Food – Page 4 – Hoots of a Night Al

Night Al Migrations: Texas Pride BBQ

July 7, 2014 8 Comments

Summer in Texas means BBQ! Scratch that…Texas means BBQ. In our new quest to explore more, Louis and I remembered hearing about Texas Pride BBQ awhile ago. One morning, we woke up craving BBQ (like every other day), so we made the 40-minute drive from West San Antonio out to Texas Pride BBQ on a beautiful, sunny Saturday.

As soon as we pulled up, I knew I was going to love this place. The entrance is covered with amazing antiques (I almost typed “old antiques”…redundant much? Hah.) mostly centering around a Texan gas station theme (MUCH cooler than it sounds). We strolled past the rusty gas pumps and vintage Coca Cola bottles, through the screen door, and up the wooden ramp.

At the end of the ramp is a signed photo of Guy Fieri from Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. His show is actually how we first heard about Texas Pride BBQ, so shout out to you for that one, Guy. The rustic, vintage decor continued inside with all sorts of Texas artifacts but more exciting at that point was the smell of delicious BBQ.

We were greeted by a friendly worker who walked us through the menu and gave us his recommendations. We decided on sliced brisket and ribs for our meats, but they also have sausage (so dumb that we didn’t try this!), chopped brisket, pork tenderloin, and turkey. Everything looked and smelled amazing!

Louis ordered fresh cut fries for his side, and they don’t fry them until you order them, so they were fresh and delicious when they came out! I went with mac n’ cheese and green beans, which were both super yummy. We carried our tray of food to the indoor seating area, where they have tons of delicious BBQ sauce (original or spicy), pickles, onions, and all the fixin’s for a delicious meal. Below is a little snapshot of what we enjoyed.

If you’re not stuffed after your meal, they also have hand-scooped Bluebell, Pecan Cobbler, and a delicious looking Peach Cobbler I was begging my stomach to find room for somewhere…next time for sure. After we enjoyed our DELICIOUS BBQ, we strolled out the back of the restaurant to the amazing outdoor area.

We climbed up to the huge rooftop deck that would be so perfect to sit on during a crisp October night enjoying some BBQ and live music. That’s definitely on my To Do List! I bet it is so fun at night with all of the colored lights lit. From the upstairs patio there is a great view of the seating, game room, and stage below.

Texas Pride BBQ is really the gift that keeps on giving. Outside they have a stage where they have live concerts, a precious antique store, a game room full of arcade games, a playground for the kids, tons of unique photo ops, and plenty of seating for your entire group.

We loved wandering around in the antique store. We spent a long time talking with the owner, who told us about several of the pieces she acquired, and her love for seeking out Texas specific antiques. She was so kind, and we had a blast exploring all of the neat stuff she had for sale!

One funny find was a Texas vs. Rice football program from October 1948 with an ad for Camel Cigarettes on the back! Can you imagine seeing a cigarette ad in a college football program today?? I guess a lot’s changed in 65 years.

My personal favorite find was this cute Dr. Pepper wood crate. If I thought we had a spot for it in our apartment, it definitely would have come home with us. Dr. Pepper is my fave! Can’t you picture it full of some bud vases and baby’s-breath?? Love. Also, baby’s-breath…what a creepy name.

We went on Saturday afternoon, but it would be fun to plan a trip out to Texas Pride when they’re having one of their weekly events going on. Thursday is Bike Night, and apparently tons of motorcyclists come and park their bikes under the awning to enjoy BBQ. On Friday, they have a big Fish Fry at their back bar and live music on stage. Saturday evenings also have live music, and on Sundays, they have Classic Car Night. Apparently several of the car owners come dressed to match the decades of their cars…so fun! I’d love to go back one Sunday and see that!

Texas Pride BBQ totally has something for everyone! ….Except for vegetarians maybe? Sorry, y’all. We spent a couple of hours just enjoying the atmosphere and admiring all of the neat items they’ve gathered. It is a really unique place, and it reminded me how much I love Texas. 🙂 If you’re heading to San Antonio anytime soon or you live close by, I’d definitely recommend a trip to Texas Pride! It’s going to be our new spot to take visitors!

Food, Married Life, Recipe, San Antonio

Night Al Migrations: The Pearl

April 18, 2014 4 Comments

Howdy y’all! Remember me? Sorry…I’ve been MIA (no, not the singer/rapper M.I.A.) for a minute! Don’t fret. I’m back.

I wanted to share a pretty cool, new (to us) spot that hubbs and I explored a few weeks ago: The Pearl in San Antonio. We moved to San Antonio almost 2 years ago from our beloved Houston (where our families live) with the attitude that San Antonio would never be as good as our hometown. While that may still ring true, we recently decided to abandon our bitter attitude towards San Antonio and start exploring! I’m hoping as we venture throughout the city together, I can share our experiences here as Night Al Migrations. I’m sorry…I love a good theme, so I’m sticking with the bird idea here.

