Sounds Good, Mardi Gras edition

Mardi Gras of Southeast Texas is set for Feb. 27-March 2 in downtown Port Arthur and the Mardi Gras Store is open for business. Catch these goodies to put you in the MG state of mind:

Gulf Seafood

Picture a map of the coast and eating your way along the shore line. Tom Bailey knows his way around a publishing house with 15 titles to his credit. He is showing us the way to amazing dishes through “The Complete Guide to Northern Seafood,’ new from Pelican Publishing. The cookbook goes from onion-baked mullet and a coral sauce with paprika, to horseradish-crusted snapper and an apricot swordfish. Other critters of the sea, like crab and shrimp, get their pages, too.

If you were thinking seafood is too intimidating, know that many of these recipes are short, with a focus on good ingredients and exquisite flavors. Here’s an example:

 

Shrimp Cocktail Sauce: Would you be buying the stuff if you knew you could create your own with ½ cup chili sauce, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, a half cup ketchup and two teaspoons ketchup?

I put out this next recipe with a nod to outdoors writer Chester Moore, who calls our part of the coast a flounder capital:

Flounder with Citrus Marinade

Juice of 2 limes

Juice of 1 orange or one half cup orange juice concentrate

2 sprigs fresh rosemary or 1 tablespoon dried rosemary

4 flounder filets

In a shallow dish, combine lime  juice, orange juice and rosemary. Add fish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Remove fish from refrigerator, spray with cooking oil and grill for 4 to 5 minutes per side. Serves 4.

Note: Alternatively, bake the fish in a 3750-degree oven for 30 minutes.

The Chocolate Study

SweetWorks Inc. makes premium gourmet chocolates taste good and look amazing in packaging designed to wow. Check out Celebration Pearls in Mardi Gras colors to make your King Cakes one of a kind. We’re talking greens, purples and gold that you may need to try in gumballs, too. Creative people, come and play. Are you at all familiar with Sixlets? Little balls of candy coated, chocolate flavored candy may have been part of your youth, but I’d never noticed them until they started showing up as wedding favors. With the colors I’ve seen, those wedding candy bars have a match for any bride.

Ovation: The Orange orb of foil is designed to bang against a table. Peel off the foil to reveal sections of citrus-flavored dark chocolate. Sections even have little etchings like they were of fruit, instead of amazing chocolate you can’t put down. This is the very stuff you’ll eat right for a long time so you can splurge on an experience.

Ovation Sticks or “batonnets” in cappuccino come in a six-sided column with some kind of origami top and packets of slender, rich sticks that are just enough in size and nearly too much in flavor. They’re intense and I can’t wait until my next ration. It should come as no surprise that I am equally impressed if not more so with the caramel version. You get a rich, melt-in-your-mouth sensation from this super-thin stick.

Niagara Chocolates - Sweet ways to say, I Love You:

Chocolate Champagne Bottle: Even though I immediately informed the birthday girl that the realistic looking foil covered bottle was made of chocolate and contained no actual Champaign, she didn’t believe me. Finally we had to brak it open and spend the night eating a wall of milk chocolate. Dinner guests loved the concept. I’ve already bitten heads off Niagra white, milk and dark chocolate bunnies which are ready to hop to shelves this Easter. Don’t worry, lovely chocolate eggs in foil pastels will arrive with the bunnies.

Foot Massage

Prep your feet for walking the Mardi Gras parade route. Combine tea tree oil, wild mint and lavender and your feet will thank you. Thank Earth Therapeutics for Reflexology Foot Massage, a New York-based company reminding us of the notion that feet contain “reflex” pressure points that mirror pressure points throughout the entire body. Could a foot massage get to your “chi” and harmonize your entire body? If feels great when I use it. I can only imagine the contents unleashed in the hands of a professional.

