January 1990 Issue

The Bucks Stop Here

The troubled Parks and Wildlife Department is supposed to protect the state’s natural resources. Instead, it protects its friends and, above all, itself.

The Call of the Wildman

To find their true masculine selves, wildmen dance and sweat, bond and meditate, renounce their mothers and grunt, “Ho!” I thought, “Hmmm.”

Swamp Thing

Snapping turtles are cantankerous, grotesque, and savage. And those are just a few of the reasons I like them.

Texas Primer: The Windmill

But for this ever-so-practical invention, Texas history as we know it would be gone with the wind.

A Child’s Garden of Texas

The young—and even the not-so-young-can travel back through the state’s glorious past simply by opening up any one of these fourteen children’s classics.

UT goes lite.

Going By the Book

When his luck ran out, A.W. Gray ended up behind bars. Now he’s on a winning streak as a crime novelist.

Take It Off! Take It All Off!

With liquid diets, the pounds just seem to melt away. But what it takes to keep that unwanted weight off is sometimes even harder to swallow.

A Slaughter, A Smuggled Painting, and A Raid

A customs seizure raises a perplexing question: Who owns our past-Texas or Mexico?

Fresh-Peppermint Fudge Brownies

1 1/3 cups margarine 2 cups granulated sugar, sifted 4 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 tablespoons honey 1 1/2 cups sifted flour 7/8 cup instant cocoa mix 1 teaspoon each salt and baking powder 2 cups coarsely chopped toasted pecans 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted 7 tablespoons unsalted butter

A Grand Finale

Brownie point.

Jalapeno Jack Spoon Bread

Jalapeño Jack Spoon Bread2 cups whole milk1 cup stone-ground cornmeal4 tablespoons unsalted butter2 teaspoons baking powder4 whole eggs1 large onion, diced2 garlic cloves, diced2 shallots, diced2 fresh medium-sized jalapeños, diced4 ounces jalapeño Monterey Jack cheese, shredded1/4 teaspoon saltPreheat oven to 350 degrees. In heavy saucepan, bring milk to boil over

Venison Medallions

1 1/2 cups buttermilk 3/4 cup red wine 1 1/2 pounds of 1/2-inch medallions from backstrap of axis, sika, fallow, or whitetail deer 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 leeks, cut into 1/4-inch slices (discard dark-green part) 2 whole shallots, chopped 8 ounces mushrooms, quartered 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1/2

Chefs on the Range

Most recipes for game birds amount to long, slow overkill. Only quick, hot cooking ensures that red-meat birds retain their rich flavor.

Bon-Furor

Bonfire-crazed yell leaders Keving Fitzgerald and Brant Ince foresee defeat for fire’s foes.

Sultan Of Stink

Tim Johnson came out smelling like a rose when San Franciscans detected broken gas lines.

Upscale Garage Saling

Shopper Ethel Sexton is dressed to the nines in her garage-sale finery.

Roar of the Crowd

Discovering the hero in every person; getting off the ground without ever leaving the airport; paying our respects to an ancient tree.

State Secrets

The right angle for striking oil; making book on the Bush library; a roving eye for GOP money; reining in rogue cops.