- Top (Cookie) Chef … or “Pack your butter and go” (gently revised in 2016)

This year was our first Christmas season in Texas, and I’ve decided I can definitely get into the spirit even when the temperature is in the 70s. Meliss and Jake flew in from St. Louis on a cool, clear Christmas afternoon … much better weather than their October venture. Meg and Paul hosted dinner at their house, serving us an amazing surf and turf of prime rib and lobster tails, with asparagus, horseradish potato cake, and salad with fig balsamic dressing, pine nuts, red grapes and feta.

We had Christmas cookies for dessert, a tradition from the many years we spent celebrating with the Laroche family. Don decided that a competition for Top Cookie would liven up the festivities, and designed a ballot for the four entrants which were to be judged on taste, texture and presentation.

First up, my Mom’s shortbread, which I’ve often imitated, but never duplicated. Though we made shortbread using a recipe from my Grandma Munson (born Scotswoman Jesse Watson, who surely knew what she was doing) when I was a child, Mom changed recipes once I left home, so I never got to watch her make it … she just brought it with her each year when she and Dad came to Williamsburg to celebrate Christmas with us. This time around my version wasn’t quite as crisp as hers, a bit thicker than it should have been and I dosed it with a too much sugar, but it was still recognizable and the sentimental favorite.

Next, a perennial entry: Greek Kourambiades, which I first made in high school as part of a social studies assignment to create a Middle Eastern dish. [A side note on my high school: it was different, to say the least. No substitute teachers, for one. Instead, we had a choice of guest speakers, open study halls, or Watergate hearings to watch. Even better, our teachers had virtually unlimited sick leave … and used it since they didn’t have to write sub plans. But I digress]. While others brought falafel and pita bread to the Middle East luncheon, my research focused on finding a dessert with lots of butter. Some things never change. The recipe replaced Aunt Yetta’s pinkie cookies as the go-to nut cookie recipe and came with me when I started making my own cookies as a young bride in Virginia (32 years ago this week).

The Mocha Christmas Tree Cookies were also a high school find, from a New York Times cookbook that I read at our next door neighbor’s in East Williston. I’m not quite sure how I came to be reading a cookbook in the Presti’s kitchen, but the recipe has gone through a number of revisions over the years, all good. Meliss prefers her cookies sans chocolate (making them coffee cookies rather than mocha) … a plainer presentation to be sure, but toothsome just the same. And I used my grandmother’s Mirro cookie press, one of my favorite inheritances.

Last, but far from least, was a new entrant: LaCoursier family Nutmeg Logs courtesy of Meg’s husband Paul. I got a bit nervous as I made these, realizing I’d never actually seen or tasted the original cookies and was setting myself up by making substitutions in a recipe I never made before. But I bluffed my way through and hoped for the best. And best they were, winning the Top Cookie prize when all the ballots were counted. I’m guessing it was the Haitian Barbancourt Rhum substituted for the rum extract in the recipe that put them over the top. Of course, ¾ of a pound of butter didn’t hurt either. Whatever. Nutmeg Logs are destined to be part of the Ackert family Christmas cookie rotation in perpetuity.

Nana Ruth’s Shortbread

½ lb. butter (salted)
½ cup sugar
2 cups flour

Cream butter and sugar. Mix in flour. Divide into three parts, flattening each into a circle about ¼” thick on parchment paper. Score into 8 wedges and prick with a fork. Bake 25 minutes at 325. Sprinkle with sugar while still warm. Cut into wedges along the scored lines. Pack in an airtight container with wax paper.

Kourambiades (I have no idea how to pronounce this)

½ lb. melted butter (salted)
¼ cup sugar
½ cup chopped walnuts (I use the food processor)
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder

Mix ingredients together. Shape into small balls (1 tsp.) Bake on parchment paper for 15-20 minutes at 350 until slightly golden on the bottom. Cool slightly, then sift confectioners on top (being very generous as some will fall off when the cookies are moved).

