The Homesick Texan's Family Table


The Homesick Texan's Family Table: Lone Star Cooking From My Kitchen To Yours by Lisa Fain is a beautiful hardcover Tex-Mex cookbook. Lisa Fain is a Texas native who's been transplanted to New York and I understand she's a popular food blogger; however, I've never read her blog. I am a cookbook collector and was excited to add a Tex-Mex cookbook to my collection as it's a category I don't have yet and I love Mexican-American food. I've never been to Texas so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but I did have a general idea. This book is chock full of stories of Lisa growing up in Texas. I loved reading about her family and anecdotes about her grandmother and mother's cooking. This was one of my favorite parts of the cookbook. Sections included are Breakfast and Breads; Starters and Snacks; Salads and Sides; Chilis, Soups, and Stews; The Main Event; Sweets; and Accompaniments. It also includes an introduction with explanations about the recipes, an overview of different types of chiles, a Resource Guide, and Measurement Conversion Charts.

I enjoyed the stories and pictures in this book. Lisa apparently did all the photography for the book herself, so that was a nice touch. I felt like there weren't quite enough pictures of the recipes for me, though. I prefer cookbooks that show all or nearly all of the recipes so I can see the end result before I try the recipe. I also felt like a lot of the recipes weren't really traditional Tex-Mex recipes, but rather a modern/healthier/trendier spin on them. Honestly, I'd prefer the old fashioned original recipes. For example, she mentions that her grandmother's old recipe for Chicken Spaghetti uses cream soup, but she rewrote the recipe and uses a homemade cheese sauce - I'd prefer to see the original recipe, or a comparison of the original next to the new. Also, some of the recipes were downright unappealing (spicy snickerdoodle cookies with chipotle chili powder in them; a German chocolate cake with cayenne pepper). However, there were some great looking recipes that I plan on trying, as well.

I receieved a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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