Cafe Munchkin

Posted By munchkinmommy on May 16, 2013

I had coffee with some of my dearest mommy friends this morning.  I brought them some post-Mother’s Day treats, too. Blondies! Blondies – brownies that are not brown because there’s no cocoa powder – are my favorite go-to treats to give. They are just so easy to make and they are oh so good! In fact, last Friday, I made blondies for “Sweet Treats Day” of  Teacher Appreciation Week. I used Chinese to-go boxes for packaging and each of my daughter’s teachers got one.

I baked the blondies in a 15″ x 10″ (?) jelly roll plan. Before I cut the baked product  into bite-sized pieces, it looked like one big slab of blondie. Yum! (Please excuse the red stains on my chopping board. I airbrushed a dragon cake on this baby. :) )

I was able to get 72 pieces out of that one big slab of blondie. Normally, I would drizzle melted chocolate on top of the blondies. But due to lack of time, I wasn’t able to. In not doing so, I saved my friends some extra calories! No harm done!

I love love these to-go boxes. I got them from a craft store. Underneath the boxes, it  says that they are not food safe. So I lined them all with wax paper. You can fit a good number of blondies in the regular-sized boxes.

I also had the smaller and cuter boxes. They can hold about 4 to 5 pieces.

I published the recipe for these blondies on this site years ago, in 2007. I’ll make it easier for you all and just republish the recipe. It is from the Hershey’s Classic Recipes book.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups packed light brown sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, melted

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup (of each) semi-sweet chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, white (chocolate chips)

chocolate chip drizzle (recipe follows)

PROCEDURE:

1.  Heat oven to 350 degress F.  Grease 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 inch jelly-roll pan.

2.  Stir together brown sugar and butter in large bowl; beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth.  Add flour and salt, beating just until blended; stir in chocolate, peanut butter and white chips.  Spread batter into prepared pan.

3.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  cool completely in pan or wire rack.  Cut into bars.  With tines of fork, drizzle chocolate chip drizzle randomly over bars.

*Makes 72 bars*

Chocolate Chip Drizzle – In small microwave-safe bowl, place 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/4 teaspoon shortening (do not use butter, margarine, spread or oil).  Microwave at high (100%) 30 seconds to 1 minute; stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth.

I have not been using peanut butter chips for my blondies. I use 1 cup of white chips and 1 cup of semi-sweet chips.

Would you look at that! My second blog post in 3 days! And I even used a DSLR to take photos! I should keep this up for the next 21 days so blogging becomes second nature to me again. Ha!

Blessings, y’all!

PS: Join my give-away! It ends on Saturday. Go HERE for the details. ;)

Category: Desserts/Goodies | 1 Comment »
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Posted By munchkinmommy on May 14, 2013

I am back! Again!  It’s a vicious cycle, that I realize. This might be the longest I’ve been away, so long that I’ve almost forgotten my log-in information. Ha!  I still cook and bake and decorate cakes. I still eat out…an awful lot, might I add! Once I get my groove back, this blog should be running like a well-oiled machine and I’ll be posting entries and sharing away like in the good old blogging days. *cross fingers*

So, to celebrate this blog’s rise from oblivion, I am having a give-away! Yay! I recently received a prize pack from General Mills and Totino’s through MyBlogSpark. Why? Because Totino’s has an all-new Pizzeria line! Keep reading…

Totino’s is introducing three new flavors of pizza snacks with their all-new Pizzeria line. The new Cheesy Garlic, Chicken Parmesan and Meatball Marinara are flavors everyone in your family will enjoy. Look for Totino’s® Pizzeria Rolls next time you’re in the freezer section of your local grocery store and bring home the Italian pizzeria taste kids and adults love. In just 60 seconds, you can’t get more Italian!

We’ve had the chance to sample the three new flavors and my family’s instant favorite was the Chicken Parmesan. It was a unanimous choice!

Like I said, I received a prize pack, which included the following:

(3) VIP coupons, so I can try each of the 3 new flavors FREE
4-tile wood handle tray with salt and pepper shaker set

Genera Mills and Totino’s want to give the exact same prize pack to (1) one lucky blog reader! Yeehaa! All you have to do is leave a comment to be included in the raffle. Be nice, ok?! The give-away will run until 11:59PM Central Time on Saturday, May 18, 2013. Unfortunately, the give-away is only open to US residents. You have to have a US address as our sponsors are unable to ship the package outside of the USA.

I will announce the winner on Sunday, May 19, 2013, in another blog entry. In drawing a winner, I will either use the traditional method of drawing the name out of a hat or use a randomizer, depending on the number of comments, which shouldn’t be too many. Hee hee. Fair enough?

For now, you can go and like Totino’s on Facebook. While there, grab a $0.40 off coupon for a box of Mexican Party Pizza.

Good luck! It’s mighty good to be back! :)

“Disclosure: The prize pack, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills and Totino’s through MyBlogSpark.”

Category: Give-Away | 16 Comments »
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Posted By munchkinmommy on May 31, 2012

I was going through the list of posts on this blog’s dashboard and found a draft for an entry, which I attempted to write in March.  It was about a cake that I made in September 2011. That’s just so flake-y, if you ask me! Hee hee. I don’t know if I have any more drafts waiting to finally get published. But here is one that will now actually get to see the light of day.

