Laguna BOB

My oldest is down for a slightly post-birthday visit.  He likes to come down around his birthday and gifts himself with a fishing excursion and lots of relaxing fishing (wade, jetties, piers, docks, whatever he finds).  Today, however, the inestimable Captain Jack Barton once again scored for my boys.  Jay and Ian caught a ton of fish (some of it catch and release) and ended up with one trout and 5 big Red Drums.  We will be having Red Drum for dinner, that's for sure!

They were out of the house at 6:00 a.m. and home around noon.  They wanted a shower and FOOD.  Ian requested lunch on the island.  I knew Jay's "things to do" list ALWAYS includes ceviche from Laguna BOB (previously Wahoo's).  He was thrilled to find the ceviche hadn't changed when he first came down after the closing of Wahoo's and the opening of Laguna BOB.  Both of my older boys find this to be one of their favorite spots for sitting around, drinking a margarita or a beer, and munching on ceviche.

So, with that knowledge, I suggested we go there for lunch.  Mr. Flip Flop was not so happy - he is not a big fan of lunchtime outdoor dining...with the record heat and high humidity he was groaning and moaning...but he's a trouper and said he'd come along.  We got rained on HARD as we were passing through Port Isabel and driving over the causeway, but by the time we got to the lovely bay front location, there was just a bit of sprinkling going on.  Fortunately, they have expanded and provided so much more covered seating, that even at 1:30 on a Saturday on Labor Day Week-end, we found covered seating and a few napkins got rid of most of the wetness on the tables.  Our butts were damp in the chairs, but hey, it was COOL outside and for that we were immensely grateful!

You order at the bar, can run a tab with plastic, and they deliver your food to the table, calling out your name as they come.  The brought all the correct condiments, were very friendly, and we had a fabulous meal with enough food to fill any one's belly!  Jay and Will like coming off-season and chatting with the friendly bartenders.  They've always liked the casual, laid-back environment.

We knew Ian would be having a hamburger...and he did.  What he won't do is wait around for Mom to take a photo...hence, a half eaten burger by the time I snapped everyone else's photos.  The teen and the Dad are now growling at me for taking food photos.  They are growing more and more irritated by it.  Tough, I say.  It's what I do!

Here I am getting "the look" for interrupting his chowing down!

My Jay ordered a large ceviche and a margarita, frozen, with a shot of tequila on the side.  He said his arm ached from fishing all morning...but by the time the tequila hit his empty gullet, he was starting to feel much better.  I will say, I have tried ceviche twice and hated it both times...but, since Will and Jay both say this is the best they've ever eaten...I gave it a try.  It was DELICIOSA!  The difference is the excellent flavor balance and the small pieces of fish.  The last time I ate ceviche it tasted like raw fish in lime juice - big chunks...and nothing else.  This, however, was a work of art with the perfect balance of spice, heat, herbal, and citrus.  Really, really good.


This is a large ceviche...he couldn't even eat half of it!

 

That is one contented man!
Fishin', margarita, and ceviche...in that order :-)

 

I ordered a Grilled Chicken Club (sans the tomatoes).  It had bacon, melted cheese, moist chicken, and was served on a light onion roll.  Excellent - made excellent by really good bacon.  So often I find restaurants take short cuts with their cheap bacon (down here anyway) and it can ruin a meal.  This was good thick tasty bacon.  Yum.  The fries were a mixture of sweet potato fries, regular white potato fries and waffle fries.  I couldn't eat many because the sandwich was so big, but I focused on the sweet potato fries and they were very tasty.

My Grilled Chicken Club needed to be cut in half for me to wrangle
in all of that bacon and other good stuff.

John had a BLT and he ate every single bite.  He, too, focused on eating his sweet potato fries.  He even finished off my sandwich for me because it was just too much.  He was pleasantly surprised at how cool it was and uncrowded and a nice view of the bayfront activity.

The BLT was a generous sandwich!!!

All-in-all, it was a great lunch.  I certainly see why my boys like it so much.  I bet it is truly an awesome place to wind down the day on a pleasant Fall or Winter's evening!  Summer is hot - so I'll leave it to the tourists and young'uns who can tolerate the heat.  I'll definitely enjoy it again in my favored non-summer seasons!

