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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Oxy Deal Could Yield Billions For Tim Dunn’s Political EffortsTim Dunn contains multitudes. His roles include West Texas billionaire, powerful behind-the-scenes right-wing political activist and donor, Christian nationalist, lay preacher, and grandfather. And he may soon cross another—oilman—off the list, giving him more time for his other interests.The Wall Street Journal reports that Houston-based Occidental Petroleum is in talks to acquire CrownRock, the jewel of Dunn’s CrownQuest Operating company. CrownRock owns the wells and oil reserves; CrownQuest harvests the fossil fuels. Presumably, after the deal, Occidental would take over operations, leaving CrownQuest with little to do.The newspaper says the deal could be worth more than $10 billion. Not all of it will go to Dunn. The headline figure includes debt, and a Houston private equity firm, Lime Rock, owns an estimated 60 percent of…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Texas-State-Personal-Freedoms-Cato-InstituteSpeaking at a meeting of Bell County Republicans in 2017 in Belton, about sixty miles north of Texas’s capital, Greg Abbott opined about the freedoms enjoyed in the state he governs. “As you leave Austin and start heading north, you start feeling different,” Abbott told the crowd. “Once you cross the Travis County line, it starts smelling different. And you know what that fragrance is? Freedom.” Leaving aside Abbott’s swipe at Austin, there’s a question now about what he smells when he passes into Williamson County these days. According to a recent study by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank cofounded by prominent Abbott donor Charles Koch, Texas ranks dead last among the states when it comes to personal freedom. (Probably of some relief to…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

The crip, cool Texas air carries many smells this time of year. From the dense scent of fireplaces ablaze to delight of your favorite holiday season meal in the oven, it is a joyful time of year.With the family coming into town soon, it is time to start planning the dinner menu. Why not add a delicious and nutritious pork tenderloin to the menu?Pork tenderloin is a lean cut that is packed with 22 grams of protein (per 3oz serving size). In fact, pork tenderloin meets the criteria for the American Heart Association Heart Checkmark due to the cut only obtaining 2.98 grams of total fat, 1.02 grams of saturated fat, and less than 480 mg of sodium per serving. For more information about the nutrition…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

The fried catfish and fries from Earnest B's BBQ in Frisco.Earnest and Cicely Morgan caused a stir in Frisco when they began serving a full barbecue menu inside of a car dealership. We covered their unique location last summer, but by this year they had outgrown their counter in the service center waiting area. Customers coming in just for barbecue were having a hard time finding parking on the busy car lot, so the Morgans searched for a permanent home. A Dickey’s Barbecue Pit location near Toyota Stadium closed earlier this year (the third in Frisco to close since 2016), and Earnest scooped it up.The restaurant was fully furnished, and the decor was already barbecue-themed, so the Morgans had little to change. They mounted a new sign outside, added some window decals, and hung their…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Texas History Auction: Francis Moore, Jr. Map and Description of Texas, containing Sketches of its History, Geology, Geography and Statistics, John Disturnell. Mapa de los Estados Unidos de Mejico, Viktor F. Bracht. Texas im Jahre 1848.Texans have a special relationship with their state’s history. If you grow up in Indiana, you don’t spend two years of your public school education on Hoosier history. Floridians don’t have a founding myth behind their state celebrated in cinema and song. North Dakota children don’t grow up hearing stories of the legendary figures who founded their (frankly) superfluous home state. But here, we remember the Alamo, quote Davy Crockett, and educate our children on the Battle of San Jacinto. All of that history makes for a tantalizing market for artifacts. Search “Wisconsin history” on the website for Heritage Auctions—one of the world’s biggest memorabilia auctioneers, based in Dallas—and you’ll find only a couple hundred items for sale or previously sold, most of them related to…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

The Texas House Chamber Is the Latest Victim of the War on ChristmasIn his Civil War diary, Private Alfred Bellard of the Fifth New Jersey Infantry Regiment wrote about the attempt his unit made to celebrate Christmas from the front line in Virginia. “In order to make it look [as] much like Christmas as possible, a small tree was stuck up in front of our tent, decked off with hard tack and pork, in lieu of cakes and oranges, etc.,” Bellard wrote. The Christmas traditions we take for granted now were still new in the 1860s; the Christmas tree, which had been disdained as a pagan symbol in the nation’s early years, only started to appear in popular Christmas imagery in 1850.Accordingly, soldiers in both the Union and Confederate armies were eager to cling to those traditions,…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Gonzos-Smokehouse-Luling-Louisiana-Jason-Gonzalez-trayBite into a link of smoked boudin at Truth Barbeque, in Houston, or 1701 Barbecue, in Beaumont, and the influence of Louisiana’s Cajun country on Texas barbecue is undeniable. Over the last decade, the barbecue joints of Louisiana have been looking to the Lone Star State for direction. Offset smokers, juicy sliced brisket, and even smoked beef cheek have found an audience there. I set out on a trip that crisscrossed our neighbor to the east to find its best Texas-style barbecue. While on the road, I also tried a few joints that hewed more closely to Louisiana-style barbecue. Paul’s Rib Shack, in Lake Charles, deserves a return visit for the tender pork steak and the flavorful duo of brisket-flecked dirty rice and creamy corn…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Outrageous Texas Holiday SpectaclesYou don’t have to go big to soak in the winter holiday season. Some folks prefer to celebrate by gathering family around the fireplace, while others hope for an evening or two alone with a good book. (Full disclosure: this is my personal wish. Santa, are you listening?) But perhaps this year you’re yearning to go all-out. For those Texans who want their holiday celebrations big, fabulous, and over the top, we’ve got some ideas for you. Resorts, towns, and cities across the state are ramping up their holiday offerings, because nobody ever said, in the year 2023, “That is just too much festive cheer.” Case in point: a decade ago, in 2013, the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa held its first…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

The Philadelphia Eagles Covered Willie Nelson’s “Pretty Paper” for Christmas. We Regret to Inform Cowboys Fans That It Slaps.Here’s a sentence that’s going to sound like Mad Libs, but is somehow actually true: On the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line’s second Christmas album, right tackle Lane Johnson sings lead vocals on a cover of Willie Nelson’s 1963 hit “Pretty Paper,” along with singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield, who plays music under the name Waxahatchee. Give it a listen below, and then let’s check in back here.  Okay, so, to be certain, there isn’t a great reason for this record to exist. There is no shortage of Christmas songs to listen to each year, and the odds that any would turn out to be essential are low. That’s especially true when the artist performing the song is, rather than a professional musician, a professional football player. If…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

An interior dining room at El Charlatan.It’s the time of year when restaurants start announcing closings. The most recent—and possibly most surprising—loss came last week. Enrique Lozano, owner-chef of James Beard Foundation Award semifinalist El Charlatan Taqueria y Ramen-ya in Socorro, just outside El Paso, announced on Instagram that his restaurant is closed indefinitely. Such language is often employed to let the regulars down easy, and allow for a glimmer of hope. But a conversation with Lozano left me with no doubts about El Charlatan’s fate—the decision to close was a matter of when, not if.Lozano told me his restaurant was essentially a one-man operation. He handled the shift schedules, payroll, deliveries, and accounting, but admits his main focus was on cooking the food and taking care of his staff. In…

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