Downtown Frisco StrEATS Festival

I got to go to my first ever soccer game this past Saturday at the Toyota Stadium in Frisco. And it just so happens that The Downtown Frisco StrEATS festival was the same day! Woot! So we headed over there in the afternoon to get some food before the game.

This would be my 3rd year going to this food truck festival. Seems like they got the set up pretty much down now. It was basically structured just like last year. There were quite a few trucks there. Most of which I've either tried already or didn't care to try.

There were 1 or 2 that I've never seen before and one was The Guava Tree truck. It is a Cuban American truck. I love Cuban food and wanted to try something new so here I am. Plus they didn't really have a line which was also quite enticing. haha.
They only had 3 choices so I got the Cuban Sandwich (sliced ham, slow roasted pork, swiss cheese, sliced pickles; drizzled with guava mustard on freshly pressed Cuban bread) $9~ 

 

It sounded pretty awesome. I have to say I was disappointed when I saw it. The bread was supposed to be pressed! Where was the crispy part on the bread? And for $9 it wasn't very big. It was really tasty though. And the bottom bread was crispy which I really liked. The ingredients had good flavor, although I didn't get any "guava" from the mustard. I would totally get this again, IF it was $3 cheaper. They had these guava and cream cheese filled mini donuts that looked yummy but I resisted because I wanted ice cream. Ha! :P

Overall Experience:

My bf went to the Nammi truck. He got the Rice Bowl (Honey ginger pork, Jasmine rice, red cabbage sautee, cucumbers, pickled daikons and carrots, cilantro) $9~ 

I've only had their Banh Mi, so the rice bowl was also something new. I really really liked the red cabbage sautee. He loved it. The whole thing was pretty filling and not greasy or heavy. The fresh and pickled veggies added a lot of freshness with the meat and rice. I thought the meat could've been more tender but it was good enough. He liked it over the rice bowls at Ssahm from last year's festival.

Overall Experience: 

I mainly wanted ice cream and was disappointed that Coolhaus wasn't there. But no fear! What's Da Scoop was there! And I know their ice cream is good! :)The bad thing about a nice day is that everyone wants ice cream. We spent the majority of our time at the festival standing in line. But I gotta have my ice cream!!!!

He got the Bourbon Street Sundae (Bourbon Cherry Compote, Vanilla Ice Cream, Crushed Graham Cracker & Pecans) $6.50~ He opted for no pecans. It was delicious, but this for $6.50? A bit steep if you ask me. Oh well, how often do we go to one of these food truck festivals. Yum!

I had my eyes set on the Cherry Amaretto Fudge (amaretto ice cream with cherry fudge and black cherries) Single Scoop $3.25~ Plus waffle cone +$1~ (the scoop was bigger than the picture, it was melting so I had to eat some!)

Of course I had to get a cone. That's one of the best parts of having ice cream. The ice cream was amazing. Creamy, smooth, with lots of chocolate fudge swirls and large chunks of juicy cherries. My bf regretted not getting the same flavor. haha. But of course I shared! :P Really really really good, I was craving it again the next day! I hope they have this flavor again next time I see them.

Overall Experience:

I'd say our trip to the festival was a success! With the ice cream being the ultimate winner. Got to try all new things and everything tasted good. If only I can just get more of the cherry amaretto ice cream!!

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Paula Deen & Metro Cooking Show

My friend and I went to the Metro Cooking Show this past Sunday at the Dallas Convention Center. We went because I found out Paula Deen is going to the be celebrity guest and will be doing a cooking demo. I LOVE HER!!!! And I can't believe she's going to be in Dallas! There was also a groupon deal out for discounted tickets. SCORE! This means I HAVE to go!!

The Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show
September 22 - 23, 2012
Dallas Convention Center
www.MetroCookingDallas.com

These are some of the Marketplace Exhibitors:

Lemon Cake Cafe
Houston, TX 77055
(281) 841-3782
www.lemoncakecafe.com
Their lemon cakes are made with freshly squeezed lemon juice and all natural ingredients: fresh eggs, butter, milk, vanilla, and sugar. They are super moist and stay fresh for weeks without refrigeration. I bought one home for my parents. :)

Enstrom Candies
http://www.enstrom.com/
Almond Toffee (Milk & Dark Chocolate) I bought a few small boxes of the Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee for my co-workers.

Custom Cafe Foods
http://www.customcafefoods.net/
They sell quick and easy dry mixes of gourmet soups, quick breads, savory dips, muffins and specialty drinks. We tried their pumpkin dip with ginger snaps. YUM!

Texas Toffee Queen
http://www.texastoffeequeen.com/
They had some interesting flavors such as White Chocolate Mango Chili, Dark Chocolate Salted Blood Orange, Dark Chocloate Salted Jalapeno. All pretty good!

