After thousands of bowls of chili and endless pots of care guisada, wouldn’t it be nice to have a new option for those Saturday afternoons watching football or an upcoming holiday meal? Enter Texas Style Shepherd’s Pie! Granted, this shepherd’s pie takes several hours to make, but we promise it will be worth the wait. […]

Yaupon, a seemingly innocuous—though determined—little plant that, though it has been somewhat maligned and misunderstood over the decades, even centuries, is making a comeback in a big way. The caffeinated plant’s revival is thanks in part to one Texas business, whose mission is to share the wonder of this domestic tea with the world: CatSpring […]

Collard greens are the symbol for paper money because of their bright green color. Here they form the base for poached eggs. Serve this dish right from your iron skillet. Yield: 6 servings Ingredients 6 slices bacon 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 medium onion, chopped 3 bunches of collards, stemmed and chopped 1 teaspoon salt […]

Black-eyed peas symbolize growing wealth and prosperity because they swell up when you soak them for cooking. You can use the canned variety to save time; just make sure you rinse them well. Yield: 6 servings Ingredients ¾ cup avocado oil or olive oil ½ cup cider vinegar ½ cup sugar (or to taste) 3 […]

Cornbread symbolizes pocket change because of its gold color. Hopefully, blue cornmeal counts, too. If you are worried that blue will not bring as much fortune as yellow, then go ahead and use the traditional kind. These should be served immediately because they tend to deflate as they cool. Yield: 12 popovers Ingredients 4 tablespoons […]

Nuluv, a company that makes handcrafted goat milk skin care products on their farm in the Texas Hill Country, actually began as a love story. Jonna Davis, a self-proclaimed city girl who grew up in the Houston suburbs, fell in love with Trey Davis, a country boy who grew up on a goat ranch in […]

The homeowners of the Allendale organic modern home found this newly built farmhouse in central Austin, but they wanted a more modern motif for the  interior. Through Instagram they happily discovered Robin Bond Interiors, which recently celebrated its 20- year anniversary. “The owners wanted more of an edgy look on the inside with modern lines and […]

If fried pickles had existed during Elizabethan times, Shakespeare might have compared them to a summer’s day. Perhaps Romeo would have waxed poetically about pickles instead of roses: “A pickle by any other name would taste as sweet.” But alas, fried pickles, although a mainstay snack in restaurants all across Texas now, were not even […]

Veterans and their family members do not have to travel far to pay their respects to those who served in one of the United States’s most controversial wars. Outshining the “prison city” reputation of Huntsville, the H.E.A.R.T.S. Veterans Museum pr ovides a new reason to head to East Texas, with an 80 percent-scale replica of […]

Golden Lux Potatoes Is there anything more sumptuous than well-made mashed potatoes? Creamy and rich, our Golden Lux Potatoes are the ideal foundation for any type of protein. The trick to making great mashed potatoes is choosing the right variety. Russet potatoes are fluffy, and starchy and make the very best baked potatoes. Red potatoes […]

As the saying goes, everything is bigger in Texas, and murals are no exception. From Texas’s bustling cities to more remote, smaller communities, murals are becoming ubiquitous. In addition to telling stories, making statements, and educating, these life-sized splashes of color are transforming unremarkable spaces into extraordinary canvases. Houston J. Harding & Co., a screen-printing […]

With a shoreline that stretches over 1,000 miles, the wildlife creatures found in our gulf waters span the gamut. What swims beneath our Texas waters may be very familiar, but some might surprise you! Around South Padre Island, you are sure to spot several Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. This area is home to several large pods, […]

“I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.” George Benson and then Whitney Houston may have made these lyrics famous, but singer-songwriter Linda Creed wrote them about remaining strong through life’s trials and passing that strength on to the next generation. This message still rings true, and […]

Planning on fishing at the beach this summer? You can catch an array of species from whiting, ladyfish, bluefish, redfish, black drum, trout, stingray, sharks, jack crevalle, pompano, and more! Here are some areas to target saltwater fish during the summer: On the Beach From the beach you can catch all the fish above. Use […]

The kitchen is still the number one room for renovations, and that project is hotter than ever as people stay (and work) at home during this long pandemic. The kitchen also happens to be one of my favorite rooms to design, but the selections can be overwhelming for many of my clients because there are […]