Category Archives: Art

10th Annual Texas Steak Cookoff

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For the past few years, I have been finding myself in the same place on the third Saturday in May – Hico, Texas. The Texas Steak Cookoff and Wine Festival has to be one of the best events that I’ve had the chance of attending and definitely one of my favorites. This year was no exception and it may have been my favorite yet! It’s affordable, family friendly and an all day affair that won’t be leaving you hungry (at any point during the day).

For the Steak Cookoff:
For $25, you will receive a bracelet which will allow you to enjoy appetizers and the steak dinner in the afternoon (ribeye steak, beans, baked potato, dessert and a drink) cooked to your perfection by the team of your choice. You’re belly will thank you for this day!

Now for the details!
The day started out with an opening ceremony. Yes, that’s Nolan Ryan himself. The Steak Cookoff is co-sponsored by Nolan Ryan Beef and Kroger. Mr. Nolan Ryan took the opportunity to come down to Hico that morning to kick off the event. If there’s a soul in Texas who doesn’t like this man, they’ve probably been kicked out by now. It was great having him at the event!

The Cookoff doesn’t mess around and the grills are hot bright and early. Rolling into town, you can smell the grills. It’s amazing. 11am kicks off the hors d’oeuvres competition. The backyard chefs submit a recipe of their own to the judges. I had the opporunity to judge at last years event and some of the items are absolutely mind blowing and belly filling. I only wish that I had the recipes to some of these items. Don’t be mistaken, these hors d’oeuvres are not just for the judges, the chefs are cooking all day for folks. Walk around, sample some food and spend time with friends (and make some new ones). Here’s a few of the hor d’oeuvres that we checked out this year.

I will say – the ritz crackers I had seen at the previous cookoffs and they are so delicious and have a bit of a kick (for this Yankee, jalepeno’s sure are growing on me). Ritz crackers with peanut butter, honey and a slice of jalapeno – killer!

Hors d’oeuvres Competition Winners:
1st Place: Steak Your Claim
2nd Place: J, L & M Cooker
3rd Place: Heavy Smokers

The shrimp (above) was cooked by the backyard chefs (below). I think these fellas were my favorite group of the day and I’m not quite sure how they sported their attire all day in the heat. Regardless, their food sure was good. They even left the recipe out for the shrimp (which I should’ve grabbed). Tasty, Tasty.

There’s entertainment throughout the day for the entire family. Local businesses are open, vendors are set up within town and four bands played throughout the day. There were even two wine tents.

If that’s not enough, just walk around and visit with some of the backyard chefs. They have grills of all shapes and sizes. Check them out, see what they’re cooking and just enjoy the day! Even their team names are pretty interesting. It’s serious business y’all!

This was homemade bourbon or moonshine. I’m not sure. I didn’t try any… I was headed to the wine tent.

These chefs – I’m naming them the party chefs. This is where it was all happening. Music, TV, dancing and cooking. Keeping busy all day long! They also ended up winning an award for being the best in show. They earned it!

The judging for the steaks begins around 1pm and the top 30 chefs are announced around 4pm. Shortly thereafter, be prepared. To receive your steak, pick one tent and get in line as they will cook it to your liking!
The cookoff had a different set up this year and I felt that it made all the difference. I really think that this is why I enjoyed this year the best compared to the past few years. With over 100 teams participating, the chefs were situated along a few separate streets and seemed to have a little more room. The temperature in May isn’t cool and breezy, it’s warm if not hot. With the new arrangement, it was incredibly easy to maneuver but the fact that they were a little more spread out definitely helped with how hot and crowded it felt in the area.
Time for the steak! I chose to have my steak cooked at the Beef Bro chefs. I usually go by luck of the draw and this year, I didn’t go wrong. My steak was cooked to my perfection and it was pretty darn delicious!
  

After you’ve received and indulged in your steak dinner, it’s not over. It’s time to announce the winners. Something I haven’t mentioned is with your ticket to the cookoff, you also receive a raffle entry which is drawn at the end of the day. This year, the raffle prizes included signed Nolan Ryan memorabelia and multiple $500 gift certificates to use within Hico (if you’ve seen some of the stores in town – it’s good shopping)!

