Lori Dodd at the Dublin Dr Pepper plant

What a year for radishes! A couple of months ago, I bought a mixed radish seed blend from Johnny’s Seeds called Easter Egg. I planted the seeds in mid-October and harvested this first bunch of radishes a week before Thanksgiving. I served the radishes on the relish tray and put the greens in my [...]]]> What a year for radishes! A couple of months ago, I bought a mixed radish seed blend from Johnny’s Seeds called Easter Egg. I planted the seeds in mid-October and harvested this first bunch of radishes a week before Thanksgiving. I served the radishes on the relish tray and put the greens in my salad mix.

I used to think that seeds were seeds. But Jim Sherman, my gardening guru, set me straight. He told me to quit buying the seeds sold at the grocery store or home improvement center and to order a catalog from Johnny’s Seeds, an employee-owned seed company in Maine. I wasn’t sure if it was just Sherman’s fondness for hippy-dippy enterprises (I haven’t used the phrase hippy-dippy in awhile, but it seems especially apt in this case) or if there was some actual difference in quality.

After planting Johnny’s Seeds and home improvement center seeds side by side, I can testify that Johnny’s are vastly superior. In fact, I think they should change the name of the company to Johnny’s Magic Seeds. Two years ago, when Sherman helped me install my raised bed organic garden, he gave me some tips about which seeds are especially suited to Texas, and now I religiously order those varieties.

Sherman also recommended radishes as the ideal snack with beer. So following his suggestion, this Thanksgiving we served Easter Eggs with the Saint Arnold’s Christmas Ale.

Be the first to spot the anachronism in Rodney’s Crowell’s Telephone Road video and win a Lone Star beer at El Real!

The same East Texas produce stand that had the “Big Ass Melons” sign I posted previously also had this great mayhaw jelly sign. I didn’t buy any because I loaded up on mayhaws this season to make my own jelly. I still have a gallon in my freezer. I am a little tired [...]]]>

The same East Texas produce stand that had the “Big Ass Melons” sign I posted previously also had this great mayhaw jelly sign. I didn’t buy any because I loaded up on mayhaws this season to make my own jelly. I still have a gallon in my freezer. I am a little tired of mayhaw jelly though and I started thinking of other things to do with mayhaws. A mayhaw margarita came immediately to mind. But instead of trying to perfect the mayhaw syrup myself, I gave some mayhaws to Bobby Heugel at Anvil. Bobby had never heard of mayhaws.

I told him it was a fruit that grew wild in East Texas and is now being farmed in the Big Thicket. It’s the fruit of the hawthorn tree and it’s only ripe for a brief period in May, hence the name “mayhaw.” The little red fruits look and taste like tiny crabapples. The tartness would make them perfect for cocktails, I told the bartender. He looked skeptical. I wondered if Bobby would throw the bag in the trash the minute I left the building.

Such was not the case. Last time I walked into Anvil, one of the bartenders offered me a free mayhaw cocktail to thank me for my contribution. He mixed up some sotol, mescal, and grapefruit juice with mayhaw syrup. It was quite refreshing. He also let me taste some mayhaw bitters the bar was brewing.

I am very proud to have made a contribution, however modest, to Texas mixology. Next time you’re in Anvil, ask for a mayhaw cocktail.

The Bowery Beer Room at the Whole Foods store on Houston Street in New York has over a thousand varieties of beer for sale. There are six beers on tap. The store sells a glass half gallon container called a “growler” that you can fill up with draft beer and take home–just like [...]]]>

The Bowery Beer Room at the Whole Foods store on Houston Street in New York has over a thousand varieties of beer for sale. There are six beers on tap. The store sells a glass half gallon container called a “growler” that you can fill up with draft beer and take home–just like the good old days before beer came in cans and bottles. So why did Whole Foods put this in New York and not in its home town of Austin?

Don’t tell me–it has something to do with the TABC, right?

Dave Reilly unveils the new label

Dave Reilly, head of winery operations at Mandola Estate Winery in Driftwood, poured me a glass of the winery’s spectacular 2008 Montepulciano–and then he dropped a bomb. He told me that Damien Mandola was no longer involved in his namesake winery. Then he showed me the new [...]]]>

Dave Reilly unveils the new label

Dave Reilly, head of winery operations at Mandola Estate Winery in Driftwood, poured me a glass of the winery’s spectacular 2008 Montepulciano–and then he dropped a bomb. He told me that Damien Mandola was no longer involved in his namesake winery. Then he showed me the new label.

It sounds like a crazy move since the 2008 Mandola Montepulciano took medals in Houston and Dallas wine competitions. Reilly’s dedication to making great wines with Texas-grown Italian varietals was starting to make Mandola Estate Winery famous. But the change was unavoidable. There were TABC issues with Damien Mandola having an interest in two liquor licenses. (He owns the gorgeous Texas-Tuscan Trattoria Lisina next door.)

