not in the plan.

So... the plan was, to turn in Mike's lease and get me a new car, and Mike would drive the Buick, which is paid for. Good plan, right? Apparently the gods don't agree... The Buick has a head gasket leak and warped cylinders. $5K to fix, for a car with a Blue Book value of about $4500. Doesn't make sense. So here we are at the dealership again, buying (well leasing) another new car. Two car payments. So not in the plan.

cupcake fail: peach cobbler

So my husband was running his first 10K race today, and for the pre-race supper at a friend's (and co-runner) I was asked to bring something to go with ice cream. I made a chocolate cake and these Peach Cobbler Cupcakes from the book Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn. Aren't they cute? Don't they look delicious?

Now, I have made many of Anne's recipes over the years and they have always been fabulous. I followed the directions exactly but the pie crust stuck to the cupcake tin so there was no way to get them out except to scrape them out. By the time I dug all 12 cupcakes out I had a nice pile of peach cobbler filling and shredded pie crust. Not exactly the result I was going for...  the taste was fabulous but I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board on these and figure out how to use a paper liner or SOMETHING so that you actually get individual cupcakes out of the pan! It was a good thing I had made the chocolate cake so I didn't show up empty-handed!

cupcake: pink lemonade

Not today's cupcake, but rather one from a week ago for a girls' day of scrapbooking at a friend's house. I made these Pink Lemonade cupcakes from the book 101 Gourmet Cupcakes in 10 Minutes by Wendy Paul. A little on the dry side but not too sweet. My garnish of a candy lemon slice went well, I thought.

restaurant review: roy's

For Mother's Day, we took Mom to Roy's Hawaiian Fusion. This is a chain, but I think the Plano location is the only one in Texas, and I'd never been to one of these restaurants before moving to Dallas. Their handle is "hawaiian fusion" which is a little bit Asian, a little bit Hawaiian, a little bit American.

As a starter we ordered a "canoe" or appetizer sampler. It included lobster potstickers, grilled tiger shrimp, szechuan pork ribs, tuna roll and beef skewers. I don't care for sushi or lobster, but I tried the other three items and they were all delicious. The lobster potsticker must have been good; Mike almost licked the plate.

For my entree, I ordered the Hawaii Kai short ribs. I love short ribs, and these were terrific, with a kind of Asian/hoisin-flavored glaze. Mike had the surf & turf (lobster and filet) and Mom ordered the shellfish sampler which came with huge scallops, shrimp, lobster tail and crab cake. It looked wonderful.

For dessert, I had the pineapple upside down cake, Mom had the sorbet (mango, champagne and blueberry flavors), and Mike had what turned out to be the best bread pudding I've ever tried. It didn't have that nasty whiskey-bourbon sauce that it seems EVERYONE puts on their bread pudding. It was light & delicious & absolutely wonderful!

Excellent food, excellent service, and a $20 bounceback gift card! What's not to love?

cupcake: peach bellini

Had a game night that turned into girls' night, since the men had tickets to the baseball game. Oh well, girly food it is! We had lots of snacky-type food and I made these Peach Bellini Cupcakes from the blog Sing for your Supper. I don't think they turned out nearly as good as the original. I thought the cupcakes were dry, and the consistency of the icing was very thin but grainy at the same time. Not my best effort, that's for sure!

catching up

I've got some catching up to do! Time flies as they say...

restaurant review: seasons 52

And here's the second restaurant review of the night! Tonight we went with some of my current and former co-workers to Seasons 52 a really terrific, sort of upscale-casual restaurant. It's a nationwide chain, although I had never been to one (or even heard of it) before they opened here in Plano. Their handle is fresh, seasonal food and the menu changes quarterly, with weekly specials. All the plates are under 475 calories (although of course if you have more than one plate, or a glass of wine or two, all bets are off).

We started with a couple of flatbread appetizers, the roasted tomato flatbread and (our favorite) the chipotle bbq shrimp flatbread. Those were quickly devoured. I had a tomato-avocado salad on arugula and my one observation was that I should have asked for the dressing on the side like I usually do - it was really too much dressing! For main course, I had the weekly special broiled grouper, served over haricots verts and black beans. This was excellent. Mike had the filet, which he's ordered before, and really liked it. We went with the server's recommendation of a riesling wine and were very pleased with the choice.

Seasons 52 offers a selection of dessert "shooters" which are the perfect size to finish off a meal. I had the seasonal dessert, a raspberry cannoli shooter, while Mike went with the usual, carrot cake.

