Color me Magnolia

Fixer Upper Joanna Gaines has her own line of paint colors -- aren't these gorgeous?  Hopefully you can zoom in and see the names and descriptions!

Go West

West, Texas
Highway art
Exit 353 - I-35

Before you get to Waco from Dallas, you pass through West, Texas - which should be named Kolache, Texas.  We stopped at the Czech Stop and of course, had to get some kolaches.  Pumpkin, pineapple and coconut cream.  

Pumpkin!

Pineapple and Coconut Cream!

And a loaf of jalapeño cheese bread.  And a maple walnut twist.   

Zoom in to the above right sign handing from the ceiling and see
all what they go through each week!

And a cookbook, as I am an avid collector of these self-published community cookbooks.  It was filled with recipes and artwork.  A wonderful and potentially tasty addition to my collection!

Texas Sesquicentennial Edition
1986

And there are sketches throughout

Plus there are five recipes for Apple Strudel!  Hubby loves apple strudel and I'm always looking for new recipes.

It seems there's hope for them reconciling when Peggy looks at Charlie with new eyes and (citing a reference from her grandfather who claimed that her grandmother's strudel kept the family together)...

[present-day Charlie has just begged for another chance with Peggy]
Peggy Sue: Charlie, I'd like to invite you over to your house this Sunday for dinner... with your kids.
[Charlie hesitates, unbelieving]
Peggy Sue: I'll make a strudel.

One of my all-time favorite movies!  Who doesn't like time travel?

And visiting small Texas towns, driving and eating your way across Texas!

Meet me for coffee - Houndstooth

While traveling through Dallas, we found this neat coffeeshop, Houndstooth (1900 N. Henderson Avenue)

and tried Japanese Iced Coffee.  It was really good, very light.  It was a pour-over coffee and gave a nice little energy buzz.

While I was there, I spied their unique coffee cups and saucers.  My daughter saw me looking at them and when I turned around, she had bought a set of two for me.

My other cups and mugs fit on this, too!

Aren't they neat?  I also think the saucers are a unique shape.  The cup holds 6 ounces, perfect for tea.

We had no idea they were founded in Austin, never seen nor heard of until we found them on Yelp while we were in Dallas.

It's a nice atmosphere inside and out.  Low key, chill-able music playing in the background, fast wifi.  A very pleasant experience for road-weary travelers.

Texas Bluebonnet

Texas bluebonnet in Sonora, Texas.  Some sources say when the white part of the flower turns red, it has been pollinated by a bee.

Just my K-Cup of tea and coffee

(I kinda made this my tea section of the box...)
I like those teas with the clear top.

Seriously, TOOTSIE ROLL Hot Cocoa?!
I grabbed 2!

A serendipitous discovery while trying to find parking to go into Trader Joe's - I found CoffeeIcon.  Whoa!

I was blown away by all the varieties of Keurig K-Cups.  As you know, I'm usually a tea drinker and will only drink coffee if it doesn't taste like coffee.  There are plenty of teas and coffee "drinks" to choose from.   I especially went crazy with the 18 cup build your own box for $15.99.  If you bring the box back, you can get a dollar off the next "refill".  Individual K-cups are only 99 cents, so you can try before committing to a single flavor 24 count box, or just grab a few of your favorites, which will become many.   I loved the three I've tried so far  -- Cake Boss "Vanilla Buttercream" (yes, it does taste like frosting when you add a little Natural Bliss to it),  CoffeeIcon branded "Salted Caramel Shortbread Cookie" (hello!) and Copper Moon Chai Latte.  All winners so far, 15 more to go!

There are four locations in the North/West Houston area - Katy Cinco Ranch,  Cypress,  Magnolia and Tomball.  For those of you living outside these suburbs of Houston, you can order online.  The shipping may just be a wash considering the Grand Parkway or Westpark Tollway EZ Tag tolls.  But it would definitely be a nice stop if you are in the area.  I love the Fort Bend County Cinco Ranch Library, just a block away.  Cinco Ranch also has a very nice Whole Foods (they have a taco and burrito bar!) and probably the best World Market store next door in the Houston area.  Make a day of it.  The La Centerra shopping center is chockablock with a great variety of stores and restaurants.

