It was the final weekend of the Hatch Chile Festival at Central Market, which we discovered as we pulled into the parking lot this evening. The place was packed, but it was worth it because they were giving away lots of free samples - mostly of dishes made with the Hatch chiles - and everything we sampled was yummy. They had a pot of Hatch chile stew, complete with recipe, that was sufficiently good we altered our shopping list to include everything needed to make the stew ourselves. I'll post the recipe after we've tried it.

Central Market has been one of the best reasons to live in Austin for a long time. Fortunately, parent company HEB decided to build one in Houston last year, and it's been a big hit. If you consider yourself a foodie and you live within driving distance of a Central Market, you really need to check it out. (Note to Mom and Eileen: Make sure we take you there next time you visit.)

Now if we could only get an Italian grocery store like Pastosa's on Staten Island, I'd officially be in heaven...