About a week ago the girls & I were out running errands and decided to try Twins. As many people know Twins was formerly known as Southside Bakery. Southside was known for their awesome burgers and desserts.
For unknown reasons the restaurant closed abruptly for a few months. On the news, we heard that the restaurant would be changing hands and opening in a few months under another name. I was anticipating the opening, but was too busy to make it to the grand opening.
Upon entrance in the new restaurant, I was impressed. The decor was updated, new tables, chairs and new paint color. There was a nice outdoor seating area and a second door that was added on the side of the building. The restaurant didn't feel as congested as it did before. In addition, there are flat screen televisions, which will be perfect for those wanting to watch the football games now that football season has started. 
Twins doesn't have a very extensive menu but there is a nice variety of food options. Their menu offers hot dogs, hamburgers, turkey burgers, crawfish or crab burgers. In addition Twins gives the customer their choice between a few different cheese choices and toppings. Twins also offers a special burger or sandwich each day such as a Philly cheese steak or grilled cheese sandwich, just to name a few. 
We all decided on the burgers. Lil mama ordered a Jr Cheeseburger with American Cheese. The Jr Cheeseburger was fully dressed with mayo, mustard, lettuce & tomato. The burger buns were sweet and toasted. Lil mama ate most of her burger so that meant she enjoyed the burger.
My stepdaughter & I both ordered the Twins burger which consisted of a double meat patty, cheese of choice, mayo, mustard, lettuce & tomatoes. I chose the chipotle cheddar cheese & my stepdaughter decided on the American cheese. She enjoyed her burger, the platter was empty when she finished. Kmsl.
My Chipotle Cheddar burger pictured above was huge. I had no idea that the Twin burger would be so big. Omg. The burger looked awesome. The buns are made fresh daily. The bun was toasted nicely without being burnt or hard. The twin patties are grounded in house and were not greasy like some places. The patties were seasoned well and char-grilled perfectly. 
The Chipotle cheddar cheese was absolutely delicious on the burger with the seasoning on the burger, combined with the spice of the cheese. I absolutely loved the burger. The patties as you can see pictured below was cooked perfectly without being dry. 
My overall impression of the burger was that it was excellent. I would definitely have a burger there again. I am actually looking forward to trying the Crab or Crawfish burger.
I was very disappointed that Twins didn't have fries. What is a burger place with french fries? Just my opinion, if I will eat a burger, I may as well go all out and enjoy fries. But other than that the burgers were delicious.
Twins also offers desserts. There were about two cases are so with different types of desserts. Anything from sugar cookies, oatmeal cookies, cupcakes, petit fours, just to name a few. But there are at least 30 different dessert options.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I love desserts. I am weak when it comes to sweets. Lol. I decided that I would try a dessert, but only one. I chose the coconut lemon bar. The coconut lemon bar was ok. In my opinion, the coconut overwhelmed the lemon. I could barely taste the lemon. 
Lil mama wanted the ginger bread cookie with sprinkles. The ginger bread was very good, not too sweet for the children. The ginger bread is pictured below. Very cute treat.
My stepdaughter chose the red velvet cupcake. The red velvet cupcake looked great, but I didn't taste it. Though it is one of my favorite cupcakes, I didn't want any. My stepdaughter said that the cupcake was delicious.
Overall our experience at Twins Burgers & Sweets was a pretty good one. The workers in my opinion were not very friendly. I believe that they can use some help in the customer service department.
Other than that the food was superb, the delivery of the food came out in a timely manner. There was a steady flow of traffic during the time we were dining.
One thing that I thought was cute is that you can take a picture with you and your family or whomever you are dining with in front of the twins sign and the picture is placed on a board. I thought that was a cute idea, though we chose not to do it, definitely a great idea. 
Twins is located in the South College Shopping Center at 2801 Johnston Street. The hours of operation are Monday-Saturday 10am-9pm, 268-9488 or like Twins on Facebook to find out the special of the day and any added menu options.
