What’s Cookin’

from POSTCARDS MAGAZINE - Lake Conroe - March 2023

by Digital Publisher

Vet Connect:

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 (16 oz) bottle stout beer, divided

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

1 cup beef broth

1 Tbs garlic powder

1 Tbs onion powder

1 Tbs smoked paprika salt and ground black pepper to taste

Slow Cooker Irish Stew

Ingredients

1 Tbs olive oil, or to taste

2 lbs beef chuck roast, cubed

3 russet potatoes, diced

1 lb baby carrots

1 large onion, chopped

Directions

Step 1: Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add beef; cook until evenly browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side.

Step 2: Place potatoes, carrots, onion, and garlic in a slow cooker; top with browned beef.

Step 3: Pour 1/4 cup beer into the same skillet and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of beef off of the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon. Stir in tomato paste; cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Pour beer mixture into slow cooker.

Step 4: Pour beef broth, remaining beer, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and pepper into slow cooker.

Step 5: Cook on Low for 8 hours. Stew can alternately be cooked on High until potatoes and carrots are easily pierced with a fork, 3 to 4 hours.

Shamrock Lucky Charms Treats

Ingredients

3 Tbs salted butter

1 (10 oz) pkg marshmallows

3 drops green food coloring, or as needed

6 cups frosted toasted oat cereal with marshmallows (such as Lucky Charms®)

Directions

Step 1: Line a 9x13-inch pan with parchment paper and coat with nonstick cooking spray.

Step 2: Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and mix in a few drops of green food coloring (to your desired color).

Step 3: Place the cereal in a large bowl. Add marshmallow mixture and stir until the cereal is well coated.

Step 4: Evenly and gently press the cereal mixture into the prepared pan with a greased spatula. Set aside to cool.

Step 5: Once cooled, remove the treats (with the parchment paper) from the pan and place on top of a cutting board. Cut the cereal treats into shamrock shapes using a shamrock cookie cutter.

Cook’s Note:

If you want an extra fun presentation, separate some of the marshmallow shapes from the cereal before mixing with the melted marshmallow mixture. Gently press the reserved marshmallows on top of the treats after cutting to add some color and design to the final presentation.

By Kim Bius The Azalea……….. Spring’s Grande Dame

Azaleas are easy to grow, but their requirements are very specific. They are acid lovers, thus most soils in our area are their native habitat. Azaleas love rich, loamy soil and prefer raised beds, especially when poor drainage can become an issue. A perfect bed contains 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 heavy humus, and 1/3 growers mix or a sandy topsoil (no clay). Azaleas will tolerate full west sun exposure to a shady habitat, making them extremely versatile. Very sunny areas require additional irrigation, and heavy shade areas do not produce blooms. New plantings will not have an established root system and will require consistent watering at least 3-4 times a week on a 3-gallon size or larger. One-gallon azaleas require more care in becoming established. Three gallon or larger azaleas are generally recommended for planting unless you are a diligent gardener. Maintenance is easy. Pruning is done once a year, after the last bloom fades. Trim all top shoots back to the main “ball,” generally 2’3’ shorter than overall growth. Cut back 50% if they have grown too large for their area. You will see bare stalks for several weeks-in 6 weeks, the dramatic pruning will not be visible. Azaleas must be pruned yearly for best appearance.

Azaleas are fertilized twice a year with azalea fertilizer. Use after pruning and again in 6 weeks. Do not fertilize prior to or during blooming. Liquid or granular iron is often needed several times a year because our soils easily deplete of iron in heavy rains. Limey colored leaves with dark green stems are signs of iron deficiency.

Azaleas do have a few insects/diseases to watch for. Lacebugs can be spotted by mottled leafs that have turned “crispy, white, and devoid of chlorophyll.” Turn the leaf over and you will see hundreds of black and rust colored dots. A systemic liquid insecticide followed by a systemic granular is the best line of defense against repeated infestations. Rust is your next enemy. This fungi affects plants in rainy seasons and is apparent by the rusty powder on the topside of leaves. A systemic fungicide will keep this at bay.

