San Antonio!

We're back from the Twenty-Seventh Annual Multi-State Labor and Employment Law Seminar in San Antonio! We got some really good information -- I was totally clueless about the colossal, overbearing, indecipherable, contradictory requirements of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, especially about records-keeping. I'll have a few rants to share in coming days -- including quite a few about the union-wonk lawyer who spoke on the Employee Free Choice Act.

(I'll note that not everything was all-business. We also got to stroll down memory lane when we stayed one night in the VIP quarters at Ft. Sam Houston, and Pepper got to see a few of his favorite PGA golfers at the Valero tourney being played at the Westin La Cantera.)

But, for today, I'll focus on the sub-title of the conference: The 2009 Barbecue and Mexican Food Tour of the Texas Hill Country! Doug is our researcher and tour guide on all these excursions (one year he found a Jamaican grocery store for jerk chicken and goat in an urban Florida neighborhood where we really had no business visiting -- the old men playing checkers at the other table didn't seem to pay us much heed, though), and he had a detailed schedule of gastronomic delights lined out. I think Pepper and I must have gained 20 pounds between us.

It all started with the 3rd Annual San Antonio Soul Food Festival and Gospel Choir Contest. Giant smoked turkey legs, lots of stuff on a stick, and sweet potato pie to kill for.

Then came the barbecue tour of Luling and Lockhart -- 3 stops with enough ribs, brisket, and sausage to feed a family of four for a month (we didn't have enough room left in our tummies to go to Doug's planned 4th stop!). There's nothing like excellent barbecue sauce under your fingernails!

In Luling we became familiar with the Watermelon Thump Queen contest via posters featured in the windows of Main Street businesses by the 4 contestants, especially in City Market -- my favorite among the barbecue stops. In Lockhart, we were blown away by the beautiful, ornate courthouse in the town square (down the street from Black's Barbecue and a few tattoo parlors). We got a piddling little serving of meat to go at Kreutz's.

The Mexican Food category led us to a touristy place one night that actually had good food (and a mariachi band). And we enjoyed the smoky salsa and fish tacos at Rosario's near the Villejito. But the crown jewel was not on "the list."

Doug wanted barbacoa (cow head), and found a bakery far away from downtown that prepared it on weekends. When we got there, no barbacoa was in sight, but we got some mighty fine, mouth-watering Mexican pastries. So, we headed back down the street and decided to stop at a small, freshly-painted restaurant that advertised itself as "under new management." While "freshly-painted" usually doesn't suit Doug's criteria for "local, hole-in-the-wall" joints, and "under new management" can be disastrous, we were running low on time and decided to give it a shot.

At first glance, the menu looked pretty standard and Doug was a little disappointed. Then he tried the salsa. Then they brought a different type of salsa and he was hooked. We found barbacoa on the menu for him, ordered, and waited. The wait proved worth itself. Wow! What fabulous food -- cooked to order -- at prices that more closely resembled those in the 1960s than 2009. And Las Cazuelas was owned and staffed by a friendly, funny family who sought to meet our every need. I can't say enough good things about it.

Now -- a few plane rides and one delay later, we'll probably be grazing on salads for weeks to un-do the damage rendered by the 2009 Barbecue and Mexican Food Tour of the Texas Hill Country. Mooooo!