Of course you’ve already gotten all of your shopping done. Christmas is next week.

But just in case you haven’t, and need something for the food-lover on your list (or for yourself – heck, buy two!), I’ll be signing copies of my cookbook at Maverick in the Stockyards in Fort Worth on Saturday, December 22, 1 to 4 p.m. — that’s tomorrow!!

There will be food. There will be merriment. But most of all, there will be fun. So come by  if you’re in town, and say hello ho ho ho!

Maverick Fine Western Wear

100 E. Exchange

Fort Worth 76164

817/626-1129

When it comes to brocantes, fleas, garage sales, vide-greniers, you name it, I’m weak. As much as I want to scale down, downsize, and get rid of, I seem to keep adding to instead of editing. I’ll need (insert item here) for a photo shoot, I tell myself, and off I go, out of the car, and into another dusty, junky heaven.

As was the case last week when I was in Fort Worth. I was driving down Montgomery Street, on my way back from the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, where I was signing stacks of my books, and there it was, right on the corner of I-30 and Montgomery, the Montgomery Street Antiques Mall, 61,ooo square feet of booths large and small, stacked neatly and haphazardly with old treasures, nearly 250 in all.

I was – and still am — on the hunt for an old cast iron corn pone pan, just like the one that my mom has, but I haven’t found one that’s less than $50, which I absolutely will not pay, so the hunt continues. If any of y’all find a pone pan that’s reasonably priced, let me know…

I love this blue and white quilt, and this little bowl, which reminds me of one that I used to have but can’t find now. Like so many things that I’m no longer able to locate, this is either in storage, or given away by mistake. When I moved to Paris six years ago, the process itself was so hurried, that a few things — my small blue and white bowl, my pasta maker — disappeared.

At this point, I figure they’ll either turn up someday, or not. In one sense, I’ve learned to let go.

But not completely, or I wouldn’t have found myself in another antiques mall, my arms filled with treasures. I didn’t buy this salt box or the blue kettle, but I thought about it.

Ditto with these old gates, a couple of which would make a great French daybed, I think.

I ended up buying a few old kitchen tools and a Pyrex double-boiler just like the one that my mom still uses to make everything from almond butter crunch candy to lemon curd. I feel so fancy with a double-boiler! Until now, I’ve used a glass bowl over a saucepan.

Don’t ask me how I’m going to get this glass double-boiler back to Paris. I didn’t think of that.

For now, I’m happy to be in Texas and soon in New Mexico again, where I hope to be able to layer up and hike in the mountains, and maybe, just maybe, hit a junk store or two along the way.

Montgomery Street Antiques Mall

2601 Montgomery St.

Fort Worth, 76107

817/735-9685

I can hardly believe it myself. After just two soggy months back on this side of the pond, losing and/or breaking three different umbrellas and hopping on more planes, trains, and boats (to Spain, Morocco, Belgium, and the South of France) than I can remember, I’m packing my big suitcase again and coming back to Texas!

As y’all know, the summer tour was so much fun – and such a success, with sell-out crowds everywhere — I’ve been invited back for an encore tour.

I’m so excited!

I’ll be teaching cooking classes again at Central Market — yahoo!! — in the Dallas-Fort Worth area the first week of November: Fort Worth on Wednesday, November 7; Plano on Thursday, November, 8; and Southlake on Friday, November 9. This time, the theme will be Cowgirlified Frenchy holiday dinners, made with recipes from my new cookbook. To sign up, just click here.

I’ll also be back at Lake Austin Spa Resort on November 16, teaching classes on some of my favorite fall and winter soups and salads. If you’re in the Austin area, come! Get a spa treatment or two! Here’s the link to find out more.

For the Fort Worth folks, I’ll be pairing up with Gwin Grogan Grimes again for a Saturday afternoon French and American appetizers class at Artisan Baking Company, with a book signing afterwards. To sign up for this one, here’s your link.

