Friends are generously buying our new cookbook, Cooking the Cowboy Way, to give to family and friends as holiday gifts. So when somebody asked me what to put in a Texas gift basket with the cookbook, I said, “Easy as pie.”
You can find dozens of locally made goodies for the culinarian on your list. Here are a few of my favorite Fort Worth destinations for hometown products:
Pendery’s, on Eighth Avenue, near the medical district, makes and sells every kind of chile powder and spice you can think of, and plenty that have never occurred to you. Lots of sauces, candies and cooking supplies fill the shelves, too.
Vending Nut Company , near the Cultural District, will make you feel like Bubba Blue in Forrest Gump when you start reciting the varieties of almonds, pecans, peanuts and other nuts roasted and packaged on site. The dried fruits and snacks are hard to do without, too.
Among salsas, you’re hard-pressed to do better than those made in Fort Worth by Joe T. Garcia’s and Mrs. Renfro’s. Joe T’s offers mild, medium and hot editions, and Mrs. R makes hers in black bean, chipotle corn, peach, raspberry chipotle, green and many more. Find these at almost any grocery store.
From Artisan Baking Company in Fort Worth, you can find exceptional biscotti, scones, cookies, granola and breads from baking genius Gwin Grimes. Put those with Fort Worth-made Aduro Bean Coffee – also sold at Gwin’s bakery – and breakfast is boffo.
Add beverages to your basket, too. I think your best bets are Ugly Pug, a fabulous black lager from Fort Worth’s Rahr Brewery, and the food-friendly 2006 Sangiovese from Times Ten Cellars, new in Fort Worth in the West Seventh area.
