Brew Ha-Ha!

 

Trying out this new header graphic for the 2021 Enjoy All The Things challenge. I think I like it. Up next on the local coffee shops, a favorite of mine for their delicious cake balls, Brew Ha-Ha!

Anyway, back to my treat myself day... so after that amazing lunch from Monjuni's, I knew I wanted to grab a coffee and some cake balls to go before heading back to the office. Full disclosure, I completely planned this treat myself lunch around an errand I had to do on Jefferson. Granted, it was on Jefferson nowhere near Monjuni's and Brew Ha-Ha! but it was a very round about way to get back to my office and I felt like I deserved a longer lunch break because work had been really hectic for a few weeks leading up to this day. 

When I walked inside Brew Ha-Ha!, I was greeted by a case full of a ridiculous amount of cake ball options. If I was a good food blogger, I would have taken a picture for you. I've failed you, world. However, I let a few people cut in front of me in line because I had a really hard time narrowing it down to the 2 cake balls that I was going to leave with. 

It's my turn to order, and I get up to the counter and order my coffee. When the barista asks if I would like anything else, I begin my cake ball order: a Zulu king cake, a regular king cake and a red velvet. Ok, so my 2 cake balls turned into 3 because I couldn't decide between which of the king cake cake balls I wanted. 🤷 When she asked if I wanted a white chocolate or a milk chocolate red velvet, I almost panicked because that was another level of questions I hadn't debated! I went with my gut and got the milk chocolate. 

King Cake (upper left), Zulu King Cake (upper right), Red Velvet (bottom)

I started with the Zulu king cake. For almost this entire cake ball, I forgot that Zulu king cakes have coconut. I kept thinking the texture was odd, but never put it together until I looked at the inside of it. I love coconut flavor, but am not a fan of the texture. I picked the coconut out and continued to finish this cake ball. 

Next up was the regular king cake. This is the one that I knew I was taking a gamble on flavor wise. I am not an overly big fan of cinnamon. The largest amount of cinnamon I consume is during king cake season, and even then, if there's A LOT of cinnamon, I won't finish a slice. 🙈 I took the first bite and initially enjoyed the flavor, until the cinnamon kicked in. Most people would love this one, but for me, it was just too much cinnamon flavor. 

I ended on the red velvet because I knew I would love it. Red velvet is a cake that I really enjoy, but never think about making it myself. However, if presented as an option, it is always a contender for my dessert choice. 

One of the things I love the most about Brew Ha-Ha! is the branding. It's always easy to spot a Brew Ha-Ha! cup when you see Gabby's face. If you're able to stay and enjoy your coffee, this place has a really cool vibe. There's tons of art from local artist on the walls and the furniture they have is super cute. I've never had a barista who wasn't awesome, so feel free to take their recommendations. I'm not super adventurous, so I either get a latte or a cafe au lait. But no matter what you get, save room for multiple servings of cake balls. 

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Monjuni's Italian Restaurant

 

One of my favorite "treat yourself" restaurants in Baton Rouge is Monjuni's. One of my best friends introduced me to Monjuni's when I was visiting her in Shreveport, and I fell in love with their red sauce immediately. Their red sauce is different than most places as it has a sweeter taste, which makes me keep going back for another bite until I'm sad that it's all gone. 

Some people say that the décor of Monjuni's is cheesy, but I love it. It makes me feel like I've stepped into the stereotypical Italian grandma's home. It's definitely an ambiance I can get behind. 

When you sit down, you're brought their garlic toast with the red sauce which instantly sends me to a happy place. I love bread, I love this red sauce, and when I'm out of bread, I have no shame and will spoon the rest of the sauce out until the bowl is empty. 

Garlic Toast? Yes, please!

I came here for lunch and decided to order from the lunch menu. It took me some time to decide what I wanted because there were so many good options! Their lasagna is amazing. I love their Neapolitan stuffed shells. You can't go wrong with their toasted ravioli. I finally settled on their half po-boy and salad. 

