December 2000
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Features
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The Twelve Months of Christmas
Kitschy calendars that say “Feliz Navidad.”
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Fifty Gifts Yule Love
Attention, holiday shoppers: Time’s a-wasting (but help is on the way). This quirky compilation of Texas-made goodies—from mesquite dominoes to mohair throws—should have something for everyone on your list.
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Deer Prudence
Back when I was a hippie pacifist in Northern California, I never thought I’d kill an animal for sport. Then I married into a South Texas ranching family, and in time I managed to pull the trigger and bag a buck. My emotions were decidedly mixed, but I knew that I had become a Texan at last.
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Child of a Lesser God
It was a modern-day horror story: a little girl hidden away in rat-infested squalor for most of her life. When the authorities took her away from her mother and grandmother, the nine-year-old had never been to school or played outside.
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Can Vicente Fox Save Mexico?
His election was historic for many reasons, not least because he embodies the stifled hopes of generations of his countrymen. Still, the obstacles he faces when he assumes the presidency on December 1 are considerable. Will he be able to deliver?
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Merry Texas Christmas, You All
Ten tunes by Texas artists to jingle your bells.
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Season’s Eatings
When we asked chef Bruce Auden of San Antonio’s Biga on the Banks to create a festive holiday feast, he served up a menu with some delicious twists on tradition.
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Viva Fort Hood
Before Elvis Presley became an overweight entertainer in a rhinestone jumpsuit, there was a brief, more innocent time when he wore khakis as an Army private in Central Texas. It was his last chance to be a normal human being. And to be happy.
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On The Road in Texas
Texas was Elvis‘ home away from home in the early days of his career, a direct result of getting on the “Louisiana Hayride.” He signed a contract in late 1954 with the popular radio show, which was broadcast live every Saturday night from 50,000-watt KWKH radio in Shreveport. (CBS syndicated a half hour of the …
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Biz
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Managing, Texas-style
How the best-managed companies keep their employees smiling.
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Kim Dawson
Kim Dawson
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Texas Needs Nerds
The state’s nerd shortage
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Hispanic Broadcasting
The Texas stock to buy right now.
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Barons of Buyout
Texas’ buyout barons log on to online air travel.
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Columns
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Spurred On
How Hockley’s Fred Whitfield lassoed his place in pro rodeo history.
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On the Rebound
The Dallas Mavericks have a new owner and a new attitude, but they have no real plan to make themselves the kings of the court. I do.
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Feature Presentation
Coming soon to a radio near you: El Paso’s At the Drive-In, the best new rock band in America.
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Seeing the Light
An old cemetery. A deserted crossroads. A ghostly reflectionor a figment of our imagination? On the trail of a West Texas mystery.
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The Sportswriter
Confessions of a Washed-up Sportswriter (Including Various Digressions About Sex, Crime, and Other Hobbies.)
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Clearing the Air
Clearing the air about pollution politics.
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Go to Jail!
After twenty years Albany’s Old Jail Art Center has become the best small-town museum in the state and maybe in the nation.
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Reporter
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Dan McGraw
IN 1999 Dan McGraw took leave from his post as a Fort Worth-based senior editor at U.S. News and World Report and headed for his football-crazy hometown of Cleveland—ostensibly to write about the return of the Browns to the NFL but ultimately to escort his cancer-stricken father to a graceful death. McGraw discovered the truths …
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Christopher Cook
In one sense this earthy first novel by Austinite Christopher Cook is a feel-good book: Compared with the title characters, you can’t help but feel good about your own relatively decent self. In Robbers two aimless outlaws, Ray Bob and Eddie, hook up and, in a sort of quien-es-mas-macho contest, set out on a killing …
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Damon Bramblett
It’s the voice that strikes you first: deep, lugubrious, slightly warbly. Second it’s the songs, the result of years of craning an ear toward the works of writers like Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt. Yet Damon Bramblett’s music was first heard by most listeners when Kelly Willis covered “Heaven Bound” on 1999’s What I …
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The Cornell Hurd Band
Critics aren’t supposed to review albums by their friends, but I can’t help it: Let me tell you about my longtime lunch-mate from Dripping Springs, Cornell. His ten-piece honky-tonk swing band, which specializes in jump and shuffles, is as tight as the Bush family on Election Night while boasting brilliant soloists like Paul Skelton (whose …
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The Falcon Project
Lights Karma Action is the massive, rumbling, and beautiful second album from this Denton quartet, which is headed up by former Mazinga Phaser guitarist and Melodica Festival organizer Mwanza Dover. Given that pedigree, you could call the Falcon Project “space rock,” but the emphasis is firmly on rock—you feel this record more than you hear …
