7-Up Biscuits

7-Up Biscuits hot from the oven

I saved the 7 Up Biscuits recipe one of my friends posted - it had been repeatedly shared on Facebook. I shared it to my wall (or whatever the heck it's called now) so I could access it easily because they sounded so simple and yummy.  I am not a good biscuit baker.  I don't know why, but I just have issues with biscuits.  They don't rise, they aren't flaky or soft, they are too dense...all kinds of problems likely caused by over-use of egg wash and over working the dough.  I have not, however, tried biscuits from scratch for a couple of years.  Saved this recipe in case I wanted to change my mind. (I know Bisquick base is not baking from scratch - sue me, I don't care - if it doesn't come out of a can I reserve the right to call it baking from scratch)

I've been working on cookies for 4 days now.  Two days of baking, icing preparation, base coats, and the beginning of some of the detail work.  (I still have a lot to go)  When my thin piped lines started consistently breaking this morning I decided I needed a break.  It's Saturday morning (well, okay, it's really "barely" Saturday afternoon...but my husband and son didn't get up until after 11:00...so it's still morning for them - I've been up since 7:30ish).  I decided to make the 7-Up Biscuits in hopes that something that appears quite simple really is!

I'd bought a bottle of 7-Up (because the teen drinks Sprite and I was hesitant to substitute...so 7-Up it was!) and some sour cream...knew I had Bisquick and butter...and that's all there is to it.

My two comments regarding this recipe are:
1.  Sounds easy - makes a freaking mess!
2.  Possibly the best biscuits I've ever eaten - worth the mess!

This was AFTER I had washed my hands
once...and was now patting the remnants
for cutting...you end up with doughy monster hands!

The Facebook post/picture said it was a difficult-to-find recipe.  I'd heard of 7-Up cakes, but never 7-Up biscuits.  I'll share my experience...with some additional steps I found helpful, not mentioned in the original post.

7-Up Biscuits
From Tonja Busch Facebook Post

Ingredients:

4 cups Bisquick Baking Mix
1 cup sour cream (I used regular - not reduced fat)
1 cup 7-Up
1/2 cup melted butter (real butter - it was delicious)

Extra Bisquick for countertop

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

I used a 9x13 glass (Pyrex) baking dish (I've always been told not to bake above 375 in a glass dish but the picture in the post showed them made in a glass dish so I hoped my old-school info was wrong and that I wouldn't end up with an explosion of glass in the oven...which, of course, I did not have).

I placed the stick of butter into the glass dish and microwaved it for two 30-second intervals sitting on the rack, turning dish before second interval.  Remove and let it be ready for you when you get the dough prepped.  It needs to be right next to the dough - it is not a sturdy dough.

Mix Bisquick, sour cream and 7-Up in mixing bowl until the ingredients are a sticky mess. (my words).  Do not over-mix. (NOTE ADDED 5/27/2013...another blogger recommends cutting the sour cream into Bisquick and THEN adding the 7-Up.  If anyone has any suggestions on this method, please comment)

Sticky, sticky dough - in retrospect I might have let
the sour cream come to room temperature.
It was quite hard to mix in evenly

Sprinkle extra Bisquick onto counter top and gently knead and fold dough until coated with baking mix.  Don't over-work.  It's a sticky mess.  Just get to the part where you can gently pat dough into your desired shape (I used a square cutter so I patted into a rectangle).  I tried to dip my cutter into Bisquick to help release it for transfer.  I don't think there's enough Bisquick in the world to make them release easily.  I found it easiest to let the pieces stick to the cutter, pull away the excess, and move the pieces individually to the pan.  You just place them on top of the melted butter.  I ended up with enough remnants to re-pat and cut a total of 13 biscuits (the end two were "half size").  A baker's dozen - nice.

Ready to go into oven - they look a mess - but all turns out well!

As you can see - gunky cutter.
I really appreciate a granite counter top
and a bench scraper when I make this
kind of mess!