Azaleas are available in a wide range of varieties, colors, and sizes. The miniatures are the Gumpos. These little guys resemble a helleri holly in mounding growth to a height of 2 ½’ x 2 ½’. They bloom a bit later, but will sometimes “throw” a few single sporadic blooms during summer and fall. Gumpos have large blooms of white or medium pink.

The semi-dwarfs to dwarfs are a large grouping of azaleas that range in height from 3’ to 5’. Kurume and various other hybrids make up the population of this group. The most popular in East Texas:

Red Ruffle – large pink/red double bloom, 3’5’ plant. Easily pruned after blooming to keep them more compact.

Pink Ruffle- large baby pink double bloom, grows a bit taller than red ruffle, if left unpruned.

Fashion – orange/pink bloom, blooms spring and fall. Deep bronze-colored leaves in fall, 3’-4’ plant.

Snow – double white, blooms profusely, spring bloom only.

Christmas Cheer – cherry red bloom, spring and sporadically at Christmas.

Sunglow – blooms later than others, neon pink, blooms into May.

The Encore series has many varieties that fit this category. They will bloom heavily spring and fall and sporadically throughout the year. The kickback is the price. Encore azaleas are patented, so plan on paying double for these (can be easily mixed with standard azaleas).

Southern Indicas are the largest group of azaleas. These hardy azaleas can easily reach 8’ tall x 6’ wide, if left unpruned. They are “prettiest” in full spring bloom,should be pruned (heavily or lightly) after blooming, and maintained at 3’- 4’ or greater.

Purple Formosa produces a raspberry/purple bloom and is the true Formosa of the south; Red Formosa produces a ruby/magenta bloom and is easily detectable by its “hairy” leaves; the Pink Formosa produces a fuschia pink bloom; the G.G. Gerbing produces a large, white blooms and is most susceptible to rust and blight; and the George Tabor is pale pink with a purple throat and always a showstopper. Happy Gardening….Hurray for spring!

Walking into Nothing Bundt Cakes on West Davis Street in Conroe, it’s easy to see why it’s so popular. Everything about it exudes warmth and joy, from its friendly staff with wide smiles to the colorful cake displays placed around the store. There are examples of decorated cakes for every occasion, from graduations to birthdays to Father’s Day, and the display case shows off many sizes and flavors of Bundt cakes, from Red Velvet to Strawberries and Cream.

I have to admit I didn’t expect the cakes to be that special. Growing up with a mother who made spectacularly decorated made-fromscratch cakes for every birthday, I was spoiled. I have spent my adult life disappointed over and over again by cake mixes and bakeries alike, to the point where I told my husband to not even get me a birthday cake anymore. This year, however, I was given a Chocolate Chocolate Chip “Bundtlet” (individual serving Bundt cake) from Nothing Bundt Cakes for my birthday. As soon as I took the first bite, I knew I was hooked. Light and fluffy, but still rich and chocolatey, with just the right amount of velvety cream cheese frosting, the Bundlet brought back memories of childhood birthdays filled with love and laughter and the kind of chocolate cake I hadn’t had in decades. From now on, I know where my special occasion cakes will come from.

Calling a bite or two of cake a life-changing experience might sound a little far-fetched, yet that is exactly how Bill and Carol Green ended up with three of the Houston-area franchise locations of Nothing Bundt Cakes, including the one in Conroe.

After selling his business, Bill was looking for a new entrepreneurial venture while Carol was still pursuing her corporate career. One day, someone at Carol’s office brought in a Bundt cake for a meeting. She took a bite, and it inspired her to look up Nothing Bundt Cakes online, where she saw they had franchises available. She called her husband and son Josh, who had graduated from Texas Tech with a restaurant and hospitality management degree. At first, they shook off the bakery idea as “kind of girly,” but they agreed to go and try the cakes for themselves.

