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!

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*

We have been to Sap’s and Madam Mam’s on West Anderson Lane three times in the last four weeks. Three times! That’s every weekend since March 4th, except for March 11th. I guess you can say we like Thai cuisine that much! Haha!

This is my new favorite dry noodle dish, Yum Guay Teaw. My choice of protein was fried tofu. This dish reminded me of the Philippines’ pancit sotanghon or pancit bihon except that this Thai version had cilantro and peanuts and had a sweetness and a hint of sourness to it.

Hubby ordered the Noodle Lord and opted for vermicelli instead of flat noodles. He is usually happy with the dishes he orders at Sap’s, but not during this visit. He found the sauce to be overly sweet.  I guess you win some, you lose some.

This is my daughter’s current favorite, Lard Na with Fried Tofu with the vegetables served on the side. *rolls eyes* I know, we should have a good talk about this veggies on the side thing of hers. For now, I’ll just let her be.

My daughter seems to like it. I’m not a huge fan because I’m not particularly fond of saucy noodles unless it’s a pasta dish. For Asian noodles, I want them stir-fried or with soup.

I think I’m ready to order something new the next time we’re at Sap’s. Sap’s does have an extensive menu. I won’t be surprised if we find ourselves in Thailand again this weekend, gastronomically speaking at least. :)

Here’s a tip if you’re planning on having a meal at Sap’s, be sure to come for either a very early or very late lunch or dinner. Otherwise, there’s a very good chance you’ll have a hard time finding a parking spot and waiting a long time for a table.

Cheers, y’all!

Tents with treats that ranged from flavored coconut water to reusable bags and post-race food awaited the runners at the open field in front of the Long Center.   This was easily my favorite tent…

Why? Here, let me take you closer…

Chips galore! There were boxes and boxes of chips! Sea salt and vinegar was easily my favorite. My daughter’s, too! How can something sooo good be sooo bad for us?! It’s just not right.

Good news for everyone planning to run the Schlotzsky’s Bun Run on April 29. There’s a discount code that you can use to take $5 off your registration fee for the 5K or 10K distances: CAP10K. The code is valid until April 15 only. So take note and take advantage!

After yesterday, specially after hubby’s big personal triumph, I am feeling inspired. I’m excited to do my runs again. ;)

Cheers y’all!

So how did the three-hour class go? I think it went well, if I may say so myself.  We started by making dots and lines…

And then, we made some swirls…

Then we attempted to write our names.  Next, we tried to make spheres…

That was pretty exciting. Hahaha! The spheres were followed by a heart…

I love the shadow effect. ;) And then, we made some clouds. I made two! This…

And this, my favorite…

Finally, to end the class, we made a rainbow using only 3 (food) colors…

Perfect for colorful umbrella stands! I realized at the end of class that there’s nothing to be scared of after all. Oh all the years I wasted!

Now I’m thinking I should make up for lost time by getting myself a new toy, an airbrushing kit. I should be able to come up with a final decision by the end of the weekend. ;)

Cheers, y’all!

I had fun making this cake. Come to think of it, most of the cakes I’ve made thus far were a lot of fun.

I really need to work on  my figure-sculpting. Hahaha! I appreciate that lately, friends have been requesting for inedible figure toppers, so the kids can play with them after the candles have been blown.  Bless their hearts!

I especially like the mushrooms. I think they’re cute. Do you see the  swings between the mushrooms? Please say you don’t because there’s none! Gotcha!

I think I’ve got a couple more pink and purple cakes in my treasure chest. You’ll see them all soon.

Cheers!

It was a good friend who introduced me to the beauty that is the Kona Grill happy hour. A good number of appetizers and sushi rolls can be enjoyed at only half their regular menu prices. So, when I am too lazy to cook, which lately, I almost always am, we time our visit to Kona Grill such that we’re there close to dinner time and just before the office crowd comes in.

