Local talent tells stories

 

Local talent? We’ve got it

Those who grow and those who tell stories are some of my favorite Texas characters. Here are some notes on a cactus woman I just met, and what’s up with two area writers I’ve known a while:

Cactus Cactus

I didn't ask Desiree Kleypas why she named her place Cactus Cactus. A lot of things are so nice you say it twice. It's a holistic hairstyling experience and a planty little shop all in one. She's got plants for sale, is tied to the Mid-County Victory Garden  and can connect you to Cortile Mediterranean take out. 

I haven’t tried the take-out yet. She says it features fresh pasta, homemade ricotta cheese and 72-hour fermented high hydration pizza dough. I got a lot of info from this interesting lady in a few minutes. She told me to make sure I experienced the herb garden right outside the little house on 14th Street in Nederland, near the post office. As I was inhaling aromas of sage and oregano, I headed to my car and realized... I didn't ask about cactus or cactus. https://cortile-mediterranean.square.site/

www.cactuscactusonline.com 

 

Jim Baxter releases “Ten Thousand Jupiters”

               Jim Baxter is known and respected in Southeast Texas. His new book and audio book “Ten Thousand Jupiters” shares his family’s diagnosis, treatment and loss of son Stewart. While it seems his whole church and work family in the Beaumont/Bevil Oaks area bonded to raise funds and support this family, Jim is sharing the personal parts now. The title refers to a unit of measurement: how much love father and son have for one another. The writing draws you in. I do have to say it: Jim may have inherited some of this story telling from his dad, area radio personality Gordon Baxter. 

Reach the author at (409) 658-0652.

Here is a snippet from the Amazon book listing:

“Read by the author and father of young Jimmy and Stewart, “Ten Thousand Jupiters, A Memoir,” provides an intimate look at the world of childhood cancer in 1992. Diagnosed with what doctors at Texas Children's Hospital called, "the best childhood cancer," young Stewart pushes the envelope in cancer research by participating in a "conscious sedation" study that forever changes hospital protocols for young children during bone marrow tests and spinal taps. During this four-year battle with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, Jimmy becomes Stewart's best medicine. Just twenty months apart, the boys' parents treat Jimmy as the other patient. When Stewart relapses after just two years of remission, the family faces a bone marrow transplant, and it is hoped that Jimmy will be the match. But it is not meant to be.

Over the next two years, the family goes on to face a total of two transplants at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center with an unrelated marrow donor who becomes family. Together, the family endures the rollercoaster ride of relapse and remission. Stewart becomes teacher as they learn just what it takes to find humor in the most unexpected places. Their lives become a lesson in knowing how much love and faith it takes to get through all of this.”

 

Penny L. Clark on Lamar History

I'm a proud Lamar Cardinal. I had not fully grasped the institution's history of wartime training. Penny L. Clark filled me in. Clark is a certified archivist who recently retired and has written a piece called "Astute Leadership and Dynamic Achievement: Lamar College during the World War II Era." It is included in Gulf South Historical Review Vol. 23, No. 1, The Journal of the Gulf South Historical Association.

    L.B.J. came to town in the '40s and announced that a boy who knows how to use a blow torch is more important to the country that one who goes to school to learn about history, but in his own colorful phrasing. The war effort was going strong and Lamar was training men and women to help America win it. Thanks for the reminders, Ms. Clark!

   Clark has also written “Beaumont's Civil Air Patrol in World War II (Images of Aviation),”

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who loves sharing people’s stories. Got one? Share via panews@panews.com

Classic local cookbooks share community history

 

Local cookbooks tell a community’s history. I found so many on my mom’s shelves that I’ve been reliving my childhood. Styles have changed for sure. Every house must have kept several blocks of cream cheese on hand. Here are some memories worth sharing:

“Parish Pantry Second Helping” – This 1970 book shares favorite recipes of The Women of St. George’s Episcopal Church of Port Arthur, Texas. It’s all handwritten. We didn’t have computers, remember? Even the ads, for businesses such as Pat Wood drugstores and Drago Hardware, are drawn.