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The East Side Band
You could drive by Austin’s East Side Lounge a dozen times without noticing it’s nondescript exterior, yet faithful hordes find their way to this tiny juke joint when the house band takes the stage. The East Side Band plays an all but forgotten style of rhythm and blues: sweet, soulful, and unhurried. Full of fat, …
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La Mafia
At its inception in the early eighties, the heart and soul of La Mafia, the most enduring group in tejano, was los hermanos Gonzales: Oscar y Leonard. The former was the singer, the latter the guitarista. But by the time they hit their stride in the mid-nineties with “Un Million De Rosas,” the Houston group …
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Web
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Apple-Cranberry Filo Tarts
Note: If you’re pressed for time or refrigerator space, you can simplify this dessert by eliminating the fresh cranberry sauce and crumb topping; it will still be delicious. Everything may be prepared a day or more ahead and assembled at the last minute. You will need 6 eight-ounce ramekins. Filo Tart Shells 6 sheets filo …
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Gingered Potato Casserole
1 tablespoon butter (for greasing pan) 2 large garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half (for rubbing pan) 2 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled salt and pepper to taste 1 three-inch piece ginger, minced approximately 2 cups whipping cream Note: This dish may be prepared a day ahead. You will …
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Sweet and Sour Brussels Sprouts
1/2 cup chopped pecans or 6 unshelled chestnuts 24 brussels sprouts, stems removed, soaked in lightly salted water for 10 minutes 2 ounces (3 thick slices) apple-smoked bacon, cut in 1/2-inch squares 1 large red onion, thinly sliced and slices halved 1/8 cup turbinado sugar (such as Sugar in the Raw) 3/8 cup red-wine vinegar …
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Cornish Hens With Smoky Guajillo Salsa
Comino Honey Glazed Hens 1 cup honey 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (comino) dash liquid smoke flavoring (optional) 1 stick cinnamon 6 Cornish hens, rinsed and dried 1 tablespoon cornbread crumbs or finely ground corn tortillas (optional) Note: The glaze must be prepared a day ahead. The hens should be cooked and served the same day. …
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Fresh Fruit and Tortilla Slaw
1 small jicama, peeled and julienned 1 chayote, destemmed, peeled, and julienned 1 small red bell pepper, destemmed, cored, and julienned 1 Granny Smith apple, cored (but not peeled) and julienned 1 clementine or satsuma, sectioned (a tangerine, tangelo, or canned mandarin orange sections may be substituted); reserve juice approximately 1/2 cup orange juice (if …
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Goat Cheese-Plantain Empanadas With Tomato Salsa
Goat Cheese-Plantain Empanadas 3 ripe plantains, unpeeled 1 ripe banana, unpeeled 1 small white onion, sliced and slices halved 1 tablespoon butter 8 ounces Texas or other fresh goat cheese 1 cup flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup vegetable oil (not olive oil) Note: The empanadas may be prepared ahead. Put them on a floured …
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Gulf Coast Oyster and Chorizo Stew
4 ounces chorizo, removed from casing, or in bulk 2 tablespoons butter (cut 1 tablespoon into 6 chunks) 1 cup destemmed, torn or roughly cut Swiss chard 1 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup milk 1 quart shucked oysters and their liquor salt and pepper to taste Note: The chorizo may be cooked a day ahead. …
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The Basketball Diary
Assisitant editor Jordan Mackay charts the Dallas Mavericks season – visit every week for updates and commentary.
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Leroy’s Revenge
Leroy’s Revenge Otis Crater was late for the fanciers’ organizational meeting at the Cherokee Lounge for good reason. He had just stabbed a U-Totem attendant following a discussion of the economic impact of a five-cent price increase on a six-pack of beer. Crater kicked open the lounge door and bounced off the wall, scattering a …
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The King and I
Associate editor Michael Hall tells the story behind this month’s cover story, “Viva Fort Hood.”
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Penny’s Cookies
Butter Cookie Dough 1 cup salted butter 1 cup granulated sugar 1 large egg 2 tablespoons whipping cream 2 tablespoons vanilla extract 1 teaspoon almond extract 3 cups unbleached flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a mixer combine butter and sugar. Add egg, cream, vanilla, and almond extract all …
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Miscellany
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Cell Block
Three ways to fix the prison system.
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Mayor May Not
The campaign against the mayor of Wichita Falls.
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Sam Rayburn
Whose picture did Sam Rayburn always hang in his office?
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Heidi Grant Murphy
Heidi Grant Murphy hits a high note.
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Bill Owens
Colorado governor Bill Owens joins the party.
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Around the State
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas: Families jump at the chance to see The Nutcracker; music lovers snap to the Christmas beat; theaters stage big holiday to-dos; cities light the way for merry revelers; and artisans craft the perfect shopping day.
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Robbers
Warning—this excerpt contains profanity and is for mature audiences. Eddie didn’t intend to shoot the guy. Didn’t mean to rob him either. What happened was— They were sliding south down Lamar after rib sandwiches and beer at T-Bones Bar-B-Q House. Going no place particular on a lazy day in May. Laid back under a babyblue …
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State Fare
Sweet designs for Christmas cookies from Penny’s Pastries of Austin.
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