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until brown at 425 degrees.  I baked 17 minutes.  I set the timer for 12 minutes - at the 10 minute mark I knew they would need more than that so I added 3 minutes.  Then, they didn't look very brown, at 15 minutes, so I added 2 more minutes...as Goldilocks says, they were "just right" at 17 minutes in my oven, in a glass dish.  Much of the cook time depends on the type of pan you use.  The original post said to use a cookie sheet pan or 9x13 casserole dish.  Baking times for the two of those are really different.  Keep an eye on your biscuits!

The house smelled awesome while they were baking - I could smell the richness of the sourcream and butter and the 7-Up did its' thing by making the biscuits light and fluffy.

You can see the bubbly butter when the biscuits come out of the oven.

I let them sit in the pan on the cool cook top while I fried up some sausage pieces and prepped some fruit for the men.  They came out of the pan very easily with a silicone pancake turner.

All that butter makes for easy release from pan!

Mr. Flip Flop gave the highest compliment..."these taste almost as good as my Mom's".  For Ms. Makes-a-Bad-Biscuit, that was high praise indeed!!!  I literally clapped my hands in glee.

The teen, who doesn't like to try new things, declined biscuits and sausage.  He was leery of the entire "experiment"...who the heck puts soda water in biscuits?  Well, from now on, guess we do!  I brought him a "bite" and encourage him to try it and he, hesitantly and with "a look" did so.  He smiled.  He said "I'll take some!"  Duh...of course he will.

Mr. Flip Flop had his with a berry-blend jam, sausage, and a bowl of watermelon.  He polished off two and went back for two more.  The teen went "no jelly or jam" and had sausage and a bowl of sliced apples (got to get something healthy inside him).  I went for just biscuits and apple butter.  DELISH!  You don't need to butter these biscuits - they have absorbed the entire 1/2 cup of butter in the baking process (and it bubbled up around them, getting the sides as well).  The sour cream also adds enough of that awesome mouth feel to negate further addition of butter.

These are company-good biscuits.  I will be keeping some 7-Up on hand whenever we have visitors or I plan a special breakfast.  These will definitely be part of it from now on!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Cinnamon Streusel Pumpkin Loaves

A travel breakfast...hmmmm.  I dug through my folder of recipes I had intended to try over the holidays before chaos erupted in my life.  I wanted something easy that would travel well...something to snack on or to have with coffee as we sat listening to waves rushing in and gulls calling.

As soon as my hand touched a print out for Cinnamon Streusel Pumpkin Bread from Michelle Day at Michelle's Tasty Creations blog, I just "knew" this would be perfect.  We have pleasant temperatures this week-end, but there is a call for being overcast and a light rain.  What is better than the warm taste of pumpkin and cinnamon and all of those warm spices on a lightly drizzly day?  Not much.

I made a few minor tweaks - but nothing major.  My addition is a vanilla bean cream cheese drizzle for a bit of extra topping (like streusel isn't enough) .  Everything is baking while I type... I'm departing in a few short hours.  My house is smelling really awesome about now!  I should probably sample it before taking it with me, right?

Here's the recipe:

CINNAMON STREUSEL PUMPKIN LOAVES
Lightly modified from the Michelle Day recipe


Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Streusel Topping:

1/2 cup unbleached AP flour
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, cold and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Drizzle:

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
4 ounces butter, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
1-2 tsp. milk - more if needed

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray three mini loaf pans with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large 4 cup measuring cup, add 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.  Whisk together until well blended.  Set aside.

In bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs, 3/4 cup sugar, oil, pumpkin, and vanilla extract until smooth.  Pour the flour mixture into the bowl and beat until smooth (on low) then evenly distribute the batter between the three pans.

For the Streusel Topping:
Mix the flour, sugar, and cinnamon with a fork in a medium bowl.  Add the butter and using a fork, pastry blender, or your fingers, crumble the butter into the sugar mixture until you have a crumble mixture.

Divide evenly over the three pans of pumpkin bread dough.

Bake for 40-45 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean).  Allow to cool in pans for a few minutes then remove to a cooling rack.

