Plenty of Fiesta color.

Of all the parades that accompany Fiesta, my favorite has come to be the one for our four-legged friends. I’m referring to Fiesta Pooch Parade, which is a benefit for Therapy Animals of San Antonio.

Teena Starr Larson gives the parade a jungle touch.

It’s also the event I choose to close out my Fiesta. It’s much more low-key than the downtown parades. Plus, it features all those great and patient dogs being paraded through the shady lanes of Alamo Heights. There are big dogs and little dogs walking next to each other. Some are long-haired, others shaved to the bone. A few are wearing tutus and butterfly wings, others are dyed in a host of Fiesta colors. Two or three were spotted in their Spurs regalia, in honor, no doubt, of the team’s Friday night win. A few are truly pampered, being pulled in carts and carriages by owners who are doing the walking.

And best of all, the dogs seem to get along with each other and with the throngs on the side, many with dogs of their own.

Pretty in pink.

After the last dog passed by, my friend Gail and I headed off to GauchoGourmet at 935 Isom Road for a taste of the new Burrata Bash that the food warehouse is having every Saturday. Sitting at one of the new community tables set up at the back of the sales area, we split a bowl of the soft mozzarella-style cheese presented with prosciutto and topped with a fig and orange marmalade. It was truly delicious, spread over a bite of baguette.

We finished off the visit by stocking up on slabs of frozen foie gras that were on sale that day. We did not sample from the salad bar, however, because we were headed to Earl Abel’s, 1201 Austin Hwy., which has introduced a Saturday brunch menu.

Nutella Pancakes at Earl Abel’s.

We bypassed the Cajun Shrimp and Grits for two dishes that have their basis in long-time Earl Abel’s favorites. One was chicken and waffles with a fried thigh  atop a freshly made waffle with syrup, butter and, at my request, hot sauce, which gave it the sweet-hot balance I like in the dish.

The other special we sampled was Earl’s famous “thins” used in Nutella pancakes, a dish that worked all too well, with the creamy chocolate-hazelnut spread filling two pancakes and topped with buttery pecans and bananas. It’s one of those dishes that begs to be revisited.

I leave you with a few more precious pooches from the parade.

Pampered pets at the Pooch Parade.

Sniffing out new friends.

Who’s walking whom?

Let’s go for a swing.

Nathan Adcock (left) and Michelle place Horseshoe Sausage on a grill while David Sanchez (right) oversees the booth.

When David Sanchez was growing up, working at A Night in Old San Antonio had already become a tradition in his family. So, it was a natural for him to find his way into the volunteer corps that keeps it running year in and year out.

Trouble is, he couldn’t work with his father, who had made a home for himself at the Fast Draw Suds booth in Frontier Town working for an uncle who was its chairman. David was too young to serve alcohol. So, he became a runner, covering the entire NIOSA grounds at La Villita and making sure each of the booths had what they needed.

It’s hard work, and Sanchez admitted with a laugh that he hated it.  But who would like to try to navigate through the crowds night after night? It was only after he started working behind a booth that he began to enjoy himself at NIOSA, which raises funds for the San Antonio Conservation Society. That was the Horsehoe Sausage booth, and 15 years later, Sanchez has become its chair while his cousin, Nathan Adcock, works as his co-chair.

“It’s a family reunion,” he said Tuesday, the opening night of the 65th NIOSA. “We all live in different parts of town, so this is the one time we really get to see each other. We get to see each other the whole week.”

Horsehoes on the grill.

Adcock’s mother, who used to chair the booth, still volunteers, as do other members from all branches of the family. Some still work at Fast Draw Suds, others at the nearby Ranch Steak booth.

Sanchez also sees a few friends from his job at USAA, who have volunteered with him through the years. His co-workers haven’t seen him on the campus, though,  because Sanchez has taken the week off to devote himself to the booth.

Things flowed smoothly at the start, as I joined Sanchez, Adcock and their crew to serve up cases of sausages to the crowds. Over the years, I have worked a variety of booths, from Maria’s Tortillas to fried mushrooms, but I have probably worked the most in Frontier Town, where you can also find Shypoke Eggs and, until this year, calf fries. (The loss of the calf fries booth had drew more than a few questions from the partygoers.)

There were plenty in line waiting for a Horseshoe Sausage, which is made specially for NIOSA by Opa’s of Fredericksburg. The mixture of pork and beef is precooked, and Sanchez’s team warms them over over fiery coals until they’re ready to stuff into a Bimbo bun. The well-seasoned meat, slathered in ballpark mustard or picante sauce, was juicy to bite into and made a perfect partner for an icy beer.

I’m ready to serve you.

The system for preparing the sandwiches was fairly easy, as long as people did their part. After the sausages were grilled, they were kept in warmers until there was a demand for sandwiches. A group them inserted the sausages into the bun before sliding them into a paper sleeve that was twisted closed. These were then kept in steam trays until they were sold. Most didn’t stay long in the tray, because demand was steady throughout the shift, and we refilled each tray numerous times.

The system is actually a little easier than it used to be, Sanchez said, remembering how Opa’s used to package the meat in rings that would have to be cut in half. No cutting is needed now, as the sausages are individual and yet pressed into a horseshoe shape.

NIOSA, a time to celebrate San Antonio-style.

Tuesday is generally the sausage booth’s busiest night, with about 10 (25-pound) cases coming off the grills. Over the four days of NIOSA, about 30 cases in all will be sold with Thursday night, or College Night, being the lightest, Sanchez said.

Horseshoes are a symbol of luck, and luck was indeed with Tuesday’s NIOSA crowds. By the time I finished my shift, a few sprinkles had started to fall and a cool breeze that often presages rain could be felt. But there was to be no rain on the party, just a fun evening of celebrating San Antonio-style.

NIOSA continues through Friday. For more information, click here.

Photos by Phillip Kent and John Griffin

John King of Glazier’s talks with a customer about wine choices.

For the third year in a row, I had the great fun of working at the wine booth during the opening night of Fiesta Oyster Bake. And it’s a tradition I hope to continue far into the future.

Sack after sack of Gulf oysters cook over hot coals.

Because even though the party atmosphere doesn’t always lend itself to serious wine contemplation, I was part of a team that really worked hard to make sure our customers were having a great time. And what better way to celebrate Fiesta, San Antonio and the joyous spring we’ve been enjoying than with a glass of wine that you really enjoy?

We work hard to ensure that each year, though the scene is slightly different each Fiesta. Last year, for example, we poured the selections of only one winery, and the thousands of guests we served gratefully took what we had to offer.

This year, we got to introduce a few wines to San Antonio as we tried to make sure everyone ended up with something that they would appreciate.

“Good evening. What kind of wine do you like to drink?”

We said that to customer after customer as we proffered an array of wines that ran from sweet to dry.

If you’re among the millions of Americans who think that the word “Chardonnay” is synonymous with “wine,” you were in for a real eye-opener. The unoaked Acacia Chardonnay  is crisp, clean and dry with plenty of fruit and citrus acid to make your mouth pucker in delight. It was the perfect accompaniment for a bucket of the grilled oysters that were being prepared just behind our booth.

A bucket of grilled oysters.

Sack after 75-pound sack of oysters was dumped over the hot coals, sending out a heady aroma of brine, shellfish and smoke that drew hungry customers to the food booths.

The wine was also perfect for any San Antonio summer afternoon when the thermometer rises into the triple digits. I’d also pair it with the chicken on a stick as well as a steaming hot ear of Oyster Bake corn on the cob.

For those who wanted something a little sweeter, there were several selections sliding from the realm of off-dry to super sweet. The Rose ‘N’ Blum Pinot Grigio had a light touch of sweetness matched with flavors of stone fruit such as nectarine and apricot, while the Sterling Vineyards Aromatic White mixed dry and sweet grapes with a marked emphasis on the later. The Butterfly Kiss Moscato and the Rose ‘N’ Blum Pink Moscato both appealed to lovers of unabashedly sweet wines, drinks that would be perfect with a bag of caramelized kettle corn or even the deep-fried cheesecake from a nearby booth.

At the nacho booth, a show of support for Boston.

I found myself pouring more of the red wines, which had a different audience, though matching the right wine to the patron wasn’t always easy. There’s still some mystery out there among wine drinkers about what the words used to describe wine mean, and Fiesta might not be the best place to learn wine vocabulary. But we pressed on in the hopes of pleasing people.

“Do you want a sweet wine or a dry wine?” we’d ask.

“Oh, a dry wine.”

“What kind do you usually drink? Red or white?”

“Red.”

“Do you know what grape you like?”

“Riesling.”

That’s where the Rose ‘N’ Blum Pink Moscato came in handy.

For those who wanted a really dry red wine, the choices became harder. We had two new reds on the market, both from the Once Upon a Vine Winery in Sonoma County, Calif. They were a Pinot Noir and The Big Bad Red Blend, which was made up of a fruit combination of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. We also had a dry red blend, Stark Raving Red, which was made up of Tannat, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

Corn, butter and what wine? Think Chardonnay.

So, trying to get people to figure out if they wanted fruity or dry, light bodied or full bodied became more of a problem, especially since giving out samples really were off the table.

We persisted, in the hopes of finding some descriptor that would clue us in to what they wanted. Sometimes they came up with a word that let us know where to go; other times, we just guessed. (Admittedly, our attentions were occasionally diverted as someone on the line’s cellphone buzzed through with an update on what was happening with the Boston manhunt and the capture of the bombing suspect, but we worked on.)

A few were really interested in what grapes made up each blend, because they, too, wanted to make sure their $3 a glass was being spent well. So, they listened to talk of how, in the Big Bad Red Blend, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were likely used to give backbone to the Zinfandel used, while the same three grapes were used to smooth out the usually rustic Tannat in the Stark Raving Red.

Friday is family night at Oyster Bake.

Something seemed to work. We began getting repeat customers. Then more repeats. A few wanted to try something else, but most wanted to repeat the experience they’d had earlier that evening — and they wanted it on more than just Friday night. They wanted to know the price of the wine — about $11 a bottle for most of what we poured — and they wanted to know where to find it (Twin Liquors or Gabriel’s are your best bets).

There was a reason for that. Most of what we poured really was something you wanted more than just a taste of. The Stark Raving Red and the Acacia Chardonnay are both wines that I’ll be on the lookout for, and not just during Fiesta. If I find the One Upon a Vine wines along the way, I’d seriously consider picking up a bottle or two. I just won’t be matching them with oysters.

