It's My Blogoversary!

WooHoo! It's my blogoversary today.

I started this blog a year ago to promote my cookbook, Foods and Flavors of San Antonio, and to share the "foods" and "flavors" of San Antonio. It's been a fun year, especially when my cookbook was published in March and I did a month-long Fiesta of Foods and Flavors foodie event to celebrate.

And now, a year after beginning this blog, my publisher has asked me to write another cookbook, A Fiesta of Foods and Flavors. WooHoo!

I'm looking forward to another year of blogging and bringing you a Fiesta of Foods and Flavors. :)

Hatch Chile Cookbook Winner

When I posted the Hatch Chile Recipe Round-Up, I asked everyone to choose the winner by voting for your favorite recipe. Well... some of you liked one recipe and some of you liked another recipe, but none of you liked the SAME recipe!

So, even though I loved all the recipes (and will be including them in my Hatch cookbook that I'm writing), I've decided to award The First Ever Un-Edited & Un-Tested Hatch Chile Pepper Recipe Book to Hornsfan of Bytes from Texas because she posted seven Hatch recipes during her Hatch Chile week and she obviously loves Hatch chiles and I know she'll enjoy and make good use of the cookbook. :)

Hatch Chile Contest... Recipe Round-Up

Who loves Hatch Chiles? A while ago, I thought it would be fun
to have a Hatch Chile Contest and Cookbook Giveaway and asked other Hatch Chile lovers to create recipes using Hatch chiles. If you love Hatch chiles, you'll love this round-up. And be sure to vote for your favorite because your vote determines the winner.

Dee, Texas-to-Mexico, is totally in love with Hatch chiles, maybe even more than me, and she's hatched up some spicy food for all of us to enjoy. In fact, she was the very first visitor to my new Hatch Chile Heaven blog that I created and left a comment that shows she's in Hatch Chile Heaven... Be still my heart, Gloria!! I have been stalking the Hatch Chile Roasting team in our town at the local HEB Plus. I can't wait to post the recipes we've been trying! I've been in Chili Pepper heaven. (sigh....). She's made three really delicious recipes with her stash.

First on the table is her Hatch Green Chile Stew, made with
pork loin, red bell pepper, apples, and of course Hatch Chiles!

To go along with her stew, she made
Hatch Green Chile Corn Bread.

A few days later, Dee made Crockpot Roasted Chicken
and Vegetables with spicy hot Hatch chiles to warm her
for the cold days to come. She also made Green Chile
Mashed Potatoes to serve with her chicken.

As they say, "like mother, like daughter." Hornsfan, Bytes From Texas, who many of you know is Dee's daughter, totally loves
Hatch chiles and decided to have a Hatch Chile Week, featuring
a new Hatch chile recipe every day. To start off the week, she made Hatch 'al Pastor' Tacos. She also included some Hatch history and info with each post.

On the second day, she made Hatch Mac 'n' Cheese, a true
comfort food to warm the Hatch chile lover's heart. It was
so good that everyone had second helpings.

The third day, Hornsfan offered us Hatch Chicken Stew, another comfort food that should be eaten during the cold winter months, but she loves Hatch chiles so much that she braved the heat from the chiles in 100 degree weather.

The fourth day, she presented us with Beer Braised Pork
Chops and Hatch Chile Stuffing, explaining that stuffing
isn't just for holidays.

The fifth day, Hornsfan made Cream Cheese Hatch Enchiladas and Calabacitas, stuffing the enchiladas with fajita chicken.

Day six, she brought back an oldie but a goodie:
Hatch-Hefewisen Chile.

To end her Hatch Chile Week, which I totally loved--her blog
was the first one I visited every day to see what she'd cooked up--she presented us with Hatch Chilaquiles.

Natasha, Five Star Foodie, had never heard of Hatch chiles
until she read about them in an earlier post I made. Being a 5-star foodie, of course she had to get some. Her first entry into Hatch chile cooking was a Hatch Chile Gazpacho.

She enjoyed the Hatch chiles so much, she also made
Hatch Chile and White Cheddar Mini Corn Muffins,
which became an instant family favorite.

Gaby, What's Gaby Cooking, made Southwestern Turkey Burgers with Hatch Chiles and Queso, using green, red, and orange chiles.

Alex, Recession Recipes, scored more than a bushel of Hatch chiles from his local grocery store. He was so excited about finding them, he rushed right home and made Hatch Chile Huevos Rancheros.

David, My Year on the Grill, made one of his favorite appetizers, Crispy Garlic Pepper Parmesan Cheese Appetizer, using a poblano pepper cause he wasn't lucky enough to find Hatch
chiles. David... you have got to get yourself some Hatch!

I only discovered Hatch chiles in August when Central Market
sent me a press release about the Hatch Chile Festival they were having for two weekends. The first time I ate a Hatch chile, I was in heaven and professed my love for them. I love them so much that I created a Hatch Chile Heaven blog and a Hatch Chile Heaven Facebook page. If you've ever eaten Hatch chiles, then
you know that this was a very reasonable thing to do... not a going overboard, crazy type of thing. I have 20 pounds of roasted Hatch chiles in my freezer (well, a bit less than that because I've been using them in lots of recipes) which should hold me for a few months.

To celebrate the Hatch, I made
Hatch Chile Cheesy Chicken Fajitas.

When the first cold weather hit here in San Antonio about
two weeks ago, I made Hatch Chile Chili and Cornbread.

All these recipes were entered in the Hatch Chile Contest; the winner receives a copy of Central Market's The First Ever Un-Edited and Un-Tested Hatch Chile Pepper Recipe Book.

You're going to choose the winner! Please vote for your favorite recipe by leaving
a comment. (No anonymous comments allowed.) If you've submitted a recipe, ask all your friends and blog visitors to vote for your recipe. The winner will be announced on October 20th, so you have two weeks to choose your favorite. May the best Hatch Chile Recipe win!!