Mocha Cookies (but only if you include the chocolate ... otherwise they're Espresso Cookies)

8 ounces butter (salted, softened)

¾ cup sugar

1 small egg
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ cup espresso powder (the original recipe called for 1 Tbs. of instant coffee)
2 cups flour
1/8 tsp. baking powder
4-6 oz. Ghirardelli 60% or Guittard chocolate chips
Nonpareils (Mom also used chopped nuts on hers)

Beat egg in a cup with vanilla and espresso powder. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg mixture. Fold in flour and baking powder. Dough will be soft and may need a bit more flour to keep it from being sticky … but be careful not to overdo it. Use a Christmas tree or wreath template in a vintage Mirro cookie press … be assertive, quickly twisting the handle 180 degrees and rapidly lifting the press between cookies. If you use one of those new-fangled cookie presses you're on your own. Bake 9-10 minutes at 375 until crisp.

When cookies come out of the oven, carefully place a few chocolate chips on each one, spread the chocolate as it melts to cover each cookie, then sprinkle with whatever suits your fancy (or leave them plain … which is much easier, and Meliss would approve).

Joyce Levine's Nutmeg Cookies

½ lb. butter (salted, softened)

¾ cup sugar

1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbs. Barbancourt rum (this is non-negotiable … just ask the Laroche family)
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg, vanilla and rum. Fold in flour, nutmeg and salt. Roll into “snakes” about ½ inch in diameter. Cut into pieces about 2 inches long. Bake on parchment paper for 12-15 minutes at 350 until golden brown. Cool while making the frosting.

Frosting

4 Tbs. butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbs. Barbancourt rum
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
Freshly grated nutmeg

Soften the butter in the microwave (30 seconds at 50% power). Beat in remaining ingredients. Spread over cookies and grate nutmeg over the top.

- Merry Christmas

Wishing you peace and much joy this Christmas Day and in the New Year.

With love from the Texas Hill Country.


N.B. The ornaments on the tree were made using Hill Country eggs.

- Good news, bad news: Thanksgiving leftovers

The bad news was that I couldn’t find Pepperidge Farm white bread for turkey sandwiches. The good news was that Paul scored some at the Central Market.  But there was more bad news: it didn’t taste quite right. Was it because Pepperidge Farm changed their recipe or is this one tradition that we've simply outgrown?  No matter, there was good news in the end: muffins.

These particular muffins have made guest appearances with smoked turkey in the past, so leftover Thanksgiving turkey seemed like a good fit. I whipped up a batch for lunch and we paired the resulting sandwiches with some Fat Tire ale … a wicked brew that can be found just about anywhere in Texas as well as selected Outer Banks groceries, and which, to my unsophisticated palate, insists on reminding me of egg creams from yesteryear. For those of you who have not experienced a true New York style egg cream, there is neither egg nor cream to be had ... rather, chocolate milk charged with hyper-carbonated seltzer water. Maybe the malt in the Fat Tire echoes some subtle note in Bosco chocolate syrup. No matter. It tastes extremely good.

And so it was that Don was asked, yet again, to delay a perfectly good meal in the service of the photographic muse, the better to portray what we enjoyed after our two mile walk through Woodcreek. If you are looking for a way to dispatch your leftover turkey, you might want to give this a try.

Apple Onion Walnut Muffins (makes six, doubles with ease)


2 Tbs. melted butter
1 egg
½ cup milk
¾ cup flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. kosher salt
1 small Granny Smith apple, shredded
1 small sweet onion, similarly shredded
1 handful of walnut pieces (¼ - ½ cup)


Whisk eggs and milk together.  Add melted butter.  Fold in the remaining ingredients, being careful not to overmix, which makes for tough muffins.  Put in six greased muffin tins (I use Baker’s Joy) and bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes.


And if you want to gild the lily, whip up some cranberry jelly, too.

Cranberry Jelly

12 ounces fresh cranberries
1 ½ cup water
1 ½ cup sugar

Simmer cranberries and water for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid scorched berries. Press cooked berries through a strainer to remove seeds and skins, and return to the pan with sugar. Cook another 3-5 minutes. Refrigerate until set.

