SEPTEMBER 2020
SOMETHING IN THE WATER? COCKTAILS ALONG THE THIRD COAST
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Roux the day WHEN IT COMES TO GOOD GUMBO, COASTAL TEXANS LIKE TO STIR THE POT
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FEATURES September 2020 | VOLUME 13 | ISSUE 9
68
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THE ROUX THAT THEY DO
MANSION MAKEOVER
When it comes to good gumbo, coastal Texans stir the pot with advice and savory secrets
While visiting another island inn, couple falls for Victorian beauty
LOVE IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS
30 AN ENCHANTING ESCAPE Pack a picnic with these easy recipes and head to the beach
68 CARVING OUT A NICHE Inspired by reclaimed wood, brother and sister launch San Leon furniture shop
4
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
76 CHALLENGE ACCEPTED Designer transforms drab League City patio into a space bursting with color
86 HOUSE OF HOSEK An East End island cottage contains a stunning collection of American art
How two people found each other in the era of social distancing
104 FOR THE LOVE OF THE DOVE A booming white-wing dove population is a boon for Lone Star lead slingers
DEPARTMENTS 58
50
80
38
46
58
THE GALLEY This shrimp frittata is perfect for breakfast, brunch or dinner
DOWN HOME (SECOND HELPING) Islander puts a sweet twist on a beloved holiday comfort dish
HOMEPORT Island couple adds character and charm to a modest two-story house
40 GAME ON Blackened fish is easy, quick and delicious
42 TASTE OF TEXAS Texas popcorn is a popular way to enjoy a beloved Southern staple
44 DOWN HOME Her family is famous for oysters, but her specialty dish will surprise you
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COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
48 DESSERT ISLAND Its origins are murky, but there’s no doubt Texas sheet cake is a funeral food
50 DOWN THE HATCH Blame the peculiarities of the Third Coast on our strange cocktails
54 COUNTER CULTURE Galveston doctor uses kitchen to make healthier versions of famous Louisiana family recipes
110 SHUTTERBUGS Readers share their coastal photos
80 GARDEN VARIETY League City couple enjoys a quiet country life amid urban growth
96 STEM TO STERN For one sailor, love at first sight took decades to requite
100 HOOKED Red is the color of this angling season, and success calls for new approaches
ON THE COVER Seafood gumbo prepared by Creative Director Melissa Rivera. Photo and styling by Jennifer Reynolds
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FROM THE EDITOR
LONG LIVE GOOD CHEFS AND GREAT RESTAURANTS
T
he last time I gathered with my family at a restaurant was in February to celebrate my niece’s 18th birthday. I remember well the young waiter eager to make the occasion special, down to supplying candles for my niece’s dessert. I fondly recall the feel of the hard-cover menu and the beautiful chaos of my large, far-flung family playing musical chairs as we tried to catch up on each other’s lives, then quieting down to dutifully listen to the recitation of specials. I remember being pleasantly surprised that this particular restaurant hadn’t abandoned white tablecloths, as so many other fine-dining establishments sadly have. The evening was perfect, and underscored why I love the communal breaking of bread, social engagement and ambience a restaurant, be it five-star or dive, can deliver. I’ve returned to restaurants during the pandemic, but with far fewer people under more sanitized circumstances and less often. Enjoyable, intimate restaurant dinners are still to be had, but I miss the pre-pandemic days. Maybe it’s magical thinking, but I respectfully call B.S. on dreary predictions that our restaurant habits will never be the same, that we’re sentenced to a life of grubby sweatpants and scrolling food-delivery apps. Restaurants nourish us, but also feed our need for community. Plus, someone else washes the dishes. One positive thing about the pandemic is that it made 2020 the year of the home chef, many of whom have more time than they probably wanted to make meals from elaborate recipes.
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COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
With those home chefs in mind, this issue features some of the most coveted gumbo recipes on the upper Texas coast, though coax as we might, we couldn’t pry loose some long-guarded proprietary secrets. Gumbo felt perfect for this issue and for everyone craving the communal components of good food. Brett Otteman, general manager of Katie’s Seafood House at Pier 19 in Galveston, put it this way: “I believe gumbo was invented to feed family and friends with the passions of camaraderie to enjoy the friendliness, goodwill and conviviality of all that we hold dear — food, hospitality and celebration.” One of my favorite gumbos was created by Clary Milburn, a Louisiana sharecropper’s son who rose from waiting tables to launching the venerable Clary’s Seafood Restaurant in Galveston. Milburn was known for his Southern hospitality, Stetson hat and skill at preparing Louisiana-style gumbo and shrimp dishes. Before his death in 2016, Milburn invited me to his restaurant to watch him make gumbo. He wanted to teach me some tricks. Even as I took copious notes, I knew I’d never make gumbo like he could. It was like Renoir trying to teach me to paint. Clary’s Seafood Restaurant is no more. But the memories are with me. So, though I plan to try some of these gumbo recipes, I also plan to enjoy them at their home restaurants with family and friends.
