A TACO-LOVIN' TEXAN

When you were a kid, did you ever do that thing where you asked each other, if you were stranded on a desert island and could only have one food for the rest of your life, what would that be? No question here. Tacos! But not the ones with bland ground beef and slimy lettuce in a stale cardboard shell. Never touch the things! No, I'm talkin' bout the kind of tacos we discovered living down in south Texas, in King Ranch country, not too far from the border. So, it's no surprise that, a while back, when I came across one of those "10 tacos to try before you die" lists, I took notes!

Meanwhile, ever since Little Goober arrived, we've fallen into the habit of popping in to see him on most Wednesdays. The night before I usually make a double batch of whatever we're having for dinner, and pack up what's left to take to Lex and Nate for their dinner the next day. Then, on the way over, we stop and grab something quick for all of us to share for lunch. Since Nate is usually working from home, it makes for a fun party. This week, when we were trying to think of somewhere different to stop for lunch, I suddenly remembered that one of the tacos on my must try list was at a permanent food truck called Valentina's Tex-Mex, just down the road from the kids at 7612 Brodie, on the parking lot of a liquor store/filling station.

The two guys went for chopped brisket sandwiches, and Alexis chose the sliced brisket.

I, of course, chose the smoked brisket taco from my must-try list, topped with sea salt lime guacamole and tomato serrano salsa. I'm so glad I did!

The queso and the smoked corn were mighty tasty too! We even took home a bit of their smoked jalapeno sausage to have for our dinner that night.

Then we spent a couple of hours lovin' on the Goobs...

so  Little Mama could relax or work on projects, such as this amazing color-mad blanket she just started crocheting.

We love our Wednesdays!

If you ever happen to be in the Austin area, and find yourself craving a great taco, here are a few to try before you die...

• the lengua taco at La Posada, 6800 West Gate (does lengua mean what I think it does?)
• the Space Cowboy taco at Tacodeli, 7301 Burnet Rd.
• the fish taco at Tamale House East, 1707 E. 6th
• the Gringa taco at Rosita's Al Pastor, 1911 E. Riverside Dr.
• The Asadero taco at Matt's El Rancho, 2613 S. Lamar
• The green chile pork taco, missionary style, at Torchy's
• the barbacoa taco at Jo's Coffee, 2305 E. 7th
• the migas taco at Veracruz All Natural, 4208 Manchaca
• the tacos al carbon at Fonda San Miguel, 2330 W. North Loop

or in San Antonio, try...

•  the paquetes de jicama y camaron at Rosarios, 910 S. Alamo

While we're on the subject of Tex-Mex, check out the latest daily special we stumbled upon at Hays City Store.

Roadside Chicken with Mexican Street Corn

Are you drooling yet?