30 Eylül 2012 Pazar
Twins Burgers & Sweets
Sophi P. Cupcakes
On our way home from dinner one afternoon, we had a sweet tooth, so we stopped at one of my favorite sweet shops. Sophi P has some of the best cupcakes in the area. The cupcakes are very addicting. I limit myself to only one Sophi P visit every few months. Kmsl.. Delicious.
As you can see there are a few different flavors in the Sophi P box. The flavors included red velvet, Strawberry Fields 4-ever, Lemon Strawberry Sha'bang, Margarita Madness Cupcake, Tangerine Cupcake.
The red velvet deluxe cupcakes are red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese filling and topped with chocolate drizzle, dusted with cocoa powder. My all time favorite cupcake. If you haven't had this cupcake, walking would be too slow. Get there now. Awesomeness!! Lol..
The strawberry fields cupcake is a strawberry cupcake with cream cheese icing and strawberry sprinkles. This cupcake was superb, just delicious.
The Lemon Strawberry Sha'bang is a lemon cake with strawberry filling. This one wasn't my favorite but it was ok. In my opinion, it had an after taste. An interesting combination of cake and icing but not my favorite cupcake. Brian actually liked this cupcake a lot. I guess it depends on the person.
The Margarita Madness Cupcake, this cupcake was very colorful but I was a little afraid to eat it. Lol. Simply because it was green. But it was interesting. I have never had a margarita before so I can't say whether it even resembled or reminded me of a margarita, but it was pretty good. A little too sweet for me, but it was a good cupcake.
The Tangerine Cupcake as well was very cute looking cupcake. An orange cupcake with cream cheese icing and orange sprinkles. Very tangy and sweet all at the same time. The cupcake was good and tasty.
Overall Sophi P is one of my favorite places to purchase cupcakes. Most people have probably already tried Sophi P, but I still wanted to do a blog post on Sophi P.
Sophi P is located at 3209 Johnston Street between Sakura and Lafayette Tire, 456-5582. The hours of operation is Tuesday-Friday 10am-6pm, Saturday 10am-4pm. Follow Sophi P on Twitter or like their page on Facebook or check out their website at www.SophiPCakes.com.
The menu options change monthly. Sophi P also creates and designs customize cupcakes. The owner/cake designer has been doing cakes for over 15 years. She has worked in Colorado & Texas perfecting her craft. Her skills are evident in her work and designs of her cupcakes. If you have never tried Sophi P, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. Let me know what you think...
T-Bone Tom's - Diners, Drive-ins & Dives
Hey hey everybody! It's been a while since I posted a food blog. We have been ridiculously busy. Finally we are starting to settle in and slow down! I have so much to write about, so let's get started. 
About a month ago or so we took a mini-vacation to Kemah, TX for a few days. Kemah is located about 20-30 minutes from Galveston. There are many great places to eat in Kemah, TX.
Those who know us, know we always seem to find the best places to eat. We first heard of T-Bone Tom's on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives with Guy Fieri. The food on the show looked amazing. We wanted to try this place.
When we arrived in Kemah, TX we checked in our hotel and headed out to get a bite to eat. T-Bone's was about 5-8 minutes from our hotel. They are located near the Boardwalk. Depending on what time you go, you better be prepared for a wait. This particular day we arrived around 11am or so. There were quite a bit of customers in the restaurants upon our arrival. 
There were many appetizers to choose from Chicken wings, boudin balls, fried pickles, fried zucchini just to name a few. So many options to choose from. Yum, yum... 
We started with an appetizer, which was the armadillo eggs. Guy Fieri tried these on his show. He absolutely loved this so knew we couldn't dine at T-Bone's and not try this appetizer. The armadillo egg is a jalapeno pepper stuffed with BBQ pork, battered and deep fried.
The armadillo eggs were huge!! Omg, to my surprise the dish was awesome!! The armadillo eggs were golden brown. A jalapeno that was stuffed with BBQ pork. The jalapeno and pork complimented each other very well. Though I wouldn't think that it would have been so good. My mouth was a little on fire initially, but I eventually got use to it. The armadillo eggs were served with ranch sauce. To me it tasted even better with the ranch dressing. Good stuff. I couldn't eat more than one because it was so big!!
