Texas Caviar

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Texas Caviar

Texas Caviar

This one goes hand-in-hand with my Not Your Fergie’s Black Eyed Peas recipe. If you’re like me, I like to make my black eyed as a side-dish for a country meal (perhaps some savory pork chops or fried chicken) but then I have half a pot of beans left over! This is a great way to revamp those peas. I last served this cold as a side salad, but I’ve also served as a dip with a side of tortilla chips. Preppin’ 4 cups (about 650 grams) cooked black eyed peas (if you’re pressed for time, a couple cans of

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Not Your Fergie’s Black-Eyed Peas

Not Your Fergie’s Black-Eyed Peas

Belgians and BBQ – it’s what they do in the summer. Kids hop in and out of blowup pools (and not the kiddie ones you have in your American-mind – these babies are about the size of a hot tub). Guests sip iced tea or glasses of rose’ while the host fires up the grill. Everyone is invited to bring dessert or a side. We were the only Americans invited to a Belgian BBQ a few weeks ago and I thought I’d treat them to one of my favorite, and most Texan, side-salads I could think of – Texas Caviar.

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Homemade Tortillas

Homemade Tortillas

“Oh my, these tortillas are fantastic – man, I miss good, flour tortillas so much!” and I gobble another one. One of Nikki’s cousins eyes me suspiciously. He’s 13 and in that curious and not-too-cool-to-talk-to-adults-phase. “Why don’t you just go to your local grocery store and buy them?” he asks, in between mouthfuls of his own. “Jacob, I live in Belgium, not San Antonio. You can’t get homemade tortillas in Belgium, okay?” I explain. He blinks, then frowns. “Yeah, I guess not. That sucks,” he deadpans. “Yeah, it really does,” I tell him.    I decided then and there that

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Cornbread

Cornbread

Before the South was ‘The South’ and the settlers were navigating pine tree forests, swamps, and battling all mess of creatures from alligators to mosquitos to racoons, the women were in charge, like they are from now until eternity, for feeding the families. Imagine the original European settlers, or mind you, the new women of the south’s frustration when they discovered they had to adapt their recipes to exclude the white European flour they had always used to bake bread. With the absence of flour in the South and an abundance of corn, these strong women created a new kind

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Shrimp & Chorizo Stew

Shrimp & Chorizo Stew

One of the first things I noticed after moving overseas was that the winters in the Netherlands are long and cold. “We ain’t in Texas, anymore” The second was the energy I expended daily just living in Europe – the walks to and from the store (the library, school, the train station, etc.) are just as long and cold as the winters! My old days of a simple canned soup and grilled cheese sandwich for dinner were quickly unfulfilling. “I’m so famished, I’m about to faint!” I’d tell my husband after pushing a double stroller through the streets of Leiden.

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