I went with the meatball po-boy (because I LOVE meatball po-boys) and a Caesar salad. There is a small bowl for the salad, so it was hard to mix it but it was still good and I enjoyed all of it. The pasta salad was a nice surprise and had a good flavor. The extra red sauce on the side 😋 made this sandwich more like an "Italian dip" in my mind. 

Side View 😋

Those meatballs 😳😋

The half of a meatball po-boy has two HUGE meatballs and lots of melty provolone cheese. The sauce to dip it in is a perfect addition since it lets you add as much sauce as you want. The half po-boy is a meal in itself, but I would probably eat a full one if it was put in front of me because it is so good!

After leaving a happy plate at Monjuni's, I headed a few doors down to grab a coffee and some dessert to go before heading back to my office from Brew Ha-Ha. (More on that later this week!) If you're in Mid-City, the Monjuni's/Brew Ha-Ha combo is definitely one that I would recommend for lunch or even dinner!

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Hunan Chinese Restaurant

 

Last year began my journey to explore outside of the restaurants that I live in. I started these adventures across the area through pizza, and am continuing this year with coffee shops and bakeries. One of the cottage bakeries I have discovered in the past few years did a Yelp event, and I was invited to partake in a Yelp perk for the Lunar New Year which took me to Hunan Chinese Restaurant. One of my really good friends told me that Hunan was the GOAT of Chinese restaurants in Baton Rouge, so I did what I always do at Chinese restaurants, ordered too much food and am currently trying to resist going into a food coma. 

Chicken Lo Mein

The Yelp perk was for a free order of chicken lo mein. Normally, I don't order lo mein. I feel people tend to fall into either Team Rice or Team Noodles when they eat Chinese food, and I'm very much Team Rice. Although I do like the noodles on a rare occasion. These noodles are the best noodles I've ever had. I think that I've always been Team Rice because I've never eaten at Hunan until today. Hunan could easily convert me to Team Noodles. The texture (a little chewy), the flavor (great), the chicken (tender and juicy) made me go back for a second helping. (Not a second helping this size, there is still some of this dish in the fridge for tomorrow, even with kiddo's help in eating it.) 

Sweet & Sour Shrimp

When I opened up the container of sweet and sour shrimp, I did NOT expect this many shrimp. Y'all, there was easily 3-4 dozen shrimp or more in this container, along with the veggies and the pineapple. (Sauce not pictured) The shrimp were perfectly fried and the chunks of veggies and pineapple really added to the flavor with the rice and the sauce. (There is also still some of this in the fridge, even with help from kiddo AND my mom.) 

Happy Plate 

I also ordered a small wonton soup, which was enough for kiddo and I to split while we attempted to make a dent in the entrees. I hear this place has a lunch buffet, and I definitely need to make plans to go back for that so I can just sample everything on their menu. I was blown away with not only the size of the portions of the food, but with how much I enjoyed the food. Even though I was full, I kept eating until I really couldn't eat any more because it is just THAT GOOD. 

Have you been to Hunan? Are you in agreement with my friend that it's the GOAT or is there another Chinese restaurant that you think could give it some competition? Do you want to meet me there for dinner so we can split about 10 entrees? What should I try there next? Until next time, friends, I'm off to take my "I ate too much Chinese food nap" ... or sleep since it's too late to nap. 

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In The Kitchen: King Cake

 

Quarantine has taught me how much I enjoy cooking classes. I may not be the best at whatever we are making, and I may experience some frustration, but I do enjoy learning and trying new recipes. This year, I decided that I was going to attempt to make a king cake ... from scratch. I saw that Yelp had a virtual event with Murmurs of Ricotta to make her Soft & Fluffy Mardi Gras King Cake. While I was unable to attend the class, we were all sent the recipe in advance, so I got to attempt to make it on my own time. 

