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Did I Mention I'm Having a Chili Cook-Off? Since I've just launched my new San Antonio blog and since San Antonio is the birthplace of chili, and since chili is the official state dish of Texas, and since my next cookbook is going to be a chili cookbook, I'm having a chili cook-off challenge at my new Foods and Flavors of San Antonio blog. Come on over and see what's cooking! I'm so excited! My publisher just sent me the cover for my truth about enzyte new cookbook which will be published next March. I LOVE THE COVER!!! :) The cookbook is priced at $19.95 but you can pre-order it at Amazon for $13.57. Just click the following link. Foods and Flavors of San Antonio To celebrate, I'm launching my new Foods and Flavors of San Antonio blog today. Please come over and visit! There's going to be lots of great Tex-Mex food, plus a tour of all the flavorful fiestas San Antonio has to offer. First up on the menu is the best guacamole you've ever eaten (I'll post the recipe tomorrow) and there's also going to be a chili cook-off. Teresa, at Mexican Chocolate Lore and More, has created these adorable and edible Rats, Cats, and Witches Hats. Meg, at Megan's Munchies, has cooked up some really cute Halloween Cupcakes. Reeni, at Cinnamon, Spice, and Everything Nice offers us Halloween Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars. Megan, at Megan's Cookin, offers us Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. And saving the best for last, here are my two granddaughters, dressed up for Halloween. Hannah is a cheerleader and Lindsey is the pink energizer bunny. And here they are again -- dressed up as who they really are! Happy Halloween, everyone. Enjoy! Something new is cooking and it's a surprise! I'll give you three hints: 1. It involves a cooking challenge. 2. It involves something Texas is famous for. 3. It may or may not involve beans. Want to take a guess? I'll be revealing the secret in a week or so. Camille tagged me because I posed a similar question on A Matter of Taste a while back. Her tag offers more than one food choice, but there is no magic food machine. Only problem I have with being stranded on this particular desert island that is abounding with fish, coconuts, and sea salt is that I don't like fish, coconuts, or salt. Since I'm a writer first (a wordie?) before I'm a foodie (don't boo me and throw rotten eggs at me!) I thought Camille may have made a typo and meant to say "deserted" island instead of "desert" island. So I did a little wiki and found out the words are basically interchangeable. Yea! I love when I learn new things about words. Back to being stranded on this desert island: I don't want to be alone on this desert island (which means uninhabited or sparsely populated), and because I really enjoy cooking for people and sharing my food, I'm hoping all the foodies I tag with this are willing to share the food they bring and we can all have a foodie feast. Camille is bringing onions, cream, bacon, potatoes, and mustard seeds. Here's my list: 1. Coffee. Gotta have coffee; that's all there is to it; no further explanation is needed. 2. Hamburger. As long as my magic food machine is there and provides me with a hamburger on a sesame seed bun with lettuce, tomato, and mayo every day for lunch, I'll be happy. 3. Spatini. Read some previous posts and you'll know why I'm bringing it. 4. Tomatoes. I love tomatoes; I can make Spatini spaghetti sauce with them; someone else has to bring the pasta; I know this is a really long and very ungrammatical sentence punctuated with semi-colons, but we're only allowed one sentence to describe why we'd bring this particular item. 5. Kahlua. I suppose I could learn to love coconut milk, or borrow some of Camille's cream, so I could make my King Alphonse and drink myself into oblivion if no one wants to share their food with me, and besides that, a King Alphonse is really, really good! I'm tagging the following foodies: Teresa, at Mexican Chocolate Lore and More and Mexican American Border Cooking, because I'm counting on her to bring chocolate and her magic food machine makes burritos any way she wants them. And I'm hoping she'll share. Meg, at Megan's Munchies. I know, for an almost fact, that she'll bring oatmeal and pumpkin. Deb, at Kahakai Kitchen, because she already lives on an island, though it's very inhabited, and she knows a lot more about island living than I do. Megan, at Megans Cookin, because I'm hoping she'll bring her Country Bob's sauce and make meatloaf. Elle, at Elle's New England Kitchen, because I'm pretty sure she'll make muffins for us almost every day. Joan, at Foodalogue, because I'm betting she'll bring eggs and make us all breakfast. Reeni, at Cinnamon, Spice, and Everything Nice, because, more than likely, she'll bring some cinnamon, spice, and everything nice. You've all been tagged! Let the feast begin! If you weren't tagged, you're still invited to play as long as you bring food to the table. :) The rules for this award are a little blurry. But then most excellent recipes are created without exactly following the recipe. That's what makes excellent recipes--tweaking Teresa, at Mexican Chocolate Lore and More, because she creates absolutely delicious chocolate food treats. I especially love her Chocolate Marble Pound Cake. It's totally excellent! This is Teresa's newest foodie blog and if you're a chocoholic, you'll love this blog. Meg, at Megan's Munchies, because she totally loves pumpkin and can find hundreds of ways to incorporate pumpkin into almost every recipe, even her coffee. Besides that, she's a really nice person and an excellent foodie blogger. Joan, at Foodalogue, because she makes the best breakfast in the world and because she was the first person to follow my blog. Besides that, she makes really excellent food and doesn't mind doing all the dishes. Claire, at Culinary Colorado, because she writes excellent posts about local restaurants and the foodie scene, as well as documenting her travels and offering occasional recipes. Besides that, she's an ASJA colleague and comments on some of my other blogs. Camille, at Croque-Camille, because she's an excellent French cook and she loves Paris. Besides that, she just tagged me with a deserted island scenario, which I'll be tagging you guys with tomorrow. Megan, at Megan's Cookin, because she makes excellent meatloaf; the best comfort food in the world. Besides that, she adopted a baby blogger and I think that's a way cool thing to do. Elle, at Elle's New England Kitchen, because she makes the most excellent Chai Blueberry Muffins I've ever tasted. Besides that, she offers a Hard Working Food Blogger Award to every foodie. Reeni, at Cinnamon, Spice, and Everything Nice, because she makes excellent pizza with a perfect crust. Besides that, she won a copy of my book -- Recipe for a Cookbook -- and is writing a cookbook. And in the spirit of sharing with the foodie community, which is very welcoming and warm, I'm also awarding this to all the excellent foodie blogs I haven't discovered yet. Anyone who takes the time and love to share their recipes deserves to be rated E for excellent. So, to all you excellent foodie bloggers out there, feel free to claim your award here. Just leave me a comment so I can go and visit your blog. :) |