summary: From Nanci Griffith to Butch Hancock, the stars will shine at this year’s Kerrville Folk Festival—the kickoff of a year-long twenty-fifth-anniversary celebration. Plus: Dead presidents in Austin, Spanish masterpieces in Dallas, a haunting opera in Houston, and tee time in Fort Worth. Edited by Quita McMath, Erin Gromen, and
YOU CAN GIVE ME A STANLEY MARSH 3 OVER A WHITTENBURG anytime [“Big Feud at Cadillac Ranch,” March 1996]. Reading and howling about this eccentric old coot’s escapades, I kept wondering, “How can I help this guy stave off those damn Whittenburgs?” I was waiting for a quote from George
How clueless is Congressman Steve Stockman? Plus: Life, death, and race in East Texas.
Hot CDsYes, it’s that Tiny Tim—albeit with a gruffer voice than you probably remember—singing with Denton polkaholics Brave Combo on Girl (Rounder). Together, the onetime tulip tiptoer and the 1995 Grammy nominees bip and bop through a set of standards (“Stardust”) and pop-rock faves (“Hey Jude”). The collaboration may not
For Texas baseball fans, April is the cruelest month. Find out if the Rangers go down swinging this year—and if the Astros will be safe at home. Plus: Wildflower power (Austin), head-turning tribal masks (Houston), Russian ballerinas on their toes (El Paso), and the twentieth century by design (Dallas). Edited
The best books and CDs from Texas.
24 large Gulf shrimp 3 fresh jalapeños, finely chopped 1⁄4 cup finely chopped pickled jalapeños 1⁄4 cup juice from pickled jalapeños 3 shallots, finely chopped 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh epazote 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice 2 tablespoons unrefined
1 whole chicken, 3 to 4 pounds 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon ancho or other pure chile powder 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 teaspoon cocoa powder 1 teaspoon coarse salt 1⁄2 teaspoon ground black pepper 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegarPreheat oven and roasting pan to 400
5 ancho chiles 1 cup heavy cream 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1/2 yellow onion, diced 6 ounces wild mushrooms (morels, shiitakes, oysters, portobellos), sliced 1/2 avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into quarter-inch cubes 3 ounces queso fresco or feta cheese, crumbled
The best books and CDs from Texas.
4 ancho chiles 1 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic 2 1/2 cups demi-glace 1/4 cup Jim Beam bourbon salt and pepper to tasteCore and seed chiles. Cover in boiling water and simmer for approximately 10 minutes, or until soft. Purée in a blender with enough water to make a
The best books and CDs from Texas.
Coming Soon: Groacho MarxThe Cockroach Hall of Fame Museum, Plano. Michael Bohdan, who calls himself Cockroach Dundee, runs the museum at his pest-control business, featuring such exhibits as H. Ross Peroach and Liberoche, a dead roach covered with sequins sitting at a miniature piano topped by a candelabra.If It’s Closed,
The Prairie View A&M Panthers. With a 64—0 loss to Grambling, Prairie View set an all-time collegiate football record by losing its fifty-first straight game, a streak that is now at 57 and counting. Jim Hightower. The former state agriculture commissioner and critic of corporations was dumped by ABC
At First the Count Was Ten U.S. Customs Service agents in Eagle Pass searched the driver and the passenger of a pickup and found eight live snakes wrapped in socks and pantyhose inside the two men’s underwear. Pass the Boysenberry Syrup or Start Saying Your Prayers Charles Bryant of Missouri
Jeffrey Dahmer Would Have Loved It The Houston Chronicle food section offered a stew recipe that called for “1 1⁄2 pounds skinless, boneless children breasts or thighs.” At Least He Left the Punch and Cookies A robber hit a neighborhood branch of the Security State Bank of Abilene the same day that the
TEXAS ROAD SIDE BEEF JERKY (“You Kill It—We Grill It”), available from Richter Enterprises in Hondo for $4.99. THE LION KING AND OTHER PAPIER-MACHE ART made from toilet paper by inmates of the El Paso County jail, priced individually. AGGIE CASKETS, in maroon fiberglass, available at Southwood Funeral Home in