Red wine and oysters are an ugly mix, but that’s another topic entirely.

Here’s hoping that your Fiesta wines are all rewarding and that you enjoy them responsibly.

Walking through the Oyster Bake with corn and without care.

Rachael Ray talks with two young fans, including one girl who wants to be a chef.

AUSTIN — In the past few years, food has emerged as an important element in the two-week celebration of South by Southwest.

Macklemore performs at Stubb’s.

It may lack the weighty discussion that surrounds the computer and electronic portion of the festival or the cachet of the film festival, but it is almost as all-pervasive as the music. After all, what’s a party without food? And what’s food without music?

Whereas previous years showcased new culinary trends, this year’s offerings were far more willing to serve up comfort food, plain and often fairly simple.

Corzo Paloma

Celebrity chef Rachael Ray, who throws two parties each year that are worth investigating, continued her big Saturday bash at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q on Red River, bringing together some musical fun with a generous mix of Tex-Mex and Texas favorites. So, while the crowd listened to chart-topper Macklemore with Ryan Lewis perform “Thrift Shop” and some Irish rap (in anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day, of course), many waited for more than an hour to load up on sliders, pulled pork tacos, corn soup with Mexican pesto and Mexican fried chicken.

Ray graced the stage, too, but only to introduce her husband, John Cusimano, and his band, The Cringe. The lively set included a wonderful surprise for the classic rock lovers in Stubb’s backyard: Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Eric Burdon joined the band on stage for a version of “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” that had many singing along.

Coconut water at the VH-1 party.

Among the many sponsors of the event was Corzo Tequila, which presented a potent cocktail called a Corzo Paloma. Fill a glass with ice, then pour tequila about halfway up. Add a splash of grapefruit juice to lend the drink an ethereal gleam of pink and finish off with Fresca. A couple of those would have you have you singing along with anyone on stage, no matter if you knew the lyrics or not. (I would make one slight change and go for Mexican Fresca for two reasons: The aftertaste is cleaner and, well, the aspartame in the American diet Fresca left me feeling as if something had delivered a swift punch to my kidneys.)

No cakeballs, just cupcakes.

After leaving Stubb’s, I wandered through the various parties that spread along River Road and Sixth Street, before ending up at a makeshift food truck park that popped up just for SXSW. On Sunday, the neat park, which played host to more than a dozen trucks, was to have been a vacant lot once again. But on Saturday afternoon, folks had started to gather for everything from Korean barbecue tacos to an outpost of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. Salted Caramel continues to be a popular flavor — and was scooped up by both Jeni’s and folks from Lick at Rachael Ray’s other party.

Next to Jeni’s was the DUK Truck, Jason Dady’s wheeled kitchen, which had made the trek from San Antonio and found audiences receptive to its brisket chili Frito pie and to Rice Krispie Krack, a spin on the favorite treat in which the puffed rice is joined with salt and vinegar chips and Sugar Babies in a coating of marshmallow goo. Kiddy cuisine crack, indeed.

Sampling sausages at Banger’s.

“Top Chef” winner Paul Qui had a truck, too, with what is likely the next big trend: kimchi. He used the fermented cabbage on fries. It would pop up again at Ray’s house party and a day later in Floresville at the second annual Fine Swine Cook-off. My only problem with it being trendy is: What’s new about kimchi? We’ve been eating it for years and not just at Korean restaurants?

On my way to the Driskell to meet friends, I wandered into the Dorito’s sidewalk music venue, only to try Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, which left my fingers red for several hours, and Cheddar BBQ Cracker Jack’d, neither of which begged to be tried again.

A brief respite in the Driskell’s air conditioned corridors left me ready for more music, more walking and more treats. We hit Rusty’s for Lucy Rose’s set, then headed off to Moonshine, where VH-1 was holding its annual party. Cupcakes were the only treat to be had there, but they were moist, thanks to a noticeable addition of cream into the vanilla cake and frosting. But there was plenty of coconut water from Vita Coco to keep you hydrated. Or you could have Ty Ku Coconut, a flavored sake, mixed with pineapple juice. This cocktail had little alcohol punch and could have made for a smooth slide to oblivion.

From there, we headed down to Banger’s on Rainey Street, where Ray was having her house party this year. By the time we got there, a mere hour after it opened, there was a lengthy line waiting to get in, as the spacious patio was already filled to capacity.

Rachael Ray listens to her husband’s band perform.

Ray was there, of course, as she always is, and she walked about the beer garden, talking with her guests while Cusimano played another set. This time, he left the stage during one song and leaped up on one of the long communal tables to shrieks of surprise and laughter from the crowd.

The food for this get-together was Banger’s series of sausages, which is pure comfort food to many, though how many were expecting Kung Pao chicken sausage or Duck, Bacon and Fig sausage. There was even a vegetarian sausage made of beets and goat cheese, though I would recommend a bit of reworking here. The links we tasted were far too dry, as if not enough fat had been included. So, more cheese or olive oil or something to keep it moist.

Sure, there were plenty of toppings just made for sausage, from peppers and onions to kimchi and a series of spicy mustards. But it was also fun to see a trio of ketchups — curry, pepper and regular — to go on the sausages or the corn dogs that were passed around.

