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One of the things I love doing every year is entering the cooking contests at the State Fair of Texas. It's truly a slice of Americana, and I'm also probably sentimental because I met my husband at the Erie County Fair in New York. There is something about local, county, and state fairs that just make you feel really good about America. Today was cake day at the State Fair of Texas - there were 186 entries! I had four entries that I was very proud of, and have entered other categories in the past. What is really cool is if you get a first or second place ribbon you are included in the cook...
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Last week was so much fun - my grandaughter attended the Jr Chef Camp at the Gaylord Texan. She had a great time and it made her even more excited about spending more time in the kitchen. Lifestylist Design on Facebook has a video of this fun afternoon....
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Sweet Potato Fritters with Butter Pecan and Lavender Syrup, Sika Antelope Chop with Roasted Acorn Squash and Cauliflower Mac and Cheese are some of the amazing dishes that Chef Joanne Bondy will be preparing for the James Beard Foundation Dinner October 17th in New York City. As Executive Chef at the Gaylord Texan Old Hickory Restaurant, Chef Bondy prepares dishes that delight and surprise her guests every evening, but this menu promises to be for an evening you won’t forget. If you can’t make it to New York for the dinner at the James Beard House, The Gaylord is hosting a preview dinne...
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Summer is here! I was fortunate enough to start mine off with my kids and grandbabies in Florida last weekend and it reminded me of those wonderful innocent summers I enjoyed when I was growing up. Special days of running free at my grandparents farm sitting in the raspberry patch stuffing ourselves with delectible juicy fruits, spending time on the rocky shores of Lake Erie floating under the summer sun in an innertube with not a care in the world, and evenings of family dinners featuring fruits and vegetables that we had helped raise and pick on the farm. Spending time with the kids r...
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Savor Dallas is finally here again and it was a perfect evening! If you weren't able to attend you truly missed out, but at least you still have a chance to enjoy the Grand and Reserve tastings tomorrow. People truly had the opportunity to "stroll" during the arts stroll that visited the Nasher Sculpture Gardens, Dallas Museum of Art and the Meyerson Symphony Center. Fine wine paired with incredible art - how could life get any better? We all moved on to Victory where there was an abundance of opportunities to sample great wines, spirits and food offerings while listening to great music ...
Mar

06

One of my favorite foodie events that I attend every year is finally here! Savor Dallas started last night with the wine stroll and it couldn’t have been more perfect – perfect weather, perfect locations, perfect food and of course perfect wines!
My favorites were the Cakebread Cellars wines, Fedora, and the food and team at the Dallas Museum of Art.  People go to events like these for different reason, but I see it as a great opportunity to get to meet the different winemakers and chefs and really get to know what makes their creations special.
The Cakebread host was amazing. So gracious and willing to share his knowledge. They brought 5 different wines to try and I would have loved to try them all, but with the wine stroll being only 2 hours with over 60 participating companies sadly I had to keep moving. But he did share a DVD that is a Virtual Visit from Vine to Wine with me that I can’t wait to watch and learn from. And the Cabernet that I tried? Stellar!
Fedora is one of my favorite restaurants, and I was thrilled to see them on the stroll at the Nasher Sculpture Center. A beautiful backdrop to beautiful food. I still remember the dish they brought last year because it was a work of art with pomagranate sprinkled on it and tasted great as well! This year they brought a Bruschetta that was divine and I would have loved to have had more than one but I’ll just have to go back and sample them at the restaurant.
Fedora has been very generous about giving back to the community, including HomeAid / HomeBuilders Care. One of the owners was at the wine stroll serving – loved getting to visit with her and being able to thank them for all that they do.
I also absolutely loved the chef and team at Seventeen Seventeen in the Dallas Museum of Art. I wish I would have gotten teh servers name because she was so helpful, and when I told her I wanted to get some photography she brought out fresh food and helped us guard the goodies from all of the participants who couldn’t wait to sample! But what really won me over is when Executive Chef  Jason Ferraro came out and introduced himself. I’m not sure restaurants understand how much of an impression it makes when the chef takes the time to come out and greet you. It makes you feel so special, and it makes the dining experience personal.
There is so much more to talk about, but I need to get ready to head to some of the seminars and the Grand Tastings this evening. Hope to see you there!

Feb

24

One of my favorite events every year is Empty Bowls – it combines two of my favorite hobbies – ceramics and eating. This event benefits the North Texas Food Bank and is a great way to help others while you enjoy great food and art.

Recently I became aware of how much Rent-A-Center gives back to the community through their RACommunity program. What I didn’t realize until I read the press release from the Food Bank is that this year Rent-A-Center donated enough funds to provide 264,640 meals to families, children and seniors in need. That’s a lot of empty bowls!

No matter how large or small your town is, chances are good that there is someone going to bed hungry. If we all filled just one bowl at a time we could wipe out hunger.

Feb

22

Having the right ingredients is the key to making any dish successfully, and knowing the right sources and people when you are planning an event is just as important.

I’ve hosted or helped with many parties over the years including my daughter’s wedding, and hiring an event planner isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. I know working with a planner when I lived in Dallas and the event was in Orlando saved me money and made it possible to have a Lifestylist Designed wedding in a location I never would have known about without the planner’s help.

Julie Eastman is someone I have worked with in the past and is now concentrating on doing event planning. Her company, Extraordinary Events and Design does amazing work and her blog, Design by Jules is always full of great ideas. This week she wrote about Food Glorious Food, another great source that I love because not only is their food beautiful and tasty, their staff couldn’t be more fun to be around and they give back quite a bit to the community. Now I can’t stop thinking about their Crab Benedict – I guess it’s time to get Julie to do a party for me so I can sample them!

You can always tell when people love what they do, and these two amazing teams prove that when when you put great talent together anything is possible (even on a budget).

Feb

10

One of my favorite, easy to make sweet treats is toffee. I’ve been entering variations in the State Fair of Texas for years and this is the version that everyone asks for.

The key to candy making is having a good thermometer, and when I invested in a digital one it made all of the difference in the world. As soon as the temperature gets up to around 250 degrees start watching very closely – it will get to the optimum temperature quickly and if it heats to even 5 degrees more than it should it will burn. Enjoy!

Texas Butter Pecan Toffee

Ingredients:
1 lb Texas pecans
1 lb butter + 2 tablespoons butter for pecans
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup light Karo syrup
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 lb chocolate chips

Directions:
In a skillet, stir butter and pecans together – cook over a low heat until lightly toasted. Remove from heat.

In a medium saucepan combine the rest of the butter, sugar, water and Karo syrup. Stir until mixture comes to a boil, then continue to cook without stirring until mixture reaches a temperature of 290 degrees. Stir in half of the pecans to mixture and turn out onto a 12” x 18” baking sheet. Sprinkle top with chocolate chips and spread after they melt – then sprinkle rest of pecans on top and allow to cool. Break into bite sized pieces.

Feb

07

In less than a month one of my favorite events will be in Dallas again – the 6th annual Savor Dallas celebration of wine, food, spirits and the arts. I have gone every year, and it’s something I’m always looking forward to. Savor Dallas is a unique opportunity where you get to meet the chefs and wine makers one on one and really hear what makes what they do so special.

This year as part of the marketing services that Lifestylist Design offers we can help you have this experience tailored to suit the needs of you and your guests. Our concierge service can help create an experience that you’ll never forget. Be sure to put March 5th and 6th on your calendar and join us!

Feb

06

Few things are as satisfying to me as helping kids explore the culinary world. You can see how excited they get when they learn they can make and bake things themselves and the more they learn, the more they want to try. I’ve seen it time and time again where a child will eat things that they made themselves but you couldn’t force them to try it if someone else was the chef.

I just got back from spending a wonderful weekend with my grandchildren and I was able to help Jenna plan her 8th birthday. She had very specific ideas about what she wanted to do, and my job was to execute all of the things that she imagined. Her brother decided he wanted chocolate instead of a white cake, so we compromised  and had chocolate cupcakes and a white birthday cake. When I went to the grocery store to get the ingredients I realized it would be much less expensive and just as easy to make the cakes from scratch. If you are looking for a recipe for a specific ingredient, check out the package or their website -the company is only going to share recipes that put their products in the best light so this is a great place to start. I didn’t have recipes with me so I checked out the back of the Hershey’s Cocoa box and there were recipes for chocolate frosting and cakes. Their grandpa has always made a wonderful butter cream icing that is a family favorite so we went with that for the birthday cake. Jenna will also never let me live down the fact that I misspelled “birthday” – that’s a story she’ll be telling for a long time!