Brian ordered the Country Fried Steak with mashed potatoes, green beans & a texas toast. Brian loved his food. Country Fried Steak is his favorite dishes and he said that T-Bone's was one of the best he has ever tasted. I had a bite as well and the dish was amazing!! The mashed potatoes were homemade, nice and creamy and seasoned well. The Country Fried Steak was seasoned to perfection and tender. Omg, they make the best homemade white gravy. Superb! The green beans were fresh, but average to me. I would have added more butter and a little seasoning, but it wasn't bad.
My stepdaughter had the brisket with corn and fried okra. She liked her food.The brisket was smoked and sliced. The brisket was average. I will say that it was tender, but needed a little more spice. But their homemade BBQ was pretty good. We added a little BBQ sauce to the brisket and it gave the meat a much better flavor. The corn was a little bland, but it was ok. The fried okra was very good. There was also sliced pickles on the plate as well.
I ordered the smoked sausage with potato salad, fried okra, and coleslaw. The smoked sausage was an in-house sausage that T-Bone makes from scratch with spices and smoked to perfection. The sausage was seasoned well, fried okra was good as I stated earlier, the coleslaw was just ok, something was missing. The potato salad pictured below was delicious. The potato salad had mayo, a little mustard chives with salt and pepper. Very good.
Lil mama had the chicken fried steak basket with curly fries, toast and corn. Not pictured but it was very good. Lil mama enjoyed her food. Though she is picky, T-Bone impressed her. Lol..
T-Bone's menu offers a variety of dishes. The menu offers items like Soups, Salads, BBQ, Sandwiches, Burgers, Wings, Steaks, Seafood. A great place for everyone in the family.
In addition, to so many dishes to choose from T-Bone also has a meat market with different choice meats to choose from. The meat looked fresh and weren't any more expensive than a regular meat market. 
Overall our impression of T-Bone Tom's, we were thoroughly satisfied and impressed. The food was awesome, the service was good. The portion sizes were hefty and we had enough for supper that particular day. We wish would have time to go back before leaving the city, but there is always next time.
T-Bone Tom's has been serving homestyle food, steaks and BBQ since 1974. They are located in a great spot and the restaurant is easy to find. T-Bone offers daily lunch & dinner specials Monday-Friday. The lunch specials are from 11am-2pm. The dinner menu special is from 2pm-until 2am. The restaurant is opened 7 days a week until 2am. In addition, T-Bone's has a catering menu as well. So if you have a big outing or event let T-Bone's do the work!!
T-Bone Tom's has an area called the Backyard. This area has Tiki Huts for outdoor service. The area is very nice and a great area for parties or afternoon/night dining. On Wednesday-Sunday there is Live music in Tom's Backyard performances during dinner.
T-Bone's is located at 707 Hwy 146, Kemah, TX 281-334-2133. They also have a Facebook page and a website www.tbonetoms.com
Cajun Burgers & Dogz - Cajun Blaze
Cajun Burgers & Dogz is a new locally owned restaurant that has been opened for about 3 months or so. I have seen this restaurant in passing for a month or so now and I have always wondered if it was any good. Well one day, a living social deal came through my email, so I decided to buy it and try their food.
This past Tuesday, I was on that end of town and I had some time to spare before I picked up lil mama from school. I will say from the outside you would never think that the food would be as good as it was, but as the saying goes, don't judge a book by the cover. 
Upon entrance into the restaurant, I was greeted by a very polite young lady. There were many items to choose from on the menu board. She was very patient with me by answering whatever questions that I had concerning the menu.
It took me a few minutes to make a decision on what I wanted to eat. I chose the Cajun Blaze Burger, Cajun Fries with a special sauce, a Cajun dog and a drink. What I loved was that I ordered all of that for $10.00. That's cheap! You can't beat that price! 
I loved that the drinks were served in a canoe. All the drink options were iced and served from this canoe. So cool. The restaurants name on the side of the canoe. So cool. The canoe went along with the Cajun themed decor. 
The dining area is not really big, but there is plenty of space to sit and be comfortable. I loved the wooden tables and bar stools. In addition, there is a flat screen television to view the football games. If you are in need of a place to watch the game, I definitely recommend this place. Good food, good service and a great environment. 