LAURA ELDER Coast Monthly Editor
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SHORELINES
WE ASKED ON FACEBOOK: What is the quintessential dish or dessert of the upper Texas coast? Shrimp kisses. Judy Gibson I vote fried shrimp. Sally Shelton Rush Bread pudding. Gladys Haak Fried shrimp, pecan pie, Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream. Yum. Donna Berend Wonderful, dark gumbo filled with Gulf shrimp, crabs and oysters. Forest Riggs Fresh, fried snapper tacos with coleslaw. Ben Peterek Crab cakes. Casey Miller Shrimp and grits. David Bowers STUART VILLANUEVA
Seafood gumbo with fried shrimp, and pecan pie for dessert. Karen Ivey Gumbo! Mary Cooper Shrimp any way: boiled, fried, grilled — it’s better than any lobster from the north shore. Seafood gumbo is the best. I’ll take it any day over clam chowder. Gulf Coast seafood is by far the best seafood around. Top it off with bread pudding. Elizabeth Urbani Kinard Homemade strawberry ice cream, and blackened red fish right out of the water from the dock and on the grill into your mouth. Brenda Bumpas Johnstone Oyster Bar Trash over buttered rice. So good. Kimberly McGowen Fontaine Redfish topped with shrimp and crawfish, with a cup of Blue Bell at the end of the meal. Seth Alford
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COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
Definitely the shrimp po’boy. We used to get ours from Pier 21, the old Fisherman’s Wharf — fresh, fresh, fresh! Heather MacBeth Estrada Coca-Cola cake, my Mom’s crab cakes and shrimp and eggplant casserole. Judy Buxton Elmendorf I grew up on fried blue crab claws and boiled shrimp. Hard to go wrong with those! For dessert, my Mom’s blackberry cobbler made with Galveston Island fresh-picked blackberries or, keeping it Galveston, an ice cream cone or shake made with some Purity Ice Cream. Delicious! Taylor Wilson
Shrimp po’boys. Lynn Kantor Parks Oysters! Mandie McMillan Crowder When you live on the coast, there’s a huge grocery store where everyone can shop for free. I love to visit friends and find out what they can do with shrimp, crabs, oysters, fin fish, or whatever treasures the Gulf has to offer. Holly Thorson Blackened speckled trout with fresh-squeezed lime. Concetta Maceo-Sims Fried shrimp and pecan pie. Tim Franklin
Grilled shrimp from Surfside, Texas. Michelle Booth
Sautéed shrimp over wild rice with lump crabmeat. Marty Jamieson
Baked, buttered flounder and French bread pudding. Bobbey White
Warm butter cake at Grotto. Susan Falgout
Fried shrimp and apple pie. Jim Davis
Gaido’s pecan pie in the shape of Texas! Heidi Lutz
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FEATURE
THE ROUX THAT THEY DO When it comes to good gumbo, coastal Texans stir the pot with advice and savory secrets
D
ark or light roux? Okra or not? Inevitably, the topic of gumbo stirs up spicy culinary debates. But cooks on the upper Texas coast can agree on this: Good gumbo takes patience and skill. And most importantly, it brings families and friends together at the table. Coast Monthly coaxed tips, secrets and even some recipes from some of the most popular island and mainland purveyors of gumbo.
photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
(Above) Concetta Maceo-Sims sautés okra for her mother’s gumbo recipe as a pot of shrimp shells simmer for a batch of seafood stock. (Right) The Creole-style gumbo takes two days to make, Maceo-Sims said.
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COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
CONCETTA MACEO-SIMS, MACEO SPICE & IMPORT CO. The Cajun-style gumbo served at Maceo Spice & Import Co., 2706 Market St. in Galveston, is a daily staple, consumed by devoted fans who love its chunky pieces of seafood and spicy flavors. Known as the Maceo family recipe, the gumbo’s ingredients are a guarded secret, known only to owner Ronnie Maceo. But every now and then, Maceo’s daughter, Concetta Maceo-Sims, gets a hankering to make her mother’s Creole-style recipe she calls Wendy’s New Orleans-Style Gumbo. “It takes two days to make, and is quite a process, but the outcome is nutty, sweet, thick and delicious,” she said. Although Cajun and Creole cuisines are both native to Louisiana, the main difference between the two is that Creole typically features tomatoes or tomato-based sauces while Cajun gumbo doesn’t. Thanks to Emeril Lagasse, the pioneer of Cajun/Creole fusion, many people don’t know the difference. Regulars at Maceo Spice & Import Co., a restaurant and grocer selling herbs, spices, sauces and more, often ask Maceo-Sims when she’ll make her gumbo. She’ll probably whip up a batch when the weather gets cooler, she said. “My gumbo has the consistency of stew,” she said. “You won’t see pieces of shrimp, crabmeat and vegetables because they’re all cooked down.” With most gumbo, the die-hard rule is: make the roux first. But Maceo-Sims first slowly simmers down okra, she said. “That okra flavor takes on a roasted, nutty goodness and once it’s cooked, I set it aside and start my roux,” she said. “I’m looking for a color that resembles the bark of an oak tree — not a red-brown — but a dark, dark shade. Don’t step away, don’t get a drink of water, go to the bathroom, answer the phone or the door. Just keep stirring that pot over high heat, alternating between medium high and back up to high heat. It should look like wet sand before you start adding the other ingredients. Once done, the entire pot goes into the refrigerator so that all the flavors can marry overnight.”
