A taste of Texas, en Suisse

Purple is the only color allowed on game days

First things first, let me say, GO FROGS! It's a Saturday night in Switzerland, and they have an 11am game, meaning we get to watch the entire game!!

Sometimes when you live outside of Texas, you have to bring a little taste of home to wherever you are. This was the case for us twice in the past few weeks, when we had a little Tex-Mex fiesta for BK's team, and then again tonight when we needed a little bit of home while watching college football. I also wanted to share the recipes I used in case you're a Texan (or American who likes Tex-Mex) in Switzerland or somewhere similar. 

BK's team enjoying the terrace

We hosted BK's team for dinner at our house a couple of weeks ago. Baby K entertained everyone for a little while before she headed off to bed, and then we enjoyed a Tex-Mex Fiesta for dinner. When we do something like this, BK always asks for menu ideas, and I always lean toward this one. I think it's because typically we're having Europeans over, so this will be something very "us" and not something they have on a regular basis.

I was pleased with how everything turned out, and hopefully people enjoyed it. Here are the recipes I used for our fiesta:

• Fajita seasoning: I used this for both chicken and beef; we grilled 2lbs of each and I doubled the recipe. I would probably quadruple next time and let it marinate a little longer.
• Salsa: I've used this recipe a couple of times, but we don't have Rotel in Switzerland, so you have to adjust by taste accordingly or it turns out extremely tomato-y.
• Guacamole: This is something I think you really have to make based on taste. We use avocados, tomato, onion, garlic, lime juice, salt, pepper, cilantro (called coriander here), and chicken bouillon.
• Mexican Rice: I had never made this recipe, and it turned out great!
• Refried beans: I used canned ones that we can get here, but typically add salt, pepper, and garlic, then top with cheese.

Tonight for the TCU vs Texas game I really wanted some tailgating food to enjoy while we watched our game. BK loves Buffalo Bros in Fort Worth, so I thought I would give some wings a try. We also made guacamole again, and grilled some corn. The combo may seem a little random, but it was really good.

Wings, guac, and grilled corn

I was surprised to find wings at Coop (grocery store) that were only drums. I bought two packs and made one with buffalo flavor and one with Asian flavor. Surprisingly, the buffalo ones were way better than the Asian ones, as they had a much stronger flavor, and had quite a bit of heat to them. I chose two recipes that required baking the wings as opposed to frying, as the last thing I need is one more mess to clean up.

Here are the wing recipes I used:

• Easy Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings: I used Cholula hot sauce, which I found in our local grocery store. I wouldn't do anything different on this recipe.
• Honey Soy Chicken Wings: these didn't have as much flavor as I would have liked, so we added some teriyaki sauce afterwards. I'll probably play around with this recipe next time to improve it.

I did have one fail...I attempted to make ranch dressing as a dipping sauce for the buffalo wings. It was pretty much a complete fail. I used a Pioneer Woman recipe, but it just was not right. I'm not sure if the mayonnaise has a stronger taste here or what, but it was not good. I'm sure I'll try again at some point.

To end this post on a very positive note, TCU just trounced UT, beating them 50-7. Can't say it enough...GO FROGS!