Texas! How is it?

[Xantippe]

By the way, has anybody mentioned Frito pie yet?

I think the first time I heard about it was in an episode of King of the Hill (great show!) where Peggy brings frito pie to a potluck where the new female Lutheran pastor has brought lutefisk.

Here’s what Wikipedia says about frito pie:

“Frito pie is a dish popular in the Southern, Midwestern, and Southwestern United States, whose basic ingredients are chili, cheese, and corn chips (specifically Fritos). Additions can include salsa, refried beans, sour cream, onion, rice or jalapeños. There are many variations.”

Now, doesn’t that sound good?

 

[pianistclare]

By the way, has anybody mentioned Frito pie yet?

I think the first time I heard about it was in an episode of King of the Hill (great show!) where Peggy brings frito pie to a potluck where the new female Lutheran pastor has brought lutefisk.

Here’s what Wikipedia says about frito pie:

“Frito pie is a dish popular in the Southern, Midwestern, and Southwestern United States, whose basic ingredients are chili, cheese, and corn chips (specifically Fritos). Additions can include salsa, refried beans, sour cream, onion, rice or jalapeños. There are many variations.”

Now, doesn’t that sound good?

Except you have t place a layer of tamales on the bottom of the dish for frito pie.

 

[pianistclare]

Green Chile Enchiladas
You’ll need a round casserole dish with high sides

*Lightly fry about a dozen white corn tortillas, set aside on paper towels.

Brown bite sized chucks of chicken (or leftover roast chicken)
and sauté some yellow onion in a small amount of butter.
Once cooked, stir in a can of cream of mushroom soup, a third cup of half and half and a handful of shredded jalapeno monterrey jack cheese and some fresh chopped green chile to taste. You can use canned, but it’s yucky. Frozen green chile or freshly roasted green chiles or poblanos work well.
When hot and goopy ( that’s a very technical culinary term) alternate layers of tortilla into a round casserole dish with the goop, then tortilla, then goop until both are finished.
Top with a bit of finely shredded cheddar and cover with foil.

Bake at 325 for around 30 mins.
Slice like pie, top with shredded lettuce, sour cream, diced tomato, fresh green onions. *

 

[pnewton]

Here’s what Wikipedia says about frito pie:

That was a popular ball park food. The concessioner would slice open a small bag of Fritos, ladle on some chili and top it with cheese and onions (optional).

For a good Texas casserole, I would suggest King ranch chicken.

 

[pensmama87]

Green Chile Enchiladas
You’ll need a round casserole dish with high sides

*Lightly fry about a dozen white corn tortillas, set aside on paper towels.

Brown bite sized chucks of chicken (or leftover roast chicken)
and sauté some yellow onion in a small amount of butter.
Once cooked, stir in a can of cream of mushroom soup, a third cup of half and half and a handful of shredded jalapeno monterrey jack cheese and some fresh chopped green chile to taste. You can use canned, but it’s yucky. Frozen green chile or freshly roasted green chiles or poblanos work well.
When hot and goopy ( that’s a very technical culinary term) alternate layers of tortilla into a round casserole dish with the goop, then tortilla, then goop until both are finished.
Top with a bit of finely shredded cheddar and cover with foil.

Bake at 325 for around 30 mins.
Slice like pie, top with shredded lettuce, sour cream, diced tomato, fresh green onions. *

That sounds delightful.

 

[Yeoman]

I’m not from Texas, but my work takes me there frequently.

What I’d note about Texas is that its sufficiently large that one area is different from another, so a person can really say how Texas “is”. El Paso isn’t like Houston, for example, or like Dallas, or like Midland. So nobody can really tell you how Texas is. At best, you might learn how a certain city is, or region is.

Houston is a big city and any big city fits into the culture of big cities. Sounds strange, but it’s true.

I’ll also note that due to my work and location, I frequently have to deal with a lot of Texans working up here, and Texas is distinct enough in their minds (like New York is to New Yorkers) that they sometimes have a hard time not thinking that the answer to a question isn’t "in Texas we. . . "

 

[Mike_Dye]

Hi all,

Whether you live there or just visited or went as tourists, how was Texas?

I’m more interested to know how is Texas about ads and posters on the streets and highways, as well as other kinds of material about sexual immorality visible wherever you go and how people dress. I’m avoiding places like Miami where there are ads of women almost nude, and women on the malls and streets dress with short shorts showing their God-given “mystery” (not to mention the chest area ). Somewhere I read Austin is most liberal than other areas in TX, but are there immoral things like Miami open to the public to see? I don’t want to live with my husband and son getting used to or exposed to those things and eventually find it normal or worse.

I would like to hear about those major cities like Austin, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. Other cities as well.

I might be wrong, but I think the big companies are in Austin like the IBM.

I hear you can get a big house with the same cost as a small house in other States, and that there is a lot of traffic.

Anything else you can add about TX, please do so.

Thanks!

If you want to move to a place without a lot of immorality you might try…hmmmmm…well maybe…no…I guess I can’t think of anywhere in the U.S. that would fit the bill. The sad part is that we made our own bed and now we have to sleep in it. At least you are trying to do the right thing, I applaud you for that.

 

[1ke]

Except you have t place a layer of tamales on the bottom of the dish for frito pie.

oh, nooo, authentic frito pie is eaten right out of the bag.

