Texas Cooking Online * August, 2004 Newsletter *

How to Make Sure You Get Your Newsletter If you use spam filter rules or special email filters, please use the domain "texascooking.com" (not the entire "from" address, which varies).

At Last, Scarlet Fiestaware At last, decorate your table with colorful Scarlet. Pre-order place-settings now in our Fiestaware Store August finds us in the "dog days" of summer, but we're still enjoying our grills and smokers. Some of us run out to the patio to check on the ribs or whatever every 15 or 20 minutes, and then duck back in to the air-conditioning. Others embrace the heat, sitting in the shade and hoping for a breeze while listening to the whir of the July dry flies (that's an old term for cicadas). We have been busy, however, at Texas Cooking. Our Conference Area has been upgraded and spiffed up. There are lots of conversations going on, like what to do when you have too many jalapeños, recipe postings and general food and cooking discussions. Check it out and sign up so you can put in your two cents worth. It's free, of course. Our food writers have been busy, too. As always, John Raven, Ph.B. responds to reader questions in his monthly Ask Dr. John column, and this month he also shares his new-found passion for sourdough baking in the first of a two-part series. According to Trish Bales, she really made a mess of her kitchen while learning how to make authentic mole (pronounced mo LAY) sauce, but assures us that the process pays great dividends when it comes to taste. If you have read many of Sidney Carlisle's articles, you know that she has a way with desserts, and her offerings this month are quick, easy and delicious. We have selected a bona fide Texas beef rib entry with Lone Star Barbecue Spareribs, our featured recipe. And our classic article is a how-to on Dorothy Sibole's best Key Lime Pie. You can also check out the August winners in the T-shirt contest near the bottom of the page. So settle down, get comfortable, and enjoy our newsletter. Introducing Our Weekly Recipe Email Sign up for our latest feature, the Texas Cooking Weekly Recipe Email. Nothing fancy, just a carefully selected recipe that's sure to please with maybe a link or two to some compatible dishes. Recipes range from savory to sweet -- the entire spectrum. At Texas Cooking, we have always focused on quality over quantity, and we carry that tradition to our Recipe of the Week email. Sign up here.