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Drizzle

In small bowl of food processor, pulse 1/4 cup softened butter, 4 ounces of softened cream cheese, and 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste until smooth. 

Add enough powdered sugar to make the consistency of a thick icing. Add milk, 1/2 tsp. at a time, pulsing after each addition until it's just the consistency you desire for drizzling.  I like mine a little thick.

When pumpkin bread is completely cooled, drizzle VBCC Drizzle over each loaf.  If you are eating it warm, drizzle over each slice after plating.

I sampled a slice with a glass of milk because I'd finished all the coffee for the morning....boy howdy, that is so yummy!  I love the crunch of the streusel hidden under the creamy tartness of the drizzle...all on top of the wonderfully aromatic pumpkin loaf.  Two thumbs up...and it was an easy preparation, so even better!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Chefs Fresh Mexican Food

Update 2014:  Now called Su Casa Cafe and located at 6200 Padre Blvd. inside the Travelodge South Padre.  Phone number 956-761-0744 ext. 297.  Same great chef/owner - check them out!



I've been trying to get to Chefs Fresh Mexican Food on SPI for months it seems.  I finally made it!  My friend and I decided to meet for a long venting "girls lunch" last week and since neither of us had gone to Chefs, it was the choice of the day! 

So many of my friends had raved about the freshly prepared food, the service, and the good breakfasts that my first attempts were to get there for breakfast.  Getting my crew anywhere for breakfast (beyond the immediate vicinity of the kitchen) is a big trial...I'm the only early riser in the house and I've had breakfast by the time the rest of the lazy bones have arisen.  I tend to just shrug my shoulders and go on with my day!

Anyway, Mary and I hit Chefs at 11:30 on an off-season Friday.  We were the first customers of the day, followed by a slow but steady stream of patrons.  It is a very small place - not a lot of tables - but it worked perfectly for us at a comfortable table by the window. 

We started with chips and salsa and drinks while we caught up.  We warned our waitress we would be there a long time - we had lots to "vent" about!  The freshly made chips and a generous bowl of salsa arrived very promptly (these are not complimentary by the way) .  Now, this is a traditional Mexican food restaurant...and down here, that means cooked, served warm, yellow/orangish salsa.  It is not my personal favorite.  I vastly prefer the red tomato salsa that has fresh un-cooked onion, cilantro, etc. as the highlight.  That said, it was tasty.  It was pleasantly spicy to my white-girl palate.  I am not a fan of the grab-your-drink hot salsa served in some of the restaurants.  The good part of that, I guess, is that neither of us filled up on chips and salsa :-)  However, if you like that kind of salsa, I'm betting you'll love Chefs' salsa.

After we'd been there nearly an hour, we finally ordered.  Our waitress was very respectful of our desire to chat (the restaurant wasn't filled so I didn't feel guilty hogging the table) and she didn't bug us.  That is always a nice thing.  Mary decided on the chicken fajitas.  She said she figures that's a good standard to evaluate a restaurant.  Something simple like "can you cook chicken" without it being dry and tasteless.  She said the chicken was both moist and tasty...so thumbs up.  The plate consisted of grilled chicken, charro beans, rice, and a small pile of lettuce and tomato.  She had her choice of corn or flour tortillas.

I selected my baseline for evaluating Mexican food - beef enchiladas.  The menu term was Enchiladas Rojas and I had the choice of chicken, beef, or cheese.  Three generous enchiladas, topped with a delicious sauce and grated melted cheddar cheese were served on a plate filled to the brim with the sides of refried beans and rice.  It was such a huge plate, I took half of it home.  It was A+ deliciosa!  Slightly more spicy than a traditional plate of Tex-Mex enchiladas, but certainly comfortable enough for my tongue. 

All-in-all, a nice casual dining experience, happily enhanced by a friend I can share all of my woes with who absolutely understands and doesn't judge or condemn my whining.  Thank you to my friend for the conversation and to Chefs for the excellent service and tasty food.  I will definitely be back!

