I’ve been fortunate enough to catch a number of wonderful live Austin City Limits studio appearances during my 25 years in the Capitol City—Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Steve Earle, Los Lobos, Joan Baez, and Reba McEntire, among others. Last night might have been my favorite show of all.

Legendary New Orleans pianist, composer, singer, and record producer, the elegant, 71-year old Allen Toussaint, played a 2-hour set with a terrific 6-piece band that covered the entire scope of his colossal career. From “Workin’ in a Coal Mine” to “What is Success”; “Fortune Teller” to “Yes We Can Can”; “Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky” to “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley”; and “Southern Nights” to tracks from his current release, The Bright Mississippi, it was a revelation.

Throughout, Toussaint seamlessly dropped in clever samples of inspiration from an extraordinarily wide range of sources—from the Louisiana piano tradition of Professor Longhair and James Booker to Chopin, Beethoven, Gershwin, Broadway, Tin Pan Alley, classic jazz, gospel, soul, funk, r&b, Steve Goodman, and Paul Simon. This masterfully musical keyboardist never failed to embellish it all with an eloquently grand gumbo of superb taste, sharp wit, and singular style.

Keep an eye on your TV Guide listings and the www.klru.org web site during the 2009-2010 season to catch this remarkable performance. God bless New Orleans, and thank goodness for PBS and shows like Austin City Limits.

Last week I attended a reunion of high-school chums in Oklahoma City, a seven-hour drive from Austin (though my lead-footed mother claims to do it in five). Instead of gunning it straight through, I stopped this time in Dallas to pursue one of the city’s most refined competitive sports: Shopping. Thankfully (for my bank account’s sake), I’ve discovered the cheap thrills of thrift and consignment stores.

My first stop: Buffalo Exchange on Greenville Avenue, the Dallas store in the Arizona-based chain of trendy resale shops. Lots of floaty, gauzy tops; skinny jeans; and Eighties-inspired ensembles—but nothing for me this time.

Still, next door I found a sunny restaurant & deli called The Corner Market—a spot I highly recommend for lunch next time you’re in the Lower Greenville Avenue neighborhood. D Magazine lauded it for “Best Sandwich” a few years ago (and the “Morningside Turkey and Apple” sounded tasty), but I enjoyed a few a la carte items from the cold deli-case, including an interesting broccoli salad with raisins and pine nuts. The homemade chocolate truffles and cheesecake slices looked divine, too—but I had clothes to try on down the road.

I had done a little research on the Web, so as I made my way north, I stopped next at a small store called Revente, near the Southern Methodist University Campus. The store carries lots of designer labels, including merchandise from St. John, Escada, Prada, and BCBG. I managed to find a cotton sundress made by a boutique designer out of Oklahoma City—for about $25.

Next, I headed to Preston Road, where I hit two more places before continuing my journey: Clothes Circuit (just off Preston on Sherry Lane) and Clotheshorse Anonymous a few miles north on Preston, just before Forest Lane). Both places have gigantic inventories—racks and racks of dresses, skirts, tops, pants, and evening wear, plus shoes, bags, and jewelry—and I managed to find a few things at less than a third of the price I would have paid brand-new.

It’s the ultimate recycling!

Thoroughly enjoyed a free Austin Chamber Music Festival event (splendid Mendelssohn Piano Trio concert) at downtown Austin’s Central Presbyterian Church today. Excellent program of Ernest Bloch’s Three Nocturnes and Johannes Brahms’ masterwork, Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 8. The trio’s talented musicians included violinist Peter Sirotin, cellist Fiona Thompson, and pianist Ya-Ting Chang. Festival dates run from June 19-July 11 at assorted venues throughout the city. Some concerts are free, while others have an admission fee. For more information, call 512/454-0026; www.austinchambermusic.org. Among the festival’s featured performers are the Brasil Guitar Duo, the Eroica Trio, Michelle Schumann, the Jupiter String Quartet, the Wild Basin Winds, and the Turtle Island String Quartet.

I’m a fan of Patagonia outfitters not only because the company designs and manufactures amazing gear but also because the folks at Patagonia have set a high standard for accountability and a commitment to causes they believe in. When you visit the web site (www.patagonia.com) click on the Environmentalism button to learn more about the company’s projects. And if you’re near a Patagonia store (in Texas, that means downtown Austin at 316 Congress Ave) enter the contest to win a birding trip to the Rio Grande Valley, a Big Bend rafting trip outfitted by Far Flung Adventures, or a fat gift certificate.

