CULINARY THRILL SEEKING: Holiday highlights and the joy of TexJoy

Published 3:54 pm Tuesday, January 5, 2016

In the spirit of friendship and new experiences, I always try to attend a holiday event I’ve never tried and entertain someone who has never been over. I made goal, and made new friends.

Culinary highlights over this stretch have included:

* 90 percent cocoa chocolate (more on that later)

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* Not one, but two versions of biscotti

* Popcorn in myriad flavors

* Not one, but two high-quality steaks from Jack’s Pak-It

* Chicharrones with lime my mom served with a green salsa over cream cheese

* Traditional New Year’s caviar, with the leftovers topping an omelet

* Not one, but three kinds of tamales

TexJoy

Those Texas-shaped boxes of Tex-Joy products packaged right down the street in Beaumont and enjoyed all over the place are a hot ticket.

I won one at a church event that included some coffee and an array of jars of seasoning, including Tex-Joy Butt and Rib Tickler Pork Rub. I put that all over some nice steaks I seared, then baked, according to Jack’s Pak-It meat market instructions.

As guests visited my home over the holidays, I felt a little generous and shared. Now I’m down to Old West Mesquite Shake and Special Bar-B-Q Seasoning Rub. These products of the Texas Coffee Company are a way to flavorfully support local business. Shake some around.

Darraghcastillo@icloud.com