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I had some issues both times I tried to make this king cake. 😂 The first time, I didn't have the milk quite hot enough to activate my yeast. Then I don't have a paddle attachment or dough hook to my stand mixer, so the dough kept trying to climb out of the bowl which led to me mixing it by hand, literally with my hands...and if you know me, then you know I HATE mixing dough with my hands. I opted to do a chocolate filling that I found online instead of the cinnamon one, as my family is not big on a lot of cinnamon. Even with all the complications, my king cake (or king croissant as my boss called it) turned out pretty lovely. 

This king cake was one of the tastiest I've ever had, so I was anxious to make it again for Mardi Gras Day! Round 1 had a few hiccups but turned out great, so Round 2 should be even better! So I thought ...

I started this second attempt to make a king cake super excited and ready to take on the world! I got my milk at the perfect temperature and my yeast began doing exactly what the recipe said it should be doing. I felt very confident going into the whole dough mixing, dough folding, dough sitting in the fridge overnight process. 

Proof that I have been mixing this dough by hand 

Monday hit and what do you know...it seems like hell literally froze over and spilled over into Louisiana. I had heard the rumors that we might get ice, snow, freezing temperatures, etc. These are things that I've heard before and had not happened, very much like the boy who cried wolf. Well, the wolf was here! There was ice everywhere and since I did not mix my dough by hand for nothing, I decided to wake up early and try to get this king cake baked before we lost power. 

Let's do this!

I started making my filling, and already I could tell that something was off. No matter how many extra tablespoons of flour I added, it just would not thicken up. Oh well, gotta make it work! I moved on to rolling out my dough, and even with rolling it out on parchment paper that was floured AND sprayed with some no-stick spray, it was sticking to the parchment paper. Oh well, gotta make it work! I poured my filling on the dough and attempted to roll it up and make the flip onto the baking sheet. My filling kept coming out, the dough refused to stay rolled, and I could see that a flip was not going to be possible. 

Oh well, gotta make it work! Since my dough was already on parchment paper, I decided to call this piece of "bakery art" a molten lava style king cake, to salvage what little of my pride was now left on the floor of the kitchen after I had repeated for the 30th time this cake was a disaster. 

Before the bake

But, I did not go through all of this work to throw this in the garbage. I was baking this beautiful in its own way molten lava style king cake. I didn't proof it for the last hour and a half before baking because I was concerned that my electricity would go off before I put it in the oven. Oh well, gotta make it work! In to the oven it goes, and I told myself I wasn't rotating it halfway through the bake time like you were supposed to because those seconds could be the difference in getting this cake baked before power went out. 

The timer goes off and it's time to see my finished product. It's not winning any beauty contests, but it does taste pretty good. Kiddo refuses to eat it because she says it looks like someone pooping, and I now have a "poop cake" all to myself, and I'm not sad about it. 

Oh well, gotta make it work! Was the mantra of this second baking process, and I think God was laughing at me the entire time because he never let us lose power so I get to see my poop cake every time I go to cut a slice in all of its glory. 

If there is anything I learned from this experience, it is that king cakes are worth every penny you pay for someone else to bake them. Support your local bakeries, and save yourself the heartache and the loss of your self-worth and pride. At least I have some chocolatey goodness to ease that ache with. 

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!

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Fuzzy's Taco Shop

 

Fuzzy's Taco Shop is one of our favorite places in Baton Rouge. When we first moved here, kiddo wanted to eat here at least once a week. We've started branching out to other restaurants, but sometimes you just need a good Taco Tuesday (or Margarita Thursday for those of you of age) in your life. 

Good Vibes Start With Queso

Even when I go to Fuzzy's without kiddo, I always have to start with some chips and queso. I'm not a fan of pico (which makes lots of Mexican food lovers cringe, I know!) so I always ask for it off. Their queos with chorizo is essentially a meal in itself, but this past trip I just stuck to the regular queso. Side note, you can't go wrong with their salsa either. Hmmm...now I'm planning my next trip to eat just chips, salsa and queso with chorizo ... 😋

Absolutely Spec-taco-lar!

