Would You Like a Blog Post About Your Business?

OK, so here’s the proposition. I would like to trade with you for a blog post. I will review your company and you trade me for something. Let’s say you own a burger place…I’ll trade you a review of your place for my family to eat a meal at your restaurant. Or lets say you own a pet store…I’ll trade you for some aquarium supplies or something.

Basically, what you’ll get from me is a review of your place, and if I don’t like your service or food, I will find something good about your company to write about. I have made it a point to not write negative reviews. Oh, and you need to be local, or in the vicinity of Bryan/College Station.

Have an event coming up? Have a grand opening or a coupon you are launching? Maybe you want people to come in and see your new service menu or something. Maybe you want people to try your margarita. Whatever, you can use me, and it won’t cost you but a trade.

Maybe I can interview the owner or that “Crazy” clerk who everyone loves. Or maybe I can make a YouTube video of me trying your “Flaming Hot Paint Peeler Salsa”, or maybe I’ll write a song about your company. Maybe you give me a shirt and I go do something crazy wearing your shirt…or cap. Either way, you get some advertising.

So, what you get from me is a link to your website, your phone number, directions etc. on the article, an interesting write up about it (I always find something interesting to write about) and it stays up forever. Oh, and my blog as of this writing (6/30/09) is getting about 100-150 visitors per day. I think this is pretty good considering most of the students are out of town. Check out this screen shot of the blog stats chart.

And if you don’t have a website for me to link to, no problem, I can help there too. I build websites…check out my work here.

Cool.

What to do In Bryan/College Station on July 4th, 2009

So, July 4th is upon us again. It’s hot, no sign of the heat lessening, and everything seems to be outside of the 4th, so be careful, wear sunscreen, drink lots of water, you know, all that safety stuff.

As far as fireworks, there’s a burn ban in effect, so you’ll have to ask the fireworks merchants what the restrictions are.

So, we haven’t decided what we’re going to do, but there are plenty of things to do this year. I’ve done a bit of research and found some great, fun sounding activities for Independence day. Some of you might actually be in the same place as me this weekend.

I’ll start with the Tried and True events that happen every year:

George Bush Library

For the tenth year, the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum will host the College Station Lions Club’s annual Fourth of July Celebration, “I Love America.” This is the 49th year for this community event. The Museum will open at 9:30 a.m. and extend their hours until 8:30 p.m. Admission to the Museum on the Fourth of July is free for everyone all day. Historical characters will be mingling with the crowd to pose for photographs and answer questions about their distinguished careers. Live entertainment, concessions, and games for the children will all begin at 5:30 p.m. The evening will culminate with a spectacular fireworks display and concert by the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra. People are encouraged to come early and bring their lawn chairs, picnic baskets and blankets. Please no glass containers!

Parking is available to the public at the West Campus Parking Garage on the Texas A&M University campus. Shuttles will begin running at 4:30 p.m. from the garage to the Museum. Handicapped parking is available in Lot 41 in front of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum entrance.

For more information, please call (979) 691-4068.

Washington on the Brazos

Celebrate America’s independence on the site where Texas declared her independence!  Enjoy a full day of festivities on Tuesday, July 4th at the “Birthplace of Texas,” Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site.  Admission to the Park is free, and activities will be held from 10:00a.m. until 10:00p.m.

Children can participate in period games from the late 1800’s beginning at 6:30 p.m.  Free Blue Bell ice cream and free Coca-Cola drinks will be served at 7:00p.m. At 8:00p.m. relax with a picnic and listen to the Houston Symphonic Band perform patriotic favorites. The highlight of the celebration begins at approximately 9:15p.m. when HEB presents Fireworks-on-the-Brazos – an enormous fireworks extravaganza that can be viewed from all locations within the 293 acre park.

Visitors can tour historic sites within the park during the day, including Barrington Living History Farm, Independence Hall, and the Star of the Republic Museum.  Regular admission/tour fees apply. Call 936-878-2214 for tour hours and fees.