LYNDON B. JOHNSON AND HIS FAMILY PAPER DOLLS, a cutout book featuring Lyndon and his family in their undies, published by Dover Books as part of its presidential paper doll series, $4.95. TRAIL OF FLAME: THE RED-HOT GUIDE TO SPICY RESTAURANTS ACROSS AMERICA, by Jennifer Trainer Thompson,
A year of Anna’s antics, biker Barbara, capsized chiles, Davidians defined, expensive electricity, futile freebies, Gramm gossip, helpful hurricanes, insect ingestion, jousting jurors, king-size kindergartens, lottery litigation, Microsoft misprints, naughty nonagenarians, ostracized Oilers, punching princes, questionable quenching, romantic rhinos, sanctified shooters, topless trading, unfriendly unionists, vetoed vagrants, weird wine, X-posed
6 baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced 1/4 cup minced garlic 1/4 cup minced shallots 1 1/2 sticks butter 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese salt and pepper to tastePreheat oven to 350 degrees. In a heavy saucepan, sauté garlic and shallots in butter over low
In the past twelve months they worked hard, overcame obstacles, bucked conventional wisdom, touched our lives, and—above all—demonstrated the conviction, character, and individuality that defines our state today. Presenting our second annual list of the year’s most interesting and influential Texans.
The late folk artist Willard Watson was a funky fixture of Dallas’ art scene. Better known as the Texas Kid, he was famous or his courly manners, cockammy yard art in his Love Field-area home, and eye-popping, Longhourn-crowned luxury cars. Watson often collaborated with other artists; in 1976, for example,
1 1/4 cups pinto beans, soaked overnight and drained 1 bay leaf 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons corn or vegetable oil 2 yellow onions, cut in 1/4-inch pieces 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 2 tablespoons red chile powder, or more, to taste 1 teaspoon ground cumin
6 cups water 3 family-size (1 ounce) tea bags 2 cups fresh mint, loosely packed 1 small can (6 ounces) frozen lemonade concentrate 1 bottle (32 ounces) R.W. Knudsen Peach Nectar (it has the most flavor) 1/2 to 1 cup simple syrup 1 liter ginger ale 1 liter club sodaBring
We asked twenty famous Texans: Will you carry a gun?
In no other state were the turbulent thirties documented as exhaustively as in Texas, where Farm Secirity Administration photographers such as Dorothea Lange and Russell Lee took more than five thousand pictures of Depression and pre-war life . When the agency became the Office of War Information, some of its
A year of amorous angels, bra buzzers, camouflaged Claytie, denied Davidians, escaped evangelists, faulty flags, gainful gangs, hefty hypnosis, inmate inedibles, jumbo jock-straps, kaput killdeers, lunching Lassie, mercurial mushrooms, nabbed ninjas, overhyped O.J., pumpkin purloiners, questionable quizzes, rap ruffians, sexy sprinters, tack taxis, unappreciated universities, videotaped villains, wayward Willie, X-sposing
Because they are talented at what they do. Because they made a difference this year. Because they reflect the state of our state. Here are twenty Texans you need to know.
1/2 cup champagne vinegar 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 1/2 cups pure olive oil 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots Salt and pepper to tasteMix vinegar and mustard in a stainless steel bowl. Add olive oil in a steady stream, beating with wire whisk until
1 15- or 16-ounce can garbanzos (chick peas) 2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste) 1 tablespoon pure olive oil 1 teaspoon fresh pressed garlic or prepared garlic paste 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice Salt and pepper to tasteDrain garbanzos, reserving liquid. Blend first 5 ingredients in food processor or blender, adding
1/2 cup fresh soft goat cheese 24 edible flowers (preferably trumpet-shaped)Whip goat cheese in blender until smooth; pipe or spoon into flowers.To serve, arrange slices of stuffed lamb on plate atop tomatillo sauce. Decorate lamb with remaining pepper strips and garnish plate with flowers. Serves 6.