But the bigger problem was that the Italian restaurants around the state that should have been the prime market for a Texas-Tuscan label like Mandola Estate Winery were reluctant to buy wines that promoted the name of one of their competitors. So Damien Mandola sold out his interest to long-time partners Dr. Stan Duchman and his wife Lisa Duchman of Houston and took his name off the bottle.

Bottles bearing the new Duchman Family Winery labels will be phased in sometime soon.

Wow! I had my first taste of Hop Stoopid double IPA from Lagunitas Brewing Company the other day. This brew is packing a major hoppy wallop. I can’t remember drinking a double IPA before, so maybe this is my first. Beer Advocate reviewers gave this beer an A-. Most of the reviewers wrote [...]]]>

Wow! I had my first taste of Hop Stoopid double IPA from Lagunitas Brewing Company the other day. This brew is packing a major hoppy wallop. I can’t remember drinking a double IPA before, so maybe this is my first. Beer Advocate reviewers gave this beer an A-. Most of the reviewers wrote about grapefruit, pineapple and pine aromas–but it smells like really good marijuana if you ask me.

It goes down real smooth. The beer comes in a 22-ounce “bomber” bottle. I sampled mine with leftover Easter ham and hard-boiled egg sandwiches with beets and horseradish on the side. I would definitely buy this beer again. Or maybe I need to try some other double IPAs?

Please tell me Saint Arnold’s is going to do a double IPA for their next Divine Reserve.

Happy hour starts at noon on Fridays and I am already thinking of the frozen margaritas at Spanish Village on Almeda. How do they make those things so slushy? The owner says its a secret recipe. It tastes like big sheets of ice floating around in your margarita. Do they freeze the mix [...]]]>

Happy hour starts at noon on Fridays and I am already thinking of the frozen margaritas at Spanish Village on Almeda. How do they make those things so slushy? The owner says its a secret recipe. It tastes like big sheets of ice floating around in your margarita. Do they freeze the mix first and then add the tequila?

Anybody got a copycat recipe? I want to try this at home.

Fruit stand at the Airline Flea Market in Houton

The “Flea Markets” on Airline Drive in North Houston form a giant mercado that draws some 50,000 Latino shoppers every weekend. Each flea market has its own taquerias and food stands.

Agua Fresca de Tamarindo

De Buey Y Vaca is the most famous [...]]]>

Fruit stand at the Airline Flea Market in Houton

The “Flea Markets” on Airline Drive in North Houston form a giant mercado that draws some 50,000 Latino shoppers every weekend. Each flea market has its own taquerias and food stands.

Agua Fresca de Tamarindo

De Buey Y Vaca is the most famous taqueria. (Buey y vaca means ox and cow, or steer and cow.) My favorite dish there was the barbacoa soup. Barbacoa soup belongs in the family of menudo, posole, and caldo de res. It’s a weekend breakfast soup eaten with a squeeze of lime, chopped onions and cilantro and a stack of tortillas. If you like barbacoa, this stuff will knock your socks off.

Barbacoa soup at De Buey Y Vaca

De Buey Y Vaca also had tacos dorados (golden tacos). These are tortillas that have been stuffed and secured with toothpicks, then deep-fried. The sweet potato version was bland, the refried bean filled taco was pretty good, but the best by far was the one filled with sesos, or brains. Brains are pretty neutral-tasting, really. That’s why brains and eggs became such a popular Southern dish–if no one told you what you were eating, you’d think it was tofu.

Tacos Dorados-de frijoles, camote y sesos

Sunny Flea Market specializes in fruits and vegetables. Cut-up melons, mangos, cucumbers and coconuts were among the fruit cups on sale at the Sunny fruit stand on Saturday morning. The lady behind the counter was also selling hot elote (sweet corn) on a stick or in a bowl along with chile powder-covered mangos on a stick and half coconuts. I had a bowl of elote, or sweet corn, mixed with sour cream, parmesan and chile powder. The strawberries on a stick covered with strawberry-flavored sour cream were quite nice too.

Fresas con Crema at Sunny

There were several Mexican hot dog stands here too. Mexican hot dogs start with bacon-wrapped frankfurters and are usually topped with beans, avocado, and salsa.

Mexican hotdoguero at Sunny

Mercado SabaDomingo has a huge dance hall and both outdoor and indoor vendor’s stalls. I had some chicharrones made from deep fried pork belly there.

Hot chicharonnes

Their food stands include several that specialize in goat tacos.

Goat tacos

If you enjoy strolling around a Mexican Mercado, check this place out some weekend. It’s open Saturdays and Sundays only.