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Check my latest video |
Vegan hot cheetos - Part 2
These chips are available locally at Tropicasa in McAllen, Tx.
or shop them on Amazon in the affiliate links below
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089B7Z34H/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B089B7Z34H&linkCode=as2&tag=thergvseems-20&linkId=b4c8c6671643b11cf770e8ad05b636e1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089B4ZK8V/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B089B4ZK8V&linkCode=as2&tag=thergvseems-20&linkId=eb044d55e479f876f393152971460e3e
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083VRVZ73/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B083VRVZ73&linkCode=as2&tag=thergvseems-20&linkId=06d28ea9cc848d67d77fb4ee81991d08
or shop them on Amazon in the affiliate links below
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089B7Z34H/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B089B7Z34H&linkCode=as2&tag=thergvseems-20&linkId=b4c8c6671643b11cf770e8ad05b636e1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089B4ZK8V/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B089B4ZK8V&linkCode=as2&tag=thergvseems-20&linkId=eb044d55e479f876f393152971460e3e
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083VRVZ73/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B083VRVZ73&linkCode=as2&tag=thergvseems-20&linkId=06d28ea9cc848d67d77fb4ee81991d08
Teddys bbq RevIew- coming soon
Food That's Really Making a Mark
The RGV is thriving left and right with new restaurants offering awesome eats that we locals have been craving. These are the most notable ones in my opinion.
Qweenie RGV
Dumplings- Motoramen
Dessert platter- Cucina
Dodecci Pizza
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Qweenie RGV- Errywhere, TX
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Bonus Entry- Craft House, Mcallen, Tx (NO LONGER OPEN)
Classic Daquiri (not that sugary frozen stuff you're used to) & their versatile Cheese Board
When im looking for a classic drink, and can splurge on quality, I go to Craft House. I usually don't eat a full meal, because I'm a broke girl living in a broke world (lol), but their cheese board is always a filler for a few friends, & their drinks are def CRAFT DRINKS. Using fresh juices, top shelf liquor, & paying attention to detail, this is my go to when wanting to bougie af. $$-$$$
Find them here > www.facebook.com/CraftHouseMcAllen/
Find them here > www.facebook.com/CraftHouseMcAllen/
Caffeine and Hangs
Coffee shops are perfect to hang as a group, get some quiet time alone, or meet some new creative friends. I honestly live at coffee shops & am super excited to see so many new and creative ones sprout up. Here's a few shops that really scream special to me.
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-Luna Coffee House-Mcallen, Tx (NO LONGER OPEN)
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The Greater than 3 aka <3- Grind Coffee
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Bonus Entry- Semilla Coffee Lab-Mcallen, Tx
- Their shop is tiny, but their coffee knowledge is legit. This is the place to go if you're super particular about the fine details of your coffee. From the beans, to the ingredients added to any of coffee cocktails, aka tragos, they are not your average shop. If you want a super hip vibe and a sole focus on the caffeine, Semilla is your jam.
- Find them here > https://www.facebook.com/semillacoffeelab/
BLog Suggestions |
I feel extremely lucky that you're here visiting my blog, and I hope you find your new fav local spot within this list. I truly stand behind the people who work hard every single day to follow their passions and keep these gems going for people like you and I that love a quality product that comes from the heart. Their is something so beautiful about meeting the people behind these concepts that warms me every time I visit a local place.
I hope you have a lovely holiday. May it be filled with peace, love tranquility, good vibes, & even better food. Don't forget to follow me at @thergvseems on insta where I share all things local, & have yourself a merry wittle xmas yall- Seems ok bye :) |
A Trip Down Memory Me
My name is Sirheem Elizabeth Fuentes (say it in a Spanish accent so it can sounds like what my mom actually calls me), but most people know me as Seems. I love food and I love a good theme, honestly, it’s def my thing. The blog I bring to you today is pretty meaningful to me. I was gifted a gorgeous box of delicacies from my favorite place ever, CC’s Sweets & Tweets. This was no ordinary box though. It was a Sneak Peek box for the special September flavors; Childhood favorites and Mexican Candies. This tugged at my heart strings. I realized with this cute little box of delicious flavors, that I was repressing a lot of my own being and who I am, and it got me to think about me.
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Growing up I spent a lot of time in Reynosa, Tamaulipas. We spent the weekends there, summers there, and sometimes my family would come and stay with us. Crossing the border every weekend was a norm. I'm first generation born in the United States. I used to be jealous of my cousins private school uniforms in elementary because I got made fun at school sometimes, and I wanted to fit in. I didn’t know why I was different, my mom and dad took me shopping in Mexico all the time and I loved it. Sometimes I guess my bright green velvet bell bottom pants stood out a lot compared to the blue jeans and tee shirts everyone so normally wore. In high school I had a good “friend” tell me I would be hott if I wasn’t such a fresa girl. I was confused, and a little hurt, but he gave me a hollister makeover, and told me, I would fit in. Funnily enough, it worked. I made a bunch of friends that year and all of the sudden, I thought everything I owned was tacky and I started changing a lot about myself. Even in college, where so many differences are loved and accepted, I was made fun of for using spanish words in my everyday vocabulary by close friends. They weren’t trying to hurt me, but being different didn’t feel good. At some points I felt I was too Mexican for my American friends, and then too American when i visited my grandmother, aunts, and cousins in Reynosa.
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Bringing Me Home.
- I stopped by to pick up my box from Roberta, the wonderful owenr of CC's, a few weeks ago, and stared at these beauties for a minute in my car. I had a million things to do that day but I kept thinking about my little box of goodies, waiting to take me somewhere I hadn’t been in years.
