Benny's Tacos on Walzem

Val here:

I don't like a lot of Mexican or Tex Mex or Southwest food.  It tends to be the wrong kind of spicy, and some of the ingredient combinations just don't suit me.  Thomas has been working on introducing me to more of the cooking other than the stereotypical dishes.  I like his homemade carnitas and pork guisado (he is allergic to beef).  I do however, like breakfast tacos.  I am sure these aren't traditional and are totally American, but hey, a quick tasty breakfast is a quick tasty breakfast.

I am very fond of Benny's tacos in the morning.  They make incredibly tasty breakfast tacos - so far my favorites are the potato and egg, and I ask them to add a strip of bacon. Nom Nom Nom.  Their pork chop taco is also really good.  Thomas often gets chorizo and bean, and Goggles likes them too.

We were just there last week, having a quick breakfast after a meeting.  The service was fast, polite and helpful.  The tacos were fresh and delicious.  I got my usual.

They have great prices and if you get there at a reasonable hour of the morning, their more basic breakfast tacos are 2/$1.50 and much healthier than any sandwich at a fast food place. This is the to-go place for breakfast.  They also cater well - we had them make the tacos for Thomas' son's 18th birthday breakfast, and they made an outstanding breakfast.


He says:
If you are in the Walzem area, go there... They have great tacos at cheap prices. Their Salsa Verde is to die for. Get there early during the school year, though. They are a local favourite and get crowded right before school..

Joya de Nicaragua Antaño el Martillo Cigar Review

CIGAR REVIEW -

She Says:

Pre-draw - the wrapper is dark with visible veining.  The leaves had a rich smell, and a slightly oily sheen.  The construction seemed to be sound and the draw was firm without being too firm.

Thomas enjoying his cigar.

The cigar surprised me.  I normally don't like spicy cigars, and this one starts off peppery with an odd almost floral note.  After about an inch it mellowed into a very complex and rich blend of earthy flavors. There was a woody/earth flavor, a wisp of paper, hints of coffee and spices and the barest suggestion of a floral sweetness in the middle of the tongue. It was a gorgeous day to be outdoors, the shade made it nice and cool, with a pleasant breeze.  It took about 1.5 hours to smoke, and left an oily residue on the fingers (note - don't rub your eye after smoking...you will regret it.)

Overall it was a fantastic smoke, and makes it to my favorites list.  At this rate I am going to have to start putting gold stars on the journal pages of the ones I like :)

He Says:
These were beautiful cigars! The Top Notch construction and appearance of these stogies had me itching to try them. So, after a picnic lunch to prepare for the trip home, Val and I fired them up.

The pre-light draw had hints of toasty goodness with slight hints of spice and wood. The foot toasted easily and lit without any need to finagle or work. This started off a little peppery and spicy but settled into a rich, warm, richness. Very complex layers of wood, coffee, leather with a slight floral hint that maintained throughout the rest of the cigar. Sharing sips of coffee we were joyed at how it almost tasted like a creme brule.

Draw, construction, and appearance were all top notch producing a long firm ash that dropped at about the 1/3 mark and retained its shape after hitting the pavement.

I will hunt these down and get more. Because, alas, Finck's doesn't carry it. (Hopefully they will soon...?)

Fruit picking in Fredericksburg

This has been a busy couple of weeks for Thomas and I.  I just started summer classes, so spent tonight catching up with cigar reviews and site reviews. Sorry for the long delay in posting, I hope these few make up for it. 

This weekend Thomas and I went fruit picking with Goggles and her friend.  We spent the day in Fredericksburg, picking blackberries and peaches at Marburger Orchard.  Since it was the end of blackberry season for them, it was first come, first serve.  We lucked out and though we didn't get there right as they opened, they still had blackberries available.  Yum. It was around 3.25/lb for blackberries, with a 75¢ charge for the special box. We had a great time, and mostly avoided the thorns and got a nice pile of blackberries. 

Then it was time for peach picking. They had a few varieties, but the Harvester peaches were in the peak time for picking, so that was what we chose.  It was 35.00 for a 1/2 bushel of peaches (about 25 lbs). We had to walk a bit to get where the freshest trees were, but it was a nice day, and the orchard was pretty.