- A Noah’s Ark Thanksgiving

We had two of everything for Thanksgiving yesterday: a fried turkey and a roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, plain stuffing and sausage onion stuffing, smooth cranberry jelly and chunky cranberry orange relish, green olives and black olives, carrots and celery, red wine and champagne … along with matched sides of Levine family green bean casserole and buttered corn versus Ackert family creamed onions and sautéed turnips.  Dessert would have continued the two-by-two theme with coconut cream pie and pecan pie, but Kristen and her family saved the day from cliché by arriving with a chocolate frosted cheese cake.

It’s a good thing we decided up front to eliminate pumpkin pie and apple pie from the menu, as dinner was so good that there wasn’t much room left for sampling all the desserts. However, pumpkin did make a pre-dinner appearance in a “new for this year” brunch pairing of pumpkin rolls with, you guessed it, two fillings. One was a straight take on an Ina Garten recipe I caught on the Food Network the other night, but the second was a riff on strawberry trifle, as odd as that might sound.

So see for yourself. Snag the original Pumpkin Roulade recipe from the Food Network, cut the pumpkin cake in half after it’s cooled and fill one side with a half recipe of the mascarpone filling. Then whip up a trifling half. It won’t be as pretty, but in my book it wins the prize for taste.

Trifling Pumpkin Roll

½ Ina Garten pumpkin roulade cake
1 small box Jell-O Vanilla Cook and Serve pudding (not instant!)
1 ½ cups milk (whole milk is best, but 2% will do)
½ cup whipping cream
½ cup toasted chopped hazelnuts (filberts)
Sherry or Vin Santo

Cook the pudding mix and milk in the microwave until thickened. Place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming as it cools. Whip ½ cup cream (don’t add any sugar), and fold into the chilled pudding.

Chop the hazelnuts and then toast them for 3-6 minutes in a 350 oven until they are nicely browned. Cool.

Spritz the pumpkin roll with sherry (I stick my thumb into the bottle opening to control the flow). Slather the cake with a layer of the pudding/cream mixture. Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts. Roll carefully and expect it to sag, as the cream filling is not as firm as the mascarpone version.

Conduct your own taste test and may the best cake win ;-)

- Urban Impression: Austin

Even though I’ve always said that I wouldn’t want to live in a city, Don and I agreed to spend the week at Meg and Paul’s condo in south Austin while they soak up some sun on the Mexican coast. They think we’re here to take care of Katie, their Jack Russell Terrier whose recent brush with glaucoma left her with one eye and a perpetually saucy wink. But the truth is we’re having a blast living the vida urbana, if only for a little while.

Yesterday we headed to the Sunset Valley Farmers Market, one of several locavore haunts in Austin. Fresh arugula, cucumber, tomatoes, and onions made their way into my mesh bag, while we made note of the turnips, pecans, and sweet potatoes that we’ll return for next week in anticipation of Thanksgiving. While there, we sampled some maple-flavored “Dad’s Granola,” which was good, but not better than our Garrison Trail granola blend.  We really should go into the Wholey Granoley biz one of these days. And I actually managed to avoid the kettle corn stand, although hunger pangs ultimately drove us to stop at Chuy’s (pronounced chewies) for lunch … a good thing, as it resulted in a mental note to add grilled corn to my tortilla soup recipe.

Wanting to sample the joys of urban exercise, we headed to Zilker Park, which has recovered from last month’s ACL mud bath, the Dillo Dirt now back under the turf where it belongs. As we drove into the park, a lone guitarist stood far out in the middle of a grassy field, playing to the sun. We picked a parking lot close to Lady Bird Lake and stepped out to join the flow of humanity that was walking, running, and riding by.

Austin has an abundance of hiking trails that appear to be in constant use by a staggering number of people. Averaging about ten feet across, we found the Zilker Park trails to be simple, hard-packed earth with the occasional paved section. Slower walkers-and-talkers stayed to the right, the better to be passed on the left by power walkers, joggers, runners, and cyclists. This was people watching at its finest, with every age, color, and body-type imaginable, some more amply represented than others.