It could be that the very phrase “foot massage” puts you in the mind of a scene from “Pulp Fiction.” This greaseless glide cools, heals, soothes, stimulates and releases an aroma that will send your mind to a spa, or an Asian garden, or a secluded waterfall…

ddoiron@panews.com

New this 12-Week year? Brushing, mummies and mushrooms

The Brush Off

Washing my face is one of the best parts of my day since I’ve tried the new Silk’n DermBeaute Deep Penetrating Facial Brush. Another is immediately after when I feel so invigorated I can’t stop touching my skin. I know you’re not supposed to touch, because then you’d have to wash again, but the washing feels so good. Anyways, best not to overuse a great thing. It does feel like the power of a spa in an ergonomic little machine with soft brushes to clean sensitive skin and other heads that exfoliate and stimulate. It happens through sonic vibrations. So now you’re clean, but here’s where they get  you: without all those dead cells building up, your fancy schmancy creams and treatments will now absorb and do their job better and your skin is “brighter.” It’s a win-win and worth a little extra you ought to spend on yourself sometimes. The benefits pay off.

Look for this brand. I remember back in the ‘70s my cousin got a prototype of this kind of brush and I wanted one soooo bad. I eventually tried one that seems archaic to the DermBeaute.  I feel I should have more to say about something I love so much, but bottom line: It does what it says, very well. www.silkn.com

Mummy look for high-tech

LoopAttachment’s super-soft silicone case for iPhones is called the Mummy. It’s a wrap. Like bandages. This cool tool seems a contradiction, because it is protecting your phone even as the impressive sleek parts of your actual phone peek through. And here’s another thinker. The bands in back expand enough for you to tuck a few credit cards in there. Why, those should be kept “under wraps” somewhere else, one might “charge.” A woman headed out on the town will appreciate this feature as she slides her slim bundle into a tiny evening bag. Men, your Mummy won’t pick up lint as some covers do, makers say.

I’m loving the attention Mummy is getting and I love the sleek feel of the silicone. They come in crazy color packs, like The Hulk, in purple, neon green and black. Creators are proud to be associated with downtown Chicago. Wonder if they do business near offices of “The Good Wife?” www.loopattachment.com

Mushroom kit

It wasn’t my first log. With GMHP Gourmet & Mushroom Products, Foodies can grow shiitake, pom pom blanc, oyster, Sonoma brown and other mushrooms you may not have even heard of. (I confess, I hadn’t heard of two of the ones I just mentioned.)

So you water this log and keep it your home until little shrooms start producing right there in your home. Then you just cut them off and eat them. It’s a curiosity for the family, though the process is a bit slow for a party game. It sure is a delicious conversation starter. Visit www.gmushrooms.com for the scoop on your indoor mushroom kit. I love the paperwork that comes with this earth-loving product. It’s printed on sustainable eucalyptus paper and tells how you can recycle your kit into potting soil. The shiitake kit I tried could produce two or more flushes, or crops. That didn’t happen to me, though. And I thought I had a green, or fungus, thumb.

Can you do a 12-week year?

Instead of asking “how” all the time, try “what if.”  Think of your week like the business world thinks of quarters in the year, and pick up the pace. Set off blocks of time to focus on tackling the work you’d rather put off – be it you’re company’s big job or  organizing the school carpool schedule. After all, home and work life go together to make a whole experience. Wouldn’t it be great to have more time and a higher success rate when you’re done?

“When you redefine the concept of a year, your life will change,” promises Moran. “A year is no longer 12 months; it is now only 12 weeks, followed by the next 12 Week Year, ad infinitum. Each 12 week period stands on its own.

          “You no longer have the luxury of putting off critical activities, thinking there is ‘plenty of time’ left to meet your goals,” he adds in press materials. “When you have only 12 weeks, each week matters, each day matters, each moment matters. And the result is profound.”

The moment an athlete becomes great is not when the gold medal is won. That is evidence of greatness, which comes when he or  she makes the decision to do what it takes to become great, authors say and urge us to think of deadlines as the “good guys.”

 “Deadlines aren’t sinister in and of themselves—we only feel that way about them when we aren’t on track to meet them or when they’re unreasonable,” Moran asserts. “But realistic deadlines are actually great motivators. They are tools that can help you to hone your focus, increase your efficiency, and realize your full potential. When you think about deadlines this way, it makes sense to have more of them, not less! They can help you to create end-of-year energy, focus, and commitment throughout the year.”

Become the CEO of your own life, be honest and plan for success. I love this kind of book and would love a lot of people I know to both read it and follow the advice. Here’s one for the road. Try to stop thinking you “have to” do something and say I “choose to.”

www.12weekyear.com.

