Texas Cooking Online * October 2005 Newsletter *

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Steak Perfection New York Strips | Ribeye Steaks Now is the Time to Mail Order Wine Take 10% off a case of wine with this coupon. Texas Cooking Food Gift Store. Ah, October! County fairs, popcorn balls, autumn leaves, nip in the air and pumpkins everywhere. It revives us and, speaking for ourselves at Texas Cooking, makes us hungry. There is so much good food associated with fall, we have a hard time picking out recipes for the newsletters. But you readers know by now that you can find just about anything you want in Grandma's Cookbook. This month we are tempting your palate in a variety of ways. Patricia Mitchell gathered her best stew recipes for Stew: Warming Comfort Food, which includes daring anyone to try the Son of a Gun Stew. And John Raven finally, finally addresses the issue of cooking a whole hog in Going Whole Hog: Cooking for a Bunch. You'll see why he has waited. Randy Lankford spent some quality time with the folks at the Fredricksburg Winery, where they don't lift a little finger when they raise a glass, in Fredricksburg Winery: A Steer in Charge of a Stampede. Texas has many birdwatchers, and Steve Labinski's review of Hummingbirds of Texas will gladden their hearts. Our classic article is one of David Bulla's finest, Texas and Beef, and our classic recipe is a Texas Cooking standout, Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake. The Texas Events Calendar has never been so full of events. Once the Texas heat backs off, people emerge from the air-conditioning and have fun in countless ways. Our Communities board has lots of new questions and topics. As always, it's the perfect place to ask a question, answer one, or just take in someone else's predicament. In Ask Dr. John, John Raven encourages readers to recommend their favorite Texas eatery. This month, he posts his own recommendation and fields lots of questions, too. As far as the Trivia Quiz is concerned, let's just say that it is very appropriate to the season. Oh, and don't forget to scroll down to the end of the newsletter to see if you're an October T-shirt winner. Receive our new articles, newsletters, new recipe and updates in your RSS news reader. Just look in the left column on the Texas Cooking front page for the RSS code for your specific newsreader. Help Yourself to 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.

Halloween Candy - Code: pumpkin - Get 15% off your order - Expires: 10.31.05 Special Features Stew: Warming Comfort Food by Patricia Mitchell Stew endures because it is warm, satisfying and delicious. With the cooler weather, take advantage of any variety of meats like beef, chicken or venison to create a new dinnertable mainstay. And no list of stews is complete without Son of a Gun stew. Going Whole Hog: Cooking for a Bunch by John Raven, Ph.B. Dr. John says that one of his most frequent queries is, "I want to cook a whole pig in a pit in the ground for my daughter/son's graduation next Saturday. Please send directions and recipes." You know, boys and girls, some things can only be learned from experience. Fredricksburg Winery: A Steer in Charge of a Stampede by Randy Lankford In an industry that has been known, on occasion, to take itself a little too seriously, three brothers in Fredericksburg are letting the hot air out of the balloon. Welcome to Switzerland. "We teach Wine 101-WHP," admits owner Cord Switzer. "The WHP stands for 'Without Horse Pucky,'". The Soup Peddler's Slow & Difficult Soups Book review by Steve Labinski Recipes and Reveries from Austin's Soup Peddler David Ansel. This delightful book describes the author's soup-delivery-by-bicycle business, includes over forty amazing recipes, and spins an intriguing yarn along the way. Test your knowledge of Texas trivia Unless you are a fan of the horror movie genre, this month's Trivia Quiz may be harder than you think. 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. Hummingbirds of Texas: Many species of hummingbirds call Texas their part-time home. See why many Texans enjoy watching and feeding these tiny birds. Beautifully illustrated, the book is great for both the birdwatching expert and the curious layman. Get your Longhorns, Aggies and Red Raiders goods right here online at the Texas Sports Store. Everything from caps and shirts, to furniture and glassware. Make your tailgate party a complete success. Visit today Discount Cigarettes Inexpensive shopping by the carton. Click on our link to find out more. Prime beef, dry-aged steaks, all natural, buffalo, filet mignons Texas and Beef by David Bulla Texas and Beef -- the words are almost synonymous. If I go a day without beef of some kind, I start feeling wrong. I almost always have some kind of beef on hand that I can use to create a fantastic meal. And there is usually a roast of some kind that I bought on sale and put in the freezer for that I-want-beef-and-potatoes meal. If I am in a bind, I just have a burger. I am not going to go on a rant about beef here; I will save the statistics and facts for another day. Beef is good food. It's THE agricultural business in Texas, and we sure do know how to cook with it around here. Recipe: Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake This is one of our most highly-praised recipes. 1-1/2 cups gingersnap crumbs 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans 1/3 cup butter, melted 24 ounces cream cheese, softened 1+ cup sugar (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 4 large eggs 1-1/2 cups pumpkin purée (fresh cooked or canned) 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine gingersnap crumbs, pecans and butter. Press onto bottom and 1-1/2 inches up sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes in 350°F oven. Remove and allow to cool. Combine cream cheese, 2/3 cup sugar and vanilla, mixing at medium speed on electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Remove 1 cup batter from mixture and chill. Add remaining sugar, pumpkin and spices to remaining batter; mix well. Alternately layer pumpkin and cream cheese batters over the gingersnap crust. Cut through layers of batter with a knife several times to achieve marble effect. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim of pan. Chill before serving. Go to the website to get the printer-friendly version. You can find this and over 500 more recipes in Grandma's Cookbook. Martini Gifts Martini Glasss Gift Packs. We have the most unique martini glassware online. Shipped FREE, Gift Wrapped FREE, and FREE Gift card. We are sure to please. Cookie Gifts Our sponsor Chip-N-Dough offers a sweet selection of cookie gift tins. You can order them now for the holidays. Custom designed gift tins are very popular, no lead time. Texas Cooking readers get $5 off regular price. (coupon code AFF5 at checkout) 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! October T-Shirt Contest Winners Carolyn B. of Lyles, Tennessee Bobby C. of Decatur, Texas Dave D. of Springfield, Illinois Victoria F. of Garland, Texas Clyde H. of Haslet, Texas Frank J. of Boston, Massachusetts Rochelle L. of Janesville, Wisconsin Wally P. of Perkinsville, New York Margaret S. of Wood River, Illinois DeeAnn V. of Pleasant Hill, California 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. ©2005 Texas Cooking Online. All rights reserved.