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New Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller
Poised to Help Grow GO TEXAN,
Promote the Products Made Here in Texas
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 This month, the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) welcomed our new leader — Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. As Commissioner Miller takes office, we’re excited to share with you his commitment to seeing the GO TEXAN program continue its strong growth, as well as his desire to serve the hardworking men and women who have made Texas agriculture the powerhouse it is today.
“I’m a proud Texan, and GO TEXAN is a true representation of Lone Star pride,” said Commissioner Miller. “Supporting hardworking entrepreneurs and community leaders like our GO TEXAN members is critical, as they are the ones helping grow our economy and create jobs. Plus, there’s nothing more important to me than supporting Texas farmers, ranchers and business owners. That’s what GO TEXAN is all about.”
Commissioner Miller brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to TDA. He is a business owner who operates both a commercial tree nursery, as well as a ranch where he raises cattle and championship horses. He is a former vocational agriculture teacher, and has served as a Farm Bureau Director, member of the FFA Advisory Board, chairman of the Texas House Agriculture and Livestock Committee and on the state’s Agriculture Policy Board.
Beyond all of that, Commissioner Miller is a world champion cowboy who just won his ninth world title. He’s also a lifetime member of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Through-and-through, Commissioner Miller is dedicated to Texas agriculture. He’s a man who brings practical experience to the table, as he’s earned his living off the land by raising crops, cattle, horses and trees.
Please join everyone at TDA in giving him a Texas-sized welcome!
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Daddy B’s: Love Them for What
They Don't Put in the Bottle!
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 Brian Krueger started his business, Choice Texan Foods, after winning a rib cook-off three years in a row.
“I have been cooking, grilling and barbecuing for friends and family for more than 20 years,” said Krueger. “I am always experimenting with different flavor profiles and ingredients. As a way to get the neighborhood more involved, I challenged a few neighbors to a friendly rib cook-off. After all, it’s Texas and everyone thinks they have the best barbecue. I ended up winning that year in a blind taste test. The next year, word spread and more people entered the contest. Again, I won first place, and we had more than 50 people show up. After being in the winner’s circle for the third straight year, everyone wanted my rubs and spices. So, I found some investors, and the company was started in April 2014.”
Currently, Choice Texan Foods has four seasoning products on the market: Daddy B’s Jalapeno Salt, Sweet Chipotle, Southern Blend and Steak Dust.
“They all taste great,” boasts Krueger. “The Jalapeno Salt and Sweet Chipotle are unique and our biggest sellers to date. We are working on our rub recipes now and hope to have them to market soon. After that, we expect to introduce our barbecue sauces and marinades.”
Krueger is proud the quality of products his company produces.
“Our products do not contain MSG, gluten, artificial colors or flavors, or preservatives,” Krueger said. “There are a lot of customers who are adversely affected by some of these ingredients and, from the start, we wanted to create great tasting seasonings without them. Many customers have thanked us for making this choice.”
A proud member of GO TEXAN, Krueger says his company is run with these core values in mind: “We believe in family, neighbors and community. It is a goal of ours to help fellow Texans any chance we get. This means manufacturing our products locally, purchasing labels, printing and supplies from local Texas companies, and offering quality products made by Texans. San Antonio is where we live, but Texas is home.”
You can find Daddy B’s spices and rubs in several stores all over Texas or online.
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 Daddy B’s Texas Rubs and Spices features several recipes on their website. Below is one of the most popular. After all, everything is better with bacon.
Serves 4.
Ingredients:
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4 cups
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Red potatoes, cubed
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8 slices
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Bacon
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1 tbsp.
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Dijon mustard
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1 cup
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Mayonnaise
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2 tbsp.
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Sugar
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2 tbsp.
