Hula Cowgirl Shaved Ice

I had to take a break from blogging, but I'm back! On September 30th, Seven and Nine (yep, we survived birthday season!) had a school fundraiser to Hula Cowgirl Shaved Ice. We decided it was a hot enough day to go support the shaved ice school fundraiser! Supporting the school and eating are two of my favorite activities!

Seven and Nine enjoying Seven's ice cream, my strawberry daiquiri with cream shaved ice, and Nine's coconut shaved ice.

The storefront is tucked away from the road by San Gabriel River, across Austin Ave. from Hat Creek Burger Company, near the Georgetown, Texas town square. I'll have a throwback blog for Hat Creek soon.

Hula Cowgirl is a small shop. It has a contemporary-country feel with a bubble chandelier, a striped accent wall, and wooden and teal metal picnic tables.

The girls were not impressed when I tried to sneak a picture of them and the chandelier.

There is a massive chalkboard with all the flavors listed. On the counter is a "secret list" of flavors that are only published there. In all, there are probably 55 flavors of shaved ice. Part of the counter houses the ice cream. There are 12 flavors of ice cream to choose from, lots of normal flavors, but a few seasonal treats like peach were included in their ice cream offerings.

The massive chalkboard with all the options.

The shaved ice sizes are enormous. My strawberry daiquiri was a small and that was the perfect size for me. Just big enough to get a manageable brain freeze! Nine tried to convince me we should get the large and share as a family. Maybe we'll do that again sometime, but I like the option of different flavors. The bases for the shaved ice cups are small, so we were provided with PVC pipes covered in cute duct tape to help stabilize our frozen treats. I should point out there is a kid size not shown.

More guests pondering their options and helping the school fundraiser.

The lady is nice, but she was the only one working. She was fast, efficient, and patiently explained how to order. I believe most of us coming in that afternoon were first time customers who wanted to help support the school fundraiser.

What sets this place apart from other snow-cone places is that the ice is shaved very fine. It melts in your mouth without any ice chunks. We had the option of adding cream or even ice cream to our shaved ice. I've never had that option before, so I went with the cream. It helped tame the super sweetness; however,the cream didn't reach all the way to the bottom of the cup. There was minimal pooling of extra syrup in the bottom of the cup, but not so much to make me want to pucker up and toss the rest.

Hula Cowgirl Shaved Ice is perfect for a hot summer day! We will be back, especially since autumn didn't get the memo that it should get cooler in October in Texas.

Eats on 8th

Kyla and I have discovered that we love it when our kids are invited over for spontaneous sleep overs at their friend's house.  Sleep overs mean date night, which also equates to us trying out a new Central Texas gem or going back to one of our favorites.  For this occasion we revisited a favorite of ours, but one we haven't written about yet - Eats on 8th in Georgetown.

Eats on 8th is another quaint restaurant on Georgetown's town square that prides itself on only using the freshest local ingredients for their culinary creations.  The restaurant is located just off the square in an old Victorian style house with both outdoor and indoor seating available.  While the decor and ambiance alludes to a fine dining experience, the welcoming atmosphere and friendly staff will make even the most casual diner feel right at home. Kyla and I still like to "dress to impress" for our dates - which after ten years of marriage normally means Kyla will wear make up and I'll find a shirt with a collar and use that cologne that I got on our honeymoon.  Other than that we were totally in shorts and flipflops for our evening out.

Quaint setting with great eats on 8th Street.

We of course had to start with wine, and while the wine list is modest, it is more extensive than most places we've found in Georgetown.  I had a nice red zinfandel while Kyla went for her favorite varietal pinot noir.  We were pretty hungry so an appetizer was in order, and there are plenty of interesting choices on the menu from duck fat fried potatoes to scallop ceviche.  We both decided we needed some more vegetables in our diet and begrudgingly turned down the duck fat fries in favor of a side salad.  One of the draws to the side salad was that from the menu description, it didn't look like your typical side salad.  With mixed greens, spinach, honey balsamic vinaigrette, bleu cheese, avocado, figs, heirloom tomatoes, candies walnuts, and fuji apples we were intrigued.  That intrigue ended up being the best salad either of us had in a long while.  The honey vinaigrette was the right combination of sweet and tangy, with the sweetness from the figs, walnuts, and apples providing a nice balance to the heartiness of the tomatoes, bleu cheese, and avocados.

