Cafe Munchkin

Posted By munchkinmommy on June 28, 2009

* This is an entry for Lasang Pinoy, Sundays (La.Pi.S.).  This week’s theme is “Strips”.

Out of curiosity, we gave Freddy’s Frozen Custard a try a few months ago.  We never went back.   Nevertheless, I’d like to share our experience with you. Here’s what we had…

Shoestring fries – strips of thin and crunchy potatoes – accompany the meals  at Freddy’s Frozen Custard.  My little girl had the Kid’s Hotdog Meal…

Hotdog Kid’s Meal

As if the fries that came with our meals weren’t enough, we placed an additional order for Chili Cheese Fries – shoestring fries smothered with a generous amount of chili and topped with cheese.

Chili Cheese Fries

We must have been really starving when we went to Freddy’s!  Hahaha!  The Chili Cheese Fies was all right, but I did not turn into a fan.  I guess my tastebuds are more accustomed to the nachos and chili cheese combo. That or I’m simply a regular fries and ketchup kind of gal.

Hubby had the Original Freddy’s Steakburger – Single (available in single, double or triple)…

It doesn’t really take much to please hubby and me when it comes to burgers.  Just give us  moist and not so bland burgers and we’ll be happy.  A nice thick patty would be nice, too!  Unfortunately, the patty in hubby’s burger was on the thin side, which is probably why there’s an option for a double or a triple.  It was kind of dry, too.  Tsk, tsk.

I had the Chicago Style Hotdog Meal….

It was the first time I ever had a Chicago style hotdog.  I realized then that this particular style of hotdog isn’t for me.   For one, I’m not particularly fond of onions.  Two, I found the hotdog to be a tad small.  (Did I just complain about serving size?  Uh-oh, I’m so used to hefty portions already! )

For dessert, we ordered Chocolate Custard…

This was our meal’s saving grace, as it should, because after all, the fastfood chain’s name capitalizes on frozen custard and it was what lured us to this place.  I have a very different idea of frozen custard before this visit to Freddy’s.  I now know that it is gourmet ice cream which has more eggs added to the ingredients making it smoother and richer than ice cream.

I like places with the diner-of-old look, you know, the reds and whites, the stripes and the cozy booths.

There was one thing on the wall that caught my eye….

The caption under the photo reads:

“Freddy is pictured here standing in front of the General Doughlas MacArthur Memorial on the Island of Leye in the Philippines.  Freddy was revisiting the scene on October 20th, 2004, marking the 60th anniversary of the historic battle which led to the liberation of the Filipino people. Freddy, with Troop A of the First Cavalry, landed in the first wave of soldiers approximately 6 hours prior to General MacArthur.”

If and when we do go back to Freddy’s, it may very well be to escape the Texas summer heat via frozen custards. Well, a side of regular shoestring fries might be good, too.

Category: La.Pi.S., Restaurants | 4 Comments »
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Posted By munchkinmommy on June 26, 2009

Anyone who grew up in the Philippines, I’m quite sure, will have a story to share about having taho for breakfast or as a snack and buying it straight from the friendly neighborhood taho vendor.  What is taho anyway?  Wikipedia defines it as…

“a Philippine snack food made of fresh soft/silken tofu, arnibal (brown sugar and vanilla syrup), and pearl sago (similar to pearl tapioca)”.

Taho traces its origin in China, which is why we usually have it for dessert whenever we eat at a Chinese restaurant.

At the Asian supermarket several weeks ago, I found myself at the section where different kinds of tofu were displayed.  I suddenly remembered a blog post on taho by one of my blogger friends, The Chef’s Wife, which also reminded me that I haven’t had taho for some time already.  Since the taho vendor isn’t coming to our neighborhood ever anytime soon, I thought it was about time I made some taho!  So I grabbed two packs of silken tofu.

This is so easy to make it will blow you away!  The three components of taho are silken/soft tofu, caramelized brown sugar and tapioca pearls (sago).  All you have to do is cook the tapioca pearls as per package instructions.  I had two kinds of tapioca pearls in my pantry – the tiny ones and a the regular sized one.  I chose to use the tiny pearls because my regular-sized tapioca pearls were of different colors.  Hee hee.    After it’s cooked, set it aside.

