Monday, August 29, 2011

Stone Werks - That's not a Brownie... That's a Cake!


And the Taste Buds Say....
We should have known better.  It is called the Rockslide Brownie, but that is false advertisement for Brownie lovers, like myself.  Now, to give them a little credit, in the description is does say "A warm chocolate fudge top brownie cake..." but is it a brownie or a cake?  I am here to declare, it is a cake.  There were some things that were good about it.  I did like the cinnamon taste and the roasted brown sugar pecans, but again, it's a cake.  The ice cream was separate from the "brownie" which made it almost two separate desserts, rather than an a-la-mode that comes together in one.  So if, I was doing blog on cakes, this might get a different review, but since I'm not, and this was a cake, not a brownie, it doesn't impress me... 


So WARNING fellow Brownie Lovers out there, this is not a brownie a la mode... it's a cake with ice cream on the side.  


The memory and adventure behind the "brownie"...
This was a fun night!  A dear friend of mine, Laura, was in town getting her Texas fill since she is a sell out and left TEXAS for utah several years ago.  At least she realizes how cool Texas is and comes back to visit us often.  This was a girls night.  She was also visiting our friend Nicole, who is not a sell out and has stayed in Texas.  I met up with the girls to start it off right with pedicures.  Then we went to dinner at Stone Werks to try their "brownie" a la mode. After dinner Laura and I went shopping a little until the amazing firework show at Fiesta Texas.  It was so relaxing sitting in the parking lot watching the show.  The next day was spent on the river!  


The whole weekend was fun with Laura.  It was so good to see her, but my favorite memories with Nicole and Laura are 1. Fiesta Texas and 2. laughing our heads off at dinner.


1. Fiesta Texas - It was several years ago and Laura, her boyfriend Doug and Nicole all came down from Austin for a day of fun in San Antonio at Fiesta Texas.  We went and just had a ball.  We took silly pictures, rode the rides, just had a great time.  At the time I had a leg injury that required me to wear a brace that looked like a prothetic leg, so they kept telling me to use that as a way to get us up in line.  It was true, it was hard for me to stand long periods of time, so we did it a couple times and the people there at Fiesta Texas were kind enough to let up jump ahead.  At one point, Doug said to me, "try limping a little more.  It will make it look more real."  I wanted to say..."It is REAL!  I don't need to pretend to limp."  It was funny though.  After our long day at the park, we went downtown and were joined by our friends Jeff and Steve.  We went to this Mexican restaurant on the Riverwalk because we were starving and it didn't have a waitlist.  We soon found out why it didn't have a waitlist.  It was the worst Mexican restaurant I'd ever been to.  Luckily, I don't remember the name, otherwise, they would be done for on this blog.  None the less, it was a fun night.  We laughed so hard and just had a great time.  I always remember that day.


2. Laughing hard a dinner - Another time Laura came to visit, the three of us went to dinner at the Olive Garden and I don't remember exactly what we were talking about, I just remember us saying, "someone wasn't their usual baseball bat rude, but rude like a knife."  and I just remember us laughing so hard about that, to the point we were almost crying.  


One of my favorite memories of Nicole is when I had surgery on my ankle and she came over in the middle of her busy day in the middle of the week to bring me lunch.  Not only did she feed my body with yummy stir fry... she filled my heart with love and company as she stayed and filled the loneliness I was feeling being at home all day by myself.  I had so much fun.  She taught me a new card game (that I need to relearn) and just talked with me.  I know she had a lot going on that day.... and to THIS day, I still remember her kindness.  Thanks Nicole!  It meant a lot!


There are so many more memories... trips to Austin, trips to Utah, going to dinner, Nicole's birthday with Matt... So many things.  I am so grateful for these friends and the memories and the laughs!  

Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro - There is a reason it's not called Brownie A La Mode Bistro



And the Taste buds say....
Really?  This is the best you have?  It is very clear they focus their time on perfecting their cheesecake and neglect their brownie a la mode.  The brownie was dry and tasted like it was a day or two old... the kind of old when you make a pan of brownies at home and you leave for a couple days on a trip and come back and the brownies are hard, but you eat them anyways, because, well they are brownies and they can't go to waste... that's what this one tasted like.  And sure enough when we told our server their brownie would be featured on my blog and we thought they were dry she said, "That's probably because they were made yesterday."  Ah ha!  I knew it!  Do I know my brownies or what?!  Now, I will give them the fact that we were there at 9:45 PM and they were closing everything down, but still, quality people... quality.   

It was two brownies balanced on each other being supported by two scoops of ice cream.  The chocolate around the side was a nice touch.  Presentation wise, it looked yummy.  The first bite was good, but didn't make me melt.  The ice cream was nothing special.  Tasted like regular ice cream.  

Again, it wasn't horrible.  I think if we would have gotten a fresh brownie this post would be different.  I did eat it....just like I eat the outdated brownies in the pan at home.  

Memory and Adventure behind the Brownie
Even though the brownie may not have been great, the memory behind it was worth it.  I was in New Orleans for work and one of my friends there, someone from the company, offered for take me downtown to see New Orleans.  So he and his wife picked me up and we went to dinner at Red Fish Grill on Bourbon Street.  YUMMMY!  We had a tons of food!  Shrimp, red bean soup, oysters, fried eggplant, tuna... all yummy.  During dinner we were talking about my blog, which caused John to google brownie-a-la-modes in New Orleans.  He found one and started reading the description to us and we had to have it.  It looked SO good.  So after a fun dinner we walked down the "Bourbon strip"and back to our car and headed out to find that brownie a la mode.  We were determined to find that brownie.  We got to Copeland's around 9:30, got our dessert... Me my brownie, John his cheese cake and Michelle a little of each of ours.  We were all tired.... but were determined to get this brownie.  (Truth be told, John just wanted to be in the blog, he didn't care about the brownie.  :)  ) The moment came... there before me was this coveted brownie we read about on line... It look amazing....two brownies balanced on ice cream... as Michelle pointed out, the pretty chocolate drizzle on the side... and here came the first bite.... and here came the disappointment.  I thought it was going to be so great, but it was only good.  The funny part about the story is that Michelle took a little bit of the brownie and then a little bit of John's cheesecake and put it on her plate, by the time she went back for more of John's cheesecake, it was gone!  He inhaled it... which I guess that's why they are call CHEESECAKE Bistro.  It was a fun night.  I was very grateful for John and Michelle and their kindness to show me New Orleans.  Thanks guys for a fun night.  (Please note, that is John's arm in the picture.)  :)