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
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FEATURE As for okra detractors, Maceo-Sims recalls serving her gumbo during a birthday celebration when a guest remarked how delicious it was, saying: “I just can’t stand it when people put okra in gumbo.” Maceo-Sims just smiled and replied: “My gumbo is good, huh?” and didn’t say another word. Maceo-Sims’ Sicilian heritage is what likely sparked her decision to become a chef, she said. Growing up, she ate the typical Italian and Sicilian dishes, but favored red beans and rice, and New Orleans styleroast beef. Although she had early aspirations of being a doctor, she decided on nursing school after college, but all that changed when she returned to Galveston six years ago. “I realized that my heart was in the middle of this little family grocery store and café,” she said. A few months ago, she started her own YouTube channel — “Cooking with Concetta.” During the early days of COVID-19, customers who were staying home and cooking more were going to the shop to buy spices and were seeking advice on how to prepare things. Maceo-Sims thought “Cooking with Concetta” would be a good way to reach a large audience and offer tips as well as share recipes. “It’s been a beautiful experience,” she said. “People I don’t know are now messaging me and showing me pictures of what they’ve made and
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how much they love it.” As for the dueling gumbos, both are winners, she said. “I learned my cooking skills from both sides of my family,
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
and we all have different theories about certain things when it comes to gumbo,” she said. “My dad will never put tomatoes in his gumbo or cook his roux as
dark as mine. And although there is a bit of competitiveness, we are Maceos and we kind of know what each other does best.” – Sue Mayfield Geiger
“Making this gumbo takes time and patience, so don’t be in any rush,”Maceo-Sims said. “But man is it worth it when you take that first bite, and the flavors unfold upon your taste buds. I’ve never met a single person who doesn’t want to just drink this gumbo. My momma taught me well, and I’m excited to share this recipe with y’all.”
WENDY’S NEW ORLEANS-STYLE GUMBO For the okra:
For the seafood and seasonings:
2
pounds fresh okra, sliced
2
pounds shrimp
2
tablespoons vegetable oil
1
pound lump crabmeat
2
cups water
½
can tomato sauce
For the roux:
Okra mixture
¾
cup vegetable oil
2
cups all-purpose flour
¼
cup green bell pepper, diced
3
½
cup yellow onion, diced
½
cup celery, diced
2 tablespoons Maceo seafood seasoning
1
tablespoon garlic, minced
1
8-10 cups shrimp stock (made from the shells) bay leaves
tablespoon gumbo filé
Cook down the okra in the vegetable oil over medium high heat, adding a little water as needed and stir often, about 45 minutes. Once the okra becomes a paste, set it aside. In a large stock pot, add ¾ cup of cooking oil over high heat. When oil is glistening, pour in flour and whisk continuously until the roux becomes a dark oak color. This usually takes 15-30 minutes, but varies by the pot you’re cooking in. Once the color turns that rich, dark brown, add in the vegetables and cook over a medium high heat for a few minutes. Toss in the shrimp, and when they turn pink, stir in the okra and tomato sauce. Slowly add about 8-10 cups of shrimp stock so that the roux mixture is completely incorporated. Add in your seasonings and bay leaf. Once the gumbo comes to a boil, add the crabmeat. Cook over medium high heat until a rolling boil, stirring occasionally, so it doesn’t stick. Cook a minimum of 4-6 hours on medium heat. Remove from heat and when cool, put in refrigerator overnight. This allows the gumbo to fully develop its complex flavors. The next day, return the pot to the stove over medium heat until it begins to boil. Serve over rice or with potato salad, and garnish with a sprinkle of green onion.
(Opposite) Concetta Maceo-Sims makes two types of gumbo: her mother’s Creole-style red roux seafood gumbo and a Cajun-style seafood gumbo she serves at Maceo Spice & Import Company in Galveston. (Left, from top) Maceo-Sims chops okra; shrimp shells simmer for a seafood stock. photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
“Making this gumbo takes time and patience, so don’t be in any rush. But man is it worth it when you take that first bite, and the flavors unfold upon your taste buds.” CONCETTA MACEO-SIMS
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
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FEATURE
CHEF MUNDO RODRIGUEZ, LITTLE DADDY’S GUMBO BAR
photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
Chef Mundo Rodriguez makes shrimp and crab gumbo at Little Daddy’s Gumbo Bar in Galveston.
“A fried shrimp is a fried shrimp. But gumbo, everybody’s got their own recipe.” BILLY BUNCH
18
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
At Little Daddy’s Gumbo Bar, 2107 Postoffice St. in Galveston’s downtown, diners have a front-row seat to the making of the eatery’s namesake dish known for its dark roux. Chef Mundo Rodriguez has never seen gumbo made like this anywhere else on the island, he said. “You see the process,” Rodriguez said. “You see everything.” One of the secrets to Little Daddy’s gumbo is the restaurant’s special 15-spice blend, said Billy Bunch, director of operations at the restaurant. “We create our own seasoning pack for the gumbo, which is really the key thing,” Bunch said. And unlike many other restaurants that pre-cook their seafood, Little Daddy’s Gumbo Bar cooks its shrimp, oysters and crab directly in the pot, Rodriguez said. “When you cook the seafood separate, you can’t even taste the seafood,” Rodriguez said. “When you boil the shrimp separate, the taste is wrong.” The restaurants — there’s also a Little Daddy’s Gumbo Bar in League City — use a dark roux, the thick sauce that forms the base of the gumbo dish, Bunch said.