We typically order 4 kinds of rolls (each order is 8 pieces) and for my daughter, the Kona Calamari.

She loves those crunchy deep fried battered squid rings, which is served with spicy aioli dipping sauce. As of our last visit, the price is around $5.  She also loves the Crab Crunch and California rolls.

For hubby and me, we almost always order the Spicy Salmon or the Spicy Tuna roll, rolls our daughter won’t touch just yet.  We love a little kick in our food. It’s a huge bonus that a little heat helps speed up metabolism. That’s something I learned from Dr. Oz, not from a Thyroid doctor austin.  The rolls are priced at around $3.50 during happy hour. I say that’s a bargain!

There are other interesting items on the happy hour menu, which we have yet to try. To think we’ve already been there a couple of times! Predictable people. That’s us! We can always try next time, or maybe not.

It’s Friday! Have a good one, y’all!

So what’s the plan? We, the parents, schedule our dates around our kids’ play dates. It’s more like the other way around really. We schedule play dates around our occasional mommy and daddy only date.  And I tell you, it works like a charm. *wink*

And here’s how one of our couple friends thanked us for hosting a play date:

Yumm-eee! These were from Le Madeleine. It would have been unwise to be in one of ‘em blood testing dallas labs the following day. Haha! We have the sweetest, most thoughtful friends. Promise!

Our small family shared most of the calories, from the oist and chocolatey Sacher Torte to the tiramisu and the  fruit tart and the Napoleons.

Didn’t I say it was a win win plan? *wink*

Cheers, y’all!

This was a fun cake to make and decorate. I used a lot of real candies for decorations. I still made a good number of decorations out of fondant. Take for instance, Princess Lolly…

I found out just a few minutes ago that Princess Lolly, who resides in Lollypop Woods looks, just a tad different now. I guess the version we have of the Candy Land game is old.  It’s where I based this Princess Lolly topper from. Watch out, Princess Lolly! The Tooth Fairy is after you! Hee hee.

It was late September when I made this cake. No candy canes on sale yet! So I just made some, out of fondant, I mean. *wink*

Where are the cute lollipops when you need them? I probably just wasn’t looking hard enough. I like my pink and purple spiral lollipop.

Follow the signs!

And here’s the back of the cake! What a sad day for dentists! Hee hee. I hope Princess Lolly has malpractice insurance. In her defense, I say she’s just doing her job and doing it well. That’s coming from someone with sweet teeth. I have more than a sweet tooth, you know!

Cheers, y’all!

At Asia Cafe, you are your own server.  You go to the counter, order your food and pay. You will then be handed a number. While waiting for your number to be called, you can grab some plates, bowls, silverware, napkins and cups and bring them to your table. When your number is finally called, you go back to the counter and claim your order.

My little girl had a big bowl of Mixed Seafood Noodle Soup.I take that back. It wasn’t big. It was huge!

The soup had  shrimps, scallops, squid and vegetables.

Hubby and I shared a bowl of Spicy Three  Seafood Delight Udon Noodle Soup.

It’s safe to say that this is the spicy version of my daughter’s noodle soup. It was hot (as in not cold) and hot (as in spicy). I loved it!  One has to be really really hungry to be able to finish the big bowl of  noodle soup.

We also had Eggplant with Garlic Sauce which my daughter liked so much.

The photo doesn’t do this saucy dish justice. This was supposed to be spicy, as denoted by the red chili mark next to the name of the dish on the menu. It wasn’t spicy at all, but I’m ok with it. My daughter would have probably liked it less if  it were spicy.

If you have a choice between dine-in and to-go, opt to dine in, if only so you’ll be sure you’ll enjoy the full portion/s of what you’re ordering. I can’t get over how competitive the prices are and how generously portioned. They have quite an extensive menu so there’s bound to be something for everybody. We’ll be back, that’s for sure!

Ah, Spring Break is over. Before you know it, you’ll be working your

pool blower and milking it for all it’s got.

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