Here are this years Top 10 Hands:
(The top 5 hands received prizes between $500 and $2,500.)

1st Place: Daddy Brad’s Meat Shack
2nd Place: Pirates of the Prime Ribean
3rd Place: J, L & M
4th Place: Smokin’ Down in Texas
5th Place: J & J Cookers
6th Place: North Dallas Grill Billies
7th Place: Carne Knowledge
8th Place: Smokin’ Natives
9th Place: Wild Hanlon BBQ
10th Place: Beast Feast

Congratulations to the winners and thank you to the town of Hico for allowing me to check out this years event! If you had a chance to attend this year, I’d love to hear your feedback and I’m sure I will see you there again next year!

If you haven’t been to the Texas Steak Cookoff and Wine Festival – be sure to check it out next year (3rd Saturday in May).

Related Posts:
Hico, Texas
Texas Steak Cookoff 2010
Texas Steak Cookoff 2011
Texas Steak Cookoff 2012
Texas Steak Cookoff Wine Festival 2013

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post, however I did receive free admission to the event in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are 100% my own.
Texas Tuesday link up with Amanda from Princess of the Panhandle and Crystal from Masons Mama. This is a chance for any blogger to participate in a post on the greatness of Texas! There’s so much to explore!

Granbury Wine Walk 2013

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Granbury, TX. I’ve written about Granbury in the past (Granbury at Christmas Time and Paradise Bistro and Coffee Shop) . It’s a historic town just outside of Fort Worth. A reasonable distance for a day trip or for a small weekend getaway. The town square surrounds the beautiful, picturesque courthouse. Small shops fill the immediate square but if you look a little further you will find numerous historic landmarks, multiple bed and breakfasts and some really great restaurants. There’s even a drive in movie theatre just down the road for those evenings where you just want to relax.

Do I have a good picture painted in your minds? Well, let’s kick it up a notch.
The wine industry is booming in Texas. It seems like (to me at least) there’s a new winery that I’m hearing about almost every week and wine trail getaways seem to be becoming more and more popular every year. Case in point – the Granbury Wine Walk.
This year, Granbury hosted their annual Wine Walk in the Square. For a $20 admission, each person can attend on Friday and / or Saturday, receive a commemorative wine glass and 15 tasting tickets. Let me be the first to tell you – 15 tasting tickets is plenty. It’s actually quite a bit which is great because it really allows you to spend your time trying a wide array of wines and enjoying everything about the day.
With five locations set up around town, numerous wineries and businesses were found in each “cluster”. The lines moved fairly quickly allowing you to talk to others in line, hear what they like / recommend, peek into the vendor booths and listen to live music within each “cluster”.
(This sausage was so incredibly delicious!)
If you really enjoyed a wine, you had the option of purchasing a glass to take with you – I saw that most were around $5 a glass. If a glass wasn’t enough, you could purchase a bottle. Now I know, who wants to carry around bottles of wine all day?! This is one of my favorite things about this event. If you come across a wine that you must absolutely take home with you, you purchase it at the booth. They provide you with a card / ticket. When you are ready to head home, stop by the wine warehouse that they had set up and provide them with your tickets. They will give you all the wine purchased during the day and off you go! How fantastic is that?! Genius if you ask me!
I also had a chance to check out a few booths and found some great items. Unique, Texas finds are usually on the top of my list.
Sculpted Steel: This was a hand crafted steel guitar. 60 hours went into this and it is absolutely stunning!
I fell in love with this booth. They had a ton of unique wooden items (I bought a flat wooden spatula, because everything tastes better when you make it with a wooden spoon/item!), bright colored decor… I could’ve went on a splurge here.

But the day was all about savoring the wine…

This is a great getaway for a solo trip, couples, groups, girl’s weekends – keep it on your radar for next year. With lodging, dining, shopping and great wine all within walking distance – it’s definitely an event to check out in the future!

Disclaimer: I was not compensated but did receive tickets in return for this post. All photos and opinions are 100% my own.