Pretty Orange Spread is from Kaye Sherrill. I thought it was a fruity dip, but the orange comes from tomato paste. Mix that and salt into cream cheese, butter and Accent seasoning. Spread on buttered bread rounds and garnish with olives, a sprig of parsley or cucumber cube, she suggests.

 

“Cooking Light & Eating Smart” is by Jacqueline Richard’s Steen who lists her Port Arthur ties on page 3. The 1996 book offers more than 350 low-fat recipes for a healthy lifestyle. Of course, fruit and veggies play a role in this. Her tips for using roasted bell peppers include spicing up Italian hero sandwiches, coloring a pepper slaw, filling pepper cups with tuna salad and filling them with omelet. I worked with Ms. Steen and remember her well. Lucious titles inside include Curried Chicken and Mango Salad.

 

“Milady’s Kitchen and Garden Book” – Milady’s Garden Club copyrighted a first edition in 1969. My aunt, Stella, wrote “Merry Christmas and Happy Cooking!” inside, for my mom.

Would you try this one?

Warm Cheese Pudding

Patricia Boach instructs cooks to combine 12 ounces of room temp cream cheese with a package of cooked vanilla pudding. Serve warm.

Sounds rich and easy.

 

“Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen” is from The Golden Triangle Quilt Guild. I love that so many dessert selections are “quickie,” because these women wanted to get back to quilting.

There was Dump Cake, Easy Cobbler, Easy Sherbet, Dessert Quick, Jaqueline’s Easy Pineapple Cake, A Good Easy Cake and Inexpensive Sponge Cake.

Dessert Quick is layering crushed strawberries, lemon sherbet and crushed macaroons or sugar wafers into parfait glasses. It’s pretty and delicious, Gwen Montgomery wrote.

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who loves going “retro” into recipes. Share a family fave in this column by reaching out through panews@panews.com

New Bites for to fall for

Gumbo, chili and soup, we’re ready for you. We’re standing by with sweaters and leafy décor. Here are some new bites to “fall” for:  

Cans - American Tuna cans are so attractive that I made a tower of them and admired my still life. Eventually I popped tops on flavorful no salt, sea salt, jalapeno and garlic options

I was right about their upscale packaging. I’d moved my tower to a work desk and a passerby snapped a photo for the color schemes of orange, navy, green and cream.

American Pole & Line fishing families started this company in San Diego. Albacore comes from the Pacific Ocean. Then it gets hand filleted and packed at artisanal canners in Oregon and Washington. They cook it once, in the can. They can trace every can of one-by-one catch back to the vessel that brought it in. There’s no vegetable broth or fillers.

I was right again for not wanting to drain. The liquid keeps the flavor, nutrients and omega-3 fatty acids. This is high-quality and delicious fish. This firm meat is nothing like the stringy tuna we ate in the ‘70s. It’s gourmet. I made salads with black beans, basil leaves and tomatoes. Recipes on the www.americantuna.com site are fancy, like the very photogenic smoked tuna blt, which stands for bacon, lettuce and beet.

Cups– Agave makes tequila, but now I’m paring it with fine teas. Fiore cups feature watercolors of Fátima Seehagen, a Brazilian painter whose work “exuberantly abstracts nature, unleashing emotions through a vivid natural palette.”

Tea Forté has a collection of cups with infusers and lids that turn tea time into your ritual. "We all have a story to tell, just as all flowers have a unique, irreplaceable beauty and fragrance,” the artist says. My calm comes from gazing at the blue and green watercolor of a very Texas-centric plant. It’s the difference between sipping and gulping. For more: Introducing the Fiore Teaware Collection

Elevated Street Food Sauce: Bali BBQ – Ever watched a Southerner barbecue? I witnessed a lively conversation in the park as my husband’s relatives debated over pecan wood, types of meat and placement on the grill. Who won? I did, because I got to eat the results of the day.

You may think you can’t teach us new tricks about barbecue, but here’s a way to keep the flavor going when you’ve scrubbed up the grill for the season. I’ll let the creators share about this organic food company working with farming families building products around coconut blossom nectar and regenerative food forests:

“Big Tree Farms Bali BBQ brings a smoky, savory, slightly sweet flavor to chicken, roasted vegetables, and easy weeknight meals. Inspired by the street BBQ of Bali, the sauces are made with organic coconut aminos, coconut sugar, garlic, ginger, tamarind, lemongrass, and organic spices…and are soy-free, gluten-free and made without refined sugar,” the product material reads.

