It's My Party... Guest Post

Hi, I'm Lindsey Reese, foodie-in-the-making because I LOVE food. My Grandma offered to let me write a guest post about my birthday party, so here goes...

I was born on June 23rd and I'm one.
My family had a birthday party for me
last Sunday. Lots of my little friends came
and a bunch of mommy's big friends were
there, too, plus lots of aunts and uncles
and cousins and grandmas and grandpas,
but since it was my special day, my Grandma
took pictures of mostly me cause she loves me.

Mommy and me.

Come and play with me.
Birthday parties are supposed to be fun.

I'm playing with my big sister, Hannah.

Playing with my cousin, Antonio.

It's fun to get presents. Lots of presents.
I let my mom and my sister help me open them.

Did someone say cake?
The presents were nice,
but I'm here for the food.

Still waiting for cake. C'mon people.
Let's get this show on the road.

You said we were going to have cake!
Where is it? I want my cake. I want my cake now!
And I want what you're drinking. I see you sipping
those mimosas and all you offer me is water.
It's my party and I'll cry if I want to.
What do you mean, I have to get
naked before I can have cake?

This is my ladybug cake. I feel so special.

Hey, this is good! Thanks, mom!

Oooh. This is good cake. Really, really good cake.

I'm in foodie heaven. That's my daddy smiling at me.

There's another cake over there?

You mean this one is all for me? WooHoo!

Don't talk to me when I'm eating. You're
distracting me. Let me focus on my food.

This was worth waiting for.

You can tell I'm going to be a foodie when
I grow up cause I like to play with my food.

Hey! Quit playing with my toes!
Can't you see I'm still eating!?

I'm a happy birthday girl!!

What do you mean, the party's over!?

Thanks for coming to my birthday party!! :)

Cookbook Giveaway Winners

The winner of the latest cookbook giveaway hosted by Foodie Giveaway is Val; she doesn't have a foodie blog, but I hope she enjoys the cookbook. Val will also receive a San Antonio refrigerator magnet.

As promised, I chose another winner at random for the second fridge magnet. And the winner is... Ginger of Once Upon a Gourmet Gin. Please send me your address so I can get that out to you.

It's been a blast promoting my cookbook and giving away lots of copies over the past four months. I don't have another giveaway planned at the moment, but if you love Tex-Mex food, Foods and Flavors of San Antonio is available in bookstores and on Amazon. And be sure to visit one of my other blogs, Tex-Mex Recipes, for lots more San Antonio-style recipes from all over the blogosphere.

Tongue Tacos

Have you been watching Top Chef Masters on Bravo TV on Wednesday nights? Last night, Rick Bayless, Master of Mexican cuisine, won the challenge with his Tongue Tacos.

Have you ever eaten tongue before? I haven't, but I'd try it if Rick made it. You rock, Rick!

I thought it was hysterical that Ludo, a French chef, tried to make quesadillas and Rick wondered if he'd ever made a quesadilla before since he was having so much trouble with it. LOL.

Fun at the Farmer's Market

I went to the Pearl Farmer's Market this morning for the los sabores del mercado Venza event. I had so much fun meeting some of the chefs and vendors, talking with them and sampling
the food that local San Antonio chefs prepared using some of the vendor's fresh ingredients. The food was absolutely delicious and the tastings were generous. (I didn't take any pictures because my camera doesn't work in daylight even though I changed the settings; the pics are whited out.) But, I am trying to get recipes for all the wonderful food I sampled and will share them when I do.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I didn't buy anything at the farmer's market today because I was so busy running around sampling the delicious food, talking to the vendors, and having great conversations with fellow foodies while we stood in the long lines. My plan was to meet and chat with each chef and vendor, then make another round to buy everything I wanted, but I ran out of time!! There's always next Saturday and Pearl is my new favorite place to be on Saturday mornings.

