Keep Austin weird!

A respite from real life!

Hilarity begins at take-off. Rollicking high spirits roll down the aisle of our Jet Blue flight to Austin. T-shirts in the airport shops sport the message Keep Austin Weird!"

We've arrived to do our part! Everyone around us gets a contact high. The car rental lady and the women trailing after us ask, “Can we go where you’re going?”

We feel warmly welcomed to the "Live Music Capital of the World" as a professional photographer offers to use my camera to snap our photo in front of guitar art.

We four, along with our hostess Trish who recently relocated to Austin, are my BFFs and charter members of our Emergency Book Club.

Individual crises over the years bonded us into a core support group and we have laughed, cried and partied together for what seems like a lifetime.

Three solid days of spring rain can't dampen our high spirits. Nor does the horror that one of us was burglarized and had all her jewelry stolen yesterday. Even now, one of us faces surgery and another has tough stuff going on in business. But, isn’t that just the way life is--a combination of sweet and sour?

Rumi’s poem The Guesthouse (the poem I'm learning by heart this week translated by Coleman Barks), says it all:

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival. . .

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight. . .

We are . . .Oh, so ready for those delights!

I get to be designated driver in our rental car as we graze our way through our list of fine and funky Texas hangouts. The first night we are elegant and tasteful at a Mexico City-style restaurant, the Fonda San Miguel.

But, by the next day some of Austin’s wackiness begins to rub off during our visit to the wildly eclectic South Congress district. We order a huge selection of dishes. The most decadent and memorable is Carrot Cake French Toast (with a gooey cinnamon cream cheese sauce) at the South Congress Café.

People-watching through the window makes it so easy to understand how hometown girl Sandra Bullock might choose someone as edgy and colorful as Jesse James. He would look downright normal in this neighborhood of tattoos, big bikes and vintage clothing stores. Across the street we spot a array of Airstream trailers that sell cupcakes and all kinds of really fascinating snacks. We sample several while tapping our toes to live country music.

Our stash of foodie finds in our trunk, we slide an audio tour of Austin into our CD player and are guided past stately mansions, the capital building and intriguing nightclubs. Passing the Driskill, the historic hotel where LBJ dined on his first date with Lady Bird, we pause for refreshments. Copper ceilings, leather couches and cow heads on the wall.

As dusk approaches, Trish mentions the famous Austin bats that in Springtime fly out by the thousands from under the Central Bridge at sundown. The bats have more sense than the trio you see in this photo heading out without umbrellas for a good view. Turns out the bats stayed in, and fifteen minutes later our adventurers hurry back, drenched, while best pal Mary and I snap photos from our cozy front seat.

What’s for dinner on our last night? Having explored all day we decide to make the original Whole Foods (the flagship store) our last stop and load carts full of little tastes for a picnic dinner around the kitchen table.

Champagne, breads and cheeses, salads, more cupcakes and conversation until Trish begs for rest and heads to bed. An hour later she and Deb wake us all with shrieks of laughter. We rush to hear what happened and join the fun. They tell us how Trish, turning her back to Deb, proceeded to cover her face with a bright green mask. She then mentioned conversationally, “I’ve been drinking an interesting new green vitamin shake lately. . .”

As she turned to face Deb, they exploded with laughter and thus our party begins all over again. It takes forever for us to settle down and fall asleep again.

Today , heading for the airport we have time for one last stop—Walton’s Fancy and Staple one of several Austin restaurants in which Sandra Bullock’s sister, a passionate baker, is a partner. This is our last visit for now with our divine hostess Trish, at right with her matching umbrella.

We are relaxed, recharged, and already making plans for a rerun.

RED VELVET CUPCAKES

These are so easy and so good because they have miniature chocolate chips inside. I adapted the recipe from Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn.

24 paper liners for cupcake pans (2 1/2inch size)

1 package (18.25 oz) plain German chocolate cake mix (the kind with pudding in the mix)

1 cup reduced fat sour cream

½ cup water

½ cup vegetable oil

1 bottle (1 oz) red food color

3 large eggs

1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Frosting:

1 (16 ounce) container cream cheese frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in the middle of the oven. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer beat the cake mix, sour cream, water, oil, red coloring and eggs on low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes longer, scraping the sides again if needed.

Fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon about 1/3 cup batter into each lined cup making 22 to 24 cupcakes.

Bake until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and cool on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the tins and let them finish cooling for at least 15minutes before spreading with frosting.

These freeze perfectly, and are wonderful to have on hand.