I’ll be cooking up all sorts of other things as well…so stay tuned, everyone, and I hope to see you at one of these events!

Kim Pierce and I share a few things in common. We both write about food, are wild about food, and share the same last name. It’s almost like we’re related.

But we’re not.

Might as well be, though.

We finally met oh-so-briefly for coffee and kolaches as I was finishing up my now infamous (at least to me) Tour du Texas…and we met at a place I wish I’d discovered much sooner, Bolsa Mercado in Oak Cliff.

Yes, yes, I know. It’s trendy, our little once-maligned Oak Cliff, and that alone was a reason for me not to go there. Kim said they had great kolaches, and I figured if Kim liked them, they had to be good, even though I was a bit lukewarm on these oft far too doughy Czech pastries. I just wasn’t convinced that they were worth the hoo-ha.

Or the calories.

But being almost sisters, she waited for me, and split her ham and apple butter one with me, which turned out to be Bolsa’s last one that morning (a not-uncommon occurrence, I found out the next day). The dough was sweet, soft and buttery; the apple butter with the ever-so-slightly salty ham struck a perfect chord. As we chatted and ate – not one but two kolaches (the other was a cherry basil) – we realized we had lots more in common, too.

Time flew, kolaches disappeared, and we promised to get together on another trip, when I’d have more time (will I ever?). And so it went.

Then I went back the next day, and the day after that, too, and I just kept on going back till there were no more days left and I had to hop a plane for Paris.

But not before I wrangled the owner, Chris Zeilke, and the pastry chef, Lauren Leone, and begged her to share her kolache recipe. I figured I could start a whole new trend in Paris.

Plus I thought all of y’all might like to make some, too.

Till next time, everyone – let’s all do the kolache. I’m thinking of making pear butter when the fall pears arrive at the market, which will be soon. What will you fill yours with? Mwah haha!

Bolsa Mercado’s Ham and Apple Butter Kolaches

Makes 2 dozen

• 3 tablespoons of yeast
• ½ cup of warm water
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 2 cups of milk
• 5 ounces/1 ¼ stick of butter, plus a bit more for brushing over the kolaches
• 1 tablespoon of sea salt
• 2 egg yolks
• ⅓ cup of sugar
• 6 cups of bread flour
• 12 ounces of apple butter (see note)
• 24 slices of ham
• 1 pound of shredded cheese (fontina or manchego)

1. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in your mixer bowl. Now add the sugar to the yeast-water mixture and let this sit for about 10 minutes or until it’s foamy.

2. Heat milk and butter in a saucepan over low heat. When the butter melts — you don’t want this to get too warm — remove this from the heat and whisk in the salt, egg yolks, and sugar. Now add this to the yeast mixture in the bowl and combine.

3. Add your bread flour to the bowl and using the dough hook, mix until it’s smooth and only slightly sticky. It’ll take about 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a buttered bowl and brush butter all over the top of the dough, too. Let this proof in a warm, dry area till it doubles in size — this’ll take about an hour.

4. Cut the dough into 3-ounce pieces, roll into balls and place on parchment paper. Brush a little butter on the top of each dough ball.

5. Press the dough into flat circles with the bottom of a glass. Spread 1 1/2 tablespoons of apple butter in the middle of the dough and place a slice of ham and about 1 tablespoon of cheese on top. Fold over the dough and pinch the edges together. Brush the dough with a bit more melted butter and let the kolaches proof for 30 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

7. Bake the kolaches for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Brush them with a bit more (!!) melted butter. Eat immediately!

Here’s what Lauren says about her apple butter: “I don’t have an official recipe for the apple butter, but it’s 5 peeled and sliced apples, 4 ounces of butter, a pinch of cinnamon and salt to taste cooked down till the apple breaks down. Then you strain the butter.”

