Blogs

Why was the nation of Venezuela named after Venice, Italy, and what does any of this have to do with a new pastry shop in Braes Heights?

The back of the book blurb says that by “taking barbecue grilling to new heights” TV host Ted Reader has been dubbed “A King of the BBQ by GQ magazine.” Kind of weird to hear someone from Canada called that, especially if you’re reading him from Texas, but OK.

I cook a lot but am not what you’d call a gourmet chef. On the other hand, you shouldn’t have to be a master chef to figure out what’s going on in most cookbooks – unless they have the phrase “Advanced Chefs Only!” all over them.

The book looked really good – wonderful full color photographs, and many of the recipes sounded great (not grandpa’s hot dog salad though).

KHOU has an item on the Houston dude who’s trying to visit every single Starbucks in the world. Back when Hair Balls talked to him in 2004, he’d visited 4,200 of the almost 5,000 outlets then in existence. Now, according to KHOU, he’s visited 7,200, but he’s still got about 6,000 to go. We might not be the most brilliant mathematologists, but at this rate it definitely doesn’t sound like he’s gonna make it. – Keith Plocek

Place one whole soup dumpling in your mouth and then chew until it squirts. But make sure it's cooled off first.

The dewberry vendors were out on 290 in Hempstead this weekend. The wild blackberries are only in season for a couple of weeks, so don’t miss out. I bought a gallon for $22 with the intention of making pies. Then I saw Birdie Gail’s blackberry pie sign.

Remember all the uproar when Dallas-based Pizza Patrón began accepting pesos a few months back?

The horror! The treachery! The 34.8 percent increase in sales!

dBusinessNews has the story:

Pizza Patrón, the premier Latino pizza brand, announced today its first quarter sales for this year have increased 34.8 percent versus the same period a year earlier. The impetus for the chain’s revenue growth is attributed to a number of strategic initiatives put in place during the previous 12 months. In 2006, the “Lista™” program was implemented systemwide, offering “ready now” large 15-inch pizzas, available in pepperoni and cheese for $4.99. In January 2007, the company launched its “Pizza por Pesos™” promotion which garnered international media attention and fueled intense debate on the issues surrounding illegal immigration in the U.S.

“Wines blow my mind when the purity of the grape is in the glass, and when the winemaker knows that it’s his or her job to accurately reflect the conditions of that vintage year -- not to interfere with what the earth gave us,” says Antonio Gianola, wine wizard at Catalan Food & Wine and former wine guy at Da Marco.

Here are his picks:

$15 or less
2006 Domaine Skouras Moscofilero
Peloponnese, Greece

“This wine just astounded me. As a grape, Moscofilero is the Blanc de Gris of Greece. Since it’s light and refreshing, it would be great as an aperitif, but it has tart acids. This is a perfect wine for when the day is hot, the sea’s a deep blue, and lunch just came from the water.”