WS #28: Tapioca Pearls with Coconut Cream
My daughter has loved tapioca pearls from the very first time she tasted them. So yesterday, I decided to finally make something out of the tapioca pearls I’ve been keeping in the pantry for several weeks already.
This is the semi-finished product. It is good enough to be eaten as is. But adding fruit bits gives it an extra umph.
See what I mean? Abby preferred the fruitless version. Hubby, on the other hand, requested I top his with fruits. Good thing there was one last cup of Del-Monte peaches in the fridge! I also loved the added flavor diced fruits bring to this dessert. It’s a refreshing Thai dessert which I will nevertheless not mind having while vacationing in one of those Mykonos villa rentals.
This is very easy to make. You just have to give an allowance for the chilling time.
Ingredients:
3 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
16 oz (1 pack) small tapioca pearls (1 mm in size)
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
diced fruit of choice (mango, peach, cantaloupe, honeydew, etc.)
Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a medium sized pot. Turn the heat to low, when the water starts to boil. Stir in the milk. When the mixture returns to a boil, turn off the heat. Stir in the coconut milk. Let cool at room temperature and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Soak the tapioca pearls in cold water for 20 minutes. You’ll notice that the pearls will expand, become sticky and turn bright white. Drain. Bring water to a boil in a medium pot than turn off the heat. Add the drained tapioca pearls and stir continuously for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Then drain at once using a fine mesh sieve. Run cold water through the sieve to stop the tapioca pearls from cooking further. Combine the pearls with the coconut mixture and continue to chill in the fridge.
To serve, ladle the tapioca with coconut into a bowl and top with diced fruits.
oOo
The recipe I used as reference for this calls for 1 cup milk and 2 cups coconut milk. But since I had only 1 can of coconut milk which was equivalent to 1 1/2 cups, I decided to increase the amount of milk. The original recipe also calls for on 2/3 cups of tapioca pearls. However, for us tapioca lovers, you could barely taste and feel the presence of the tapioca in what was a more than generous amount of coconut cream. So add or decrease the amount of tapioca pearls you will use according to your preference.
Have a great week ahead!
oOo
Bridalveil Falls is featured in my other Weekend Snapshot entry. 
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WS #27: T & S Seafood Restaurant
We had a most wonderful dimsum lunch today at T&S Seafood Restaurant. It was in December 2007 when I first posted an entry on T&S. I revisited that entry and I found it kinda funny to realize that we feasted on practically the same variety of dimsum. Just in case you get curious, you can find that entry HERE.
Here’s what we had for lunch…
Shrimp Wrapped in Egg Noodle
Turnip Cakes
Chicken Feet (Did I just hear somebody say “Eeeew!”?)
Shrimp with Mushroom
Shrimp with Scallop (Obviously, we love shrimps!)
Fried Taro Puff
Hakao
Egg Custards for dessert
a bowl of Tofu with Caramel Syrup (taho as we call it in the Philippines) for Abby
Oooh la la!
How about another “ooh la la”? Hee hee.
I love it when Abby eats with gusto. As for me, I’ve lost count how many times I said “Uhhhhmmmm” during lunch. We just absolutely love dimsum. What the heck, we’re addicted! If there’s such a thing as drug treatment or drug rehab for dimsum addiction, we are very good candidates. Hee hee. The same goes for my family back home! I can eat at T & S Seafood Restaurant every Sunday. Sunday is the only day they have dimsum on rolling carts. It just won’t be the same experience on other days.
Need a face painter? Check out my other WS entry. Visit out WS participants here.
Have a great week ahead! 
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WS #26: Chocolate Lover’s S’mores
We were under house arrest yesterday because of the threat of Hurricane Ike, which, thankfully, didn’t make it’s presence felt in this side of Texas. For lack of things to do, I gave in to Abby’s request that we make S’mores. At 4 years old, she’s already had prior experience making this dessert in school. This is a very simple, not to mention sinful, dessert or snack that kids can make on their own, with little assistance (mostly microwave operation) from mommy . For the first S’mores, Abby and I simply followed the recipe found at the back of the Hershey’s Milk Chocolate 6-pack. We altered the amounts/measurements in the recipe afterwards because it came out overly gooey. The photos found here are of the altered measurements.
Chocolate Lover’s S’mores
2 graham crackers broken in half (Note: 4 rectangular pieces make up 1 whole piece of the Honey Maid brand of graham crackers. This is the kind that you break in half. Other brands are made up of only 2 rectangular pieces, making a square. In this is the case, there’s no more need to break it in half.)
1 Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate bar broken in half (Note: By all means, feel free to use your chocolate bar of choice!)
2 large marshmallows
Note: We only used a quarter of the Hershey’s Bar and 1 large marshmallow. But if you like a choco-mallow, sugar and calorie overload, follow the original recipe! 
Procedure:
Place 1 graham cracker half on a microwave-safe plate.
Break chocolate bar into quarters (half in the original recipe) and place one section on cracker. Microwave at Medium (50%) for 10 seconds.
Top with marshmallow (2 in the original recipe).
Continue heating at MEDIUM in 10 second intervals until marshmallow puffs. (Total of 15 seconds should be good enough!)
Immediately top with remaining graham cracker half; gently press together.
Let stand 1 minute to soften chocolate. Repeat for each serving.
Ooey gooey chocolatey and marshmallowy goodness!
Total calories: 295 if using original recipe; 217.5 if using only 1 marshmallow and 1/4 of the chocolate bar
Here are some more S’mores, my other WS entry.
Have a great new week ahead!