And by the way, that is a nice Trader Joe's around the corner. . .

Thursday Tea Time - One of Two for Tuesday

Always on the lookout in the tea aisles of any grocery store, I found these bottles of Celestial Lattes at the Signature Kroger today.  First I saw the concentrate in a quart size cartoon for $4.29.  Hmmm.  But wait!  Then I looked one shelf below and found the ready-to-drink bottles for $2.79, made with reduced fat milk.  Before I invested in refrigerator real estate and because premixed chai (powder or liquid) can be hit or miss (shout out here to Austin Java for making their own delicious chai blend! And good-to-know if you are traveling through Austin airport, they have kiosks there.  Try their raspberry caramel tea bags in case their chai is unavailable.) 

Anyways, on a rainy morning, these came home with me.  I tried The Godfather first - it had me at "cocoa"!

Ingredients:  Reduced fat milk, filtered water, cane sugar, brewed chai tea (black tea blend, caramel color, cane sugar, filtered water, natural flavor, honey, citric acid, cinnamon, clove, ginger, cardamom), potassium citrate, cocoa extract, pectin and espresso.

Calories 150, total fat 3g, sat fat 2g, carbs 27g, sugar 24g, protein 5g

Room temperature/cold - it was OK,  I would have poured it over ice, but I was wanting something warm.  So I poured the bottle into a mug and heated it.   It was pretty sweet.   I decided to cut it with some 2% milk, about 1/4 cup and heated it some more.    I have to say it's not bad.  The clove and cardamon are predominant, followed by a nice amount of cinnamon.  I don't taste the ginger or feel much heat.  I'd give it strong 3+  for its convenience if you are away from and missing your chai tea stash at home.  Perhaps take to work or if you are traveling and want to chill out/warm up without having to pay almost double at Starbucks.

I will up date this post later when I try the Dirty Chai.

Friday (Wild) Flowers

Wine Cup Mallows and Wild Purple Prairie Verbena wildflowers outside Wimberley, Texas - April 2013

Today's Favorite iPod Workout Song

Train - "Save me, San Francisco" - 4:09

And the winner is. . .

This year's State Fair of Texas "Best Tasting Fried Food" -- Abel Gonzales with DEEP FRIED COOKIE DOUGH, served in a cardboard car!! (He was also last year's winner with Fried Coke). The Texas State Fair begins September 28 an runs through October 21 in Dallas.

The State of Texas - 878.2 miles - Outlet edition

I-35 is outlet drive, albeit also an interstate highway. Usually we go to San Marcos Prime Outlets, when we get our Kreuz BBQ fix. This time, we hit the other end after Wacky Waco and went to the Round Rock Premium Outlets, just north of Austin.

Smaller than San Marcos, but an interesting layout. Instead of parking in the center and shops on the perimeter, it is just the opposite in RR. Mostly the same stores, Coach is at both if your teen or yourself needs their trendy fix. SM has really, really grown (with a gondola!) and you need a car to move around if your desired stores are scattered about. Both have mall-ized store/theme locations, so you aren't going zappy-crazy between your starred stores on your fold-out map.

But lately, L and I have noticed the deals are still there, but best with combo-type sales (For instance, take an additional 20% all red items, coupon postcards, etc. Sigh, Coach back in the day. I still use that totebag.) You have to stumble upon them by happenstance. And when the temperature is 95+, going between stores and hot-hot UAV will make you melt.

Our advice -- Check the websites, sign up for special offers emails, shop in the morning, and wear comfy shoes! (We still think the Gilroy Outlet is #1...And it has an In-n-Out Burger!)

The State of Texas - 878.2 Miles - Waco Edition

Waco was definitely the oddest place and probably the reason why Baylor is last in college desireability.


1) Is it a motel, hotel, mohotel, moohtel?!


2) Need an ATM? Good luck. We went to our bank building in downtown Waco, and no ATM machines. Plenty of tellers standing around with nothing to do, though. We ended up going to a Walgreens in Beverly Hills (TX).


3) Dr Pepper Museum - $7 each admission with audio. We were Waco-weary by opening time. Pass, we'll take the photo and go. It is a pretty building, though!




