Still a Winning Pastry
During the Christmas seasons of my youth in the 1960s, neighbors on our country road brought us delicious home-baked cakes, cookies and candies. My home economics teacher, Helen, was one of our neighbors, and every year we looked forward to her slightly sweetened yeast dough baked around a brown sugar and pecan filling that she called Danish Kringle [Holiday Recipe Contest Winners, November 2018].
Although we loved seeing her, we waited in keen anticipation for her to leave. Her car would have barely left the driveway before we tore into the melt-in-your-mouth tenderness of the still-warm pastry.
Linda Rush | Oakhurst
Sam Houston EC
Thoughts on Cookies
Normally, the recipes I have tried are very good. However, the Brown Butter Oatmeal Raisin Cookies [All Hail the Cookie Jar, September 2018] not only were a lot of trouble to make, but they also tasted horrible. Even my grandsons who eat anything would not finish the cookie.
Donna Hendrick | Palo Pinto
Editor’s note: Cookie opinions run the gamut. Some found those cookies too salty, while others (including our photo shoot crew) claim they’re fabulous. They’re a favorite of Paula Disbrowe, our food editor, who suggests using less salt and regular butter (instead of browned) for a milder flavor.
I have a magnet on my icebox that says, “A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.” I so agree.
Kay Pryor | Via Facebook
About Bears and Dogs
I want to point out one error in Bear Dogs of El Paso [June 2018]. The second sentence says the ancient mammals were “ancestral to both bears and dogs,” but it should have said they were “closely related to the common ancestor of bears and dogs.” The important point is that the relationship among bear dogs, dogs and bears is like that of cousins and not ancestors-descendants.
Susumu Tomiya
Field Museum of Natural History
Wait a Minute!
I enjoy Focus on Texas each month. Love the clocks [October 2018] but have to point out that thing about a clock being right twice a day only works if the clock is stopped.
Donna Elliott | Austin
Keep Your Eye on the Ball
The first high-five by Dusty Baker [Up for Discussion, Currents, October 2018] brings back a great old memory. A few weeks prior, the Dodgers played the Astros in the Astrodome. We had great seats, about 10 rows up and directly behind first base.
Baker hit a line drive foul ball right at my wife’s head. The good thing was she wasn’t hurt. The bad thing was my red left palm and the ball in someone else’s hand.
Vardy Vincent | Kingsbury
Bluebonnet EC
Reeves’ Legacy
The idea that Bass Reeves [Bass Reeves, Lawman Extraordinaire, October 2018] was the inspiration for the Lone Ranger comes only from Reeves’ descendants. The fictional character is much more likely based on the Zane Grey novel The Lone Star Ranger, based on the exploits of Texas Rangers Capt. John Hughes.
Mike Franklin | Poteet
Karnes EC
I enjoyed the article so much I am going to try and buy the book [Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves].
Lillian Beasley | Cooks Point
Bluebonnet EC
