December 11, 6-8 pm.  Terry and Photographer Sandy Wilson will sign The Texas Hill Country – A Food and Wine Lover’s Paradise at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s Lumination Christmas event.  For more information, see the center’s website: ww

Holiday cooking involves the use of many food products and cooking techniques, many of which can be confusing.  Here’s a few tips that we hope will simplify and clarify those grey areas and make your holiday cooking a joyful and fun experience.

This is not a book review, nor is it a commentary on the state of COOKING in America. Cooking in America is reaching all-time heights of excellence and innovation. This country boasts some of the finest culinary schools in the world. Those schools are turning out some of the most creative chefs ever known. I believe there is no question that there is a bona fide “American Cuisine”, built on the sum of its many ethnic, regional and cultural influences. I have nothing but praise for the cooks of America. This could be called “A Call to Arms” for Americans who are concerned about the quality and nutritional benefits of the food we eat. I  have, over the course of the past year, come to take great issue with the disgraceful state of production of our most basic food products in America.

Each year with the advent of spring and the rebirth of the herb garden I think of pestos and aiolis.  To me, as a chef, pesto and aioli are two of the primal ingredients in cooking.  If you’re in a hurry, but want a nutritious and flavor-packed meal, pick up your favorite meat, fish, or shellfish, and the freshest of vegetables from the market.  Grill, broil, roast, sauté, smoke, poach, or use whatever method you prefer to cook the protein.  Cook the veggies by a quick-cooing method that preserves their integrity, texture, and of course their nutrients.  Then whip up a zesty pesto or aioli in the blender or (preferably) the food processor to go with the protein.  Add a salad for which you’ve whisked together a nice herby vinaigrette, and dine royally.

As a culinary instructor I find that meringues are one of those gauzy areas of cooking that people avoid for fear of failure, or based on past failures.  I’ll readily admit that in the early years of learning to cook, before I went to culinary school, my meringues were a real “iffy” proposition.  However, once you’re armed with a few facts, then making great, successful meringue is simple.