This appears to be primarily a bar environment - I don't think I'd take my kids there.  I didn't see any children present...but I could be wrong.  The menu didn't list a children's menu...just saying, in case you were wondering. 

Also, I see that they have quite a musical line-up.  Check out their Facebook page and Like them to keep up with the musical offerings!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

SPI FLIP FLOP FOODIE RATING:

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

NAMI CUISINE

Update 11/4/2014 - drove by and noted CLOSED on their marquee.  Apparently out of business.

Last month I noticed the old "Uchi Cuisine" had a new sign indicating a new name "Nami Cuisine".  I noted it on my old review and determined to drop in when I had the opportunity to see if it was as good as I experienced the first couple of times we visited.

The teen was on the island to get a pre-college start hair cut with Sharla at Venus Nails and Spa...and I was needing to stop in and see Joni and Griff at Paragraphs on Padre Blvd to pick up a new book I'd ordered.  Since all of this was going on near lunch time, the teen asked if we could go to Nami Cuisine.  I looked askance, knowing he was not a fan of sushi or most anything involving rice.  He LOVES noodle bowls but I didn't particularly recall any of those on the menu (but I really hadn't looked so I couldn't say for sure).  I told him I would love to go there but I didn't want him to order up a bunch of food he would then eat one bite of and declare he didn't like it.  That happened in the past a lot...much less as he has matured...but still, not wanting to drag home a bunch of leftovers.  He promised he'd eat what he ordered...so, after all of our errands were complete, we stopped in.  This time, the sign said "same owner" so it was with less trepidation that I entered.  It was Saturday at noon and we were only one of two tables occupied so I was a bit leery.  However, our waitress greeted the teen by name and that lightened my mood.  Somehow, I always think if we are "known" we are likely to get better quality service...and hopefully good food!

I ordered iced tea and the teen ordered his usual hot tea.  After confirming that green tea was okay, he received a nice sized pot of lightly aromatic green tea.  My iced tea tasted fresh and delicious.  I was hot from running errands and can't imagine ordering hot tea...but he really loves it and drinks it like I drink coffee.  He's usually an Earl Grey fan (loose leaf preferably) so I wasn't sure he would like the green tea.  He did drink about 4 cups of it though, so I guess it was all good.

He was happy for me to point out a Japanese Udon Noodle bowl which our waitress (Kim, I think) described as filled with various vegetables and Udon noodles, with a couple of fried shrimp on the side.  That was okay with Ian so he ordered that.

I ordered from the lunch menu.  I requested the General Tsao's chicken with fried rice and the choice of crab soup (either miso or crab soup were the menu choices).  The waitress informed me they didn't have crab today, but had miso or chicken soup.  I asked for the chicken soup.  Unfortunately, it never came.  When our meal was served, my order was so huge (and I had been hot) so I never mentioned the oversight.

The rice was more than any person could eat, but the
General Tsao's Chicken was still a nice portion size...
and a small crispy egg roll was a nice addition to the
plate.  I would have liked to have seen the soup even though
it would have just been more food I couldn't eat...and I'm
used to some sort of sauce being served with an egg roll.
Small complaints...but I always contend excellence is
in the detail!

We both enjoyed our meals.  The teen is not much of a veggie person but polished off half of the huge bowl of broth and the vegetables that he liked as well as a big portion of the thick Udon noodles.  I couldn't eat half of the huge pile of food on my plate so we both ended up with to-go containers.  The General Tsao's was, as usual, fairly spicy.  Normally I love a spicy dish...but only two days ago I was sick and I think my esophagus was still a bit raw.  I ended up with spasms trying to eat at the restaurant and when I ate the leftovers for dinner last night.  Even the normal nightly Ranitidine didn't do the trick.  Whew!  The problem was me, not the food though.  It was very tasty and quite generous...either dish would have been sufficient for two people!

This bowl of Japanese Udon Noodle Soup could have easily
fed 2 to 3 people!  The bowl was huge and full of goodness.  The teen
really enjoyed the 3 big pieces of tempura shrimp on the side.