Unfortunately, the box got roughly handled up at the register, which upset us a bit. Note - this place ONLY takes cash or check, no credit cards.  It was a fun time, but I was frustrated with how many peaches ended up bruised by them shoving the boxes together.  Rather than having a couple days to decide what to do with them, I ended up having to process ALL of the peaches Saturday night, so that they wouldn't spoil.  More on that later. 

After our morning's labors in the fields, we decided a picnic lunch was in order.  We went to the park in the middle of Fredericksburg, which is really nice, and has a large, shaded picnic area.  I made sandwiches while the girls snacked on fresh peaches.  While the girls went to explore the gardens, we sat and had a cigar.  We decided to try the Joya de Nicaragua Antaño el Martillo with Dark Corojo wrapper which we picked up at the Drew Estate/Joya de Nicaragua event at Finck's.  The cigar Review is in the next post.

After the picnic and cigars we went home.  Goggles' friend needed to go home, and on the way back they brought some vanilla ice cream.

We had a hard time figuring out what to do with nearly 25 lbs of ripe peaches.  The bruising and cuts due to  mishandling at the register meant I had to process them ALL that night. 

I sliced and froze 5 quart sized bags of peaches and 2 of blackberries with the thought of using them in tea and in mead and cordial recipes.  YUM. 

In the end, an internet search turned up a few possibilities, and after examining them, we selected 3 recipes to create, then of course, made them our own with additions and substitutions until they were our recipes (I hate following recipes exactly.)

We made a syrup with the fruit by mixing honey, lemon juice and water together and baking the fruit in it - one pan of peach, the other of blackberry.  This went very well over ice cream. I like it because it is a fruit topping that has no refined sugar or high fructose corn syrup and was super simple to make. 

Then we worked together to make a peach-carrot bread and a peach tea bread.  Two loaves of each, made with yogurt instead of oil, they came out moist and flavorful. 

Still when we were done, there were a lot of the most over ripe peach slices left, and they were going to definitely spoil by morning...what to do...what to do! Ah! I know! Booze-a-mahol to the rescue! The remaining slices were chopped up and added to mason jars with about 1/4 cup of honey, 1 finger of bourbon and then filled the rest of the way with vodka - instant experimental batch of cordial. 

Casa Magna Colorado Sancho review

At the Lone Star Cigar Bash, I picked up a tin of 3 sanchos from Casa Magna - it looked like a great size for a short smoke, and smelled really good. Made in Nicaragua, which is a fair indication so far that I will like it.

Dark wrapper, firm draw with a rich mocha flavor (pre-lighting)

The flavor was earthy and rich with a touch of mocha.  It burned a lot longer than I was expecting, as it has a very tight draw and I ended up needing to double punch it to be able to smoke it.  It easily lasted as long as the full sized cigar Thomas smoked that night.

Overall I am very fond of these and am likely to continue purchasing them, however, don't be fooled by the short length, this is a full sized smoke, time-wise.

Toraño Vault Blend A-008

At Finck's Lone Star Cigar Bash, the Toraño Vault Blend A-008 was one of the cigars that they gave out.

Many people have recommended this cigar maker to me, and I was excited to try it.

She said:
In the end I was a little disappointed. It started off very spicy, right at the edge of my tolerance.  I am not fond of peppery flavors. Though the flavor is very strong, the overall strength of the cigar is medium.  The flavor smooths out as you smoke it, with a somewhat pleasantly bitter flavor, like coffee grounds and dark cocoa.  While the cigar is enjoyable, it is more of an occasional change of pace than something I would want on a regular basis.  I would give it a 3/5.

He Said:
This was something I had been looking forward to. It came highly recommended by some of the guys at the lounge and finally a pain-free way to try it, as it had come in the grab bag for the Lone Star Cigar Bash.
Started off really peppery and spicy and just as I was about to put it down as to over the top it mellowed into a complex mix of earth, leather, and just a faint hint of spices. It was well constructed but and pleasant to smoke, just didn't seem to fit the hype I had heard. May try it again, but at the price point of this guy, there are others I prefer.