I really like tacos. And the longer my friends and I sat and talked this visit, the more I wanted tacos. So I decided to go with a couple of shrimp tacos on corn tortillas. I'm pretty plain when it comes to tacos, just give me the meat, lettuce and cheese and I'm all set! But always on a corn tortilla! 

Be sure to check out Fuzzy's on Tuesdays for their discounted tacos, Thursdays for their 2 for 1 margaritas, or any day you're feeling like you need some laid back queso in your life. 

Are you team flour or team corn tortilla? For you margarita drinkers, do you prefer frozen or on the rocks? Flavored margaritas or just traditional? Queso vs. Salsa? I feel like these are all very important questions that should be added to any conversation where you're getting to know someone. When the world is back to normal, and we're meeting new people again, let's meet at Fuzzy's and compare answers. 

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Magpie Cafe

 

I've driven by Magpie Café quite often on my way to and from Overpass Merchant. I always thought it looked super cute, but way too trendy for me to try. One of my Monday OPM crew members told me this was her favorite coffee shop in Baton Rouge, then I saw Southern Flair listed it in her king cake bucket list, so I followed on them on Instagram and saw a picture of the king cakes and was sold. 

I seized the perfect opportunity to pop in one day before work on my way to an in-person meeting (who knew those happened anymore!) at one of our facilities. Now that morning I saw they had some paleo king cakes and while I wanted a not healthy one, figured I could suck it up and make this slightly healthier sacrifice for the sake of the bucket list and the blog. 

When I walked inside the first thing I noticed was that this place was a lot bigger on the inside (kind of like the Tardis for any Dr. Who fans out there) The staff was super friendly, and yes a lot hipper than I am. I feel like most people who work in coffee shops are hipper than I am, and I spend too much time trying to not stand out too much when I go to these places. But back to this story ...

The first thing I noticed when I walked up was the gorgeous pastry board. While the young lady behind the register proceeded to tell me about all the pastries, my mind was focused on the king cake. Before she could start telling me about the paleo one, she mentioned they also had some regular king cakes stuffed with cream cheese. I felt like a jerk stopping her in the middle of her pitch for the paleo one (she seemed to be a fan) but she had me at cream cheese. This was a sign that I had made the right call, and I was hoping this would set my morning off on the right note. 

How cute are the pastry boxes and the coffee cup sleeves?

The overall vibe of the coffee shop made me feel almost as if I was in my grandma's dining room. I don't know if it's because I just felt like I had walked into someone's home, but while my brain told me I probably would just end up taking my latte and king cake to go, I felt like I didn't want to leave. So, I pulled out my book and decided to stay until I had to leave for my meeting. 

This king cake was the perfect sweet breakfast treat. It wasn't too full of cream cheese, but it had a lot of cream cheese which is how I like my king cakes. 😉 I could have saved half of it for later, but it was so good that I didn't want to stop eating it. 

This latte was the perfect drink to pair with the king cake. I'll definitely be back for multiple visits because the list of pastries both sweet and savory that I want to try from them is growing by the day. Have you been to Magpie? If so, what is your pastry of choice?

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Noble By The Pound

 

I first heard of Noble By The Pound from Instagram when Market at the Oasis had their post in their story about being at the market that weekend. I was very intrigued because I feel that pound cake is one of the most underrated desserts out there. It's so versatile! You can dress a pound cake up with different flavors, or toppings (fruit, chocolate shavings, etc.), or ice cream/whipped cream, or insert a bazillion other cool things you can do with pound cake! So a baker specializing in pound cakes was someone I knew I had to check out. 

How it all started 

It all started with this lemon pound cake. I went to the Market fully planning to get a slice of plain pound cake, but desserts with lemon are hard for my to resist so I snagged this guy for me and grabbed a lemon blueberry one for my mom. The crust was perfection, the cake was moist with a great lemon flavor that you could taste without being overpowering, and the cream cheese frosting was to die for! I knew this was going to have to become something in the rotation of my weekends off, which early in the year are not often, so I try to cram all the things into the ones I have. And there's always room for good food, especially of the dessert variety in those weekends. 