Enter to Win this full size bottle of Moves Cologne for Her! USA Only. Special Features Sourdough Baking: Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask by John Raven, Ph.B. This is the first in a series of articles on sourdough baking. The whole thing started when a nice gentleman named John from Montgomery, Texas sent me a picture of his prized sourdough biscuits. John volunteered to share his wealth of sourdough experience with me, and I was inspired. Spend a Day Making Mole by Trish Bales The experience of making mole (pronounced mo LAY) is one of the most satisfying culinary experiences I have ever attempted. It took me all day, but it was worth every minute when my friends took their first bite. Pineapple Layer Cake & More Quick Summer Desserts by Sidney Carlisle "By the time August rolls around most of us are tired of the usual summer menu. A steady diet of grilled foods and watermelon will eventually become boring, no matter who's doing the cooking." You won't sacrifice taste for ease of preparation with this trio of desserts including Blueberry Pie, Pineapple Layer Cake and Strawberries, Cream and Crust. Retired Fiestaware Now Available on Texas Cooking Homer Laughlin's colorful dinnerware, Fiestaware, brightens up kitchen and dining room tables everywhere with its classic and distinctive lines. Every year the manufacturer adds new colors, while retiring others. Texas Cooking's Fiestaware Store now has special pages on the recently retired colors juniper, pearl gray and yellow. Many of these products are available in our online store and through our special eBay connection. Test your knowledge of Texas trivia See if you can pick the correct historical or current character in our August quiz. Have you read John Raven's latest Q&A column, Ask Dr. John? A new online form has been added that makes "asking Dr. John" easier than ever. Not only does he field questions about barbecue, chili and outdoor cooking in general, but his downhome culinary knowledge extends to all parts of the menu. Sports Tickets | Concert Tickets | Theater Tickets Great items for Longhorns, Aggies and Red Raiders fans. Visit today for useful, decorative and fun ways to show your school spirit. Discount Cigarettes Inexpensive shopping by the carton. Click on our link to find out more. Looking for free stuff? Participate in contests, get product samples, trial offers and information Key Lime Pie: A New Recipe & More by Dorothy Sibole I thought I had the best recipe for Key Lime Pie -- until I talked to one of my sisters who scolded me for not knowing about another, very popular, very tasty recipe. My family usually stays pretty loyal to recipes. But this new (to me) no-bake Key Lime pie recipe makes such a good, tart pie, it has become our new family favorite. Classic Recipe: Lone Star Barbecue Spareribs 4 pounds beef or pork spareribs olive oil salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 tablespoons butter 1 medium onion, chopped 5 garlic cloves, minced or put through a garlic press 2 large, ripe tomatoes, chopped 1 6-ounce can tomato paste 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard salt to taste cayenne pepper to taste 1/2 cup red wine (not the cooking variety) juice of 1 lemon You'll be grilling the ribs for about an hour and a half, saucing them during the last 30 minutes. This sauce contains brown sugar and other ingredients that will flame up, so indirect grilling is called for. Start your charcoal or wood or fire up your gas grill. Rub the slab of ribs all over with the olive oil, sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper, and rub it in. Cover and set aside. Start your sauce: In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. When it begins to bubble, add the onion and garlic and sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients, stir and turn heat to medium-low. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes until mixture is somewhat reduced and thickened. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings, if you think it necessary. When your grill is ready, put the ribs, fat side down, in the center of the grill. Make sure that the drippings won't drip directly onto the heat source. Cover the grill and open the vents enough to make sure there is air flow. Grill the ribs for 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes. If you need to build up your fire again, add more coals at this point. Remove the ribs while you're doing this and give them a good basting on both sides with the sauce. Return the ribs to the grill and cook them for another half hour, basting and turning them every 10 minutes. Serves 4 to 6, depending upon appetites. This sauce is fine for chicken, pork and beef. You can find this and over 400 more recipes in Grandma's Cookbook. Walker Diet Cooking Products More Great E-Mail Newsletters Texas Cooking's Recipe of the Week email is great for people who enjoy our new and classic recipes from our cookbook. Cooks, recipe collectors and fans of Texas will enjoy this brief, weekly email that contains a carefully selected recipe with maybe a link or two to some compatible dishes. Sign up here. Stop Spyware! Kazaa, Gator and other similar programs have been sneaking onto people's computers wreaking havoc to their systems. These malicious programs are difficult to remove. They flood the screen with their own pop-up ads and open up the computer to a host of viruses. If you have programs like Kazaa, TopText, Gator, WhenU and others on your system, take a moment to learn about the problems these programs cause. We have written a useful and quick tutorial that will inform you about these programs and how to uninstall them from your computer. Free Catalogs Enjoy Great Savings from Free Catalogs Clothing Bridal / Wedding Invitations Wine & Brew Sporting Goods Hobbies / Crafts Pets _________ Cosmetics, samples, DVDs, promotions Gratis! August T-Shirt Contest Winners Angela A. of Dallas, Texas Phyllis C. of Canton, Ohio John G. of Santa Fe, New Mexico Lou Ann H. of Boulder, Colorado Judy J. of Fort Smith, Arkansas Richard L. of Victoria, Texas Mark M. of Cincinnati, Ohio Doug M. of Shreveport, Louisiana Manny P. of Arlington, Texas Alicia S. of Knoxville, Tennessee Congratulations winners! We are frequently asked if we award T-Shirts to non-US residents, and the answer is Yes. We have had quite a few Canadian winners, and have also sent T-Shirts to winners in England, Australia, Ireland, Switzerland and Germany. The Rules Since we began our T-Shirt giveaway seven years ago, our contest rules remained unchanged. Readers have been able to enter as many times as they like, and their entries were retained in our database. As you can imagine, our contest database has become very large (which is good), BUT much of it consists of old email addresses that are no longer valid. Therefore, we are making the following change in our contest rules: Readers can still enter as often as they like; however, each contest entry will expire three months following the date it was entered and will disappear from the database. This will greatly reduce the number of "names in the hat" and improve the odds of winning. We think this change will result in an even better contest. We are frequently asked how one goes about entering the T-shirt contest. Sign up here. Subscription / Unsubscribe Help This newsletter is sent to you because you, or someone on your behalf, indicated you would like to receive it when you signed our Guest Book or entered our T-Shirt Contest. If you wish to stop receiving the Newsletter, click here or point your browser to http://www.texascooking.com/unsub1.ihtml If you would like to change your email address, please send an email to txmailbox@texascooking.com. ©2004 Texas Cooking Online. All rights reserved.