To finish the snack off, what could better than an ice cream float? Honest Fizz, a new line of stevia-sweetened sodas from Honest Tea, was poured over Lick’s handmade ice creams. So, root beer with caramel salt ice cream or orange soda with Hill Country honey and vanilla ice cream were just the right refresher to ease back into the night before the ride home.

Dan Garrison leads a tour at his distillery.

My friends, Pam and Cecil, recently suggested we spend a Saturday in the Hill Country. They had a pair of tickets to tour the Garrison Brothers Distillery in Hye, but they wanted to trek on from there to nearby Fredericksburg.

A bourbon barrel

It sounded like a perfect day out of town — except I forgot until the day we went that we were headed into a cedar pollen central. So, doped up on decongestants, I joined them for a ride that is a bit of a blur. Thankfully, I was fine by the time we arrived in Hye. We were a little early for our appointed tour, which left us with enough time to join the rest of the visitors and make some s’mores by the fireside before we headed off to the distillery.

“Texans drink a lot of whiskey and we need our own bourbon,” our guide, Stephanie, told us.

Distillery visitors hear the crackle of the yeast.

Dan Garrison has been only happy to oblige. His distillery, the oldest in the state, has been making Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey according to the rules for seven years now. And in case you think I’m joking, there really are hard-and-fast rules, which were established by trade agreements under the Federal Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits. They require that any drink labeled bourbon must be made of at least 51 percent corn. It must also be aged in new oak barrels that have been charred on the inside. It cannot be distilled at more than 160 proof, and it cannot enter its new oak barrels at more than 125 proof. When it comes time for bottling, it must be at least 80 proof. For a distiller, such as Garrison, to use the term “straight bourbon,” the liquid must spend at least two years in those barrels.

Garrison Brothers’ recipe calls for organic corn and red winter wheat, which is grown on the property when the weather allows. The recent drought did not allow it. Barley, which needs cooler temperatures to grow, comes from the Pacific Northwest. A mash of these three ingredients is created with the starches turning to sugar, while yeast feeds on them. At the distillery, you can hear and see the pop and crackle of the yeast in action before the mash is transported to the copper stills where it is turned into white dog, or white whiskey, as some call it.

Dan Garrison raises a toast in his tasting room.

Then it is aged in oak barrels until it is ready to bottle. During the two years, the white dog acquires its caramel color from the charred oak. It also picks up a host of flavors, ranging from fruit and nuts to vanilla and warm spices. At that point, Garrison treats his bourbon like wine. He tastes each barrel and creates a blend that reflects the best and most complex bourbon he can make. It is then bottled, usually by a crew of eager volunteers, and hand numbered by Garrison himself.

The final product costs about $80 a bottle, which is not inexpensive. But as Stephanie said of her boss, “He wanted to make the best bourbon, not the cheapest.”

Garrison Brothers has yet to make a profit, but a December story on craft distilleries in Southwest Airlines’ Spirit magazine featured a picture of Dan Garrison on the cover and brought the little business into a new spotlight. He sold a great deal of bourbon across the state based on that story, and better still, he got a good deal of repeat business.

The whiskey scene may be relatively new to Texas, but it is unquestionably welcome.  In addition to the attention that has come to Garrison Brothers, Balcones Single Malt Whisky (that’s right; they use the British spelling) from Waco recently won Best in Glass at a London blind tasting of whiskeys from all over the world, including some finely aged scotches.

Goodies from the Pink Pig.

After a fortifying trip to the tasting room, we headed to Rebecca Rather’s new place, The Pink Pig, for a quick moment, just to pick up some of the Pastry Queen’s irresistible baked goods. I have a weakness for coconut, so a sweet macaroon dipped in dark chocolate was an obvious choice. So was a triple chocolate cookie that was like a crackle cookie on the outside and a decadent brownie at the center.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the signature pink pig cookie. It looked liked one of those bland, glazed sugar cookies you find at the supermarket that always catch your eye but somehow never taste good. You know the ones, they often taste like there’s too much baking powder in the mix and not enough of anything else. That was most definitely not Rather’s cookie. Hers was a thin, buttery piece of shortbread, firm when you took a bite and yet it seemed to melt on the tongue. I’d wanted to eat it sparingly, a little at a time, so that it would last the rest of the trip. It didn’t make it to our next stop.

Fredericksburg’s Main Street is a food lover’s paradise, with its restaurants, wine tasting rooms, brewery, ice cream parlor and stands chock full of local preserves, jams and pickles. Der Küchen Laden is a kitchen supply store on steroids, with every chichi gadget and appliance you could ever dream of finding. But my favorite place is Dooley’s 5, 10 & 25, a five-and-dime store that has everything a guest to Fredericksburg could want, from cowboy hats to souvenir tchotchkes. Sure, some could call it junk, but to do so is to miss the nostalgic glow that warms me whenever I see a Swedish angel chimes on display or bins of household goods that include sewing kits, refrigerator magnets or gardening tools.

Lincoln St. Wine Market

Pass by the fascinating array of kids’ games, many of them old-fashioned delights, and you’ll find plenty of kitchen supplies that range from ceramic mixing bowls to grapefruit spoons. Cast-iron pans and speckled enameled pots, corn cob holders, squeezable ketchup and mustard bottles, scoops in all sizes — great and small, they’re all fun to sift through in the hopes of finding some item you never knew you needed.

