Considering we’re on the brink of a brand new year, I should probably write about New Year’s traditions, resolutions and blackeye peas… but I’ve done all that before, and quite frankly, this year is not one that has held fast to our regular traditions. If you want my favorite blackeye pea recipe, email me and I’ll be happy to share. But to bring 2020 to a close, I’m going to write about cookies again. I said I was going to wrap up 2020 with cookies and sweets, and so here we are. Mainly because I just received a fantastic recipe … Continue reading Let’s ring in the new year with macarons

    Christmas before last, I discovered a new favorite-cookie-ever that I made so often that first season, I ended up actually getting tired of them. Can you believe that?! It’s only because I ate too many, as I tend to do if I find a cookie that I really, really enjoy. As a matter of fact, I’m currently semi-tired of chocolate chip cookies. That felt weird to say. Do I have a fever? That’s crazy talk. I wouldn’t turn one away if someone offered me one right now, but I might not jump up and go bake any on a … Continue reading These cookies will put you at the top of the Nice List

  I promised that we were going to finish out 2020 on a sweet note, because I think we all deserve a treat or two this year. When a reader asked for some gluten-free recipes, I knew this week we would be focused on a different kind of treat… a non-cookie that belts out, “It’s Christmastime!” in my mind every time I think of it.  I was in the grocery store the other day, and was stopped in my tracks when I rounded a corner and nearly knocked over a display. When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but … Continue reading It’s not cookies, but Santa won’t mind this on his plate

No sooner had I opened the cardboard box containing my brand new, shiny, stainless steel cookies sheets, did my phone chime with a message from my dear friend and editor, Gail at the Avalanche. She said that someone requested a … Continue reading Life is better with cookies… especially Christmas cookies

According to a study earlier this year, it was found that 64% of Americans drink coffee every day. That’s roughly 400 million cups of coffee, with an average cup containing 95mg of caffeine. That’s a lot of caffeinated people, not to mention the decaf drinkers. Are you part of the at-least-64%? If so, how do you prepare your coffee? There are so many options for coffee preparation that you can use a different method every day of the week for your making your cup… at least that’s the situation in our home. We’ve gone through a number of drip coffee … Continue reading Just when I thought coffee couldn’t get any better…

It’s just about time for my pitiful attempt at tomato gardening to go to the compost pile, and I’m chomping at the bit to move on to indoor herbs. With so much cooking at home nowadays, having a self-sufficient supply … Continue reading Indoor herb gardening keeps your cooking flavorful all year

Long before I stepped foot on Fort Davis soil, I was introduced to the Hotel Limpia by way of a recipe from a cookbook. I worked for many years at a church in Boerne, and was part of the Cookbook Team that assembled the church’s second cookbook in 125 years. We asked parishioners for their favorite recipes so that we could include them in the massive publication. One submission was for Hotel Limpia Buttermilk and Honey Biscuits, from a faraway place I’d never even heard of at the time (“Fort Davis? Where is that?”), and was assured they were the … Continue reading The Hotel Limpia Cookbook – a piece of history in our kitchen

That old saying is that the third try is the charm, and I believe it’s true. I can count on three fingers the number of meals we’ve eaten out since last March. The first time was at a favorite burger restaurant in El Paso, but they were only serving food to go, and only if you called in ahead of time. Pick-up was very awkward, having to go inside and be separated from the counter by a table. We decided no burger was worth that. The next attempt was a few months later at an El Paso staple that we’d … Continue reading So happy to have stumbled upon El Jardin in Alpine

A NOTE BEFORE WE GET STARTED…I want to apologize for not updating this blog in a timely manner… as if I wasn’t staying busy enough with our artisan coffee roasting business (www.texascoffeeroasters.net), our 13.5 year old cat was attacked on Sunday the 13th by a raccoon that was clearing out the rest of the fruit on the tree I’m writing about in this article. She was an innocent passerby, and it chased her to the backdoor where it proceeded to do its best to chew off her precious little foot. Three nights at the vet, surgery to remove a compound … Continue reading Pick those desert dates while you can!

Mesquite trees are common all over our Far West Texas area, and across the entire Southwest. It’s one of the most common desert shrubs out here, and grows easily in the semi-arid areas of the Chihuahua, Sonoran, and Arizona deserts. Bees love mesquite trees, too. The mesquite tree was a means for survival. Indigenous peoples to our region likely used the mesquite tree for everything from soothing the digestive system to use as an anti-fungal and antibiotic, to making bows, arrows, and sewing needles with the wood from the tree. Historically, the dried pods and seeds were milled (ground into … Continue reading Mesquite trees – useful for more than just barbecue wood