Our goal was to branch out from typical tourist spots like the River Walk and find other cool locations around the city. When we visited Bakery Lorraine for our anniversary, we drove through an area known as The Pearl. The Pearl is a grouping of restaurants, shops, and lofts in buildings that originally housed The Pearl Brewery. We recently made a trip there to enjoy lunch and browse around some of the stores.

We arrived around one o’clock on a Friday afternoon and headed to The Granary for some BBQ. (Side note: I instagrammed the picture above and misspelled “Granary” in my caption. So embarrassing.) The Granary is located in a charming house from the 1800s and is covered with rich wood, unique lighting, and handwritten chalkboard menus. They also have a dog-friendly, wrap-around porch, which was a nice touch! We got our drinks first (glass bottle Coca Cola for me, house-made root beer for Lou) and waited a few minutes for our meal.

We weren’t too intrigued by any of the sides, so we each got a chopped beef sandwich and 1/2 lb of beef brisket to split. The Granary is big on only serving humanely raised meat (humanely raised to be slaughtered for our lunch…contradictory?), and it showed in their prices! I can safely say though, that their chopped beef sandwich was one of the best I’ve ever tasted! It was on fresh baked bread, and their BBQ sauce (which is a crucial component for me) was super tasty. However, the brisket was marbled with LOTS of fat, which we’re not fans of. I can’t recommend it if you prefer lean brisket.

Once we finished lunch, we decided to walk around and explore some of the boutiques and shops. One of the boutiques we went into was Leighelena, which contained a mixture of vintage boots and clothes, handmade jewelry and various gifts and decor. It was kind of like a vintage, western Urban Outfitters? They had a ton of unique pieces and some really beautiful jewelry.

Another favorite store of mine was The Tiny Finch. They had some of the most beautiful home decor unlike anything I’ve ever seen providing several one-of-a-kind pieces. We popped in a few other shops including Ten Thousand Villages (pictured below), which contained pieces from around the world created by various artisans. Each store we visited was distinctly different and offered special pieces you’re unlikely to find anywhere else.

In fact, The Pearl was so unique, I was kind of worried we weren’t hip enough to be there! Stupid, right? The Culinary Institute of America also has a campus at The Pearl, so, obviously, there is no shortage of adventurous (and pricey) restaurants. They have everything from an authentic Mexican street food ice house to a kosher vegetarian restaurant to a seafood and oyster bar. There’s something for everyone! Be warned though…most of the restaurants aren’t for picky eaters. Louis and I are pretty boring when it comes to food, and several of the restaurant menus require much more sophisticated palates. 😉 Like I said…we may not be hip enough for The Pearl…haha!

The Pearl has incredible lofts on site that would be a dream to live in! They are also in the process of renovating the historic brew house into a luxury boutique hotel. In addition to all this, they host a huge Farmer’s Market every weekend, which brings in tons of local vendors. I think The Pearl is on the brink of being really popular. I’m sure within the next couple of years once all of the storefronts are occupied and the construction and renovations are complete, the area will be booming. We had a great time exploring it, and I can’t wait to see how it grows in the future! If you’re a local, or you visit San Antonio, add The Pear to your itinerary for some unique food and shopping!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend celebrating Easter, and I’ll be back next week with some more Beauty Blurbs and posts!

See you then!

Family, Food, Humor, Married Life

High Five for Friday!

March 20, 2014 3 Comments

Happy Friday everyone! I’m so excited to enjoy a weekend of movie dates and relaxation with my hubby! I just wanted to drop in and share five of my favorite things about the past week!

1. Fogo de Chao on the River Walk: The week leading up to our anniversary, Louis kept saying we could just grab dinner somewhere after he got off work, so I figured we would just have a chill night and not really do anything special. Then, he surprised me by taking a half day off work! When he got home, he had a dozen roses and a beautiful card with our plans written inside! I was so surprised and excited. Our first stop was Fogo de Chao on the River Walk. If you’ve never been to Fogo de Chao, you need to go ASAP. It is SO delicious! It’s a Brazilian restaurant where the waiters walk around with skewers of meat and slice off as much of each kind as you want. They also have an amazing salad bar and delicious sides. Seriously though, the meat is the star of the show. We were in carnivore heaven! There are something like fifteen different meats, and each one I sampled was juicy and delectable. After we were stuffed, we strolled along the River Walk enjoying the beautiful weather and each other.

