It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Photo courtesy of flickr.

Tis the season to pull out those fuzzy socks and grab a nice book and curl up by the fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa! Hot cocoa is one of my favorite winter time treats! When it comes to hot cocoa for me, I go all out! It is the best homework treat and warms me up in a jiffy! Although, I strongly dislike the instant hot cocoas that you can make in a minute. To me, they taste weak and do not have the full effect of what hot cocoa really should be. Because of this, I am always on the look out for a new hot cocoa recipe to try out! I also love spicy tastes and I can never find anything spicy enough! I recently found a hot cocoa recipe though that calls for cayenne pepper! I am super excited to try out out! Even though it calls for instant hot cocoa mix too, I'm still happy to test it out! The chocolate and pepper fusion flavor is sure to be tastey! Here is the recipe so you can try it out too and enjoy it just as much as I will!

1 cup of milk

3 tablespoons of instant hot cocoa mix

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1 pinch of cayenne pepper

1. Mix the hot chocolate mix, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper together in a mug. 2. Pour the milk into a glass measuring cup; heat in microwave on high until it begins to boil, about 2 minutes. 3. Slowly pour the milk into the mug, stirring with a small whisk as you pour. 4. Enjoy immediately! Here is the link to the source.

-Frito Bandito

SNAP, CRACKLE, POP! RICE KRISPIES!

Homemade rice krispy treat! Photo from flickr.

When I was little, about six, I was obsessed with rice krispie treats! There were so many flavors and it was so sweet! Were the only thing my sister and me would eat. We would go crazy from the sugar but then crash and have horrible stomachaches, so my parents stopped buying them. First my sister and me were so irritated and at first we went did a silent treatment, but my parents were actually happy about that (We were such noisy kids!). When we figured my parents were pleased with the peacefulness in the house, we went crazy! Screamed and ran around the house, jumped on the beds; we were insane! My parents finally gave in but since the Rice Krispy Treats were expensive, my parents taught us how to make our own at home! It is very quick and simple. I could even make it when I was six! Rice Krispy treats are so amazing, but they are even better homemade! Here is how to make it!

Ingredients:

A bag of marshmallows

A box of rice krispie treats cereal

A stick of butter

Directions:

Put butter in the microwave until completely melted

Take out a tin pan and pour the melted butter evenly in the pan

Pour the cereal into the tin pan. Then pour the marshmallows on top of that.

Put the tin pan in the oven and heat up for only two minutes

Enjoy!

"Toucan Sam"

For other recipes go to foodnetwork.

The holiday Cookies are Here!

                                          Photo Courtesy of Flickr

The holidays are here and so are the many traditions associated with them.  Food might be considered one of the most important things associated with the holidays. Thanksgiving has turkey, Easter has it’s eggs, Halloween has pumpkins and Christmas has Christmas cookies.  The Christmas cookies, which come in all different shapes, sizes, colors and tastes, are a very important part of the food that makes up Christmas. Creating these decorative cookies is an art in itself and decorating cookies is the most enjoyable and difficult part. I usually start off with a glaze that is very simply made. The simplest and easiest way to make a glaze for cookies is to mix powdered sugar and water. Then you can go crazy with the icing, and I find that the crazy the better. Whenever I make Christmas cookies, I always make an extremely large batch so that I have many practice and mess up cookies. Then you can do absolutely anything with the cookies, literally anything. If you wanted, you could cut out the cookie in the shape of Santa and then color him purple and give him a goatee.  The taste of the cookie is almost secondary to the activity of the making of the cookie. 

                        -Chef Boyardee

Hut's!

My family and I recently ate at Hut's, one of our all time favorites. Here are some pictures of what we got!

This is the front of the menu.

I ordered a burger with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, and mustard. It was delicious!

My sister ordered the veggie tacos.

My dad ordered a buffalo burger with chili.

We all shared a basket of onion rings and fries!

-Frito Bandito

Asia Blog

So last weekend I was in north Austin, for a soccer tournament, with my parents.  We went to the Asia Cafe, a Chinese restaurant, which was apart of the Asia Market, but due to its popularity, it migrated into its own store right next door.  It was one of the best meals i have had in a long time! I especially loved how their noodles were very doughy and tasty. Here are some pictures of the food we ordered:

 Shredded chicken with garlic sauce, my favorite! p.s. it may be a little spicy if your one of those mild all the way types...

 Fried salt and pepper fish, my mom's favorite!

 Egg Roles with a tasty soup for dunking.

 DUMPLINGS!!!! With a soy sauce for dunking.

 shrimp stir fry

If you see this guy, your at the right place. 

Photos by me, Mr. Owl.

For more info click here.

-Mr.Owl

Fogo de Chao!

 

Fraldinha or bottom sirloin. Photo by here.

 

Cordiro or lamb. Photo by here.

A family having a great time at Fogo de Chao. Photo by here.

Fogo de Chao is an amazing Brazilian churrascaria steakhouse. Although they have an amazing salad bar and delicious desserts, it is nothing compared to the meat! Get a card one side is red and one side is green. When you flip the green side up, servers come to your table with meat one a huge knife and cut pieces of meat onto your plate! Choose from the Picanha Steak, Filet Mignon, Beef Ancho, Alcatra, Fraldinha, Costela, Cordeiro, Frango, Costela de Proco, Lombo, and Linguica. Picanha steak (pea-CAN-ya) is a prime cut of top sirloin. It is prepared two ways: a traditional light seasoning and a garlic season version. Beef Ancho (beef AN-cho) is cut from the part of the rib eye. Alcatra (al-CAT-ra) is top top sirloin. Fraldinha (fral-DIN-ya) is the bottom sirloin. Costela (co-STELL-a) is beef ribs. Cordeiro (cor-DAY-roo) is lamb. Frango (FRAHN-go) is chicken. It is prepared two ways: make it either from the leg and slightly marinaded or bacon wrapped chicken breasts. Costela de Proco (co-STELL-a geePO-co) is pork ribs. Lombo (LOM-bo) is pork loin. Linguica (lin-GWEE-sa) is Brazilian-style, cured pork sausage. All these meats are very popular in Brazil. They have specially trained gaucho chef who prepare the meals. I have only been there once but I love it! Fogo de Chao is located on 309 East 3rd Street Austin, Texas.

 

"Toucan Sam"

For more infomation, click here.

Lead

Chef, Andrew Curren battled his heart out in this most recent season of Top Chef: Texas. With seemingly impossible tasks to complete in impractical time limits, it is fair to say that he gave it his all. But what got him there was really what matters the most. Chef Andrew Curren is currently a partner and the head chef at 24 Diner.