E Pluribus Chili means we're talkin' Texas

E Pluribus Chili means we’re talkin’ Texas

E Pluribus Chili

The motto above comes with an eagle clutching a spoon and a full beer mug in his talons and speaks for Texas Chili Parlor, a rustic establishment across from the Texas Capitol that has kept legislators in chili, burgers and Mexican flavors since 1976. I just tried it for the first time and savored the total experience, from the neon lights and worn tables and clientele of tourists, locals and suited politician types to the rather primitive “powder room” with a University of Texas shower curtain as a door. I wanted to try the Habanero chili on a burger, but the waitress said the 3X brisket bowl of red was hotter than that. I enjoyed every bite, but wonder if they got my order mixed up, because the heat level was mild on my scale. I went at a quiet time. I’d love to be the Texas fly on the wall when this place is hopping.

Here’s some more Texas talk:

Legends and Lore in Texas

“Cowboys, Cops, Killers and Ghosts” covers a lot in the title, but the subtitle, “Legends and Lore in Texas,” kind of opens things up again. Kenneth L. Untiedt edited this Texas Folkore Society LXIX publication that has so much to offer. One store is about Hemphill in the old days when people dressed up to go to town  and men played dominoes in the square. At least some of that is still going on. Some of the vintage cop talk may sound “hinky” today, but the young ones used to call the veterans “old heads” on the Houston PD force, one remembrance accounts. Car hops who liked cops were dubbed fender lizards.

Then we move on to ghost towns of the Big Thicket and more Lone Star good stuff.

Galveston Bay Drive & Discover

We may appreciate the Galveston area for a fun day of ferry riding, seafood, beach feel and shopping.  Galveston Bay Foundation and Galveston Bay Estuary Program partnered on the new Galveston Bay Drive & Discover Guide to help Texans realize what a valuable economic and recreational asset the Bay is. 

The Drive & Discover guide is available in hard copy and as a free app on iTunes and Google Play. Look for more than 55 places to experiences in seven bay areas.  Highlights: ancient shell middens, early cattle ranches, first offshore oil rigs in Texas, seagrass meadows and world-renowned birdwatching sites. Download the app or request a hard copy of the Drive & Discover guide from the Galveston Bay Foundation at (281) 332-3381 or at www.galvbay.org.

The appliance every Texan should have

KRUPS has a mini chopper that’s sleek and efficient and looks great on the kitchen counter. I wonder what’s the first thing cooks in other states think of when they see it. I thought, I could make salsa for breakfast eggs, lunch salads and dinner nachos. Salsa every day, with different ratios of jalapeno, tomato, fruit, onion, etc. Choppers won’t start until you get them lined up, and sometimes the struggle with that leads to bad thoughts, but this KRUPS one behaves when you chop, puree, blend and emulsify. I’ve made the enclosed pancake recipe and created an original salad dressing and can’t wait to whip some cream. But you guessed it, this 300 watt baby is earning its keep by turning out never-ending salsa. Yee haw Lone Star salsa lovers.

ddoiron@panews.com

Let's talk about this new year...

I got that “clean sweep” feeling the day after Christmas. Out with the old, in with the new; get in shape (after the egg nog is gone); and do nice things for others. Also, I can’t wait for Mardi Gras. Here’s some good stuff for 2014:

Clock this

Doesn’t the New Year put you in the mind of clocks? If I told you I’m looking at a clock that runs on water, you might make fun of me. That sounds like both old school and modern technology mixed together. I’m truthing you, eying my little round purple clock with a “digital” display. It’s Bedol’s Battery-Free Eco-Friendly Water Powered Clock. It even has an alarm. Watch a video for a very cute jingle that will get stuck in your head and a little lesson on proprietary metallic plates inside the semi-transparent water reservoir that channel the ions in the water into a current that powers the clock and alarm. Got that? This is the kind of gift that is sold through museum gift stores because it is so cool. Bed Bath & Beyond can hook you up, too. www.bedolwhatsnext.com