The service has always been excellent and while it's not the cheapest meal around, I think the quality of the food and service makes it a pretty good value. I love that the menu changes regularly, so there's always something new to try. I love that the portions are normal-sized. Since our first visit here, this has replaced Jasper's as my favorite restaurant.

restaurant review: buttons

Long time no post! This is actually the first of two restaurant reviews. Last night, Mike and a friend and I went to dinner at Buttons restaurant in Addison. I love this place! It's a "soul food" (a.k.a. southern comfort food) restaurant that features live music most nights and for Sunday brunch. The food is southern-style - think fried chicken, shrimp & grits, collard greens - but with a little twist that makes it really fresh & interesting. For appetizer we shared an order of fried green tomatoes, which comes with some salad greens, redeye gravy and a fried egg on top. (I'm not such a fan of the egg, but I do love those tomatoes!) For my entree I ordered the chicken & waffles: two pieces of fried chicken and a belgian waffle. Sounds like a crazy combination but believe me, it works! Mike ordered the chicken fried ribeye which he said was excellent. For dessert we split an order of peach cobbler that came with cinnamon-vanilla ice cream.

All in all, a very good meal, although I don't think it was quite up to the standard set on our first visit several weeks ago. Still definitely a place to go back to though!

restaurant review: rudy's bbq

Today for co-worker Tom's birthday, the office group went to Rudy's BBQ for lunch. Rudy's is a combination gas station/BBQ restaurant. I know, that sounds weird. I'm not sure which came first - the gas station or the BBQ. Did someone have a gas station that sold BBQ? Or did they have a BBQ restaurant and decided to add gas pumps to help bring in customers?

In any case, Rudy's is a great, quick meal place. They have fabulous breakfast tacos (pretty much any combination you like: chorizo, ham, brisket, sausage, etc.) which are available all day. They have wonderful smoked meats like brisket, ham, sausage, turkey, and ribs. as well as roast chicken and pulled pork. On Friday and Saturday nights they have smoked prime rib which is the bomb. Better get there early, since they always run out! Very traditional side items - potato salad, cole slaw, three bean salad, creamed corn, baked beans - and you get white or wheat bread with your meat. Desserts are banana pudding or chocolate pudding. Again very traditional southern/Texas BBQ staples.

You'll get your meal in a plastic tray that looks a little like a cut-down milk crate, lined with white butcher paper. No plates. You get another sheet of butcher paper for a "placemat". Paper towels serve as napkins. Plastic utensils on the bar with the "fixin's" like pickles, onions and peppers. On the table you'll find salt & pepper plus two bottles of sause: regular and "sissy" (mild) sauce. When you're done, wrap up your trash in the "placemat" and throw the whole thing away.

Not a fancy place but really good food!

restaurant review: the keg

For a friend's birthday, last night we went to The Keg steakhouse in Plano. We hadn't been there for quite a while - we used to go several times a year when we were members of their birthday club. Mike gets a lot of grief for being super-predictable in what he orders, and that all came from this place where he would routinely order caesar salad, steak & lobster, baked potato, and carrot cake for dessert. Tonight he was almost true to form - he skipped the lobster - but stayed with tradition for everything else.

I had the spinach & strawberry salad with goat cheese, pecans and balsamic dressing as a starter. Very good and not too heavy on the dressing. Then a New York strip steak - cooked very well - with twice-baked potato. I ate about 1/3 of the steak and 1/2 the potato - just too much! Then I had some chocolate-raspberry cake for dessert and again ate about 1/3 of it plus the ice cream that came with it. The food here has always been very good and we were not disappointed tonight.

It seemed a little slow for a Friday night. As I recall, the last time we were here there was a prom group here as well and maybe that made it seem busier. In any case, the restaurant was not full so maybe there are new choices nearby that are pulling some business away. We actually had two servers tonight, but it was because one was training the other. In any event, they did a great job and got everything right. I think we might have to put this place back in the rotation.

cupcake of the day #2: peeps!

Well, since it is Easter weekend I just had to make something Easter-themed for my second cupcake to take to the crawfish boil. So I made these lemon cupcakes from The Cake Mix Doctor original book, frosted them with a basic buttercream tinted green, and garnished with candy grass from Target and peeps! I think they turned out really cute and they were very tasty too.

cupcake of the day #1: appletini

Today Mike & I went to a friend's crawfish boil, and of course I naturally volunteered to bring dessert. I made two cupcakes, the first being these Appletini cupcakes from Bakers Royale. Vanilla cupcake, appletini glaze, and appletini-flavored swiss meringue buttercream icing, garnished with some green sugar and maraschino cherries: yes please! The appletini flavor was there but not overpowering and these were definitely a hit at the boil.

rough day.