Now for my opinion on the food, I chose the Cajun dog. The Cajun dog is a pork dog with chili and cheese on top. The hot dog was pretty good. It wasn't my favorite hot dog, but it was good. There hot dogs are not big but average size. I took a few bites of the dog because I wanted to save room to try the other items. In addition, they also serve Nathan's beef dogs. The hot dogs are $3.00 each or 2 for $5.00.
The hot dog was definitely fresh. The bread was so soft. The chili could have used a little more seasoning. The hot dog had too much cheese on it for my liking, it sort of took away from the chili. I will try the hot dogs again, but I will try a different one next time.
I also tried the Cajun fries (pictured below). Omg, the fries were awesome. Homemade fries with cajun seasoning. The fries were excellent. Seasoned perfectly fried with a little crispiness without being hard and overcooked. Looking at the food, I can't wait to try it again!
Cajun Burgers also makes a homemade house sauce (pictured below) that I decided to try with my fries. The fries were fresh cut and seasoned well. The house sauce was awesome!! The sauce is similar to a dipping sauce you use for crawfish, but it was amazing! Whatever they had in the sauce, I loved it. I definitely recommend it with the fries!
They also serve onion rings. Should be interesting to see how the onion rings taste with the special sauce. I am sure the onion rings will be superb with the sauce.
Now I am most excited to talk about the burger. The burger was SUPERB!! I ordered the Cajun Blaze Burger! Oh my! I don't know how many of you have ever had Cajun Blaze from Burger Tyme, but this burger tasted just like that burger. Burger Tyme closed years ago and everyone that I know who liked Burger Tyme misses the Cajun Blaze. Well look no further, the Cajun Blaze is back but even better. Excellent, excellent!! I loved the burger! 
The burger is a handmade, homemade patty topped with lettuce, tomato, mayo, seasoned grilled onions and spices and ketchup. Awesome. The burger was a nice size, not too big or too small, but an edible size. The burger is made to order. It's a little sloppy but delicious. The spice level was off the chain. Though my picture does it no justice.
The portion sizes are hefty for the price you pay. I had enough food left to share with my baby girl.
The burgers can be topped with different cheeses, other veggies like mushrooms, etc. The toppings are 2 for $1. Cajun Burgers also serve Chicken burgers as well as an assortment of other burgers.
Overall the food was awesome, I don't have any complaints about the food. I would say that a small dessert would have been nice. Most people like a little dessert after their lunch. Maybe they can have a local bakery prepare cupcakes or sliced cake and sell as well. Just a suggestion, that's the only thing I would recommend.
The atmosphere was nice and comfortable. The front server was very kind and polite. I definitely recommend this place. This is one of my Tastee Places. I plan on treating my honey to lunch there real soon!
If you need to pick up lunch in a hurry call your order in and they will have your food ready when you arrive.
Cajun Burgers & Dogz is located at 3920 West Congress, 504-5540. The hours of operation are Monday-Thursday from 10:30am-2:30pm and Friday & Saturday from 10:30am-3:00pm. Follow Cajun Burgers and Dogz on Facebook. Check them out!
Taste of Thai Cuisine
I am so excited to be back blogging. It has been almost an entire month since I blogged. Our schedules have been ridiculously busy. Thankfully things are finally slowing down. I have so much material to blog on that I didn't know which one to choose. After much thought, I decided on the Taste of Thai Cuisine. 
Taste of Thai Cuisine is a Thai/Vietnamese Restaurant. This restaurant has been opened about 7 months or so. For those who may not know Thai food has a very pungent taste and the taste ranges from spicy to very sour to sweet to bitter. Thai menus include curries, BBQ, spicy dishes, noodle soups, salads and stir fried noodles. 
A few weeks ago, our Fall bible study started. After our bible study, I went to lunch with my friend Holly P and we decided on Thai food. Though initially we had our mind on two different Thai restaurants, Taste of Thai is the one we dined at in the end. Lol... I have seen this restaurant in passing a few times and really wanted to try this place.
