hearsay
➥ The ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER’S MUSEUM STORE has a great selection of items related to the museum’s current exhibit: “Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London.” Treasures include enamel tea pots and premium Earl Grey teabags, as well as a book about the exhibit titled, “Treasures of the Kenwood House, London — wonderful book explaining the history of the Kenwood House and photos from the collection including Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough and more.” The store also has reproductions of the famous British posters responsible for the “Keep Calm and …” Internet meme. The posters were first produced in 1939, when Britain was on the brink of World War II. The British government’s Ministry of Information commissioned a series of propaganda posters to reassure the population they would be defended at all costs — the posters proclaimed, “Keep Calm and Carry On”. The Treasures of Kenwood House exhibition will be at the museum until Sept. 8, and feature 48 masterpieces by the greatest artists of their periods, including Rembrandt van Rijn, Thomas Gainsborough, Anthony van Dyck, Frans Hals, Joshua Reynolds, J.M.W. Turner and more. For more information on the exhibit or to purchase tickets, visit www.arkarts. com. ➥ There’s still time to take advantage of THE TOGGERY’S 10 percent off school uniforms promotion — the sale ends June 30. Shoppers can take advantage of the reduced prices in both stores and online (use the promotion code 10OFF). ➥L&L BECK GALLERY’S July exhibit is “The Wild Ones,” a series of paintings of wild animals in appropriate settings. A piece titled, “Wolf,” will be the giclée giveaway of the month. The exhibit will run through the month of July, and the giclée drawing will be at 7 p.m. July 18. 52 JUNE 27, 2013
JUNE 27, 2013
fire up the
GRILL
BY ERICA SWEENEY PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN CHILSON
A
Add a little humor to your cookout with a “Just Chillin’ and Grillin’” cook’s towel and grilling-themed outdoor mug (Available at Rhea Drug, 2801 Kavanaugh in Little Rock)
ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO ARKANSAS TIMES
backyard barbecue is the quintessential celebration of the Fourth of July. For a full-on patriotic cookout, a 100-percent American-made, Arkansas-assembled Portable Kitchen Grill found at Krebs Brothers Restaurant Store is just the cooker. Portable Kitchen Grills are a combo charcoal grill and smoker. Made of aluminum, rather than stamped steel like most, the grills are a stand-out because they don’t rust and the quarter-inchthick exterior, air-tight interior and movable vents reflect heat and allow for even cooking, “like a convection oven,” said company owner Paul James. Cooking on Portable Kitchens can be “low and slow” or “high and fast,” thanks to its design, he said. While it all depends on what’s cooking, most anything is possible, whether the chef is grilling burgers or chops, or slow cooking Boston butt, beef brisket or turkeys. Native Arkansans may remember the original Portable Kitchen Grill, also made in the state and likely a fixture at many a barbecue from the early 1950s until it went off the market in the late 1970s. Growing up in West Memphis in the 1960s, James fondly remembers uncles and neighbors cooking on the Portable Kitchen, though his own father never owned one. As an adult, James found a Portable Kitchen at a garage sale and said he was constantly asked about it. He said he always thought they were the best grills. Continued on page 54