I've been cooking up a flavor idea that I wanted to share on this blog; I haven't mentioned it before because it's been simmering
in my mind and I also needed to see if flavorful people wanted to participate. On Fridays, I'll have a Friday Flavor post featuring some of the local flavor here in San Antonio... maybe a chef interview, hopefully with recipes, maybe a restaurant review, maybe a farmer's market vendor interview to let you get to know the food and the people behind the food, and lots of other flavor that makes San Antonio so special. In addition, I'll be creating
new recipes with the food I buy at the farmer's market, and will be including those recipes in the new Tex-Mex Cookbook I'm writing.

Cookbook Giveaway

Would you like to win a copy of my cookbook, Foods and Flavors of San Antonio? Head over to Foodie Giveaway for four chances to win. The giveaway is open until next Thursday and the winner will be announced on Friday, June 26th.

I'll also be giving away two San Antonio refrigerator magnets... one
to the cookbook winner and another to one of you who leaves a comment on this post. Good luck. I hope you win.

Pearl Farmer's Market... Special Chef Event

This Saturday, June 20th, Pearl Farmer's Market, is having a special chef event, with the market vendors pairing up with San Antonio chefs who will prepare tastings inspired by Latin American cuisines while showcasing their partner farm's fresh ingredients. I got a press release about this last week and it sounds like a really wonderful event. I'll definitely be there!

Visitors will have the opportunity to sample the chef's creations while also learning more about the market vendors, their products, and how to buy and eat seasonally and locally. This event, called los sabores del mercado Venza, is sponsored by Toyota.

Visitors will be able to sign up to receive a los sabores del mercado Guide to Eating Seasonally in San Antonio, a month-by-month book featuring seasonal fare and recipes by the participating chefs. The guide will be available in English and Spanish. Market-goers will
also be invited to pick up complimentary potted herb plants at the Mobile Garden Venza, and can enter for a chance to win a unique culinary prize package. (The press release didn't say what this "unique culinary prize package" is.)

In addition to all the wonderful fresh food available at the market, you'll also get to meet some local San Antonio chefs and the food vendors. Here's the line-up:

Tent 1:
9 - 10 -- Chef Melissa Guerra/Melissa Guerra-Tienda de Cocina with farmers Rob and Lori Hartman
10:15 - 11:15 -- Chef Andrew Gutierrez/Las Ramblas with Shape Ranch
11:30 - 12:30 -- Chef Rene Fernandez/Azuca with Braune Farms

Tent 2:
9:15 - 10:15 -- Chef Johnny Hernandez/True Flavors Culinary Planning with Oak Hill Farms
10:30 - 11:30 -- Chef Ernie Estrada/Francesca's at Sunset, The Westin La Cantera with Wheeler Farms
11:45 - 12:45 -- Chef Heather Nanez/Bohanan's with Alligator Creek Farm

Tent 3:
9:30 - 10:30 -- Chef Flor Maria Pozo/Picante Grill with My Father's Farm
10:45 - 11:45 -- Chef Javier Flores/La Fonda on Main with L&M Ranch
12:00 - 1:00 -- Chef Diana Barrios Trevino/Los Barrios with Alligator Creek Farm

Tent 4:
9:15 - 10:15 -- Chef James Sanchez/Acenar with Kitchen Pride Mushrooms
10:30 - 11:30 -- Chef Cynthia Rodriguez/CIA, San Antonio with Braune Farms
11:45 - 12:45 -- Chef Romulo Mendoza/Paloma Blanca with Marrs Garden

See ya at the farmer's market on Saturday!!

Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream

You never know what you'll find when you open your email in the morning. I found lots of wonderful things this morning: Spryte made San Antonio Chicken for next month's Second Sunday San Antonio. My publisher agreed to another cookbook giveaway for Foods and Flavors of San Antonio, which I'll post about on Friday. Chow sent me a recipe for Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream which features two of my very favorite things: Chocolate and coffee-flavored liqueur. They suggest using Patron XO Cafe, which is a coffee-flavored tequila liqueur and say that if you can't find it,
you can substitute Kahlua. Oh yeah! I have Kahlua. I love Kahlua.

