The Tex-Mex Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos

With all the sunshine that's been flooding the Willamette Valley over the last few weeks, it's got me dreaming about Texas which has got me dreaming about Tex-Mex food and music.

The Texas Tornados has been on my personal jukebox for days now. I just can't get enough of those guys' music. Nice guys to boot. I've met Augie, Doug and caught Flaco Jimenez playing down at Waterloo Records down in Austin years back for a CD release party.

Back to Tex-Mex food: I found a great Tex-Mex cookbook at Borders Bookstore on Lancaster the other night. It came out in 2006 (where was I?) and it is plum full of great photos, history and more importantly, good Tex-Mex recipes.

Written by Rob Walsh, "The Tex-Mex Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos" is super and highly recommend it to all my native Texan friends and Texan wannabe's here in Salem.

Say, when is someone going to put in a Tex-Mex restaurant here in Salem?

Starbucks Shutting Down 6 Texas Stores

Living in the land of corner coffee outlets here in Salem, it's hard to imagine that Starbucks is shutting down stores. Six will shut down in Texas - Brownsville, Laredo, Dallas, Rosenburg and Waco and two eventually in Austin.

Now, when I was living in the Texas motherland, I drank coffee like there was no tomorrow, but sometimes it was just too danged hot outside to work up a hankering for a cup of java. Iced tea usually won out to hot coffee.

Now, living up here in the hinterlands, I drink coffee throughout the day. I am on a permanent caffeine buzz. Oregonians love their coffee like Germans love their beer - lot's of it and all the time.

I've never stopped to count the number of coffee outlets here in Salem, but that would be a nice trivia question. Anyone got the answer?

Thank you. Thank you very much.

I went to a restaurant in Salem the other night. A group of people (four or five) were right behind me. I opened the door and held it open so they could enter first (being the southern gentleman that I am). Guess what? Not a single thank you was uttered from any of their carpetbagging mouths.

This happens a lot around these parts. Is it just Oregon or do other places have the same aggravation?