Port Aransas, TX… Trout Street Bar & Grill

We're still in Port Aransas. We had a great seafood meal last night. For as many time as we've been to Port A, we've never been to Trout Street. It's right next to Virginia's and is on the water as well. Last night, it was really breezy & chilly so we ate inside, but the do have a big deck if you decide to try them out on a nice day. So here is our dinner at Trout Street Bar & Grill in Port Aransas.



I had the Shrimp Embrochette. Basically it's bacon wrapped shrimp stuffed with Parmesan and slices of jalapeno & then grilled. The shrimp were huge. I shared with Cancy and was completely stuffed by the end of dinner. The rice that came with it was good as well, but the shrimps were so filling, I could barely finish anything else.



Cancy had the 1pound of King Crab legs. The crab legs were huge. I tried a few pieces of the crab as well and it was cooked perfectly.  Cancy was also stuffed by the time we left the restaurant. I think we are officially seafood'ed out for a little while.



They had a really cool mural up above the bar...



and the general interior of the restaurant, itself was nice & cozy...



This is a great place to come check out if you ever find yourself in Port Aransas.

Port Aransas, TX... Virginia's On The Bay

We are in Port Aransas for our 2nd wedding anniversary. After a 4 hour drive down here from Austin, getting settled into our room @ the Seagull, we headed to Virginia's  for some great, fresh, seafood.



I had their Seared Flounder with Dijon-Peppercorn Sauce. It was delicious. I'd never had flounder before, but it tasted great and a nice texture to it. The Dijon-Peppercorn sauce was the perfect compliment to the fish. I see this being made at home soon.



Cancy had the Surf & Turf special. The 6 oz filet mignon was a perfect medium rare. The butterflied, grilled Tiger Shrimp was delicious as well.



We ate at Virginia's last time we were down here with Cody & Carol so we knew it would be good. This place is great. It's right on the bay and on a nice warm day, the whole dining area is open to the fresh sea air. It was chilly today so they had the dining room enclosed, but it was still a beautiful view.

Great cookie recipe...

I got this recipe from Katie, at work. You probably don't want to try this if you're working the next day...



Jose Cuervo Cookies 

1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup or brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Jose Cuervo Tequila

Sample the Cuervo to check quality. Take a large bowl,
check the Cuervo again, to be sure it is of the highest quality,
pour one level cup and drink.
 
Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter
in a large fluffy bowl.

Add one peastoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point
it's best to make sure the Cuervo is still ok, try another
cup just in case.

If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaters just pry
it loose with a drewscriver.
 
Sample the Cuervo to check for tonsisticity.
 
Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who geeves
a sheet. Check the Jose Cuervo. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can
find.
 
Greash the oven.
 
Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall
over.
 
Don't forget to beat off the turner.

Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the
Cose Juervo and make sure to put the stove in the wishdasher.

Oven-Fried Honey Chicken Nuggets

This was inspired by Brooke’s Oven-Fried Honey Chicken. I had some chicken tenders to use up and decided to make chicken nuggets out of them. We had these with Annie’s Organic Mac & Cheese and green beans. Sort of a grown up kiddie meal, I guess. It was a really easy & fast weeknight meal.

Oven-Fried Honey Chicken Nuggets

1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 cups dried bread crumbs (I used Panko bread crumbs)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (I used cooking spray)
1 pkg/1 pound fresh boneless, skinless chicken tenders, cut into bite sized pieces.

Preheat oven to 375°F.In shallow bowl, whisk together honey and vinegar. Pour bread crumbs into separated bowl. Set bowls aside. Spread oil over foil-lined baking pan large enough to hold all chicken pieces in one layer. Roll chicken pieces in honey mixture, then in bread crumbs; place in pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly.

 

Yay!! I'm Excellent.

I'm feeling pretty good about this little blog of mine. I have received an award from two fellow foodie bloggers...

Thank You's to Melissa @ Delicious Melisciousness & KMays of Food alla Putanesca.