It's all over the news, so I'm sure you've heard... today JCPenney laid off 600 home office associates or about 13% of the people that work in the building. Such a sad, sad day to see so many of my friends & co-workers leave. I know that no door closes without another one opening, but it is truly a grieving process that we must go through. Today was naturally a very unproductive day at work and tomorrow will most likely be more of the same as those of us still with the company move through the emotions. I will truly miss some of the best co-workers I could ask for.

wild and crazy weather.

Today was a day for a classic dose of unpredictable Texas weather. Started the day beautiful, sunny, warm, highs forecast in the 70's. A lovely spring day. Still beautiful at lunchtime (birthday lunch at Kenny's Burger Joint for co-worker Kim) and we got back to the office around 12:45 or so. At 1-ish it gets cloudy & dark & starts raining. A little while later, the PA announcement is made that a tornado or severe weather warning has been issued for the area around the office. Then the tornado sirens go off. Then the PA announcement comes that we all have to seek shelter in the safe rooms within the building. So off we go, first to the xerox room and then to one of the training rooms, for about an hour. Finally the "all clear" and we return to our work stations. All the while I'm trying to contact Mike, Mom and other friends. No luck getting on the internet or getting a phone call through, and only about half my text messages were making it through.

Fortunately the storm passed us by, doing most of its damage in the southern part of the DFW area (around I-20). Arlington, Forney, and Lancaster were hit hard, and there was big hail at the airport and in the Coppell area. American Airlines says about 100 planes were hail-damaged, and my co-worker Christie's husband's car was hailed as well (in Coppell). But no deaths or serious injuries, so we are very lucky.

I'm glad that everyone is safe & sound tonight!

restaurant review: cowtown diner

Last night a group of friends went to Cowtown Diner in Sundance Square in Fort Worth. It's under new ownership/management and I'm not sure it's been a success yet.

We'd been there a couple of times before, under the previous owners, and the food was good but the service not so much. Tonight the food and service were both just OK. They had taken our favorite appetizer, deep fried deviled eggs (I know, it's a Texas thing but really they are fabulous!) off the menu! Fortunately they were still able to make them for us (so I have a feeling they will be adding them back to the menu soon). Good start. I had the caprese salad which is served with a tomato vinaigrette, not the traditional balsamic.  I guess I'm old school, because I don't think it did much for the salad. Among the other starters at the table, the spinach-artichoke dip and crab cakes were hits, but the broccoli soup was not.

For entree I had the rib eye. It was cooked perfectly, but on the small size (no way that was a 12 oz. steak). Side items were mashed potatoes (super smooth - like Betty Crocker potato buds smooth) and green beans that were overcooked. Mike's flat iron steak was very good; he got the same potatoes & green beans sides. For dessert, I had sopapilla cheesecake which was good but honestly, the one I make at home with crescent rolls and cream cheese is better.

The last two times we've been here, it has been very busy. Tonight, a Saturday night in the 80's, it was half empty. But even so, there appeared to be only two servers for the entire place, which meant that our server Megan was forever behind. She had a good attitude and really tried, but I think she was just overwhelmed. One more server on the floor would have made a huge difference.

After dinner we all (10 of us) piled into two horse-drawn carriages for a spin around downtown Ft. Worth. I've never done that before and it was really a lot of fun. The driver points out the sights like the Bass Performance Hall, and the people-watching is great! Then we walked over to The Cupcakery for a little sweet something to finish off the evening. Now that place was busy! A lot of people there and at the chocolate shop next door had the same idea as we had!

