5 stars for food's powers of connection: cookbook links history, culture, adventure and cooking

Eat It! Food Adventures with Marco Polo

I've finally posted a short review on GoodReads. It's for a book written by Gracie Cavnar, founder of the Recipe for Success Foundation in support of its mission to help change the way our children eat. 

Having read this marvelous book, I'm already hungry for more. Eat It! artfully weaves together history, sociology, cookery and an intriguing story of adventure. Those who appreciate excellent illustration will love paging through the colorful plates.

Grown-ups and younger people can learn together over this series while reconnecting in the kitchen, and the go-to nature of these time-tested recipes will make this a treasured piece of one's personal book collection. I hope this can also become part of school curricula. 

I wouldn't be surprised if this series inspired more than a few young folks to dedicate their lives to the art of sourcing, preparing and eating real food.

Recipe for Success Foundation is changing the way children eat by changing how they understand, appreciate and eat their food, and by educating and mobilizing the community to provide healthier diets for children.

Gracie Cavnar in the White House garden

 

I encourage you to order your copy online today, gift it to your favorite young person and enjoy it together now, for holiday family cooking and well into the future. 100% of the proceeds go to RFS programming.

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North meets South slow cooker chili

North Meets South Chili

Between the cooler days in Houston and our powerhouse Texans, I was inspired to celebrate with - what else? - a batch of chili, of course. 

Since the number of available chili recipes probably exceed the number of mosquitoes in the Buffalo Bayou, I decided to forage in the freezer, fridge and pantry to create my own version of North meets South chili. The northern part is the tomato focus, ground turkey and beans. The southern part is the vinegar and brown sugar. There's also a Southwest flavor from the hatch chiles. 

The result?  Different tasting but really, really addictive. Greg asked me to blog this one so other folks who want to break out of the usual can give this a try. Oh, and the cornbread muffins are just a basic recipe with very little sugar. I like thinner batter, as you bake these at a screaming hot 450 degrees and they look like popovers when they bake. They're slightly crisp on the outside.

Feel free to increase quantities of spices or herbs - just be careful with oregano as too much of it will make everything bitter. If you don't want to make this in a slow cooker, no problem - just reverse the recipe by cooking the turkey first, and just throw in everything else and let it simmer for as long as you can stand it.

North Meets South Slow Cooker Chili

...8+ servings

Use the freshest ingredients you can find

What you need:

• About 1.5 pounds of ground turkey or TVP, browned 
• 2 large stalks of celery, thinly sliced
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped in the food processor
• 1/2 a large Vidalia or Bermuda onion, chopped
• 3 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp Van Roehling Sizzlin' Oak Steak seasoning (order here) or 1-2 tbsp of 'Better than Bullion' beef base or 3 beef bullion cubes
• 2 bay leaves (dried)
• 3 hatch chiles, chopped (we roast our own but canned will work)
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste 
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (or fresh if possible)
• 2 tsp chili powder, divided
• 2 tsp cumin, divided
• 2-3 tbsp vinegar
• 1/3 cup of your favorite beer (any type except a sour or weissen is fine)
• 1/3 cup water (or more)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 to 1 1/4 lb ground turkey 
• Salt and pepper as desired

How to make:

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker from the above except brown sugar, turkey, salt and pepper, using one teaspoon of cumin and one teaspoon of chili powder and reserving the rest. 

In a large pan on the stove top, gently cook and break apart turkey. Add remaining cumin, chili powder and brown sugar. Cook until no pink remains, but don't allow turkey to brown. Add to slow cooker.

Cook on low for 5 hours or more, turning to warm once the flavors have combined. 

Top with your favorite garnishes and enjoy!

Van Roehling seasonings rock

 

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The world in your backyard: Menil Collection turns 25

Anyone who found themselves on the grounds of the Menil Collection in Houston last Saturday met with good fortune in the form of a truly enjoyable celebration of the collection's 25th birthday. 

The catalyst for this astonishing, world-class and masterfully curated art collection actually occurred back in 1931 in France, with the marriage of John de Menil to Dominique Schlumberger. 

France's loss of these residents during WWII was Houston's gain, as the de Menils quickly steeped themselves in Houston's then-nascent art and architecture scene. The landmark building housing the main part of the family's collection was built by Dominique after her husband's passing. 

To me, and probably many thousands of others, this building is not only inspirational from the exterior in its harmoniously rooted connection with its park-like surrounding, but also the interior with daring proportions and almost startling white space and acoustics show reverence for (and deference to) the art and artifacts it houses. 