To make sweet kolaches: After you make the flat circles (#5), Lauren says to do this: “Press a wide hole so there’s a 1/4-inch rim of dough, and fill the center with 1 tablespoon of the jam filling and dollop with cream cheese. My cream cheese filling is made from 1 pound of cream cheese, I egg, and 1 cup of sugar whipped until smooth and fluffy.”

I just taught my first class at Central Market in Fort Worth. To a sold-out crowd of more than 50. I had a staff (a staff, y’all!) of wonderful people — volunteers and Central Market employees — buzzing around behind me and putting everything together, as I walked everyone through four of my favorite recipes from my new cookbook. I chopped. I folded egg whites. I told silly stories. People laughed. When it was all over, I signed books and talked to everyone. I’m still sort of pinching myself.

Ouch. I just did it again.

Remember…until now, I’ve been teaching classes to a maximum of six in my tiny Paris kitchen.

And the fun has only just begun. Today, I’ll be packing my boots, Wranglers, and cowgirl apron to cook at four other Central Market stores around Texas — Plano, San Antonio, Houston, and Austin. As of this moment, there are still places available for the Austin class; the other markets have also sold out.

Ouch.

But please check the Central Market website for the most updated info on my classes here. You can still sign up to be on the waiting list; otherwise, why not take a road trip and come to Austin for the Sunday class?

Did I mention that there’s Champagne involved? C’mon!

Best known for big cattle ranches and 72-ounce steaks, Amarillo isn’t the first place that comes to mind when you think, “Hey, I’m in the mood for Thai.”

But it might be soon. Because I was the other day when I was driving through on my way back to Texas (third time in two months if anyone’s counting), and even though I’d been to a pretty good Thai place called My Thai less than a mile from where I was going to be hanging my cowgirl hat that evening, I decided to drive far, far to the other side of town in hopes of find a highly recommended Thai restaurant that had long since closed that night…only to find another Thai place just down the street.

Located in a nondescript lilac building, Thai Garden was packed with cars at 9:45 on a Saturday night. Hungry and in the mood for anything Asian at this point, and with no other options in sight, I pulled in, parked my little SUV alongside the others, and peeked inside for a looksee.

You know sometimes how you just know when you’ve stumbled onto something great?

Maybe it was the neon Bud Light sign hanging on one wall, which struck just the right note of tacky in what was otherwise a cavernous, haphazardly decorated space, lit by florescent rectangles in the ceiling, casting a bluish glow. Or perhaps it was my waitress; the niece, it turns out, of the owner, who’s from a small town in Thailand (but she wasn’t sure where). But when the spring rolls came; fat and misshapen things, stuffed with crunchy slivers of cabbage, lettuce, and carrots; glass noodles, spicy pork, and shrimp, if I’d had any doubt, it was dispelled then. They were delicious. Fresh. Handmade.

Then Pad Thai that rivaled what I’d eaten (and learned to make at a cooking school there) in Chiang Mai a few years ago. Heaps of noodles. Broccoli, cabbage, sprouts, egg. Peanuts on the side, and a wedge of lime.

Heaven after five hours of munching on trail mix washed down with a watered-down iced latte that needed to be tossed out 75 miles ago.

The joy of a road trip is finding something new…an undiscovered path, a perspective on someplace you’ve seen dozens of times before. In the case of Amarillo, a drive-through for many and a stop-over for perhaps even more, I’m always surprised at what I find. Last time I drove through, I refueled with a green chile cheeseburger at Golden Light Cafe, then bought a pair of old Nocona cowgirl boots for $7 at the antique mall across the street.

Amarillo’s the halfway point between my mom’s house and Santa Fe, so it’s a road that I know well…or so I thought. I hear Tacos Garcia has a great breakfast. Next time, I plan to set my alarm to find out.

Despite the colder-than-Paris weather we’ve been having lately, I’m so happy to be back in Texas for the holidays…surrounded by friends, family, and lots of love.

