The Kroger Company

The Eating...Our Words 100: Tracy Vaught, Owner of Backstreet Cafe and Hugo's

What she does: Tracy Vaught is the owner of Hugo's and Backstreet Cafe and a partner at Prego and Trevisio. ""I do all the planning, train managers, set all the standards for the restaurants, design menus," says Vaught. "Investments and charitable giving. I am the one who has political involvement ... More >>

You, Too, Can Shop for Groceries by Light Rail!

When I tell people that my husband and I share a car, and have for the entire three years we have lived in Houston, we get a lot of funny looks. It's true that the logistics don't always work out, but we almost always make it work. Note the "almost" -- that's the little word that forced me to get ou ... More >>

Bountiful Bargains at Randalls Discount Rack

Almost every time I enter a clothing store, I head first to the sale rack. Why pay full price when there are bargains to be had? Up until recently, I didn't replicate this pattern of behavior in supermarkets, where the discounts are dispersed throughout the store (or so I thought). Not so much at ... More >>

The New Trader Joe's in Memorial Opens in One Hour; Are You Ready?

After receiving its sales tax permit all the way back in December 2011, the Trader Joe's #427 at 1440 S. Voss is ready to open -- at 8 a.m. today. The new Trader Joe's location is situated on a once-empty pad site that was previously occupied by a Michael's and smack in the middle of one of Houston ... More >>

'Tis the Season for Spirits and Cheese: (Reposado) Tequila Edition

This holiday season, turn the tables on the traditional "wine and cheese" combo by pairing cheeses with your favorite hard alcohol. In this special series, I'll be investigating which fromages go best with distilled spirits as well as offering tips on how to construct a tasting without breaking the ... More >>

A Gingerbread House Decorated Cannot Stand

My first attempt at constructing a gingerbread house occurred during elementary school, and I'm happy to report it was successful. (Probably because "construction" simply involved gluing stale graham crackers to a milk carton and tossing a few sprinkles on top.) And though I recognized that making ... More >>

Upcoming Events: Tailgating at Triniti and the World's Largest Fondue Party

Craft beer fans are in for a double treat this month: In addition to the upcoming Stone Vertical Epic tasting next Thursday, December 13 at The Flying Saucer downtown, The Hay Merchant will be hosting a staggering Shmaltz tasting this Saturday featuring 16 different beers from Coney Island and He'Br ... More >>

Food Fight: Battle Relaxation Drinks

A drink that makes you relax? Isn't that called "booze"? That was my reaction when I heard that one of the latest trends in beverages was anti-energy elixirs. As a person who will climb the walls (or the nearest tree) if she has more than two fluid ounces of coffee, I'm not usually on the market fo ... More >>

An Amy's Kitchen Obsession Continues with Indian Wraps

Within the last few months, a certain Houston Press food critic posted a photo of an Amy's Kitchen wrap to her Facebook page. This particular photo caught my eye because the wrap in question was not the usual burrito, but an "Indian wrap." As an Amy's devotee and lover of Indian food, I was immediat ... More >>

Special K Flatbread Breakfast Sandwiches: Quick & Tasty

I love Special K products. The cereals, snack bars and chips are always tasty. While shopping at Walmart I came across a new product in the frozen section -- breakfast flatbreads, all less than 250 calories. I decided to give them a try. With choices from sausage, egg and cheese, ham, egg and pepp ... More >>

Make at Home: Panera Bread's Signature Macaroni & Cheese

Macaroni and cheese will forever be one of the greatest comfort foods. It doesn't matter if you're five years old or 50 years old, you can always enjoy this creamy, cheesy and comforting dish. After browsing through Pinterest for a recipe to make for dinner, I continually came across the recipe for ... More >>

Tales From Aisle 14: Grocery Shopping for the Non-Cook

I spent six years living in New York City, eating every meal except breakfast Cheerios out and about on the wide streets of Manhattan. During that time, cooking seemed like a quaint idea in the face of all of New York's world-renowned, and hole-in-the-wall, eateries. Cooking. Cute, but unrealistic. ... More >>

Save Yourself: The 10 Worst Online Retailers

Ads like this are the only reason to visit AmericanApparel.com...if you like that sort of thing​It's frustrating enough to shop for friends and family members during the holidays. Do I get my 80-year-old aunt a gift card to Kroger or H-E-B? Decisions, decisions. Unfortunately, some online mer ... More >>

This Week in Deliciousness

I'm a little hesitant because it's half IPA. I'm very enthusiastic, however, because it's two things just crammed right the crap together. I love a good mish mash.​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we promise never to have a talking anthropomorphic food item as ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Not So Enamored with H-E-B