There were parents pushing jogging strollers occupied by children who mostly looked perplexed, pregnant moms-to-be taking their soon-to-be newborns for a virtual walk, rock-hard running fanatics gliding effortlessly by, and less-fit wannabes trudging on with expressions of grim determination. Many were scantily attired and/or shirtless, revealing flesh moving in ways most strange. Many more were branded, some with tattoos, others with t-shirts. Burnt orange longhorns held sway, although a Duke blue devil tee did make a surprise appearance. At one point, three women strolled by in skirts, clutching handbags and looking totally incongruous. And if the constant stream of cyclists flew by too quickly to make any impression, the slow, deliberate passage of the halt and the lame imbued them with a touching aura of grace.

Then there were the dogs, every bit as diverse as their owners, from a black teacup poodle to a show quality St. Bernard. A few were muzzled and all were leashed as they scurried, limped, and trotted along, some making their own sartorial statements --a black chow with a yellow Cub Scout neckerchief, a tongue-lolling German shepherd with a peace sign bandana-- and a surprising number sporting bags of poo dangling from their leashes.

Indeed the trails were remarkably clean, with virtually no waste to step over; the only litter a soft shoulder of fallen leaves that cushioned our steps while the overhanging branches sheltered us from the strong sun. Water fountains and trash barrels made discrete appearances at regular intervals, as did benches placed at strategic overlooks, the better to watch the kayaks, canoes, and rowing shells that plied the waters below. And in one spot where the trail dropped down to the water’s edge, families and ducks concentrated on the age-old delight of feeding and being fed.

Returning to Zilker this morning, the trail was every bit as fascinating. I avoided the previous day’s digital edema by grabbing two small, flat stones at the outset of our walk, keeping my fingers curled around the cool limestone cradled in each palm. And one fleeting hour later, reluctantly exiting from the stream of humanity, I spotted a tow-headed tot riding high on his father’s shoulders. Our eyes locked, and as we passed our heads turned to hold the gaze, both of us grinning from ear to ear.

- Prodigal: A riff on Texas

They say there are no seasons in Texas, but my senses tell me otherwise. In the weeks since I last wrote, smudges of gold have appeared in the trees along the creeks and King Ranch bluestem has bronzed the roadsides.  Though there are no sugar maples to paint the hills red, autumn has surely arrived.

Our days have been full, and like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights, my mind has been frozen with indecision. Should I write about the River Walk in San Antonio, the biker rally we stumbled onto in Galveston, the Wings over Houston air show we went to that same weekend, or the pottery festival in Gruene? How could we have been so thoughtless as to eat the chicken pot pie and the latest pasta concoction before taking pictures for the blog? When will I ever find time to make paper, create new recipes, and write now that I’m working full-time?

Oh yes. I have rejoined the world of the gainfully employed, leaving at 7:00 each morning for the Alkek Library at Texas State University in San Marcos. The drive is a marvel, the ground cloaked in swaths of early morning fog as the sun gilds the edges of the hills. My mind is filled each day with the esoteric details of government documents, then I return home just as the sun slips back behind the hills, the GPS flickering into night mode.

Weekend time has regained its urgency, with never enough of it to spend on all the wish lists and projects. But today, as I threaded through the crowded aisles at the Brookshire Brothers grocery store, I spotted apple cider and knew that time had to be found for an unscheduled project. So I made an extra stop at Ace Hardware and bought a new deep fryer. Tomorrow, I’ll be sure to take a picture.

Doughnuts (2 dozen)

3 Tbs. softened butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

4 cups flour (sifted)
1 tsp. nutmeg
4 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk

Makes very soft dough which can be hard to handle, but the end result is worth it. Roll dough ½” thick, cut into rings and holes (I've used a small drinking glass and a little bud vase since losing my doughnut cutter some years back).  Heat deep fryer to 350 degrees. Flip doughnuts when the tops crackle and remove when both sides are dark brown. Drain on brown paper bags and cool briefly. Coat the doughnuts with cinnamon sugar (3/4 cup sugar, 1 Tbs. cinnamon) by shaking them in doubled brown paper lunch bags. Serve with cold apple cider.

