Jesus.  Family.  Travel.  Food.

Hey y’all! Welcome to my blog! I’m Valerie Duty Citrano, or The Texas Pie Lady to some. These pages will be filled with food and stories of our travels in our home state of Texas and places around the world. I hope that sharing our adventures will inspire you to travel more and enjoy your vacations to the fullest.

I am a professional photographer who’s had the awesome experience of photographing Presidents, Princes and Prime Ministers. Those adventures could fill a book! I won’t bore ya with all that here though. Now, hopefully, my photos on these pages will showcase the diverse beauty of this amazing world we live in.

Now…. Let’s talk about food and traveling….

I was in Paris when I got a message that Southern Living’s cookbook featuring my pies was out on the shelves in book stores in the USA. It was an honor to be included in such an unique cookbook and travel guide. Our restaurant has been featured in all sorts of magazines and featured on numerous travel and food television shows. Look for us on a season 14 episode of “The Daytripper” on PBS scheduled to air in February 2024. Once aired, it can be found on their YouTube channel.

I never planned on working in a restaurant. Never, EVER! Then I met my husband, Donald who’s been in the business since he was a kid, and I guess it was inevitable. Funny how life happens.  So, now I’m a baker who has been published in several magazines and even a cookbook published by Southern Living who featured my pies. I had the opportunity to learn to cook not just from both my grandmothers who were pretty good cooks in their own way, but from a French trained chef that even had his own cooking show. Now I bake for my husband’s restaurant, The Coffee Shop Cafe in McGregor, Texas. This may not have been my plan in life, but I’m sure enjoying it! Never say never.

Donald and I love to travel and explore new places. I want to see and experience as much of this earth that God made for us as I can before he takes me home. What a fascinating, diverse place He has created with creatures big and small, sunrises and sunsets, oceans, deserts and rolling plains, foods that enrich our body while bringing us joy and people that never cease to amaze me!

My husband and I travel together and I also go solo. They both have different advantages since we have different tastes in things we like to do. He really doesn’t like cold places and I’m not particularly fond of beaches. I love most museums, and well, he had never set foot in one until he met me.

My photography also dictates some of my travel. I love photographing the Northern Lights and whales. I have been blessed to be able to experience the Aurora in Iceland, Norway, Finland and Alaska. My favorite place to photograph whales is still in Maui, Hawaii, though I’ve photographed them in numerous places. They are just more fun in Maui, where they breech and are more playful.

Are you into genealogy? I sure am! I grew up helping my dad with research cases in law books in his office for cases and for the history books he wrote. Looking back, I think it was all a way to get me to read more as a kid. My dad had lots of tricks like that. The most memorable was the summer of 1970 when he paid me $100 to go through the complete set of National Geographic’s that he had had bound, to make sure there were no missing pages. His trick worked! I found myself enthralled with the amazing stories from around the world. I became more enamored with travel, amazing photography, history and reading. Visiting and photographing the long neck women in Thailand brought back flashbacks of those magazines. I use the research skills I gained in my youth to find and record the lives of our family forefathers. History comes more to life when it involves your family. To me anyway. Joining the Daughters of the American Revolution has broadened my research even more, and gave it more purpose. I love traveling to see where my (and Donald’s) family came from. I love digging in dusty, dark court house basements and going through huge record books!

Our four grown kids (they will always be my babies), our daughter-in-love and three grands come along from time to time and make things even more interesting. You’ll be meeting them along the way. We have a new baby granddaughter that I am looking forward to introducing her to the world.

If you enjoy food and traveling, be sure to keep an eye here and on our social media pages. I’ll be sharing our adventures and recipes along the way! Be sure to comment or ask questions. Our guests mean a lot to us! Thanks for stopping by!

Donald & Valerie in Jerusalem, Israel standing on the mount of olives with the Old City in the back ground.

A few of the places we have traveled to…

The Eiffel Tower as seen from The Louvre in Paris, France. My very favorite city to visit where there is always more to see and do!

