As a kid, I never knew where Butterscotch Sauce came from. We had three choices of toppings at the ice cream shop, and butterscotch was the most mysterious. I mean, chocolate sauce was easy to understand, and so was strawberry topping. But what was butterscotch? It didn’t look like butter, and I didn’t think my grandfather would order me a sundae with Scotch whiskey in it…so confusing! My Favorite Sweet Flavor! Even now, this is still one of my favorite flavors. No Scotch whiskey ...
Pork Carnitas is one of the first recipes that I posted when I started out as a blogger back in 2017, but with technology moving forward at such a rapid pace, the earlier post is buried somewhere in an error message. Oops. A Longtime Favorite Ranch Recipe I have seen other recipes for Pork Carnitas which resembled pulled pork or braised pot roast of beef. But this recipe is the traditional way that we make carnitas at the ranch. Deeply fried and finished with milk and an orange placed in ...
Traveling in Portugal, I discovered how much I adore Pastel de Nata, their national pastry. Creamy and rich with the scent of vanilla, Pastel de Nata is the perfect accompaniment for coffee or hot chocolate. Are the Portuguese or Chinese? Last year when we were traveling in China, we encountered these little custard pies all over again in the form of a Chinese Egg Tart. There was a tart stand in Shanghai next to our hotel. However, after a few late-night prowls we determined that the best ...
Southerners believe that eating black-eyed peas brings good luck in the New Year, so I try to make Black Eyed Pea Salad every January 1. A fresh interpretation of an old tradition, this has become a favorite side dish on our holiday table. Black Eyed Pea Salad for Good Luck Some varieties of black-eyed peas are called "cowpeas" and yes, food history tells us black-eyed peas were cultivated as animal fodder. The foodways of enslaved people included many ingredients that were deemed ...
Spicy Orange Pecans is an old recipe that I lost track of! I think of them so often that I believed they were already posted, but that was 3 websites ago! So here it is again, one of my very favorite variations on roasted pecans. Crispy, spicy, sweet and savory, these pecans are a hit…
Orange Spice Pan de Polvo is a new variation on the ubiquitous pan de polvo recipe that every in South Texas cherishes. We can’t have a holiday gathering, wedding or baptism without our favorite local cookie, but I thought it would be fun to try a new flavor. As we have so much citrus that…
Christmas is such a busy time of the year, my recipes are scattered across old notebooks, cloud archives, and stained index cards that are tucked into cookbooks that only I can find. What a mess! But Christmas Gingerbread still happens year after year, regardless of the chaos. I make cookies and gingerbread houses with this…
Christmas Snow Icing is just royal icing, but you will need it if you want to ice your Christmas Gingerbread cookies or make a gingerbread house.
Melissa Guerra is an 8th generation Texan, born and raised on a working cattle ranch in South Texas. She is a self taught culinary expert and food historian, specializing in the food ways of the American continent, especially Texas regional, Mexican, and Latin American cuisine. Read More…