Overall a very nice evening with good friends, and a restaurant 3 out of 5.

today's cupcake: toffee crunch

For scrapbook group yesterday, I made these Toffee Crunch Cupcakes from Bakers Royale (via Pinterest). Let me start by saying they were delicious, but wow they were more work than I bargained for! (That'll teach me to read the ENTIRE recipe before I begin.) Basically it's a chocolate cupcake with a caramel frosting topped with caramel & chocolate drizzle, chopped nuts and toffee bits. The recipe instructions weren't in the correct order (which I would have realized had I read them all the way through prior to starting). The cupcake part was easy - basic chocolate cupcake, with the addition of espresso powder to really intensify the chocolate flavor. The icing was the tricky part: it's a cooked icing, which I rarely make, and very VERY soft. Not sure if it was due to the humidity or just the nature of the icing itself, but I chilled it for 30 minutes prior to piping and even then the frosting practically fell off the cupcakes. The recipe calls for the frosted cupcakes to be chilled and then dipped in a warm chocolate ganache, but the frosting was so soft I didn't think it would stay on the cupcakes for dipping, so I garnished with chocolate & caramel ice cream sauces, chopped nuts and toffee bits.

restaurant review: the french room

So, for a friend's birthday her wish was to have dinner at The French Room which is one of Dallas's most highly-rated restaurants: top of the Zagat ratings, AAA five diamond etc... It's pretty fancy (the men wore suits & ties) and I actually busted out a pair of panty hose (well, only because it was too cold to go bare-legged)! Anyway, it's in the Adolphus Hotel, one of Dallas's oldest hotels, and since it's not very big the wait for a reservation can be pretty long. We thought it would be nice to take Mom there for Mothers Day but the next available reservation isn't until the week AFTER, on May 19th.

But enough about that, how was it? Normally I don't make a judgement about a restaurant until we've been there at least twice. But I think I can safely say that this is a fabulous restaurant without waiting for another visit. They have a prix fixe menu (choose appetizer, entree and dessert) for $80 or the Chef's Tasting Menu (appetizer, two entrees, fruit & cheese course, dessert) for $110 or $165 with wine pairings. We both chose the prix fixe. First we were offered an amuse bouche/small bite of quail egg and beef tartare with a carrot-ginger mousse. Delicious! Next came my appetizer of pork belly with caramelized apple. Wonderful! Then came my entree of dover sole with swiss chard. Fabulous! After a palate-cleanser of apricot sorbet I had my dessert of a blood orange semi-freddo. Amazing!

I was amused to sit down to a place setting that included a knife rest (haven't seen one of those outside an antique store in a long time) and a bread plate with butter knife. As we went through the courses, the cutlery changed and we saw some rare and probably endangered species: demitasse spoons with the sorbet, a fish fork and fish knife for me with my entree, more specialty cutlery for others at the table, far beyond the usual salad fork-dinner fork-steak knife-soup spoon routine. The decor is a little over-the-top French: lots of gold leafing, cherubs painted on the ceiling, etc. but it works. The restaurant was full, but because of the high ceilings it wasn't overly loud and we had no trouble conversing with everyone else at the table.

The service for such a large group (10 of us in total) was very good with the exception of not being offered anything to drink if we didn't want wine. I had to ask three times for bottled water. For this reason only I have to take a little bit off the rating: 4.9 out of 5. I would definitely go back, especially with a smaller group. Maybe we'll take Mom for a late Mothers Day dinner?

today's cupcake: black bottom cupcakes

In exchange for help with a home improvement project, today I made Bakerella's Black Bottom Cupcakes. I'm a big fan of Bakerella's recipes - they are always delicious! On this one I'll have to take the word of my husband and my friend's husband since I don't like things with bananas. (I like bananas, just not anything made with bananas, like pudding, pie, cake, bread etc.) The cupcakes received two thumbs up from both the men so I take it they were a success!

restaurant review: ana mia's tex-mex

Second visit tonight to Ana Mia's Tex Mex a restaurant that's been open a couple of months. It's actually a new location for a small local chain, located on Preston & Parker, in the old Kirby's Steakhouse building. They've completely gutted the restaurant and it looks great! Very light & bright... The food is terrific! On our first visit last week, I had the camarones al mojo de ajo (grilled shrimp & veggies with garlic-lime) and this time around I tried the carne asada. Also ordered at our table were brisket tacos, carne asada tacos and the garlic-lime shrimp. Something unique is the tableside guacamole: they have a cart with a HUGE bowl of avocados that is wheeled to your table and the server makes your guacamole to order. It was excellent!

We think this could be one of our "go to" Mexican restaurants - can't wait to go back & try some of the other interesting things on the menu, like the rib eye fajitas or some of the fish dishes. A very good value for the price too - overall rating 5 out of 5.

today's cupcake: thin mint

Well, technically this was yesterday's cupcake, since I made these for the scrapbook group: these Thin Mint Cupcakes (via Pinterest). This recipe is a little more involved than the norm - more steps - but the flavor was excellent. I garnished them with some fresh mint which looked better IRL than it does in this photo. (I really need to work on my food photography skills.)

