I’m not asking, I’m driving.

Anne and I are going to start blogging our dining experiences. There are too many good and great places to eat in Houston to waste time on mediocre and poor restaurants.

Unfortunately, our first post will be a negative review of one of my old favorites, Java Java on 11th in the Heights. Back in the day, they had really good coffee and incredible croissants, and we decided to visit today after church. What a disappointment. Our table was quite rickety, and when we pointed this out to our waiter, instead of offering us another table, he just suggested we shim it with some sugar packets. I ordered the Eggs Benedict la Java [sic, not 'à la'] and Anne had the California Burger. I started with a cup of the Flavored Coffee of the Day, which was toasted almond; not bad, but switched to regular after one cup. Despite the restaurant being less than half full, and at least five folks waiting tables, we had a heck of a time getting our beverages refilled, and it took an inordinate amount of time for our food to come. The hollandaise sauce had completely drowned the croissant the eggs were sitting on, evidence of how long it had been waiting to be delivered to our table. In addition, the croissant they used was so tough on the bottom I could not cut it with my knife. Anne’s burger was dry and way overcooked, and the advertised cilantro mayonnaise was just plain mayonnaise with a little cilantro sprinkled on top. My grits were very good, as were Anne’s fries, but not nearly enough to salvage the meal. Poor service and poor food lead us to give it a Red Light: Don’t Bother.

A&M scientists: Beef brisket does the body good | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle:

Texas A&M University scientists Tuesday gave a big thumbs up to barbecued beef brisket, saying the mainstay of he-man Texas cuisine is loaded with the same type of healthy fat found in olive or canola oil.

Ben & Jerry’s - Free Cone Day:

Ben & Jerry’s - Free Cone Day

Stop by your local Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop tomorrow during Free Cone Day and get yours. It’s their way of thanking everyone for 30 great years. Chunky Monkey here we come! Valid 04/29/2008 only. [Thanks, Everyone!]

Visit The Bargainist for more.

Pillsbury Bake-Off winner: A million-dollar cookie
Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas
| Latest News

DOUBLE-DELIGHT PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
¼ cup dry roasted peanuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup powdered sugar
1 (16.5-ounce) package Pillsbury Create ‘n Bake refrigerated peanut butter cookies, well chilled

Preheat oven to 375 F. In small bowl, mix chopped peanuts, sugar and cinnamon; set aside. In another small bowl, stir peanut butter and powdered sugar until completely blended. Shape mixture into 24 (1-inch) balls. Cut roll of cookie dough into 12 slices. Cut each slice in half crosswise to make 24 pieces; flatten slightly. Shape 1 cookie dough piece around 1 peanut butter ball, covering completely. Repeat with remaining dough and balls. Roll each covered ball in peanut mixture; gently pat mixture completely onto balls. On ungreased large cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart. Spray bottom of drinking glass with nonstick cooking spray; press into remaining peanut mixture. Flatten each ball to ¼ -inch thickness with bottom of glass. Sprinkle any remaining peanut mixture evenly on tops of cookies; gently press into dough. Bake 7 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Store tightly covered. Makes 24 cookies.

PER COOKIE: Calories 150 Fat 7 g (1.5 g sat) No cholesterol Sodium 125 mg No fiber Carbohydrates 17 g Protein 3 g

SOURCE: Carolyn Gurtz, Gaithersburg, Md.
TOFFEE-BANANA BROWNIES
America’s Favorite Recipe, 2008 Pillsbury Bake-Off

1 (19.5-ounce) box Pillsbury Traditional Fudge Brownie Mix
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup water
3 Eggland’s Best eggs
1 ½ cups toffee bits (divided use)
1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
2 firm ripe medium bananas, cut into ¼ -inch pieces (2 cups)
1/3 cup caramel ice cream topping

Heat oven to 350 F. Generously spray 13×9-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. In medium bowl, stir brownie mix, oil, water and eggs 50 strokes with spoon. Add 1 cup of the toffee bits, the nuts and bananas; stir just until well blended. Pour into pan. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup toffee bits over top. Bake 38 to 48 minutes or until center is set when lightly touched, top is slightly dry and edges just start to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely, about 2 hours. For brownies, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. To serve, drizzle each brownie with caramel topping. Cover and refrigerate any remaining brownies. Makes 24 brownies.

PER BROWNIE: Calories 260 Fat 15 g (3 g sat) Cholesterol 105 mg Sodium 75 mg No fiber Carbohydrates 30 g Protein 2 g

SOURCE: Gwen Beauchamp, Lancaster

I was grabbing lunch the other week at kraftsman bakery, when I witnessed this:

Apparently, she hurt her ankle and her doctor-friend was examining it for her, but then never felt the need to stop examining it. Normally, I’d be fine with this, but this was IN THE MIDDLE OF A RESTAURANT. Luckily, I had finished my sammich and was just nursing some coffee til my next client. I felt compelled to stay to see how long she’d keep her bare foot up on the table and how long he’d keep holding it, but they were still in this position when I left about 20 minutes later.

Even though Shrove Tuesday was this week, IHOP is having it’s free pancake day next week on February 12. They are collecting donations for Children’s Miracle Network.

Which brings up:

from BoingBoing: Peanuts banana-milk popcorn in Tokyo:

Today in my ongoing series of photos from my travels: Snoopy and Lucy Banana Milk-flavored popcorn, for sale at the giant Peanuts store across the street from the Harajuku train station in Tokyo.

Link

On the advice of Eb’s brother Reza, we had dinner after the show at Sushi Seki, 1143 1st Ave. We started with the Crunch Shrimp and Asparagus appetizer, which as excellent: shrimp and asparagus coated in little fried balls of ginger-flavored coating the size of sesame seeds. We then had a spicy tuna roll and a seared tuna roll (good, but not great), some yellowtail sushi, and some toro (fatty tuna) sushi, which neither of us had tried before, but will definitely have again (though, at the price, not often, unfortunately): the texture was so light, it seemed to melt on the tongue.

Even though we got there at 11:30, it was packed (luckily, I had called the day before to make sue we could get in). They kept turning people away the whole time we were there, and they still had folks streaming in when we left. Understandable.

Upcoming at Taco Bell: Free taco:
Thanks to Jacoby Ellsbury’s stolen base in the World Series last night, Taco Bell will be giving away a free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco to each customer on Tuesday, October 30. Drop by between 2 pm and 5 pm local time to pick it up.

Best New Restaurants - Catalan Food & Wine, Houston - Esquire
Catalan is very special for us. Chris kind of ‘adopted’ my parents when he was the sous chef and later “wine guy” at Brennan’s. His food was always exquisite, and he’d always make sure my mom got her favorite cheese grits. When he teamed up to start Catalan, we were very excited at the prospect, and were not disappointed. Two weeks afer they opened, it is where we celebrated my parents’ 43rd anniversary…and where I proposed to Anne. We have been back numerous times, and have always had a wonderful dining experience.

So glad to see them getting this national recognition!

PS y’all need to fix your homepage!