After cooking the roux, the chef will start with the vegetables, then add the meat and spices, Bunch said. Oysters and crab, which don’t take very long to cook, go in last, he said. In Galveston, gumbo is an important dish because it’s traditional, just like it is in Louisiana, Rodriguez said. Gumbo is the best-selling dish at the downtown restaurant, and in two days, Little Daddy’s will make 16 gallons of it, Rodriguez said. “People want gumbo,” Rodriguez said. “They love it.” What’s great and unique about gumbo is how varied the styles are and how different the recipes can be, Bunch said. Everybody has a different opinion about what they like, whether it’s a light roux or a dark roux, okra or no okra, spicy or not spicy, he said. “A fried shrimp is a fried shrimp,” Bunch
said. “But gumbo, everybody’s got their own recipe.” – Keri Heath
SHIRLEY AND CHRIS CROWDER, MAMA FRANCES SOUL KITCHEN When something is this good, sometimes you just can’t wait. Shirley Crowder, who owns and operates Mama Frances Soul Kitchen in La Marque with her husband, Chris Crowder, said that was certainly true of one customer. “We offer a sample gumbo for customers to give it a try before they jump into the large size,” Crowder said. “This particular customer wanted to try it. The aroma from the sample got the best of him, so he took a sip on the drive home. “Then he came back and ordered a large,” she said. Mama Frances, 199 Vauthier Road, has been in business since 2014, but gumbo
“I want their experience to be like music and a happy dance on the palate.” SHIRLEY CROWDER
JENNIFER REYNOLDS
Shirley Crowder adapted her South Carolina gumbo for Texans’ tastes with the seafood, chicken and sausage gumbo she serves at Mama Frances Soul Kitchen in La Marque.
hasn’t always been on the menu. Even though customers requested it, Shirley Crowder was hesitant because she always associated it with cold-weather eating. She finally created a recipe, but it still took nearly a year to put it on the menu. “Frankly, I felt it was just too hot for gumbo,” she said. “Clearly, that was my Southern roots. Gumbo is indeed a Southern comfort food for me, traditionally eaten during the coldest months of the year.” But there’s no looking back now — and no reason to. The gumbo at Mama Frances is a fan favorite. Many guests order it a few times a week, every week, Crowder said. “Some even call it the best gumbo around,” she said. Crowder holds her gumbo recipe pretty close to the vest — understandably so. But she did share the part of what makes it stand out — she makes her own chicken stock and uses butter rather than oil for the paste. She’s happy to share some tips for making a great gumbo. • Patience and time — don’t rush it. • Harmony — all of the ingredients must share in the dance and complement each other. • Use just the right amount of seasoning. The dance Crowder refers to comes from her description of how she wants people to feel when they eat her gumbo, she said. “I want their experience to be like music and a happy dance on the palate.” When gumbo goes wrong, it can go really wrong, such as adding too many ingredients that don’t complement each other, burning the paste instead of browning it, or cooking it too long, to name a few don’ts. The harmony required in making a good gumbo is something Crowder strives for not just in the gumbo pot, but in her relationships with customers, as well, she said. The current iteration of the dish has been influenced by feedback from customers, which Crowder said is welcome and for which she is thankful. “My gumbo started out as a very Southern-style gumbo with crab meat, oysters, lots of fish,” she said. “I’m very happy to share that the finished product today is a shared collaboration between me and my faithful customers. I’m humbled by their support, always.” – Margaret Battistelli Gardner
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
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FEATURE
BRETT OTTEMAN, KATIE’S SEAFOOD HOUSE A good gumbo has a way of bringing people together, said Brett Otteman, general manager of Katie’s Seafood House on Pier 19 in Galveston. “There’s a code of decorum in many cultures and communities in the making of a proper gumbo,” Otteman said. “I believe gumbo was invented 20
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
to feed family and friends with the passions of camaraderie to enjoy the friendliness, goodwill and conviviality of all that we hold dear — food, hospitality and celebration.” Fresh seafood is the key ingredient in the gumbo served at Katie’s Seafood House, Otteman said. “I’ve been making gumbo for 40 years, and eating it for 60 years, so I’ve definitely tried a
bunch of variations of gumbo,” Otteman said. “We catch and serve the freshest, never frozen, Gulf of Mexico fish, which is why our gumbo is a popular menu item.” Katie’s Seafood House gumbo features some of the freshest fish, shrimp, crab and oysters that you can get your hands on, Otteman said. “Throw all of that into the most traditional flavored home-
made stock and roux for an extraordinary flavor of ‘fresh,’ complemented with the farm trinity, okra, filé, spices, and a little bit of smokey ‘oink,’ and you have yourself some of the best gumbo this side of heaven,” Otteman said. Gumbo, the official state cuisine of Louisiana, has many variations, including seafood, chicken and sausage. But the recipe pulled together for Ka-
If you’re going through the trouble of making gumbo, go for a big batch. This recipe makes 10 gallons of gumbo base. For a backyard party or get together, serve the whole pot. Or freeze it in smaller batches so you can enjoy gumbo later with little effort. Two gallons will serve 6 to 8 people.
KATIE’S SEAFOOD GUMBO Makes: 10 gallons of gumbo base 1
pound tomatoes, ¼-inch dice
12
pounds flour
¼
cup Worcestershire sauce
1
For the roux: gallon oil
2
tablespoons thyme
For the gumbo base:
1
cup garlic, chopped
3
pounds bacon
¼
cup black pepper
2
pounds okra, chopped
1
ounce gumbo filé
2
pounds bell pepper, ¼-inch dice
5
pounds claw meat
3¼ pounds celery, ¼-inch dice
1½ cups Zatarain Pro Boil
6 pounds yellow onions, ¼-inch dice
Fresh seafood*
4 pounds andouille sausage, sliced thin
2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
5
gallons seafood water
2 pounds fresh fish, diced into ¾-inch cubes
5
gallons water
1
2
pounds seafood base
28
ounces Rotel tomatoes
½ pound Texas blue crab claw meat
pound raw oysters
For the roux, mix oil and flour in wide, oven-safe pan with hand mixer until smooth. Bake in 400 F oven for 4 hours until toasted dark brown, stirring every hour. Fry bacon in 20-gallon stock pot until brown. Remove bacon. Add okra and fry on medium high until no longer slimy and okra is toasted brown, about 30 minutes. Add pepper celery and onion and sauté until soft, about 20 minutes. Add sausage and cook 5 minutes. Add seafood water, regular water and seafood base, bring to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes. Add roux and cook for 2 hours. Add Rotel and tomatoes and bring to a boil.
