Alison Cook

@alisoncook

Omnivore, part-time misanthrope, rabid Houstonian. Lapsed restaurant critic, newsletter writer at

1.528 Folgt3.493 Follower2.284 Posts

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Alison Cook@alisoncook· 18h

Walked a half mile along I-10 feeder to lunch after my DPS appointment. Saw 7 kinds of wildflowers along the verge, including 2 kinds of acacia—yellow and pink.

A tangle of green grass blades of varying widths, with a delicate pink powderpuff of acacia stamens at left center.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· 1d

Idylwood Book Club president readying for a meeting:

A charcoal grey kitten with white markings thrusts a paw into Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Memory. Scattered about on a grey-and-white figured bedsheet are a black-and-white composition notebook and a notebook with a blue fantasy landscape. At lower left is a copy of Wildflowers of Texas with a black cover and large pink blooms.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· 3d

Happy Caturday

A dark-grey-and-white tabby cat sits on the perforated seat of a black metal garden chair holding a white ceramic mug of coffee. To the left, amid a sea of greenery, nod two pink, trumpet-like ruellia blooms and a pair of vivid medium-blue Chinese dayflowers.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· 6d

Must. Attack. Shoe. ☠️

Two kittens in a headlock battle over a high heeled black ankle boot. Filling the greater part of mid-frame is a white kitten with grey markings on tail, rump, shoulder and head. Butting in on the right is a charcoal grey kitten.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· 10d

Caturday:

A square white box crammed with 4 kittens in varying states of repose. Two kittens spooning at upper left are mostly white with grey and black markings on their heads. Their ears and noses are pink. Two grey kittens nestle together at lower right. One has a white muzzle.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· 11d

Put up a quart of brandied cherries late last night, so the last of the summer fruit explosion is dealt with. I ALWAYS end up buying more cherries than I can eat. 😹

A quart canning jar is filled with fat round cherries in a vivid purply-red shade. They are floating in a wine-dark sea. They sit on a high wooden stool that once graced the Rice architecture studios. In the background of the ice-lime kitchen , a red saucepan hangs from the stove hood.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· 12d

And how's YOUR day going?

A small grey and white kitten comfortably ensconced in a shoe. The shoe sits on a wooden floor in a patch of sunlight that outlines the kitten's floor and white whiskers.

The small grey comfortable kitten has been tumped from its shoe by a rude sibling. Now it lies next to the shoe on its back, its jaws agape in outraged protest. Its tormentor, a white kitten with a patch of black on its head and ears tipped in black, has pinned the grey kitten in a sprawling wrestling hold.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· 13d

Got my first batch of pineapple vinegar steeping. First saw jars of it in the Santurce Market in San Juan. Finally got to use my Bragg’s as a starter!

A glass quart canning jar floating with chunks of pineapple rind in clear, pale golden liquid. A light cotton cloth covers the top, secured by the lid ring.

A glass quart canning jar afloat with pineapple rinds in pale golden liquid sits front left.A light cotton cloth secured by the lid ring covers the top. To the right sits a green spiky pineapple top, its stem curing so it can be planted.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· 14d

Took 2 years but I just harvested my first homegrown pineapple:

4 sections of quartered homegrown pineapple, uncored, in a rich gold shade. They rest on a blue-figured white plate that sits on a carved oblong wooden tray.

Pineapple quarters on a blue-and-white plate, with on section turned so that the knobbly bronze hued skin and spines are visible.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· 23d

Midnight confession: I could eat my weight in Basque Cheesecake from Baso in Houston, and tonight I pretty much did. Sorry not sorry.

A satiny wedge of Basque Cheesecake with a deeply caramelized, shiny crust. It sits on a shiny grass-green soup plate bordered in dark twists of greenery.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Jun 30

New on my newsletter: Why you need a fig tree. alison-cooks-htown.ghost.io/why-you-need...

A handful of just-picked figs, shaped like fat teardrops, their skins flushed with a rusty purple shade overlying light green. They rest on a mother-of pearl plate.

Halved figs, some with their stems attached, cover a white ceramic plate with a scalloped edge. The teardrop-shaped figs have vivid purplish red centers shading to pale green at their rims.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Jun 19

First of the figs here in Houston:

A handful of five shiny homegrown figs in varying shades of sienna-red and muted chartreuse.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Jun 19

Good morning.

A grass-green sheaf of bright purple morning glories sweeps from lower left to upper right, filling two thirds of the frame. The scalloped cups of the flowers are veined in a pale fuschia that ends in slender pink tubes. In the background is a darker green riot of wild grapevines.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· May 16

Caturday lounging.

A grey shorthair tabby cat lounging on to of a banana-shaped cat bed, next to a purplish-pink African violet in full bloom. Background is a light-yellow bookshelf crammed with cookbooks, a metal candlestick and a vintage soda bottle from Otto’s Barbecue.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· May 1

Drove away numerous evil spirits with my Walpurgis Night bonfire. I had a little list. Well, not so little.

A leaping bonfire in a rusty barrel against the blackness in a nighttime backyard. Branches poke out akimbo and sparks fly up.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Apr 30

New on my newsletter: saved by a sandwich. And a delightfully eccentric room: alison-cooks-htown.ghost.io/a-sandwich-s...

A mortadella sandwich with pink-and-white slices piled with soft curds of fior di latte mozzarella and the intense green of arugula leaves and pistachio pesto. It rests on a red-and-white checked paper wrapping.

