The Shady Grove – Austin, TX
Gather ’round, children. It’s cheese-related story time.
Once upon a time, a cheese blogger and her friend thought it’d be fun to walk a mile in the late-afternoon Texas heat. To be more specific, they’d thought it’d be fun to attend a free concert in a park, and as it turned out, the Walk of Death was part of the package.
Soon into the walk, the two out-of-shapers were red-faced and out of breath, and sweat was pooling in places that it shouldn’t pool. And running down places it shouldn’t run. The two briefly wondered if perhaps they’d gotten trapped in the gym sock of a sweaty giant. They began to see mirages made of frozen margaritas.
The delusions and hallucinations were a clearly a bad sign.
Then – behold! A restaurant appearing in the distance! With patio tables and people drinking cold things. The weary travelers clung to each other in desperation, and then quickly let go because they were sweaty and it was gross. But, they weakly encouraged each other to continue just a little longer, and soon they were seated in the cool air conditioning of The Shady Grove, sipping icy drinks.
The evil hot ball in the sky had zapped their appetites, a rare phenomenon in the journeyers’ lives. However, the two knew it’d be important to eat something in order to continue the long and sweat-filled journey to the park, so they agreed to split a snack. They opened their menus, and, pleased to see bowls of melty cheese available, ordered one with pulled pork, pico de gallo, and guacamole.
Even in their fatigued and dehydrated states, they were able to accurately judge the queso and render a verdict. Here’s the breakdown:
- Consistency: While other porky cheeses have been rather runny, this one was pleasantly creamy. (“Porky cheese” doesn’t sound right, but I’m sticking with it.)
- Spice: Had a bit. Could’ve had a bit more.
- Flavor: The pork was the best we’ve had so far – very tender and flavorful. The cheese had a “real” taste to it, not like a certain brick-shaped synthetic cheese product we all know and love. Still, it certainly could have been cheesier.
- Extras: The guacamole was simple and clean – quite good!
Score: 3.4
Fortunately, the drinks and queso love nourished the worn-out travelers enough to get them safely to the park for a night of laughter and free music. And dog-petting. All the dogs.
A worthwhile stop then… although I thought it would end with you ordering margaritas and missing the concert completely.
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Ha! It’s funny you say that, because it did almost happen. We were so comfy with our a/c and cold drinks that we considered skipping the concert. Fortunately, we didn’t!
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I’m glad you enjoyed it then!
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I would have ubered my ass back home in lieu of walking. Great post!
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There were a lot of pedicabs around and I was strongly considering one haha.
By the way, I’m glad you commented, because I for some reason can’t comment on your posts anymore! I can read them and like them, but there’s no option to comment.
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Ah, I get that sometimes. When it happens I have to ask: what browser are you using, desktop/tablet/phone and is it through the reader or literally going to hotmessmemoir.com? Sorry for the questions.
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I go to your actual blog, not the reader, though I get to it through the reader – if that makes sense. Maybe it’d like me better if I type in the URL myself? I will not be beaten by technology.
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Ha!! If you have time, could you do me a huge favor? Could you try to enter my site a few different ways and see if it prevents you from commenting? Ive tried that and still cant find the problem yet I hear this about once a month.
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So I did a little investigating, and it looks like if I go straight to your site by typing in the URL, and if I use my laptop to do so, I can leave a comment. Getting to your blog through the reader seems to be the problem!
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You are so awesome for taking the time to investigate! I am going to notify the “happy engineers” now of this and the fact we have narrowed down the problem. Thank you again!!!
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You’re welcome! I felt like a detective for a minute!
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OK porky cheese does have a ring to it. I would have filled up in margaritas til I forgot about the heat. But anyway. Hey, guess what?! I choose you for a three Quote challenge! I needed victims, err…nominees! I even included a handy dandy link if you are interested. https://any1mark66.wordpress.com/2016/07/22/three-quote-challenge/?preview=true
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Thanks for the nom! Or, if I’m a victim, then thanks for the….attack?
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Oh, I never thought of that part. I should have yelled it “En grárde” first. I left my sword and fencing gear at home too 😉 If I was going to attack anyone, you are high on the list as you may have cheese, and margaritas.
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All the cheese and booze have made me vulnerable! I shall surround myself with tofu and radishes to guard against invasion!
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I missed your blog on tofu
Can’t seem to find it. 🤔😉
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If I’m ever in your neck of the woods, I’ll have to check this place out…
And now that my cousin and I have discovered queso, it’s good for us to start developing a relative value system for it. Creamy cheese beats porky cheese, check! 🙂
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The Shady Grove was a cool place to visit, but if you came to this area, I’d definitely recommend one of my higher-rated quesos, like Sazon! It’d actually be really cool to have someone else try one of these places and see how much they agree/disagree with my review!
I’m so happy you and your cousin have discovered queso. Life is much better once you know about melty cheese, isn’t it?
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Haha, we were already big fans of melty cheese. We just didn’t know about this particular configuration and our lives are better now.
If I’m ever in your area, I’ll look into Sazon and write a follow up 🙂
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🙂
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