1 pound fresh tomatillos, quartered 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh garlic 3 tablespoons clarified butter 1 cup sherry 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup chopped destemmed fresh mint 1 teaspoon ground black pepperSauté tomatillos, jalapeño, and garlic in clarified butter until
A year of Arlington appellations, bedouined Bush, candied coiffures, detestable dinosaurs, effervescent executioners, fancy fertilizer, greedy Gorbachev, holy Halloweens, ignorant ichthyofauna, Japanese jokes, klipped Klingons, lottery lovebirds, medical margaritas, nude nuptials, overwhelmed ostriches, pugilistic pitchers, quashed quarterback, royal redialings, satanic Santas, titillating typos, UFO urgings, vindictive Vermonters, wanted: wives, X-citable
It was a year of absent Alamos, buried Barbies, castrated calves, derriere drawings, errant escalators, filching frats, grid-iron graduates, hightailing hoopsters, income-tax immigrants, jailed joggers, Keating kudos, lascivious linksters, mercenary morticians, nonoffensive nachos, overdrawn officials, Perot pumpkins, querulous quackers, relaxed Rangers, safe-sex students, testosterone teeth, undersea upraisings, visionary vacuumers, wounded
Recipe from Dean Fearing of Dallas’ Mansion on Turtle Creek.
This fall, photographer Jim Arndt and Western props supplier Tyler Beard visited the annual event in Burnet to chew the fat with many of the craftsmen featured in The Cowboy Boot Book (Peregrine Smith Books), their pictorial guide to fancy footgear. Arndt and Beard have dressed Western
Reader letters published in our November 1992 issue.
ON A HILLTOP NEAR THE INTERSECTION of U.S. highways 67 and 90, just east of Alpine, a plywood stagecoach and four horses seem to be hightailing it into town. “A local artist-character built the stagecoach,” says Rick Sohl, who owns the hilltop. “He used it in parades but was looking
My son ended his life after three years of madness and unbearable depression. Who am I to say he did the wrong thing?
Reader letters published in our October 1992 issue.
When James H. Evans moved to Marathon in 1988, he was struck by its abundant wildlife. “Anything unattended will be overrun with animals,” says the photographer. Evans takes up that theme in his “Lucille” series, focusing on a house vacated by the death of an elderly friend of that name.
Reader letters published in our September 1992 issue.
After a visit abroad in 1987, Sean Earley transformed his art. He returned steeped in Italy’s ubiquitous religious imagery, eager to paint the icons of his home state’s country and western myths (see “Earley Texas,” TM, December 1990). In this memorial scene, the Rodeo Queen presides over ascending contestants. Set
Reader letters published in our August 1992 issue.
HIS HEAD IS A TOMATO CHUNK. HIS tortilla shell is surprisingly furry. His feet look like jalapeño peppers. And when kids tackle him during the sixth-inning footrace at the San Antonio Missions’ home games at V. J. Keefe Field, they sometimes send his shredded lettuce and grated cheese flying. What’s
Meet the people who keep Texas' trains on track.
When Birney Imes began working on his juke joint series in 1983, the black honky- tonks that nourished the Mississippi Delta’s rich blues tradition were being replaced by discos. “What attracted me,” Imes says, “was the creativity that went into that special atmosphere. The older places have a timeless quality.”
Starting in 1923, Beaumont businessman John Gavrelos carved out a realm of his own at his J&J Steak House on the Eastex Freeway. Gavrelos died in 1979, but his Eye of the World, a tiny museum appended to the side of the restaurant, still lures visitors with its enigmatic jumble
Elvis fans will have their very own sightings in a new book, In Search of Elvis, just published by the Summit Group in Fort Worth ($12.95). The cartoon book is a knockoff of the prodigiously successful Where’s Waldo? children’s series, but Summit’s publicity coordinator Bryan Drake suspects that more parents
