Summer 2023 At Home in Edmond

Letter from the Publisher

WELCOME TO SUMMER AT HOME IN EDMOND!

We appreciate our Edmond community

Edmond is near and dear to my heart. I raised my children here and they participated in many of the same programs that your children are taking part in as well. Even though we enjoy our travels to other countries, it is always great to return home. I know many of you share that same feeling. Edmond is where our memories are made with family and the ones we love. This last few years have taught us the importance of our home base in our lives. When folks were trapped in their homes it got us thinking about what we liked and what we might want to change about our home here in Edmond. What is so special about Edmond?

We have great medical facilities in Edmond, and it is growing. Edmond offers great schools, a low crime rate, incredible parks, transparent city government, its own electric company, strict zoning, great retail options, low cost of living, quality builders and developers, sports programs and outstanding public art. Edmond is home to the state’s fourth largest school district, Edmond Public Schools. The district is also the state’s most honored public school district, with nationally recognized Blue-Ribbon Schools. Edmond also offers multiple private schools and a multitude of childcare options. Edmond is continually bringing new businesses to town and more business means more city tax income which all goes to maintaining great city services that Edmond residents have come to expect. Yet, we enjoy one of the lowest cost of living in the country.

Nobody wants to make an unwise decision when investing in a home. That is why you should look for professionals in this area that are qualified to walk you through the tough decisions of financing, building, remodeling, or redecorating. Our At Home in Edmond magazine gives you just that opportunity to find trusted professionals in our community. They want you to make good decisions as well. We appreciate our advertisers in At Home who make it possible for us to share this valuable information with you.

I want to thank our staff for their hard work on this section. It is tough when putting out a weekly newspaper to produce a glossy magazine the size of this one. They have done an excellent job once again. Our Summer At Home in Edmond magazine is just another way we enjoy delivering important information to our community. We are locally owned, locally operated and nobody can out “Edmond” our staff.

We have been publishing our At Home In Edmond for over 23 years and along with our weekly newspaper, it is by far the best information you will find on this community. Our staff and our advertisers love Edmond and hope you do as well.

Best Regards,

Ray Hibbard

Publisher Edmond Life & Leisure At Home in Edmond

The long, hot summer days were made for lazy afternoons spent with your best friend: your dog.

Edit & Co

By Erika Williams

Edit and Co, located at 115 S. Broadway in downtown Edmond is a boutique centered on helping clients feel confident and polished through fashion. Recognizing that shopping can be a stressful experience for many, owner Katie Whitson (photo, right) wants customers to feel a sense of calm as they walk into the store.

Said Katie, “Life is overwhelming, and you have so many decisions to make every day, so I want you to walk in here and it not feel overwhelming. It’s like, okay, I can get in, I can get out.”

Edit and Co offers many high-end pieces, but the focus of the store is on elevated staples and basics. Katie wants clients to feel like they’re getting a personal shopping experience.

In selecting pieces for the store, Whitson balances trends with functionality. She wants clients to feel like pieces work for their lifestyles.

“It’s more like personal shopping with a boutique because you’re looking at one huge brand, but

you’re curating what you hope and think the local clientele will want,” said Katie. “It was a little bit looking at the trends here, people’s lifestyles. What’s actually wearable, and going to fit what they do and the climate?”

Edit and Co carries clothing, accessories, jewelry and shoes, and offerings change seasonally. Anine Bing, Paige, Citizens of Humanity, and Rag & Bone are some of the brands carried in the store.

Katie moved to Oklahoma from Indiana in 2020 after her husband, an Oklahoma native, accepted a coaching job at Putnam City Original. Katie owned a boutique in Indiana and said it helped her feel closer to the community. She opened Edit and Co in February of 2022 to find that same sense of connection with the Edmond community.

“I just wanted to dive in, put some roots down, and make it my home too. And this is what I do, and how I need to do it. Being downtown, I get to meet people here and become a local if you will,” said Katie.

Despite having a degree and almost a decade of experience in agriculture, Katie found that owning and operating a boutique is what makes her feel most ingrained in the community.

“It was like a joke of farming to fashion. I genuinely never really thought I’d maybe turn it into a business, but I always loved fashion growing up. I loved picking out outfits, helping friends, helping family, or even just wearing something to start a trend,” said Katie.