2. Bakery Lorraine for Macarons: Louis’s anniversary plans continued with heading to a local bakery to get some macarons. I found out about Bakery Lorraine a while ago and have been wanting to go for months! It’s an adorable bakery in a converted house run by two amazing pastry chefs from California. We got half a dozen macarons to try in some fun flavors: Lemon, Grapefruit, Raspberry, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Buttermint, and Angel Food! I’m still on the fence about whether or not I like macarons though…the consistency was totally different than we were expecting! They were much denser and richer than I thought they’d be, but the flavors were so fun and inventive! Can’t wait to head back to Bakery Lorraine to try some of their other creations, soon! They make Poptarts in house that I have my eye on…(only I would go to a bakery and get a Poptart haha!)

3. Cards & Flowers: Our anniversary gift to each other was our February trip to Disneyland, but we always exchange cards for special occasions! We both picked out Papyrus cards because they’re the best, and we also received the sweetest anni cards from my family (thanks y’all! 🙂 ). Louis also surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of red roses because he’s sweet like that. I also have to give a shout out to my pink hydrangeas in the background that have been going strong for two weeks!

4. Charlie & Harry: I finally watched the Dancing with the Stars premiere, and the gold medal wining ice dancer, Charlie White is one of the “stars” (I feel like they use that term VERY loosely on that show). The entire episode I knew he reminded me of someone, and finally, it hit me! Charlie may be Harry from Dumb and Dumber. I mean…look at this comparison.

5. New High for Blog Views: This is probably a silly one, but I was really excited that I achieved a new “high” for views this week (on St. Paddy’s day!…guess it was my “lucky day?” Hardy har har…)! I know my stats are nowhere near as high as many other blogs, but it still makes me happy to know people are reading (and hopefully enjoying?) my posts!

I hope everyone’s week was wonderful and that the weekend is just as good!

Food, Recipe

Homemade Burrito Bowls

February 20, 2014 2 Comments

Look out Chipotle, this lady has started making burrito bowls at home. Okay, seriously, they don’t have to look out…I could never make anything as tasty as Chipotle. Their chips and guacamole are enough to keep me coming back for life. However, this homemade version is pretty tasty and definitely cheaper! I made a chicken burrito bowl, but you could substitute anything you want!

Here’s the recipe for the marinade I used from All Recipes.

1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces
Mix together marinade ingredients
Cover chicken with marinade & refrigerate overnight

Coat skillet with olive oil (about 2 tablespoons), and turn up to medium heat
Cook chicken thoroughly

Once I had my cooked chicken, I simply layered it with my other burrito bowl ingredients. First, I put in my Chipotle Cilantro Lime Rice, then added my chicken, then some Bush’s Seasoned Pinto Beans (straight from a can…I’m fancy like that.), and finally some shredded Mexican blend cheese. That’s it! Of course, feel free to make it your own! You could add salsa, lettuce, sour cream, grilled bell pepper and onion, black beans…the possibilities are endless!

I thought this was a fun twist on our typical taco night, and I hope everyone else enjoys it, too!

Food, Recipe

Classic Baked Ziti

February 17, 2014 4 Comments

This Classic Baked Ziti is delicious, filling, comfort food. Who doesn’t love cheesy, meaty pasta? I’m pretty sure my mom pinned and cooked this first, and it was so yummy, I had to try making it myself! The original recipe is from Budget Savvy Diva, but mine below is halved. I think these portions would easily feed a group of 3-4.

As always, you can change these ingredients to fit your needs. If you want a healthier option, substitute ground beef for ground turkey (yuck.) and select a wheat pasta to cook. If you love spinach, add a few chopped handfuls. Make it your own! Or, if you’re like me, follow the recipe exactly and still probably screw it up.

First,preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Next, in a large skillet, heat oil, and cook onions for about eight minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for about a minute.

Next, you’ll cook your ground beef, drain the fat and add your sauce, broth, and spices. Make sure you thoroughly stir them together and heat it throughout.

Stir one cup of your sauce mixture into the cooked ziti pasta. Make sure to coat all of the noodles.

Place half of the ziti into a baking dish. I use the 1.9L Pyrex that came in my Pyrex set, and it works perfectly. Sprinkle 3/4 mozzarella and 1/4 parmesan over the pasta. Next top with the remaining sauce, and, lastly, top with the remaining pasta.

Cover (or don’t if you can’t find your Pyrex lid for the life of you) and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and parmesan and cook until cheese is golden brown.

That’s it! On nights when I’m not sure what time Louis will be home, I’ll do all the prep work earlier, and simply pop it in the oven when he’s heading home. Feel free to add some garlic bread or a side salad if you’re fancy. Or just enjoy the ziti because it’s definitely filling enough on its own! If you’re just cooking for two like me, you’ll definitely have enough leftovers for another meal!

Hope you enjoy!

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