If you Ask Me What I Like About Texas Series Continued Revisited

When people in Texas talk about Texas music they often say "Texas Country", but there's so much more than country music on the menu.  Here are some of my faves.  By the way, I tried condensing it to a top five, but there was just no way.

I present to you "The List":

Asleep at the Wheel
Ryan Bingham
Junior Brown
Adam Carroll
David Allen Coe
Rodney Crowell
Steve Earle
Eisley
Alejandro Escovedo
Guy Forsythe
Buddy Holly
Ray Wylie Hubbard
Iris DeMent
Waylon Jennings
George Jones
Janis Joplin
Robert Earl Keen
Alison Krauss
Kris Kristofferson
Lyle Lovett
Salim Nourrallah
Sisters Morales
Steve Miller
Willie Nelson
Gary P. Nunn
Roy Orbison
K.T. Oslin
John Prine
Phil Pritchett
Carrie Rodriguez
Kenny Rogers
Bob Schneider
Slaid Cleaves
Larry Joe Taylor
The Toadies
Billy Joe Shaver
Townes Van Zandt
Jerry Jeff Walker
White Ghost Shivers
ZZ Top

Do you enjoy any of these musicians?  Who are your favorites?  If there are some you've never heard of, look 'em up and check them out.  Finding new music is always fun : )

Let's Talk about the Weather

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Things have been so dry across the South that I couldn't help but think of the Dust Bowl when I heard of Arizona's most recent dust storm.  I know that dust storms happen from time to time, but being in the midst of such a drought and seeing such images reinforce my concerns.  The water tanks set for the cattle on my mom's ranch are nearly all dried up and she's scrambling to figure out how she's going to remedy the cows' drinking situation while worrying about a fire cropping up (fires have been especially bad this year) at any time.

It's a serious issue here in Texas as I'm sure it is for some other Southern States.  

The U. S. has seen a crazy year for weather what with droughts, flooding, and tornadoes happening all at the same time.  Let's just hope that we get to breeze through Hurricane season without a hitch aside from some much needed rain.  I few bands of tropical rains couldn't hurt.  I'm just praying that He doesn't over do it ; )

If you Ask Me What I Like About Texas...

To quote an old Jerry Jeff song, "I could tell you, but it'd take all night long."  Instead I'll just highlight a few things so...moving right along.

The first of these will be about food (I'll feature various topics over the next few days; a series, if you will)

1.) Onions, Sweet Onions!  I only recently discovered that our state vegetable was the sweet onion.  I love our sweet onions.  Louisiana may have their Creole Onions, but Texas has their 1015's.

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2.) Texas Ruby Reds.  Need I say more?

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3.) Shiner Bock Beer.  If you've never had a Shiner (and you enjoy beer) I think you'd better find one. Quick!  They've come out with Seasonal brews and the Ruby Red that came out this past Spring was delish (a happy marriage of two great Texas flavors-grapefruit and beer!).  Also, I fell in love with the "Holiday Cheer" brew.  I think it was the best I've ever drank...a mix of Peach and Pecan.  Mmm.

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4.) Tex-Mex.  It may not be traditional Mexican, but it sure is traditional Texican.  It's comfort food, great for hang overs, and sometimes you've just gotta have it.

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5.) Pecans.  Many people don't associate Pecans with Texas, but they're a big part of our state.  After all, the Pecan Tree is our State tree.  My Granddaddy has Pecan groves on his land.  With little rain in recent years, the production has not been great, but I love pecans just the same.

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A Blogger Award and Paying it Forward

Recently, I was presented with a lovely award from Judy, at "The Southern Lady Cooks."  She's got great recipes on her page.  I just love it.  I'd like to pass on this award to a few of my blogging friends.  Without further ado and in no particular order, I present the following with this lovely award:

• Chef Rick @ Chef Rick's Southern Cooking
• Amanda @ The Sweet Details
• Marguerite @ Cajun Delights
• Lynn @ Happier Than a Pig in Mud
• Gayle @ Garden of Daisies

Happy Fourth of July, Everyone!

Anniversary and a Giveaway

I'll have been blogging for almost a year, now, come the end of July and I've had fun documenting this past year.  To celebrate I'd like to host a giveaway for you, my friends!

The giveaway includes a trio of feisty ladies.  I'd like you to meet...

Jane, Donna, and Marilyn!

These are Mary Louise Butter's Brownies and they come in an assortment of flavors that she's named after ladies.  Your gift pack will include:  the Jane, Donna, and Marilyn brownies.  Yum!  Based out of Austin, TX, these brownies are a fun way to send a little bit of Texas flavor to you.

I will draw a name at random and make the announcement on July 22nd to mark the day that I really hopped on the blogging train (you may see that I initially started my blog in 2007, but w/one post per year, I say those don't count for an anniversary).

Thank you to those of you that have faithfully followed.  I hope that I've given you some yummy food for thought ; ) And for those of you who haven't become followers yet...

To enter the giveaway, just follow my blog.  It's that simple.  I will contact the person when I've completed the drawing.

Salsa Bravo

Salsa Bravo
16 or so fresh tomatoes, cored and skins removed, diced
6 fresh Jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped fine
2 medium size onions, chopped
2 bell peppers, seeded and diced
2 banana peppers, seeded and diced
2 Ancho Chilies, seeded and re-hydrated, chopped
1 Chili Cascavel, seeded and re-hydrated, chopped
3 Chipotle Chilies in Adobo sauce, chopped
Juice of one lemon
1/3 cup white vinegar
3 heaping Tbsp. Kosher Salt
1 Tbsp. Granulated Sugar
1 small can Tomato Paste

To begin, I set the fresh tomatoes in boiling water for one minute and then plunged them in cold water so that I could easily remove the skins.  Next, dropped the dried chilies in the water to re-hydrate them.  Then I cored and diced the tomatoes.  I wasn't worried about a perfect dice since I planned on using my stick blender towards the end.  I proceeded by dicing the remaining ingredients, dumping it all in a large mixing bowl.  I would suggest wearing disposable gloves while handling the Jalapenos and other Chili peppers.  I added the vinegar, lemon juice, sugar and salt at the end and dumped it all into my stock pot to simmer for 45 minutes.  While this was simmering, I prepared my jars and lids. **A website to learn more about Chilies.

Here's an image of the salsa simmering away...

 I got 5 wide mouth pint size jars out of this recipe.  After blending until I reached the desired consistency, I ladled the salsa into the sanitized jars.  After washing the lids, I put them in hot water for a few minutes and set them to dry, then I wiped the rims of the jars to ensure that they were clean and ready for a good seal. Finally I screwed the lids on (not too tight) and plunged them in their water bath.  I heated these for 20 to 25 minutes.

and here's a picture of the first batch of sealed jars.

As a side note about sealing:  I tested the seal by pushing on the lid and it popped back up.  That had never happened to me before so I thought, "uh oh", but after they were cooling for a few minutes more, I began hearing the little popping sound of the lids sucking in and creating their vacuum so don't panic right off if this happens with your lid.  Let them continue to rest on the counter top before checking them again.  If they never sealed, I've read that you should eat it within three days, keeping it refrigerated.

I'm excited to serve this salsa made from home grown tomatoes and bell peppers over the holiday weekend.  I hope y'all enjoy the 4th!  Tell me what you will be serving ; )