Really I'm quite flattered. I'm so glad that people like this little blog of mine & I'm having so much fun trying recipes from other food blogs that have inspired me. So, I'm going to share this award of mine with the following...

Linds @ Noodle Nights & Muffin Mornings ~ My google reader is full of stuff from your blog

Chelle @ Brown Eyed Baker ~ Her dog seems to be the perfect little sous chef too!! Oh, and her recipes are great.

Elly @ Ellly Says Opa! ~ I love greek food. Elly makes fabulous Greek food.

Cate @ Cate's Kitchen ~ Oh! I love everything she cooks. We share lots of the same tastes.

Annie @ Annie's Eats ~ I bought an ice cream maker this weekend just to start trying some of her ice cream recipes.

Erin @ Erin's Eats ~ Great site! Lots of options for counting your calories!!

Ashley @ The Spicy Skillet ~ great everday food. This girl can take a food picture!!!

Melissa @ Deliciousness Meliciousness ~ Gotta give this award right back to you. I love your site too!!!

Stephanie @ A Year of Crockpotting ~ Talk about determination girl!!! You are why I use my crockpot at least once a week.

And last but not least Ree @ The Pioneer Woman ~ Ree rocks my socks off. I've never had one of her recipes turn out just ok. They all seem to be wonderful. Someone get this woman a cooking show!!! I know many others who are big fans of P-dub. Add me to the list.

** A little FYI to the deserving recipients: this award comes with a few rules attached to it.

Please find at least 10 more blogs, of any kind, which you deem to be excellent; but hey if you only come up with 3 or 5, I don’t mind. Quality over quantity folks! Post about the blogs you picked, linking back to me and to them. Once you’ve posted, return here to let me know your post is up, and of course let your 10 award winners know too.

Farmer's market, How I'll miss you....

So Fall is coming to Texas before you know it. I know this because our Round Rock Farmer's market is done for the season. There are a few others in towns around here that I will have to explore. If you haven't been to a local farmers market, I recomend you try it. so many local, homeade goodies...



This picture is from a week when we got a gigantic head of garlic, red potatoes, tomatoes pulled out a garden that morning, fresh corn, homemade bread, and homemade strawberry wine jelly. Yum!!

Here is a link to the Georgetown Farmer's Market web site. Georgetown & Sun City's markets run through November.

Awww.. I made someone's day!

I think it is so sweet of Melissa to pick me as one of her "You Make My Day" awards. I love her site. I've been impressed with everything I've made from her blog. And it's another night with a Melissa recipe as we're trying out her roast broccoli.

 I wanted to pass the torch along to two of the ladies who got me into this whole food blogging thing. It all started with some Austin nesties who have some fabulous ideas on their blogs. Ashley & Polly… You Make My Day.

My apologies for the lack of posts lately...

I just wanted a quick note in here to apologize for the lack of posts last month. I ended up working 12-9 all month and really just did not do much cooking at all. In addition to my schedule change, 3 weeks ago I started working out & seeing a personal trainer. So I’ve been working out a lot and trying to adjust to a new diet.

I’m back to normal hours at work now as of Monday and will be at the gym in the mornings. So, I’m back. I finally have time to cook after work. Cancy should be happy too now that he can stop eating like a bachelor.

I’ll try to keep the updates coming. You’ll also notice in the last 2 posts that I am now adding the nutritional information for any recipe I do. I’m tracking everything on sparkpeople.com & sparkrecipes.com. Here’s to a healthier us.

introducing... SweetTeaInTexas

As a new wife, I've been inspired to start getting away from the easy box/packet/quick dinners and start really cooking for my husband. I love spending time in the kitchen, trying new recipes, and tweaking old ones. I'm hoping that with this blog, I can share my adventures in the kitchen with friends & family.

I feel that food is meant to be savored & shared. Good food makes people happy. Happy people make everything better. Please don't be shy about leaving comments.