As many of y’all know, it’s been a wild ride this past year, with more ups and downs than the Runaway Mine Train at Six Flags. But the book’s finally finished and off to the printer, and I’m looking forward to the new year…and the adventures that it’ll bring.

Happy Holidays, everyone. Hope you’re cooking up something fun.

More Big Easy than Big D, with its bowtied waiters and simple, Cajun-inspired menu, S. & D. Oyster Company where I’ve always gone for a gumbo fix. Problem is I can’t seem to stop there. I always want fried oysters, too, and I must have fried shrimp, and since the combo plate comes with both – along with hush puppies and homemade fries — what’s a girl to do but order it all?

Which is what I did the other day when Mom and I were in Dallas for errands (mine) and hairdo (hers).

We sat down at our table for two against the buttercream wall, ordered a couple of iced teas, and snacked on saltine crackers and butter — the only pre-dinner nibble that was offered at restaurants in Dallas in the 1970s before the meal came (or the places that we went to, anyway).

Isn’t it funny how something so completely plain Jane can immediately take you back to another time and place? Crackers and butter. You’d just never think of that today.

We both had the gumbo, loaded with sweet Gulf shrimp, and I ate mine so quickly that I completely forgot to take a photo beforehand — so you’ll have to just take my word for it — it was delicious.

You can’t see the oysters underneath all of the shrimp and fries, but they’re there, and even though they were smallish, about the size of a quarter, the cornbread coating was perfectly crisp and they were just lovely. I don’t think I’ve had fried oysters since the last time I was here, which was probably four years ago.

Hush puppies, either. Ouh la la! What wonderful things hush puppies are! When I took the first bite, I remembered that I’d been wanting to make some of these for awhile, but with chopped jalapenos. I feel like there’s gonna be a hush puppy fry in my near future.

And gumbo, too. I’m already working on that (I already found frozen okra at the Kroger down the street!), so stay tuned…

(When I was in Dallas earlier this year, I had some tacos. Actually, lots of tacos. But I kept going back to this place, time and time again.)

I know what you’re thinking. Another taco stand in Dallas?

Yawn.

I thought the same thing, too. Even though my buddy Dave has been raving about this gourmet tacqueria for more than a year, I didn’t really believe him when he told me how good it was – especially when he said that this place had gotten its start in the back of a gas station.

A biofuel station in East Dallas, no less.

It all sounded so Portland.

But I love tacos, as y’all know, and I’m always up to try a new taco joint, whether Dallas really needs one or not.

Need. Want. I’m always having a hard time distinguishing between those two guys.

So one afternoon after Dave and I had spent the morning moving all of my worldly possessions from one storage unit to another, we drove out to Good 2 Go Taco to refuel.

By now, just a year and a half later, Good 2 Go had moved from its original 9 x 7 space in the back of The Green Spot station to its very own digs in a tiny strip center off of Garland Road next to a do-it-yourself car wash.

A move up, for sure. But fancy wasn’t what Jeana Johnson and her partner, Colleen O’Hare, were after. Gray walls, exposed ceiling, original terrazo tile floors. Reclaimed wood for the counters, family photos (Jeana’s from Palestine, Texas) on the wall.

Both had worked for Stephan Pyles. They were ready to move on. They wanted their own place.

Tacos seemed right.

But these aren’t just any old tacos. No siree. Four different tacos (including “Hotlanta,” made with waffle-battered fried chicken, and “Curry in a Hurry,” with bok choy and shitakes), just four bucks apiece. Two big salads, $8.50. Breakfast tacos for $2, served all day.

“Swine Bleu” is my new big love – braised pork and bleu cheese slaw – and one that I’m going to try to recreate here, with Roquefort and Kate Hill’s Gascon-style BBQ. I also love “The Jana,” a slightly dressed up version of the old-school taco salad (beef/taco seasoning/iceberg/Catalina dressing – remember?), named after Jeana’s mom, who decided that every Friday night should be taco night. In her namesake version, Jeana combines picadillo beef, romaine, Fritos, pico, homemade queso (which alone is worth the trip), and charred jalapeno-maple vinaigrette.