tie’s is a little bit of everybody’s, Otteman said. “The complex flavors in our gumbo can be tasted in just about everyone’s homemade gumbo around the world,” Otteman said. “And, when you sit down to a bowl of our gumbo, you think you’re at home with cousins, aunts, uncles and parents, and you’re just a child again.” – Angela Wilson
(Clockwise from far left) The seafood gumbo at Katie’s Seafood House in Galveston is chock full of fresh Gulf seafood; Brett Otteman, the general manager at Katie’s Seafood House, sautés okra for the restaurant’s seafood gumbo; fresh seafood is the key ingredient in the gumbo served at Katie’s Seafood House. photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
Add all seasonings and add 1-gallon water, if needed. Stir and cook 1 hour. Turn off gumbo and let sit until settled and remove any oil. Add the claw meat. Bring to a boil and stir. Add Zatarain Pro Boil and cook for 10 minutes. That’s the gumbo base. Split the gumbo base into 2-gallon containers until ready to use. To finish the gumbo, add raw seafood. For every 2 gallons of gumbo base, add the freshest seafood from Katie’s Seafood Market. Bring gumbo to a boil and cook until seafood is thoroughly cooked through. The seafood must be added raw and cooked into the gumbo base as this is where the flavor is enriched. Garnish with a side of white rice, chopped green onions, a sprinkle of gumbo filé, corn bread and a whole-boiled blue crab. *If you want to serve the whole pot, multiply the raw seafood by 5 times. COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
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FEATURE
Jeff Antonelli, who owns Shrimp ’N Stuff restaurants in Galveston, sits down with a bowl of the chicken and sausage gumbo served at the downtown location. JENNIFER REYNOLDS
JEFF ANTONELLI, SHRIMP ’N STUFF The roux is the glue that holds together Shrimp ’N Stuff’s acclaimed homemade gumbo. “It’s a process you can’t rush,” owner Jeff Antonelli said. “We don’t believe there’s a quick process for roux. The process for us is a multi-day process.” Although the recipe for the roux has been a closely guarded and unchanged secret since its creation in 1976, it’s used in both Shrimp ’N Stuff’s shrimp gumbo and chicken and sausage gumbo, both of which include a variety of other ingredients. “That way we have consistency in our flavor,” Antonelli said. “We have a great roux, and it would be silly to not use it.” While the shrimp gumbo is a longtime favorite at both Shrimp ’N Stuff’s original 3901 Ave. O location and newer 2506 Ball 22
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
St. restaurant — both in Galveston — the chicken and sausage gumbo is a more recent addition to the restaurant’s menu and only available at the downtown restaurant, Antonelli said. “We were looking for an alternative for people with seafood allergies and also, believe it or not, what I’ve run into is that people have problems with textures,” Antonelli said. “The chicken and sausage gumbo is a great alternative. The flavor profile has become very popular.” And although the roux is the same in both versions of the gumbo, Chef Suceli Salazar, who began working for Shrimp ‘N Stuff when the downtown restaurant opened in December 2014, adds some of the secret spices from her own family’s gumbo recipe to the chicken and sausage version. “The seasonings are different; it’s a totally
different base, which is chicken-based versus seafood-based,” Salazar said through a translator. “The shrimp gumbo, its vegetables are chopped a little bit smaller, and the chicken and sausage gumbo, the vegetables are a little bit more coarse and bigger chunks.” In addition to each gumbo’s main ingredients and secret seasonings, other ingredients include bay leaves, chives, red bell peppers and onions. The shrimp gumbo also includes okra. Shrimp ’N Stuff’s shrimp gumbo comes from a recipe from the original owners of the restaurant that dates back generations, Antonelli said. “They were from Mississippi, right on the border of Louisiana, and that’s their great-grandmother’s gumbo recipe,” Antonelli said. – James LaCombe
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FEATURE CHRIS LOPEZ, BLVD. SEAFOOD Executive Chef Chris Lopez didn’t have gumbo recipes on his menus before arriving in Galveston. Lopez, the executive chef at BLVD., 28th and Seawall in Galveston, had come up in restaurants in Atlanta, Portland and Seattle, where the gumbo wasn’t a specialty. But when BLVD. opened with Gulf of Mexico views, there was little question patrons would expect a seafood gumbo to be on the menu, Lopez said. “I figured I’d give it a shot,” Lopez said. Lopez looked for inspiration in what he didn’t like, he said. “I went to four different restaurants and had the same gumbo — the exact same color, the same everything,” he said. “I didn’t think this is what gumbo is supposed to be.” BLVD.’s gumbo includes shrimp, crab and andouille sausage, but its secret is the house-made roux, which is lighter than the store-bought roux used in some other places, Lopez said. “Not to name names, but a lot of people are using a store-bought roux; it comes in a bucket and it looks like chocolate,” he said. “I didn’t want to do that.” Lopez adds tomatoes to his roux, which he thinks produces better flavor, he said. The restaurant makes about 15 gallons of the gumbo base a day, Lopez said. One of the keys to a good restaurant recipe is to create something that’s both repeatable and widely appealing to customers. When Lopez is feeling experimental with his gumbo recipes, he turns to another arena: the annual gumbo cook-off during the Galveston Island Shrimp Festival. “Every year, I come up with different ingredients,” he said. “I’ve used tasso ham or jalapeño bacon, just switched the ingredients around. I have a lot of experience messing around with it, but I think the version I have at BLVD. is a good, solid version. It doesn’t have too many things.” Although it’s his goal to have his recipes stand out from similar fare served at island restaurants, Lopez wasn’t interested in reinventing dishes, he said. It’s about finding small things that make one dish a little special, he said. “You want to make yourself different,” he said. “You want to make people come to the
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COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
photos by STUART VILLANUEVA
(From top) Elia Angeles prepares gumbo at BLVD. Seafood in Galveston; the secret to BLVD. Seafood’s gumbo is the house-made roux, Executive Chef Chris Lopez said.
