HOWDY FRIENDS….from Mexican Food & Gifts To Go
Newsletter, May 2004

http://www.texmextogo.com

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1st of May is on the way, one of our favorite months of the year! In Texas everything is budding, blooming, and sprouting…try something different this year no matter where you live: if you’ve got a sunny place in the garden or a balcony, why not give peppers a try! They can grow in pots or in a garden, add color to a flower bed or herb garden. Easy to grow and so versatile, they can be used in the kitchen as a vegetable as well as an herb or spice. Even if you aren’t into peppers, these ornamental plants deserve a spot in every garden!

 

Historical Month in Mexico: Cinco de Mayo, Spanish for the 5th of May, marks the victory in 1862 of the Mexican Army, under the command of General Ignacio Zaragoza, over the French troops at the battle of Puebla. It is celebrated in the US among the Mexican-American population mainly in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

May is National Salsa Month! Salsa translates literally as “sauce” and can be traced as far back as the Aztec civilization. Chilies and the other fresh ingredients of salsa are high in vitamin A and C, low in calories, carbohydrates and  sodium, contain little to no fat. Salsa became the best selling condiment in North America pushing ketchup out of the top selling spot in 1997. Why? We appear to be returning to a healthier way of eating i.e. legumes, grains, vegetables and organic produce of all kinds and in part the growing popularity of salsas is also due to an increasing awareness of nutritional issues.  For many years salsa was known only as a dip with tortilla chips. Today, it is found regularly as a condiment served over eggs or with fish, a sauce over chicken or beef, a base for other sauces, how about over pizza and pasta or pour your favorite salsa over a baked potato!

Our Tejano Salsa, the best in the South (are we biased? but of course!), contains no sugar, no vinegar and no preservatives. Low sodium and vacuum packed with a shelf life of one year, is on sale for the month of May. If you’ve never tried our salsa, try it out in the “Tex Mex sampler” pack: http://www.texmextogo.com/store/PPF/parameters/71_5/more_info.asp  

Once you’re hooked, order by the ½ case or case quantity:

http://www.texmextogo.com/store/PPF/Category_ID/3/products.asp 

Our Tejano SalsaVerde made with avocados, serrano peppers and tomatillos contains no vinegar or preservatives. Make it part of your sampler order:

http://www.texmextogo.com/store/PPF/Category_ID/5/products.asp 

We just know you’ll be back for ½ a case:

http://www.texmextogo.com/store/PPF/parameters/34_3/more_info.asp
 

May is also Mother’s Day right from the start. Visit our gourmet Mexican food gift box page, choose the price rage you have in mind and give us a call, we will personalize the items of your choice or just place your order online; don’t forget to add your message which we will hand letter and place inside your gift. You’ll find our Mexican hand blown glass gifts here as well:

http://www.texmextogo.com/store/PPF/Category_ID/4/products.asp

Order Soon! You only have one week!

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Recipes

Hot Mexican Spinach Queso Dip

1 – 16oz. jar Tejano salsa (click here) medium

1 lb. fresh spinach, cleaned  and loosely chopped

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 – 8oz pkg Philly cheese, softened, cubed

1 cup evaporated milk

1 – 4 oz. can chopped black olives, drained

1 Tbsp. Balsanic vinegar

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl, add all the above ingredients and mix evenly.

Pour into a shallow, oven proof baking dish, bake mixture for 20 minutes

or until bubbly.

Serve with plenty of tortilla chip and bite-size fresh vegetables on a warming plate

Makes 7 cups.

Tip: this dish is quite creamy and thin straight out of the oven, serve it over bowtie noodles with toast points. Excellent!

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Keep it simple; serve with Tequila shots or Mexican Tapache.

Besides the traditional lime and salt, try Sangrita as a back with the Tequila  shooters:

Sangrita

2 Cups Tomato Juice

1 Cup Orange Juice

1/4 Cup Lime Juice

2 Tsp. Hot Sauce (Tabasco)

2 Tsp. Minced Onion

2 Tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

Cracked Pepper, Celery Salt & Seasoned Salt to taste.

Shake very well, strain, and refrigerate.

 

Visit our site for our Tequila Shooter Gift:

http://www.texmextogo.com/store/PPF/parameters/106_4/more_info.asp 

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Mexican Tapache

1 whole fresh pineapple

12 cups water

21oz. brown sugar

1 stick cinnamon

3 whole cloves

Process:

Wash the pineapple; remove stalks at each end; cut pineapple into large cubes, including the rind. Place the pineapple cubes in a large (lidded) container and add 8 cups of water, brown sugar, cinnamon and the cloves.

Cover and let rest at room temperature for 48 hours. Strain this resulting liquid “the Tepache” into a new, clean container and add the remaining 4 cups of water. Let rest another 12 hours. Strain again, add 3 cups water. Serve cold with ice cubes and fresh fruit slices

Hope you have a great time with these recipes. If you’re a die-hard recipe chaser, come on over to our recipe section…you’ll be there a while:

http://www.texmextogo.com/Recipes.htm

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We wish for you the best of May and to those amazing women in our lives, also known as Mom, we wish them all a Happy Mother’s Day!!

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If you think your friends and family might enjoy our information and recipes contained in this newsletter, go right ahead and pass it on, we love to spread the word about Tex-Mex style Mexican food, cookware and gifts…..we’ll find more to talk to you about next month.

We’re always glad to hear from ya’ll….we’ll be back…

Chef Annie

chef@texmextogo.com 

www.texmextogo.com