Happy New Year!

I am opening the New Year with the new Culinary Cowboy General Store. Please drop in for a look or two.

You have a host of a choice of aprons with all sorts of sayings or designs on them.

Maybe you need yet another cap or t-shirt. You can spruce up your place with a cowboy picture or two. Posters, notecards and even a design in German await your review, your pleasure and, it is hoped, your purse.

Photos come from real-life expeditions taken to the cowcamps before their demise.

Pleae take a look at it and I hope it pleases.

Click here to go to the store!

New Years Greetings to current entries in the 2008 Big Bend Ultra 50/25!!

The Big Bend Ultra 50/25 Jan 20, 2008 race has been canceled.

Due to an insufficient number of entries, we have been forced to cancel the January 20^th, 2008 Big Bend Ultra Race. This was a very tough decision but regrettably unavoidable. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved for their support over the last 3 years. It has made a difference to Big Bend National Park.

All paid entries will have two choices:

1. Donation: If you would like to donate your $100 entry fee to the Friends of BBNP, please send me an email with this request to the following address: pcarroll@fleetfeetsanantonio.com. Please respond no later than Thursday, January 10^th. This includes a 1 year Membership.

2. Refund: Do nothing. We will automatically mail your $100 entry fee back to the address listed on your entry form. An all-volunteer group will assist in processing refunds. We hope to begin mailing out refunds on January 11th, 2008.

There are no plans to hold another Big Bend Ultra 50/25 race at anytime in the future.

Again, many thanks. Please continue supporting the park and visit as often as you can.

Carroll Voss

BB50/25

Event Cancelled
It is with sadness, but a focus on the fund raising goals of the event that the 2008 Big Bend 50 has been cancelled due to a lack of participation.

To make the event viable as well as to meet it’s goals of supporting the Park, the event requires more registrants than have committed.

Refunds to all paid entrants will be forthcoming. If you paid online, there will be a few weeks delay since the sign-up service cuts checks after a holding period.

The lasting benefits of the event are reflected in last year’s donation of $3000 to the Friends of Big Bend, and $2500 the year before.

There will be a further statement later today.

I brought it all to a good boil and then shut off the heat. The residual heat managed to cook the beans more than enough by the time the chicken was done. Look at the brown on those birds. The breasts were marinated for about a day in Italian dressing.The cast iron grill in the cooking box gave them a nice browning. Then, the top down cooking kept the chicken nice and moist. We were pleasantly surprised at how evenly they cooked and how moist they were.

You’ll need to get busy on it right away.  The secret is in the preparation ahead of schedule.  If it is too late for you, try this at Christmas.

Click here to check out the recipe.

Last night, when I finally decided that 11 hours was enough, I stopped by the store on the way “home” (I am staying with a friend).  I wanted to pick up some chunks of pork.

My nearby HEB supermarke’s butcher has begun an interesting bit of marketing.  They take all the chunks left over after trimming and package them up.  They usually go for $1.69 a pound or something like that.  You can grill them or stew them or whatever.

I wanted brown and roast some.  I was up for some crusty, juicy meat.   There was none.

I was tired and got a bit grouchy when my mission failed.  So, I guess I was noticing little things more than usual.  I had no cart.  Two clueless and/or totally inconsiderate people had their carts up together and were chatting away, all but completely blocking the way.  Another women with a cart filled the void.  I pulled short and waited for her to pass.  She stopped.  She asked an employee where the bathrooms were, got her answer and was off like a shot to the bathroom, leaving her cart behind.  The employee and I looked at each other in disbelief and cleared the cart out of the way.

Damn, I was thinking.  This place seems crowded tonight.  I continued to bump and spin and reach around people pushing in front of me or blocking the way.   I was weary of it all.

Why, I asked myself, are there so damn many people here?

I kid you not, it took awhile to sink in.

Ya think it had something to do with Thanksgiving?  I’d completely forgotten it was upon us, despite the inordinate amount of turkeys on display.