restaurant for something different. If you’re just the same as everybody else, they’re not going to come. It’s got to have a piece of me
in it, it’s got to be different. “Otherwise, nobody will care.” – John Wayne Ferguson
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FEATURE PHIL PALMER, BIG PHIL’S SOUL & CREOLE CAFE Gumbo will be the central attraction at Big Phil’s Soul & Creole Café, soon to open at Mainland City Centre, 10000 Emmett F. Lowry Expressway in Texas City. Palmer, who owns Big Phil’s Smoke House and Catering in Texas City, will serve his family’s gumbo daily, featuring the works — chicken, sausage, shrimp, crab and okra — as well as a version without shellfish for diners who might be allergic, he said. Palmer speaks with a nearly religious fervor about gumbo’s ability to bring together a family around a big table, to prepare, stir and share together whenever the spirit moves them. Gumbo doesn’t require a special occasion, but makes all ordinary occasions special, he said. “I come from a big family and making gumbo is just one of those things that brings everybody together,” Palmer said. “If they call and I say, ‘I’m making
a pot of gumbo,’ they’ll say, ‘I’m coming over.’ There’s no such thing as a small pot of gumbo.” Born and raised in La Marque, Palmer has family roots in Louisiana and shares a secret recipe he declined to pass on to the public, but offered several techniques and spicy opinions. PREPARATION
Before starting the gumbo, Palmer and family gather the night before to prepare ingredients, like shelling the shrimp, and to make a flavorful seafood stock using the shrimp shells, crab pieces and a mélange of vegetable ends and pieces simmered for a long time. ROUX
At the heart of every good gumbo is the roux — a cooked paste of fat, flavorings and flour. Palmer makes his roux with the homemade seafood stock he prepared the night before, in a 3:1 ratio of stock to flour, working it constantly in a large pot with a whisk. “The color of your roux determines the color of your gumbo,” he said. He scrapes up the dark parts sticking to the bottom of the pan and whisks until the mixture is creamy and thick and about the color of a good cup of hazelnut coffee, he said.
COOKING TIME
The gumbo can cook as long as needed and shouldn’t be rushed, Palmer said. But when the crab legs have been added, once they’ve marinated a while and turned red, the gumbo is ready. HOW TO SERVE
SEASONINGS
photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
(Above) Phil Palmer whisks a roux for his gumbo. (Top) Palmer makes a gumbo with crab, shrimp, chicken and sausage.
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COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
Palmer makes a gumbo seasoning from a variety of spices and spice mixes, including traditional gumbo filé made from ground, dried leaves of sassafras, Zatarain’s New Orleans Style Creole Seasoning and Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning. He also adds a splash of Kitchen Bouquet, a browning and seasoning sauce.
Gumbo is nearly always served with rice, but Palmer offers one caution: Make it a scoop of rice served atop a bowl of gumbo, not gumbo poured over rice. Rice on top matters, he said. And a sprinkling of fresh, chopped herbs over the finished bowl — rosemary, thyme, sage — makes for a fragrant and refreshing first bite. Corn on the cob is the perfect side dish, Palmer said.
GOODNESS OF GUMBO
For Phil Palmer, making gumbo with family is an occasion for remembering, for catching up with one another and for incorporating everything that everyone brings to the table into the flavorful dish, he said. “Gumbo just brings us all together,” Palmer said. “We all have different stuff going on in our lives, jobs we do, and making gumbo is a conversation piece. We’ve all got something to put in.” – Kathryn Eastburn
ADAM NEWELL, TOOKIE’S SEAFOOD Gumbo is serious business at Tookie’s Seafood, 1106 Bayport Blvd. in Seabrook. Before becoming executive chef at T-Bone Tom’s Steakhouse Restaurant in Kemah, Adam Newell, spent years mastering the recipe for the tricky dish now served at Tookie’s Seafood. And his boss, Barry Terrell, who owns Tookie’s Seafood, T-Bone Tom’s and hamburger joint Tookie’s, is a tough gumbo critic. Terrell also has spent much time working out the best way
to prepare gumbo, and takes a lot of pride in it, he said. “The keys are going to be the roux and the stock,” Newell said. “With the roux, obviously, you have to make sure that it’s smooth and hasn’t burned. It needs to be cooked down into the gumbo, so it doesn’t have the chalky aftertaste.” The trickiest part of recreating a restaurant gumbo at home is making the stock, Newell said. “Getting a good, flavorful stock is key,” he said. “You’ve got to get the taste of seafood in it. Not just via the shrimp and the crab, but that flavor being in the broth itself. It’s similar to making a good soup.” Making a traditional stock might involve taking shrimp shells and fish bones and using those to make it, Newell said. Fresh ingredients are key with gumbo, Newell said. “I’ve been working in different seafood restaurants for 20 years in the area,” he said. “I’ve taken a lot of different types of gumbo, and made a few revisions. It comes down to knowing how long to cook the roux, and what you’re looking for.” – Matt deGrood
TOOKIE’S SEAFOOD GUMBO For the roux:
1
teaspoon dry oregano tablespoon black pepper
1
pound of margarine
1
1
pound of flour
1 tablespoon Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
For the stock: 2
pounds shrimp stock
2
gallons water
2
quarts onions, diced
1
quart celery, diced
