BIG BEND
BOOKS

The Big Bend Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of West Texas

       Out of the blue comes this stunning book from a publisher more noted for its history books than its regional cuisine. And this cookbook features not only recipes from the Big Bend, but also people, places, and stories, too.
    The book is modest in size but packs a wallop. Its 288 pages are of high-quality paper stock and the beautiful book design does a nice job of blending food and regional legend and lore. I only wish the book would open up and lie flat on the counter top, but maybe that's why we have copy machines, so we can take a picture of the recipe and keep the book clean.
    The content of the book includes much, much more than recipes. There are travel suggestions for vacationing in the Big Bend; vignettes of some of the contributors; even a Geology 101 on the Marathon Basin!  One section, called "Foraging in the Trans-Pecos Region

contains recipes using the ubiquitous chiles pequin (birds drop these spicy-hot seeds everywhere), honey-mesquite bean pods, agarita berries (the fruits of a common Chihuahuan Desert shrub)  and prickly-pear pads (nopalitos) and fruits (tunas).
    Many of the recipes are local variations of standards like fruit cobber, pecan pie, fresh-baked bread, pesto, etc. But most of the recipes sound like something out of gourmet cookbooks: Grilled Romaine with Chorizo and Goat Cheese (courtesy of Marfa Table); and Steve Anderson's (of Big Bend Brewery) 22 Porter Beef Stew; and Fideos de Nicolas (from Nicolas Gallego). Then there is Endive Salad with Toshi's Slightly Asian Dressing (from Michael Serva of Cochineal), and, well,  you get the idea.
    Oh, and the price? A good buy at $24.99, and sure to be a popular holiday gift

Book review by Jean Pitman, Front Street Books, Alpine.

My Wild Life: A Memoir of Adventures within America's National Parks

Here is a delightful book for nature-lovers, and particularly those who revere our national parks. One might consider Roland “Ro” Wauer the quintessential observer of nature. His interest in birds, butterflies, and the plants and flowers they feed on—as well as all other living aspects of the natural world—has been a life-long passion that began in childhood and continues to this day.
His story is an enviable one. After all, we don’t all get to have a long career in the most beautiful places in our country. From Zion National Park and Crater Lake to the Big Bend, Guadalupe Mountains, Great Smokey Mountains, Death Valley (which he recommends highly)  and three more national parks, Wauer has sought the common and rare species of all kinds of plants, reptiles, birds, butterflies, mammals and insects. At a recent book-signing,  Wauer said Big Bend National Park remains his favorite of all.
Among other extraordinary accomplishments, the author has held the rare Trans-Pecos Rat Snake in his hands long enough to be photographed. And he has observed and photographed

all types of ecosystems and their creatures.
The author’s prose is clear, enthusiastic, interesting, and authoritative. This book will fuel your own interest in getting back out into nature and observing such treasures for yourself.
Also highly recommended are Wauer’s earlier books on Big Bend: Naturalist's Big Bend: An Introduction to the Trees and Shrubs, Wildflowers, Cacti, Mammals, Birds, Reptiles and Amphibians, Fish, and Insects (Texas A&M Univ. Press, 15.95) and For All Seasons: A Big Bend Journal (Univ. Texas Press, 25.00) Wauer has penned several guides to the birds and butterflies, all of which are available through bookstores.