I’d wanted to go to the Blanco Lavender Festival for several years, so when my daughter-in-law, an Ohio native, said she wanted to see Texas’ lavender fields, a daytrip was born: We drove from Austin to Blanco on Saturday to immerse ourselves in all things lavender. Knowing it was going to be hot-hot-hot, we packed a cooler full of bottled water and made sure to take along sunscreen. We needed both.

Aside from the heat, though, we had a great time. We started at the Lavender Market, on the grounds of the Blanco County Courthouse. Mixed in with the usual festival array of arts-and-crafts booths were vendors selling lavender-themed items from sachets to smudge sticks. Both of us like scented soaps, so we honed right in on bars labeled lavender-patchouli, lavender-lemongrass, lavender-mint, and spicy lavender.

Although many of the booths were  shaded, we decided after a while to get out of the heat and check out the Redbud Cafe, across the street. We weren’t ready for lunch, but in order to enjoy the A/C a little longer, we opted for two glasses of lavender lemonade and shared a lavender sugar cookie and a lavender-chocolate cupcake. Our verdict: All three had a subtle lavender flavor that we liked, but we thought the sugar cookie was best.

We drifted into Brieger Pottery next door, where we found not only Jon and Jan Brieger’s wonderful pottery, but a variety of artworks and gifts, including a nice selection of lavender-themed items that the shop carries year round.

Then, we hit the food tent, which featured gourmet specialties, wine, and beer, all with Texas ties. Most of the food was available for sampling, and sample we did. We tried jellies in flavors of lavender (naturally), white zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, and peach-pecan-amaretto-jalapeño. Hey, it wasn’t all about lavender. We also tasted locally produced feta cheese seasoned with roasted garlic; the cheese was preserved in olive oil, which was intriguing.

Besides sampling, we kept an eye out for a special kind of lavender tea—my daughter-in-law likes the combination of white tea leaves and lavender—and lavender-infused spices. We came up short on the tea, but we found culinary lavender, lavender-citrus sugar, and lavender-herb salt. I see some baking ahead….

From the market, we headed to the Wimberley Lavender Farm (one of the six area lavender farms on tour), where owners O’Neil and Karen Provost had lined up a tasting with recipes from two Terry Thompson-Anderson cookbooks, as well as miniature ponies that entertained both children and adults. Several large trees offered welcome shade. The drought has taken its toll on the farm’s lavender, but we found lavender plants for sale and plenty of lavender goodies in the gift store. Best of all, we purchased a container of lavender ice cream to eat on the way home. Yum! Although the Blanco Lavender Festival is over this year, lavender usually blooms May-July, and many of the state’s lavender farms welcome visitors through August.

Lavender. Good company. Daytrip. I recommend it.

Showing a friend around sometimes results in making some discoveries yourself. Such was the case when I took my Lubbock houseguest to Wimberley recently. I had visited this artsy small town before, but it had been a few years. We wandered around the square, poking into galleries and shops and soaking up the relaxed vibe. I was surprised how easy it was to get into a vacation mode, just by getting out of the city (Austin) and going to a nearby town.

If you’re in the Wimberley area, I recommend taking time to go to Wimberley Glassworks, which features glass-blowing demonstrations Thursday through Monday. We also enjoyed browsing at River House, where my friend found gifts for everyone on her list, and at Moon Dance Arts, the studio/gallery of metalsmiths Kathy and Gary Arnold. I didn’t buy any jewelry from the Arnolds this time, but after seeing some of their unusual designs and hearing them talk about their work, I’ll definitely keep their shop in mind for special occasions.

We opted not to eat in Wimberley—we’d arrived late and by the time we finished shopping, we figured most of the restaurants in town would be overflowing—but we heard lots of recommendations for Juan Henry’s, a Mexican-food place not far from the square. We’ll try it another time. Instead, we ended the day with a scenic detour along River Road before heading back to Austin. My friend saw something more of the Hill Country, and I discovered the refreshing possibilities of a half-day getaway. 