“They got their Bundtlets, went to the car, opened them up and tried them. Then they called me and said, ‘Okay, we’re in!’” explained Carol. It wasn’t long before Bill and Josh donned aprons and became the first two male trainees at Nothing Bundt Cakes, not just learning how to manage and market the business, but also how to bake the cakes. Soon afterward, the family moved down from Dallas to open the Houston Galleria location (which has now been relocated to Voss and Woodway).

In 2010, the Galleria store represented the company’s early growth, as location #30. The Green family’s store in West University was the 71st Nothing Bundt Cakes location. By the time Bill and Carol opened the Conroe location in April 2020, Nothing Bundt Cakes had 330 locations, and today it is nearing 477 nationwide. The company’s explosive growth hasn’t affected its home-grown feel, however.

“There are 15 locations around the Houston area,” Bill said. “It’s a really close franchise. We all get along, and if any of us need anything, we reach out to the others for help.”

Within the three locations the Greens own and operate, each family member has his or her own role. “Bill is responsible for the back of the house – the baking, frosting, training people – and he is our maintenance guy, going between all three of our locations,” Carol explained. “I do the accounting, and Josh manages the managers down in Houston.”

“He (Josh) isn’t in the bakery as much as he used to be. When we were first getting started, we lived and breathed it 24x7,” Bill added. “Because, when we first opened in the Galleria, no one knew who we were. If you hadn’t been to Dallas and been to one (Nothing Bundt Cakes location), you wouldn’t know who we were, so that first year was tough. But now, just about everyone has heard of us.”

While it was difficult getting the word out about the Greens’ first location, their third location in Conroe has had different challenges, as its opening coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. By the time their they ready permitting, everything was starting to shut down.

“We literally got the very last health department permit in Montgomery County before they stopped issuing them. The guy came by, did our inspection, handed us our permit, and then said ‘Okay, we’re done.’” Bill said.

Carol said it was hard to find employees to work when the Conroe store first opened. Their younger son Mitchell, a land manager, was in between jobs due to the downturn in the oil and gas market and agreed to come help for a while. An aunt was also instrumental opening location; worked alongside Carol every day until the location was fully staffed. They found high school and college students to staff the front of the house. And if the pandemic didn’t make it challenging enough, they opened two weeks before Mother’s Day.

“It was crazy. It was the busiest Mother’s Day in the history of the company, nationwide,” explained Bill. “People were lined up all the way around the corner of the building to the dumpster in the back.”

Nevertheless, they didn’t run out of cakes.

“We worked all night and then all the next day to make sure we delivered on all our orders,” he continued, adding that all the cakes are made fresh onsite.

The top-selling

flavor is Chocolate

Chocolate Chip, Lemon is popular in the spring, and each month they introduce a short-run flavor which is available for six weeks to two months.

“It is an exciting time for our brand,” said Carol. “The current featured flavor is a brand new one…Oreo® Cookies and Cream. Be sure to check it out!” The Blueberry Bliss featured flavor, one of Carol’s faves, returns April 3 through May 21.

The Conroe store’s manager, Cortni Peters, not only makes sure the retail operation runs smoothly, but she also handles the franchisee’s robust marketing and community relations program.

As a way of saying thank you for all they do, Nothing Bundt Cakes loves working with the community via fundraisers, donations, etc. “We love doing stuff with the schools,” added Bill. “The administration building here in Conroe loves us!” he said with a chuckle.

While Josh is content to stay in Houston, Bill and Carol are Montgomery residents, so their business is an investment into their new hometown. They hint at the idea of opening yet another location but won’t say where.

“We really can’t say,” Carol says. “It’s still in the dreaming phase.”

Bill and Carol may not want to talk about where their dreams will take them next, but I won’t shy away from sharing one of my dreams. I am already imagining my next family birthday party, which will include a special treat from Nothing Bundt Cakes!