Beer (Bread) Me.

It's cold. It's rainy. It's time to make some beer bread, kids.

There are several recipes for beer bread, but here's one I really like. It's pretty simple, just remember, it's always easier to mix the dry ingredients to the wet mix. This avoids lumps and general doughy mayhem. Remember, "dry to wet". Print it up on a t-shirt, 'cause it's a useful little prep tidbit.

Beer Bread
• 3 cups self-rising flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 bottle room-temperature beer (Room temperature, very important)
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix all ingredients (go ahead, get your hands dirty...it can be therapeutic). Now, here's where you have a choice. You can put it all into a 9x3 loaf pan, glaze it with the melted butter, bake it and you're good to go. Or..

"Or"?

Or...you can have some fun and make bread bowls out of it. M-m-m-m, a beer bread bowl. Maybe mix in a little pepper jack cheese into the dough. Or cheddar. Or what about some Southwestern seasoning? Cracked pepper? Make it yours, have some fun with it. Then when you have your bread bowl, carve out the middle and fill it with dip, salsa or, go ahead and put some chili in that bad boy and violá, "Dinner is served".

Lots of fun to snack on during a game, great when friends are hanging out or, as the case tonight, it's cold, dreary and I wanted to make an entrée that went well with a cold, delicious Shiner Bock beer. Know what? It worked.

Try it, lemme know what you think.

Carroll Shelby wasn't from Cincinnati

I live in Cincinnati, originally from Indiana. Now, in Indy, when people make chili, it's their own recipe, sure. But it's got the typical red tomato base, meat, beans and spices (if you're my dad you use one of those chili-flavored dry-spice packets and say that, "Boy, you just can't beat that.").

In 2000, I came to Cincinnati and was introduced to Cincinnati-style chili. If you're from Cincinnati, this is truly chili the way God intended, but for the rest of the chili-eating universe we're frankly not sure what to make of it. Chocolate? Cinnamon? Ginger? What is that taste? And better yet, why is it in the chili? And why is it poured over spaghetti noodles? I respect it, I just don't get it.

So getting to Carrol Shelby. Carroll Shelby is a legendary race car driver, and even more famous car builder as well a recognized Texas-style chili maker (apparently they ate a lot of chili at the race tracks back in the day).

And that's how it started with me. Shelby packaged his chili mix and sold it to the public. So when I was a kid, I wanted to learn how to cook and being a fan of the classic Shelby Mustangs, I picked up a packet of Mr. Shelby's chili mix bag and proudly followed the directions to a "t" on a Friday evening. It was one of those great moments in life.

I was making chili. Texas-style. On my own.

It wasn't perfect (my fault), but it opened a window to what was to come. Cumin. Paprika. Garlic. Peppers. Onion. Chilis. Pepper and salt. All mixing and melding together to not just have a taste, but to have a "roll". A roll of flavor where you have an initial taste, then a secondary flavor, a third and then finally a nice finish. When a recipe's done correctly, all four stages work in perfect harmony to create a carnival of excellent flavor, one merging effortlessly into another like easy conversation.

Yeah, I got all that from making chili from a packet at age 12. Which is the backbone behind this blog, to share with you my cooking experiences, successes and failures as well as ask some of the hard questions, stir up a little friendly controversy, seek your expertise and make it a place where you want to check out some TexMex, down-home recipes that I sincerely hope you and your friends will enjoy.

From full-blown dinner ideas, to Friday Night EZ recipes to tailgating tips, I'll work to bring you my and my family's best recipes to enhance your next occasion. (BTW–My family and tailgating? We make everything from classic Louisiana Gumbo to gourmet veal meatballs, beer and brats, brisket and beans to made from scratch cakes and pies. My family earns its "foodie" reputation at the games and make new friends at each football game. And we never, ever have any leftovers.)

Recipes. Community. And expanding the experience. That's the job of this blog. To offer a place that inspires you to try a new recipe, spice or technique. No matter what you put in your chili.

Right Mr. Shelby?