1 quart green bell peppers, diced 2
pounds dark roux
Spices and flavors: 1
teaspoon dry thyme
15½
ounces diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons garlic, freshly chopped 1
ounce Tabasco
¼
cup Worcestershire sauce
Seafood: 4
pounds shrimp, peeled
2
pounds oysters
2 pounds blue crabmeat, cooked
In a cast-iron skillet, melt margarine and slowly whisk in flour at medium heat to create blond roux. Reduce heat to low and stir every few minutes until a dark roux is reached. Be careful not to burn the roux. The color should be like chocolate. Transfer to a mixing bowl to cool to room temperature. Add shrimp base (or seafood), water and vegetables to a stock pot and bring to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes. Turn down heat. Transfer one cup of stock to the room-temperature roux in the mixing bowl and whisk. Do this 3 more times to temper the roux and stock together. Slowly add the tempered roux mixture back to the stock while whisking to prevent any lumps. Simmer for 3 hours while stirring every 10 to 15 minutes. Add spices and liquid ingredients to the gumbo and simmer for 15 minutes. photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
(Above) Fresh Gulf shrimp, oysters and blue crabmeat are the highlights of the seafood gumbo at Tookie’s Seafood in Seabrook. (Top) The gumbo is made with a dark roux.
Add shrimp and oysters and simmer for 10 minutes while stirring gumbo every couple minutes. Add crabmeat. Remove gumbo from heat and serve with white rice.
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
27
THROUGH THE LENS
GUMBO: A TRUE MELTING POT artwork by JOEY QUIROGA Most everyone can agree gumbo is popular fare on the upper Texas coast, so much so it’s the main dish and part of the names of some area restaurants as pictured here. But not everyone can agree on the method of preparation or origins of gumbo. “Today, the gumbos people are most familiar with are seafood gumbo and chicken and sausage gumbo,” said Stanley Dry in a short history of gumbo for Southern Foodways Alliance. “But that merely scratches the surface of gumbo cookery, both historical and contemporary. The name derives from a West African word for okra, suggesting that gumbo was originally made with okra. The use of filé, dried and ground sassafras leaves, was a contribution of the Choctaws and, possibly, other local tribes. Roux has its origin in French cuisine, although the roux used in gumbos is much darker than its Gallic cousins.” But perhaps it’s gumbo’s versatility that makes it so well-liked. “I’m convinced that part of gumbo’s virtue, aside from its deliciousness, is that the dish is very forgiving of the cook,” Dry said. “Measurements do not have to be exact, ingredients may be changed to use what is on hand, and unless the diners are so set in their ways that they can’t appreciate change, the result will be quite good.”
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COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
AN ENCHANTING ESCAPE Pack a picnic with these easy recipes and head to the beach
D 30
story and recipes by MARTHA JUSTICE | photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
uring these times, my sister Betsy and I wanted to create something special. Here we set the evening scene with a beach-inspired menu of coastal favorites, along with a basket of fresh fruits and cheeses. For extra glam, we packed up colorful, unbreakable tableware, fabric napkins and Betsy’s baskets of fresh flowers. Here are some ideas to enjoy a pleasant picnic as you marvel at the sunset playing off the Gulf of Mexico.
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
31
FEATURE SHRIMP ORZO GREEK SALAD Servings: 6 12 ounces cooked and cleaned small shrimp 1
cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half 1 ¼ ⁄3
cup English cucumbers, diced cup sliced green onions
1
cup seeded Kalamata olives
¼
cup feta cheese
¼
cup chopped fresh parsley
¼
cup olive oil
¼
cup wine vinegar
1
lemon, freshly squeezed juice
1½ teaspoons dried oregano ½
teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper In a small pasta pot, cook orzo al dente according to package directions. Remove from heat, drain, rinse with cold water and refrigerate. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, wine vinegar, lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper. Set aside. Stir shrimp, pasta and all ingredients together except dressing. Fold in dressing and refrigerate salad until completely chilled. Serve in small plastic cups and take to the beach in a small cooler.
EASY APPLE HAND PIES 1
(20-ounce) can apple pie filling
1 box Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts ¼
cup sugar
¼
teaspoon ground cinnamon
Unroll refrigerated pie crusts on parchment and let set for 15 minutes to room temperature. Roll out crusts slightly thinner and cut 4- or 5-inch rounds using items such as a cookie cutter, glass or plastic lid. Remove apple pie filling from can and dice into smaller pieces. Place a small mound of diced apples in the center of each round. Run
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COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
your finger around the edges with a few drops of water to help seal the edges. Fold dough over in half and press closed with a fork around the edges. Stir sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle generously on top of each pie. With a sharp knife, add 3 small slits in the top of each pie. With spatula, place pies on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 20 minutes at 400 F or until lightly browned. Number of pies will depend on size of the rounds.
