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“Get a Long Little Doggie:
A Guide to Texas Cooking”
Texas is not only a state it is a state of mind; a style unique to its own. From down home country folks to big city elites, you can tell Texas style when you see it. It is as obvious as a big old 10 gallon hat or as subtle as a man’s gait or draw. As people differ throughout the rest of the country, so do people throughout Texas. Texas is big. Beaumont is 742 miles from El Paso and 770 miles from Chicago. El Paso is closer to California than Dallas. The King Ranch is bigger than the state of Rhode Island. Why even the first word spoken on the moon was, “Houston”.
The world’s first rodeo was held in Pecos in 1883. We have the only hotel in North America built over water, the Flagship in Galveston. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston. Shoot, even the Heisman trophy was name after the first full-time coach at Rice University.
The Hamburger was invented in Athens Texas by a café owner named Fletcher “Old Dave” Davis in 1880. The town’s businessmen were so in love with the invention that they raised the money to send Davis to the 1904 World’s Fair where the hamburger would be introduced to the world. He served his sandwich with fried potatoes and a thick tomato sauce. This was reported in the New York Tribune. When Fletcher was asked if he had invented the potatoes, he explained that a friend of his in Paris, Texas had taught him the recipe. The reporter thought he meant Paris, France and called them french fried potatoes.
Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by treaty instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas Flag to fly at the same height as the U.S. Flag. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington DC; seven feet taller to be exact.
One county of Texas, Brazoria, has more species of birds than any other area in North America. And, Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America’s only remaining flock of whooping cranes. The State Mascot is the Armadillo which always have four babies. They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females; never a combination of both.
The weather in Texas is different than any other part of the country, we have some of the hottest driest deserts and yet we hold the U.S. record for rainfall, 43' in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July of 1979. With all that rain, Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state, all the others are man-made.
Most folks think the name “Texas” comes from the Spanish langue. It actually comes from the Hasini Indian word 'tejas' meaning friends. You know I guess that sums it all up pretty well. Nowhere in the entire world are you more likely to come across a friend than you are in Texas. No matter where you live, you can make a friend by sharing one of these Texas recipes. I hope you enjoy them.
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