Home sweet (and savory) home!

There’s that old cliché—you can never go home again—which is partly true because what you once knew as home inevitably will change. Of course, some things stay the same, but on my recent trip to Houston I was pleasantly struck by the merging of the familiar with the new.

When I arrived in Houston late on a Friday night, I was certain that since all the restaurants were closed (save for Whataburger and Taco Cabana), I would be going straight to bed. But my magnificent mother had stopped by one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, Amalia’s, and ordered my usual dish, enchiladas verdes (carnitas stuffed into corn tortillas, drowning in tomatillo sauce, sliced onions and avocados) to go. Plus she had thrown in a pint of green sauce and a batch of fresh flour tortillas—a wonderful welcome indeed! Even though it was after midnight and I had to wake up early on Saturday to drive to Austin, I stood at the kitchen counter devouring my meal, not even taking the time to heat it up. “Do you want to sit down?” Mom asked me. “No,” I replied, “I just want to eat!” I was very happy. She acknowledged the comfort of the familiar and in between stuffing my face I agreed.

I spent less than 24 hours in Austin at my friend’s catfish fry to celebrate her marriage, and that was a whirlwind of catching up with old, dear friends. And even though we’re all a few years short of 40, the lot of us piled up in two hotel rooms, sleeping in all sorts of crazy arrangements such as four in a king-sized bed. The slumber party took us back to our college years, even though I eventually decided that four to a bed was bit much and that the floor was probably a better option. I had to return to Houston very early on Sunday, so by nine o’clock in the morning I was on the road making a stop in Elgin, home of some of the best sausage in Texas. Even at that hour there was already a long queue at Southside Market, but it was worth the wait as I loaded up on fresh links to bring back to NYC.
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