Don’t Forget to Celebrate Frozen Foods This Weekend

You might be girding yourselves for the Cajun cuisine that goes along with the upcoming Mardi Gras celebration, but a little-known and rarely celebrated holiday is right around the corner. Declared by President Reagan in 1984, National Frozen Food Day — which fallas on Sunday — celebrates the modern convenience…

Week of the Iguana — And Other Stuff

Here are two things you haven’t tried: taco-flavored chips and iguana tamales. For that, we have you covered. For all the things you might have tried (ie. Crossroads Diner, The Speedway Club, the wonder of vegan baking), Dallas blogs are happy to expand. Read on. City of Ate For Decanter…

Get Piggy Wit It: 20 Slogans Better than Pork’s New One

Today the Associated Press regaled us with the news that the National Pork Board (right? Take your time with that one) announced its decision to replace its nearly 25-year-old slogan “The Other White Meat.” Bold decision — the old one’s a brilliant slogan. It equates pork with the ubiquitous and…

Hotspots to Fill Up at on a SXSW Day Trip

With SXSW coming up in just a couple weeks, you might be trying to figure out a way to work a trip down to Austin into your schedule and your budget. I have one answer: Austin on a 24-hour turnaround is not all that hard to pull off. A few…

Paczki Shortage Looms in Dallas

In cities with significant Polish populations, Shrove Tuesday is commonly known as Paczki Day in honor of the pastry made with all the lard, eggs and sugar that had to be used up before the traditional Lenten fast began. But Dallasites without deep-fryers may have trouble participating in the festivities…

Flash Mart’s Tacos: Please Sir, Can I’ve Some More?

I am left hungry, and I’m pissed off about it, not because the tacos at Flash Mart are regrettable examples of overcooked, drier than Death Valley meat wrapped in flaccid, oily white corn tortillas. It’s the opposite. The tacos prepared and served inside the gas station at the corner of…

What Makes Iguana Meat Worth Smuggling?

The attempted iguana meat caper that unfolded yesterday at the Laredo border posed a pressing question for food enthusiasts: Just what did those confiscated iguana tamales taste like? U.S. Customs and Border Patrol seized 58 pounds of alleged iguana meat mixed with masa, citing restrictions on wild animal importation. The…

Honey Shack: Grab Some Wings and an Eyeful

Each week, Happy Eating highlights a restaurant happy hour menu. This week, surrounded by a flank of waitresses dressed in spandex and short-shorts, we try out some wings at Honey Shack. Where: Honey Shack 4218 Lemmon Ave. When: 2-7 p.m. Monday-Friday and 5 p.m.-close Sunday. The Scene: Hooters without all…

New Vegan Enchilada Buzz at BEE

Based on the constantly buzzing (ha!) parking lot, and the word of mouth (some call it buzz) about BEE: Best Enchiladas Ever, it’s become clear that the Oak Cliff counter-service enchiladeria is a neighborhood and willing-commuter favorite. People dig the options, the service, the people behind it and, as we’ve…

Tiffany Derry Defends For-Profit Culinary Schools

Dallas chef Tiffany Derry this week dove into the maelstrom surrounding financial assistance at for-profit colleges, arguing in an essay for The Hill that the government is threatening the culinary arts by withholding loans from students enrolled in career schools. The Department of Education is attempting to issue new rules…

Mexico City: The Gourmet Taco Brings Home the Bacon

Mexico City: The Gourmet Taco offers a variety of Mexican food plus mini gas station taquería-y tacos and “gourmet tacos.” For those of you who don’t know, in Spanish “gourmet tacos” means “same as the mini tacos but in a larger tortilla and topped with veggies ‘n’ shit.” I was…

Decanter Means Well, We Just Wish It Did Better

The way the kitchen had envisioned it, a roundup of chocolate that followed a recent multi-course meal at Decanter was supposed to double as a dashing centerpiece. In a stroke of Cubist inspiration, the pastry chef had plated a thick slice of sweet potato chocolate terrine abutting a parfait glass…

The Common Table Sets “St. Crafty’s Day” Beer Lineup

As far as beer drinking goes, Saint Patrick’s Day is generally known more for quantity than quality. And if it’s not cheap, domestic and dyed green, chances are it’s Guinness, as the historic Dublin brewery makes a huge marketing push each year to capitalize on the holiday.But Thursday, March 17,…

Catfish Industry Fighting for New Labeling Laws in Texas

The catfish industry is targeting Texas as the next state to adopt country-of-origin labeling legislation. The Catfish Institute’s president Robert Barlow is now in Texas, rallying support for a bill introduced by state Senator Glenn Hegar. The proposed law, modeled after similar legislation already on the books in five Southeastern…

Lent: No, It’s Not the Vatican Diet Plan

The tired, lame joke used to pop about annually this time of year among the lapsed Catholics in my family. “I’m giving up watermelon for Lent,” assorted uncles would say with a grin. Har-har. Get it? Watermelon isn’t in season during Lent, so as sacrifices go… Yeah, those old boys…