Well, thought I to myself, after an 18-hour day at least there is a can of Ranch Style beans I can open and scarve down before catching a few winks and greeting the dawn.

To my utter relief, I found two, count them TWO, polish sausage links that I had completely forgotten.  It’s chilly and a nice greasy sausage heated up in the microwave just really hits the spot after a day like today.

Here’s hoping you don’t have such a day any time soon, but still get a taste treat surprise anyway.

Cheers!

I cannot believe how awesome this teapot is!
Okay - yes, it appears as though the spout would drip.
It also looks as though it would totally off balance when you try to pour it, unless there’s another handle just like it on the other side. It’s definitely a two-handed pour. As clumsy as I am, I still would spill it.
Finally, it costs $168.00 (or about €17.50 or £6.70 - sigh, ok I exaggerate). Do you know how many “Brown Betty” teapots you could get for that? You get exactly eight (8) comparable “Brown Betty” teapots for that amount.
However, it is awesome to behold.
Nope, must stay away from Sandinavian designs.

In Texas, I have found a decent selection of loose teas at Central Market, Whole Foods and Sun Harvest. You have to be careful about how they are stored. You don’t want them exposed to light or air (such as in clear plastic bins at bulk purchase centers).

Much to my delight, at the occasional Kroger, HEB and Albertsons, you will find Twinnings tea in loose form in nice tins. If you take the time to compare, you likely will find that this nice English loose tea costs no more, if not less, than domestic bagged teas. When they empty, you have a nice container to hold other stuff (or future loose tea purchases that do not come in tins).

Just recently, I have started seeing loose Lipton tea at Wal-Mart, HEB and Kroger, perhaps Albertsons as well as it has been some time since I have been in one (come back to San Antonio!). I don’t know if this is due to the introduction of the iced tea maker or not. I honestly thought those machines had already come and gone.

I love a good cup of tea, but I am not a snob. Most people just want a tasty cup of tea that is not bitter as hell and doesn’t cost them arm and a leg. Most people do not want to have to perform some tea-o-phile, monastic ceremony to make a cup of tea. So, I warn you, some of the places mentioned from here on out lean to the phobic, but are worth checking out.

For those of you in the lifted pinkie department, the Dallas Morning News’ Guideline.com has a host of tea houses for traditional afternoon teas. Now, there idea of an “anytime” afternoon treat is a bit more pricey than my “anytime” price. However, there are some very interesting spots. Lavender House offers a beginning tea education on its website.

Another place I have heard of is the Gypsy Rose Tea Room.

In San Antonio, try out British Senations, both the shop and the tea room. It’s a delightful break from the routine.

If you are looking for tea and accessories and all the goodies, you might see if you have a Teavana shop nearby (Dallas-Fort Worth does). On some of the online chats I have seen mixed reviews of the stores. However, they offer teas and accessories and a payback program where 1% of their profits go back to aid tea growing areas.

They have a complete starter set with different teas and all the stuff needed, including a good conscience, all for (GAK!) $199.99 - but you are helping poor tea farmers (and probably a few well off ones as well).

You can find even more on the websites of the tea companies. My favorite is Twinnings, probably because it is the most consistent brand I have found in everyday shopping. Maybe it is because I like the tins. The site has histories, how-to’s and a host of information and, of course, teas and goodies to buy.

Republic of Tea offers a wealth of knowledge and all things tea at its site.

Adagio Teas offers up its teas, accessories and offers a live chat with a tea expert, not to be confused with its tea forums.

The Mighty Leaf offers a wealth of information about its wealth of teas. It also has a locator so you can find where its products are offered locally.

Searching also came up with The English Tea Store, Sun Rich Teas, Tea Guide (with listings of tea rooms in USA, Canada, England and - they say - worldwide) and TeaGschwendner (a German outfit, but with US locations and English website). That’s without any real trying, so there is plenty out there. Enjoy!

If you have a favorite place or source, please let us know in comments or email me.