Leg Magic X

If I can get an unidentified member of my family to like Leg Magic X as much as I do, I’ll be so happy. And this other person will hopefully get more balance.  The photos show older adults using this to their advantage. This little exerciser folds out into a small space that you can go by several times a day for a 60-second workout. That kind of routine is my kind of heaven. Leg Magic X is “designed to exercise the lower body large and small muscle groups according to their natural movement, while standing in an upright position.”  I’m loving it. Makers say the magic is that “it increases muscle activity up to 400% and increases blood flow in the legs by as much as 77% in only 60 seconds.   The 9 degree slope uses body weight for a low impact workout as it helps strengthen legs, lower body and the pelvic floor without putting strain on the hips, knees and ankles.” That’s some technical talk and ladies, makers say this 20-pound wonder works the Kegel muscles. Seriously, go to www.trylegmagicx.com to learn more.

Got a guitar for Christmas?

The topic of guitars keeps coming up and I have been promised a Beatles song guitar solo as an upcoming birthday gift. Not from Paul.

If you are learning how to play as your New Year’s resolution, this book will inspire.

“Guitar Aficionado: The Collections” is an oversized book of photographs and interviews of “The Most Famous, Rare and Valuable Guitars in the World.” I liked reading up on the pawn shop history of  Texas legend Stevie Ray Vaughan’s guitar, the Mickey Mantle autograph on the back.

Some pages will make you go “wow” and others nearly cry at the memories the music invokes. If those guitars could talk…. Well, Tom Beaujour and Christopher Scapelliti are making them talk about as much as the guitarists who played them did.

Get ready for stories from guitar greats including Brad Whitford of Aerosmith, David Crosby of Crosby, Stills & Nash, Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac, James Hetfield of Metallica, Mick Mars of Mötley Crüe and more.

Cook like a food truck

What’s trendy now is noted community chefs taking it to the road with gourmet creations. Let this be your food truck road trip year. “The Southern Food Truck Cookbook” is Heather Donahoe’s trip that does more than open the way for one of these traveling kitchens to roll into your life. This guide to discovering the south’s best food on four wheels lets you get right to it. Let’s start with Louisiana, because Heather didn’t make it to Texas. Learn how to fashion the celebrated crab cakes of Bon Repas or ginger lime shrimp salad from Freshjunkie in Baton Rouge. Keep going for honeysuckle gelato in Atlanta, where they also make Bloody Mary watermelon pops and coconut rice in Nashville. Heather hits Kentucky, The Virginias, North and South Carolina, Arkansas and Tennessee as well.

This is a beautiful book with shots of fun trucks, like Wrapper’s Delight; mouth-watering food spreads; recipes you’ll love; and the author’s good anecdotes.

Mission Savvy of Charleston, West Virginia is a raw/vegan kinda place. Here’s one of theirs, that goes with raw Thai spring rolls:

Almond Dipping Sauce

Gather it up: 1 cup almond butter

1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 half tablespoon tamari sauce

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 seeded jalapeno pepper

2 cups water

Make it happen:

Add ingredients to bowl of food processor or blender and mix thoroughly.

ddoiron@panews.com

Fish Bible is the gospel

Pat A. Riley Jr. is back in town and I spotted him at the Nederland Historical Society’s Christmas party at the library. He was at the door, because a live performance was happening. As I was pulling in the lot, KVLU’s radion station personalities were speaking of the Southeast Texas Dulcimer Friends. When Mr. Riley opened the door for me, that’s who was playing. Great timing.

Al also met Sonya Willis of Nederland, who says if anyone is interested in meeting with the historical group, give her a call at 722-2831.

Read the fish Bible

Cajun tales that warm the soul are as important as dishes that tempt the palate in “The Louisiana Seafood Bible: Fish Volume 2.” You may have heard or collected Jerald and Glenda Horst’s editions. Pelican Publishing puts out this sixth and final volume of the beloved series.

Panko Trout and Catfish Eggrolls sound as revolutionary as the Figs and Fins recipe with snapper and a pint of fig jam. Ever stuff your peppers with fish? You may have grilled your garfish cake.

Get your mouth set for Mardi Gras of Southeast Texas, Feb. 27-March 2, with this book. The photos, the feeling, the history and “new” concepts make this a gospel of good news.

