ron and his wife Joleen.
Tate was sweet enough to invite us, knowing our love of food, and especially J's love for beer! In addition to the tasty meal, we all got a chance to try some Texas brew from The Real Ale Brewery, that is also located in Blanco.
It was a perfectly perfect weekend, and here are some pictures:

Friday

Friday night was a tiring one. We drove to Blanco from Houston after work, and encountered some bad weather. But we stopped at a lovely little restaurant in Dripping Springs and enjoyed watermelon salad, steak, halibut, and duck. It was a great way to unwind after the drive.

 George and Dean built a really cool English Pub Style Bar in the front of their house, and they were ready with drinks when we got there Friday. Both nights we enjoyed nightcaps with George playing bartender. He was assisted by the lovely Hollie who loved her perch on top of the bar!

Saturday

During Saturday before the dinner, we enjoyed a great breakfast at The Chess Club and then headed into nearby Wimberley for some shopping and wine tasting. Here are our handsome hosts and Tate tasting some local wines.

But the part we were all most excited about was Saturday night's dinner! Some of the treats we enjoyed included bruschetta, made with the garden tomatoes, tempura lobster bites with strawberry jam, marinated ribs, corncakes with tiger shrimp, prime rib with wasabi sauce, and Mexican chocolate cake with cinnamon ice cream (my favorite!)

In addition, the grounds of the house were gorgeous, as was the home and the wine cellar(yep- that's right)! Our hosts were warm and welcoming, and we enjoyed every minute!

 The screened-in-porch looked out over the vast backyard and pool. Later, after dinner, we went back out for night caps and a view of the fireflies!

 Handsome husband enjoying the view and the brew!

 We enjoyed different brews of Real Ale all night, and this Fireman's 4, which was served during the appetizer time, was a favorite of mine!

Ed, J, and Brad, who owns Real Ale, outside enjoying conversation, beer, and ribs- guy heaven??

 The homemade Bruschetta- this might've been my favorite appetizer- the fresh tomatoes and basil were perfect with the crispy French bread!

 J and Brad digging into the Tempura Battered Lobster. They were served with strawberry balsamic vinaigrette and strawberry jam, with the strawberries from our hosts' garden.

Marinated Asian-style ribs! When was the last time you had ribs as appetizers??!! God, I love Texas.

I could've stayed outside all night, but after the appetizers were past, we moved inside for the main dinner. Do you see that little fluff in the background? That's Tess, and she was on a mission- girl was gonna get her some tasty treats too!

 Dean and George at the gorgeous dinner table. We had a beautiful view of the setting sun while we ate dinner.

 Strawberry, goat cheese, and toasted pecan salad. I ate every bite and would've finished J's, but I was trying to fake some classiness.

 Warm, chewy, homemade, bread with herb butter. My biggest regret was not putting some of these slices in my purse for later.

 Our menu- enough food for you?! The anticipation for each course was great, and it was fun to try so many different items!

 I'm not a huge beer drinker, but I really enjoyed hearing Brad, and his lovely wife Gabriel, tell us about the different brews and the history of their brewery. I never thought beer could compliment food like wine does, but I was really impressed with how well the different beers went with the different courses.

 Tiger shrimp with corn cakes. I think I could've eaten 3 more of those little cakes- they were perfectly buttery and crispy.

PRIME RIB- with aus jus sauce AND wasabi sauce AND fresh horsradish cream AND perfectly baked potatoes. Almost brought tears to my eyes . . .

After dinner, we had a tour of Ron and Joleen's beautiful home and then went back to the patio for dessert.

 The wine cellar was crazy big! I think I would get in a lot of trouble with one of those.

 The kitchen was enormous! I love the huge island in the middle. I'm pretty sure the island actually is the size of our kitchen.

The patio at sunset was the perfect place for dessert and after dinner beer. 

 ok- description fails this dessert. I can tell you that it's dark chocolate Mexican cake with cinnamon ice cream. But as far as how it changed my life, there are no words.

 We ended our meal with Real Ale's Devils Backbone brew. Holy hops! It was good! But it will knock you off your feet if you're not careful!

 Tate pumps Chef Ron for meal details. Here's hoping he got some tips on how to make life-changing chocolate cake.

 Tess generously offers to finish any of Chef Ron's cake. That little white foot kills me.

And there were party favors! Brad and Gabe made sure we all went home with some lovely stemware.

 From the left: Tate, Tess's bottom, Ed, J, Me, Brad, George, Dean, Matt, Russ, and Gabriel. It was such a special time meeting new friends. And a many thanks to Chef Ron, Joleen, Connie and Stan for hosting us!

After thoroughly stuffing ourselves, we headed back to George and Dean's for (another) nightcap and some front porch rocking:

When do we get our porch?! Who knew that just sittin' and rockin' could be so theraputic? It was the perfect ending to a perfect night!

Sunday

After a tasty breakfast and good-byes to our fantastic hosts (George and Dean- if you are reading this, it's entirely possible that next time I come I might not ever leave. Fair warning.), we 3 hit the road back to H-Town, but not before a few Hill Country winery stops along the way. We stopped at Bell Springs and Solaro and enjoyed some vino and views outside that made the journey home a joy instead of a chore.

I really couldn't have imagined a more perfect weekend. Just to get away from the grind and noise of the city, and to be with friends, old and new! I am so lucky to have experiences like this that remind me of the beauty of slowing down and letting go of agenda.

Here's hoping we all have a week that's just a little easier and calmer! And to all my teacher friendlies- only 3 weeks left of school! Woo! Hoo! Cheers!