RedQueen

Footlong chili cheese dog with onions and a Route 44 size cherry limeade. Cut it into 4 pieces with the dull plastic fork and lean forward so you don't get it on your shirt. After you are finished the free peppermint kills most of the aftertaste!

I'll admit it--I've never eaten at El Chili. I'll trust it's as good as y'all say, but I can't keep my car from driving right by it to Vivo's. The puffy tacos and cheese enchiladas are my favorite Tex-Mex on the planet. If I'm out of Texas for more than a week I start to dream about the chili gravy that comes on those enchiladas....

What, you didn't have room for the Deep Fried Twinkie for dessert?

I'm so in agreement with Anna and Kristin about that white cake (the Pretty-in-Pink cake). I made it twice now for a cake decorating class I'm taking BECAUSE it does indeed bake up flat. Miraculous... I made it in 8 inch cake pans and it needs to cook for about 5-7 minutes more but it tastes sooooo good. I can't wait to make the entire cake with the marzipan coating. Looks almost as good as fondant but tastes way, way better. Oh, and I drive through Fredericksburg from Austin all the time on my way to visit friends in Kerrville and it is about and hour and half west of Austin--take Hwy 71 to Johnson City, turn left on Hwy 290 and go another 25 or so miles. Rather Sweet Bakery is on Hwy 290 right smack in the middle of town, except on the left. It's across the street and a little west of the Nimitz Museum and you have to walk between buildings to a little courtyard to get back to it. You'll love it! Another place I like for a ladies-who-lunch kind of place is the Peach Tree Tearoom. Turn left on Hwy 87 towards Kerrville and go about 1/2 mile down on the right.

For Tex-Mex and if the weather isn't too hot, the patio at La Fogata on Vance Jackson is pretty, the food good, the service is sometimes hit or miss. Went there yesterday and the service was great and the hongos flameado with flour tortillas were (as usual) my absolute favorite. For fine dining down on the Riverwalk, Biga on the Banks is always just about perfect.

Consider me confirmed!

People are always gritching about Kerbey Lane and Magnolia Café, but I LOVE them both for breakfast. Those Gingerbread Pancakes rock and the Migas ain’t bad either…. Kebey Lane Magnolia Cafe

As I was leaving Kerrville on Sunday I whizzed past Mamacita's and noticed a big, empty lot where Old Republic Inn used to be. Rats...I loved their desserts.... And talking about another sign of the apocolypse, there are now both a Lowe's and a Home Depot in Kerrville.....YIKES!

Been in Kerrpatch since Friday afternoon and not a drop yet. Weird. Plus, I was at the Arts & Crafts Fair this morning and it was downright cool 'til about noon when the sun appeared and ruined it for all of us. Good thing I thought ahead and slathered on that SPF 150. The new Fair location's pretty nice and unlike the old place at Schreiner, probably won't get washed into the Guadalupe when the sky finally does open up....

Old Republic Inn, 225 Junction Highway for a ladies-who-lunch kind of place with kick-ass homemade desserts. If you’re coming in from Quiet Valley Ranch on Hwy 16, turn left on Hwy 27, keep going on past the HEB and it is on your left just before you get to 5 points--very near Mamacitas. Not sure they are open for anything other than lunch. Cowboy Steak House, 416 Main Street for big ‘ol steaks. Same directions but it’ll be on your right before you get to 5 points. Joe’s Jefferson Street Café, 1001 Jefferson Street for nice atmosphere--it’s in an old house, pretty good food, and some wine selections. Same directions except turn right on Hwy 27, go down a few blocks and turn left on Tivy St., left on Jefferson. Can’t miss it—it’s a big yellow house. Oh, and I second the vote on Hill Top Café outside Fredricksburg. Great Cajun, Greek, and Texas food and really, really good homemade desserts. I’d call ahead for reservations on weekends. And in Fredricksburg I like the Navaho Grill and the Peach Tree Inn too.

Ooo, good. I was hoping this would be in June since I'll be gone most of July. Let's do it!

The Texas Folklife Festival is held every year at the Institute of Texan Cultures. This year it is June 10-13. It is one gigantic eat-a-thon...you gotta love an event that pretty much exists just to showcase foods from 45 cultures. Well, I guess the culture is showcased too, but I go mostly for the lumpia, scotch eggs, gorditas....ahhhh. And thank goodness San Antonio finally took pity on us weather wimps by moving the festival to June for we who could no longer bear the temps in August. Although, March or November would be even better IMHO...

The place on Ben White between Banister and South First St that Foodie 52's SO mentioned the other night is called Taqueria la Tapatia. But now I can't remember if he said they had great migas or great tacos al pastor!

Claire I don't know if it's exactly what you're looking for, but your description reminds me of the candy I make every Christmas in memory of my Mom--Aunt Bill's Brown Candy. The reason I think it might be what you're after is your description of it being a crumbly texture. I cooked a batch last Wednesday night to about 2 degrees too hot and it came out a little too crumbly for my taste. I never had this problem until I started using a fancy-smancy digital candy thermometer--the old dropping it into cold water works better, I think. There are a bunch of recipes for it on the web--just Google for them--and they all look pretty much the same as my Mom wrote out for me years ago: 6 cups sugar, 2 cups milk (I always use canned milk because Mom did), 1 stick butter, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 2 pounds nuts (I use walnuts), and 1 tsp vanilla. I cook mine to the firm ball stage and pour (make that scrape) it into a big, buttered sheetpan. It's easier to squish it in there if you butter your hands and just press it in. Once it cools, cut into 1 inch squares. It make a LOT of candy and it keeps really well at room temperature.

I second Foodie11's kudos on their salsa. They used to sell pints and quarts of it at La Fiesta and I schlepped more than a few of them to friends silly enough to live outside of Texas. When I ate at Vivo's Thursday night I spied Roger's Mom back in the kitchen--I'm pretty sure that she's their secret ingredient....

Vivo’s Cocina Mexicana on Manor across the street from Hoovers is finally open! After suffering for the last 18 months without my beloved puffy tacos, Roger Diaz finally opened what I lovingly refer to as “La Fiesta Patio Café North”. I ate at La Fiesta in Universal City once a week for at least 10 years (maybe more) and I'd found nary a one puffy taco since moving to Austin. It was worth the wait. The beef puffy tacos and the cheese enchiladas with chili gravy at Vivo’s tasted EXACTLY the same as La Fiesta’s. And that’s a good thing. A very good thing. The place is nicely decorated (very earthy colors), the deck is great, and the women’s restroom is way nicer than La Fiesta’s. Run, don’t walk to Vivo’s--I don’t want to drive 60 miles for puffy tacos again.

Thanks for the recipes--I'll take them to the office on Monday and see if they look like his Mom's. He's not much of a foodie....well, actually he's not any kind of foodie. He's strickly a no-carb, body-builder kind of guy, but says he intends to eat cake on his birthday this year (in July), so I want to do something special for him. And, thanks y'all for the welcome and for the quick responses.

I'm looking for a recipe for "Arabian Spice Cake" to make for a friend's birthday. He's from Ohio and says his Mom used to make it when he was growing up (he's 42 now). I was able to pry some information from him about it--it doesn't have raisins or nuts in it and it had chocolate frosting. I've looked everywhere on-line I can think of with no luck. Anyone ever heard of this cake?