New Year’s Beauty Resolutions:

Beauty Spatula

My mom and aunt have always joked about packing a tiny spatula in their bags to get the last drop of a delicious meal. Boy, did they ever have a laugh at the new Every Drop Beauty Lip Spatula, a teeny scoop to reach the bottom of  lip gloss, lipstick and more. The just slightly larger Every Drop Beauty Spatula gives you “access to hard to reach product,” such as foundation and lotions. The spatulas don’t absorb like cotton swabs, are flexible for use with several sized bottles and can be used as an applicator. Frugal women, and those relishing the final applications of an out-of-production item, will wonder where Every Drop has been all their lives. Visit www.everybeautybrand.com for info on One-of-a-Kind Cosmetic Tools.

Double Duty

Could you imagine a product that exfoliates and lightly hydrates for radiance? I’m impressed with Gylcolic Expert Moisturizer by Exuviance. It can tingle a bit and you should wear sunscreen. Those who are “into” skincare info know these are hallmarks of “the good stuff” and may actually be familiar with Doctors Van Scott and Yu, patent holders of the “lunchtime” glycolic peel who work with the powers of Alpha Hydroxy and Polyhydroxy Acids. Exuviance has more skin wonders in its line. I think this one has been perfect at taming my discomforts of winter skin. Glad to have found it.

ddoiron@panews.com

Who's your Patron?

Who’s your Patron? Yurman.

Google David Yurman jewelry and you’ll see a lot of glamorous women wearing his rings and bracelets, and sometimes not much else. Now there’s something that I’m guessing men will enjoy as much as women: A impressive bottle stopper simulating the hilt of a sword. It has gold-toned heft, is accurately described as having “meticulous craftsmanship and masculine elegance” and it is only available this holiday season. This stopper goes on a Patron Anejo bottle, which is already an impressive sight. Get yourself a bottle and “stop.” Come on, buy it now. You’ll be sorry if you don’t and should have to waste a moment hunting it down later. It’s a limited edition item by Evan Yurman, design director for David Yurman Men’s Collection.

More to drink:

Angelini Estate Sangiovese is a turkey and duck kind of wine with beautiful legs and elegant structure. It says that right on the label. It was dark, so I didn’t check out the legs for myself, although Port Arthur’s Shawn Bruno, now a Sour Lake wine maker, taught me how. I enjoyed this wine and Angelini Pergola Rosso so much that I’d say it was good for any special occasion or will make any occasion special. There’s the aroma of lavender and rose petals in the latter. Please people, read your labels!

Georges Doboeuf just released their 2013 Beaugolais Nouveau, the first wine of the harvest. He and Franck Duboeuf tell us there was wonderful weather in September and the Indian Summer produced a harvest that is mature and rich in sugar, along the lines of the 2011 vintage. Remember that one? I don’t, but hey, it’s fun reading up on your wine history. It’s like you’ve made a friend and maybe you’ll find it a little hard to drink it all up because then your friend will be gone. Don’t worry. There’s plenty more on the shelf. This is a casual wine for $10.99.

Unicum Plum is fun to say. Ever heard of plum liqueur? It’s a far cry from juice from a dried plum, which is what we used to call a prune. I tried a sample and it is as rich and fruity as I imagined. It takes me right back into a figgy pudding Christmas in London. Well, from books I’ve read on that. Here’s how you experiment:

Plum Toddy

Created by Joaquín Simó

Ingredients:

1 and one half ounces Unicum Plum Liqueur

1 dash Aromatic Bitters

Hot Water for Top

Cinnamon Stick for Garnish

Preparation:

1.         Combine Unicum Plum Liqueur and aromatic bitters into a glass mug.

2.         Top with hot water.

3.         Garnish with cinnamon stick.

Ideal Serving Glass:

Glass Mug

Yield:

1 drink, no drinks contains more than 0.6 fluid ounces of alcohol

Pumpkin trending update

Pumpkin Vanilla Crème is my latest experience in this crazy-for-pupkin season. It was a crazy cup of flavored coffee from  Crazy Cups: A Bit Obsessed With Flavors. These recyclable individual coffee pods work with Keurig machine and work with your passion for aromatic, pleasurable coffee. Mix and match for gifts with flavors like