You can find their daily specials posted on their Facebook page - listed ChefsFresh MexicanFood (note the lack of spaces to get to the correct page).  The owner is friendly and wants to ensure you enjoy your food and your time in her restaurant.  If there's a problem, let her know.  She's very nice!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

SPI FLIP FLOP FOODIE RATING:

4 – Lip smackin’ - good quality – flip flops will definitely be parked under their table again!

BLUEBERRY CREAM CHEESE BREAD

I have been away for quite a while - my Mom is in the hospital, and has been since mid-September.  Baking and doing fun things has really been placed on the back-burner.  This has been one of the first cooking/baking endeavors in weeks.  It is a worthy project for a return to blogging!

I found this recipe online several months ago and pinned it on my Pinterest Board of recipes I'd like to try.  It just looked so yummy and I finally got around to making it.  Despite it taking a boatload of mixing bowls, spatulas, measuring cups, and measuring spoons - I'm definitely happy with the outcome.  Being a first try, I didn't change the recipe.  I did have to bake it longer.  It simply was not done at the recommended time.  So, the recipe I've typed below includes that note...and a few other of my thoughts and additional instructions (in italics usually).

I found the recipe at Tasty Kitchen and encourage you to link back to the site and scope out their many yummy recipes.  This one was posted by Savannah in the Breads section.  In my opinion, it is more like a cake - and was eaten with a fork by my family.  We also liked it after it was at room temperature...everything firmed up nicely and it was easier to slice.  The recipe said prep time was 20 minutes...well, she's a better cook than me.  It took me over 50 minutes to pull this together and get it in the oven.  Of course, I had to stop for many photos...maybe that was the problem.

So, here it is...lots of effort, but worth it for a special breakfast or brunch.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Bread
by Savannah at Tasty Kitchen: A Happy Recipe Community

INGREDIENTS:

For the Bread Batter:

1/2 cup butter (I used salted)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups Blueberries (up to 2 cups she said - I used a pint)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 egg whites
1/4 cup white granulated sugar

For the Filling:

8 ounces, weight, Cream Cheese (softened)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 whole egg
1 tablespoon Orange zest

For the Glaze:

2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon water

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Filling:
In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, whole egg, and orange zest; beat until smooth.  Set aside.

Glaze:
Stir together the glaze ingredients (2 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp water) and set aside.

Bread:
Cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar until fluffy.  Add salt and vanilla.  Add egg yolks (be sure to save the egg whites for later) to the sugar mixture; beat until creamy.  Set aside.
In another bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour and 1 tsp baking powder.  Add this to the butter and sugar mixture, alternating with milk (1/3 four, 1/2 milk, 1/3 flour, 1/2 milk, last third of flour.  Very stiff batter.)
In another bowl, coat blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour and add them to the batter. (Note - when I do this again, I'm changing this to the last addition - I squished many berries by adding them to such a dense batter - which is lightened in the next step with egg whites...it makes sense to me to add them at the end.  However, I followed recipe and added them at this point).
In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, and beat until stiff peaks form.  Fold egg whites into batter.

Putting it into pan:
Pour 1/2 of the blueberry batter (or a little less) into a floured and greased pan.  Smooth it with a spatula.
Layer the filling over the batter - smooth it with a spatula.
Finish with the remainder of batter - carefully smoothing to the edge of the pan.  This will create a layer of "cheesecake" between the blueberry bread layers.
Pour glaze over top of UNBAKED loaf and place in preheated 350 degree oven for 55-60 minutes.
(As stated above, mine took longer to bake - a total of 1 hour 15 minutes and it was perfect)

I allowed the bread to cool 20 minutes in the pan on a rack.  I turned it out onto a tray and allowed it to firm up for another 15-20 minutes or so...then we couldn't wait any longer to try it. 