Food vendors will offer a variety of food choices on-site.  Visitors may wish to bring picnics, blankets or lawn chairs, and flashlights.  State park rules apply; alcohol prohibited.

Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site is located halfway between Brenham and Navasota on State Hwy. 105, approximately one hour northwest of Houston.  Directions and more information are available by calling 936-878-2214.

Family Movie Opening this week: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs…Opening Wednesday the 1st of July…here are more movie times. Looks like it’s in 3D. We watched Bolt in 3D And it was pretty cool. Toy Story 3 is gonna be 3D. Up is still playing…if you haven’t watched Up, go watch that. I cried within the first 30 minutes…great movie. We didn’t watch it in 3D, but I heard it was really fantastic in 3D.

Here are some other things that might interest you:

Soggy Bottom ATV Ranch

Independence Day, Picnic at the Lake [more]
* Come hang out, listen to music and enjoy all the activities, celebrating the birth of our proud nation.
* 4 on 4 Water Volleyball Tournament, Prizes to be given.
* Washers Tournament
* Free hot dogs and sodas while supplies last.
* Bring your fireworks and let’s have a blast!
* Regular park hours, gates will open at 8 AM on Thursday and close Sunday at dark.
* Normal Park Rates Apply
* Mud Races

Live Music:

Stafford Downtown Bryan: Reverend J Goodin and Bulletproof Brown – 9pm

Other Events:

Aquablast at the Bryan Aquatic Center. Celebrating their 25th Birthday from 1-7pm $3 admission.  For more information call 979-209-5222

Triumph Homeschool Community: 4th of July Picnic! Cornerstone Acres, 5105 Wallis Road beginning 6:30 p.m. [more]

Traditions Club House: Food and Fun. Live music by Elmo Weedon (Traditions memebers only)

JJ’s Snow Cones: Don’t forget to stop by to get an ice cold yummy snow cone.

5th of July

Texas World Speedway: Fireworks, Miata Ride Along, Vintage Indy Car races, Burn out contest, 5K Fun Run. Check it out.

Have fun!

Healthy and Organic Grocery Store in Bryan

OK, so many of you have probably already seen this, but the Appletree on Briarcrest is now a Village Foods.

We found out because we received a Wednesday “Weekly” flyer in the mail advertising healthy food products. Coming from San Antonio, we miss going to Whole Foods, Central Market and even Sun Harvest. Here in College Station and Bryan, there are only a few places to go for healthy food, organic stuff and herbs and vitamins.

Brazos Natural Foods over on Texas and Rosemary is the obvious place, then there’s the HEB on Texas and Holloman…they have a natural foods section, so does the Kroger on Boonville and HWY 6.

So, we were excited that someone brought a natural foods place the likes of Whole Foods or Sun Harvest..

Well, we were a little bit disappointed. OK, only because our expectation was so high, but it’s a great store. Here is an exceprt from their website:

Village Foods is locally owned.  We live right here in Brazos County with you.  (Did you know that for every $1 you spend locally, 45 cents stays in the community?  If you shop at a chain, the community only keeps 14 cents.*)

If you have been shopping at AppleTree on Briarcrest Drive for the last 20 years (or any portion of that), then you may be worried about what we are going to do with your store.  Well, we hope to continue to provide all the things you wanted before – and to provide great options in case you would like to eat a little (or a lot) better.

Most of the merchandise we offer will be the very same as you have been buying.  We have consolidated space (and eliminated low-demand items) so we could add more than 7,000 new natural, organic, or better-for-you items.

Our intent is for this assortment to save you time by allowing you to get everything you need in one trip, to one store.  (We believe it will improve and extend your life too, but you may not be ready to hear about that yet.) (read more here)

OK, it’s definitely a bigger section than the other stores in town. I am really impressed by their standards and how much they are doing to trying to be a really great store. Go to the website and read their “About Us”. Very cool.