The lunch menu items were in the $9 range.  The teen's soup was $13 (from the dinner menu) and $2.50 for my iced tea... $2.95 for the hot tea.  A total of $29.71 with tax, before tip.  More than I like to pay for lunch, but with a second meal for both of us, I believe it's reasonable.

Since this is really one of two choices within 20 miles for oriental food, I still say it's an excellent choice.  I haven't eaten at Kohnami (the other choice) because my sister had a bad experience, quality-wise, there...and others have reported both good and bad.  I'll need to try to go there eventually so I can KNOW first-hand.

Our service was excellent and the food was good.  I'll be back...but probably not until the weather gets cold and I can deal with the heat!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

SPI FLIP FLOP FOODIE RATING:

(With a scale of 0 to 5)

3 – Pretty Yummy - I feel my flip flops wanting to head back from time to time!

Gabriella's - a Family Favorite

The teen chose Gabriella's for his birthday dinner and Mom and Dad were very glad!  We realized we had not eaten there since last Fall!  The last couple of times we went, it was soooo crowded, we just couldn't handle the wait.  Shocking to us all when we realized how really long it had been!

I have heard, during the Spring, that the family owning Gabriella's has, or is, phasing out of day-to-day operations (or maybe sold?).  I don't really know since it was hearsay.  I do know the menu was the same, the quality of the food was the same, and the service, while slow in the beginning, picked up to a level not usually experienced (Gabriella's is known for being slow because they make everything upon ordering).  We've never minded because the quality was so worth it.  After a few missteps in the first 15 or so minutes... attempting to seat us in a booth that was so tight my chest would have been sitting on the table, getting a table finally, waiting while others seated after us were served their drinks...after all of that...the rest of the visit worked like a well-oiled machine.  Once our waiter, Hector, arrived...smooth sailing!

Ian asked to start with Calamari with their spicy Marinara Sauce.  I swear it is the best on the island.  What pushes it into the #1 position is the awesome sauce and the perfect breading.  Yummmm.

Next up was the family serving of salad with a small antipasto plate of cheese, pepperocini, and olives. 

Then delicious crisp garlic bread to dip into their SUPERB balsamic and toasted garlic and herb dipping sauce.  Holy smokes I could drink it ... it is that good. 

As soon as we were finished, out came our main dishes.  Perfect timing.  Drink refills, extra bread...ready to dig in. (I get euphoric when I have good service)

My husband ordered a Classic Calzone.  Served on a pizza platter (it is so huge) with a ginormous pile of french fries.  There was so much food he ended up opening the calzone and eating all of the good stuff out of the middle and left about half of the crust.  I tried the calzone crust and dag nab it, it was better than mine.  It was really delicious.

Ian had the ravioli platter with marinara sauce.  Choices were Marinara, Alfredo, or toasted ravioli.  He likes the marinara with a bunch of cheese on top.  He ate every bite (and he didn't wait for the photo before he dug in).  Possibly for the first time ever he said he was too full for more bread and didn't want dessert.  Wow!

I had the Carbonara (the photo didn't turn out - darn cell phone) with bacon and chicken and a opulent asiago sauce...OMG - to die for.  I am the only one who needed a to-go box.  I filled up on Calamari and salad and couldn't even eat half of my main dish - and there was enough for two or three people really.  I enjoyed having it for lunch the next day though!

Except for the missteps to start...it was a wonderful birthday dinner for the boy.  We got stuck on the bridge ... endlessly it seemed... on the way home, but the sun was starting to set and it was beautiful...lots of boats fishing.  I just didn't give a hoot...could have sat looking out at the Laguna Madre for 30 more minutes if needed!

Thanks Gabriella's, for another incredible evening!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Whole Wheat Spice Bundt Cake

The teen requested a spice cake for his birthday cake (which is almost the default cake for him - but sometimes he surprises me).  His birthday was earlier this week but since his Dad wasn't home, we opted to wait for him so we could celebrate together.  We went to a movie and shopped on his birthday and he said he had a good day...but it was a bit strange not to have a cake or presents that day.  He's 19 now, so I guess it was more my issue than his.  He wanted to wait.