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Daddy B's Southern Blend seasoning
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4
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Hard boiled eggs, diced
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1 stalk
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Celery, diced
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½
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Medium onion, diced
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Preparation:
1. Boil potatoes until fork tender.
2. Cook the bacon until crisp. Place aside. Pour off all but two tablespoons of the bacon drippings.
3. Combine the mustard, mayonnaise, sugar and Southern Blend seasoning, and mix well.
4. In a bowl, combine the potatoes, eggs, celery and onion.
5. Pour the mixture in the bowl. Stir to coat the potatoes evenly.
6. Crumble up the crispy bacon into small pieces and add to the bowl.
7. Cover and refrigerate for at least three hours before serving.
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Southern Star Brewing:
Handcrafted Taste in a Can
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 Southern Star Brewing Company is a GO TEXAN member enjoying the growth of the craft brewing industry and its widespread public interest. Southern Star Brewing has several year-round releases and seasonal beers distributed in stores all over the South (Texas, Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas) and even up into Indiana. This is only the beginning for this small brewery that started production in 2008.
Dave Fougeron started Southern Star Brewing after working for years at another GO TEXAN member, Saint Arnold Brewing Company.
“Dave started actually digging his own drains and installing his own equipment in 2007,” said Omar Viengar, Southern Star's director of sales and marketing. “Dave wanted to make his own mark in the craft beer brewing industry. He wanted to produce the style of beer that he wanted to make, which is why he ventured out on his own.”
The craft brewing industry is growing rapidly, and it’s keeping this young company busy.
“Having enough resources to keep up with expansion is our biggest challenge,” said Viengar. “We are growing so fast (that) as soon as you upgrade, it’s time to upgrade again. Sourcing out the necessary hops and grains has become another challenge. With more and more breweries opening or expanding, the grain you once could find readily is now harder to source.”
In addition to being GO TEXAN members and supportive of other Texas businesses, Viengar also is proud of the Lone Star State’s stature in the booming beer industry.
“Texas has started to mature as a craft beer state and quickly gaining notoriety as a force in the United States,” Viengar said.
The next time you’re near the Conroe area on a Friday or Saturday, plan a trip to the Southern Star Brewery and visit their tasting room, where you can tour the plant, taste the beers and even pick up a unique beer-can-shaped pint glass with the GO TEXAN mark and Southern Star Brewing Company logo printed on it.
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Pignetti’s: Where Great Food
and Fine Wine Collide
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 Located in the Historic District of downtown Temple, Pignetti’s is ensconced in old brick and stucco and provides a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere for visitors and any occasion. Whether you’re out on a first date, an anniversary or just hanging with the family, Pignetti’s has a little something for everyone. Pignetti’s serves Italian food paired with a wine list that has earned the Award of Excellence by The Wine Spectator for several years.
Many of Pignetti’s ingredients come from locally owned farms, including goat milk, goat cheese, vegetables, and Texas oak and pecan wood used in their authentic brick oven.
The fun doesn’t stop with dining at Pignetti’s. They also offer weekly wine tastings, wine dinners and occasional beer dinners. Each week, they select four wines from their vast inventory and pair it with light hors d’oeuvres for diners, all for only $10 per person. Monthly, one of the wine dinners features wine solely from vineyards that call Texas home. On this night, Pignetti’s delectable foods are carefully paired with specific Texas varietals to bring out the best of Texas.
“Being a GO TEXAN member gives restaurant owners like me resources for keeping my business local,” said Clinton Harwell, Pignetti’s owner. “Buying from local growers and farmers is much more rewarding, since I know everything I serve in my restaurant is fresh. At the same time, I know I am supporting the local economy.”
The next time you find yourself in the Temple area, visit the downtown district and treat yourself to some fine Italian food at Pignetti’s.
As Harwell likes to say, Pignetti’s is, “Where great food and fine wine collide … Bada Bing, Bada Boom!”
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Paducah: Located in the Middle of Nowhere and Heart of Everything
 Paducah is often referred to as the “Crossroads of America,” because it is located where Highways 70 and 83 intersect and connects the borders of the United States. It is within a two hour drive from the cities of Amarillo, Lubbock, Plainview, Abilene and Wichita Falls. Almost anything someone desires can be found within driving distance, including universities, sporting events, cultural activities and museums.
Paducah is located in rugged ranch country where cowboys are still respected and admired. This terrain provides some of the best hunting in the Lone Star State.
Paducah is known for its big heart and caring neighbors who are always willing to lend a helping hand. Paducah citizens are friendly and community focused. Some of the sights to see in Paducah include the Cottle County Courthouse, the first M.E. Moses’ Variety Store building and the City-County Heritage Museum located in the former Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railroad Depot.