Katie still uses her background in agriculture to find brands with responsible farming and ethical labor practices for the store.

“It’s not just about being green, it’s more of how things are being made and who are we sourcing them from,” said Katie. “We all love a good story, and I think people are finding they want that with their clothing too.”

Katie uses her stores as a way to invest in the community, and she wants her clients to get as much continues through Page 10

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out of the experience as she does.

Said Katie, “My biggest focus is the fact that if I’m sure we want to be a part of the community, and I hope that when people come in here that it’s a nice experience and they leave feeling uplifted. Whether you window shop, whether you talked to us, whether we got in the fitting room, and just had a deep dive into life, hopefully people know they can ask us questions and we can truly help you.”

The name Edit and Co was chosen because Katie believes the store is an edit of styles and brands

she loves, but the name actually has more to do with the shopping experience Katie provides clients than the clothes themselves.

Said Katie, “We feel very strongly about retail therapy, hopefully, when you walk in here, you feel like it’s like welcoming, and we’re your best friend, and when you come in you edit your day. The ‘Co’ was mainly focusing on the company you keep, and we hope it’s the company that makes you feel confident. It’s just a combo of what I hope the store embodies.”

Shoppers at Edit and Co can work with Katie and her staff to

find options that work for them, but for those who want something even more personalized, Katie is working on a new personal shopping service called the Clothing Concierge where she helps fill closets with pieces that work for clients.

Building a Trellis for Your Garden

StatePoint

Are you dreaming about beautifying the backyard? Is your garden in need of some color and dimension? If you have the tools, a free weekend and the initiative, you can add charm and beauty to your outdoor space by building a garden trellis.

Here’s everything you need, and everything you need to know, to complete this “Done-In-A-Weekend Project” from Exmark, a leading manufacturer of lawn care equipment.

Tools:

• Table saw

• Circular saw

• Jig saw

• Orbital sander,

• Drill/driver and bits

• Tape measure

• Pencil

• Sawhorses/worktable

• Eye and ear protection Materials:

• (3) 2-inch x 4-inch x 8-foot cedar

• (4) 4-inch x 4-inch x 8-foot cedar posts

• (2) 2-inch x 8-inch x 8-foot cedar (for the corbels)

• (1) 2-inch x 6-inch x 6-foot cedar (side bracket/beam support)

• (2) 2-inch x 6-inch x 10-foot cedar beams

• (4) post brackets (optional, to attach to wood deck)

• 2.5-inch deck screws

found at backyard.exmark.com or by sketching your own design onto card stock.

4. Attach the top and sides of the trellis, ensuring the sections are square with one another.

5. Use the template to build the corbels.

6. Line corbels flush with the side posts and attach.

7. Apply wood sealer, and stain or paint (if desired).

To download the complete instructions and template, and to follow along with the video tutorial, visit Exmark’s Backyard Life site at backyard.exmark.com, a multimedia destination providing homeowners with everything from grilling tips to gardening advice.

While this beautiful trellis is a bit of work, once complete, it can provide structure for vining plants to grow, create a bit of shade from the harsh summer sun or simply serve as a point of architectural interest in your garden.

Enhance Your Home’s Outdoor Living Spaces

StatePoint

With warm weather here, it’s time to make the most of your home’s outdoor living spaces.

“Whether you want to beautify your landscaping or add elements to your patio that will help you entertain, using manufactured stone veneer is a smart, on-trend choice,” says James Alpeter, stone marketing manager at ProVia. “A versatile and charming alternative to brick, high-quality manufactured stone looks natural, but can be installed much more quickly and affordably than the real thing.”

Project Ideas

As you mull over your plans, consider these three manufactured stone project ideas, all of which will boost the beauty and functionality of your outdoor living spaces:

Outdoor kitchens. Manufactured stone allows you to think well beyond a simple grill by building a complete outdoor kitchen. Depending on your budget and goals you may include a prep space, a sink, refrigeration and storage, and go for more niche features like a pizza oven. No matter how you choose to build this space out one thing is certain, you will be creating an instant room-like area to gather for conversation and laughter, or to relax

after a long day of work.