I don't think these were my favorite cupcake ever. I thought the chocolate cake part was a little on the dry side, not as good as the chocolate mayonnaise cake which is the best. chocolate. cake. recipe. ever. And there wasn't nearly enough frosting to do more than the tiny little dollop you see in the photo. These probably won't rate a repeat appearance.

10 pounds.

Good news on the scale yesterday - I've lost 10 pounds in about 6 weeks! Still have quite a ways to go, but 10 pounds gone is a very good thing!

restaurant review: the meddlesome moth

Tonight was our second trip to The Meddlesome Moth a restaurant/bar in the Dallas Design District. It was just as good as the first time, although we had completely different things to eat. This restaurant is known for their beer selection: over 30 beers on tap and literally dozens (if not over 100) of others to choose from, from all over the world. Their other "specialty" is small plates meant for sharing. The 3 of us at the table chose individual salads and then shared four plates: Moth Balls (sort of like a giant ravioli stuffed with cheese), crab fritters, baby back ribs and butternut squash risotto. For dessert we shared a banana split, bourbon-pecan pie, and a berry cobbler-type dessert with ice cream and caramel sauce. Delicious!

Food was terrific, just as the first visit. Service was not quite as good as last time, so I give it a rating of 4 out of 5.

restaurant review: chamberlains fish market grill

Tonight, for Valentine's Day, Mike & I went to Chamberlain's Fish Market Grill in Addison. They had a special Valentine's menu to choose from, which included appetizer, entree and dessert. I had the tomato-mozzarella salad (my favorite salad of all time), the pan roasted salmon and the peanut butter pie for dessert. The food was very good and the service (as it has been in the past) was excellent. Overall rating: 5 out of 5!

restaurant review: master grill

It's been a while since we've been here to this Brazilian churrascaria-style restaurant in Frisco. It's got a similar menu to the expensive Brazilian steak houses such as Fogo de Chao or Texas de Brazil, but less expensive (about $30/person instead of $50+).

The salad bar's not as extensive or as good as FdC but really, who goes to a Brazilian place for salad? Everything I had from the salad bar was good - not great, but good: greens, beets, grilled asparagus, Israeli couscous, peel & eat shrimp. Didn't try any of the soups and the cheese was apparently a little sketchy (complaints about the smell).

Then bring on the meats! I tried flank steak, house special sirloin, grilled sausage, BBQ chicken, bacon-wrapped filet, and bacon-wrapped chicken. Skipped the spicy beef and the parmesan pork. My favorite was the flank steak but the first pass was much better (more rare) than the second pass when I think it was a little overcooked. They also had grilled pineapple which was delicious and something different for Brazilian.

Service was mediocre. It looked like our server had only 2-3 tables but we waited a long time for our drinks (just soda & tea) and the one person at our table who ordered a caipirinha from the bar waited even longer. We had a table of 6 people which I don't think is a large party, but they added 20% tip to the check.

Overall, I think it was OK. Fine if you want the Brazilian style food without the high price tag, but for a quality experience I think I'd pay the higher price and go back to Fogo de Chao. Rating: 3 out of 5

finally winter?

Is it possible that winter is finally here? It was 27 degrees when I left the house this morning to go to the gym... and the wind was blowing so it felt colder. I thought of my friends running the Hot Chocolate 5K race this morning in Dallas... hope they stayed warm!

today's cupcake: chocolate chambord

The husband of a friend of mine had his book accepted for publication. Last night we celebrated with food from the grill and I made these Chocolate-Chambord cupcakes, from My Baking Addiction. My husband said they were "too chocolatey" but the consensus from the group was that there's no such thing. They are very rich & decadently chocolate but so good.

brave new world.

Yesterday 2.1.12 was the first day of the "new" JCPenney. Everyday pricing and improved/easier returns are just the beginning of what will be many, many changes over the next few years. Our new CEO has lots of big plans to make our stores better places to shop. I am excited to be part of the new JCP!

First timer!

So... my first blog post... What to say?

Maybe I should start by introducing myself... I'm 47, married, no kids, 3 cats. I've worked in retail basically my whole life and currently I work for JCPenney. My husband is also a retail veteran who currently works for Macy's. I love scrapbooking and paper crafting, reading, family history research and cooking (especially baking!).

I am hoping this blog will take the form of an online journal of sorts. Plus I expect I'll learn a few things as well. Wish me luck!