There are still charming brick streets throughout some of the residential sections of town. The American way of life is experienced every day in this unique rural community that’s located in the middle of nowhere, but in the heart of everything.
Nearby are many opportunities for varied activities from star gazing at the Three Rivers Campus to hiking, fishing or hunting at the Matador Wildlife Area to touring one of the many large ranches nearby to see what ranch life is really like.
Paducah has the best of both worlds — the convenience of finding whatever one wants in a pleasant drive, but a peaceful and quiet place to call home. It’s a place full of friendly waves from your neighbors, scenic sunsets and spectacular sunrises.
Visit Paducah and find out why it is a GO TEXAN Certified Retirement Community.
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It’s Winter! Let’s Grow Texan.
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 Depending on where you’re at in Texas right now, it might be hard to believe that spring is just around the corner, but it’s true. That means it's time to start planting and thinking about your spring garden. Here are some tips from Texas gardener Neil Sperry to help you get through January.
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It’s time to plant fruit and pecan trees. Go ahead and plant them in containers with soil compacted around the roots or as bare-rooted trees. Visit the Texas A&M Agrilife website to verify that your area is suited for the type of fruit trees you want to plant. As a general rule, pomegranates grow well in West and South Texas, apples and peaches in Central and Northeast Texas, citrus in South Texas and along the Gulf coast, and pecans do well all over the state. Blackberries do best in the northern part of the state.
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A tree planting tip: Prune new trees back by half when planting, as this will help establish desirable branching.
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January is an ideal time to transplant other trees and shrubs because they are dormant in winter.
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In terms of flowers, cool season annuals like pansies, pinks, snapdragons, ornamental cabbage and kale are good for planting right now. South Texans also can include English daisies, calendulas, petunias, sweet alyssum, ornamental Swiss chard, Iceland poppies, stocks and larkspurs on that list.
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Snap peas and onions are tolerant of most late-winter cold temperatures, and they must mature before it turns too hot in late spring. South Texans should plant these crops in mid-January, while North Texans should wait until later in the month.
For more information and gardening tips, visit Neil Sperry's website.
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Texas Fun Facts About Oranges
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 Texas is the third-largest state in the nation in terms of orange growing, as the Rio Grande Valley and South Texas benefit from a perfect, almost tropical climate for citrus trees.
According to the Texas field office of USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), predictions for orange production from 2014-2015 are projecting an 11 percent increase.
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If you placed all the mid-season and navel oranges grown last year in Texas side-by-side, they would circle the world at the equator more than three and a half times.
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If you squeezed all those oranges, you could fill 12 Olympic-sized swimming pools with orange juice.
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Valencias are grown in Texas from mid-February to the end of May and are popular due to their late-season availability.
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Navel oranges are seedless and are grown from mid-October to mid-January.
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Mid-season oranges (grown from October to mid-February) include Marrs, Hamlins and a variety called Pineapple Oranges.
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Texas oranges are tree-ripened and literally stored on the tree to the peak of perfection.
Fun facts resourced from Texasweet.com.
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Spot the GO TEXAN Mark Challenge
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Want a fun way to share the best things in Texas with the world? It’s easy!
GO TEXAN uses social media tools like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to post GO TEXAN events, share member news and increase awareness of the wide-variety of products grown and made right here in the Lone Star State.
Challenge: If you spot the GO TEXAN mark, let us know. Send us a picture of the mark on a product, sign or printed materials, and tell us where you saw it. Send us your photos using the GO TEXAN Twitter hashtag (#GOTEXAN), so we can easily retweet your message, or send us an e-mail.
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Launched in 1999 by the Texas Department of Agriculture, GO TEXAN, with its signature mark in the shape of Texas, celebrates, promotes and supports the business savvy and plainspoken grit Texas agriculture is known for throughout the world. Whether it’s grown, sewn or served up on a plate, more than 26 million Texans shop, travel and dine out in support of Texas businesses, agriculture and communities looking for the GO TEXAN mark to light the way. To learn more about the GO TEXAN program, call (877) 99-GOTEX or visit the GO TEXAN website.
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Volume 4 Issue 5:
In This Issue
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Visit the GO TEXAN online store for great gift ideas to show off your Lone Star pride.
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