Strawberry ice cream with guajillo chile and lime

For some reason, I have it in my head that strawberries should arrive here in New York by early May. But these past few weeks, every time I’d go to the farmers market, I’d only see those same sad baskets of apples and pears that have been there since last fall.

“Where are the strawberries?” I would ask. “Be patient,” said the farmers. “They’ll arrive.” But it’s hard to be patient when Poteet, Texas had its annual strawberry festival in early April, and some friends back home were telling me that their strawberry plants were already fading. And yet, still no sign of strawberries here.

Last week, however, I walked to the market and the chalkboard that announces what’s on offer said, “Strawberries! Strawberries! Strawberries!” Clearly, everyone was as excited as I was. It being early in the season, there was only one farmer selling them and the line was endless. When I finally reached the front of the line, the farmer advised me to eat them that day as they probably wouldn’t keep very long. Of course, that was not a problem, and I went home and ate the whole pint in one sitting. The next day, I returned and bought more.



My first inclination was to make strawberry shortcake with my haul. This past weekend, however, it was so hot that turning on the oven to make biscuits was out of the question. So I made ice cream instead.
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Three-bean salad with dill dressing

Do you ever go through your pantry and ask yourself, “How the heck did this get here?” Fortunately, this doesn’t happen to me very often, as my kitchen is only five feet wide and pantry real estate is at a premium. But the other day when I was reaching for my cocoa powder, I found a can of kidney beans.

Now, this might not seem so strange since, after all, canned beans are a pantry staple. But the thing is, I don’t really like kidney beans. Give me a bowl of pinto beans, black beans, lima beans, garbanzo beans, or black-eyed peas—and I’ll be asking for seconds in no time. Kidney beans, however, I’ve tended to avoid.



I’m not sure why I’m not fond of them, though perhaps it’s because they’re named after an organ. Or maybe one time I ate some thinking they would have the earthy depth of ranch-style beans, seeing how they’re a dark red and all, and instead bit into something mushy and flavorless. Who knows? It’s a mystery. (As is how these kidney beans ended up in my pantry!)
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Spicy buttermilk onion rings

There was a lot of chatter last week about a certain California hamburger chain that opened in the Dallas area. Apparently, people were so excited they camped out all night so they could be the first in line to try these fast-food burgers, and news reports said that one woman even cried when she finally ate her burger.

Now that’s a head scratcher. Why the heck are people so excited about this burger? First of all, Texas is not only the place where the burger was born, but also many of its countless burger joints routinely top national best-of lists. But even more troublesome to me is that this California burger chain doesn’t even offer the quintessential Texas hamburger side dish—yes, I’m talking about onion rings.

Onion rings are said to have been invented by The Pig Stand—a Texan drive-in restaurant chain that opened in Dallas in 1921. (The Pig Stand is also credited with the invention of Texas toast.) That said, you can find plenty of citations of fried onions and French-fried onions dating back to the late 1890s, so perhaps the Pig Stand was the first to serve onion rings at a fast-food establishment.



Of course, some may argue would say that the origin of onion rings is as debatable as the origin of the hamburger. But since Texas at least claims provenance for both, it makes sense to me to have a stack of onion rings with my cheeseburger. Most Texas-based burger establishments would fulfill this desire, but not that place from California. Nope, if you want onion rings with that burger you’ll just have to make them at home.
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Lavender brownies

When I think of my mom, I often think of chocolate and lavender. So when I came across a few recipes for chocolate lavender brownies, naturally I had to make her a batch.

Mom loves all things chocolate, and her house always smells like fresh lavender. While she has quite the green thumb, I’m not sure that she’s ever grown it, though lavender is becoming quite a popular Texas plant—especially in the Hill Country. I also don’t know if my mom’s ever cooked with lavender. But for Christmas she gave me a tin filled with culinary lavender, and I wanted to put it to good use.



A few years ago, someone shared with me a dark chocolate bar that was flavored with lavender. The combination of bittersweet chocolate and floral lavender was unexpected yet welcome, like the appearance of the first blossoms on the trees in spring.
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