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Texas tastes, from margaritas to Fritos

The county fair is a showcase, and sometimes showdown, for home cooks, who nervously pit their loftiest meringue pies and tastiest jams and jellies against their neighbors’ year after year. To earn one of the coveted blue ribbons, you need not only a sure-fire recipe and great technique but also a knack for eye-catching presentation….

The smell is the first thing everyone notices. It’s unmistakable–a combination of wood burning down to coals, sizzling fat and cooking beef. It brings back a thousand memories, all at once and yet still distinct, memories of families and backyards and Boy Scout cookouts and neighborhood barbecues with little kids running all over the place….