The expected return for Mr. Flip Flop was the 10th...on Friday I got a text saying "Lucy, I'm Home!" and I threw on my flip flops and flew down the stairs nearly barreling us both down a flight of stairs when I pounced on him!  I'd talked to him earlier that day and he let me believe he was on his way to work when, in actuality, he was on the 350 mile drive home.  He doesn't manage to surprise me often, but when he does, it's a biggie!  Ian was so happy he gave him a big hug and smile (which is not the norm for him either)!  All-in-all, an excellent turn of events.  EXCEPT, I hadn't planned a cake, wrapped the gifts, nor spiffed up the house as I am wont to do when Papi comes home.  I always like things to look "nice".  I doubt he even notices.  So, since I could do nothing about the cleaning portion of the deficit, I focused on birthday preparations this morning when I got up.  We were going out to dinner, on the island I imagined, and we'd have cake and gifts when we get back.

I decided to go with a recipe that I've made before as mini bundts, but in a full-size bundt pan.  I made one boo boo and used baking powder instead of baking soda, so it was even more dense than expected.  I was freaking out a bit because it wasn't rising as much as I anticipated, but it all came out okay in the end.  This is a very dense cake anyway... it uses 100% whole wheat flour...but the white whole wheat, which is slightly lighter.  I also didn't have regular yogurt, so I used 1/2 fat free yogurt and 1/2 ricotta cheese.  I hate being risky when baking a birthday cake...but I knew if it just absolutely flopped, I had a chance to go to the store and start over.

So, here's the recipe... my husband loved it - ate several pieces.  Ian and I both would have preferred a less dense cake.  The flavor was excellent though!  I particularly liked adding some cinnamon to the vanilla bean glaze I used - perfect for the cake.  If you like a super dense cake - this is a good one.  I would, however, likely use baking soda next time, and not a fat-free yogurt!

WW SPICE BUNDT CAKE

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated vanilla sugar
1 cup turbinado sugar
1 cup room temperature butter
1/2 cup fat free vanilla yogurt (I used Dannon) - room temp
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese - room temperature
3 large eggs - room temperature
1/2 Tablespoon Vanilla Bean Paste
2 1/2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour (I use King Arthur)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (not powder like I used)

Method:

Prepare a bundt pan with Baker's Joy or grease/flour preparation.  Make sure to get all the crevices and go all the way to the edge of the pan and the cone in the middle.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In bowl of a stand mixer, cream both sugars and the butter until fluffy (I let it go about 3 minutes).

Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.  Add the vanilla bean paste and beat until incorporated.

In a bowl or large mixing cup, whisk together the dry ingredients.

In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt and ricotta cheese until smooth.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl with the mixer running on low.
Add 1/2 of the yogurt/ricotta mixture
Add 2nd 3rd of the dry ingredients followed by the remaining yogurt/ricotta mixture.
Add the final 3rd of the dry ingredients.

Scrape the bowl and beat on medium high for 60-90 seconds until smooth and fluffy batter.

Use a large spoon to place the batter evenly around the bundt pan.  Smooth it with the back of the spoon.

Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 50-60 minutes.  Use a cake tester for doneness.  The cake was not ready at 50 minutes but 5 minutes later it had cracked (which was fine - it's the bottom) and became perfectly done with a cake tester.

Remove from oven to a cooling rack for about 15 minutes.  Turn onto a cake plate and allow to cool completely before frosting or glazing.

Ian elected a glaze since it was a bundt cake.

I made a Vanilla Bean and Cinnamon Glaze... very tasty with this cake!

VANILLA BEAN CINNAMON GLAZE

Ingredients:

1 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 to 4 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream

Method:

In the small bowl of a food processor, with the small blade, pulse the sugar, butter, vanilla bean paste and cinnamon to mix.  Begin by adding 2 tablespoon of heavy cream to the mixture and pulse.  Carefully scrape the bowl, avoiding cutting your spatula on the blade, to ensure all of the sugar is off the sides and bottom.  Pulse again and add more cream to get it to the proper consistence you desire.  I wanted a thick enough glaze that it would drip down the side but not so loose that it would pool under the cake.  I wanted it on top of the cake!

The thickish glaze worked beautifully!

Admittedly, not my favorite cake - but it is definitely something I'd make again with a few tweaks (which actually go back to my original recipe!)

