Texas Recipe of the Month

Mexican Corn Bread

1 cup yellow corn meal, 1 can cream corn, 1 can (7 oz) green chillies (drain and dice), 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup olive oil, 3/4 cup milk, salt, 1/2 tsp. of cumin.

Put batter flour, oil, milk, eggs, salt, and creamed corn into mixing bowl.  Add Cumin to batter and stir until well mixed.  Pour 1/2 of batter into 10" dutch oven greased inside.  Put a thin layer of chopped chillies on top of batter, and cover these with grated cheese and then add on top of that the remaining batter.  Put four coals under oven and 16 on top and leave for 25-30 minutes.  Open and enjoy with 4 to 6 other people!

Dining Pick of the Month

Eastland, Texas  I-20

Puldio's

Their manager, Francisco Ramos (picture to left with supervisor, Ramon' Roman), is one of the top Mexican Food restaurant managers I have ever known. He is there daily, greeting guest as they come in the door, his eyes scanning every waiter or waitress tray of food, watching the bus-girl that the tables are promptly cleaned and ready for the next customer, keeping an eye on the kitchen with a trip through there every ten minutes or so, and keeping a positive attitude with and among the employees! He pauses at a table every so often to make a personal visit with a customer, making each feel

                                       special! (Full article)

The restaurant has an outstanding group of employees, and many have been with the company for many, many years. Among these is Armando (known as Chico) Ceballos, from Cuba. Chico has been with the company a total of 15 years. Many customers ask for him by name.

He started waiting my table several years ago, and I could never find a better waiter. (Picture to right.) Lovely and always busy, Maria, another long time employee pictured to the left.

The beautiful Janie Vasquerz (picture to left), is usully at the entrance as hostess. It is her great smile that makes the customers feel welcome as she leads them to their seating. That alone should make a person want to come to Puldio's to eat.

          Special Texas Place and Special Person

       Terry, Lankford

            (Abilene, Texas)

He grew up in the Big Country – that portion of Texas which incorporates smaller counties such as Eastland and Callahan along with larger counties like Taylor and where Abilene and the old town of Lueders fit in as well as further west toward the Edwards Plateau.  As a child, Terry Lankford grew up around the Mesquites and Oaks of Lueders, Texas.

Terry was used to working with his hands.  He’s a big fellow with large rough hands and a Teddy Bear disposition!  He quarried stone originally as a living, but always found a way to use his creativity to work with the hard woods of Texas.  Mesquite and oak hold his fascination.  Each tree, limb, or trunk contains beauty to the eye of the beholder – Terry Lankford.  While rough and in its natural state, Terry can see the beauty and destiny of how a piece will finish out.  Perhaps this is why there are hundreds upon hundreds of pieces of tree trunks, limbs, and root systems stacked up in his two lumber lots in Abilene, Texas. 

For the past seven years Terry has been able to fulfill his desire of creating couture or high end styles, while maintaining somewhat of a Texas rustic appearance.  Recently one mesquite conference table was shipped to Washington State where the purchaser gladly gave $10,000 to have this one of a kind table.  I asked Terry how long it took for a conference table to be completed, he answered, “Over two months.”  While the prices may or may not be in keeping with your taste, the labor of love and sweat that is poured into each piece increases its value as well as his cost

in acquiring each tree trunk or slab of wood.  He is constantly working on a variety of pieces at any given time.  I saw a beautiful king size bed frame with head and footboard being put together.  Someone is going to love that piece when it is set up in their bedroom!

Many of the smaller tables will have the root system incorporated into the design to add stability to the structure. (To the right is one of our writers, and co-author of this article, Rhonda Pipkin with Terry.) Mesquite wood is more stable than oak, having a shrinkage of only 2-4%.  Terry has shown the ability to design almost anything from wood.  From bar tops, to side tables, coffee tables, sofa tables, lamp posts, mantles, conference size tables, dining table w/chairs, and one of a kind “butterfly” tables as seen in the photo.  Some of the pieces will have a sunburst effect in parts of the wood grain.  Mr. Lankford states, “This is where mistletoe will have grown into the tree and the sunburst effect is actually the root streaks of the mistletoe.”  Once Terry decides what a piece will be, he hand rubs each piece down to a smooth finish and then by hand will rub in 6 layers of  Tung oil to give the wood a durable gloss coat finish.  Occasionally his daughter, Kina Lankford, will assist him by placing Turquoise and other natural decorative Texas elements into a crevice left in the wood.  This is then covered with clear epoxy and the table itself is finished as all the rest with the hand rubbed Tung or Orange oil.

For a list of available merchandise and to see the website, go to www.mesquite-lumber.com or email questions at info@mesquite-lumber.com .  You can find Terry Lankford, wife Susan,  and his daughter at Lankford’s Texas Mesquite Products, 1042 Cottonwood Abilene, Texas 79601 – phone:  325-670-9888.  While at the website, you’ll find a sweet surprise:  Kina Lankford is a singer/songwriter and she has a new CD out by Sonnett Publishing LLC, entitled Copenhagen Kisses featuring Aaron Watson.  Here, you’ll get a bargain – a beautiful furnishing for your home, and sweet Texas music to boot!  Happy Traveling