​Here on Eating Our Words, the commenters absolutely make the blog, and our Comment of the Day honors the best of the bunch. Every day, we read you guys and pick the commenter, or commenters, who made us laugh, cry, salivate over something delicious, or think about things in a new way. In re ... More >>

Limited Edition Nestle Oatmeal Scotchies

Photo by Joanna O'LearyYes, those are dark chocolate Milky Ways lurking in the background.​Between October and December it's rare to find a "limited edition" food product that doesn't have something to do with the impending holidays. That's exactly why I gravitated toward the new "Oatmeal Scot ... More >>

Spooky Booze: 5 Creepy Cocktails To Get You In The Halloween Spirit

Ahh, October: the time of year when we head to Frankel's/ Party Boy/ Stripper Depot to find our Halloween costumes, fat orange gourds sit outside at Kroger baking in the Houston sun, and every awful (by awful, I mean awesome) '80s horror movie is on AMC. I love everything about Halloween -- falling ... More >>

Health Department Roundup: Fast Times

"Islands made of cheese / And a sushi bar / Health inspectors say / That there's nothin' wrong..."​Fast food can be hard to resist. It's just so convenient and satisfyingly self-destructive. Plus, corporations put chemicals in that stuff to give you physical cravings for their processed crap. ... More >>

Wine of the Week: A Bordeaux White

​Winemaker Hervé Dubourdieu is widely recognized as one of the great producers of Sauternes, the "noble rot" dried-grape wine of Bordeaux, where grape growers let the fungus botrytis grow on their late-harvest fruit, thus desiccating the berries and concentrating their sugar and flavors. Bu ... More >>

Happy Hour Scene: Poscol

​The Place: Vinoteca Poscol The Deals: $2 small glasses of wine, $1 cicchetti The Hours: 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays The Scene: I like visiting bars where you might have second thoughts about touching anything in the bathroom, let alone eating. I also appreciate nicer places that ... More >>

Ingredient of the Week: Ground Flaxseed Meal

​What is it? First, let's start with flaxseeds. They're tiny little seeds that are just the slightest bit larger than sesame seeds. They come in a range of colors - from light to dark-brown - depending on the variety. These seeds can be used for crunch in things like cereal, breads and grano ... More >>

Ingredient of the Week: Celeriac

veganalects ​What is it? One thing it isn't, is attractive. This bulbous, brown monstrosity is actually the root of a type of celery plant, although it isn't the same type as the ones we buy the stalks of in the grocery stores. It was specifically bred to create a large, bulky root rather than ... More >>

What a Crock: Chicken and Dumplings

​Chicken and dumplings is always popular. Before temps start to rise, I wanted to work my own crock pot version of this American classic into the mix. It's one I've adapted quite a bit over the years. The rundown Take three frozen chicken filets (from a bag like they carry at Kroger's). ... More >>

Odd Pair: Heart-Shaped Cheese Pizza & Argiolas Costamolino

​While it is a fact that shaping the pizza like a heart will not alter its taste one bit, it certainly does make it cheesier. Puns aside, I have a dreadfully wonderful tradition of ordering cheap, heart-shaped pizza on Valentine's Day. This year, I wanted to find a wine that would really p ... More >>

In the Spotlight

Spotlight Karaoke sets standard for do-it-yourself singing spots.

This Week in Deliciousness

Wait a minute, where the hell are the Fritos?​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where procrastination is (note to self: think of some clever definition and insert it here later). We started the week off with one of our favorite things: a recounting of time spent jud ... More >>

Murray's Cheese and Kroger: How's That For a Cheese Pairing?

Photos by Katharine Shilcutt​The famous Murray's Cheese Shop didn't start out as the epicenter of the cheese universe. Its roots were much more humble than that: a sort of general store founded in 1940 by Murray Greenberg to sell butter and eggs to area residents in Greenwich Village. It trade ... More >>

Ingredient of the Week: Pomegranate

​What is it? The word pomegranate was derived from the Latin words "pomum" (apple) and "granatus" (seeded) - and if you've ever seen one opened up, you know this is an apt description. Mostly grown for the U.S. market in Californian orchards for their juice, a few of the intact fruits make it ... More >>

Five Ways We Have Screwed Over Other Bands

​In order to not implicate Rocks Off's more moral brethren and sistren here, I'm gonna drop the royal we, m'kay? The evil machinations mentioned hereafter are the work of one man with one F, and are not endorsed by the Houston Press. Ed. Note: We are real paragons of virtue over here, but we' ... More >>

Ingredient of the Week: Chicory

StimpsonJCat ​What is it? Chicory is a versatile, edible, flowering plant. The leaves are used for salad, and the roots can be found in coffee as an additive (or a substitute in some cases). With Houston's proximity to New Orleans, we usually think of the famous coffee at Café du Monde just ... More >>

Cacique: Go Autentico!