Take an individual bag of fritos, turn it on its side, cut the bag open along the long edge, pour chili on the fritos and put on the shredded cheese (onions optional)… add spoon or spork… you are done.

This is how it’s done.

I believe in other part of the SW it’s called a “walking taco”…

Frito Pie was invented in San Antonio.

 

[pensmama87]

oh, nooo, authentic frito pie is eaten right out of the bag.

Take an individual bag of fritos, turn it on its side, cut the bag open along the long edge, pour chili on the fritos and put on the shredded cheese (onions optional)… add spoon or spork… you are done.

This is how it’s done.

I believe in other part of the SW it’s called a “walking taco”…

Frito Pie was invented in San Antonio.

This also sounds delightful.

Like Sarcelle I would probably gain a ton if I moved to Texas. What with the cuisine and staying inside to avoid the critters and all.

 

[GEddie]

This also sounds delightful.

Like Sarcelle I would probably gain a ton if I moved to Texas. What with the cuisine and staying inside to avoid the critters and all.

Ahhhh… But TX’s outdoor season is far longer, during the months when those in the upper states are taking cover from the cold!

ICXC NIKA.

 

[Sarcelle]

This also sounds delightful.

Like Sarcelle I would probably gain a ton if I moved to Texas. What with the cuisine and staying inside to avoid the critters and all.

Not to mention staying indoors to avoid the heat.

 

[pnewton]

This also sounds delightful.

Like Sarcelle I would probably gain a ton if I moved to Texas. What with the cuisine and staying inside to avoid the critters and all.

We have other cuisine options. Our local HEB even offers fresh sushi. Given a little time, we will even figure out a way to deep-fry it.

 

[pensmama87]

Ahhhh… But TX’s outdoor season is far longer, during the months when those in the upper states are taking cover from the cold!

ICXC NIKA.

But doesn’t that mean the bugs just live longer?

I like that November-April are fairly critter-free. And I’ve got a warm coat. apparently there are even chains I can put on my stroller tires for use in the snow.

 

[Xantippe]

We have other cuisine options. Our local HEB even offers fresh sushi. Given a little time, we will even figure out a way to deep-fry it.

Ha! How about put it in a taco?

We have an ENORMOUS newer HEB and they usually have sushi samples on Saturdays. My kids have eaten vast quantities of HEB sushi samples. (We buy some occasionally, too.)

 

[Xantippe]

But doesn’t that mean the bugs just live longer?

Yep.

 

[Xantippe]

Speaking of food and Texas and HEB, one of my recent discoveries is a kind of cookie called marranitos:

allrecipes.com/recipe/152189/marranitos-mexican-pig-shaped-cookies/

It’s a sort of very thick, very soft pig-shaped gingerbread type cookie. I sometimes buy a box from the Mexican side of the bakery at our HEB. We all love them–it’s much moister than normal commercial gingerbread, which is usually really dry.

 

[pianistclare]

My late hubs was from Lubbock (of all places, ) and they put canned tamales at the base of their frito pie in a pie pan and everything. The bag thing sounds easier though.

 

[UbiCaritas]

Speaking of food and Texas and HEB, one of my recent discoveries is a kind of cookie called marranitos:

allrecipes.com/recipe/152189/marranitos-mexican-pig-shaped-cookies/

It’s a sort of very thick, very soft pig-shaped gingerbread type cookie. I sometimes buy a box from the Mexican side of the bakery at our HEB. We all love them–it’s much moister than normal commercial gingerbread, which is usually really dry.

Have you ever had HEB’s baklava? I adore baklava with every fiber of my being (and, sadly, several inches of my hips), and their baklava is on par with anything I’ve ever had at a Middle Eastern restaurant.

drools

Also, my local HEB sushi ladies now recognize me and DD, to the point that they greet her with their own nickname, and then offer to make me something if I don’t see what I want in the cooler. I’m more of a plain salmon-and-avocado girl, but as their more Texan rolls tend to sell better, they understandably make them first. However, if they see me coming, they’ll offer to make me a salmon-and-avocado roll right then. Mmmmmm.

I do love HEB!

 

[UbiCaritas]

My late hubs was from Lubbock (of all places, ) and they put canned tamales at the base of their frito pie in a pie pan and everything. The bag thing sounds easier though.

It also is easier from a to-go perspective. I’ve seen a number of schools and youth groups do the frito pie-in-a-bag thing as a fundraiser during a festival of some sort. It’s a lot simpler to eat a pie-in-a-bag while wandering around booths and such than a slab of actual pie, even if the latter is delicious, too!

 

[Xantippe]

Have you ever had HEB’s baklava? I adore baklava with every fiber of my being (and, sadly, several inches of my hips), and their baklava is on par with anything I’ve ever had at a Middle Eastern restaurant.

drools

Also, my local HEB sushi ladies now recognize me and DD, to the point that they greet her with their own nickname, and then offer to make me something if I don’t see what I want in the cooler. I’m more of a plain salmon-and-avocado girl, but as their more Texan rolls tend to sell better, they understandably make them first. However, if they see me coming, they’ll offer to make me a salmon-and-avocado roll right then. Mmmmmm.

I do love HEB!

HEB baklava!!!

That is probably a big city thing.