My take is that a few squeezes from the bottle is why they call this original naughty medium and not so naughty mild sauce collection “elevated street food sauce.” If all you have in the pantry is rice and peanuts, you can sauce up a full flavor entre. It’s gluten free and soy free and full of possibilities.

Beans on Beans – I’ve just used crunchy Festive Chickpeas to top a pinto bean salad and float atop a bowl of bean soup. I realize that is beans on beans, but I can’t get enough. If you like your grab and go nutrition in flavors like Nacho Cheese, Honey BBQ and White Cheddar, you can rock this snack.

Makers report: “Festive Chickpeas naturally help bridge both gaps, delivering 10 grams of plant-based protein and 8 grams of fiber per bag…all from real chickpeas, with no added protein powders, concentrates or isolates.”

Little bags go right into your purse or lunch box, naturally. Here’s a new twist: try them on charcuterie boards. That will get them talking. Available on Amazon, Walmart.com, SnackFestive.com.

Chocolate – If you won’t try quinoa in a salad, how about in a chocolate bar? Quinoa Crunch offers 60 percent cacao, but you can crank it to 85 with Raspberry Blackout. These chocolates are for you, not those little ones who come knocking on your door at Halloween. The flavors are intense and  special. Alter Eco is one of those do-good companies restoring ecosystems while you indulge in flavors like Silk Velvet Truffles with wrappers fit for composting in your back yard. Look for a partnership with Practical Magic 2 because Halloween movies and chocolate are a natural match.

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie anticipating the season’s best flavors. Share with her via panews@panews.com

Oats go for a peanut butter roll

 

Sometimes life gives you lemons.

This time, I got peanut butter from my daughter and raisins from volunteering at a run. Lots of raisins! 

I've recently discovered dry oats as a quick breakfast pancake option mixed with egg and banana. This time I rolled them around in the PB and raisin largess. Health nuts call these protein balls. They were like coffee break snacks and breakfast treats to me. 

To those three basic ingredients, play with adding:

·            Cocoa powder

• Vanilla
• Chia seeds
• Tiny chocolate chips
• Cinnamon
• Coconut flakes
• Chopped nuts 
• PUMPKIN ALERT: Sprinkle your pumpkin spice powder all over these goodies and munch away virtually guilt free.

Pecans to confess over - Damn Man Snacks had me at Mexican Cocoa Peanuts, but that’s in another package. I’ve sweet-crunched through the bold pleasure of Bluegrass Bourbon Pecans. They’re suggested as a tailgate offering. You can bring them but don’t think about hiding them because they’re in a round tin and the nuts rattle around and make noise. Just get a bunch first before pass it around. $29 at Walmart.com

I confess, I love the round tins a certain famous fruitcake comes in, but I’d rather have a tin packed with these pecans.

Righteous Felon - Jerky doesn’t have to be funny. It doesn’t even have to be good if you are truly eating in in survival mode on a trailhead. But fortunately, there are some guys who can hook you  up to top-notch, creatively flavored jerky with a funny bone. Righteous Felon Craft Jerky is getting big for its britches. By this I mean cheeky, in all the good ways. Eyebrow-raising puns and packaging frame a soft side of just-good jerky and sticks that taste distinctly delicious.

Try these on for size:

Beef Jerky in Bootleggin’ B.B.Q; Seoul Survivor that’s Korean inspired; and Maryland Monroe, with a beefy blonde with a beauty mark on the packaging.

Lemon Pepper with citrus and basil is an option on a stick along with: Street Taco (with pineapple); O.G. Hickory; Fiery Habanero; and Honey Heist.

There are more and they’re all fun. Read their manifesto at www.righteousfelon.com, but let me leave you with this. A beefy heavyweight with gloves and a championship belt is on the package labeled Teriyaki Balboa. Stay Righteous.

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who loves to hear from readers, via panews@panews.com