White Christmas, Italian Chocolate Cheesecake and Peppermint Chocolate Mocha. I’m working my way through. You can also make Crazy Cups of tea and hot chocolate. Heard enough? One more thing. There’s 35 percent more coffee in every capsule. I can’t wait to get more work done because it means it’s time for more coffee. Pick your flavors at www.crazycups.com

Skedouche

Why won’t anyone invite me to a tacky Christmas sweater party? I’m ready. My closet doesn’t have a section of ‘80s clothes for no reason. Skedouche claims to have made those sweater parties hip, and they’re cranking holiday fare out. Could you believe a Chanuka sweater with light-up candles? Or a similar version in a wine sweater? Don’t stop there. They’ve got more holidays and more “fashions” for you with boots, vests and glasses. I’m sporting a Kosby hat from the collection, but I don’t find anything “tacky” about it. Gotta say, it won’t go unnoticed with a red knit design that pulls down over my ears, a tassled string to tie under the chin and a faux fur pelt lining keeping my ears warm as can be. We don’t often get too cold in Southeast Texas, but when we do, we can www.skedouche.com. Get everybody lined up  and lighted for a family photo!

Toasty

It’s important to know how to pronounce Cicciabella. It’s CHEE-CHA BELL-AH, and means pretty little one in Italian, according to this line of  charming slippers. They’re original, stylish and warm and they just might flash through your mind in the day, when you think how great it will be to be wearing them later, when you are relaxed. I tried Kwilts, which look like they’re knit by hand, with a button over the buckle, and lined with soft, fuzzy stuff. Cicciabella calls them playful.

ddoiron@panews.com

From Rather to a Little Black Dress

 

What an honor for a journalist like me to meet Dan Rather at the Lamar State-College Distinguished Lecture Series. His talk at the Carl A. Parker Multipurpose  Center was humorous, educational and emotional. The event was well attended and it seems I’m not the only one who would like to thank Lamar for bringing us speakers of such caliber. Rather mentioned he had spent time in Beaumont as a youth, cutting brush for a pipeline path. He caught a Beaumont Exporters game. He also spoke of the passion that virtually consumes dedicated reporters who work to be brokers of the truth.

You’ve got mail… and gifts

Even the napkins are fun at Flagship Mailroom on FM 365. While sampling fruity jams with crackers, I scooped up one with a quote from Phyllis Diller. The photo shows a “vintage” scene of a woman visiting Santa. The quote: “What I don’t like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day.”

You can have a much milder holiday with gifts like inspirational bracelets, hats that cover your ears and little figurines of birds with hats that cover their… whatever they call ears. Clothes candles, and the means to ship them deck these shelves. I know someone is getting a Texas-shaped dinner bell this season.

Exercise Freak

If the title of the pink Denon wireless fitness headphones intimidates you, substitute another word. They’re called Fitness Freak, but don’t worry if you don’t think you walk or run enough to earn the badge. If you are a gadget freak or accessory freak, you’ll love on these plenty. There’s nothing but Beatles on my phone, and I can now go on a wireless jam on my afternoon break. The pink in-ear headphones support Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the music sounds amazing. Maybe you have a tangled hot mess of little wires for your phone. Switch ‘em all out for these beauties and you’ll “freak” over the performance, which incudes Bluetooth 3.0 wirless connectivity with integrated amplifier, sweat-proof design and a rechargeable battery with up to seven hours of music. Does your workout last that long? Load the Denon Sport App to map and track your action.

Divalicious

Little Black Dress Wines has released Divalicious Pink Pinot Grigio 2012, which made a hit at a party we hit. It’s a composite: 75% Pinot Grigio, 13% Muscat, 10% Chardonnay and 2% Viognier. Who wouldn’t look good in that?  The color and flavor is a great fit for the holidays. Here’s how they put it together: “To make Divalicious Pink Pinot Grigio, Zidanelia “Z” Arcidiacono, the winemaker behind Little Black Dress Wines, lets the grapes to macerate on their skins for a limited time, resulting in a wine that’s a delicate and appealing shade of pink.”

So, this Little Black dress goes with anything, for just about $11.

ddoiron@panews.com