Mellie Dee ♥

Black Walnut Café |Katy, Texas and Bravos Mexican Restaurant | Sugar Land, Texas

August 17, 2011 by Mellie Dee 6 Comments

Ed and I met at Black Walnut Café in Cinco Ranch.

Black Walnut Café
23233 Cinco Ranch Blvd.
Katy, TX
(281) 371-2233
www.blackwalnutcafe.com

Ed and I shared the Garlic Cheese Bread for starters. These are the devil. They were so good that we couldn’t stop and was sad when it was over.

I got the Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup as my main entree. The soup wasn’t something to talk about and if you love cheese, this grilled cheese is perfect for you.

I was so full but Ed wanted to hang out some more before he had to go to work so we went to Starbucks down the street. He paid for my Green Tea Frap since I paid for the appetizer.

Afterward, I went home and played my guitar. Ed re-strung all the strings for me since I’m always afraid it will pop in my face (because that has happened before).

Reunited and it feels so good!

I headed into Sugar Land to meet up with Amanda. It was supposed to be us and two of her other friends but they couldn’t make it. Oh well, more time for us to catch up!

I went to pick her up and we headed to:

Bravos Mexican Restaurant
4514 Texas 6
Sugar Land, TX
(281) 494-3340

Amanda has never been to happy hour before so we popped her happy hour cherry. I believe it was also the first time she’s drank since her birthday celebration.

Chips & Dip | Free. Much needed with our drinking.

Strawberry Margarita. There is too much alcohol in that shizz. After this, I know I do not like margaritas. Beer for me, please.

Bravos Mexican Restaurant | Sugar Land, Texas | Amanda & Magarita

Amanda and her margarita

After much talking and sucking those babies down, I drove her home and headed home.

After reading Rachael’s post about Recommitting, I hopped on the treadmill. I obviously did not do a 6-mile tempo run like she did (I haven’t even reached that point yet!) but I did do a 25-minute run and a 25-minute butt and thigh exercise.

I feel better already but it’s going to be hard to go back to how I did three weeks ago. I should have not quitted for so long! Ah, you’re stupid, Melissa. But I did better than I thought. I even up the tempo a little more than I usually did.

Thanks, Rachael, for that post. You saved me.

Now I’m sucking down a blueberry smoothie with too much milk. I ran out of yogurt so it’s mostly milk and ice. Still delicious.

Tomorrow is going to be another Food-venture!! Mum and I will be attending lunch at one of the Houston Restaurant Week locations. Then I can cross it off my Bucket List!

Night!

Things I’m Loving | Alone Time

August 16, 2011 by Mellie Dee 1 Comment

I purposely did not schedule anything today so that I can have some me time.

I started the day with a Green Tea Frappuccino, no whip of course. Mmm … so freaking good in this hot weather.

During Amanda’s birthday, my purse broke. Whomp … it was the first purse I picked out and paid for myself so i was sad to see it go.

So I went out and bought myself a new one at Kohl’s.

Where I went out and bought a couple tank tops that I can wear with a cardigan.

Since Office Depot was right next door, I went on a prowl for a new planner for the academic year. Hopefully, this one works … I can never find one I truly love.

*****EDIT*****

It didn’t work out. The one I bought had the dates all incorrectly put together. They let me exchange it for this one instead. Fingers crossed.

*****END EDIT******

Then I had a very unhealthy meal. I started feeling sick and threw more than half of it away.

Me time = best time.

Weekend Recap

August 15, 2011 by Mellie Dee 2 Comments

Cate, Katie, Jill, Amanda, Ashley, Gretchen, Me

All the girls dressed up for Amanda’s birthday celebration Friday. If you knew me, you would know all I wear out is jeans, jeans, jeans with exception to some sweatpants and basketball shorts. So skirts and dresses are a bit foreign to me.

She asked if I would wear a skirt so, I agreed … and wore them without tights for the first time since I was a kid. And thank goodness I did since it was so hot and humid out.

