Get a taste of Texas culinary history with this quirky, diverse community cookbook from Austin’s nineteenth-century residents, plus photos and informative essays. Tacos and barbecue command appetites today, but early Austinites indulged in peppered mangoes, roast partridge, and cucumber catsup. Those are just a few of the fascinating historic recipes in this new edition of the first cookbook published in the city. Written by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1891, Our Home Cookbook aimed to “cause frowns to dispel and dimple into ripples of laughter” with myriad “receipts” from the early Austin community. From dandy pudding to home remedies “worth knowing,” these are hearty helpings featuring local game and diverse heritage, including German, Czech and Mexican. With informative essays and a cookbook bibliography, city archivist Mike Miller and the Austin History Center present this curious collection that's sure to raise eyebrows, if not cravings.

This is the first full biography of George Washington Littlefield, the Texas and New Mexico rancher, Austin banker and businessman, University of Texas regent, and philanthropist. In just two decades, Littlefield’s business acumen vaulted him from debt to inclusion in 1892 on the first list of American millionaires. A Man Absolutely Sure of Himself is a grand retelling of the life of a highly successful entrepreneur and Austin civic leader whose work affected spheres from ranching and banking to civic development and academia. Littlefield’s cattle operations during the open range and early ranching periods spanned a domain in New Mexico and Texas larger than the states of Delaware and Connecticut combined. In a unique contribution to ranching art, Littlefield commissioned murals and bronze doors depicting scenes from his ranches to decorate Austin’s American National Bank, which he led for its first twenty-eight years. Gracy provides new information about Littlefield’s term as University of Texas regent and the necessity of choosing between friendship and duty during the university’s confrontation with Gov. James E. Ferguson. Proud of his Civil War service in Terry’s Texas Rangers, Littlefield funded one of the nation’s first centers for Southern history. He also underwrote the school’s purchase of its first rare book library and its training programs preparing troops for World War I’s new combat roles. Littlefield played a central role in advancing Austin from a cattleman’s town into the business center it wanted to become. His Littlefield Building, the tallest office building between New Orleans and San Francisco when it was built, served for a generation as the prime location of the town’s business community. Author David B. Gracy II, a relative of Littlefield, grounds his vivid prose in a lifetime of research into archival and family sources. His comprehensive biography illuminates an exceptional figure, whose life singularly illustrates the evolution of Texas from Southern to Western to American.

As food communities around the world reinvented themselves through social media, some of the savviest online taste buds of one noted food capital banded together in 2010 to form the Austin Food Blogger Alliance. Through their blogs--and now their first-ever cookbook--these culinary enthusiasts share images of favorite dishes, stories of life in Texas and, of course, recipes. From Persian stew to Czech kolaches, Greek phyllo wraps and good old Texas sheet cake, each dish illustrates the diversity of the city and tempts even the most discerning of palates.

The definitive book on Texas cooking-which has been influenced by cuisines around the world, including Eastern Europe and Mexico-by distinguished food writers Cheryl and Bill Jamison, who traveled for two years around the state talking with home cooks, chefs, barbecue experts, fishermen, and farmers. Chapters include "Real Pit-Smoked Bar-B-Q," "Tamed Game," "Farm-Fresh Vegetables," "Eye-Popping, Heart-Thumping Breakfasts," "Football Food," and "Y'All-Come-Back Desserts."

The world's most comprehensive, well documented, and well illustrated book on this subject. With extensive subject and geographic index. 231 photographs and illustrations - mostly color. Free of charge in digital PDF format.

The Tex-Mex Grill and Backyard Barbacoa Cookbook is a grand tour of famous Tex-Mex restaurants, taco trucks, cook-offs and tailgating get-togethers, with recipes to bring this popular American regional cuisine to your home grill. Sizzling fajitas are probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Tex-Mex's contribution to the backyard barbecue. But mesquite-kissed T-bones with grilled corn on the cob slathered in ancho chile butter is Tex-Mex too—and so are grilled jumbo Gulf shrimp with pineapple kebabs and red snapper fish tacos. In The Tex-Mex Grill and Backyard Barbacoa Cookbook renowned Texas food writer and James Beard Award winner Robb Walsh showcases the full spectrum of outdoor cooking in Texas and Northern Mexico in his unique style, with photos and 85 easy-to-follow recipes. The smoky and spicy flavors of the Tex-Mex grill evolved from the culture of the Latino cattlemen. Walsh traces the history of grilling in the border region and provides a handbook of techniques, step by step photos, and interviews with legendary Tex-Mex chefs. Here are all their recipes and more for grilled meats and seafood adapted for the backyard barbecue, along with the frijoles and side dishes, picante salsas, and festive tequila cocktails that fill out the fiesta.

The world's most comprehensive, well documented, and well illustrated book on this subject. With Extensive subject and geographical index. 76 photographs and illustrations - mostly color. Free of charge in digital PDF format.

Join Texas food writer Robb Walsh on a grand tour complete with larger-than-life characters, colorful yarns, rare archival photographs, and a savory assortment of more than 100 recipes for crispy, crunchy Tex-Mex foods. From the Mexican pioneers of the sixteenth century, who first brought horses and cattle to Texas, to the Spanish mission era when cumin and garlic were introduced, to the 1890s when the Chile Queens of San Antonio sold their peppery stews to gringos like O. Henry and Ambrose Bierce, and through the chili gravy, combination plates, crispy tacos, and frozen margaritas of the twentieth century, all the way to the nuevo fried oyster nachos and vegetarian chorizo of today, here is the history of Tex-Mex in more than 100 recipes and 150 photos. Rolled, folded, and stacked enchiladas, old-fashioned puffy tacos, sizzling fajitas, truck-stop chili, frozen margaritas, Frito™ Pie, and much, much more, are all here in easy-to-follow recipes for home cooks. The Tex-Mex Cookbook will delight chile heads, food history buffs, Mexican food fans, and anybody who has ever woken up in the middle of the night craving cheese enchiladas.

Acclaimed chefs find innovative uses for this classic Asian staple—with fifty recipes ranging from meat and pasta dishes to cocktails and desserts. Long used as a key umami flavor in Asian cooking, fish sauce is becoming a ubiquitous ingredient with prominent chefs finding new and unexpected ways to add it to their dishes. In The Fish Sauce Cookbook, readers will discover the origins of fish sauce, compare different brands and varieties, and learn about proper care and storage of this magical briny sauce. Starting with the formula for making homemade fish sauce, author Veronica Meewes dives into a wide variety of fare, from slow-roasted meats and classic Italian pasta dishes to craft cocktails, salad dressings, and even desserts. Renowned chefs and food personalities from around the globe share original recipes, such as Shrimp Toast with Nuom Choc from Kevin Luzande Acabar; Spiced Lacquered Duck Breasts from Andrew Zimmerman; Crispy Farmer’s Market Vegetables with Caramelized Fish Sauce from Chris Shepherd; Caramel Miso Glaze from Monica Pope; and Hamachi Tostadas with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette from Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo.

The world's most comprehensive, well documented, and well illustrated book on this subject. With extensive subject and geographical index. 253 photographs and illustrations - mostly color, Free of charge.