Outdoor hearths. Enjoy the warmth and ambiance of flames on cool summer nights with an outdoor hearth, which can provide a stunning, one-of-akind focal point, whether it’s connected to the home or part of your backyard patio. Imagine having friends over for hot mulled cider and s’mores or snuggling up in front of the fire under a star-lit sky. For maximum comfort, treat this space as you would your family room, adding outdoor-grade couches, cushions and rugs.

Landscaping. Have you ever dreamed of having a water feature in your backyard that would provide a habitat for koi fish or local wildlife? Is it time to take your garden to the next level? Manufactured stone is ideal for a range of elegant landscaping applications, from surrounds for a small backyard fish pond to raised planting beds to retaining walls.

Selecting Materials

Manufactured stone is as versatile and authentic-looking as natural stone, offering endless options to tailor your project to your unique aesthetic. Stone profiles range from the classic shape and texture of limestone to the irregular and imperfect look of ledgestone to the layered and precise fit of dry stack

stone. They also come in various hues, so you can go for a warm, cozy feel or a sleek and striking look.

For the true depth and character of natural stone, just be sure to select materials inspired by nature itself. The process at ProVia, for example, starts with trained stone masons who select stones from nature to create the casts used to build their molds, and who pay careful attention to the contours and varying hues of natural stone. With ProVia, you’ll also have the opportunity to select the grout color, which is a factor that should not be overlooked.

“Contrasting grout colors can be used to intensify the overall look while complementary grout colors can soften it. Selecting a grout color that mimics the dominant color of your stone can help blend materials into a near-seamless palette,” says Alpeter.

Look before you leap with the brand’s Stone and Grout Visualizer tool, found at www.provia.com/stone/ grout-visualizer/. For additional design inspiration, visit www.provia.com/ stone/applications/.

This season, consider outdoor projects that will not only extend your home’s outdoor living spaces, but add elegance and charm while you’re at it.

Chicken Shack The

By Erika Williams

Located at 212 OK-66 just down the street from Pops and the Arcadia Round Barn, The Chicken Shack has become an Oklahoma favorite with its family-friendly atmosphere and crispy fried chicken.

Owner Eddy Gochenour opened The Chicken Shack in Luther in 2016. When the opportunity presented itself to move to a larger location in Arcadia along Route 66, he jumped at the opportunity. The Chicken Shack celebrated their one-year anniversary at the Arcadia location on July 1 this year.

Eddy cooks his chicken and other menu items using a piece of equipment that originated

in Wisconsin called a Broaster. Broasting is a special process that combines pressure frying with shallow frying creating chicken with a juicy inside and a crispy outer crust. It is this process that has set The Chicken Shack apart from other restaurants.

“It’s Broasted chicken, It’s a branded thing. Older folks in the communities will know, they’ve heard of it before, but it hasn’t been around Oklahoma for a long time. It’s a good product. It’s good chicken. It keeps the juices in, and it tastes better,” said Eddy.

While chicken is the number one seller, The Chicken Shack offers various menu items and sides like pork chops, wings, macaroni and

cheese, onion rings, and more. There are also daily specials like hamburgers on Mondays and prime rib on Fridays.

Okra is the best-selling side at The Chicken Shack, but many will be surprised to learn it wasn’t on Eddy’s original menu.

Said Eddy, “When I first started, I didn’t have okra because I don’t like okra. In the beginning, everything on the menu was everything I liked. Being in Oklahoma, I didn’t understand okra. Then finally, one day, just some random guy poked his head in and said, ‘Hey man, I just want to tell you, man, your chicken is

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phenomenal. Love the Broasted potatoes. Would you just please get okra please?’ The next day I ordered okra, and now it’s our number one selling side. Okies love their okra.”

The size of the restaurant is also unique. With a spacious inside and expansive backyard, the Chicken Shack can accommodate large and small parties. The new location has allowed the restaurant to reach a larger population. Eddy says they serve thousands of customers every month.

“It’s a place where groups walk in with 12 or 15 people without a reservation, and we handle that all day. It’s a place where family members from Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Stillwater can meet. They all come together and have a good two- or three-hour afternoon. It’s a place where you come sit down, eat, have a few cocktails or whatever you want to drink, listen to music, and then everybody can go back home in separate ways. Everybody drives about the same 25 or 30 minutes,” said Eddy.