• Europe … This is where we go back to over and over again! You’d never be able to see it all even in a lifetime, but we are sure trying! Italy and France are by far our favorite countries, but England, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic are all wonderful places!

Our son and daughter-in-love with us visiting the great pyramids in Giza, Egypt. A dream come true for me!

• Middle East.. Israel, Jordan and Egypt. Three of the most fascinating countries! A dream came true visiting Giza and the pyramids! I’ve read about Egypt since I was a kid and never thought I’d ever get to experience it myself! I actually went went back a second time and took a cruise down the Nile River like my dad did before he married and had us kids. And what can I say about my time exploring ancient sights with Dr Hawass and Dr Waziri! An incredible experience.
• Jordan and amazing Petra. And what is there not to love about Israel? Beautiful country that you know without a doubt that you are walking where Jesus did!

Photo of me taken by my friend, Marketa. She and her husband Ron own Aurora Chasers in Fairbanks, Alaska

The beach at the resort we own a timeshare in Cancun, Mexico. White sand and turtles! Beautiful home away from home!

• Mexico… Donald bought a time share in Cancun years ago so we have been to this area of Mexico many times. We don’t go during the busy, spring break madness. It’s more laid back in the fall. We skip the bars and such. Instead, we explore ruins, participate in turtle releases, travel to different places in Quintana Roo, take Mexican cooking classes and lay on the beach and soak up the sun.

Where were we recently?

• Cuba
• Cancun and Isla Mujeres
• San Francisco
• Thailand & Singapore
• Europe
• Barcelona, Spain
• Cuba (2nd trip in less than a year)
• Disney World
• Iceland
• Aruba
• Morocco
• London
• Cabo San Lucas
• Venice
• Greece & Croatia Cruise on RC’s Rhapsody of the Seas
• Russia
• Southern Italy
• Cruising South America & Antarctica
• Israel & Jordan
• Egypt with Dr Hawass
• Amsterdam

• Ireland
• Belgium
• France
• England
• Scotland
• Iceland for our anniversary ♥️
• Norway
• Finland
• Denmark
• Ireland
• Panama
• Northern Lights above Fairbanks, Alaska

• France, Germany, Oberammergau for the Passion Play

• Switzerland
• Tuscany & Cinque Terre

• New Zealand
• India
• Qatar, Dubai
• Armenia, Georgia, Romania, North Macedonia, Albania & Kosovo

Where to next?

• Back to Antartica (this will be Donald’s first time there)
• Asia
• Portugal & Spain
• More of the Baltics

Dreaming about going to:

• Charles County, Maryland and Granville County, North Carolina for more genealogy research. Especially North Carolina to try to tear down my brick wall by the name of Richard Duty. He owned property, raised a family and died there in 1795. No conclusive proof yet of where he was born or who his parents were. It’s out there somewhere, and I am determined to finally find it.

• Washington, DC to finally see the cherry trees blooming. Even after my many trips to DC, this would be my first time to experience their beauty. Something I’ve always wanted to see!

• Peru (we had a trip cancelled during the unrest there in 2022)

• A Viking Ocean Cruise. Trying to decide which of their many cruises to take. Any recommendations?

Where should we go next??? I’d love to hear your ideas, recommendations and travel stories!!
We have a long travel wish list! So many places to see, so little time!!!

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to travel more?

Keep in contact with us!

Facebook: The Coffee Shop Cafe

Instagram: ValerieDutyCitrano

Pinterest: TexasPieLady

Twitter: The Coffee Shop Cafe & my own account Valerie Citrano I’m terrible with Twitter and really don’t post much there though. Follow along anyway if you’d like.

Thanks for stopping by! Please ask if you have any questions about places we have visited. Or share your adventures with myself and others that love to travel. We can all learn from each other.
Blessings,

Valerie

Own a company and have an interesting offer to trade photography for travel? I just might be game. Contact me at ValerieDutyCitrano@gmail.com and title your message Travel for Photos