Village Baking Co. – now open everyday

Pastries everyday of the week from Village Baking Co

Looks like the secret’s out about our favorite boulangerie. Village Baking Co is now open for business daily from 7am-3pm. No need to wait for the later part of the week to get your baguette and breads or indulge in a buttery kovign-amman (also available in chocolate too), pain au chocolat or laminated brioche. The bakery is so busy especially in the mornings that the only wait is actually in the line to get your hands on their artisanal baked goodies!

Click here for Village Baking Co.

Till our next Happy Meal!

Cheryl Collett is a mom on a mission to expand her kids’ palates and IttyBittyFoodies chronicles their yummy adventures. For recipes and other crafty fun ideas, look under HomeMade or check out the best kid friendly places under Restaurant Reviews where the food is delicious for both parents and children. Get the latest updates if you Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ittybittyfoodie

 

Weeknight Recipe – Japanese Chicken Tonkatsu with homemade sauce

Easy Chicken Tonkatsu with homemade sauce

I have menu-itis. It usually happens on a weeknight especially in between homework and carting kids from music to sports and trying to keep an infant happy. I get in a rut over dinner but want something fast. This is when I reach for my Japanese Chicken Tonkatsu recipe. There’s very little prep time and dinner is made while you boil rice. Try it!

Village Baking Co. –

(Clockwise) Laminated brioche, almond croisssant, chocolate canelés and pain au chocolat

Like little pigs with their noses to the ground sniffing for truffles, every so often a foodie finds a hidden treasure like we did with Village Baking Company. For months we drove by their baking facility on University Blvd and each time my little piggies hold their noses in the air commenting that something smelt yummy. Then one day, someone propped up a small sign that said “Pastries & Artisan Breads” that lured us right into their small showroom lined with fresh baked breads and pastries. There’s no ‘shop front’ to speak of and you just pull up to what looks like the backdoor to the baking warehouse.

Googie Wonderland!

You may have noticed I haven’t blogged for a while and wondered where I’ve gone. The family has been in “Googie Wonderland” this past month. We’ve been cooking a special original recipe and after 9 months of waiting, our little Googie was born. Pikelet & Lollo welcomed their new baby brother in November and they are in love with him. “Googie”, as in a ‘googie egg’ was a nickname they gave him while he was still ‘cooking inside Mama’s tummy’ but now that he’s out, the name has stuck. So in honor of our sweet miracle baby, we’ve decided to add a new baby to toddler category.

Will you join us in Googie Wonderland!

Till our next Happy Meal, enjoy these cute baby feet!

Kale Naturals – in time for Father’s Day

It seems like all healthy eaters are obssessed with kale these days. The hardy cabbage is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. But there’s another ’kale’ on our lips or rather, faces… Kale Naturals.  Dana Kale who is fortuitous to own the healthy surname have released an all natural men’s grooming line along with fellow Park Cities mama, Tia Pettijohn.

Sushi Sake in Richardson

Having eaten sushi since he was 18 months old, my 6 year old, Pikelet has become quite the connoisseur of raw fish. He especially loves octopus and clams and he knows just where to get some of the best in Dallas. His favorite is Sushi Sake.

If you don’t happen to live in Richardson or Plano, heading up to the no-reservations Sushi Sake takes a little planning especially on weekends. Try on a Friday night a little after 6.30pm and the waits for a table are grueling. But one look at the Japanese sushi chefs behind the sushi bar and one instinctively expects mastery.

Teriyaki Chicken with Peaches Kebabs

Peaches are in season. The best way to select a peach is by smelling it. Choose one with a strong peachy fragrance. The redness on it’s skin is not an indication of ripeness but discard all that have hints of green in it which means they’ve been picked too early.

Carbone’s Fine Food and Wine at The Shops of Highland Park

Julian Barsotti’s new Italian-American eatery, Carbone’s is as hot as the meatballs he serves right now. Carbone’s joins the popular dining row at The Shops of Highland Park  next to La Duni Latin Kitchen & Baking Studio, Nosh and Asian Mint on Oaklawn. We’re fans of Barsotti’s first venture, Nonna and when we heard, he was opening a casual over-the-counter Italian cafe, Ittybittyfoodies visited in the first week (twice).

Chicken Scratch in Oak Cliff

 

Chicken Scratch at dusk

It’s 6.30pm on a Saturday night when we spontaneously decided to head down to Chicken Scratch in Oak Cliff. We called to ask if we needed to book a table but the voice on the phone said almost prophetically, “There’s no reservations but there’s tables right now but who knows… there might be a line out the door in 15 minutes time”.

Bolsa Mercado in Oak Cliff

Sometimes (well.. most times) we want our food fast but we don’t want fast food. So we go to Bolsa Mercado which is a few doors away from the Bolsa the restaurant which had a 45 minute wait on Sunday morning.

