Category Archives: Uncategorized

[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 →

As I’ve mentioned a few times over the past month, I’ve been enjoying Jonathan Alter’s biography of Jimmy Carter, “His Very Best.” It may be the best book to read in these the waning days of the Trump administration, for … Continue reading →

What you will need: A loaf of French bread, sliced about ¾ to 1 inch thick, toasted. (You can use any kind of bread, really, but I think it tasted better with French) One cone of piloncillo, cut into small … Continue reading →

The New York Times is about to release its list of the best books of 2020, so I thought I’d beat it to the punch. Here’s my list of the best 14 books published this year (in no particular order): … Continue reading →

I’VE BEEN making my own salsas for years but I’ve never bothered to write down any recipes, primarily because the recipe changes each time I make it. But friends have been pressing me to write down the recipe, so here … Continue reading →