What they do have is a Gluten Free Section. It’s at least one whole aisle (maybe two) with Gluten free stuff. That’s pretty cool, Expecially if you are one of those people with wheat allergies or are just trying to cut out wheat from your diet. It is a pretty good selection.

They also have Xylitol products, which are good for your teeth. They have gum and toothpaste. We like this stuff. See, cavities are caused by bacteria, not by sugar. Bactiria grows where there’s sugar, but the sugar itself is not the culprit. Xylitol kills the bacteria in your mouth, so it’s actually doing good in your mouth. I would say better than flouride, but that’s another story.

Another thing they have is local honey. And by local I mean from College Station…not Snook or Spring or somewhere in the vicinity…actually local. That’s a good thing. We look for local honey wherever we live. It’s good for helping your body become accustom to the pollens and stuff in the area…which could help alleviate allergies from the stuff that’s around here…which is quite a bit.

Oh, they also have a large selection of healthy frozen and dairy stuff, including Water Oak Farms Goat products. Try the Brazos Supreme Goat Milk Ice Cream…it’s really tasty. Those guys know what they are doing when it comes to making sure their goat milk doesn’t taste too goaty.

Can’t Make It to the Texas Reds Festival?

The Texas Reds Festival is upon us…why they don’t do this in the Spring on the Fall is beyond me. It’s gonna be hot. I don’t think I can make it this year…too bad for me. There will be a bunch of bands,  yummy food, Candy 95 is doing the Grape Stomp…but it’s gonna be hot.

OK, so, if you can’t make it out there (or don’t want to) you have an option (well, a suggestion anyway)…The Republic Steakhouse. (on Tarrow and University across the street from the Hilton)

My wife and I recently had the privilege to eat at this fine dining restaurant, and we were very pleased.

Our server was Seth. He’s a student at A&M, and very knowlegable pertaining to the food we were being served, wine pairings, sauces, even the tastes of the different tomatoes in their new Caprisi Salad. Oh, I am getting ahead of myself.

The atmosphere of The Republic is really nice. Clean, tidy and very nicely decorated. Seth greeted us and took our drink orders, then went through the menu with us. He really made everything sound good, but was fully prepared to suggest what he thought was the best.

We shared a cocktail…a Lay Down Sally. It had a basil leaf sitting in it. Really tasty. No idea what it is…can’t find it with Google. It tasted like maybe grapefruit or something. It was pink. Seth suggested it because my wife wanted something sweet. Maybe if you are reading this and you know what’s in it, leave a comment below.

First was a slice of bread and butter with their “Citrus Smoked Kosher Sea Salt”. Seth explained how the citrus was cooked and the smoke let rise onto the salt. Apparently the same way they smoke their panceta. I don’t know if I could taste the citrus, but it was yummy. They don’t give out much bread, but we didn’t come for the bread.

We started with the cheese plate. This was amazing. Manchego, Brie, white cheddar, apple jelly, fresh honeycomb (yeah, it was awesome), fresh parmesean crackers, pecan toast (I think it was pecan), cranberries, blue cheese…oh, so good. We put all sorts of them together. The brie and the apple butter on the pecan toast, the blue cheese and the cranberries on the parmesean crackers, the Manchego and the honeycomb on the bread. Just wonderful.

We left most of the blue cheese…not a big fan.

So, next was the salad. My wife had a baby beet and goat cheese on field greens. She loved it. I had the Caprisi salad. In-season heirloom tomatoes…yum. Purple Cherokee was my favorite, although Mr. Stripey was pretty tasty too.

Next, the chef really went all out and prepared a “Entremez” (that’s what we called it in Spain). A palate cleanser of sorts. It was three freshly made sorbets. One was a blood orange sorbet with candied peel, another was a granny smith apple sorbet and the third was a cherry coke sorbet with a brandied Marachino. Apparently, the Cherry Coke one was debuted on us…we loved it. These were all in little demitas cups (I totally thought about snagging one of those they were just so cute).

