Dallas Food Blog

All Thanksgiving gets is a lousy parade...

​Yeah, there's that Charlie Brown deal. But it's nowhere near as popular as the Great Pumpkin bit or the famous Christmas episode. Daffy Duck did a couple of nice skits, but that was a long time ago.

Halloween and Christmas get all the good specials. All Thanksgiving ends up with is a Macy's parade and the Cowboys. And then we give the holiday a final slap in the face by adding a Lions game.

Is that fair? Why hasn't America's most popular family holiday resonated when it comes to cartoons and other specials? Are we afraid of offending the Indians? Hell, the Pilgrims gave 'em a good meal before sending them packing.

Results from last week, in which we asked (in a kind, loving, family-oriented kind of way) if there was a restaurant in Dallas that isn't full of douche bags:

​Well, I'm running a bit behind with this, largely because Kristy Yang just came in from Vietnam with a bottle of...of...what the hell am I drinking?

It's been a busy week on the blog, too. A number of comments worthy of mention--and several deserving of a decent prize. So we had arranged for this week's top commenter to dine with Jim Schutze on Thanksgiving--until we learned about his Thanksgiving traditions.

Morally, ethically and (especially) legally, we couldn't follow through.

Once again, no one wins by reading City of Ate...um, that didn't come out right. Anyway, the week's crop of non-winners:

​In the classic film Northwest Passage, Spencer Tracy plays the legendary Robert Rogers. For those who didn't waste a portion of their youth reading about the French and Indian War, Rogers commanded a band of soldiers who wore green uniforms and fought "Indian style" in the woods of New York.

The film is a fictional account of Rogers' Rangers and their 1759 raid against an Abenaki village. Early on, there's a scene where Tracy mixes up a pitcher of hot buttered rum at some frontier tavern.

That scene--a bowl of steaming water, jugs of rum and Tracy scooping out mounds of butter and brown sugar--made me a fan of the cocktail, even though I'd never tried it at the time. It evoked warmth and fireplaces, camaraderie and a good, solid belt of alcohol.

What could be better?

​Next week, we find out more about Oakland. For now, one final peek inside the beltway:

The 'Boys host the NFL's answer to the Washington Nationals on Sunday. Another fact about the team whose mascot wore a bonnet...

The Redskins earned the nickname "Hogs" not for their eating habits, as many believe, but for the pig-like squealing sometimes made by Redskins rookies during a particular hazing practice.*


*Source: The classic film Deliverance.

Jesse Hughey

Michelob Bavarian Wheat

​Last week, Pyramid's Haywire Hefeweizen proved a tad, shall we say, underwhelming. This week seemed a perfect opportunity to try a couple of macro-brewed attempts at craft-brew styles, just to put things in perspective.

After all, if a relatively small outfit like Pyramid can't get the wheat-beer style right, surely a lowest-common-denominator, masses-pleasing corporate behemoth like Anheuser-Busch couldn't do a better job, could it?

And then there's this new "Rye P.A.," a rye-grain version of an India Pale Ale that Michelob came up with. That couldn't possibly be good, could it?

Could it?

​It's hard to believe that just over a year ago, I sat at a patio table at the Double-Wide with Jen as we got trashed on Hurritangs and I lost my camera. Oh, memories. Sweet, sweet memories. Well, since then, my girl drinkers and I (and a few boys thrown in for good measure) have put ourselves through the alcoholic wringer a couple dozen times for you faithful readers...and for fun. It is fun, I admit it.

So, it seemed appropriate that to celebrate a year of girl drinks, we went back to the start...where our GDD cohort Chelsea just happened to be celebrating her birthday with another one (the sixth annual, to be exact) of her charity rock shows, Cinco De Cha-Cha!.

Jen and I hit the D-W, each donned a complimentary sombrero and ordered up a Mi-Cha-Cha-lada, a version of the beloved michelada made special for one night only to honor the birthday gal.

In addition to the Mi-Cha-Cha-ladas, Chelsea had organized a banner line up local acts including the fabulous mariachi act, Mariachi Quetzal, who got a parking lot of early-comers moving and shaking...and who, incidentally, play every Friday night at La Milpa Mexican Restaurant in Denton. You want to see them. She also set up a salsa contest, provided a photo booth from which I procured three strips of classic shots and a tent of crazy good eats. And the decorations from Chango Botanica--so awesome. And all that was outside the venue where her rock show was kicking ass.

Mariachi Quetzal busts out some tunes.

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But back to the drink...that's what you want to know about, right?

Sara Kerens

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Alex Flores

​In one week, the tea sippers battle that redneck military school for all important bragging rights. Yeah, Texas has to get past the Chickenhawks of KU first, while the Aggies go up against (yawn) Baylor. But on Thanksgiving day, it's either "Hook 'em Horns" or...what the hell does "Gig 'em" mean, anyway?

Every college town has at least one or two iconic hangouts, of course. Not being a graduate of either--and never having been to College Station--I posed the "which one place do alumni make sure to visit on homecoming trips" question to several people. Hut's, the ancient Austin burger joint came up. When I asked about a comparable spot in Aggieland, I was told that College Station is more of chicken fingers kind of town, with students flocking to places like Layne's, Chicken Oil, Raising Cane's and the great Dixie Chicken.

To which a UT (or TU) grad said "College Station is more of a chicken shit kinda town."

So it is with rivalries. But in a toque to toque battle, which school's hangout will come out on top?
 

​I would've really liked to spend this Thanksgiving with my brother and sister-in-law in Northwest Spain. They throw an amazing bash each year for all of their American friends, then take it to the clubs for late-night dancing and drinks. Fun times, for sure!

My recently retired mother, however, has been itching to get out of Brownsville for a few days, so I nixed the European vacation and invited her over to Dallas for a vegan Thanksgiving.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking: tofurkey. But on past Thanksgivings together, Mom and I have slaved-away prepping black bean tamales, vegan champurrado (a spicy Mexican hot chocolate drink with masa, almond milk, and piloncillo), and vegan pumpkin pies.

his year, I kind of wanna take it easy. Here's what I'm proposing:

​The 'Boys host the team of the '40s on Sunday. Another fact about the city built on disease-ridden swampland...

Because some people consider "Redskins" to be offensive, next year owner Dan Snyder plans to name the team after the southern dish of pig intestines.*


*Source: A delegation to this office claiming to be elders from the Paleface tribe.