Texas Cooking Online * January, 2004 Newsletter *

KitchenAid Mixers Colorful KitchenAid mixers are on sale this month. Most items also include rebates, and special free gifts. See all mixers on special. Stylish Flatware Classy Oneida flatware place settings up to 50% off Mega sets, bridal, everyday, serving utensils. Oneida flatware. Who wants to even think about food after the gluttonous holidays? Truth is, almost everybody. However, it is a good time to think through daily eating habits. Fortunately, January is a peak month for fresh Texas grapefruit. Want to eat better and healthier? Try some of these fantastic sweet, red fruit. Our newsletter includes a new grapefruit brunch recipe, which will be just the ticket if you're starting early on Super Bowl Sunday. And speaking of Super Bowl parties, Sidney Carlisle's Super Bowl Snacks is a great place to start looking for good food for this long-awaited event. Also this month, John Raven jolts us awake with a look at good coffee. It doesn't have to be fancy, but he discusses what it takes to make a good cuppa joe. For good measure, he shares some of his favorite coffee-enhanced barbecue sauce recipes, too. Over at Texana, our sister site, Alfredo Alvarez reports on the opening of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, always a big event. There's a lot going on throughout the state. Check out what's happening in our Texas Events Calendar, the finest listing of events in Texas. You can also expect to find book reviews we hope you'll find of interest and, of course, this month's T-shirt contest winners. So let's get started. In this month's newsletter, you'll find not one, but two recipes that we think are keepers.

Order up delicious steaks, poultry & seafood from 5-star restaurants A La Zing has some great solutions for New Year's resolutions: classic beef stroganoff, filet mignons, stuffed sole dinners and much more. Visit the Texas Cooking Food Gift Store. Online Groceries: Shop for all kinds of groceries online. We have everything from discount cigarettes to hard-to-find authentic Mexican ingredients. Many of our West Coast readers can also shop for their groceries online. Click on our link to find out more. Special Features Super Bowl Snacks by Sidney Carlisle Football fans are making plans for the next big holiday: Super Bowl Sunday on February 1. No matter which team has been the favorite all year, it's a tradition in many homes to gather a crowd to watch the battle of the last two teams. And since the entire TV extravaganza now lasts for hours, guests must be fed at least once and perhaps twice. Texas Coffee Buzzes Strong by John Raven, Ph.B. Need an eye-opener to get 2004 off to a good start? John Raven holds forth on his favorite -- coffee -- and takes a look back at coffee from the P.S. Era (that would be Pre-Starbucks). He also reminds us that coffee is not just for drinking by sharing some barbecue sauce recipes that benefit from a jolt of java. Fort Worth Stock Show Opens by Alfredo Alvarez Kick back and have some good old fashioned fun at the 2004 Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, which runs from January 17 to February 8. The nation's oldest livestock show, it promises to be great fun for all ages. This year’s highlights include Best of the West Ranch Rodeo and Ranching Heritage Weekend; Best of Mexico, featuring the richness of Mexican history; Bull’s Night Out – The Fort Worth Stock Show Extreme Bull Riding; and 30 performances of the World’s Original Indoor Rodeo. Test your knowledge of Texas trivia! This month's question: Which celebrity was not born in Texas? Carol Burnett, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Johnny Mathis, Willie Nelson, James Garner, Renée Zellweger. Our quiz is on our front page, in the right column. Have you read John Raven's latest advice column, Ask Dr. John? This month's column includes, among other topics, marinades, cast iron skillet maintenance, barbecued chicken, crab balls and pickling jalapeños. Talk about variety! Great jackets, jerseys, shirts, caps and watches for Longhorns, Aggies and Red Raiders fans. Visit today to find these and many other fun items. Texana Book Review: Recipes from Historic Texas: A Restaurant Guide and Cookbook Served with a side of history, Steve and Linda Bauer chronicle a surprisingly thorough journey through many of Texas' restaurants that are historic, or are in historic buildings. Read more original book reviews in the Lone Star Bookstore Send beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day or any day Support Texas Cooking - Shop Through Our Advertisers New Recipe: Broiled Brunch Grapefruit Looking for a great mid-day snack during the Super Bowl, or for general entertaining? The broiled brunch grapefruit makes a tasty appitizer. Texas grapefruit are in season throughout January, so take advantage of this special time to eat some. The tiny amount of sherry adds an elegant touch to this wonderful brunch offering, which can also serve as a first course or even a dessert. 2 Texas red grapefruit Light brown sugar Butter Sherry, Cream Sherry or Rum (optional) Wash grapefruit and cut in half crosswise. Remove the seeds and cut around each section with a sharp knife. Sprinkle each grapefruit half with 1 tablespoon of light brown sugar and dot with a teaspoon or so of butter. Broil for 6 or 7 minutes, just until sugar melts and bubbles. Remove from broiler and add 1 teaspoon sherry, cream sherry or rum to the center of each grapefruit half, if desired. Serve immediately. Select grapefruit that are heavy for their size. They will be the juiciest. Party Recipe: Sausage Cheese Dip You are guaranteed to get raves on this dip. You can serve it in a heated dish or crock pot on lowest setting, but it doesn't usually last long enough to bother. A good idea is to serve it in small batches, replenishing as necessary with the remainder that you've kept warm. For a big crowd, this recipe is easily doubled. 1/2 pound lean ground beef 1/2 pound pork sausage 1 pound Velveeta cheese 1 cup chopped onion 1 cup chunky salsa (Mild, Hot or Hottest -- your choice) 1/2 can cream of mushroom soup 2 large cloves garlic, minced or put through a garlic press Brown the ground beef and sausage together until crumbly. Drain on paper towels to remove as much fat as possible. Combine beef/sausage mixture in a heavy saucepan, and add the remaining ingredients. Cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted, and mixture is thoroughly combined. Serve warm with tortilla or corn chips. Makes 4 to 5 cups. Want more ideas for Super Bowl parties, or more entertaining? Read our articles Hot Holiday Appetizers and Terrific Party Appetizers Texas Cooking readers can get this satellite system gratis Stop Spyware! Kazaa, Gator and other similar programs have been sneaking their way onto people's computers wreaking havoc to their systems. This malicious set of programs are difficult to remove. They flood the screen with their own pop-up ads, and they open the computer up 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 informs you about them, and how to uninstall them from your computer. Free Catalogs Enjoy Great Savings from These Free Catalogs Clothing Bridal / Wedding Wine & Brew Sporting Goods Hobbies / Crafts Pets _________ $25 Shopping Offer T-Shirt Contest We award T-shirts to ten readers every month. The winners are announced in the first newsletter of the month. January Contest Winners Cindy A. of Stockton, California Mark E. of Pensacola, Florida Eileen H. of Waco, Texas John J. of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Mary M. of Rockford, Illinois Donna S. of New London, Connecticut Lee S. of San Antonio, Texas Jerilyn T. of Arlington, Texas Martin T. of Spokane, Washington Laura W. of Metairie, Louisiana 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 five 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. 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. ©2003 Texas Cooking Online. All rights reserved.