Our first dilemma of the night, choosing a starter

Mix of fine and casual dining with the mason jar water glasses - collared shirt and flipflop material with the best salad ever

Deciding on a starter was only our first decision making cross-road of the evening.  We also had to choose an entree, which was an even more daunting task given the choices available.  Kyla's choice was slightly easier since she is a sucker for scallops, and the seared scallops with corn puree, fennel, sliced almonds, and apple wood smoked bacon immediately called her name.  I was more conflicted over my choices, with seared duck breast, grilled quail, red snapper, and lobster mac n' cheese all calling to me.  I ended up going with none of those choices and settled on the bourbon candied pork belly with crispy beans, turnips, and pork cracklins instead.  

This is where eeny-meeny-miney-moe comes in handy

Both of our dishes were awesome.  With the hearty salad we had as a starter, I can honestly say that our opinions weren't unduly influenced by hunger.  Kyla's scallops were cooked to perfection with the corn puree providing an interesting flavor profile.  My pork belly was both savory and sweet with the bourbon glaze, but the biggest and most pleasant surprise for me was the texture and flavor of the crispy beans and how well they complimented both the flavor and texture of the pork.  I personally love it when the side dishes play an integral role in the meal as opposed to be simply a side, which the chefs at Eats on 8th definitely strive for.

Kyla enjoying her scallops and corn puree

Bourbon candied pork belly with crispy beans - as good as it sounds

Of course our night couldn't end without dessert.  The desserts are made fresh each night with the server giving you the daily choices.  I can't remember all of the choices, but the two that we went for were the chocolate roll up which was chocolate cake rolled with a cream cheese filling and topped with ganache, ice cream, and berry glaze - the other option we went for was a lemon-berry cheese cake.  Both desserts were good, but the cheesecake was the standout of the two.  The cheesecake was sweet, with a light texture that wanted to melt in our mouths as we ate it.  The chocolate roll up was the richer of the two desserts, making us glad we opted for coffee.  After polishing off dessert we were fully stuffed and walked away from Eats on 8th more than satisfied with our experience.

Desserts were not only tasty, but substantial

With Eats on 8th having a fairly large footprint just off the square and right across the street from the very popular 600 Degrees Pizzeria, the restaurant is fairly well known within Georgetown.  While Eats on 8th does enjoy a good reputation for quality, endorsements are typically given with a caveat that the place is expensive.  Since we are not locals and are accustom to the food prices of places like the greater Baltimore-Washington metro area and Monterey, we didn't find the price of dinner exceptionally expensive.  Eats on 8th costs as much as a typical night out in Monterey, but does cost more than the average small town Texas eatery.  Comparatively speaking, you get great value when you look at what you pay for what you get at Eats on 8th, making it another gem on the Georgetown square and saving us the drive to Austin for fine dining quality with a come as you are atmosphere.

600 Degrees Pizzeria

Despite the fact that we always have "pizza, PJ, movie night" on Friday, we decided to catch a matinee Saturday afternoon and head to the square for pizza afterward.  When it comes to pizza on Georgetown Square there are two excellent options, with 600 Degrees Pizzeria being the option we went for last night.  It was our second experience at 600 Degrees, with the first during the very busy weekend of the Georgetown Red Poppy Festival.  In both visits, 600 Degrees lived up to its reputation for outstanding pizza and service.

