yay for cupcakes

Cinnamon Caramel Pear Cupcakes!

ingredients:

1 box white cake mix (also whatever it requires. ie: eggs, oil, water)

1.5 tbs cinnamon spice

1 chopped (small pieces) pear

1/2 bag caramel or toffee baking bits

1 thinly sliced pear

cinnamon sugar (1 part to 3 parts)

directions:

Cupcakes

• preheat oven to whatever the box mix says
• mix the cake mix as per directions and add in cinnamon + pear
• use a spoon or spatula to stir in the caramel bits
• bake as directed for cupcakes

Cinnamon Pear chips

• place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (make sure each chip is separated)
• sprinkle cinnamon sugar mix liberally/as desired onto all the slices as evenly as possible
• place in oven
• once they start to crinkle in oven, remove
• ***for thicker/softer pears, slice thicker.
• place chips on top of cupcakes sans frosting

Enjoy~

* sorry about the bad qual pic, but i was being lazy and just snapped one on my phone

HOTPOT! A-Kuan Taiwanese Hotpot Chain

Yummy goodness =]

Hot pot (Chinese: 火锅; pinyin: huǒ guō), or less commonly Chinese fondue, refers to several Chinese varieties of steamboat stew. It consists of a simmering metal pot of stock at the center of the dining table. While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table. Typical hot pot dishes include thinly sliced meat, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, wontons, eggdumplings, and seafood. The cooked food is usually eaten with a dipping sauce. (Wikipedia)

1 2 3

4 5

although it's sometimes a hassle to eat hotpot if you're looking for a quick meal, there is definitely little else is as satisfying.

1&2 sauce station! make your own sauce using the different things like chili peppers, green onions, soy sauce, other sauces i have no idea what they are but are yummy, lol.

3&4&5 you can order the meat you want (i got pork).

• everyone has their own pot.
• you get one side of regular broth. the other side you can chose a special broth (ie: kimchee flavor, tomato, etc)
• cook your veggies and fish cakes!
• when the broths are boiling you can put the meat in to cook (it only takes like 30sec-45sec depending on how high the heat is on your pot).
• ladle the stuff out, dip in sauce, EAT!
• repeat the ladle, dip, and eat =]

unfortunately there aren't any places in austin for hotpot, but i hope to hit up some places in houston in the future!

back in the states

hey all,

i'm finally back from taiwan! i'll be posting up my culinary adventures soon.

in the meantime, i came across this tasty link on my friend's facebook and couldn't wait to share it with everyone~

http://www.sushi-a-go-go-austin.com/

toodles~ Hanna

\\ SPUD RANCH //

I wish San Marcos was just a few minutes closer just so Spud Ranch would be closer (also so Hanna and I could see our friend Chelsea more often)!! It is a tiny little place, but well worth the drive from Austin.

Spud Ranch is a great concept, fast food restaurant. Picture this: specialty baked potatoes. They have 27 different varieties with different toppings, but you can also choose your own custom toppings. You can get a Cajun Spud, Chicken Enchilada Spud, Philly Cheesesteak Spud, Hot Wing Spud (#1 most popular), Chicken Brocolli Spud, or even Teriyaki Spud. The list keeps going. Each one sounds absolutely mouthwatering too. They also have burgers, sandwiches, fried brocolli, fried okra, fried pickles, jalapeno poppers, fried mushrooms, etc...

I had the Cajun Spud on my first visit. It has andouille sausage, bell peppers, sauteed onions, cheese, and lots of Louisiana hot sauce. Oh my gosh! That thing was of the charts. It was sooooo good. The flavors all blend together to satisfy that cajun craving combined with a desire for a baked potato.

Since it is semi-fast food, you pretty much know the service will be hands-off after paying at the register. However, the lady at the register was really nice while we were there. The atmosphere seemed pretty laid back, but all of the workers made it appear like they were doing their jobs. The decor was a combination of interesting and Texas-quaint. Simple and nothing terribly fancy.

Prices: You definitely seem to get your money's worth.

Would you recommend this place to others? Absolutely! Go, go, go!

Thomas' Ranking: 10 out of 10 -- great fast food, great price, great flavor, great idea!

Thai (Lack of) Passion :(

Don't eat at Thai Passion. Here's why:

I actually went here a few weeks ago after a couple year boycott. I couldn't remember why I was boycotting them, but was certainly reminded.

Dinner time. Typical day. Nothing special. Just hungry after shopping at the San Marcos outlets with a friend.

Notice I said nothing special? Thai Passion is certainly NOTHING special. We went to the location in the South Park Meadows shopping center off of I35. Want to know what was wrong?

• Bad service (Maybe an understatement. There was barely any service at all.)
• Slow service (I refer you to the above statement.)
• Dirty cups
• Dirty utensils
• Poor lighting

Don't get me wrong now. The food was just alright. It wasn't anything special either. I've just had MUCH better Thai food... I could probably make much better Thai food myself.

I ordered tom kha soup and chicken pad thai. The soup was the best part. It was sour & spicy and made from coconut milk, lemon grass, and chicken. The pad thai was bland and boring. There was no disguising it. Plus, the lime was not squeezable!! That irked me the most!

I also noticed that they proudly displayed an Austin Chronicle that rated them as the best Thai food at some point. This has to be a hilarious joke. Even Madam Mam's Thai food and service is a million times better (that is saying a lot considering my bad experience at MM's).

Thomas' Ranking: 4.5 out of 10.

Pretty picture, but there was something floating in the water...

(LOOK! You can't even squeeze the lime!)

Serranos Tex-Mex :)

Serranos is actually a pretty decent Austin area Tex-Mex chain. There are six locations around Austin. My friend and I ate at the Arboretum location for lunch. It definitely has the established chain restaurant feeling to it (it has a To-Go door...). You'll definitely think to yourself, "This is probably not your mom & pop Mexican food." However, the prices were cheaper than Pappasito's and the flavor & serving size were comparable.

My friend had the burrito con queso... without the queso. She swears it tastes different than just the regular burrito. The waiter seemed confused at first too. She seemed content when she got it. The portion size was gargantuan.

I had one of the lunch specials: choose 2 sides and 2 entrees for $7.99. For my selections, I chose the beef enchilada with chili con carne, tortilla soup, frijoles a la charra, and stuffed jalapenos. Everything was nicely presented (except the soup... it looked like it was tossed into the bowl) and tasted even better. Although the soup's presentation was not the best, it definitely tasted pretty good - much better than most restaurant's tortilla soup. The stuffed jalapenos were great too. Instead of gross cream cheese or processed cheese, they had melted, grated cheese inside - definitely a nice change after fast food jalapeno poppers.

For those 21+, there were was an extensive list of colorful looking mixed drinks. They all looked quite refreshing.

The service was great. However, it was just after lunchtime. So, this could vary from location to location and time to time.

Would I recommend this place? Sure. Pappacito's would still be recommended first though for Tex-Mex.

Thomas' Ranking: 7.9 out of 10 --- not the best, but still good.