The large backyard

features picnic tables, cornhole, a basketball court, a playground, and more. Eddy says these family-friendly activities make the restaurant a great place for kids and parents alike.

“It’s a relaxed, backyard, vibe. People will take 3 hours it’s not like rush in, rush out. You come here and bring your family relax and kids play,” said Eddy. “When people are here, they can just almost forget about the rest of the world and hang out with their family and just turn their phones off. It’s just that kind of fun.”

The Chicken Shack regularly features live music with bands

Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, open-mic nights on Tuesdays, and SINGO on Thursdays. The Chicken Shack will be hosting Chickenstock, a music festival, on August 18 where attendees can enjoy food, games, and local artists.

Events like this and the atmosphere of The Chicken Shack is a big draw for Oklahomans and travelers alike.

The Savannah Bananas even stopped by the restaurant while on tour in Oklahoma.

The Chicken Shack

continued from Page 18

The Chicken Shack has grown quickly over the last seven years, but for Eddy, the chicken will always be the biggest focus.

“I don’t think anybody wakes up and says, I’m going to cook fried chicken the rest of my life, except for me and the Colonel,” said Eddy. “At the end of the day, I’ve got good chicken. All my employees, I tell them it’s always about the chicken.”

Although he isn’t an Oklahoma native, Eddy has grown a deep sense of appreciation and love for the community.

“I’m very fortunate to be a guy from Iowa that’s selling fried chicken that landed in Arcadia, Oklahoma. It’s a great spot for me. It’s become a destination and an attraction. I always tell people we got the one best mile on Route 66.”

Blueberry Galette

This flaky dessert is all about the blueberries! Blueberries should be a delicious part of people’s daily diets because this flavorful fruit packs a nutritious punch. Blueberries are a great source of antioxidants, which can help the body fend off various illnesses.

Native to North America, blueberries are available fresh, frozen and canned and are used in a variety of recipes. Plus, they’re right at home whether one is serving breakfast, dinner or dessert. However, many people feel that blueberries are best eaten as pie filling.

Various pastries showcase blueberries, including the French galette. A galette is not a pie, but more of a freeform crusty cake. However, it is similar to pie, making it a welcome alternative to that popular pastry. This recipe for “Blueberry Galette,” courtesy of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council, is a delicious treat that’s perfect for entertaining.

Blueberry Galette

8 portions

Crust

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

11⁄2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons sugar

4 ounces lard or shortening, cut into

1⁄2-inch pieces and frozen

1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1⁄2inch pieces and refrigerated

1⁄2 cup ice water

Filling

8 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

3⁄4 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, separated

31⁄2 tablespoons cornstarch

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

1 lemon, zested

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

Crust

1. Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor. Add the butter and lard.

2. Use the food processor to work the butter and lard into the flour by pulsing it until the butter is in peasized pieces.

3. Add water to the flour/butter mixture a few tablespoons at a time. It will start to look shaggy, but not dry. It should hold together when you squeeze it in your hand.

4. Gently press the dough into a ball using a pastry scraper or your hands. Divide the dough into two pieces and create round disks. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least an

hour, or overnight.

Filling

1. In a small bowl, combine 3⁄4 cup sugar, cornstarch, salt, and lemon zest. Massage the zest into the sugar.

2. In a large bowl, toss together the blueberries and lemon juice. Add the sugar/lemon zest mixture and gently stir to coat the blueberries.

3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a floured surface, roll out the chilled pie dough into a 1⁄8-inch-thick-circle. Dust off any extra flour and lay crust onto the prepared pan.

4. Mound the blueberry filling in the middle of crust. Fold and crimp the dough up so that it covers at least 2 inches of the filling. Freeze the shaped galette for at least 15 minutes to chill the dough.

5. Preheat the oven to 425 F and set rack in middle of the oven.

6. Just before baking, beat the egg and water together and brush the edges with egg wash. Sprinkle crust with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar.

7. Bake for 30 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 F and bake for an additional 30 minutes.

This recipe yields two 12-inch galette crusts. Extra dough can be stored in an airtight container for up to one month.

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