The Kids and Me checking out the red poppies

The first thing you'll notice with 600 Degrees is that the place is always busy.  There is some inside seating available, but it's tight - room for about 50 diners.  There is also a patio to sit at, so unless you're picky about sitting in an air conditioned restaurant, we recommend getting the first available table.  The wait does allow time to review the extensive beer list, and even enjoy your first drink before you're seated.  Since I had spent the better part of my day doing yard work, I chose Longfin Lager as I waited, while Kyla went for a pinot noir (forgive me, I can't remember the name for the life of me).  The restaurant is owned by Californian transplants, so the beer and wine list is heavily weighted to Californian and other west-of-the-Mississippi River choices.

This place is all about the pizza!

The one drawback to 600 Degrees is the limited wine list, which in retrospect isn't such a big deal.  As soon as you walk into the place, you know the focus is on the pizza, and pizza goes good with beer.  There are at least 30 different beers on tap, without a trace of Anheuser Busch, Coors, or Miller products listed on the menu.  There will be a beer to suit your mood, and I was happy with my "lawnmower beer" while we waited.  Later in the meal when I was in the mood for something stronger, I switched to a Stickee Monkee and was subsequently rewarded with the punch to the taste buds I was looking for.

 Enjoying a refreshing beer, and a glimpse of the beer selection behind me

Wings and the Stikee Monkee that hit me in the mouth with flavor

With my thirst thoroughly quenched, I was able to focus on the pizza.  To be honest, neither Kyla or I could recommend any of the regular menu items, because we never ordered a regular menu item (except wings, which we'll get to later).  There is one option at the way bottom of the menu that deserves your attention - the "Baker's Choice".  In essence, you tell the chef what you don't want, and give suggestions as to what you like, and the chef comes up with a custom creation just for you.  We tried this during the Red Poppy Festival and it came out awesome.  From what I remember we got a take on a hamburger pizza made with pita meat, cheddar cheese, red onions, ground beef, tomatoes, and poppy seeds on the crust - it was fantastic!  Last night we again went for the Baker's Choice and got grilled chicken, bacon, green onion, ranch, BBQ sauce, and cheddar - which was another phenomenal success.  All of those ingredients were on the amazing crust that could be a dish unto itself.  Our waitress said she loves it when customers roll the dice with the Baker's Choice because she's never seen the same thing made twice.  We HIGHLY recommend you try the baker's choice since you'll get a unique creation that will never be made again.  

Save yourself some time and skip to the bottom of the pizza options...

Last night's unique creation, with our oldest getting ready to claim her piece

In addition to our pizza, we decided to get some wings.  One of our deciding factors in ordering wings was the uniqueness of one of the choices.  While the standard hot, lemon pepper, and teriyaki choices were available, there was a "taco wing" choice that we decided we couldn't pass up.  True to its name, our wings tasted like taco meat with a dry rub that had the right combination of chili powder, cumin, and seasoning to make the wings taste like Taco Tuesday.  Even our youngest child, who doesn't eat wings at all, was demolishing some chicken prior to our pizza arriving.

Speaking of youngest and not liking things, our youngest is very picky when it comes to pizza.  Any sort of sauce, topping that she can't identify, or topping that she can identify (unless it's ham) is a no-go.  We've given up long ago and normally order cheese bread when we get pizza delivered just so we won't have to watch our youngest pick at a cold piece of pizza all night.  This sort of "refined taste" that our youngest has made going out for pizza a chore, but we have found that she loves the cheese pizza at 600 Degrees.  After 5:00 pm, you can only get cheese and pepperoni by the slice, so a slice of cheese is normally ordered in addition to our Baker's Choice.  A single slice is freaking enormous, and would be considered an entire pizza at lesser pizzerias.  I don't know if it was because lunch consisted of movie popcorn or the pizza is that good, but there was barely any cheese pizza remaining on our youngest's plate when we were done with dinner.

Yeah, that's a single slice

What would a dining experience be without great service?  Both experiences were met with friendly, knowledgeable waitresses. Even with a very busy atmosphere, the waitresses were attentive and helpful when needed.

The best part of the night, we got out of there for under $60, including our normal 20% tip! If you're in the mood for great pizza with a Californian flair, we highly recommend checking out 600 Degrees.