I made this Barney and Friends cake for the 2nd birthday of the daughter of dear friends of mine. My own daughter had a Barney and Friends cake for her 2nd birthday, which I ordered from Goldilocks.  Simpler times. *wink*

This was one of those days when stars related to cake decorating, if there are any, were in perfect alignment. I was in such a good mood when I was making this cake that I made not one, not two, but three fondant cake toppers. And boy were these heavy! I thought I was going to need a Howard Medical hospital cart-ish type of thing to carry the cake. Kidding!

I know for a fact that one figure took me more than an hour to make. I know, I know, too slow! But a lot of times, I get too obsessed about the little details. That should be a good thing, right? But there are deadlines.

Of these three figures, Baby Bop was my favorite. Just look at her! Please say she looked like the real thing. :)

I love making cakes for kids. This particular cake took me back in time when my daughter thought that a purple singing and talking dinosaur was the coolest thing on tv…he and Dora the Explorer! Simpler times.

Now, let me go see if there are other drafts to be unearthed.

Cheers, y’all! :)

Category: Cake Decorating | 3 Comments »
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Posted By munchkinmommy on May 15, 2012

My daughter had her First Holy Communion over a week ago. I was not able to make a cake to commemorate the special day. I did, however, make “no-bake cupcakes” as token gifts for her friends who celebrated with us.

So they’re inedible. Hee hee. I got the idea after going through countless websites looking for First Communion party favors.  A lot of my daughter’s friends are older than she is. I did not want to give them another party bag with pencils, bubbles, stickers and candies. I thought a white washcloth would be a nice and at the same time symbolic favor. I topped the cupcakes with a lollipop.

Half of the materials I used for this no-baking project were already available to me here at home. I used scrapbooking paper for the cupcake liners. The curling ribbons were from my stash of gift wrapping supplies. The gift tags, I also printed myself. The only things I bought were the washcloths (from Costco) the Tootsie pops (from Target) and the cellophane bags (from Michael’s – Don’t ever forget to use a coupon at Michael’s!!).  I dare say the perceived value of the favors was greater than their actual cost. *wink*

Just like the cakes, cupcakes and goodies that come out of my kitchen, these inedible goodies were so much fun to make. Yes, yes…I have too much time in my hands. Not! :)

Cheers. y’all!

Category: Inedibles | No Comments »
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Posted By munchkinmommy on April 4, 2012

In a very recent lunch date, hubby and I went to a mountain lodge that offered scenic views practically anywhere and everywhere we looked.  The really cool thing was, we didn’t have to drive more than 20 minutes away from where we live. So where’s this mountainous region right smack in the middle of Round Rock, Texas?  Twin Peaks! The sports bar’s logo says it all: Eats. Drinks. Scenic Views. And mind you, they were not lying, specially about the scenic views. *wink*

Twin Peaks is the perfect man-cave really.  It is ruled by fun, sexy, confident and very well endowed women dressed in red and black checked tops and wee bit shorter than short khaki shorts.  There were more than enough flat screen tvs that were tuned in to sports and the Twin Peaks channels.  But it would really be quite difficult to concentrate on the tv screens when all the action was right there on the the dining room floor and at the bar. Even I found it hard not to stare! Yeah, envious much! Hee hee.

Twin Peaks has a single-page menu.  You know that it’s not very smart to eat at a sports bar when you’re watching your weight and counting calories, right?   I’m pleased that they had something for the temporary non-meat eaters like hubby and me.

I ordered the Shrimp and Chicken Basket. Fire Fries completed the ensemble.  All the chicken strips became my daughter’s afternoon snack when she came home from school. And mind you, she thought they were delicious. :)

My food was served in a wire basket with a paper liner. I kinda liked the presentation. I had three dipping sauces, too: poblano mustard, cocktail and tartar.  What is it about fries that one just can’t get enough of them?  I would have loved a piece or two more of  shrimps. There were only four.

Hubby ordered the Blackened Fish Tacos served with nachos and salsa…

The fish was seasoned well and perfectly cooked. The veggies did not overpower the flavors of the fish.  The nachos were a little greasy for my taste but guess what, I had a couple of them just the same.

I understand if you have second thoughts about bringing your kids to Twin Peaks.  But you are more than welcome to bring them. Kids eat free at Twin Peaks on Saturdays and Sundays until 4 PM. I can just imagine what my daughter’s going to say if and when we bring her to Twin Peaks, “Their clothes are too small.”

Twin Peaks boasts of beer that is served at 29 degrees in a frosted glass. I hear they even form crystals at the top! Drinks have very playful names, too, like Dirty Blonde and Knotty Brunette. Did I mention that hubby had a Knotty Brunette?

Overall, I liked the energy of the place.  Don’t be surprised if you chance upon guests bobbing their heads like yoyos in a yo yo factory.  You can blame that on the music!  Hubby and I were quite pleased with the food.  We also found the service to be good.

Next time we’re here, we’ll try the wings, which is the true test of sports bar awesomeness. Ha!

Cheers, y’all! Enjoy the view! *wink*

Category: Restaurants | 1 Comment »
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