Jaden Hair's 'Steamy Kitchen' truly a hot spot for great food

Down in Austin a few weeks back, I had the delightfully good fortune to meet Jaden Hair who founded The Steamy Kitchen. Jaden was speaking at an event called TECHmunch, which was a workshop for food bloggers.

She is upbeat, energetic and exudes energy. No wonder her many endeavors in the food world are so successful. She clearly gives the impression that she will accept nothing less!

As some of you know, Garrett Weber-Gale was in Florida giving clinics and training a few weeks back. He also has the opportunity to visit Jaden and to cook with her. He was, as Garrett often is, absolutely cranked about the experience.

I haven't had the opportunity to eat what Jaden cooks. Her food photography is painfully delicious, though. (Just look at the spicy shrimp and mango salsa she and Garrett cooked up.)

In case you didn't see it, Jaden did a piece about the experience on her blog at TLC online. Enjoy but be forewarned. You are going to be hungry afterward.

Sometimes, too many things are bigger in Texas

Brisket, ribs, corn bread, cobbler. All of it is good tasting stuff that definitely is not good for you if you have too much. Garrett wrote about the challenges of balancing Lone Star State tradition with moderation for this month's online edition of Texas Monthly.

Getting picked up on The New York Times is pretty cool. That's just what happened the other day when Garrett Weber-Gale wrote about food, nutrition and healthy eating on his blog. Check out this commentary from NYT writer Stuart Elliott. Garrett wrote a fair and balanced critique of the recent McDonald's TV spots featuring Chicken McNuggets and implying that nuggets were there food choice of Olympic athletes. He does make the rare trip to the arches but took exception of the basic message in the spots.

Garrett Weber-Gale swims 100 freestyle old-school in tribute to Matt Biondi

Check out this story in The Austin American Statesman about Garrett swimming the 100m freestyle in the briefest of briefs. Solid time that makes a statement.