4.30.2017   Author relates colorful story of Austin club

Austin writer Donna Marie Miller tells the colorful story of one of Austin’s most famous eating, drinking and dancing establishments in The Broken Spoke: Austin’s Legendary Honky-Tonk (Texas A&M University Press, $24.95 hardcover).

The Broken Spoke opened on Nov. 10, 1964, at what was then south of the Austin city limits. Miller traces the Broken Spoke’s history with sections devoted to the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and up to the present. Through the years it has hosted every big name on the burgeoning Austin music scene and many of the Nashville stars as well.

The book includes color photos of Broken Spoke founder James White with many of the entertainers and celebrities who have performed at or visited the club. They include Bob Wills, Hank Thompson, Willie Nelson, Darrell Royal, Lady Bird Johnson, George Strait, Robert Duvall, Kris Kristofferson, Ann Richards, Dolly Parton, Ray Benson, Kinky Friedman, Ray Price, George W. Bush, and Greg Abbott.

Besides the cold beer and the dance bands booked regularly, the Broken Spoke also became known for its chicken-fried steak.

Breakfast in Texas: Veteran Texas cookbook author Terry Thompson-Anderson’s latest is Breakfast in Texas: Recipes for Elegant Brunches, Down-Home Classics & Local Favorites (University of Texas Press, $35 hardcover). Beautifully illustrated with color photos by Sandy Wilson, the book is divided into seven sections:

• Breakfast and brunch libations.
• Crack an egg: simple, classic, and fancy preparations.
• Heavenly, syrupy pancakes, French toast, and waffles.
• Meat lover’s breakfast and brunch dishes.
• Breakfast and brunch from the bounty of the waters.
• Two enticing vegan breakfast/brunch menus and great sides for any breakfast.
• Tasty pastries for breakfast and brunch.

With the enticing recipes and gorgeous color photos, this is a book to savor and drool over, even if you never crack an egg.

Comfort food: The Big Country Cookbook by Tiffany Harelik (Abilene Christian University Press, $24.99 paperback) features favorite recipes from more than ffity cooks in the Abilene area known as the Big Country. The emphasis is on yummy, tried-and-true, down-home comfort food. A good many of the recipes have been passed down from parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and remain popular with a new generation of cooks.

You’ll find chicken and dumplings, corn casserole, roasted sweet potatoes, fried chicken, spaghetti, slow cooker enchiladas, chicken fried steak, and lots of desserts (28 of them). The book, which came out this month, will be spotlighted at this year’s West Texas Book Festival in Abilene in September.

Glenn Dromgoole’s latest book is West Texas StoriesContact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.

>> Read his past Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Literary Life here.