Traveling Down I35.

Well, here it is, Thanksgiving week, and we are spending it with Mike's brother and sister-in-law in San Antonio, Texas. Liam has been so excited about this trip for many reasons, but his initial excitement was for the drive down I35... he had a few detours in mind. 
First stop- Czech Stop in West, Texas. This stop, more than anything, is just tradition. I have been going there with my parents since I was a little girl. My Mom is Czech, and back in the day, the only way we could get kolaches that she didn't have to make was to stop in West. (Now, my Momma makes fabulous kolaches, but it was still a treat to all of us when we stopped and had one someone else made.) Since I have been with Mike, we have ventured into trying fare other than just kolaches. Today, we decided to go for sandwiches. Now, I am usually whole heartedly against gas station food, and even more so prepackaged sandwiches, but all the rules fly out the window at the Czech Stop. They have fresh baked goods of all kinds, and their sandwiches are handmade on fresh baked bread. Mike's favorite is the tuna sandwich, but today I decided to try the turkey pastrami on rye bread with swiss. The first bite was met with a WOW. This would not be my wow, it was Mike's as he had unwrapped my sandwich and tasted it. Luckily, he only kept the half and let me have the other. =-) I was totally impressed. This is a tasty sandwich. The sandwich is stuffed with the turkey pastrami, a layer of yellow mustard, and a layer of swiss- combine that with the caraway seeds sprinkled through the rye bread and you have a winner! But this was just our first culinary destination. Next stop, Round Rock, Texas. 
Liam is a huge fan of Man vs. Food and insisted stop to try the Texas Size donut from Round Rock Donuts. He actually counted down the minutes until we pulled into the parking lot. I have to admit, I was skeptical about how such a huge donut would taste. I could only imagine a heavy slopping mess, but I understand Liam's desire to try such a culinary wonder, so off we went. 

 I was worried when we walked in that they might be sold out of the Texas size donuts. There was a bit of a line, and I didn't see any in the display case, but we stepped up to order and were told that yes there were a few left. Whew, no disappointed kids. We chose the glazed Texas sized donut instead of the chocolate. We are on a road trip, and I was trying to keep the kids on the side of messy instead of filthy. My name was called, so I picked up our order an headed to the outside tables. 

Liam was already bouncing off the wall in excitement. We opened up the box and to our delight found a warm, fluffy and not too sweet or messy donut. I really was surprised at just how delicious it was. As you can see, it was truly Texas size! We had a lot of donut left over, but it was totally worth stopping to try. It is not your typical glazed donut. If you are driving down I35, I highly recommend stopping it and trying it for yourself! 
Next stop on Liam's plan... Big Lou's in San Antonio to try the 42 inch pizza! 

Does It Get Any Better??? Grilled Veggie Sandwich

Ok, so sometimes I randomly buy veggies without really thinking about what I am going to do with them. Dinner time was rolling around, and my kids wanted sandwiches. I had just bought some yummy rustic wheat bread, so I was all for a great sandwich, but turkey just wasn't calling my name. I went to the refrigerator and saw that I had some portobello mushrooms, zucchini, red bell peppers, and an avocado. Aha! Off to the grill I go. I sliced the zucchini lengthwise and then coated the mushrooms, zucchini, and red bell peppers in a good extra virgin olive oil and Angelo's Gourmet Seasoning--
this was a gift from the lovely Joni Shaw Smith whose family owns Angelo's Barbeque in Fort Worth (can I just say-- awesome!!!). Follow this link to see where you can acquire some for yourself http://www.angelosbbq.com/seasonings.html --
and I threw the them on the grill. I let the skin on the pepper blister and pulled it off-- by the time it was blistered the other veggies were ready to be pulled off as well. While I let the veggies cool down I whipped together a tbs of the extra virgin olive oil, a tbs of lemon juice, a pinch of salt and a dash of cayene pepper. I used a pastry brush and spread this on each slice of bread. Once the veggies cooled enough to handle, I peeled the pepper and then sliced it and the portobello mushroom on a bias. Now it's time to build the sandwich. I started by placing a layer of thinly sliced avocado. This adds a creaminess to the sandwich, let's you skip mayo or any other creamy condiment, and really, avocado just rocks. Next I layered the zucchini, bell pepper, and mushrooms. This may all sound simple, but you are building flavors.  The dressing that I brushed on the bread really enhances the flavors of the veggies and adds another layer of flavor. Take a bite... hmmmm. 
Wow. 
Now that's a sandwich.