Her Nana drove Amanda and me to Town and Center where we went to different places but stayed the longest at Loggia. We danced a lot and got hit on by creepy men. Sounds eventful, huh?

In San Antonio, Mum never knew how late I was out but in Houston, this was the first time. Amanda’s Mum got us two hotel rooms at the Marriott right in Town Center so we didn’t have to drive home after drinking. So very thoughtful. I’ve never got to do sleepovers before so this was definitely a night of firsts.

I finally fell asleep around 4:45 am and woke up every hour after starting at 8 am. Finally when 11 am came around, we huddle in bed together to talk about what happened the night before. Funny stories we’ll remember for a long time.

When her Mum came to pick us up, she treated us to Starbucks. So freaking sweet. I didn’t get home til 4pm on Saturday. So crazy.

Sunday, Sissy wanted me to go to check out her new apartment. All I did whenI got there was what I always do: read blogs and watch Netflix. I even took a 30-minute nap.

I have lunch dates and hangouts set up all week. I’m excited for them but know that each time I go to something, I’m one day closer to the end of summer.

Recipe | M&M Blondies

August 12, 2011 by Mellie Dee 2 Comments

Here is the other dessert I made. This one is divine and I know I will make multiple more times in the future. They stole the show and I personally loved it

Is it shocking that I’ve never made or eaten a blondie before? It’s really just a brownie but made with brown sugar to create that blonde color.

This is the other dessert I made. It was divine and I know I will make multiple more times in the future. They stole the show and I personally loved them which is saying a lot coming from a non-sweets lover.

These are my favorite m&ms! But I can only have a few before I get sick of them since I’m not a lover of sweets.

via

Aren’t they beautiful? One day I’ll take pretty pictures like this.

M&M Blondies

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 bag mini M&Ms (with a few reserved for the top)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray.
Heat butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until it browns and begins to smell nutty. Make sure not to burn it! Allow the butter to cool lightly.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the browned butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
Stir in eggs, vanilla, and salt.
Add in flour and stir until just combined.
Add in M&Ms and stir to combine.
Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle a few additional M&Ms on top.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting.

My final product is just as gorgeous.

Seriously, make and bring this to the next party. Adults and kids alike will love them.

Just make sure you have a very good knife to cut through those M&Ms. Plastic knives do not cut it (pun intended). I learned the hard way as I broke a plastic knife in half and one of my co-workers broke another one in thirds.

In Allie’s recipe, she had coconut shreds put in … but I’m not a big fan of coconut and was afraid some people might be allergic so I opted out of it.

Recipe | S’mores Bars

August 12, 2011 by Mellie Dee Leave a Comment

This is one of the desserts I made on my last day. I loved the other one better than this one so I’m posting the one I simply just like.

[Recipe from Chocolate and Carrots]

S’mores Bars

Ingredients:

16 sheets of graham crackers
25 big marshmallows
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preparation:

Spray cooking spray in an 8 –inch pan.
In a food processor, crush the graham crackers completely.
In a large bowl, combine marshmallows and butter. Microwave in 15-second intervals, stirring in between until completely melted.
Put in the melted mixture in the food processor with the graham crackers and grind until blended.
Knead in the chocolate chips and push into the pan.
Place into the refrigerator until hardened and cut into squares.

The reason I was not a big fan of this recipe is because it was hard to work with. Everyone knows when marshmallows are melted, you have to work fast, else everything will be super sticky and hard. Lesson learned.

Plus on top of that, it was so hard to cut!

Just look at it … it doesn’t look that appetizing to me. And I didn’t have the pretty layers like Caroline did in the previous picture. All in all, it was a fail.

When it came time to eat it, it was very chewy and for some, it felt hard because they didn’t have teeth of a teenager anymore. Whoops. Really need to think of your audience before making something. Lesson learned.

If I ever make this again, I might just use fewer marshmallows so it’s not as hard so it’s more of a cookie texture and less of a bar of chewiness.

But don’t get me wrong. It really was tasty. I’m just a hard critic when it comes to my own foods.