On this particular day in a series of events celebrating the collection's 25th birthday, we loved the family-friendly setting...

...the exciting live jazz musicians...

...the dancers sweltering in the heat...

 ...and time with my honey!    

Thanks to ongoing generosity of corporations and individuals, the Menil Collection is free, the event was free, and no passport is required to access amazing culture from around the globe. 

How much do we love living in Houston? 


 

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'Every Woman Deserves To Be Beautiful'

Actual photo is much more striking of Heidi

This is the tagline and brand statement for a wonderful line of skincare and makeup from founder Heidi Schulze. She's based in Houston.

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times. Houston doesn't get its fair shake in this country. What an under-marketed city with marvelous talent we have! The transcendent Heidi Schulze is one of our shining stars. 

Heidi has recently faced some serious health issues. She battled with cancer previously, so has a following among women who also have won this battle and want to come back better than ever. With the latest setback, a loving friend who does marketing for Heidi hosted a 'life celebration' soiree in her honor. 

Some of the skincare products, and the lovely goodie bags for guests

The older I get, the more I must focus on my health, and skincare in particular. It means more budget is set aside for this, but it's completely worth it to look as young and vibrant on the outside as you feel on the inside.

The stunning lip glosses

One of the special guests at the party was Joanne King Herring, who was the subject of 'Charlie Wilson's War' and has led a fascinating life. She's an octogenarian, and in person is quite stunning and incredibly gracious.

Wherever we are in life and whatever our station, as a woman I believe that, indeed, every woman deserves to be beautiful!

With Joanne King Herring - an elegant, gorgeous and gracious lady

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Everyone loves a parade, but art cars are special

Peeling out: Mayor Parker is in the blue shirt

As we say ad nauseam, Houston is a vastly underrated city. This tends to be perpetuated by national media, and for some odd reason our citizens don't seem to provide a sufficiently vocal or eloquent riposte to such unfounded parries. 

On the other hand, we somehow can whip out some in-yo-face rebuttals of the VISUAL sort. Like the Art Car Parade. 

It's the largest of its kind, the only one of its kind, and, well, just plain WEIRD. 

We love it, we love Houston for it, and we are proud that it makes its serpentine path through our neighborhood each May.

Need I say more?

Big mouth!

This year, the grand parade celebrated its 25th anniversary. It's about human-powered and motorized vehicles with whimsical, artistic, political, educational and even racy themes. It's about all forms of expression and connection.

This man was a fit, smiling senior

One of the original art cars!

'Vanadu'

The Orange Show float (curator of the parade)

A sock monkey car is a must

For us, the fun of it was being able to hang out with friends, and host three friends who have never seen the Art Car parade. They LOVED it. So did the other 300,000 spectators and like 20,000 dogs. As they say, everyone loves a parade. We're happy to host and we are a one-block walk from one of the best vantage points!

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A Meddlesome Moth, and the French in Texas

The boys at Meddlesome Moth

Greg and I paid a long-overdue visit to Fort Worth to see his family. We had a great time, promised to visit more often, and discovered some pretty happening spots in Dallas.  

After a full day of play with the 2 1/2 year old and the 5 year old granddaughters (more exhausting than an extended workout but more fun), we met up with the Partridge clan (Greg's sister and family) at a place called Meddlesome Moth which has all these amazing rotating beers on tap from the far reaches of the globe, and totally delish food. This place is located in a former tile display showroom in the Design District with over 50 kinds of flooring and interesting stained glass windows. No recession happening here. I opted for a Czech something-I-cannot-possibly-pronounce.

Then, we headed over to Toulouse Cafe and Bar. Ahh, a little bit of French Bruxelles right in Texas, complete with the prerequisite French cafe chairs, murals and framed posters and yes, bone marrow on the menu. And some of the most perfectly made frites I've had on this side of the pond, accompanied by homemade aioli that served as a perfect foil for the frites through its tang of champagne vinegar. Note to self: begin working out at least two hours a day, three times a day...

Tile mural a la Toulouse

'Green Room' mussels - with jalapeno, shiitakes, champagne and garlic

Sunday morning was the traditional 'Wafflemania' at the Masons (Greg's daughter and our granddaughters) with a side of light sabre play to work up an appetite for breakfast. Nadia is so conditioned to Wafflemania that she'll ask her mom about it incessantly, making sure she pronounces 'waffle' just like Donkey does in Shrek. That little habit was created of course by Papa (Greg) - shocker.

The obligatory light sabre duel

All good weekends must come to an end, and so we headed back to Houston, a few pounds heavier and more tired but happy. This is a busy and ambitious week, and so I'm off to the races!

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