P.S. As an afterthought, I tried putting some ganache on the last batch of doughnuts this morning ... nuked a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream for 30 seconds, stirred in 1/4 cup of Ghirardelli 60% Cacao chips and dunked the doughnuts.  Suffice it to say that this most assuredly will not be an afterthought next time.

- LOL: Meg channels Steven Wright

We may have had miserable weather this past weekend, but we made some great memories. Chief among them was Meg’s tale of her foray into the world of car maintenance.

First, for those who are not familiar with my older daughter, it is important to set the scene. Meghan is a human resources generalist at an Austin hospital, which is a very serious job. She drives a Volvo S40, purchased six years ago after she and our faithful Volvo 850 parted ways following a nasty accident. Since the 850 had pretty much saved her life, Meg became a serious Volvo fan.

But Volvos do have a reputation for electrical problems. In the past, Meg has regaled us with tales of her turning signal, which has an on-again-off-again habit refusing to work on demand. Her solution, arrived at by watching a mechanic test her car’s blinking capacity, involved turning on the emergency flashers whenever the turn signal didn’t work, then turning them off which, for whatever reason, usually resulted in a functioning turn signal … for a while.

Volvos also eat brake lights for breakfast, so our family is accustomed to keeping a good supply of spare bulbs on hand (we got our S70 at the same time Meg got her S40). As we sat around the table talking this past weekend Meg confessed that she had wearied of asking Paul to help her with replacing the bulbs, which has to be done in a timely manner as Meg’s brake lights have an uncanny ability to attract the attention of law enforcement personnel.

Meg decided she would respond to her latest dashboard warning herself. Step one involved single-handedly determining which bulb was burned out. Placing a can of paint on the brake pedal seemed like a good idea, until Meg realized the can was leaking onto the floorboard. Her second attempt involved placing one end of the hedge trimming shears against the brake pedal while moving the front seat forward until the shears depressed the pedal. Having thus activated the brake light, Meg determined which bulb was burned out and then liberated the hedge shears.

Continuing the story with dead-pan delivery, Meg proceeded to demonstrate what it took to remove the burned out bulb from its recalcitrant housing, replace it with a new bulb, and then test the new bulb with the aforementioned hedge shears. Fans of comedian Steven Wright will understand what I mean when I say that Meg kept a perfectly straight face while the rest of us laughed until we were gasping for air. For those who haven’t experienced Steven Wright’s style of delivery, get thee to youtube for a sample.

And so, with thanks for the memory, I dedicate the following recipe from Sunday brunch to Meghan, storyteller par excellence and darned good light bulb changer.

Bacon Potato Omelet (with a tip of the hat to the Frugal Gourmet)

2 slices of bacon (preferably dry cured)
2 small new potatoes, nuked and cut into small cubes
1 scallion, sliced into thin rounds (I found purple scallions at the Wimberley Farmers’ Market)
1 clove of garlic, minced or pressed
1/3 cup coarse grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (yes, it’s worth $12 per pound)
1/3 cup diced tomato (the ripest you can find)
3-4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbs. butter

Fry the bacon until crisp, then chop coarsely. Nuke the potatoes until tender and cut into small cubes. Fry the potatoes in the bacon fat until lightly browned. Stir in the bacon, garlic and scallion, then turn off the heat.

Heat butter in a separate omelet pan, cook omelet until eggs just begin to set. Top with potato mixture, cheese and tomato. Fold omelet over the toppings and serve immediately, with toast and extra bacon if desired (and when is it not?)