​Cacique products are a line of deliciously authentic Hispanic foods, including cheeses, creams, and chorizo. After making quality products for over forty years, the brand recently partnered with Food Network celebrity chef Aaron Sanchez. Together they have launched a campaign to encourage peo ... More >>

Patriotic Pastries For Your Fourth

Tiny hot-dog- and hamburger-toppers on cupcakes at Randall's.​No holiday in America is complete these days without an amusing and sometimes absurd selection of appropriately holiday-themed baked goods available for sale at your local grocery store. We hit up Randall's, Kroger and H-E-B in a s ... More >>

Health Dept. Roundup: Market Edition

​This week on Health Department Roundup, we visited the city's retail food markets. At Foodarama Meat (11502 Wilcrest), a May 17 routine inspection found a hand-washing sign was not visible at all hand-washing sinks used by food employees, and that floors were not kept clean in several areas ... More >>

Exile In Pearland: A Young Rocks Off Gets "Happy"

The first time Rocks Off the Younger truly heard "Happy," we were loading a case of Dannon yogurt into the display case at the Kroger in Pearland we worked at from 1999 until he first left home. It would have been September 2002, and we had just signed the papers that would mark our entry into the ... More >>

Face Off: Almond Milk vs. Soy Milk

​ There are numerous reasons why a person might seek out a milk alternative. Maybe you oppose the dairy industry or are simply trying to stay away from animal products. Maybe you're lactose intolerant or have a dairy allergy. Or maybe you just think it's kind of weird to be drinking something ... More >>

The Shameless Chef: Triply Pastafied Cheesplosion

If you were to speculate that perhaps I enjoy me some starch, I would not disagree.​If there's anyone in the world who should not get up his own ass about what he cooks for lunch, it's me. And yet I'd been racking my brains for days, trying to think of something to cook for this column, going ... More >>

Stuck On You: Farmville Fanatic Arrested In String Of Bizarre Summertime Adhesive Attacks

​One of the more bizarre Houston-area crimes of the past year has apparently been solved.Back in July, Pasadena police were seeking a man described as an "older teenager" who they believed attacked random women in retail outlets. His assaults took a peculiar form: he would squirt a tube of what w ... More >>

Top 5 Grocery Store Openings of the Decade

Photo by athomsonThe hot dog section at an H-E-BYesterday, we recounted the top five grocery store closings that had a significant impact on the Houston supermarket scene during the past 10 years. But for as much as we may (or may not) miss AppleTree or Albertson's, we've had some much better grocer ... More >>

Brew Blog: Breckenridge Brewery's Agave Wheat

​In honor of the Colorado Department of Tourism's decision to extend the deadline for its "Snow-Less" contest, a search for those who have never experienced snow, we've picked a beer from the Rockies to review this week. But like we feel about the contest, which somehow assumes warm-blooded p ... More >>

The Ultimate Oyster Cracker?

​My brother Dave got me hooked on these hot and spicy saltines. He says they're the perfect oyster crackers. I haven't tried them with oysters yet, but I will soon. The home version of these has been around for a long time. You mix up a package of dry ranch dressing mix, some kind of dried ch ... More >>

Food Fight: Battle Mashed Potato

Photos by Katharine Shilcutt​After last week's Food Fight, in which fans/minions of Jeannine's Bistro cluttered the comments section with with querulous protestations and propaganda, we've decided to take a brief break from pitting one restaurant against another. And inspired by John Gray's inaugu ... More >>

Peli Peli: Take a Right at Louetta Off Highway 249 to Get to South Africa

Photo courtesy of Peli PeliJumbo prawns (that's shrimp to you and me) at Peli PeliThe bongo drums, violin and guitar trio is going at it joyfully, continuously and well, a little too loudly (something that never faded) as we walked into Peli Peli, a restaurant whose interior is a dark and bright odd ... More >>

The Grocery Store Corridor

If you put stock in any of the numerous lists of food trends for 2009 that place "at-home cooking" as the most important trend of the new year, you'll be happy to know that Houston is continually offering plenty of places for you to do your shopping.  Grocery stores, like oil, are still big bus ... More >>

Where To Get Supplies From FEMA

Attn: Dwayne Edward Wright

She Really Should Try a Subtler Shade of Red

The Hunt Is On

Identity Crisis

Mary Cutrufello's leaving makes us wonder: Is your band a Krogers, Randalls or a Fiesta?

RV Xmas

In which our intrepid reporter goes searching for the heart of America on a trailer pad. And finds disappointment, isolation, kindness and a great way to cook himself a turkey.

Highway Lunacy

Hip-hop, bad hair and bad jokes steer I-45 on a twisted joy ride