After leaving the treasure chest of plastic Texana and household essentials, we headed for Lincoln St. Wine Market, which has been a destination on most every trip I’ve made to Fredericksburg, and it’s been interesting to see how the place has changed over the years. Instead of growing, the main tasting area seems to have gotten cozier over time as the accumulation of bottles and other wine-related decorations over the years have filled in nooks and crannies. Luck wasn’t necessarily on our side that day, however. Pam ordered a half bottle of sparkling wine, and the first was corked. The second had not spoiled, but it also had not aged well and the fruit had diminished to the point that we didn’t regret leaving some in the bottle before heading on to dinner.

French onion soup at The Nest

We had reservations at the Nest, and we were glad we’d made them. About a half-hour into our dinner, the place was so overrun with diners that the hostess had to turn people away. A bowl of French onion soup, made from a hearty stock, took the cool edge off the day and was a welcome starter. But what I loved most about the meat was the broad array of side dishes that came with my steak. There were five vegetables; each was well-prepared and each was served in a generous amount. This was not some uncooked string bean cut into three pieces and artfully arranged on the plate. Each was thought out and well prepared, providing a richness of flavors that reminded me of family dinners when I was growing up and our garden was overflowing with great tastes. Yes, the steak was fine, but it’s the beets that I remembered on the drive back home.

Garrison Brothers Distillery
1827 Hye-Albert Road, Hye
(830) 392-0246
Tours are $10 unless you ride up on a horse.
www.garrisonbros.com

A finely feathered sight at Garrison Brothers Distillery.

The Pink Pig
6266 E. U.S. 290, Fredericksburg
(830) 990-8800
www.pinkpigtexas.com

Dooley’s 5, 10 & 25
131 E. Main St., Fredericksburg
(830) 997-3458

Lincoln St. Wine Market
111 S. Lincoln St., Fredericksburg
(830) 997-8463
www.lincolnst.com

The Nest
607 S. Washington St. Fredericksburg
(830) 990-8383
www.thenestrestaurant.com

Patrons fill Angel’s in Progreso for lunch.

Can someone tell me why it is that you take a small trek across the Rio Grande into Mexico and the food becomes better than anything you find in Texas?

Simple, sensational beef fajita tacos.

I’ve had that experience on numerous occasions in Matamoros, but that city, sadly, isn’t safe to visit anymore. Neither, from what I’m told, is Neuvo Laredo.

But friends and I decided to visit Progreso on our way to South Padre Island recently, and that meant a trip to Angel’s for lunch. Perched on the fourth floor above a department store and dentist offices, the restaurant features a spacious dining room with a view of the city’s innumerable street vendors and booths below. Plus, it offers a menu of old favorites.

Our fun began with a series of tangy margaritas and some excellent guacamole with fried flour tortilla chips. A touch of pickled jalapeño and escabeche juice added a kick to the mashed ripe avocado, while the right balance of lime juice and tequila, without too much sugar, made the margarita refreshingly welcome.

The tampiquena plate at Angel’s.

The main course brought plenty of grazing from my friends’ plates, as I sampled their fried fish tacos with a touch of crema and cabbage and beef fajita tacos that gained from a smear of guac inside the flour tortilla. Both were simply plated and presented fairly unadorned, yet both were well worth revisiting.

On my friends’ advice, I opted for the tampiqueña, a slender piece of beef that was perfectly tender not to mention juicy and simply but effectively seasoned. The shoe leather you encounter all to often at Tex-Mex joints should be embarrassed to be called by the same name. Perfect onion rings, a velvety enchilada in chile gravy, and more guacamole rounded out the generous platter.

Excellent service, live music and another round of margaritas made our trip to Angel’s a great stopover on our way to the island.

Scouting out souvenirs

One of the reasons I have loved going to Mexico has been the chance to shop for dishware. Over the years, I’ve picked up everything from a large burnt-orange salad bowl painted with sunflowers to a pewter tray in the shape of a pea pod with cups nestled inside to hold salsas, nuts, you name it. The prices have been far less than I’ve found back home, so scouring the shelves for more has become a favorite pastime whenever I get to head across the border.

Unfortunately, the drug war seems to have forced a number of merchants in Progreso to keep their ceramic inventory under control. At Angel’s, the selection of dishes had dwindled to half an aisle, far less than on our last visit, when I found one of those circular party trays with the removable bowls that fit inside like a jigsaw puzzle for about $15. When the prices are that good, I don’t haggle.

At El Super Disco, a few doors from Angel’s, the ceramic selection had also been reduced and, with the exception of a few patterns, the quality of the paintwork quality didn’t appear to be as good. But I managed to find a few bowls that matched a serving tray I’d bought on an earlier visit. There were even fewer pewter options, though I did manage to find a single bowl that I will get great use out of.

Crying in my tequila

Changes have occurred in Progreso, across the Rio Grande.

Crossing the border is a great way many save on prescription refills. Thankfully, I don’t have any to refill. But I have always loved to pick up a bottle of alcohol, especially a liqueur such as Chambord or Frangelico at a reasonable price.

I don’t see myself doing that any more. A few events have conspired to make it a less attractive proposition.