An old-fashioned breakfront-style counter beside a white gelato case rimmed in rose decals. The small dining room has dark red walls wreathed in roses, vintage prints and paintings, bright red metal chairs and 7-foot-long strings of pothos ivy trailing from a high wooden cupboard.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Dec 3

Eating my weight in laminated pastries here in Copenhagen. You are looking at the innards of Hart Bageri’s cardamom croissant.

A well browned, craggy, circular croissant opened to its pale, airy interior. It sits on a crumpled brown paper sack.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Dec 1

Stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a man sitting in a Delft teacup at Schiphol.

A bald man, only his head and shoulders visible, sits in a giant Delft blue and white teacup at an airport cafe.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Nov 30

Mom don’t leave

Two young calico cats curled on top of and alongside of a pile of folded clothing.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Nov 30

Besties:

A caramel-colored golden retriever mix curled above a calico cat playing with its paws approaching the dog’s nose.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Nov 25

I saw this little dude in my grocery store parking lot. It seemed like a visitation.

Sepia-toned portrait of a long legged, knock-kneed, long-necked juvenile night heron with big feet and white-flecked grey-brown plumage. His dark beak is point and thickish. His big splayed feet stand on striped parking-lot cement dotted with oil stains. In the background sits a dark shiny car with one chrome-embellished tire showing.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Oct 25

Not ready to see Christmas decor at the superstore today, but I made an exception for these holiday taco piñatas 👹

A row of crepe-paper trimmed taco piñatas with yellow curlicues represented the shell, and curlicues of matte brown, shiny green and shiny red representing the meat, lettuce and tomatoes.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Oct 16

My first Vampiro of the season. Layered fresh-pressed beet, carrot and orange juice at La Guadalupana #2 in Pasadena, Texas, just outside of Houston.

A goblet filled with layered juices and afloat with little square ice cubes. Bottom layer is orange juice; middle layer more vivid orange carrot juice; top layer deep red beet juice topped with rose-colored foam.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Oct 3

New on my newsletter: there are few things more cheering than discovering a serious new bakery within striking distance. Coastal Bake Shop is a boon to Houston’s east side and the Bay Area: read about it at alison-cooks-htown.ghost.io

A well-browned croissant with many layers swirled across its circumference, and a pointy, layered little tail end that makes it look like a pastry sea creature. It sits on a vintage spring-green plate with scalloped edges, and a peach and its darker green leaves peeking out on the left side.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Sep 26

New on my newsletter: made a pilgrimage to Molina’s Cantina, Houston’s oldest Tex-Mex restaurant, to pay my respects to their classic Enchiladas de Tejas. But something was missing: sign up to read it for free at alison-cooks-htown.ghost.io

A plate of cheese enchiladas smothered in deep-russet chile con carne and chopped raw onion, with Spanish rice and refried beans crowding in from either side.

Vintage-look laminated menu in pastels and dark red, featuring a senorita in a yellow folkloric blouse wearing a hibiscus flower in her long black cascade of curls. Text reads “Molina’s Cantina” and “A Houston Tradition Since 1941.”

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Aug 26

New on my newsletter: Is this the world’s best easy breakfast? Super-indulgent. Healthy-ish. Made in a flash. Sign up to read about it for free at alison-cooks-htown.ghost.io

A snowy scoop of labne, the satiny yogurt cheese, topped with garnet- hued sour cherries in their syrup. Fresh green mint leaves and broken brown walnuts are strewn on top. It all sits in cobalt and sky-blue patterned bowl with a green vine twining through.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Aug 13

New on my newsletter: startlingly good shrimp—and fish!—at the Pappas family’s new Yiayia’s Greek Kitchen. Sign up to read about it for free at alison-cooks-htown.ghost.io

A plate of four huge prawns,butterflied and roasted in their shells so they look like red-rimmed baby lobster tails. They are scattered with dark purple chopped olives and bits of mint leaves and feathery dill. A lemon wedge sits at lower right, and a golden ribbon of olive oil circles the left hand quadrant of the plate.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Jul 29

New on my newsletter: Houston’s best falafel is at a bar in Clear Lake. World-class stuff. Sign up to read about it at alison-cooks-htown.ghost.io

A small globe of falafel in cross-section, with sun catching the varying shades of green in the generously herbed ground-chickpea mixture. The outside looks crackly and deep-brown. On the celadon-green plate sits a vivid magenta spear of pickled turnip and a glossy dab of ivory tzatziki.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Jun 30

How I learned to love the little grey shrimp of Belgium, which come off very differently than our big ol’ Gulf Coast specimens. It’s new on my newsletter, & you can sign up to read it for free at alison-cooks-htown.ghost.io

A grey shrimp (crevettes grises) omelette at the old-school Brussels bistro Au Vieux Saint Martin. The tiny pinkish shrimp ride on top of the folded,slightly bubbled and browned egg surfaces, and there’s a vivid heap of microgreens salad in front of them on the shallow white bowl.

A grey shrimp croquette at L’Ogenblik gastropub in Brussels. The square-cut croquette is coated in well-bronzed breadcrumbs, and there’s rich bechamel/cheese filling oozes toward the white plate from the cut surface. A lemon wedge, a sheaf of dark green flash-fried parsley,, and a frilly little salad topped with pale magenta onion slices come with it on the plate.

Alison Cook@alisoncook· Jun 10

New on my newsletter at alison-cooks-htown.ghost.io: I checked out Houston chef Nick Wong’s new Asian diner, Agnes and Sherman. You should, too: