Calgary (in the province of Alberta, Canada) has oil riches, much like Houston, Texas. Calgary also has a rodeo and cattle tradition, much like the cowboys and the steakhouses of Texas. The…
For over one hundred years, a ball has been dropped from a pole in New York City to signify the birth of a new year. The tradition has been popularized by the building at One Times Square, but…
Six-man football allows smaller schools that can't field 11-man teams to still play the game. Six-man football was invented by Stephen Epler in Nebraska, but the game really took root in…
The Canadian province of Alberta is often compared with Texas. The “Texas of Canada” is rich in oil reserves, has many ranches, has a love of rodeo (the Calgary Stampede), has plenty of cattle,…
A "hat trick" in ice hockey is when a player scores three goals in one game. A "Texas hat trick" (somewhat larger than a regular "hat trick") is when an ice hockey…
"Yellow Velvet" (a simple corn and squash dish) is said to be a Shaker recipe from the nineteenth century. Butter, cream, and fresh ground black pepper are usually included in the recipe.…
Romeritos is a Mexican herb that resembles rosemary. The Mexican dish of "romeritos" ("Romeritos en Revoltijo") adds dried shrimp, nopales, and pototoes and is served in a mole…
The "muffuletta" (or "muffaletta" or any number of spellings) is a sandwich that is served in a large, round loaf of crusty Sicilian bread, with three meats (capicola, salami,…
A "sundown town" is a town where certain groups of people are accepted to work during the day, but not to live there (and sleep there after sundown). The term "sundown town" has…
The Academy Award was first awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) in 1929. The origin of the name "Oscar" for the Academy Award has long been contested.…
The Broadway musical Hello, Dolly! opened on January 16, 1964, and became one of the longest-running Broadway shows ever. The musical features a restaurant scene. The origin of foods named…
New York City has long had eating places, with the earliest being called "taverns" or "inns." George Thompson (in a post to the American Dialect Society on December 21, 2007)…
"Texas sheath cake" is probably the same as "Texas sheet cake" -- a brownie-like cake made on a large baking sheet. "Sheet cake" is cited from the early 1900s;…
Rudy's "Country Store" & Bar-B-Q's untrademarked slogan (not that anyone else will take it) is "Worst Bar-B-Q" in Texas." Some think that Rudy's is…
Schlotzsky's deli began with in south Austin in 1971 with just one sandwich -- "The Original," a version of the famous New Orleans muffuletta sandwich featuring three meats.…
American Chinese restaurant menus have long had columns (Column A, Column B, etc.) for ordering food family style. One could choose one item from Column A, two items from Column B, and so forth.…
"Courtesy, Service, Protection" is the motto of the Texas Department of Public Safety. The DPS website states that the DPS was created in 1935, but the motto is cited in print being used…
The Alamo is the popular national landmark in San Antonio. San Antonio itself was called "the Alamo City" by the mid-1800s. In the 1880s, "Alamo City" showed up in book titles.…
The "hot dog" has had many variations, so it was inevitable that Chinese cuisine would come up with a variation. Various recipes appeared in the 1960s (see below), usually with small hot…
BookPeople is an independently owned bookstore that opened in Austin in 1970. BookPeople claims to be the largest bookstore in Texas, but takes pride in serving the community. "A community…