Admittedly, it is a plus that you can now bring back four liters with you these days. But why would you want to? The selection in Progreso was once a lot broader than it is now. The liqueurs have largely evaporated, replaced by the usual suspects: tequilas, rums, scotches and a few gins.

And while the selection has shrunk, the prices have gone up so much that they are often about the same that you’d pay back home, at least on some of the more attractive bottles. For example, the price on a 750-milliliter bottle of Don Julio 1942, a particular favorite of mine, was priced at $97.50 at one store. It’s $85 on Amazon.com. I was told that I could have haggled over the price for maybe a 10 percent reduction, but that constitutes no savings, especially when you take Texas’ share of the duty into account that you have to pay when you cross the border again.

I did pick up one 1-liter bottle of scotch that was at a decent price (it will be a present, so I won’t betray any further details). At the border, the tax on that size bottle had gone up to $3.75. Meanwhile, the taxes on a 3-liter bottle are only $5.25. So, the way to shop is to find that special 3-liter bottle. We found only two 3-liter bottles, both were tequila and one was that sickly sweet cream tequila. Who would want to lug that back across the border?

I hope I don’t sound too negative about the changes we encountered. Lunch was practically perfect, so Angel’s will call me back for more. I just wish the changes in Progreso had not been so drastic. Still, it’s nice to have one border town that’s still safe to visit. I look forward to the day when more are open again.

The holiday season always means an extra-busy schedule, filled with gatherings at work and with friends as well as shopping, stuffing stockings and enjoying the lights both on the River Walk and on many people’s homes. It also brings on a lot of good food, both homemade and in restaurants around town.

The following are some random food notes that have nothing to do with each other than they were recent treats that offered a few culinary lessons along the way.

At Portugal’s table

I’ve visited Portugal twice and hope to go back many more times. The cuisine from the country’s various regions, largely unknown in America, is a lesson in making the most of every morsel available.

The people in the county are not rich in money, but their food is certainly filled with the riches of the ocean as well as their own farms. Cheeses bursting with flavor, unctuous and tangy olive oils, and hundreds of desserts made with a mixture of egg yolks and sugar are just a few of the culinary treasures to be found.

So, when Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard in Elmendorf announced that Portugal would be the latest dinner in their ongoing passport series, I was more than willing to taste whatever chef Scott Grimmitt came up with for his menu.

Sure enough, the evening began with two of those stunning cheese, which vary from town to town. One was a creamy Azores Flores and an aged raw cow’s milk cheese call Sao Jorge, both of which paired well with a sparkling wine from the ever-reliable Casal Garcia.

Then the courses flew by, with a kale and sausage filled Caldo Verde, thickened with potato, a happy marriage of pork and clams, and, perhaps my personal favorite of the evening, grilled sardines with a piri-piri sauce and fresh lemon. Grimmitt shared his recipe for the killer sauce, which he described as a chimichurri with sriracha adding a welcome kick. (So, that’s parsley, garlic, olive oil, a touch of vinegar and salt, plus the fiery kick of sriracha used to taste.) Try it on fish, fajitas of any type, roast chicken or just a slice of bread.

A hearty steak with potatoes preceded a custard tart — those egg yolks and sugar, again — topped with port-soaked strawberries. While the tart was wonderful, the simple magic of the port-soaked strawberries could make an easy dessert throughout the holiday season. A dollop of whipped cream and you’re all set.

The program for the dinner included next year’s dinners at Sandy Oaks, so you may want to start preparing now:

• Feb. 1 — Croatia
• April 12  — Sicily
• June 7  —  Andalucia
• Aug. 9  — Morocco
• Oct. 11  — Chile
• Dec. 13  —  Mexico

For more information on Sandy Oaks, click here.

Chocolate many times over

A chocolate temple complete with torches and a pool of passion fruit sauce.

Susana Trilling, one of Mexico’s top chefs, made a welcome appearance at Las Canarias for a chocolate-themed dinner. It’s the first in a series the restaurant in the Omni La Mansion del Rio, 112 College St., has planned. Chiles and corn will be the themes of the next two meals, planned for early 2013.

The five-course tasting menu, accompanied by a savory starter and truffles laced with hot chiles, made you rethink all you thought you knew about the flavors of chocolate, cocoa and cacao.

Duck breast in an achiote-chocolate sauce was silky with a slight tingle of heat and the supple, dark mystery of the cocoa. Beef sautéed with wild porcinis in a chocolate and Cabernet Sauvignon sauce offered a complex host of flavors, and a roasted pumpkin soup was served with chocolate croutons. Chocolate came in all three dishes, but that common ingredient didn’t taste the same from dish to dish.

Perhaps my favorite expression was a mixed green salad with matchsticks of watermelon radish, Honeycrisp apple and almonds tossed with a chocolate-orange-vanilla dressing. Las Canarias chef John Brand said that the original recipe had also called for kohlrabi, but his suppliers and local farmers could find any that day.

Dessert was a dark chocolate temple dedicated to the rain god Cosijo and arrived with a passion fruit sauce that disappeared as quickly as the chocolate.

For many chefs and restaurateurs, these special dinners can just seem like extra work. But not at Las Canarias during this meal. Everyone we spoke with from the staff was in awe of Trilling and the knowledge she had to impart. Some even came in on their day off to help make the banana leaf-wrapped mole tamales filled with olives and plantain.

