the 1015s are in

Every season comes with the anticipation of certain foods that we don't eat during the rest of the year. My birthday, in October, initiates "pumpkin bread" season until Christmas. On the coldest days of winter, when our burning Texas summers seem almost desirable (almost), I find myself salivating over the very idea of a slice of watermelon. And when early spring rolls around, you can be sure that you'll find our pantry stocked with 1015 (ten fifteen) onions.


These bulbous orbs were developed by the Texas Aggies in early 1900 and were named after the date on which they are sown (October 15), in order to have a harvest in early spring. What's great about these onions is they're cross-pollinated to have such a mild, sweet flavor that you can peel and "eat 'em like an apple."


With the arrival of 1015s and the first of the season's cucumbers (Mama says $.79/lb for a cucumber is simply outrageous. Wait for the spring prices), we can finally make Womack’s House – Marinated Cucumbers, Onions and Tomatoes.


Womack’s House was a specialty restaurant in Fulshear, Texas that served home-style country cooking with attitude. The waitresses wore late 1800s costumes (complete with white linen bonnets and aprons) and served your rolls from metal pails (think Little House). Sounds like a hell of a good time, but the place burned down in the early ‘90s. But good ol’ Mama McMillen and her bad ass, recipe-clippin’ self saved a handful of recipes that were posted in the H-Town Chronicle, June 1991.


The original recipe for the marinade involves oil, vinegar and sugar (which can of course be substituted with sweetener), and other ingredients that add a real Spring Zing to the salad.


Honestly, I’m not one much for raw tomatoes and fresh herbs get pricey, so there’s actually a good handful of things that we leave out of the recipe. And dammit, that’s ok. Who died and made the recipe the boss?

One thing I always keep in mind is that unless you’re baking, which requires a lot of precision, you really have a lot of freedom as far as what you put into or leave out of a recipe.


Like pepper? – throw it in.

Hate olives? – leave them out.

Cutting back on your sugar intake? – don’t use as much.


So here, as the first recipe of the freshly revamped blog, I give you:



Womack’s House – Marinated Cucumbers, Onions and (maybe) Tomatoes


3 medium cucumbers sliced

1 medium onion sliced into rings

3 medium tomatoes, wedged

¼ c sugar

1 c water

½ c vinegar (Mama says: white works best)

2 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

¼ c vegetable oil

1 tsp. mint


Combine the dressing mixture (everything but the veggies) in a separate bowl and let everything incorporate and dissolve. Pour the marinade over the chopped veggies and let sit covered in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Serves about 6. Really, between Mama and myself, we end up eating most of the salad at the first sitting.

Dedicated to Mama, for obvious reasons.

-k