Upon entrance into the restaurant, it is not big, but nice and clean. The workers are extremely friendly and they make you feel right at home. I arrived first, so I had an opportunity to really look around and observe the environment. There were a few people in the restaurant when I arrived. While I waited for my friend, I begin to look at the menu and there were many dishes to choose from.
The waitress offered something similar to a broth with chicken, chives and celery. This broth was complimentary. I don't recall the name of the broth, but it was very tasty. It had great flavor. Pictured below. 
As an appetizer we ordered the chicken wontons & the cream cheese wontons. The wontons were superb! The cream cheese wontons were some of the best I have ever had. The wontons were served with a sweet & spicy sauce. Delicious..
The chicken wontons were good as well. The wontons had chicken, cabbage & onions on the inside. This was also served with the special sauce. 
I ordered the Thai BBQ Shrimp. The shrimp was marinated & grilled and seasoned with special spices. The dish had onions and bell peppers as well. Also served with white rice topped with chives, carrots & lettuce. Served with sweet chili sauce, soy sauce.
The dish when placed in front of me, I was a little confused at how to eat it, but I eventually dove right in. I mixed the rice, the shrimp and some of the chili sauce together. Omg, Perfection.. I will say be mindful of how much you use if you don't like spice. Other than that, it was awesome!!
My friend Holly ordered the Vegetarian Pad Thai. It looked awesome, but I didn't eat any. She said it was delicious. Some of the best she has ever had. The Pad Thai included Rice noodles, eggs, bean sprout, garnished with green onions. The presentation was awesome.
Overall the food was awesome. The environment was good as well. The owner/cook came out and spoke with us. She and the server were very polite and nice. We enjoyed a few laughs with them and they thanked us for coming.
I have not had the time to go again, but I definite plan on taking my husband to the restaurant.
Their restaurant is considered a Thai-Laos-Vietnam-Chinese. The menu offers a great variety of options. In addition, there is a lunch menu for $8.50.
Taste of Thai Cuisine is located at 924 Kaliste Saloom, Suite H & I, 233-1809. The restaurant is opened six days a week, Monday-Saturday from 10 am-9 pm.
Check this restaurant out. Like them on Facebook!!
29 Eylül 2012 Cumartesi
Carmex - Review & Giveaway!
I have been a fan of Carmex for what seems like my whole life. I remember my parents always having the little pots in the house and I like the familiar tingle and soothing that it gave dry, chapped lips.I always have a little pot on hand, and when my lips are chapped that yellow lid is a comforting sight. I'm not sure when they started making tubes of chap stick, but I love that they do because it's so much more convenient than the pots. I do have a bit of the nostalgia factor going on for the pots, which is why I always have one, but I love to keep a stick of Carmex in my purse, and I love, LOVE, love that they make Carmex available in different flavors now as well. Carmex is currently available in six different flavors! Original, Cherry, Strawberry, Vanilla, Lime Twist and the NEW Pomegranate Sweet-Tart! And have you tried the Moisture Plus click sticks? They are amazing and even come tinted!! I adore them.
Carmex kindly sent me one of each of the flavors in the chap stick tubes, as well as a super fun yellow beach bag! It's hard to choose, but my personal favorite is the Lime Twist. I love it for Summer, and it's so refreshing. All of the flavors of lip balm smell awesome. I don't really think they taste very well, but they smell great and they feel even better. They apply so smooth and make my lips feel great. Plus, they still have that familiar Carmex tingle that I have grown to love over the years! Did you know, that the famous tingle comes from menthol (which is intended to kill germs and relieve discomfort) and camphor (added to alleviate pain)? This stuff is packed full of great ingredients to help heal, soothe, and protect. These premium lip balms are made with an ultra-moisturizing formula, and are complete with an SPF 15, water resistant suncreen (for up to 80 minutes!), so they're great for a day at the beach or a splash in the pool.
As a Proud Member of the Carmex Blog Squad, I'm thrilled to be able to offer you a giveaway of the same beach tote I received, on behalf of Carmex! Giveaway is open to U.S. addresses only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
*I received one or more of the products mentioned above for the purposes of this review through the above mentioned company or representing PR agency. In the event of a giveaway, the prize is shipped by the sponsor and I hold no responsibility. Thank you for reading!