Last week, we escaped the scorching temperatures and tragic wildfires that plagued Central Texas with a long-awaited visit to Mexico City, where high temperatures kissed the 80s and the cool evenings almost begged for a sweater. The occasion for the visit was Mima’s 80th birthday, which happens to be on Mexican Independence Day, Dieciseis de septiembre, a very festive time in Mexico when the entire More
CuisineXplorers made its official debut to the world on Sunday, January 16, when I was invited to participate in the first Wine Ride organized by my friends at Keeper Collection, publishers of online interactive cookbooks by some of Texas finest chefs including David Bull, Monica Pope, and Paul Petersen. They also produce events such as the Chefs Under Fire competition and now the Wine Ride, More
It’s that time of the year…the weather is (mostly) chilly, the garden needs to be cleaned and harvested, and there are presents to make for friends. I started last week, picking up most of the peppers before the hard freeze: serranos, jalapeños and Hungarian Hot. With the serranos and jalapeños I made traditional rajas en escabeche, the classic Mexican pickled chiles with onion, garlic, carrot More
Last weekend we went to the Wine & Swine weekend organized by the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival. The whole weekend was fun, starting with a walkabout tasting at the AT&T Center Courtyard, where various chefs presented amazing dishes each prepared with one specific part of the pig. The next day I participated in a panel about wine and pig pairing -I found More
A few days ago I woke up to a thin layer of frost on the grass…worried about the tomatoes, I rushed outside to check on everyone. To my relief, all is well. Both plants are loaded with fruit in different stages of growth. The larger ‘Super Fantastics’ are beginning to blush, and I actually picked two that were not fully ripe but beginning to crack More