I drank a Dublin Dr. Pepper and I ate my Jana, and half of Dave’s Swine Bleu. We shared a bunch of chips and super-peppery salsa, and before we left, Jeana came and sat down with us.

“I remember you,” she said to Dave, who had not been in since she moved to the new location. It had probably been eight months, all told, since she’d seen him last. “You used to come in right before the lunch crowd, late morning, right?”

Which he did.

Good 2 Go Taco’s meteoric rise over the last two years is well-documented. They’ve been featured on the Food Network’s “Best Thing I Ever Ate,” and have gained a fiercely loyal local following. After a year in the gas station, they searched for a bigger place.

Realtors came courting, offering cut-rate deals on rent in much trendier, tonier parts of town.

But Good 2 Go didn’t want to move on; they just wanted a bigger location – in the same very un-chic neighborhood. “These people were good to us when we didn’t have anything,” said Jeana. “I know their kids, I know their dog’s names. I’m not going to switch on them now. It’d be like changing schools when you’re in your junior year in high school.”

The next day, I realized that I needed a Good 2 Go taco fix. Needed. So I drove back to Dallas and got one.

I’ll see you next time I’m in town, Jeana. Lots.

Good 2 Go Taco
1146 Peavy Rd.
Dallas, Tx. 75218
214-519-9110

At one of my cooking classes last month, someone asked me how many pairs of cowboy boots I owned. I really wasn’t sure, but I told her that it wasn’t that many. The next day, I got them out and counted them. As you can see, it’s a small collection of eight. I also have a spare pair at my mom’s house in Texas, but since those aren’t with me now, I think that those would fall into a separate “travel boots” category.

The caramel-colored Frye boots on the end don’t officially count as cowboy, but they are boots, so if you’re counting all cowboy-like boots, then I guess that’s nine. But, full disclosure here, I sometimes wear other boots, too – I love my black knee-high Freelance boots, my two pairs of n.d.c. Made by Hand boots and, there’s a couple of pair of Uggs that I wear in the winter, too. Plus a great pair of Paul Smith ankle boots that I hardly ever wear because they’re about four inches high. I guess I should tell you about the ones that are up above my closet, too, in clear plastic boxes because I ran out of space.

But do those officially count if they’re not in rotation?

I guess if I had to count up all of the boots, cowboy and non, it would be a fairly interesting number. 20? 30? More, perhaps?

I’d have to get out the ladder.

In that same cooking class, someone else said, I’ll bet you don’t wear those little ballet flats around Paris, and of course, she was right. Ballet flats are great for – well, ballet, which believe it or not, I took for years and years – but I’m not going to be walking around Paris or anywhere else with shoes that make my feet look fatter and my legs look shorter than they already are, thank you very much.

So while it may seem like I have a boot addiction of some sort, let me assure you, I do not. A passion is not an addiction.

Which brings me to belts. Again, I say, what’s “too many?” Is there such a thing?

I buy belts like I buy scarves. Sort of all the time and often on a whim. My belts are all old (though I prefer the term “vintage” because it sounds more chic), and either found at flea markets, Goodwill stores, or they’re Old Stud belts (which are made from belts found at flea markets and Goodwill stores), which I’ve bought over the years.

I also have a few boxes of scarves, but we’re not going to get into that today. Scarves are really about warmth and keeping one’s neck protected from the harsh elements. They’re essential. Necessary. But of course, it’s nice to have a variety of colors/styles/fabrics for the abrupt changes in la meteo here in Paris. I always have a scarf handy for this reason.

Today, for example, is a springish sort of day. It’ll start out cool, get kind of warm around 3 or 4, and then cool off again later. I think my lightweight turquoise cashmere fringy scarf will be just perfect.

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