La Dolce Vita

Or, to be slightly more ethnically accurate given the history of the Fredericksburg area, das gute Leben. Not exactly Bright Lights, Big City, but that wasn't what we were looking for.

This past weekend my husband and I met up with two dear friends in a beautiful lease house in the Hill Country. We talked, laughed, counted cattle for our friend's brother, then shopped until we wanted to drop. Of course, we also ate and drank. I've been told there aren't any good restaurants in Fredericksburg. I'd have to disagree. We had a fine lunch at Wildseed Farms, finishing up after chopped 'cue and cold beers with the fudge they sell on the spot.

Wildseed Farms is a misnomer, actually. Besides all the seeds and plants offered, they also sell Texas wines, lunch, ice cream, and a wide variety of jams, jellies, honey, dressings, salsas, and just about every variety of Texan specialty you could think of. My husband is a pushover for their Mustang Grape Jelly. Last time I was there I'd bought one small jar that barely lasted us two weeks. This time I stocked up.

There is also a top notch HEB in Fredericksburg. On the advice of one of their employees, we ended up with the best 'brats I've ever stuck a fork in. I can't tell you the brand name, not because I am trying to keep secrets, but because our cookout captain for the evening tossed the packaging before I could get a good look.

We had good cooks and willing kitchen cleanup help in our midst. So between what we brought and what we bought, we ended up with a wealth of resource materials to put together two fabulous dinners and a great breakfast to supplement our meals "out".So yes, we missed the hullaballoo that will be the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival. I maintain, we didn't really MISS anything. We had an amazing time, enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and I will offer for proof the fact that our friends were crushed not to be able to rent the place for their return to holiday with family (the ones with the ranch where we counted cow/calf units) AND were already planning to bring two of their friends from Temple to enjoy the house on a return visit.


Ahh....La Dolce Vita, das gute Leben - no matter what language you're using, friends, a comfy place to share, good food and good wine...THAT is the good life.