I was born in the months preceding the 1968 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which featured my home state of Texas. Raised in the Houston area, I'm a fifth-generation Texan with a Czech and Polish background, who grew up eating kolaches (sweet pastries), strudels, sausage, and noodles at family reunions, church picnics, and holiday gatherings. I also spent countless weekends during junior high and high school at cook-offs where my dad's cooking team won awards for everything from barbecued brisket, chicken, and sausage to pots of chili, beans, and sauce. My parents were adventurous eaters and took my siblings and me to Kim Son and other ...