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New Taste Treats for Cinco de Mayo!

Will you be getting together with the gang to celebrate Cinco de Mayo? Lots of us in Texas will be. We'll raise a glass to the Mexican victory over the French at the battle of Puebla in 1862, give thanks for the richness of Mexican American culture, and take advantage of a prime opportunity to indulge in all our favorite Tex-Mex foods and drinks. If you're ready to take the party to the next level with a spread of salsas, queso, chips, tacos, enchiladas, margaritas and some scrumptious desserts, we have a few cookbooks you'll want to check out.

The Homesick Texan Cookbook

Lisa Fain was a homesick Texan living in New York City looking for the comfort foods of home when she began collecting the recipes that eventually became The Homesick Texan Cookbook. What sets this cookbook apart from many others is Fain's skill at reproducing Tex-Mex and other classic Texas foods that just might be more delicious than the originals. And with her clear instructions, the chances of a successful outcome are excellent. If you're not a Texan, you may be surprised at the strong Southern influence running through the cookbook. It's genuine and oh so good. If you live in Texas, finding the chiles and other local ingredients will be a breeze. If you're sending the cookbook to a homesick Texan, you can send regular care packages of dried chiles and other useful items like canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce. If you're ready to up your Tex-Mex skillset or you're sending some love to a Texan who's far from home, this cookbook is a winner.

Queso!

With Lisa Fain's latest cookbook Queso! Regional Recipes for the World's Favorite Chile-Cheese Dip you'll find winning recipes for potlucks, Cinco de Mayo celebrations, and family gatherings. Serve up scrumptious chips and queso treats for the crowd. If you've enjoyed Fain's Homesick Texan cookbooks, then you'll be confident that she knows all about good queso. She starts with a survey of chile con queso the "early years", visits Tex-Mex classics, moves on to some modern quesos from the Border, and adds quirky quesos and a good selection of recipes that use queso as an added ingredient. Your friends and family will be enjoying these recipes for years to come.

The Tex-Mex Table

A new entry into the world of Tex-Mex cookbooks is The Tex-Mex Table: 60 Knockout Recipes from the Lone Star State. Mandi Hickman hails from Austin and has a gift for flavorful dishes that can be made without too much fuss. You'll find recipes for tacos, enchiladas, barbecue, salsas, sides, desserts and drinks. Some of her recipes are surprising - Pimento Cheese Quesadillas, Tex-Mex Meatballs and Rice, and the Southwest Wedge Salad. There are also sheet-pan recipes for dishes like Cheesy Ranch Potatoes and Street Corn Sheet-Pan Nachos. The recipes are generously seasoned which is part of their knockout appeal. The Tex-Mex Table is a good resource for family meals and for party spreads. And, don't forget to try the Margarita Key Lime Pie!

Taco-Loco

Jonas Cramby takes a deep dive into food culture south of the Border, in Taco Loco: Mexican Street Food From Scratch. The cookbook represents his attempt to recreate his favorite Mexican street food in a home kitchen. There's lots of good information about ingredients and the directions are detailed enough that you won't be left floundering. Like most cuisines, the more you cook it, the easier it becomes. Taco Loco includes lots more than tacos. The snack section includes sandwiches, tlacoyas, elotes and much more. The chapters on sweets and drinks have some unusual offerings. Our favorite may be tepache, home-brewed pineapple beer! A special tip of the hat goes to the photographer Calle Stoltz for the evocative photos of the people, places and food of Mexico.

Provecho  

Here's good news for vegans: they too can have a robust Cinco de Mayo celebration with some of their favorite Mexican foods! Edgar Castrejón has transformed his family's traditional recipes into vegan fare in Provecho: 100 Vegan Mexican Recipes to Celebrate Culture and Community.  While carnivores may prefer the originals, vegans will be grateful for these flavorful additions to their menus. The recipes are detailed and the photographs tempting. Like the best cookbooks, Provecho, may inspire you to create your own dishes using the techniques you've learned.

Aguas Frescas & Paletas

As you might have noticed, we're in Texas. Aguas frescas and paletas are a refreshing way to beat the heat and humidity of long hot Texas summer. If you have no local source for these treats, we're happy to announce that you can now make them yourself with the help of Aguas Frescas & Paletas: Refreshing Mexican Drinks and Frozen Treats, Traditional and Reimagined. Ericka Sanchez shows you how to combine fruit juices and purees for some surprising taste treats. A high powered blender to puree fruit and a strainer to remove seeds and pulps are necessities so you can take full advantage of the fresh fruit flavors.

Margaritas

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with margaritas, chips and queso! You don't have to go out to find a creamy comforting Queso (see Lisa Fain's Queso! above) or a delicious refreshing margarita. Mamie Fennimore's Margaritas: Frozen, Spicy, and Bubbly - Over 100 Drinks for Everyone! is a compendium of classic and not-so-classic recipes. There are recipes for on-the-rocks, frozen, and mocktails, and for some more unusual flavor combinations like Pomegranate, Maple, Pineapple Jalapeño, Watermelon Basil and Pear Cinnamon to mention only a few.

So if you want to add something new to this year's Cinco de Mayo celebration, we think you'll find some delicious appetizers, mains, drinks and desserts in these cookbooks. And as an added bonus, you can enjoy new taste treats and classics throughout the year.