Roast that radish

Roasted radishes a la John Brand

This coming Sunday is Noche de los Rabanos, the Oaxacan festival of radishes. Every year on Dec. 23, the citizens of that Mexican village get together with radish carvings of the most intricate nature. It’s a chance to celebrate together before enjoying the more private family gatherings of Christmas. (A bit of trivia: Trilling was born on Dec. 23, thereby earning the nickname “Rabanita,” or “Little Radish.”)

I love to use radishes in a lot of dishes, both raw and cooked, from latkes to raw ravioli, in which this slices of lime-soaked daikon radish have goat cheese spread between them.

Brand offered up another variation of what to do with these root vegetables: Take red globe radishes, rub olive oil over them and season with rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper. Roast at 350 degrees for about a half hour or until the radishes are done. Then, serve them as a snack.

Brand said if he ever had a bar, he’d make this the snack food.

After giving them a try, I can see why. They’re aren’t just good by themselves, they’re great with a pilsner on the side.

Let no leftovers go to waste

A pot of ham soup.

In a column of leftover food items, it’s good to end with a few thoughts on real leftovers.

I found myself facing some really good leftover ham, minus the ham bone, so it just made sense to make a fresh pot of soup using the vegetables I had in the bottom of the fridge. A turnip, some broccoli stems, carrots, onion and cabbage, with a little garlic, became the base, sautéed for about 10 minutes in olive oil, while some vegetable broth came to a boil on the back burner. Then, about as much ham as vegetables went into the pot for a good warming before the stock was added. A beer was added at the end to provide an added richness of flavor.

There was still plenty of ham left. So more cabbage and onion got chopped up. This time, dill pickles were added with the ham to create a massive amount of salad, mixed with sour cream and mayonnaise, some extra dill weed for good measure, plus salt and pepper.

Both will come in handy on those days when making lunch takes up too much time in the morning.

When I told this to a friend, she wondered why no ham casserole. That’s certainly a possibility, but most casseroles have too many potatoes, carb-heavy soups and starches for my diabetic diet, but I could easily see layering ham, potatoes and cheese in a 9-by-13-inch pan, adding milk or cream and seasonings, and baking until its a bubbling thing of beauty. Or maybe adding ham to a baked macaroni and cheese.

What do you like to do with leftover ham when you don’t have a ham bone?

With so many cookies to choose from, where do you begin?.

For Donna Armstrong, hosting a cookie exchange has become a Christmas tradition she looks forward to every December.

Donna Armstrong and her grandson, Harrison.

That’s why she’s been bringing friends together over bounteous plates of beautiful cookies since the early 1990s. This Sunday, friends from her church, her book club, her neighborhood and more gathered at her neighborhood clubhouse to share some light snacks, Christmas punch and conversation.

Elvis, the Beach Boys and Julie Andrews all contributed to the holiday soundtrack in the background while trays of cookies in all shapes, sizes, colors and flavors piled up on a large set of tables that were easy to walk around.

Gingerbread at Christmas.

As soon as all the guests — and their handmade baked goods — were on hand, the swapping began in earnest. Most people brought baskets that they filled with two or three of each variety, including gingerbread, painted sugar cookies, biscotti, fried dough, dark and white chocolate bark topped with goodies, and chocolate crackle cookies. Armstrong, who has baked for the Tootie Pie Company and Cafe, made her adorable Spicy Mice, a oblong cookie decorated with a pair of dried currants for eyes, slivered almonds for ears and a chow mein noodle for a tail.

Diane King brought a winning family tradition that her mother created, a brown sugar cookie with crushed candy canes and pecans. It will be fun trying to recreate that cookie. I brought a tradition of my own, one of my mother’s many cookie creations, a coconut-rolled ball of air called Melting Moments.

Not a creature was stirring, except for the Spicy Mice.

Tracey Ashenfelter, who professes to not being able to cook, brought some sugar cookies that a friend of her mailed in, so that the rest at the exchange would have something edible. Ashenfelter, a local artist, did paint the cookies with frosting and she brought some refrigerator magnates with both holiday images and some of her colorful scenes of San Antonio.

When Armstrong started the cookie exchange, she had people submit recipes for each offering and gathered them in a small cookbook. But that proved too much work. Besides, the hostess preferred spending her time with her guests, including her 8-month-old grandson, Harrison, who is a little young for cookies but not for taking part in the tradition.

Latkes with horseradish sour cream.

Hanukkah begins this evening and runs through the evening of Dec. 16. That means one thing for food lovers: latkes.

Recent tradition, well, from the last few hundred years or so, would have us believe that latkes should be made with potatoes. Yet about two millennia separated the first Hanukkah and the introduction of the potato to the Old World, so Judah and the rest of the Maccabee tribe would not have had a spud to fry while their one day’s oil supply burned for a miraculous eight days.

So, you can use whatever root vegetables you like in your latkes, such as turnips or parsnips, rutabagas or carrots. And toss in a few others for good measure. Even shredded apple or pear would be good added to rutabga, parsnip or, yes, potato with a little onion.

I recently set up a latke bar with a number of shredded vegetables, including daikon radish, turnips, zucchini, golden beets and red onion, so I could mix the flavors I wanted.

But not everything went as planned.