But on the positive side --

The Hampton Inn in Bellmead (just northeast of Waco, along I-35), was the nicest we've ever stayed in. Indoor and outdoor pool, flat panel TV, wet bar, micro, fridge. Business center with 3 computers was accessible by front desk card only -- for security and keeping out kids. Free water bottles in the workout room. Much, much nicer than the Hampton in Plano.

A nice Luby's and Shipley donuts - our hometown/homesick touch, again in Bellmead. The Shipley "Bull's Eye" donut there had an extra dollup of chocolate and sprinkles on top. (No, I did not eat one, it was L's)

Very friendly Walgreen's in Beverly Hills - southwest of Waco, alongI-35. The clerk tried to talk us into the limited edition Elvis Reese Peanut Butter cups, with banana! Sounded too gaggy to me, even she said she hadn't tried them yet.

The State of Texas - 878.2 miles - Collegiate edition

One of the main reasons for the trip was to check out universities in northern Texas. Here's some of the ones we visited (and the range of prices for the pennants)

Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas ($11.98 before discount, because they co-op with Barnes & Noble)

University of Dallas ($12)

Texas Woman's University in Denton ($10.98)

University of North Texas in Denton ($13.99)

Baylor in Waco ($12)

Southwestern University in Georgetown ($8.95)

Isn't that weird about the price differences?! And no way does it correlate to tuition! (sigh)

Without intentionally trying to dis any alumna, these were Mom and Dad's favorites:

SMU, Southwestern, and tied for last place -- UDallas, TWU, UNT, Baylor (dead last)

Her favorites: SMU, UNT, UDallas, Southwestern, TWU, Baylor

Of course, scholarships and the highest bidder will definitely change perspective!

The State of Texas - 878.2 miles - The Simpsons edition

Despite 7-11/Southland Corporation's headquarters in the Dallas area, Houston does not have any! In fact, the closest to us is in Smithville, a little over an hour to the West. I'm not a real coffee drinker, but I like their machine made fat-free French Vanilla cappuccino's and seasonal flavors (Pumpkin latte in the fall!). I discovered Green Tea Latte in the location near SMU, figures only in that one.

They have a commercial tie-in with the upcoming Simpsons Movie -- check out the fun!

The State of Texas - 878.2 miles - Food edition

878.2 miles, 6 universities, 3 days, 2 barbeque places!

First we said goodbye to Houston (and 67 foot tall Sam Houston along I-45 in Huntsville)

Our mini-getaway began and ended with BBQ -- Woody's Smokehouse in Centerville (which must be midpoint between Houston and Dallas), and Kreutz in Lockhart.

Woody's - great ribs, BBQ with sauce, pretty good sausage, free beans and ice tea (sweet and unsweet), white butcher paper, plastic knives, forks and spoons. Be sure to check out all the canned goodies, including peach cobbler! I figured with Club Fig in the backyard, I'll have to buy my fig preserves.

Kreutz' - BBQ (brisket or clod) NO SAUCE!, excellent sausage (regular or jalapeno), your order is presented on layers of red butcher paper, free ButterKrust bread and crackers; you want beans? Buy them, but definitely-they are great, plastic knife only, use your fingers. They will give you a plastic spoon for your beans.

Other noteworthy places we stopped as we ate our way across Texas -- Tex/Mex Luna De Noche in Plano - I got both the sour cream chicken enchiladas and the spinach and mushroom enchiladas! I'd drive back to Plano for seconds!

Luby's in Bellmead north of Waco. Luby's has really improved - They are back on my list again. No more steam tables and soggy trout almondine. And interesting salads - I enjoyed the spring greens with pecans and feta cheese. Pretty and tasty!

And of course we had to make a stop at the North Austin Costco for a slice of pizza to refuel and then turn back around towards Round Rock for outlet shopping. L scored a $23 deal on an $80 pair of Adidas's.

April in Texas!

These were found on U.S. 71 outside of Austin and near LaGrange. . .

All are clickable to enlarge and enjoy!

Lucky the Bulldog

Seguin, TX -- This is "Lucky," the Texas Lutheran University mascot. After the ceremony, the new graduates rub his head for good luck!