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Muffins

I enjoy creating new recipes and years ago I had an abundance of pumpkin so I began to experiment. This next recipe turned out to be a fan favorite, and it is my most requested baked good. In fact, all the muffins disappeared (and not by my consumption) before I could take a picture. I use fresh pureed pumpkin in this recipe, but you can easily substitute canned pumpkin.

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cloves

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups pumpkin

Cream Cheese Filling

8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 -12 cup muffin tins. 

In a small bowl beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together until fluffy. Set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

In seperate bowl mix the sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ones. Once fully incorporated, fold in the pumpkin. Place one spoonful of muffin mixture in each tin (enough to completely cover the bottom). Add a dollop of cream cheese to each muffin and fill with the remaining mix. Bake about 35 minutes. Let them cool about a minute and then place on a cooling rack until cool enough to eat. Caution.... the cream cheese filling will burn your lips if you don't wait at LEAST 5 minutes before you try one... but it is really hard to wait! =-) 

Barbeque -- Will It Pass the Test? Woody Creek Barbeque

Ok, I will admit I am a barbeque snob. I come from a long line of barbeque masters and I find a lot of local barbeque places lacking, but.... I continue to look for places that will impress me. So today, while out with the kids, I was looking for a healthful place to have lunch. I know, I know, you say "Barbeque healthy?", but you can make healthy choices. So anyway, I convinced my kids to try out Woody Creek Bar B Que on Green Oaks. As you walk in you see a large menu where you can make your selections while waiting in line. I was happy to see a kids menu, but it was typical kid fare... chicken nuggets, corn dog nuggets, hamburger, and, the only exception, a BBQ sandwich. Liam instantly went for the ribs which comes with two sides, Remy chose a hamburger, and I was interested in a salad. Now I am not a fan of iceberg lettuce. In fact, and you can blame it on my pregnancy with Liam, I abhor shredded ice berg lettuce.  So, I asked in advance what kind of lettuce they use in their salads and I was happy to hear they use green leaf lettuce. I ordered a large salad with a barbecued chicken breast. Once I filled the kids drinks, I made my way over to the condiment station. My girls LOOOOOVE their pickles, and since Remy can't eat bread, she loads her hamburger patty with pickles. I was thrilled to see that along with the usual barbeque condiments they had raw carrots and ranch. This is one raw veggie all my kids love, and I have never encountered it on a condiment station.  
Once our food was ready I brought it to the table and watched the kids dig in to it. Liam didn't want his sides, so Adin took over the french fries, and I tasted the red beans. The french fries were fresh made and perfectly seasoned. Both Adin and Remy loved them. The beans were also seasoned well. My Daddy makes the best pinto beans ever, so this is high praise coming from me. Remy's hamburger looked like a fresh hand made patty and she enjoyed it thoroughly. My salad was made with fresh lettuce, not prepackaged in a bag. It came with cucumber, bits of red cabbage, and shredded cheddar. The one thing I didn't care for was all the croutons, but they were easily picked out. They serve Newman's own dressing in a package, which was fine. The chicken was the best part. It was juicy and slightly smoky. It complemented the salad perfectly. 
So all in all, out of 5 stars  I would give it a solid 3 1/2 stars. The barbeque was great, everything was prepared with care, and most of it was freshly made.  I would definitely visit it again.  Try it out and let me know what you think! 


Woody Creek Bar B Que
6986 Green Oaks Rd.
Fort Worth, Texas 76116