Enter Yelp...

Since Instagram is where I get all of my news related to local restaurants and local events, I saw that Yelp was doing a virtual cookie cake baking class with Noble By The Pound. While my mind started envisioning a cookie cake/pound cake mashup, it was clear that was not what was being offered. However, I like cookie cake and quarantine taught me that I enjoy virtual cooking classes even if I'm not the best in the kitchen, so I signed up. 

The class as a lot of fun, so fun I signed up for another virtual Yelp cooking class as soon as it ended. The cookie cakes were extremely moist, even the next day with me leaving them out in the open air. The outside was slightly crunchy with a moist chewy inside. Instead of making a double layer cookie cake, I opted for two smaller cakes thinking it would last longer. I was wrong. The class was on Thursday night and by noon on Saturday the cakes were demolished. 

An unexpected highlight of the class? I was one of the people chosen to win two baby pound cakes! Very exciting since I was already planning to make a trip to The Market that Saturday to buy some slices from them. The weekend just got more exciting. 

Before I left to go pick up my baby pounds, my mom told me she saw they would be having brownie cupcakes at The Market. Brownies are my mom's favorite dessert, so I knew that was a subtle hint to bring some home. However, when I got to there, I saw one of my favorite flavors in cookie form - red velvet. Now I was torn. I came into this with mindset to only spend a certain amount of money. Do I get the brownies or do I get the red velvet cookies? Panic set in my brain until I saw this ...

The Valentine's Box

The Valentine's Box that has the best of both worlds! It has brownie cupcakes, it has red velvet cookies, it is very attractively packaged and has some Hershey Kisses thrown inside for some extra sweets for your sweet...or yourself. 

Brownie Cupcakes - Order them all. SO GOOD!

Red Velvet Cookies

And those baby pounds? Even more adorable than you can picture. The presentation of all of these treats was extremely professional and high level. 

Peep that doily underneath. How classy!

If you haven't had the chance to sample some of their treats, do yourself a favor and get some. Check out their website to sign up for email list and place an order, or follow them on Instagram to see where they will be popping up next. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the brownie cupcakes become a staple on the menu, or at least a regular in the rotation at their Market appearances. If not, I'll just happily settle for sampling a variety of pound cakes because pound cakes truly are dessert stars when you get one from Noble By The Pound. 

Don't forget to hit me up with your suggestions on local coffee shops and bakeries/bakers that I need to check out during my 2021 Enjoy All the Things Challenge of coffee shops and bakeries. Until next time, keep enjoying all the things!

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Highland Coffees

 

More coffee shops need to be open in the evenings. I say this as someone who would love to grab a coffee after work on the nights that I don't have kiddo. A good coffee, good pastry, good book, and good people watching should not just be reserved for the mornings. So, one day after work, I went to grab a bite to eat near campus so I could have an evening coffee for dessert at Highland Coffees. 

Proof that this was an evening coffee

If there was any more proof that coffee shops should stay open later, it was how many people were at Highland Coffees when I got there. It wasn't super late, maybe 6:30ish, but this place was pretty packed. After I walked in, there were about 5 people who walked in after me, so I slightly order panicked and did not get a pastry. (Missed opportunity) However, this was the first coffee shop I've been to that asked me what kind of espresso I wanted (dark, please!) which I appreciated. In fact, I think this is what made me enjoy this latte the most out of the ones I've had so far. 

It was pretty packed in Highland Coffees, so I opted to enjoy my latte in the adorable courtyard area. While I'm sure this courtyard is amazing during the day, I have to admit I found it almost magical at night. See for yourself...

Like a scene from a movie

I can see many more trips to Highland Coffees in my future. Have you been? If so, what pastry do you recommend? Also, now that I've been once, it's time to expand my drink selection. Should I get something besides a latte? Stick around for more coffee updates!

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