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

Sand Dollar Cookies - not my best work

How hard should it be to pipe a basic 5-petal "flower" with a dot in the middle?  I can pipe outlines, I can now pipe a decent stripe (after much practice)...but the centers of my Sand Dollar cookies nearly undid me!

These are the last of my most recent batch of shell cookies and I was happy with everything...except the sand dollars. 

My thought was "oh these will be super simple" and that is probably what cursed me.  I got the 5 "holes" piped...and they were irregular. 

I had a real sand dollar I was looking at...longer "top" hole (or maybe bottom, I'm not sure) and then four more evenly spaced holes.  My piping icing was not stiff enough, despite it being a 25-30 second icing.  I used a 1.5 PME tip.  Still, it spread on some of the cookies. Then, I allowed them to dry and flooded and smoothed...working hard to get it really smooth since there wasn't much to these.  After they dried a bit, I added a bit of white disco dust. 

In the continuation of my apparent curse...this new disco dust tasted "grittier" than most.  Who knows why...but it was.  Same brand - brand new container.  I didn't use much and dusted off the excess when they were all the way dry.  Still, when I bit into them I tasted grit. (sigh)

To make it even worse, the next morning, before having coffee, I head straight for the table and start finalizing these cookies.  My hands were shaking.  The icing was too thin (ANOTHER batch) and I was piping like a drunken sailor...all wobbly and cock-eyed.  I reverted to dots... I was pleased with the dots.  I wish I had done all dots.  I really wish I'd had coffee and a steady hand!  What you see is what I ended up with AFTER using the boo boo stick...these are the better ones, believe it or not!

The pitiful attempts at piping a five petal flower (in essence)
on top of the dried sand dollar cookie.  Waaahhhhh...

The dots were much better.  These I could be happy with.

I guess I'm really glad I didn't make a lot of these!



So, the moral of the story is never assume something will be easy and don't decorate before coffee first thing in the morning :-)

I gave all of these cookies away.  Sorry my friends if they look wonky and taste gritty.  No one has complained...I'm not sure if they would actually.  Onward thru the fog (as we said in the 70s)!

BON APPETIT, Y'ALL!!!

Tejas Brew Pub & Smokehouse

Photo Credit:  Ian Hook

UPDATE 11/7/2013:  It was reported that the last day of business for Tejas Brew Pub and Smokehouse was 10/31/2013...said they were moving their business to Colorado. Good luck to them!

I finally girded my loins and headed to the island on a day in July ...at least it was a week day... happily no crowds to struggle against!  I visited my friends at Paragraph's on Padre Blvd, drove around a bit to see what was up...little things change all the time on the island.  In the Summer, I make myself a stranger on purpose.  When you visit the island in the Fall, you know what "real" island time is like.  There's a slower pace, less crowds, a different set of people.  It's my favorite time of year down here.

So, there are a few new restaurants that I've not been able to try.  I have a handful that I've been reeeeeally wanting to visit...and today, finally, I made it to Tejas Brew Pub & Smokehouse.  Good smoked meats have not been readily available on the island since I've lived down here.  There is a tasty new spot or two in Port Isabel, but until Tejas Brew Pub & Smokehouse opened up, nothing really special in this category on the strip of sand we all love so much!

Since I visited at the book store so long, we didn't get to lunch until 1:30... and not only was it not crowded, we were the only ones in the restaurant section.  We went in the front door (facing the street) which was the main entrance for the previous inhabitants of the building.  I have always found it a confusing building to enter.  At least they clearly have signs indicating bar to the right, dining to the left.  That's after you get in though.  We walked all the way through the dining area before someone hailed us.  Maybe it's less confusing when there are a lot of people there.  It felt like we came in the wrong door.  When we walked in, the first thing I smelled was not the luscious smell of smoked meats, it was the disgusting smell of cigarettes.  I almost turned around and left.

I guess it was folks in the bar smoking.  I used to smoke.  We rehabilitated smokers are the worse.  I don't want to smell it anywhere around my food and it is the reason I've stopped going to Tom & Jerry's.  Griff had really talked up the good food though, so I proceeded into the dining room.  Ahhh, the cigarette smoke odor was not prevalent there.  Whew.  I bring this up only to point out...keep walking to the dining room...it's worth the trip!!!

