Rachel and I drove from Austin to Houston on Sunday for the unveiling of the marker for her grandfather, Papa Joe. The purpose of the trip was to honor and remember Joe after he passed away almost exactly one year ago. I was able to squeeze in some tasty touring along the way, however.
We left Austin at 7:30 a.m. and stopped along 290 at Shipley Do-Nuts. The first Shipley donuts were sold for five cents a dozen in 1936. There are now 90 locations in and around Houston.
Other …

I’m not sure if I’m kidding when I wonder if we are now feeding growth hormones to every ever-loving thing that we put into our mouths. I know that it’s common in animals so we get it in our meat and our milk (unless we only buy organic). I’ve also noticed that the fruit in our grocery stores is getting bigger at the same rate that the taste are getting blander.
Anyway, the other day it was 3 p.m. and I hadn’t had a chance to leave my desk to grab …

Last night Daniel very sweetly treated me to dinner at Jason’s Deli, where he is director of eMarketing and PR. We chatted with his boss (and step brother) Lee Greer, the chief marketing officer, about restaurants, food, marketing and PR. I was in heaven!
Daniel and I split the Bagelini, a hot pressed turkey sandwich with provolone, homemade guacamole, lettuce, tomato, onion, and peppers. That came with blue corn chips and fresh homemade salsa that rivals the delicious salsa served at Texas French Bread. He also let me try the Ciabatta-Bing! …