Antiques & Crackers

What goes great on your new/old table imported from Europe? Crackers. Try a spicy treat Original Savory Saltine Seasoning treat while you shop at Snooper’s Paradise in Groves. You can buy this no-cook seasoning there. The staff reports people love that there’s no cooking involved. Spice up your treats by shaking them up in a bag with canola oil. What else is new at Snooper’s? Consignment items. Get there this spring.

Champaign & Ribs

What y’all doing April 10? I suggest you get to Champaign & Ribs under the tent at Cowboy Harley-Davidson in Beaumont where they will be Kickin’ it Cajun Style.

The food is always fantastic at this benefit for Gift of Life Prostate Cancer Program and honorees will be Dr. John Henderson, Charline Dauphin and Judge Gerald Eddins. Call 409-833-3663 for your tickets.

Hood-to-Go

Rain happens. Hood-to-Go in a pouch is like a vest you can keep handy to have a hood with your regular coat. Who doesn’t need that? You can be ninja-stealth in your transformation with this very well-made gear.

Here’s the drill: See clouds, slip on vest with hood, put on your coat and flip up the hood when the drops begin to fall. Then, you’re “Hood –to-Go.

ddoiron@panews.com

Tell the Museum what you want to see

 

#setxinbiz

The above message is on my new green T-shirt that Paige Snyder asked me to wear around town. I don’t mind being a walking billboard for Business Development Week, which Southeast Texas Economic Development Foundation will host April 8-10 at Holiday Inn Beaumont Plaza. Seminars and lunch is $35 a day and the speakers are experienced and informative. I can say this, because I volunteered this past year. Lunch only is $25 a day. Snyder, of course, is with the Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce, a regional partner of this event.

Freebie: Mac Fuller, author of Amazing Face Reading and will read faces at a free-to-the-public session from 5:30 to8:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 8 at the hotel. Register at www.SETXinBUSINESS.org or by calling (409) 838-6585.

Off Ramp challenge

“Gone With the Wind” costumes at Museum of the Gulf Coast? Why or why not? Discuss. Pick up the latest Off Ramp Magazine from Southeast Texas Arts Council, featuring an interview with Sarah Bellian, new curator there. She shares her thoughts on what the Museum has to consider in bringing an exhibit, and invites people in the area to contact the Museum staff with ideas about what they’d like to see. Call her at (409)984-6446. Go ahead. I’ve met her and she’s very nice.

Shot glasses made of salt

I’ve  always been a sucker for men in white lab coats. What are they coming up with? I imagine the people at The Spice Lab must be a fascinating when they break for lunch and talk about what they’re “cooking” up.

Around Lent I look to pottery, wood and earthen ware bowls and cups for a back-to-nature effect. I’d have never thought of Himalayan Salt Tequila Shot Glasses. They’re beautiful veined, tall glasses that look like rose quarts but are carved from food grade 200 million-year-old Himalayan Pink Salt. Yes, you shot gets salty, so you have to drink up and not let it sit around. They’re a stunning conversation piece.

Now for you OCD folks. You are wondering how to care for your new shot glasses. Quickly rinse them under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Don’t put them in the dishwasher. You wouldn’t have, right?

The Spice Lab has a slab of salt you can serve and cook on, so play around. Folks won’t forget your party with these trends.

Look to The Sugar Lab label for makings of crystallized rainbows in a jar. Bright yellow Island Pineapple and a rather lavender Juice Blueberry were a hit with testers who brightened up yogurt and dreamed of rimming beverage glasses with the eye-catching stuff. We’re thinking ahead to purple, gold and green (Key West Lime) to rim a glass of the king cake-flavored vodka we’ve been hearing about. Others in the line include Luscious Pomegranate which should perk up weekday iced tea on the patio and Heavenly Chocolate. Guys, we’re talking about chocolate flavored sugar here. Makers suggest it for cookies or even mole.

ddoiron@panews.com

Celebrate Nederland in art

Enter your art and photography and celebrate Nederland
One of my first assignments at The News was promoting the Nederland Art Guild’s Nederland Heritage Festival Art and Photography Show.
They’re still going strong, and you can be a part of it.
The show will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 15, at the Texas Artists Museum, 3501 Cultural Center Drive, near the Robert A. “Bob” Bowers Civic Center. Enter paintings and photography from 9 a.m. until noon. After noon, entries will be judged and available for viewing. Pick up your art at 5 p.m.
Ribbons will be awarded in all categories.

The fast iron
The T-fal FV4495 Black Ultraglide Iron, available now online and hitting stores this spring, is sleek as a mounted rocket and has been tested to be the most “glideable” iron in the market, beating out its top 20 competitors.
It’s non-stick ceramic soleplate is called “great for beginners.” I still consider myself that in the ironing game. It’s not that I don’t like ironing, it’s just seems so complicated to get the board out for so-so results. This iron is a powerful game change because that steam action and pointed tip gets the work done, fast. When you can see results, you can stick with the program. The extended 12-food cord has an easycord system to keep the cord out of the way during use to prevent re-wrinkling. So it stores well and offers an anti-scale system that helps recollect calcium from hard water. Get this: you can angle the iron to steam clothes, so it’s 2-in-1. Be looking at Walmart so you can glide through your steam cleaning. I was thinking, and the press information confirms it, that this iron is man-friendly. It looks cool and does the job well. Just saying.

Toothbrush safety
The average perso spends 38.5 days of their lifetime brushing their teeth, according to makers of IntelliDent Toothbrush Shield. These are little pockets of cloth to slide over your toothbrush and be 99 percent effective against airborne and surface bacteria, significantly reducing the risk of pathogen-related illness. You don’t want that. I’ve just dressed the family toothbrushes in these disposable barriers that should be replaced every 3-4 days.
ddoiron@panews.com

Mural shows city pride

Style and economy meet at the Port Arthur Transit bus wash. No kidding. Recycled water gets those PAT clean at the refurbished Procter Street site. The building itself is sleek, then there’s the mural. There’s three buses lined up with the Martin Luther King bridge in the background. Look closer and note there are three city bus designs that span through time. Debra Ambrose, transit planner, said she looked up vintage bus photos and worked with artist Jeffrey Szyman, a mural artist in Houston, to represent the past, present and future.

He basically made the image freehand in two days, she said. It looks as nice as the new face on the downtown pavilion. Port Arthur is looking good.

Time change

Who’s on board with the time change and more daylight? The first Monday of this new schedule, I drove home and saw families skating, swinging on front porches and waving at one another on their walks.

Let’s keep up the spirit, energy and friendly attitudes, southeast Texans!

On a boat

Some friends were invited to an event, but had a prior engagement. It seems a relative bought a new boat and the extended family has been invited to sit in the boat in the driveway. Apparently it’s the only way to get everyone to try the boat at once. What a very Southeast Texas slice of hospitality. It sounds pretty fun.

ddoiron@panews.com