I was with the teen and he was not interested in conversing with me and had his nose immediately into the new book he'd gotten at Paragraph's.  Since there was no one in the restaurant but me, I rudely talked on my cell phone to Mr. Flip Flop most of the time we were waiting for our food.  I figured no one would be offended...the teen surely wasn't!

We got our drinks quickly - a soda for the boy and an iced tea for me.  Really GOOD iced tea I must say!  We quickly made our choices.  Ian is a smoked sausage lover but I had already warned him that they made their own sausage (which excited him) BUT that they used fresh jalapeno in the mixture. 

That required him to opt for the Beer-battered Shrimp Basket and Pepper Fries (the boy loves black pepper with his fries and ketchup).  I told him it was crazy to go to a smokehouse and order fried shrimp but he insisted.  When the waiter left he said "Mom, it's a brew pub...and it's beer battered".  Huh, well, he's right about that.

I wanted to taste all of the meats so I got Uncle Mel's Sampler Platter.  It came with sliced brisket, baby back ribs, sausage, and pulled pork.  Sides included charro beans, potato salad, cole slaw, pickles and onions.  Actually, when I check the menu on Facebook, it doesn't mention sausage.  I may have just gotten lucky.  I know why so many of the men are raving about this place.  The Sampler was enough food to feed a hard working ranch hand!  Wayyyy too much food for me. 

I negotiated a substitution of green beans instead of charro beans for a small fee.  Joni, at Paragraphs, had highly recommended the green beans.  If you like crunchy fresh green beans, sauteed in butter and bacon pieces with some onion and garlic - you will love these.  I couldn't eat them all, and they were the one thing I brought home in a "to go" box! That fact alone would speak to my enjoyment of that side dish!

Here's a summary of how we liked or didn't like the stuff we tried:

1.  Beer-battered shrimp basket.  The teen said they were "okay" - gave them a 6 on a 1-10 scale.  He said they weren't all that flavorful.  When we requested shrimp sauce (cocktail sauce) the waiter said they didn't have that.  In my opinion, you shouldn't serve shrimp if you don't have the condiments to go with them.  The teen is a shrimp basket aficionado...he knows what he's talkin' about!
2.  He skipped the charro beans and doubled up on pepper fries.  He gave them a 9...that is high praise from Mr. Picky Eater!  He said they were really good.
3.  Brisket - moist and delicious - some of the best I've ever had (and I worked selling BBQ as a teen...I know my smoked meats).  Also, good BBQ sauce.  I gots to have me some good sauce, or I don't want to eat the BBQ.  It's just the way I roll.
4.  Baby Back Ribs - they looked dry, obviously done with a rub.  Appearances ARE deceiving because they were fall-off-the bone tender and juicy.  Squirted a little sauce down the top and bit into pure-d HEAVEN.  I could have been happy with a big rack of those ribs and nothing else!
5.  Pulled Pork - a generous amount, very lean, would have been excellent (probably is excellent for most people) but for the hot spiciness of the seasoning.  I recently had a pulled pork meal that was fatty at another restaurant...and was so happy to see this big pile of piggy goodness.  I was so disappointed that I just could not bear the burn.  If I'd had some bread to put it on, with those pickles and onions...a little sauce... I would have eaten it.  However, just eating it with a fork was not happening for me.  I left it on the plate.
6.  Brew Meister's Hand-made Smoked Sausage - OMG what excellent texture and flavor...until the jalapeno bit my tongue in half.  The teen tried a piece and glugged his DP to cool the heat...and I sucked up tea as fast as I could.  Just too hot for my taste.  I was telling my oldest son about the visit and he CANNOT WAIT to try this place - he LOVES him some jalapeno sausage!  I was sorry about those being too hot for me... I could tell this was some quality ingredient sausage!  I used to have to make sausage during my BBQ stint...and it was NOT my favorite job...but I learned that overly messing with the product before stuffing in the casing was the downfall of many good sausages.  These guys KNOW how to make a good sausage.  Us wussy-mouthed folks can't handle the heat though.
7.  Handmade Potato Salad - very good.  Not great because I like some onion and pickle chunks in my tater salad, but it was definitely very good and obviously made in-house.  Will happily eat it again.
8.  Homemade Cole Slaw - freshly crunchy - mayonnaisey, light on the sweet/sour (which I'm particularly fond of in a cole slaw).  Also good. (BTW, what's the difference in handmade and homemade?)