Anyway, I've had ice cream on the brain for the past several days. It's been so HOT here... temps in the 100s with the heat index at 105 or higher... that all you can really do is stay inside in the air conditioning (wonder what my electric bill is going to look like?), go to the pool, or eat ice cream. I've been doing all these things, with the emphasis on ice cream. When I got together with my family on Saturday for our weekly family dinner, it was my turn to cook so I bought all the ingredients for make-your-own-pizza (I was lazy and didn't feel like cooking). When it's your turn to make dinner, you also have to bring dessert. I brought chocolate ice cream and hot fudge sauce for make-your-own chocolate hot fudge sundaes.

Then, a few days ago, Karen, of Karen Cooks, made Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. YUM. A few days before that, she made Ricotta Cheese. Equal YUM. And hey, if you're on a diet and want a substitute/pretend ice cream, just mix some ricotta cheese with vanilla extract flavoring and a sprinkle of Splenda sugar substitute and you have a fake vanilla ice cream, which is actually really good.

On Sunday, I hung out with my grandsons because my daughter, Jennifer, is a firefighter and works 24-hour shifts. I watch my grandsons while she works, and since it's so hot, we went to the pool.

I thought about ice cream all day and took my grandsons to Dairy Queen for hamburgers (my favorite food... should I really admit that since I'm supposed to be a Tex-Mex foodie?) because I didn't feel like cooking (again!) and wanted ice cream. Anyway, the food at DQ is awful but the ice cream is really good. Think brownie batter blizzard. I love their French Vanilla MooLattes because French Vanilla is my favorite coffee.

I know I'm rambling, but I so want ice cream with KAHLUA right now! I clicked on the links that Chow provided in the email (which are also given on their site along with the recipe) and discovered that there's a French Vanilla flavored Kahlua. So, with their recipe for Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream, I'm thinking along the lines of a Chocolate French Vanilla Flavored Kahlua Frappuccino. I usually drink my Kahlua as a King Alphonse, which is equal parts Kahlua and cream served over ice, but I'm planning to put that in the blender and have a Kahlua Frappuccino sometime before or after I make the ice cream. I have Kahlua, I have cream, and I have ice... so why not?

After I run out to the store (after the sun goes down if I can wait that long) and buy all the ingredients for Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream, along with an ice cream maker which I don't have, I'll make a Mexican Chocolate Kahlua Hot Fudge Sundae, but you can bet I won't be sharing this with my grandkids. It's all for me! And NO, Teresa, I'm not sharing with you, either, because I know you too well and you'll steal my Kahlua again.

I have no idea how much an ice cream maker costs but luck may be on my side. When I was walking my dogs last night (after the sun went down because it's just too hot when the sun is up), I found $25.00 blowing in the breeze. I think there's an ice cream maker and a Kahlua Frappuccino in my near future.

And there could be
a cookbook in your future. Check back on Friday for details about the Foods and Flavors of San Antonio giveaway. If you're in the mood for Tex-Mex food instead of Kahlua-flavored ice cream or hamburgers, check out Spryte's post on San Antonio Chicken.

Second Sunday San Antonio... June Round-Up

Since it's the second Sunday of the month, it's time for Second Sunday San Antonio, a Tex-Mex foodie event where we all cook the same recipe from my cookbook, Foods and Flavors of San Antonio, and compare notes in the monthly round-up. Whoever posts the recipe first on his/her blog gets to choose the recipe for next month. Heather, GirliChef, had the honors last month and chose Chicken Chimichangas.

I was first this month with my version
of Chicken Chimichangas so I get to choose the recipe for next month, which I'll post at the end.

Heather, GirliChef, made her own variation of Chicken Chimichangas with the ingredients she had on hand. Actually, she came up with an entirely new recipe which sounds really delicious.

I'm choosing San Antonio Chicken for next month's Second Sunday San Antonio. It's quick, easy, and you don't have to heat up your house by turning the oven on.

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 (1.25 oz.) package taco seasoning
• 3 T. water
• 2 - 3 T. vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 1 (2 oz.) jar pimientos
• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 cups hot cooked white rice
• 1 cup picante sauce

Place the chicken in a saucepan and cover with water. Let
simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked
through. Remove to a cutting board and coarsely chop the
chicken.

In a medium-size bowl, toss the cooked, chopped chicken with
the taco seasoning mix and water. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add
the onion, green bell pepper, and corn. Saute until tender.

