Food Features:
Deep Dish Pizza
by Cheryl Hill-Burrier
When thinking about great pizza, most of us envision some little restaurant with checkered tablecloths in Brooklyn or Chicago, but there's a big difference between the thin-crust New York-style pizza and Chicago’s deep-dish pizza. What's more, a Texan had something to do with it!

Traditional Texas Fare:
Mexican Buffets
by John Raven, Ph.B.
When you decide it is time to have some friends over for a visitation, you are obligated to feed them if they are going to be there over a couple of hours. At least that is the way it works in Texas. I've been thinking what would be good to feed a few friends that did not involve a whole lot of expense or manual labor, and I think a Mexican buffet is the way to go. You provide the parts, and your friends assemble their own dishes according to the way they like it.

Beverage & Bar Features:
Shiner Beer - Brewed in Shiner, Texas
by Lori Grossman
If you're a Texan, or have lived here for a while, you know what it means when someone asks you if you'd like a Shiner. For the rest of you, let me explain that I'm not referring to what happens after you get punched in the eye, so bear with me. I'm talking about what used to be one of the best-kept secrets in the Lone Star State -- Shiner Beer.
Also, Shiner Beer Auctions on eBay.

Texas Wines:
Enoch's Stomp Vineyard & Winery
by Randy Lankford
Altus Koegelenberg immigrated from South Africa bringing five generations of grape growing to his family's spacious horse ranch retreat in the Piney Woods of East Texas. After starting a vineyard here in 2005, they cultivated their new passions into a variety of delicious wines and a port.

Traditional Texas Fare:
Flaky Biscuits from the Best
by John Raven, Ph.B.
Dr. John considers himself to be the best biscuit maker in Texas, so he's excited to share his secrets with TexasCooking.com readers. Covering subjects as using buttermilk, baking powder or canned, he leaves no biscuit unturned.

Texas Restaurants:
Ninfa's Restaurant: Back to Basics
by Randy Lankford
When Ninfa Lorenzo, better known as "Mama Ninfa," opened her tiny Mexican restaurant on Navigation Boulevard in Houston in 1973, she never dreamed it would grow to more than 70 locations and become one of Texas' best-known brands. She never intended it to be a "brand" at all. She was just trying to provide for her children.

Dessert Spotlight:
Condensed Milk: Sweet Texas Inspiration
by Lori Grossman
When Gail Borden decided that he wanted a new kind of milk that didn't need refrigeration, he was uncowed. The Texas resident's invention resulted in ways to make desserts like flan, pudding and candy more toothsome. Includes recipes for Ancho Chile Flan and a special recipe for banana pudding.

Food Features:
Texas Bred & Grass Fed: Beef That's As Pure Now As It Was Back Then
by Randy Lankford
Ask Debbie Davis why she and her husband Don started raising longhorns, and the short answer is because they both graduated from the University of Texas. "It started out as just kind of a hobby, a weekend thing," she explains. "We bought our first cattle just for fun, a few longhorns (the UT mascot) to have for laughs and it just grew from there."

Texana Book Review: Texas Poetry Calendar 2010 by Steve Labinski Texas poetry is alive and well thanks to the folks at Dos Gatos Press. Their twelfth annual book calendar contains over eighty nice poems in a sturdy spiral-bound book.

New Book Review: Fearless Critic Austin Restaurant Guide, 2nd Edition Book Review by Lucas Everidge A brutally honest guide to 480 restaurants in the Austin, Texas area. Highly entertaining, as well as informative, this just released second edition takes aim at everything across the board, proving once again how Austinites cannot get enough of their restaurants and local food culture.

Texana Book Reviews


The Texas Hill Country:
A Food and Wine Lover's Paradise
by Terry Thompson-Anderson
Take a pleasant trip through over 100 venues in the Texas Hill Country following charming ranch roads and wine trails, with over sixty recipes and beautiful photographs.

The Pioneer Women Cooks
By Ree Drummond
Read about how the The Pioneer Woman does it all!