European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 2, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                T 3j a cafes in West Texas Are often Community gathering Points that serve up regional new York times photo nuts to you Southern pralines Are favorite by Sharon Hudgins special to stripes Magazine in the Early we were driving through a desolate area of far West Texas a Blue norther hit and our car broke during the next five Days of utter while we waited for Auto parts to arrive from we made one important discovery the old Borunda restaurant in where we ate some of the Best Tex mex food we had Ever almost 10 years we happened to be driving through Marh again its not the sort of place you visit unless your Mother lives and decided to Stop by the old Borunda to see if the food was still As Good As we we ordered two different combination and were pleasantly surprised to find that the Cooks at the old Borunda haunt lost their not Only was the old Borunda Tex mex food a different style from the kinds we ate elsewhere in but also its decor want typical of that sort of the Interior could be described As traditional spotless one Long room with White White and White with a Row of White wooden Booths along one Side and a Row of White tables and Matching chairs along the Twenty eight people would fill up the in addition to the one woman who waited tables and ran the Cash there were two both kindly looking elderly women whose appearance was As spotless As the customers could see straight through to the and it too was spotless probably the Only Tex mex Kitchen in the world to which the adjective could be the restaurant didst have a feel of coldness or the Kitchen looked Homey and the few decorations in the dining room included an original Oil painting of the old Borunda plus a freshly somewhat confusing sign which read Only two Beers per customer for each meal no intoxicating liquors permitted at any time armed with that information and certainly not planning to become intoxicated we ordered Beer with the Only to be informed by the waitress cashier that the old Borunda didst serve she explained that there was a grocery one Block away where we could buy Beer and bring it Back to the off trotted my while i remained at the listening to the other diners the new sign on the Wall was causing quite a bit of comment among the All of whom were locals and none of whom was drinking there were Only four other people in the sitting at three separate Booths a medical doctor in a yellow jumpsuit a College professor in Blue jeans and Cowboy accompanied by his an attractively dressed elderly woman and a very old woman eating throughout the meal they kept up a continuous conversation about local the and the state of everyone one Cook came out of the Kitchen to discuss the state of her but concluded that she didst have much to say that Day because her health was getting part of the conversation was in when we went to the Cash Register to pay the i noticed a plate of Pecan pralines sitting in a Nook in the i purchased one to take with and started eating it As we drove out of my husband took a bite from that praline and immediately turned the car there was no question that we were going Back to the old Borunda to buy More of the Best pralines we had Ever when i walked into the restaurant a few minutes the waitress cashier was sitting at the Back of the Long dining behind the Cash As soon As she saw she burst out laughing and pralines i asked if customers often returned just to buy More she i purchased several and it was All we could do to keep from eating the whole bag of them on the Way out of the following recipes Are for three very different kinds of old fashioned Pecan pralines Are firm the kind you usually get in mexican restaurants throughout the equally delicious Buttermilk pralines Are a soft version of this the recipe for Rich Louisiana pralines produces a More chewy of the sort that traditional in the Southern part of the United All Are guaranteed to satisfy even the most finicky connoisseur of this delicious note Candy making can be a Tricky business especially because temperatures and timing Are so important so follow the recipe directions if you have a Candy Good results Are less difficult to if you dont own a Candy you can use the following test to determine if boiling sugar mixture has reached the desired temperature softball to test for softball stage put an ice cube in a Tea fill the cup with cold and set it near the stove where the Candy is or just the end of the boiling time indicated in each use a clean spoon to remove a very Small amount of sugar syrup from the drop the syrup into the ice if it forms a Ball when you Pinch it Between your then the boiling syrup has reached the softball if the syrup disintegrates in the continue boiling it and test again at on minute if the syrup forms a hard Ball in the ice it has already cooked too and your Candy will probably turn into sugary that s Why timing and temperature Are so important in stripes Magazine May ims