My name is Kim and I grew up in Northern Minnesota eating hot-dishes, casseroles, venison roasts, potatoes and fresh Walleye. Walleye, in my opinion is the best fish in the world, as long as it is freshly caught. Whenever I go back home to Minnesota I always request to have it and hope that there is enough to freeze to take back to Texas with me. I met my husband Glen while working for a horse trainer in Texas for a summer during college. I fell in love with him and the Texas food and culture. Glen introduced me to food with lots of flavor and spice! He always likes to tell people how it took 7 years to get me to like jalapeños. Which is true, just like it took me 3 years to get used to the Texas heat. Glen is definitely the talented, instinctual cook in our home, especially with meats. He also has a special knack for creating quick weeknight meals that taste great even when the fridge and pantry are low on staples. He enjoys experimenting with flavors and I enjoy taste testing. I’m definitely the one who loves to bake. My mom was always making amazing cakes and sweet treats when I was growing up. I have a terrible sweet tooth!
We also love to host get-togethers with friends and neighbors. Especially in the spring and summer when we have a plethora of produce from our garden. We enjoy sharing food, relaxing by a fire and spending time with our friends.
Some interesting things about me:
- I love to buy plants and flowers! You can never have too many 🙂
- I think pizza should be it’s own food group.
- I love to read cookbooks, and get inspired to try new recipes.
- I love to watch my chickens and work in my garden.
Howdy from the other half of Chiliwango! My name is Glen and I was lucky enough to have been born and raised in the brush country of South Texas. I developed a unique pallet growing up, we love our peppers and mesquite in South Texas! I had two great influences on my cooking “style”. First and foremost was my grandmother, she was a very sweet but stern lady that could cook anything! She owned and operated two small town restaurants that were always packed. She retired when I was a young man and focused on her gardening, preserving and cooking…..lucky for me!!! She was a very patient mentor, she always had time and welcomed you to help her in the kitchen. She measured nothing when she was cooking and baking so you had to pay attention if you wanted to learn. Her measurements were purely from experience. Over the years I have developed the same style of cooking.
My parents worked out of town a lot when I was growing up so my brother and I were regulars at my nanny’s dinner table. The wonderful aromas coming out of her kitchen would saturate the air, your mouth would begin to water walking up her driveway. And she ALWAYS had some sort of freshly baked dessert!! My favorite was Buttermilk Pie!
My second influence was from an illegal immigrant who worked for us. We called him the “foreign exchange student” (he thought that handle was hilarious). He was from the mountain region of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. During my childhood I spent a LOT of time with him during the summers and on weekends. We worked together, hunted together, cooked together and ate together. For our lunch breaks we would stop and go back to his shack and make lunch. I started cooking with him and we ate wonderful food, lots of fresh tortillas and plenty of peppers. Most of our meals were cooked on an open fire. He taught me how to use ingredients found around the ranch such as; cactus, mesquite beans and all sorts of game. The quail wrapped in banana leaves buried in coals and rattlesnake tacos were killer. He always had a pocket full of chili pequins and would eat them like candy throughout the day, I would occasionally pop a couple until I think I permanently wrecked my taste buds as far as heat tolerance. Now I catch my son eating them off of the plants in our yard…awesome!!!
My primary proteins growing up were venison and wild hog. I remember my mom spending many hours processing the meat. My brother and I watched and learned how to process wild game from her. Thanks mom! Now I am showing my son all the techniques. He’s learning the work doesn’t start until after the hunt. For years my wife has been trying to convince me to write down my recipes, which has lead to the creation of this blog. Hopefully I am able to share some of my techniques and cooking styles that I have developed from my experiences with you.