I first started with a vegan approach, using a combination of water and flaxseed mill as a binder. Only trouble was, it didn’t bind. The moment the latkes hit the oil, they fell apart.

So, I reverted to egg to bind the cakes, but my frying skills — used primarily around Hanukkah each year — are a bit rusty and the subsequent cakes turned out much darker than I had hoped. I burned the first batch, but the remaining batches were darker than I would have liked.

But the look of a food isn’t as important as the flavor, and these tasted just fine. The beets, the turnips  and the onions all provided a natural sweetness, while the radish offered a pungent flavor that went well with the horseradish cream sauce that went with the cakes.

So, if you’re celebrating the Festival of Lights for the next eight nights, give your traditional latke a little variation and enjoy.

Latkes

Oil for frying
5-6 cups shredded vegetables, such as daikon, turnip, potato, zucchini or beet
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3-4 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons flour
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

You can use zucchini, golden beets, turnips or more in latkes, if you choose.

In a skillet, heat a generous layer of oil over high heat until it is good and hot.

Mix shredded vegetables, onion, egg, flour, salt and pepper together. Drop heaping spoonfuls into the hot oil. Reduce heat to medium high. Press down the vegetables slightly. Turn the cakes when the bottoms appear brown. When the cakes are done, remove them from the oil to a paper towel-lined plate. Add more oil if needed and continue to fry the remaining vegetable mix.

Serve with sour cream, with or without horseradish stirred in, or applesauce.

Makes about 15 latkes, though the number could vary depending on size.

From John Griffin

Tellez Tamales serves a hot tamal at the Pearl Brewery.

What’s better than one food-filled event? A day with three, of course.

A paella gift basket at GauchoGourmet.

Such was the case Saturday.

It began in the late morning with a trip to GauchoGourmet, 935 Isom Road, where Bonnie Walker and I were signing copies of “Food Lovers’ Guide to San Antonio” (Globe Pequot Press, $14.95) while managing to get in a little Christmas shopping at the same time.

The gourmet warehouse is a fun place to find everything from stocking stuffers to full-scale gifts, and the Ciorciari family will gladly package your items for you. They offer an assortment of gift baskets, too, which you can stock with everything from Spanish fig jam or a bottle of Cuisine Perel Spicy Pecan Vinegar. If you want to let them do the picking for you, you can get any number of themed baskets, such as the paella assortment, which comes with everything from rice to chorizo arranged in a pan to cook it in.

Dirk Troop

GauchoGourmet brings together food lovers from all backgrounds and offers them the chance to talk about their favorite topic. Philippe Wilhelm from the Westin La Cantera brought in the resort’s new executive chef, Dirk Troop. The chef, who is from Puerto Rico and who spoke at the Culinary Institute of America’s Latin Flavors, American Kitchens conferences a few years ago, mentioned that he wanted to meet the area’s farmers, so it was his good fortune that Heather Hunter and David Lent of the Quarry Farmers and Ranchers Market happened to be there as well and took the opportunity to talk.

Leslie Garcia of the Rockhill Cooking Academy dropped by, as did food writer Ron Bechtol and a number of people who mentioned how much they enjoy the pleasures of cooking at home. Out front was the Primo Passo Pizzeria truck, which was dishing out plenty of pies, many of which feature ingredients from the store.

What tamales are your favorite?

From there, it was on to the Pearl Brewery, where the third annual Tamales! Holiday Festival had taken over a large portion of the property. The lot in back was filled with tamales from the likes of Tellez on South General McMullen, Los Reyes from Castroville Road and Tejas Barbacoa of Bandera Road in Helotes.

Out by the Lab Building, there were more tamales from Tamahli on Wurzbach Road and Paloma Blanca on Broadway. For those who could only eat so many tamales, there were also dishes such as a fiery posole from Jesse T. Perez’s upcoming Arcade Midtown Kitchen, which should be open after the first of the year in the Pearl, and sopes from Citrus’ Jeff Balfour. He heaped the corn cake with shrimp and an achiote coleslaw. The aroma of the corn cakes frying in a paella pan at the back of booth provided its own intoxicating element.

At the tequila tasting.

Those in search of liquid intoxicants could be found in a lengthy line that curved out of the Stables, where a tequila tasting was being offered. El Milagro, 1800 and Tanteo Jalapeño were all part of the lineup.

Thousands of people packed the area, filling the walkways under strands of brightly colored papeles picados and giving the whole event the feeling of being an autumn version of A Night in Old San Antonio.

Coffee from around the world.

La Villita, the regular home of NIOSA, was busy hosting its own event, the San Antonio Coffee Festival, which you could smell long before you arrived on the scene. A number of coffee roasters were on hand to grind, brew and pour all manner of coffee to the energetic crowd. Seminars on everything from iced coffee to civet cat coffee were on the menu, but the tastings were what caught people’s fancy.

Discussions of certain brew’s acidity levels, aromas and aftertastes were reminiscent of the talk at wine tastings and were delivered with the same vigor. And even though temperatures were in the 80s during the afternoon, hot cups of joe made with beans from countries as diverse as Ethiopia, Kenya and Costa Rica were consumed by most everyone present.

It was a great way to finish off a day filled with fine flavors.

Fine brews fill the San Antonio Coffee Festival.