- Better late than never: Banana cake

When we went to Meg and Paul’s this past weekend we were shocked (shocked!) to find no butter in the fridge. Meliss had no problem since she was making asparagus roasted in olive oil, but since my plans included candied carrots, only butter would do. Fortunately, Jake and Don made a detour to Central Market and rescued the meal, but …

Confronted with our dismay over the state of her refrigerator, Meg fessed up. Having an overabundance of overripe bananas the week before, she had made not one, but two batches of banana bread, thereby using up all the butter in the house. Sadly, neither recipe had yielded a decent result.

“Why didn’t you use my recipe?” I asked.

“Because you never gave it to me,” Meg replied.

Until now …


Banana Cake

2 bananas

1 cup sugar (1/3 to mash bananas, 2/3 for the batter)

½ cup Land O’ Lakes butter with canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract (the good stuff, no artificial flavoring please)
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cinnamon
½ cup sour cream
¾ cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts (or both)
½ cup cinnamon sugar (to taste … I like a fair bit of cinnamon)

Mash the bananas in 1/3 cup sugar. Cream the remaining sugar with the butter and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. Fold in 1 cup of flour along with the baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon, followed by the mashed bananas. Fold in the remaining flour, followed by the sour cream.

Mix the chopped nuts and cinnamon sugar together. Sprinkle ¼ of the nut mixture into a greased tube pan, then spread ¼ of the batter on top. Sprinkle another ¼ of the nut mixture evenly into the pan and then spread on ½ of the remaining batter. Sprinkle the third ¼ of the nut mixture and spread on the rest of the batter.  Sprinkle the remaining ¼ of the nut mixture on top.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, or just until the cake sets. Be careful not to over bake, as the cake will continue to set after it is removed from the oven.

Note: If you only have one banana or not much appetite, cut the recipe in half to make two mini-loaves (as pictured above). Bake for 30 minutes at 350.

- Chicken Soup

Meliss and Jake flew in from St. Louis this past weekend; their first time seeing our new digs in Wimberley. Undeterred by the rainy grey weather, we took everyone on a sightseeing drive through the Texas Hill Country. Perhaps we should have realized that the backseat request for more air conditioning was a cry for help, but no … we drove on, and on, and on through Mountain Crest, Big Sky Ranch, Skyline Ridge, and Flite Acres.

It was only when we returned home that the truth came out: we had turned everyone a not-so-lovely shade of green. Don’s “Who wants a margarita?” was met with groans and Meliss quipped that some chicken soup would be more appropriate.

Not a problem! I pulled a container of Rotisserie Chicken Stock out of the freezer, whisked up a roux, and asked if anyone was interested in having a cup of chicken soup. Everyone was interested indeed. And all recovered sufficiently to head out to Trattoria Lisina a few hours later, where we feasted on fedelini al pachino (no relation to the actor), cannelloni, spaghetti carbonara, seafood linguine, and spicy sausage pizza. The evening ended better than fine as we shared chocolate mousse cake with Nutella and hazelnuts.   

So all's well that ends well.  I'll just be sure to have plenty of stock on hand for their next visit, when we plan to drive up Devil's Backbone and then head down to Gruene on Purgatory Road.

Chicken Soup

3-4 cups Rotisserie Chicken Stock (see recipe index to the right)
2-3 Tbs. butter
2-3 Tbs. flour

Melt butter over medium heat, whisk in flour and cook gently for a few minutes. Whisk in warm stock. Heat until thickened to a creamy consistency. Season to taste.

- The Dancing Bear: A Love Song in Two Parts

When I was growing up, family drives were pretty much limited to the 80 mile stretch from East Williston to Shelter Island, with the exception of one vacation to Mystic and Sturbridge which covered 350 miles. So it was significant that my folks drove 400 miles to deposit me at the College of William and Mary in 1974, and then returned six weeks later with my brother Art in tow for Parents’ Day.

October 5, 1974 was a classic Williamsburg fall day. The sun was strong, as it had been the year before when I first visited the campus with my dad, but even so the first leaves were starting to drift onto the brick walks around the Sunken Gardens. We went to watch the Indians beat the Citadel in football (no, I don’t actually remember that … I just looked it up in the Flat Hat). Then we headed out to dinner at the King’s Arms, notable only for my first, and last, bowl of peanut soup.

