JimH

I've seen the sign for La Fogata but I always seem to be going in the wrong direction. I'll have to make a point of dropping in soon.

I have not been in a long time but the s american place at eh corner of 59 and wilcrest is worth a shot. La Fonda maybe? Like I said its been a long time. ← The one over by where Mangola's used to be? If that's the one, then I've been there about 5 or 6 times and nothing was really good.

I'll have to try and get back there again. I tried the Taqueria next door, it was OK. I just can't wait for them to finish the road work in the area. I tried a new place (new to me) Taqueria Marquez on W. Airport just West of hwy 6 S, The barbacoa & lengua tacos were better than I've been able to find around here.

I checked the peice for pintos at the store, the price per pound is now 69 cents. That's almost double the price from December 2007.

No shortage here but Sam's has limited how much you can buy. I have 5 lbs that I bought back when I was experimenting with Indian food but I eat very little rice. I guess I'll vacuum pack it before it goes "buggy". Other staples such as flour, cornmeal, beans, etc seem to be in good supply. Last time I bought pinto beans they were .39/lb, I'll have to check to see if the price has gone up at all. I think the media in the U.S. is exploiting the idea of food shortages & rationing for the ratings. The higher food prices are the result of poor policy planning of our government, they should have phased in ethanol as a fuel additive over a 5 year period. Instead, they mandated it's immediate usage and now the people who could just afford fuel for their car and food for the table are paying the price. It's very sad.

Bruce, looks brilliant. Chile de arbol salsa with tomatillos, how do you make that?

Carne Guisada aka beef stew, which the last time I had it was finished with cilantro and tasted fantastic. Almost anything can be put in to a taco so I think you could pull it off.

OK, OK, UNCLE! UNCLE!

Jaz , you're killing me! That corn salsa looks great, I can almost taste it throught the screen.

The tongue is simmered in water with onions (and other things too I guess) until tender, then skinned and chopped. It's very good, lean, nice texture and beefy flavor. If it wasn't advertised as lengua you would never know that you were not eating a regular cut of meat. Barbacoa is a beef head cooked, around here at least, in a pressure cooker. I don't know if they put anything else in with the head. The meat is soft and fatty and tastes like beef stew for lack of a better description. Barbacoa can also be goat, like I've had in San Antonio. I initially tried it in SA because I thought it was BBQ, I'm glad I tried it and liked it before I was told what it really was.

Michael, your tacos look great, veggie tacos are a great break from the run of the mill meat tacos.

I found my new favorite taqueria this morning, Taqueria Marquez. Ok, so I cheated, I'm lazy too lazy to make barbacoa or lengua but they probably make it better than I can. Tender meat on warm corn tortillas with tomato, onion & jalapeno w/ their orange salsa. There was so much meat that I made another taco out of what was leftover. I took pictures of last night's tacos and the cheaters that I bought, but I'm having trouble uploading to imageGullet. I'll try again later.

Oh, I'm making tacos tonight but I don't have anything special to put in them. Tomorrow though, I'll be making a grocery run so perhaps I can come up with something. You know, I might even go get a crockpot tonight so I can make lengua. Although I think the ladies would miss me if I stopped going for breakfast tacos on the weekends. If I have the time tonight salsa verde, tomorrow who knows?

I know you're not talking about me, around here it's too easy to get take out from a taqueria. Mmmmm barbacoa & lengua for breakfast tomorrow and I'm not cooking it!

If you can find something like an electric roof vent (you would have to turn the fan around) then all you need is a digital thermostat with a temperature probe. I have a beer fridge in the garage that I use to ferment beer in Summer. I use the digital thermostat to keep the frig at the proper temps.

Jeff either you were reading my mind or there is some kind of cosmic alignment going on here. The other day I stopped at the store for the ingredients for picadillo, refritos and fresh corn tortillas. I have a new dutch oven to season so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and make tacos. Edited: for spelling, 4 years of 1st year Spanish down the drain.

The KA does a good job of grinding as long as you keep the plates/knives sharp and feed it ice periodically. In the beginning the biggest problem I had was what kind of container should be under the grinder. After purchasing ever larger mixing bowls I finally brokedown and bought a 7" white tote. It's the size of a lunch tray with 7" sides and it's dishwasher safe. I bought it at a butcher supply shop but I imagine you could get one at a restaurant supply too. It leaves me with plenty of room for the ground meat so nothing falls on the counter or floor. It's ideal for mixing the spices in with the meat either before or after the grind and I can also throw some ice in a corner for the grinder.

I tip delivery people well, especially if I am going to be a repeat customer. $5 tip for $14 of Chinese food gets my order bumped to the top of the list which cuts 20 to 30 minutes from the delivery time. It's not the greatest job in the world, they don't get tipped much, sometimes not at all. Put another way, if you were the delivery person what kind of tip would you expect given that you've delivered on time and with the correct order?

I do that with Chinese take-out, leftovers never make it to the next day. Ditto with fresh pico de gallo I have to make twice as much as I really need.

OK, just what is Pork Scratchings? I've managed to figure out some of the snacks that I'm unfamiliar with but you've got me stumped. I was thinking cracklings but you listed that too. Pigs feet?

I'm originally from New Jersey, I've lived in Texas for 30+ years so I'm hoping this will indeed have an effect on retail markets. I will note that Antone's Imports does carry Mortadella and other Italian cured meats.

I had a Double Dog Pale Ale from Flying Dog and it was hands down the best double PA I've ever had to date. The malt and hops were perfectly balanced. I had an Avery Karma after that and it tasted like carbonated water. Tonight I'll try the Karma first to give it a fair shake.

I guess I should mention that there is one type of ice cream that will not linger in the freezer, Blue Bell's Tin Roof. Thankfully, I think they retired that flavor because I have not seen it in the last couple of years. OK, well two types of ice cream, the other being Baskin & Robbins Chocolate & Peanut Butter. They still make it but B&R is too far away to make the trip worth it.

OK I have a confession, I love pistachios really love them. If I buy a bag of pistachios I will eat them until I’ve finished the bag. If I’ve bought a 3 lb bag I’ll eat them till I’m sick or the bag is empty. It’s not like I have some addiction, I don’t buy them every day or even every month. I occasionally will see a decent sized bag that’s not so over-priced and I’ll splurge. Once the bag is open though, I’m like a UFO abductee who has experienced missing time. It begins innocently enough, I’ll eat a couple then before I know it I’m halfway through the bag. I’ll put the bag down to do something else and a few minutes later find myself finishing the bag. Other snacks don’t have that effect on me, a snack size bag of chips might last a week or two, pint of ice cream maybe three weeks and I might throw away popcorn because it goes stale before I can finish it. Am I alone in this? Should I start to doubt my insanity? Do I have men in white coats and a sleeveless jacket in my future? Do you have a snack that you cannot put down? ETA: The first "e" in before.

There are some here: The Food Timeline