For the syrup, I simply caramelized about 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar in 1 1/2 cups of water over medium fire.  And then, the two packs of silken tofu, I transferred to a bowl and heated them up in the microwave for about two minutes at increments of one minute.  That’s it!  Now you’re ready to put everything together.

You may serve taho in a bowl or in a glass/cup.  I did both.   Remember to scoop thin amounts of the tofu!  Here’s taho in a bowl…

And here’s one in a glass…

I was going to use a regular drinking glass, believe me, but all our drinking glasses were in the dishwasher when I made taho so I grabbed a wine glass instead.    It did give the taho a nice fancy touch, I think!…very different from the plastic cups they are usually served in.  Hee hee!

I know some prefer chilled taho but this kind of quick and easy fix is better served warm.  Otherwise, the tofu will be too firm and won’t be as close to the one you enjoyed back home.

We each had two servings of taho.  And for sure, we’re going to have this again and again and again.

Category: Breakfast, Quick Fix, Snacks, Taste of Home | 6 Comments »
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Posted By munchkinmommy on June 22, 2009

*This is an entry for Lasang Pinoy, Sundays (La.Pi.S.). This week’s theme is all about the number “one” or anything “first”. This is in celebration of LaPiS’ first birthday. Happy Birthday, La.Pi.S.!*

Last Friday, I decorated a cake (baked the previous night) which was a first in a number of ways.  It was the first whole fondant cake that I gave as a gift.  I normally present my friends with a quarter of a cake that I made for practice and taste-testing purposes.   That’s what I did with my first two failed-attempts at fondant which you can read about here and here.

This is the first fondant cake that I decorated for an actual celebration, the 8th birthday of Kyle.  And for the first time, I will not rant about the flaws of this cake, which it has a number of.    Some of them you will see if you look closely but most of them, I was able to hide under the presents.  Hee hee.

In spite of the flaws, this is a cake I am quite satisfied with.  This is my first smooth-looking cake, compared to the two elephant-skinned ones I’ve made previously.  The design is a combination of two cake designs from the Wilton Celebrate with Fondant book -  “Gifts Up for Grabs” and “Rockin’ Wrapping”.  I was also inspired by a 2-tier cake that my Virginia based cake decorating guru friend, Sarah, made that had gifts all around the bottom tier.

In case you’re wondering, this is chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  It took me more or less 6 hours to decorate, I’m most embarrassed to admit.  Hee hee.

There may still be hope for me after all, as far as fondant is concerned. *cross fingers*

Have a great week ahead, y’all!  Cheers!

Category: Cake Decorating, Celebrations, La.Pi.S. | 10 Comments »
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Posted By munchkinmommy on June 17, 2009

It’s all about “The Compatibility Factor” this week at WifeSpeaks.  And I have just the perfect food entry…Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake!

It’s an ice cream cake consisting of three different flavors – strawberry, chocolate and vanilla – yet so compatible with each other.  This is my second do-it-yourself ice cream cake which I started layering yesterday and finished decorating this morning. I made my first my first ice cream cake, last month in celebration of my brother’s birthday.

I made this for a special guest who is overly fond of ice cream, so instead of regular cake, I made her this instead.  Now that’s a compromise!   She got to eat her ice cream and I still got to practice cake decorating.

I was initially fearful that this wouldn’t turn out nicely because I was working against the summer heat.  The ice cream was melting so much faster than I would have wanted.  I felt better only after I piped the pink decorations and after I saw that the layers were still distinguishable from each other and looked quite decent.   The layers actually looked better than my first ice cream cake.

Chocolate. Vanilla. Strawberry. Whipped Cream. Strawberries. Perfect combination!

Category: Cake Decorating, Desserts/Goodies | 15 Comments »
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Posted By munchkinmommy on June 13, 2009

*This is an entry for Lasang Pinoy, Sundays (La.Pi.S.). This week’s theme is “Blame it on the ALCOHOL”. *

As a post Mother’s Day celebration, my mommy girlfriends and I had a Girls Night Out (GNO).  It was just a movie night capped by a round of drinks at a restaurant/bar.  This is the drink I had…

…a Frozen Pomegranate Rita.  It is one of Z Tejas’ stronger margaritas.  And I have to say, it brought out the tisay in me. I’m blaming the alcohol, of course!   Hee hee.

Category: Beverages, La.Pi.S. | 6 Comments »
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