Heading back to my room in DuPont, I passed by the hall telephone (yes, back in the day there was only one phone for a hall of 30 women). Robin was on the phone and called out as I walked by, “What are you doing tonight? Theta Delt is having a band and Andy’s friend needs a date.”

Being a young woman who truly valued the essential goodness in people, I asked, “What does he look like?”  And finally agreed to go only after determining that “Don” was “tall and not bad looking.” An hour later, Andy, Don, and a bottle of Gallo Hearty Burgundy showed up and we were off to Theta Delta Chi to dance the night away. Don, wearing a stylish wide-wale couduroy jacket, had a signature dance move he called the “Dancing Bear." That was all it took; we continued to see each other for weeks, then months, then years ... thirty-five years as of today.

* * * *

When Don suggested we go back to Gruene to listen to music this past weekend, I said yes, since I had an ulterior motive: I wanted to get a picture of the Dancing Bear sign I had spotted a couple of weeks before. We went to the Gristmill for lunch, entering just as Brown Eyed Girl began to play. I asked if Don could remember when Brown Eyed Girl was first recorded, and he replied that it must have been in the early 70s since it was a standard at fraternity parties.  Of course.

Turning to the menus, I settled on tortilla soup (much better than peanut soup at the Kings Arms) and Don opted for grilled trout, washed down with Shiner Bock and Dos Equis respectively. The rains came as we ate, and continued as we walked over to Gruene Hall to hear the McKay Brothers. The rain picked up, drumming a tattoo on the roof of Gruene Hall as it ran down the corrugated tin and and splashed to the ground in beaded-curtain streams. The McKays played on while I danced in my seat to the Beatitudes of Heat, Disappearing Texas and The Pawnee Waltz.

Every so often the weather would let up and we’d debate whether or not to leave. Then the thunder would rumble and we’d reconsider. When the show ended, we were finally forced to brave the rain and found ourselves shin-deep in running water as we crossed the street to the car. After twenty months of drought, it wouldn’t do for the Texas Hill Country to ease into the rainy season I guess.

As we pulled onto Hunter Road I reminded Don that I needed a picture of the Dancing Bears. “Not really,” he said. Yes, really. I rolled down the window as he angled for a shot, then we continued on to I-35, figuring that the low-water crossings on Purgatory Road would surely be flooded, blocking the shorter way home. As we turned onto the interstate, the sun broke through behind us, painting a rainbow onto the clouds and then, with the water flying off the cars ahead of us, the end of the rainbow bent down right in front of us, until we were the end of the rainbow.

Magic happens … (head over the 3/17/2018 post to see how it still does)

Tortilla Soup (revised 1/2015)

Soup:

2-4 cups rotisserie chicken stock

1 sweet yellow onion, diced
2-3 ears of fresh corn sliced off the cob (or a cup of frozen white corn)

1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced
1 cup or more of fresh tomatoes, diced

2 cups leftover chicken meat, cut into bite-sized pieces

Salt, black pepper, and Chipotle chile powder to taste

Toppings:

Corn tortilla chips (I’m partial to On the Border)

Grated cheese (Monterey Jack and a bit of Cotilla)

Fresh cilantro leaves

Avocado slices

Lime wedges

Heat the chicken stock over medium heat, add the diced onion and corn, simmer for 10 minutes or so while you chop the peppers and dice the chicken. Add the peppers, chicken and roux (optional, add if you want the soup to be more stew-like), then cook gently while you chop and then add the tomatoes. Adjust seasoning to taste and serve once everything is well heated through, being careful not to overcook.

Prep bowls with cheese and crushed corn chips, ladle on the soup, then top with cilantro leaves and avocado slices. Serve with wedges of lime and extra toppings, which can be added to taste.  Ice cold beer is also highly recommended ... Negra Modelo or Shiner Bock come to mind.