Just look at the amount of food on this platter!
Just $12.99 (well, a little more for my substitution)

I won't talk again about the Green Beans since I already discussed them above.  They were excellent (but don't expect the usual soft well-cooked green beans you generally find in restaurants).  Really, bacon, butter, onions, garlic?  Who can go wrong with that?  You gotta like crunchy though - they are barely sauteed. (I notice I said I wasn't talking about them again...and I dove right in anyway...go figure)

Overall, I loved the food. 
Could have used some bread.
I love that the BBQ sauce met my standards and that they had it on the table in a squeeze bottle.
Volume and quality were exceptional. 

I now know, thanks to sampling the platter, exactly what I'll get next time.  I'm also looking forward to trying the smoked chicken, which got a very high rating from the inestimable Griff Mangan, and the Cow Patty Brisket Cakes...'cause they just sound interesting!

They are working towards getting their brewed beers up and rolling, but they aren't there just yet.  They do have a nice selection of draft and bottled beers.

I really hope this restaurant makes it.  The smoked meats are great and I know it is someplace my older boys and husband will enjoy going time and again.  We get tired of seafood eventually!  We need some MEAT.  Welcome to the island Tejas Brew Pub & Smokehouse...glad you are here!

SPI FLIP FLOP FOODIE RATING:

Ranging Zero to Five...

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

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Scallop Sea Shell Cookies

Yesterday I showed how I completed the Conch Sea Shell cookies.  Info regarding the dough recipe and the royal icing recipe are included there. Today is a tutorial for the very simple Scallop Shells.  Even a novice decorator can do these.  They are very easy.  I used the same icing to pipe and flood.  I used a #2 tip to outline and a #4 to flood.  I used squeeze bottles for all of the various sea shell cookies.  Sometimes I use piping bags, but I was in the "keep it simple" mode for the past few days and bottles are an easy way to do this.  You can actually do all of these without the tips and just use squeeze bottles made by companies like Wilton.  I bought some bottles from Karen's Cookies that have a coupler which allows you to change tips.  They come in an 8 ounce size and a 2 ounce size.  They fit all standard decorating tips (Wilton, PME, etc.)  Karen is a wonderful resource for cookie decorating products and techniques...great tutorials!  You'll notice from previous blog posts that I love to feather wet on wet.  There's a reason for this.  I have trouble piping straight lines :-)  You can hide a plethora of boo boos with feathering.  See the next picture for an example (I reaaaaallllly can't pipe straight lines consistently).

Let's get to it!  You'll see how easy it is!!!

This is such an easy shape to do.  Outline the outside of the scallop but leave the bottom of the cookie un-iced for now.  Flood the center with white flood icing, pipe some alternating curved lines from the top of the cookie to the bottom.  Start the feathering, either up or down, in the center.  Use a toothpick and drag it from the bottom (or top - it doesn't matter which direction) and wipe the toothpick after completing the pass.  On either side of the center line, drag the toothpick the opposite direction of the line next to it.  Remember to wipe your toothpick (I use my alternate hand for wiping because it is quick) after each pass.

Here you can see the wet on wet stripes as they are turned into pretty feathering.  Next we fill the bottom portion - again, just outline and flood - with either of the two colors from the lines.  I then carefully place, using craft tweezers, five pink sugar pearls at the bottom of each scallop.  Do that while the icing is wet and they will stay put after drying.

Finish all the cookies and leave them to dry on a rack or tray.  Be very careful if moving.  That is one of the reasons I like to decorate on a rack in a baking sheet.  I just switch out racks and don't have to physically move the cookies.  I tend to run the a/c a little colder (it's humid here) when decorating as well as run a fan on the table with the cookies.  It helps my cookies not to pit and not to take days to dry to a point where they can be handled and packaged for "sharing".

I only made a dozen of these, and two got eaten, so I'm left with ten :-)  Easy and cute...you should try them!  I'm still deciding if I want to embarrass myself and write about the sand dollar cookies.  My piping sucked.  Some days it's good and some days...well, like I said, it's embarrassing!