It was still crumbly (and firmed up much more within a few hours).  Very, very delicious!  We had large slabs with our coffee.  Not overly sweet but, a bit more cake-like than bread-like to me.  I just had another piece with coffee while I wrote this post.  Excellent the next day as well!!!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

SHARED WITH:

Fresh Fruit with Greek Yogurt

I asked Mr. Flip Flop if he would prefer fruit and yogurt for breakfast or some breakfast tacos?  He perked up immediately to fruit and yogurt.  The strawberries and blackberries are looking so good right now, fortunately I had a good supply in the fridge.  It was an easy fix!

I washed, hulled, and quartered strawberries, gently washed the blackberries, and rinsed some red grapes that I had, slicing those in half.  Left all the fruit draining on some paper towels while I mixed up a yogurt topping.

Greek Yogurt Fruit Topping

1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla bean paste
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon honey

Whisk ingredients together - simple as could be!

I piled the fruit in a pasta bowl, drizzled the fruit with a bit of extra honey, and poured the yogurt topping over the fruit, using a few reserved pieces on top so he'd know what was underneath.

He was delighted with his healthy breakfast and scraped the bowl clean.

I love simple Sunday mornings!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

Shared With:

Breakfast Tacos With a New Product...new to me anyway!

When planning for our week-end meals, I try to at least make a family breakfast one of those mornings.  We all get up at different times, so making breakfast falls to the individual wanting to eat at that particular moment.  This Sunday morning, I nibbled a banana with my coffee and waited for my husband to get up.  The teen had already eaten (but with a teen-age appetite, I figured he would likely accept an offer of a second, late morning breakfast).

This week-end I wanted to try a product that I saw on the shelves before Christmas but had not tried.  I went looking for it, and found another "new to me" product available.  That product was Jimmy Dean fully-cooked seasoned Turkey Sausage Crumbles. 

I grew up a Texan girl with the regular week-end breakfasts including either Jimmy Dean or Owen's Country Sausage and/or bacon with eggs - fried, scrambled, baked...never an omelette....never a frittata.  Basic Southern fare...sometimes sausage gravy and biscuits, sometimes fried pork chops...it was the base of my cholesterol problems of today.  I love that food.

However, if I can find something that tastes good and is somewhat better for my innards, I'm willing to give it a whirl.  The front of the package touts 60% less fat than pork sausage.  I decided to give it a go this week-end in our breakfast tacos.

Breakfast tacos are everywhere now...but when I was younger, you only found them in Tex-Mex venues and were often called breakfast burritos.  You sure never found them at the local McDonald's or other fast-food restaurant.  I think I became aware of them in the early 80's...maybe the late 70's.  They almost always had chorizo, potato, and egg with some muy caliente salsa ...and sometimes cheese.

As they evolved to common availability in Texas, in our household they became a staple breakfast for when we had overnight company...you can basically cook them up in one pan, slap the ingredients onto a tortilla, sprinkle some cheese and breakfast is done.  You can offer salsa, guacamole, and sour cream on the side for individualization.  I don't make them as often...for some reason the teen didn't like them.  Now, however, the teen has definitely acquired the taste for them - preferably bacon and egg wrapped in a tortilla and nothing else.

This morning I made the breakfast tacos with egg, green onion, Jimmy Dean turkey sausage crumbles, grated Monterrey Jack cheese, avocado, and salsa.  The teen had one with just egg, green onion, and sausage...and loved it.  Came back for more (after everything was all gone) and I was telling him how easy they were to fix...and that he could make one himself if he wanted more.  When he saw the words Turkey Sausage I thought he was going to gag.  Funny how the mind plays tricks on you.  He has the idea that he wouldn't like turkey sausage and had to wrap his brain around the fact that it was good.  He didn't make another one so we'll see how this all shakes out in the future.


It is so easy to make - I whisked some eggs with green onion slices, a dash of cream, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. 

I scrambled them in a pan prepped with a small amount of butter.

I added the sausage when they were almost done just to bring the sausage to temperature.

I warmed the tortillas in my microwave for 45 seconds, laid down a line of egg ingredients on one of those warm tortillas, quickly sprinkled with cheese so it would melt, and topped with avocado slices.  Served with a side of chunky jarred salsa that I had on hand.