Add the pimientos, black beans, chopped chicken, rice, and
picante sauce. Stir to mix and heat through.

We'd love to have you cook with us for Second Sunday San Antonio. The round-up will be posted on July 12th. Make the recipe (tweak it if you like) and post the picture of the dish on your blog, along with the badge and a link to this post, then send me an email with the link to your post. If you're the first one to make and post San Antonio Chicken, you get to choose the recipe we'll all make next month.

Texas Folklife Festival

Looking for something really fun and interesting to do this weekend? The
Texas Folklife Festival is the place to be. This 3-day event is held on the grounds of the Institute of Texan Cultures on the UTSA HemisFair Park Campus and is happening today through Sunday, the 14th.

More than 40 different cultural groups in Texas, offering over 150 ethnic foods, are represented at the festival which showcases the Lone Star State's diversity and rich heritage through a wide variety of ethnic food, music, folk dances, and arts and crafts.

Habas Grandes Crockpot Chili

Picture a lazy Sunday and me not wanting to cook, so I decided to make chili in the crockpot and let my crockpot cook for me all day while I vegged. I wanted to make an easy chili, but not just any chili... I wanted large lima beans, aka butter beans. This was the chili my mom would make when I was growing up and of course I tweaked the recipe. I decided to call it Habas Grandes Crockpot Chili instead of Large Lima Crockpot Chili because it sounds more Tex-Mex and that's what the package said it was.

• 1 (16 oz.) package dry large lima beans--Habas Grandes--soaked overnight, then drained and rinsed
• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• Generous amounts of chili powder
• Lots of cumin
• A little bit of dried minced garlic
• 1 (4 oz.) can chopped green chiles
• 3 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
• 1 cup water

Heat a deep, 12-inch chef's saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, onions, and green bell pepper. Sprinkle generously with chili powder and cumin. Cook, stirring to break up the meat. Season again with chili powder and cumin, then sprinkle on a little dried minced garlic.

When the meat is cooked, add the chopped green chiles, the tomato sauce, and water. Season again with the chili powder and cumin to taste. Be generous with the seasonings because the limas aren't seasoned at all and they'll soak up the spices. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes or so.

Spoon the meat mixture into the crockpot. Stir in the drained limas, then sprinkle with more chili powder. Cook on high for 3 hours, then turn the heat to low and cook for 5 or 6 more hours
or until the beans are tender, stirring once or twice during the cooking process.

This makes a thick chili, which I served on a plate instead of in a bowl and ate it with a fork instead of a spoon. If you prefer your chili to be a bit soupy, just add more water and/or another can of tomato sauce or a can of diced tomatoes with juice.

I served my chili with a simple curly leaf lettuce and tomato salad, dressed with Ranch, and a cheese quesadilla.


This is my entry for this month's Chili Cook-Off Challenge.

If you'd like to participate in
the chili cook-off, please click
the link to read the rules.

Cheatin' Cheddar 'n' Salsa Chicken

As a foodie, I probably shouldn't admit this, but sometimes I
don't like to cook. {{gasp}}

Sometimes I like to re-heat leftovers; other times I like doing take-out or making convenience foods from a bag or a box, and every once in a while, I use ready-to-make frozen food. The past week or so (that I haven't been blogging), I've been doing a lot of this and I thought I'd better post something so you wouldn't think
I disappeared from the blogosphere.

1 frozen breaded chicken breast patty
Sliced cheddar cheese
Salsa from a jar

Heat the chicken breast patty according to directions... 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Top it with the cheddar cheese and return to the oven to melt the cheese. While the cheese is melting, warm the salsa in the microwave. Take the chicken patty-with-the-melted-cheese-on-top out of the oven and spoon the hot salsa over.

I steamed some broccoli to serve with this and nuked some leftover mashed potatoes. I drizzled some of the salsa over the broccoli and sprinkled some shredded Mexican blend cheese on top. Ditto for the potatoes.

My Cheatin' Cheddar Chicken isn't much to look at, but it was a quick, easy dinner that practically cooked itself and it was good.

So tell me: How many of you foodies cheat on dinner from time
to time?