This week has been one of great sadness and reflection for most of us. Any kind of tragedy, natural or un-natural, that takes even one child is hard to bear. Tragedy that takes 20 children and the teachers that loved them is nearly impossible to bear. The intolerable weight of the loss, and the unimaginable […]
There are two kinds of Pasties. One is the self-adhesive variety that dancers wear on stage. Not classically trained dancers. The other kind. They may be purchased in the same establishments that sell 6 inch platform heels and miniscule under-garments. This kind is pronounced paste-ee, which rhymes with tasty, although I am pretty sure they […]
Chicken Fried Steak and Country Fried Steak. Same thing, right? I mean, if you look at internet and cookbook recipes, menus, and anywhere else, you might think they are interchangeable, for sure. I mean, there are so many different ways to say things in the South, this must just be an example of different local […]
The capacity for being sneaky has existed for as long as mankind. The only being with the ability to think beyond its instinct brings with it the power to choose mischief over conscientiousness, naughty over nice, and chocolate over vanilla. The question of whether or not people are inherently good, or inherently bad is as old as the question of birth […]
SPAM. It’s whispered about behind closed doors in the same way that people talk about fruitcake, recreational drug use, and The Sound of Music. Publicly, nobody will admit to partaking, but most of them have to be lying or it wouldn’t still be around after all these years. First sold in 1937, SPAM is 75 […]
Sugar is worse than illegal drugs. It is today what LSD was in the 1970’s. I know this because: 1) I was a Director at Psych and Chemical Dependency Hospital; and 2) I am a Foodie who bakes. A lot. I believe that some people are able to kick their chemical dependencies more easily than their […]
Anybody that has read my work for a minute knows who my biggest influence was in the kitchen. Her repertoire wasn’t huge, but Granny taught me the basics. As a child, I learned through her to cook with my senses—taste, smell, touch and sight—rather than by following a recipe as if it were a volatile science experiment. […]
There are some foods that get no public respect. I am not saying that they should, only that they don’t. Meanwhile, many Goat-ropin, cedar-chopping Rednecks and other Human-American subspecies often referred to as White Trash secretly can’t get enough of them. Don’t be offended, people. I am referring also to myself as I recall Hanibal […]
In the South, we have a particular fondness for using terms of endearment, and we don’t reserve them just for those close to us. We use them everywhere, at all times, and to anyone. If we don’t know your real name, we’ll call you Sugar, Sweetheart, Sweetie, or Darlin’. If we know your real name, […]
After Thanksgiving next week, millions of Americans will start the Thanksgiving leftover rituals. There will be turkey pot pie, turkey soup, and turkey salad sandwiches. Some will enjoy turkey tetrazzini, creamed turkey on toast, and open faced turkey sandwiches with gravy. There could be turkey curry, turkey stir fry, and turkey Panini. But not in […]
Texana's Kitchen 