My husband reports they were deeelicious.  I second that emotion!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Grapevine Cafe

This glorious first morning of September, I dropped my son off at the high school and drove straight to the island.  The bay was smooth as glass, pelicans floating, gulls diving as I crossed the causeway...just beautiful.  My first stop was the beach for a quick walk...there wasn't much of a breeze, though, and the sun was intense for 8:15 in the morning!  So, it was a brief walk.  I dusted my feet off and drove to Grapevine Cafe for breakfast (okay, that was my intention all along...the walk just makes me feel less guilty).

Grapevine Cafe, at Padre Blvd. and Swordfish, is a breakfast-and-lunch-only establishment; open daily from 6:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  It is reminiscent of a diner without the counter or waitresses with big hair and aprons.  The tables are linoleum topped - the chairs are wooden and vaguely uncomfortable (they slant forward just slightly and it feels like I can't get seated correctly - a friend told me that was purposeful, to keep the tables turning - who knew?).  Coffee is in a mug and sugar is in an old-school pourable dispenser. A fork and knife wrapped in a paper napkin on the table.  Customers reading the paper or watching the news - families on vacation, young adults often looking hung over, seniors, and locals.  Cheap prices for the island.  Nothin' fancy.  The service is generally good if they aren't crowded - with the same wait staff I've had since I first start going.  When they are crowded...prepare to wait for any attention, they get spread a little thin (raise your hand and signal a coffee refill).  Today, it's quiet on South Padre and there were only a few other customers...the service was great!

This is the second time I've been there in the past week - school's back in session and I have some morning freedom. (yay!)  Last week I had their Texas-sized breakfast taco.  The tortilla is  bigger than a dinner plate - it is HUGE and toasted on the griddle.  I had egg, bacon, cheese, and avocado with their homemade salsa slathered all over it.  I'm careful about the slathering - some days the salsa burns the Hades out of this white girl's tender mouth!  Their salsa is cooked and is served warm most of the time.  The taco comes with egg - anything more is an additional charge.  I generally can't eat the whole thing.... but I never seem to order their regular size breakfast tacos. 

Today, I had my sister Sheryl's favorite item - the fresh fruit, yogurt, and granola parfait.  Served in an old fashioned ice cream soda glass, it is a fabulous concoction of seasonal fresh fruit (cantaloupe, watermelon, apples, red and green grapes, and strawberries were in there today), plain yogurt, and a great crunchy granola with occasional bites of chewy dried blueberries and currants.  That, with a cup of coffee, is a great meal.  Today, because I was hungry, I ordered a side of bacon.  Yum....love bacon.  Their order was 3 pieces of crispy and tasty bacon.  The entire meal, with coffee, was $10 and some change. 

They have a daily special for both breakfast and lunch - in the $4-$6 range.  Today's breakfast special was 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, and 2 pieces of sausage or bacon - slightly over $4.  Lunch special today was chicken fried steak.  The only lunch I've had was their Enchilada Plate - basic cheese enchiladas, beans, rice, a tortilla, and more of that homemade salsa.  It was good, basic food for a good price.  My other companions, or myself, have had the huevos rancheros (muy caliente!), huge bowl of oatmeal with toast, pancakes, basic eggs and bacon, and tasty omelets.  The only thing none of us liked time and again, are the grilled biscuits.  They've been burned, returned for a different one, and the replacements dark brown.  I am unfamiliar with the practice of open-face griddled biscuits.  I'd like to stay unfamiliar with the practice.  Biscuits should be fluffy in my opinion. 

To summarize....diner fare with a nod to the border proximity by including many Tex-Mex menu selections.

I like that the owner is there every day that I've ever been.  He always offers a friendly wave and hello once he recognizes you as a local.  Grapevine Cafe is not haute cuisine - nor is it traditional island fare.  However, if you want a decent cup of coffee, fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice when it is in season, and a low cost but plentiful breakfast or lunch...this is a good choice.

SPI FLIP FLOP FOODIE RATING:
3 – Pretty Yummy - I feel my flip flops wanting to head back from time to time!