Every once in a blue moon, I lament the fact that I never went to summer camp as a kid (Vacation Bible School doesn’t count, but thank you, Jesus.). I did the outdoorsy thing for years with my Bluebird/Camp Fire Girls, but I later grew up to realize that the “big forest” – where we learned to pitch a tent, make fire and turn a coffee can into a stove – was really Bay Area Park in Clear Lake area of Houston. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely, wooded park next to Armand Bayou and I’ve canoed from there as an adult, but it’s not the wilderness. Maybe Hollywood images of summer camp (Friday the 13th aside!) makes me feel like I missed out on some real fun. It’s too late for me now (or is it?), but I want to live it out vicariously through our readers. Maybe I’ll get it out of my system. What is summer camp REALLY like? What kind of summer camps have you experienced? What are some of the top choices in Texas where you might consider sending your own children? I’d love to know.

Inspired by a comment on my last post on dining in McKinney (thanks, Shelly from This Eclectic Life), I paid a visit to Cafe Malaga Mediterranean Tapas Bar for dinner on a weekday evening, after arriving from Austin to help my daughter pack after completing her freshman year at Austin College in Sherman.

Originated in Spain, tapas are “small plates”—mini meals of vegetables, meat, seafood or a combination.  I counted 28 of these on the menu, and among the items our group had were artichoke tapenade (kalamata olive & artichoke spread w/pita bread), smoked salmon crostini, roasted potatoes with roasted garlic aioli, chicken piri piri (hot pepper marinated grilled chicken breasts) and Spanish tortilla (a classic potato and egg dish).   All were excellent, and we especially loved the smoked salmon for the smooth texture and subtle smoked flavor.  We also indulged in dessert—chocolate-covered almond cake was my favorite.  My daughter had what looked like a coffee martini, served chilled with a mint garnish.

The next evening, on our way home to Austin, we returned to McKinney for an early dinner and found La Misha, which also serves Mediterranean-inspired cuisine in an sophisticated-yet-inviting atmosphere.  We started our meal with the smoothest, most flavorful hummus I’ve ever tasted, served with light, delicate slices of pita bread.  I inquired about the flavored iced tea on the menu, and was offered a box of six different tealeaf samplings which to select (and sniff) from—I chose the pomegranate-infused blend, which was exceptional, and even more so with refills!

For entrées, we had crab cakes with saffron sauce, oven-baked chicken in apricot sauce and tilapia in creamy dill sauce.  The crab cake was meaty and flaky, and the chicken was the right balance of slightly dry-to-moist that I prefer.  There were some luscious cakes available for dessert in the display case in back and we split some carrot cake, moist and just sweet enough not to overpower.  Once again, McKinney mesmerizes me with its culinary gems!

A few days ago, I made the one-hour trek up I-35 from Austin to check out the old Santa Fe depot and train museum, and also to revisit the Czech Heritage Museum & Genealogy Center, the latter a repository of fascinating and strange stuff (everything from century-old marionettes to stamp collections) donated to the museum by Texans with Czech heritage.

I had heard that the Czech Museum would soon be moving from its cramped home in the basement of the SPJST insurance building to new digs in a restored historic building nearby—great news, as the museum will finally be able to properly highlight its collection. But I wanted to see one particular item—known as The Magic Gambler— before the museum became fancified.

What is The Magic Gambler, you ask? First of all, know that has that curious, creepy-appealing quality of old dolls and circus freak shows. Covered by an oblong dome some two feet high, a doll that looks vaguely like a monkey—dressed in a black pointed hat and a faded red-and gold cape—holds what appears to be a brass cake dome in his hands. A faded garland of leaves and flowers adds a Hansel-and-Gretel-ish, woodland touch to the display. But the magic starts when you place a key into a slot, turn it a few times to wind a mechanism in a music box, and step back. The doll’s wizened head starts to bob, its eyes open and close, and its teeth start to chatter. Then one, two, three, The Magic Gambler’s century-old, bony hand lifts the cake dome to reveal two tiny dice.

Curator Don Mears tells me this whole production was probably a bar gimmick; you and a group of your 19^th Century, Czech friends would order a round of beers, pick a number, and the mysterious caped gent with the chattering teeth and the cake dome would determine who paid the bar tab. I’d like a Pilsner Urquell right about now, come to think of it. Join me: This round’s on me.