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. I’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 I’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. I decided no burger was worth that. The next attempt was a few months later at an El Paso staple that I’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), my 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

At this point in the summer, I had high hopes of sharing the wonders of my advanced lazy gardening skills, and stories of the bounty we’ve reaped while growing our own food at home. This time last year, I had … Continue reading If at first you don’t succeed, just keep planting more seeds

I recently made a culinary confession on social media. Isn’t that the way you’re supposed to share your deepest feelings these days? In this covert research effort, I knew I was going to face a certain scrutiny from friends and family, and prepared for the worst. I was pleasantly surprised. My confession: I like Spam. Spam as in ham in a can. I haven’t had any Spam in many years, although I always have it in the pantry. You probably have some lurking in your pantry, too. About every ten years, I’ll grab a package of it at Costco, in … Continue reading Spam – do you love it or hate it?

  Do you have fruit trees that have produced more than you can eat? Are you overwhelmed with fruit, and don’t want it to go to waste? Do you have a source for fresh fruit, plucked from the tree, and … Continue reading What do you do with an abundance of fruit?