Meat 'N Taters

Being in a household where one child is breastfed is not an easy experience. Case in point: the feeder's diet. Since young Alexander has taken well to breastfeeding, we have learned that what his mother eats can greatly affect his gastrointestinal happiness. Through a process of trial and error (and lots of crying) we have concluded that the list of foods she cannot eat includes, but is not limited to: all dairy (you heard me; no milk, cheese, butter or anything made from it), chocolate, caffeine, carbonated beverages, acidic juices, peppers, other spicy foods.

So where does that leave us? Meat and Taters.

And that leaves my Men in Aprons experience pretty much in the dark as of late. There is nothing for me to cook and experiment on that she can eat. I was thinking of maybe challenging myself to come up with different ways to cook said meat and taters, but gosh ... I have no time. Maybe on the weekends.

TheWife suggested that I talk about my birthday dinner at The Salt Lick. I thought, "Hey! That's meat and taters right there!"

The Salt Lick is a legendary barbeque restaurant in Driftwood, Texas, which is just a 20 minute drive south and east of Austin. It's just one of those places that you have to go to be baptized into the culture of Austin and Central Texas.

The best cuts of brisket, sausage, pork ribs, and chicken are slow smoked over The Salt Lick's original pit, which cooks meat night and day. You should see this thing. There must have been at least a hundred links of sausage hanging from the top of the pit hood, all succulent and juicy.

We were seated in the sunroom porch portion of the east building, and were greeted by our lovely and friendly waitress Jamie. The service at the Salt Lick is very good. The staff is friendly, courteous, and helpful without being pushy or snotty. Very laid back.

When our food arrived, the waitress also brought us a bowl of "habenero sauce." It looked similar to the Salt Lick's normal mustard-based barbeque sauce, but when brought to our lips, it had a very nice kick to it. Not exactly what you'd expect from something called "habenero." But still good.

After the meat, came the dessert. We had all been eyeing the dessert menu which had a couple of different cobblers, ice cream, and pecan pie. All of the pecan pies were lined up on the front counter for everyone to see as they walked in. They were huge! Very thick, with talll scalloped crust edges. I had the pecan pie and the wife and parents had cobbler. We left very full and very happy. It was such a great time, getting back to the place I used to frequent back in my college days.

It was just plain incredible. The best barbeque around.

If you ever find yourself around Austin and have the time, ask someone how to get to the Salt Lick. You'll be glad you did.