I'll see how I feel about it tomorrow.  I've done scalloped cookies before...but never the conch or sand dollars.  I thought the sand dollars would be easy peasy.  Unfortunately, the devil is in the detail...and that is what tripped me up.  We'll see...we'll see!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

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Sea Shell Cookies

This week-end I decided to pull the sugar cookie dough out of the freezer and bake some of the shapes from new cookie cutters... some of which I won in a "Giveaway" from Sweet Art Factory!  I elected to work with a conch shell cutter, a sand dollar cutter, as well as a scallop shell I already had on hand.

I used some of the vanilla and almond sugar cookie dough recipe I found on Lila Loa's blog and had stored for future use in the freezer.  I took out two slabs of pre-made, well-wrapped, and frozen dough and put it in the fridge.  Saturday evening I rolled and baked (after allowing them to sit out for 15 minutes before starting).  I have only used the World's Best Sugar Cookie Dough from the class I took at Central Market in Austin...so I was leery.  However, the chocolate recipe was so good, I went ahead and made the vanilla too.  So glad I did.  I really enjoyed how easy it was to roll and cut and it didn't seem to crack as much as my generally favored dough does. 

So, onward I went the next morning, prepping my royal icing... I kept it simple - lots of white, a little bottle of warm brown (was more like tan) and a little bottle of mauve (more like a light pink).  I used AmeriColor squeeze gel paste.

I started with the conch shells.

I am not much of an artist but it really helps me plan my icing and the project if I draw it out.  To do that, I just trace the cookie cutter and write out my idea.  I find I can make more consistent cookies if I do that.  Sometimes, like when I make Easter egg cookies, I don't want consistent cookies...they are all happily different.  No drawings required for those projects!

Step 1 - set up your decorating area.  I like to decorate on a rack over a baking sheet.
Step 2 - I outlined the parts that needed a white outline, with piping icing.
Step 3 - I filled the bottom portion of the shell with flood icing.
Step 4 - I gently nudged the icing to the edges and gave the cookie a shake.  Since I knew I was going to feather, I didn't worry overly about getting it perfectly flat or ridding myself of bubbles.

Step 5 - I piped horizontal lines of light brown icing while the white icing was still wet.  Feathering requires a "wet on wet" procedure.
Step 6 - Using a round toothpick (or you can use a boo boo stick from Karen's Cookies), draw the toothpick down through the line - I start slightly above the line, end before the beginning of the next line, raise the toothpick, wipe it on the palm of my left hand (OK - it's messy - but efficient) and move on down the line.  I keep a damp cloth handy as well as a bowl of water for wiping my hands and cleaning my fingertips.

Step 7:  Pipe the mauve that looks like pink icing on the inner lip of the shell.
Step 8:  Again, using wet on wet, pipe a stripe of the brown next to the white, but on top of the pink.
Step 9:  Using the toothpick again, drag the brown into the pink, and, as I was going for a shaded effect I didn't clean the toothpick between every swipe.  These were fast light pulls through the icing, all the way to the bottom of the brown line.  That method sort of shoved the pink icing higher on the edge, which gave it some dimension.
Step 10: Using some of the thicker piping icing, I filled the dome outlines which gave them a puffy effect.  Use a clean toothpick to drag it to the edge if it doesn't get there by itself.  Take care not to go over the "dam" you created or you will lose the puffy effect.
Step 11:  After the pink and brown edge has dried for about 5-10 minutes or so, lightly sprinkle with some pink disco dust (also available at Karen's Cookies) just on the pink portion.  My original intention was to let it dry completely and then paint on some wet pink lustre dust (mixed with clear extract or alcohol).  I decided I didn't want to wait :-)

Always challenging to see the sparkly disco dust in a photo
and I don't have a light box so I got reflection on the white.
Oh well - I'll try to do better.

I worked on the other cookies as well...but will write a post on those tomorrow.  I've got to get up and get going on something other than decorating cookies today!!!  Here's what will be coming tomorrow. (And, yes, I know...my sand dollars are not all that great.  I piped the centers today before coffee...major mistake.  AND, my holes didn't stay open correctly.) (BIG SIGH)

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

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