Author Archives: juanzqui7

I HAVE MANY photos of my brother, Alejandro Palomo, but these four show how I choose to remember him: a man who adored his family, a man who loved to tell stories, a man who loved to dance, and a … Continue reading →

TWENTY YEARS ago, when I turned 55, I posted this entry. I updated it and reposted it when I turned 70. Here is an updated collection of random thoughts: As a kid, I would read western comics and invariably I … Continue reading →

I got a number of requests for a recipe for this dish, of which I posted a photo on FaceBook. Here it is: What you’ll need: 4-6 whole chicken thighs, or any other parts of the chicken. (I used to … Continue reading →

[In the summer of 1983, I talked my Houston Post editors into letting me travel with a migrant family from Crytal City, my South Texas hometown, to the area between Grafton (where I was born) and Grand Forks, ND, where … Continue reading →

Sometime ago I was asked to speak to a class about opinion writing. This is what I told them: Have something to say and don’t force the reader to wait until the last paragraph to find out what it is. … Continue reading →

[Going through some old papers, I came across this column I wrote for The Houston Post in March 1985, more than five years before I got my long-held wish to be a columnist for that paper, and about six years before my … Continue reading →

CHEESE ENCHILADAS is one of my favorite dishes, and I (of course!) like them the way my mother prepared them, by dipping a warm corn tortilla in the hot chile sauce she had made with red chile powder, then briefly … Continue reading →

I JUST FINISHED “A Taco Testimony,” by New Mexico novelist Denise Chávez, a perfect read for this time of year when the memories of the holidays and all their warmth linger and still pull us back to the things that sustain … Continue reading →

Chona was my mother’s next-door neighbor on Highland Circle in my hometown of Crystal City in South Texas. My mother called her Chonita.  Chonita was one of my mother’s most frequent visitors after our family moved from our old neighborhood … Continue reading →