OK, so, the main meal.

My wife went with the Lamb Chops. She said they were excellent. I went with the Filet Mignon. Really tasty. We are notversed on cooking temperatures of meat, so we don’t quite know how we like our meat cooked…or what it’s called when there is a little bit or red inside, but it’s not cold. Anyway, Seth had specific suggestions as to what temperature should not be exceeded. The chops will get dry if they are cooked too much, etc. We were both very pleased with the selections, and the suggestions.

We both chose sides: Asparagus (that was so crunchy and so good), Fingerling Potatoes Lyonnaise (with sauteed onions), Cauliflower gratin and surprisingly, Macaroni and Cheese. Funny, right? Actually, Seth suggested it as his favorite starch. He said it’s the kind that kids don’t like, but parents love. It’s had japanese breadcrumbs and parmesean cheese…very good. Yeah, I was surprised.

So, the meat came with four sauces. Seth explained them all in full detail. There was a Bernaise, a house steak sauce, a wine based sauce and a Chimichurri sauce. It was difficult to pick our favorites. They all added so much yumminess to the meat.

Oh, and my Filet Mignon was nice and thick. My wife felt strange about picking up and eating the rest of the meat off the bone, so she asked Seth about the correct etiquette and he let us know…totally ok. I’m telling you, these servers really know their stuff. We tried to stump our Seth with a couple of questions, but we couldn’t.

For dessert we had the Marie Antoinette, a chocolate/mousse/cake thing. Really really tasty. And not overly rich on the chocolate. Oh and this dessert came with The Republic’s own Almond Brittle. Wow, that was amazing stuff. They would have to hide these from me if I was working there. I would go back just for that stuff. They should sell it at the front.

All around, it was wonderful food, great service and my wife and I felt totally pampered. All the servers were very professional and respectful, and the hostess was totally sweet. She came to our table a couple of times to make sure everything was good.

Seemingly effortless, but definitely a four diamond establishment.

Four Diamond
These establishments are upscale in all areas. Accommodations are progressively more refined and stylish. The physical attributes reflect an obvious enhanced level of quality throughout. The fundamental hallmarks at this level include an extensive array of amenities combined with a high degree of hospitality, service, and attention to detail.

When one course was finished, new utensils were brought out. The attention to detail was impeccable.

Seth mentioned that everything we ate that night was local or made in house. The basil leaf in our drink was pulled fresh from their garden in front of the restaurant. The Heirloom Tomatoes were grown and harvested from the owner’s garden. Local meat, local veggies, house made sauces, sorbet, etc.

We were there about 2 hours and had to leave to relieve the babysitter, so we missed the musician that came on right as we were leaving. They have music at the bar a few nights a week.

So, if you are planning on NOT going to the Texas Reds Festival, but still want a steak and some fine wine, check out the Republic. We are glad we did. And I feel like I am educated about food, at least the food at The Republic. I know I didn’t mention everything our server told us, there was just so much…as you can tell by the length of this post.

Thank you Wade Barkman (owner), Seth (our server) and big props to the Chef, and everyone else who served us. I hope there’s another opportunity soon to go back.

Tasty Tacos from a Truck

You know wherePost Oak Mall is right? That’s Harvey Road. Go East (under HWY 6) and travel for 2 or 3 miles. You will pass Koppe Bridge and C&J’s BBQ on the right. Right after C&J’s, there’s a traffic light. Take a right (toward Carlos) and in less than a mile, across from Powersports Gym, you should see a Taco Truck.

Now, you have to go during the week between 7am and 1pm. They serve really tasty breakfast tacos and also lunch tacos. They make their own tortillas, and their own hot sauce.

Their breakfast tacos are $1.50, and they are not “skinny”.

The owners are real sweet too. They actually live right behind where they park the truck.

Totally worth the extra few minute drive to get tacos.

Enjoy

Here’s a map of the area.