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Ws #25: The Stove
Going up to Mammoth Lakes, California was a welcome respite from the California (not to mention Texas, too!) summer heat. It was on a Saturday in July when we drove up to Mammoth and arrived in the early evening. The following day, Sunday, to ready ourselves for a full day of sightseeing, we had a big breakfast at The Stove.
The stove boasts of country cooking and the interiors are welcoming and very homey. We had to wait 15 minutes for a table for 7. I was told it could have been a longer wait had we not gotten to the restaurant at a decent time.
I loved the “drinking jars”. Hee hee. This concept isn’t new to me though. It reminded me of a restaurant in the Philippines which serves beverages in the same manner. I just can’t recall if it’s Country Waffles or Heaven and Eggs.
Much as I love coffee, I would choose a mug of hot steamin’ choco over it anytime. But that’s because I loved chocolate first.
The serving portions at The Stove is huge! If you’re on a diet, your self-control and discipline will definitely be tested. The food is so good that if you have a hearty appetite, chances are, you’ll finish it all! Just don’t let whatever guilt you might feel afterwards make you turn to Leptitrex. Hee hee.
I had a veggie omelet. Sounds healthy enough, right? But no! It’s got lots of cheese! And look at the side of grease, I mean, potatoes! I only finished half of my omelet.
Abby just had fried eggs and a piece of toast and some potatoes.
This gigantic waffle isn’t mine. It’s my aunt’s. I just borrowed it for picture-taking purposes. Hee hee.
Looking at all these pics from that breakfast almost two months ago, I can’t help but feel full all over again! *burp!*
I’ve been stalking bees, my other WS entry.
Have a wonderful week ahead, y’all!
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WS #24: Ikea Restaurant & Cafe (Again!)
Last Saturday, after coming from a children’s party, Hubby, Abby and I headed to Ikea to check out their Labor Day Sale. We decided to have lunch there, too. This time, except for Abby, Hubby and I both ordered something we haven’t ordered before.
Hubby went for the day’s special promo meal of 1/2 Baby Back Ribs served with a side of fries and corn bread.
1/2 Baby Back Ribs with Corn Bread and Fries
From the photo of the ribs, would you be able to guess if Hubby enjoyed his meal? I don’t know if Hubby just got unlucky but the ribs he was served looked like it came from a malnourished pig. It was all ribs and no meat. It tasted ok, according to Hubby, but he wished there was more to taste. Hee hee.
As for me, I ordered the Pasta Marinara and Side Salad combo.
Pasta with Marinara Sauce
Side Salad
I wasn’t very happy with my food as well. The sauce was too bland for me. I added a dash of salt (a couple of times at that!) but that didn’t quite work for me. I grew more interested on the car insurance comparison conversation on the next table (which was a little too loud!) than on the food before me. I was only able to finish half of my pasta. :( Next time, I’ll stick to the Salmon Rice Pilaf.
Redemption came in the form of dessert, our usual chocolate cake. That, I enjoyed.
I hope y’all had better meals this weekend.
Check out Shamu’s Happy Harbor, my other WS entry. Visit more Weekend Snapshot participants here.
Have a great new week ahead!
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WS #23: Kim Phung
I’m feeling giddy. I’m one of the two featured Weekenders for this week. It’s a first for me! Weeee! Hee hee.
Sunday evening, after again spending the day in San Antonio Sea World, we had dinner at a nearby Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant, Kim Phung. It’s our second time to eat at this restaurant this month. Too bad I wasn’t able to take photos last time. We ate Vietnamese noodles that time.
These photos are new, mind you. They only look recycled because whenever we eat a Chinese restaurant, we almost always end up ordering the same food.
We ordered a fresh Vietnamese spring roll (vermicelli, shrimp and vegetables) with peanut sauce for Abby. Hubby and I were still feeling a little full from the chips we ate on the drive back to Austin. Abby really loved the spring roll and finished one fat roll all by herself, except for the last bite.
We ordered Crispy Egg Noodles with Chicken, Beef, Shrimp and Vegetables. Sadly, it wasn’t love at first sight for Hubby and me, nor was it love at first bite. For starters, the serving platter was way too small for the crispy noodles, which made it next to impossible to mix the sauce with the noodles. We ended up making a bit of a mess on the table. Broken crispy noodles everywhere! *sigh* While it didn’t taste bad, we’ve had better….much better.
As if we lack carbo in our diet, we also had Shrimp Fried Rice. Hubby and I thought there was way too much green peas in the fried rice. It should have been called Green Peas Fried Rice. Tsk tsk. It wasn’t so bad, maybe a little too moist, but again, we’ve had better fried rice. 
We brought home half of the noodles and half of the fried rice. I guess that’s proof enough of how much we liked or didn’t quite like the food. Anyway, we had suck a wonderful weekend that a minor food glitch wasn’t enough to ruin it.
I have photos of The Great White, here, my other WS entry.Visit other Weekenders here.
Cheers!
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WS #22: 4th Birthday
Yesterday, the 17th of August, was my Abby’s 4th birthday. It has been a family tradition, as far as Abby’s birthdays are concerned, to start the day with the candle blowing “ceremony”. She gets a real kick out of it! Hee hee. It doesn’t even really matter how the cake looks or where it was bought. It’s all in the blowing of the candles, really. We got the cake from Walmart the night before. It’s chocolate with chocolate buttercream frosting. There’s balloons, too! At $8.50, that’s a steal and it actually tastes good.
Aaaah, the perks of being a child. For now, Abby doesn’t have to worry about rent, tuition, savings accounts, etc. But that’s not to say she’s not slowly being taught the value of things.
I have another WS entry HERE. Have a great week ahead! Cheers!
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