Most Historic Small Town in Texas

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Bastrop is situated right outside of Austin however one shouldn’t let the appeal of a small Texas town deceive you as being “just a small town”. Bastrop holds a huge part of Texas history, history that the Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa displays proudly.

Walking the halls of the Hyatt, what you will find on the walls documents the history of Bastrop in the state of Texas. It even led me to do a little research and find out a little bit more…
Back around 1804, a fort / colony was established alongsidethe Colorado River and was named after Felipe EnriqueNeri Baron de Bastrop. (He was actually a wanted man from the Netherlandsnamed Philip Hendrik Nering Bogel who was embezzler.) In Texas,he became a land commissioner for Moses and Stephen F. Austin. Around 1827,Stephen F. Austin moved about 100 hundred families into an area and named thetown after Baron de Bastrop, who had passed a short time earlier. Consideringthe town was located next to (or what was at the time) the Mexican boundaries,the name was later changed to Mina however on December 18, 1837, the town became officially known, forgood, as Bastrop.
In 1839, Bastrop applied to be the capital of Texas.It was later decided that the name “Austin”would be used as the state capital name, no matter where it happened to be established. Theory says, Austin was established right outside of Bastrop because it was not established. In doing so, they prompted growth in the area,bringing business, jobs and creating a community in an undeveloped area.Although Bastrop was defeated that they could not claim the title of being the capital of Texas,they knew that this would bring great benefits to their area.
Bastrop also has some famous citizens that held their place throughout history:
  • Three Bastropians signed the Texas Declaration of Independence
  • Several gave their lives at the Alamo
  • 60 Men fought in the battle of San Jacinto
A huge importance of this area was the Lost Pine Forest which sat around the center of town. This was some of the only lumber available in the area which was supplied to Austin and San Antonio and later even sent off to Mexico.Later on, a pecan-shelling plant, cedar chest factory, cedar oil factory and coal production would bring even more business to the area.
1862 brought destruction to Bastrop.A fire destroyed most of the downtown area, including the county courthouse and many commercial buildings. The majority of buildings in the “old downtown” area are dated post Civil War due to the fire. 1869 brought even more disaster with the highest flood in the towns history, forcing everyone to evacuate.Unfortunately, it didn’t stop there with the most destructive fire in Texas history in 2011. Over 36,000 acres and 1,700 homes were lost in the fire,however the historic downtown remained untouched.
Bastrop joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 which added 131 buildings tothe site list. This helped to earn Bastrop the title of “ Most Historic Small Town in Texas”. In 2010, it was named one of America’s Most Distinctive Destinations by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Now, this is a really quick hit on the information that I found on Bastrop. Walking the halls of the resort, you will see pictures and information on the history of this historic town (as shown above). About 10-15 minutes down the road, you can also drive into historic Bastrop and view some of the historic buildings in the area (below).

(Above) This house stopped me dead in my tracks. It was gorgeous, on a quiet street with large trees out front. I’m pretty sure I would be sitting on this front porch with a cool drink and a good book year round. Some of the historical homes in this area were beautiful!

Views of some of the downtown shops.

How small is the world. I happened to venture into one of the downtown shops. Here sat a butter churn made in Bellows Falls, Vermont.
A little piece of Vermont found in Texas by this Vermonter = one proud Vermonter.

Bastrop is super cute. If you happen to be at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort (or going thru the area), I highly recommend taking a little detour and enjoying some of this historic town.

Related Posts:
Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa
Exploring Nature at the Hyatt Lost Pines
Comfort & Beauty – Room Overview
Firewheel Cafe at the Hyatt Lost Pines
Activities at the Hyatt Lost Pines

Texas Tuesday link up with Amanda from Princess of the Panhandle and Crystal from Masons Mama. This is a chance for any blogger to participate in a post on the greatness of Texas! There’s so much to explore!

Historical Information: Visit Bastrop TX, Bastrop Texas Network, Wikipedia

Disclaimer: I was not compensated but did receive one night’s stay at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa in return for this post. All photos and opinions are 100% my own.