Bolsa Mercado which opened December 2011,  is more than a market, it’s also a coffee bar and mini deli which serves house-made kolaches, breakfast muffins, pastries, salads and sandwiches.

Tiger Mom meets IttyBittyFoodies Mama – Amy Chua in Dallas

From one Tiger Mom to another

Amy Chua, aka Tiger Mom is like a pistol. The whip smart Yale law professor and notorious author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother enters the room packed with confidence that says Ka Pow! Dressed in an elegant black suit, showing off her tiny frame and killer calves, Chua made a stop at the Authors LIVE! event at Highland Park United Methodist Church.

Tei-An (with kids…gasp!)

One Arts Plaza

Pikelet would sooner have a platter of sushi than a tray of cupcakes. For his 6th birthday we did the unthinkable. On a whim we decided to whisk the whole family off to Tei-An at One Arts Plaza, on a busy Saturday night without a reservation! We were playing with fire taking kids to a place we only reserve for date night.

Better than cupcakes!

Upon arrival, we sheepishly told the hostess we didn’t have a reservation but Pikelet just had to have their stellar sushi for his birthday dinner.

Lazy Weekend Family Buffet Lunch

The spread

We all love to eat different things in our family. Pikelet, my five year old is more adventurous and three year old Lollo often needs coaxing to try something new. That’s why our lazy weekend buffet lunches are a favorite in the household. It is a presentation of all our favorite items and a few new ones in case someone wants to try something new.

Taste the Honey Dallas Food Swap – the new Stitch ‘n Bitch

The fabulous array of items!

Remember the Stitch ’n Bitch knitting craze in 1994 where flocks of young women wielding knitting needles gathered at fashionable cafes to chat and make fashionista ponchos? Check out this decade’s Stitch ’n Bitch – The Larder Swap! And Denise Bethel Molina of Honey Crew Granola & Darlene Rosen of Honey Girl Kitchen are the ladies heading the Dallas Taste the Honey Food Swappers.

iCOOLer – lunch bag

Lollo packing his lunch in the iCOOLer

There was an article recently in the Dallas Morning News that 9 out of 10 lunches are stored at unsafe temperatures and they are putting our kids in danger of food borne illnesses. What luck when we received an iCOOLer in the mail. This week being the first week back at school, I thought I would put it to the test.

Lemley’s at Dallas Farmers Market

Tonight's dessert after a day of painting paper boats

Many of us associate Lemley’s at the Dallas Farmers Market with sweet summer peaches but I’ve always found all his produce just stellar. The last month Pikelet & Lollo have had asked me repeatedly to drive downtown for Lemley’s canteloupes. The sweet aroma will envelop you before you even cut one open. And oh the heavenly pink coral flesh that await at first bite – juicy, sweet, luscious…

IttyBittyFoodies celebrates 1 year

Lollo & Pikelet

Happy Birthday IttyBittyFoodies! It’s time to have a Birthday Month Celebration! A year ago, I didn’t know if I could write again after taking a hiatus from writing when Lollo was born. Well here we are on our 60th post and nominated for Babble’s Top 100 Mom Food Blogs (please vote here under Cheryl Collett), named one of Dallas Best Blogs on Wherelocalseat.com and was featured on TinyDallas under Moms We Love.

Pikelet is about to turn 6 and Lollo is now 3.

Oddfellows in Oak Cliff

We have a love hate relationship with Oddfellows in the Bishop Arts District. We love the food but hate the long waits. But they have this wonderful fried tomato sandwich that beckons me and as a result, I’ve subjected my IttyBittyFoodies to the brutal waits – three times. On a fine day, diners can wait outside sipping coffee or hot chocolate made with their super expensive La Marzocco Strada Espresso coffee machine and the kids just wander about and playing with the piano outside.

Little Play Spaces Le Café helps kiddies beat the heat!

Breakfast at Le Cafe by Little Play Spaces

While the temperature soars outside, Pikelet & Lollo have been enjoying many hours dining at Le Café by Little Play Spaces. Designed by Katie Fagelman, an East Dallas mom of two girls, the play structure features a beautiful French Café complete with your very own poodle, chalkboard menu, a table top menu and a sliding Ouvert & Ferme sign. We’ve seen lots of cardboard play houses but Le Café by Little Play Spaces has captured our imagination with all the details.

IttyBittyFoodies & Tiny Dallas

IttyBittyFoodies has a new gal pal named Tiny Dallas. She’s that resourceful friend you turn to when you’re looking for an awesome activity for the kids whether it’s DIY, galleries, performances, music or travel. She makes great suggestions for restaurants, cool toys, great shops and artsy finds. How? Because the people behind Tiny Dallas are