It's Texas Week and there's nothing you can do about it

Oh, internet. What have you done to me? When I saw Texas Independence Day on the calendar I got so excited because I have three entire Texas-specific cookbooks to burn through. Perfect! But then, in the dead of night...doubts. Sometimes I think things are kind of funny and pleasant until I am emphatically informed otherwise! What if this is like that? I mean, I reside here on the internet with the rest of you, I know how things are. Many people find the very concept of Texas obnoxious and the celebration of our less-than-three-year stint as a republic unbearably obnoxious and also historical revolutions inherently involve the patriarchy which seems bad and actually is it racist somehow HELP ME SOMEONE I JUST LIKE FOOD THEMES. (Exhibit A: Croation Victory Day.) So, you know what, I'm pressing on because I enjoy Texas and also our food and you don't have to like Texas. You just have to like me (please like me). (I'm relatively confident there is no actual racism involved.)

Cool, those of you still with me get to check out Cookbook #24: More Tastes & Tales from Texas With  Love (Peg Hein, 1987). With LOVE, you guys! Can't be bad. This is Anna's favorite so far because it has an ampersand, and she is obsessed with ampersands (pretty normal fixation). Provenance: Mom. Previous recipes on this blog: none. Decade: 80s. Instances of margarine in recipes: many.

I was worried that Texas Week would result in three cow-based meals in a row, especially because I was trying to avoid Tex-Mex for history-based theme and I'm almost positive not racist reasons. So for this first book I decided to make a meal of sides. (Spoiler alert: there is not a single upcoming cow-based meal.) Recipes: Grapefruit-Avocado Salad, Tomatoes Rockafeller, Scholz Garden Beans. Or as I like to call them: Yum, Also Yum, and Whoa That's A Lot of Onion.

Drowning out the bacon flavor is unforgivable, onion.

Recipe I did not make but still want you to contemplate the existence of: "Black-Eyed Pea-Zza Bread." Verdict: I was a little wary, given my recent stint with 80s cuisine, but overall this book charmed me. Maybe I will do some cow-cooking next time.

Hey, Vino Rosso Linguine is perfect for those times when you want something that tastes good and also looks like brains.

Just a suggestion!

At least I know that Cookbook #25, The Cake Mix Doctor (Anne Byrn, 1999) won't be at all controversial to the good people of the internet because it was a gift from my mom and I used it to make Mom's Layer Cake with Fluffy Chocolate Frosting FOR MY MOM. It may as well have a kitten doing something humorous on top of it!

(Starts receiving angry mail about gluten.)

Verdict: do you seriously not already have this book? I've probably used it a hundred times. Go buy this book.

Anna took her newfound Dental Health Month knowledge to vigorously brush! ....The sheep!

...'s eyeballs!

NO HAT NO BLANKET THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN TAKE A LONG LOOK