I was home. A Mangonada cupcake, complete with a Tajin seasoning, a Duvalin macaroon, a freaking adorable Sponch cookie, a Mangonada macaroon, and an Horchata Cupcake! Are you kidding me? I cried a little, In a world where nostalgic rules all, I finally had someone mix together my life. American style desserts (some french if we're getting super technical here), with flavors of my childhood.
The Flavors
The Mangonada
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The Mangonada cupcake took me to raspas "El Jardin" in Reynosa, where my brave mom and older cousin, the coolest people I knew by the way, ordered the "spicy" Chamoyadas, and having learned my lesson about not being able to hack it, I ordered a fruity something or other, and threw :Chile de Polvo" to be brave and cool too.
The vanilla cupcake topped with the mango swiss meringue, was a subtle version of the classic mangonada, with soft tanginess, and pops of something I can only describe as "picosito." This cupcake was such a fun flavor to enjoy. |
Horchata
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The Horchata was happily eaten by my boyfriend! The cream cheese buttercream had a slight spice of cinnamon a top of a vanilla cake made with rice milk, almonds, and cinnamon. I've always had a weird reaction to cinnamon. It makes me sneeze, and cough, and too much of it makes my throat feel scary(it took a few years to understand it was an allergic reaction) so I was sad to not be able to love this flavor, but my boyfriend engulfed it in one breath so rest assured it was tasty.
This did make me think of my grandma making arroz con leche on the stove in those big silver "ollas" you also use to make the "frijoles." My grandma passed a few years back, it was nice to think of sitting in her kitchen table, while she made that, or tamales for 100 people, or "cafesito" after church. it was nice to be taken back there. Te extranamos wellita Carlotita! |
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Duvalin Macaron
The Duvalin was my favorite of all the candy when I'd get a bolsita at birthday parties, It was the first thing I ate, and the thing I waited most for when other kids gave it up because they were all about the spicy stuff. I loved swirling the extremely sweet vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry flavors together on my tongue, just as this macaroon elegantly mixed them in now. I hope she keeps this one for a while. It was my favorite flavor and favorite candy. What a win man!
Sponch!
Picture courtesy of @ccssweets Instagram.
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To be honest here, I haven't tried this cupcake. I have tried the amazing full size Sponch Cookies Roberta made in heart shapes that you won't find pictures of because we prematurely ate them.
I bought one (after the bf ate the first one from the box) & well I got some really bad news on my way home and guess what, I ate it. I'm not sorry. It was delicious and exactly what i needed and like HOMEMADE MARSHMELLOW?! Who even does that? Homemade pastries are my biggest weakness, and homemade Marshmellow, is like my Kryptonite. If you've never been to Mexico, they used to have little stores "tienditas"(they might still, but I'm sure it's not the same) that carried all the favs. Sponch cookies by Marinela were next to the Chokis & the Penguinos too. (They are like Oxxo's or gas stations but in someones homes.) Aww those were some good times. I remember a dollar made me feel like the queen of the world when my dad would take it out of is his pocket and let me walk across the street like a big girl to buy my own snacks. Ruffles CON QUESO, the original, not this fake stuff, a Magnum Obsession, which was like my fav ice cream bar/popsicle until some big ol' company bought them off, a bunch of Bubbaloo's (cuz they were dirt cheap), and a sponch cookie sometimes. THAT IS MY CHILDHOOD. Thats when the RGV Foodster was born. lol |
Right in the Middle. Right in the Feels.
After getting all my feels felt, I feel good. I've battled with identity crisis all my life I guess, and it feels good to share that I'm not super Mexican, and I'm not super American. I'm right in the middle, and I'm okay with that. I hate when I feel like I need to be more like this person, or less like this person to feel my cultures (yes plural because America and the valley both have cultures of their own.) I found friends and a cute boyfriend who reminisces with me about the simpler times of childhood in Mexico and the struggles of acceptance in the american education system. Some struggled, not all did, but it's pretty awesome that some bomb af pastries by Roberta of CC's Sweets made me have this realization & so many more. Real food does that.
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This Ones for You
Roberta & Me at the last Mujer RGV event
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Real artists make you feel. Thank you Roberta, for baking the RGV happy for almost 8 years. For following your dream of creating macarons and pastries for us with your momma. For making children, adults, and people like me (adults that still act like children) feel joy, feel comfort, reminisce, and help uncover things they didn't even know were there. You are a real artist lady.
If you'd like to visit and buy these flavors they will be available all September in honor of 16 de Septiembre. I'll link their website below. I hope you enjoyed my first food blog on my new website. I've got a lot more food coming, a lot more feels coming, and so much more for you RGV. Keep supporting local- Yo girl-The RGV Seems |
the end.
WELCOME BACK!
I used to have a food blog called, The RGV Foodster, a local food based blog dedicated to sharing as much food as possible. It was my first baby, and l learned both difficult and beautiful lessons through it. I will be following my passion for local food here. Adding my own food photographs, in depth reviews, and anything food related.
Of course, honesty is always my first priority, followed by positivism, and of course, what we all really came for, the food. The dream of our community rising with local restaurants at the forefront of change is still in me, and although I had a really difficult time letting The RGV Foodster website go, I am very much excited to keep sharing my love for food with you in a new but still awesome way!
Photos will be taken with professional cameras, as well as iphones, so forgive the range, but sometimes your girl just has to improvise. The food is the most important anyway!
Of course, honesty is always my first priority, followed by positivism, and of course, what we all really came for, the food. The dream of our community rising with local restaurants at the forefront of change is still in me, and although I had a really difficult time letting The RGV Foodster website go, I am very much excited to keep sharing my love for food with you in a new but still awesome way!
Photos will be taken with professional cameras, as well as iphones, so forgive the range, but sometimes your girl just has to improvise. The food is the most important anyway!