Fat Sister Southern Foods
http://www.fatsisterfoods.com/
They had some various pancake samples. The texture seemed ok but was kind of salty?? Definitely needed maple syrup. I think I tried the pumpkin pancake.

Texas Best Fudge? Not sure if that's the actual name of the business. But the fudge was super rich!

Quintessential Chocolates
251 West Main Street
Fredericksburg, TX 78624
www.chocolat-tx.us
American-made Liqueure Praline (cast liquid center chocolates) These chocolates were pretty awesome. The outer shell is really thin and there's liquid on the inside. I tried the Southern Pecan Coffee. You let the chocolate melt in your mouth. Then suddenly it pops and you taste the liquid inside. They have coffee, chai, liqueurs, etc. A really neat experience. It was quite expensive though so I didn't buy any.

d'marie inc.
http://store.dmarieinc.com/storefront.aspx
We tried the Frappe Vino. It's like a sweet wine slush. Soooo good. Neither my friend or I like wine, but we both loved it. I was very tempted to buy one. You buy the kit. And just combine wine, water, the mix and stick it in the freezer. Then a few hours later you have a frappe! Very cool party thing.

Workshop:
“Easy Chocolates for Home Entertaining” by Sue Williams
Dr. Sue’s Chocolates
http://www.drsueschocolate.com/
I've had Dr. Sue's Chocolates before. They are awesome! She will be doing a workshop and have a booth at the Chocolate Conference in Addison this coming Saturday, 9/29. I'll be helping her out during the day. Come by and visit us!! :) 

Finally to the main attraction! Paula Deen!!!!! OMG. So star-struck. I watch Paula's show on Food Network daily. She's so much fun and of course her food is always so sinfully good! To see her in person was a bit surreal. She's so energetic and bubbly and extremely real. I found that really awesome. She didn't try to be scripted or proper, she was just herself and it was great. Her husband, Michael, and his brother came along too. They were all on stage helping with the cooking. They are just too cute together! And they brought their newest addition: Lulu! So cute!

I never knew she was THAT funny! The crowd laughed A LOT! I love her even more after seeing her in person. She's just a burst of sunshine and full of positivity and hope. She told us she hoped we would remember her not as the person that loved butter, but as someone that inspires hope. I could really tell that she cared about her fans and the people that can relate to her with the whole diabetes thing. It was a great presentation by Paula Deen.

The food became secondary. (She made Chicken & Dumplings and Apple Cobbler I think.. haha. General seating didn't get samples...) I was honored to see her. And she looks FABULOUS after her weight loss. Although I always thought she looked great before! That shiny silver hair and piercing blue eyes!! Love you Paula!!! :D And I definitely need to go visit her restaurant in Savannah!!

I thought it was a great event overall. We had so many samples and bought some goodies and cool stuff. I hope they do the Metro Cooking Show again next year and I look forward to attending it!!

Paula Deen:

Overall Event:


~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

BIG. FAT. (DELICIOUS). DONUTS.

I went to Austin this past weekend for my friend's bachelorette weekend. We went to Gourdough's for some late night snack.

Gourdough's
1219 South Lamar Blvd
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 607-6568
www.gourdoughs.com

Price: $

I had already looked at their website and I was excited and scared at the same time...haha. They looked absolutely SINFUL! Gourdough's works out of a trailer. It's in a lot with a few other trailers that sell other kinds of foods. The donuts are quite expensive but are pretty huge and decadent....there are sweet AND savory! They fry and make the donuts to order, so be prepared to wait at least 10-15 minutes or even more if they are busy.

We had 10 girls, but we only decided to get 3 since we were already so full and they are pretty big.

From left to right...we got: Flying Pig (bacon with maple syrup icing) $5.25~Black Out (brownie batter, fudge icing, chocolate covered brownie bites) $4.25~ Sailor Jerry (think rum cake covered with walnuts) $4.25~ Each donut is $4.25 and you have to add $1 if you get the meat ones. Pretty damn pricey....

The Flying Pig was pretty awesome. Lots of bacon, nice and crispy, the donut had a nice crispy shell as well. The sweet from the donut and maple icing with the salty bacon was such an amazing combination. OMG TASTY!!!! :D

Black Out was my favorite. It was AMAZING!!! I couldn't stop making my yummy noise as I ate it...haha. The brownie with the icing and the freshly fried donut.....I was in heaven....CHOCOLATE FRIED GOODNESS heaven!!! It had to be one of the best desserts I've EVER had!

Sailor Jerry was pretty good, but compared with the other two...it was just ok. I wish it had more rum flavor in it. Still very tasty, but its not as special and different as the other two.

I told all my friends that it was amazing, but I CANNOT ever go back....it's too dangerous for me to go back because I will want to eat EVERYTHING. hahaha. But definitely urge everyone to try it at least once and definitely get a savory AND a sweet one. But bring people to share it with! :)

Quality of Food:

Service:

Cleanliness:

Value:

Overall Experience:

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~