Save the Date for History – Jars of
candy and a fairly serious looking family highlight the April page in the
Jefferson County Historical Commission 2025 calendar. Manos’ Confectionary on
Procter Street in Port Arthur is pictured in the 1920s. In addition to fueling
sweet tooths, this family supported the Saint George Orthodox Church on Thomas
Boulevard. Our own Babe Didrikson Zaharias gets June and the Sabine Hotel porch
looks inviting as a July spread. The W.E. Hall Hardware Company and a 1953 CavOILcade
parade are more historical highlights. Want your own? Jennifer Trenbeath, the
JCHC coordinator, can set you up, at no charge. Call her at (409) 835-8701 or
go to jennifer.trenbeath@jeffcotx.us ; www.facebook.com/friendsofJCHC
She says County Historical Commissions exist in nearly all 254
counties of Texas and act as the county-level liaison to the Texas Historical
Commission. The JCHC currently has 15 active appointees and four
advisory-level members. The mission is to preserve, protect and promote
the rich history of Jefferson County, and the calendars are one of our tools to
share the county's history with history lovers and citizens of Jefferson County
Read on for foodie and entertaining books and goodies just right for the holidays!
“Vegan Japan” - Tamago Sando is egg
salad, made with tofu and turmeric for this book. Japanese potato salad is
Russian inspired with cucumbers, tomatoes and canned corn. New to me! Yaki
Tomorokishi is Japanese street corn seasoned with soy sauce, and liquid smoke.
These 70 comforting plant-based dishes look amazing and Julia Boucachard shows
that we can make them. We can STYLE them into magazine spreads and impress all
our vegan friends. Don’t worry, you can enjoy Cucumber Tsukemono, - cucumber
sliced with ginger, rice vinegar and sake – all alone if you don’t hang with
those kind foodies.
“Rosé Revolution” – Hear
the wish of Maria Jose Lopez de Heredia of the International Wine Academy. “Let
me die drunk and full.” When families live a passion of the land, the fruit and
the wine, it is consuming. A coffee table book on this ancient wine includes
its history and future from land to bottle to glass. Have you noticed rosé is often presented in clear glass bottles to show off
its rosy hue? The irony is the blend that “tastes like summer” is easily
damaged by the sun’s rays, even from pour to sip. Rasmus Emborg and Jens Honoré take us to
snow-covered vineyards and cobweb-covered cellars to bins of dewy, just-plucked
grapes.
Lights All the
Time – Who says you have
to wait for the holidays for a dancing, colored light show around your house?
The power was actually off when Linkind smart solar spotlights, which works
with AiDot and LED solar pathway lights arrived at my house and they literally
did light up my life. I aimed a blue light at my blue bottle tree, and red and
green also jazzed up my patio. Now I can turn the corner and spot my house from
way down the block. Pretty fancy. www.linkind.com
Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie
reading up on a fabulous holiday and new year. darraghcastillo@icloud.com