The kids were so proud of what they were able to accomplish, and the chocolate recipes were fantastic – I think some of the best I’ve ever had. Jenna wanted a pet themed party, and that’s what she got.

Don’t underestimate the skills and interest of your culinary kids. Even when things don’t turn out exactly as planned you can still create memories and recipes that can last a lifetime.

Jan

08

Shaw Carpets had a great event in Grapevine, TX yesterday. A pie fight that was the largest in the world with 1,200 pies and 434 participants took place on their Anso Nylon carpet to show how easily it could be cleaned. Shaw understands lifestyle, and this Lifestylist has seen firsthand how well their carpets not only hold up to pie, but to other challenges as well such as pets, toddlers, and wine dinners. The best part is that Shaw made donations to Dallas Animal Advocates and their volunteers got to do the throwing. Feeding America was also a benefactor, and Shaw’s donation to the organization will provide up to 70,000 meals to people in 13 Texas counties.

Thanks to Shaw for a fun event and your support of a great organization.

Dec

12

I love the holidays, and I’m always trying to think of unique hostess gifts and Christmas presents that are a reflection of my lifestyle as well as the hostess. One of my favorite things this year was giving rosemary Christmas trees. Fragrant and easy to take care of, this is a gift that can be enjoyed for years to come. I planted mine outside my mudroom door and I love just running my hands thru it to bring the wonderful fragrance out.

A mister is an eco-friendly gift that can be used with olive or cooking oil instead of using a spray that is an aerosol container. These can be found at Sur la Table or Williams Sonoma.

Dec

01

GBH Village  1288GBH Cat Detail  1287GBH Judging  1290GBH Details  1291Builders, chefs, and community members teamed up today to start the “Home Sweet Gingerbread Home” competitions at NorthPark Center. Lifestylist® Suzanne chaired the event which looks like it will become an annual favorite.Chef and cookbook author Karel Ann Tieszen teamed up with Shared Housing board member Mona Lincoln and TX State Fair Celebri-chef Peter Clarac (he was a winner in the Oprah cook-off) to decide which of the houses would be awarded the coveted blue ribbon. Pastry Chef Instructor at the Art Institute of Dallas Nina Hunter amazed the judges with her beautiful victorian home complete with playful penguins enjoying the pool in the backyard and was awarded first place.

Thursday the “Builders and Bakers” competition will be taking place from 12pm to 4pm also at NorthPark. Teams comprised of members from the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas will be creating homes on-site with celebrity chefs from Stephan Pyles, Sambuca, Old Hickory Steakhouse at the Gaylord Texan, DC’s Catering and The Cupcakery. They will then be judged and awarded various prizes in different categories.

The competitions will benefit two great organizations – Shared Housing Center and HomeAid / Homebuilders Care, both which break the cycle of homelessness and abuse in the Dallas area.

Nov

06

FM LessonVegetable Soup03FM Brussel SproutsJBF SoupTouring New York City with a James Beard recognized chef is a treat in itself, but going to the Union Square Green Market with that chef and learning how to shop at a green market is the chance of a lifetime. One of the things that Chef Joanne got me excited about going home and experimenting with again is soups.

Our household meals are full of vegetables and we come close to living a vegetarian lifestyle. I tend to go back to the same favorites, but Chef Joanne showed us how many vegetables we typically wouldn’t try can be fantastic additions to our daily diets, especially when we buy from farmers at a green market and are able to take advantage of the fresh, seasonal offerings. Some of the vegetables she showed us how to use in the James Beard dinner she prepared were baby bok choy, tomatillos, and my new favorite brussel sprouts.

I’m now determined to make a vegetable soup at least once a week from scratch with fresh vegetable from my local farmers market. This probably isn’t the way a true chef would do it, but I love using my Crock Pot and using just water, carrots, celery, potatoes, celery and corn. I let these cook on high for a few hours, then because we like things with a kick, I add Adobo seasonings that I get from Penzeys and a can or two of Rotel. Couldn’t be easier or healthier.

If you think you can’t cook, or that you don’t have the time to do a meal from scratch, give this a try. Just substitute whatever vegetables are in season for your region and you’ll be in for a great treat!

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