This cookbook was created specifically for the Texas Sesquicentennial celebration. Russell M. Gardner, a college student, spent more than sixteen months of research gathering three hundred recipes from famous Texans willing to participate. The outcome was a success. In these pages you will find recipes from such luminaries as Lady Bird Johnson, Roger Staubach, and Richard “Racehorse” Haynes.
Discovering what dishes these well-known personalities submitted (oftentimes it is the “Mrs.” whose name appears) is the most interesting aspect—you get a glimpse of that person’s taste. In some ways, it feels as if you have stumbled across a page in a personal diary. Here’s a sampling of the good eats from some of Texas’ most famous sons and daughters:
Lady Bird Johnson’s spice tea
Dr. Denton A. Cooley’s gazpacho
Barbara Bush’s vegetable salad (spinach)
Racehorse Haynes’s eggs ranchero
Tom Landry’s cornbread muffins
Henry Cisneros’ pepper steak
Farrah Fawcett’s chicken marengo
Walter Cronkite’s herring Copenhagen
Bob Bullock’s brown beans by Bullock
Dan Jenkins’ navy beans for writers
Larry Hagman’s country quiche
Mrs. John B. Connally’s orange biscuits
Delbert McClinton’s cobb salad
Ann Richards’ lemon yogurt cake
E.”Kika” de la Garza’s Kika’s Texas picadillo
Mrs. Phil Gramm’s pralines
Larry L. King’s roast republican rump
Mary Kay Ash’s jalapeño dressing
Mrs. Darrell Royal’s orange custard
Carol Burnett’s raspberry riches
Roger Staubach’s spinach salad