PIÑA COLADA PARFAITS Servings: 6 15 small crisp coconut cookies 2
tablespoons melted butter
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature ⁄3
1
cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon rum extract or 2 teaspoons rum 1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple, well drained ½
cup sweet coconut
8
ounces Cool Whip, divided
½ cup sweet coconut, toasted (stir in a warm skillet until lightly brown) 6
maraschino cherries with stems
Candied pineapple chunks, optional Grind cookies in food processor. Stir in melted butter and mix well. Divide and press into bottom of 6 small, clear plastic cups or 6 small jars. Freeze until set. With electric mixer in large bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add rum and powdered sugar and continue mixing. Stir in drained crushed pineapple and ½ cup coconut and mix well. Fold in 4 ounces Cool Whip. Spoon over crumb mixture divided among 6 cups. Top with additional Cool Whip. Sprinkle with toasted coconut, top with a cherry and pineapple chunk. Chill until ready to serve. Take desserts to the beach in a small cooler.
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
33
THE BENEFITS OF PHYSICAL THERAPY, WITHIN EASY REACH.
NO PHYSICIAN REFERRAL REQUIRED. With same-day or next-day appointments often available, our licensed physical therapists are ready to treat your pain or injury and get you back to doing the things you love. With SafeWait™ enhanced safety measures at all of our locations, get the care you need with peace of mind. SCHEDULE AN EVALUATION. memorialhermann.org/therapy or call 833.4MY.MHPT
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IS PAIN STOPPING YOU FROM STAYING ACTIVE DURING QUARANTINE? The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives in many ways. You may be less active. Perhaps you find yourself spending hours behind a desk in your new home office. Or maybe, new-found hobbies have you feeling aches and pains. If you’re ready to decrease your pain, improve your mobility and get back to enjoying a more active lifestyle, our experienced physical therapists are here to help.
and can prevent it from happening again. But, if it turns out to be something bigger, we can determine whether therapy is right for you, or you’ll be referred to the specialist you need.”
Get the Care You Need to Keep Moving
A physical therapist can provide treatment and resources to get you on the right track. “Manual therapy and exercises you can do at home can be used in your recovery,” says Harris. “I like to use the teeth brushing analogy: you might only go see your dentist every 6 months, but it’s the maintenance in between, like brushing your teeth, that keeps you healthy.”
Staying active is essential to your physical and mental wellbeing. Poor posture, staring down at your phone or falling victim to the ergonomic effects of working from home can lead to mobility issues that cause pain. Sean Harris, PhD, DPT, OCS, CSCS, FAAOMPT, physical therapist at Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation, suggests that it’s best to nip pain in the bud when you first start to notice it. “Mobility issues are easier to fi x when pain is minor rather than waiting until the pain becomes severe,” says Harris. If you’re feeling pain and your lifestyle change is lasting longer than you thought it might, take action. “Get checked out. Sometimes all you need is an initial direction or guidance, and once you learn what needs to be corrected, things start to get better,” he says.
Get Rid of Your Pain with Direct Access to Physical Therapy
Research has shown that the earlier you start physical therapy following an injury, the sooner you’ll recover. If you’re ready to take the first step toward recovery, Memorial Hermann offers direct access to physical therapy. With direct access, a referral from a physician is not required to start treatment. A physical therapist sees the patient, does an assessment, and if appropriate, develops a treatment plan. “If you see a physical therapist first for a musculoskeletal injury, such as joint, muscle, or nerve pain, we can help guide you to the level of care you need,” says Harris. “If it turns out to be something minor, at least you get peace of mind
To schedule an initial evaluation, call 833.4MY.MHPT or visit memorialhermann.org/therapy. Advancing health. Personalizing care.
Direct Access Can Ensure You Get the Help You Need, When You Need It
Sean Harris, PhD Physical Therapist
“With physical therapy, we can provide the right guidance and treatment, so you can learn to prevent injuries and pain even while you’re at home.”
-Sean Harris, physical therapist affi liated with Memorial Hermann “That’s the great thing about direct access—you can get things checked out quickly,” says Harris. Also, with Safe Wait™ enhanced safety measures in place at all Memorial Hermann facilities, you can get the care you need with peace of mind.
Get Relief: Schedule an Initial Evaluation
Direct access to physical therapy is offered at Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation locations and Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute locations. Our physical therapists are ready to help you work through your pain or injury, with same-day or next-day appointments often available.
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EASY LIKE SUNDAY MORNING This shrimp frittata is perfect for breakfast, brunch or dinner
W
story, recipe and photo by ALICIA CAHILL
hen I was growing up, my dad was in charge of weekend breakfast. The plating wasn’t fancy, the ingredients weren’t gourmet, but the meal was a comforting combination of classics: your choice of eggs, crispy strips of bacon and buttered toast sagging under a generous smear of jam. If I wasn’t feeling well, I’d sweet-talk him into scrambled eggs with soft clouds of cream cheese gently folded inside. And if I was very lucky, and my parents were busy, breakfast might go on repeat and make a special appearance at dinner. This shrimp frittata seems like a leap from the breakfasts of my childhood, but it’s not really too far off the mark. The trifecta of plump local shrimp, creamy goat cheese and fresh tarragon tucked into fluffy baked eggs makes a balanced and delicious dish. It’s a quick and easy go-to for breakfast, brunch and, yes, even dinner.
SHRIMP FRITTATA
Continue cooking until the edges set again, then tilt the pan. Lift the edge of the frittata with the spatula and allow any uncooked eggs to flow onto the pan. Scatter the crumbled goat cheese across the top. Cook until the edges set again and repeat tilting technique. The frittata should look shiny and wet on top.
Servings: 6 10 eggs 2 tablespoons butter, divided 8 ounces jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut into ½-inch pieces Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 medium garlic clove, minced 1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, finely chopped, plus extra for garnish 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 4 ounces crumbled goat cheese, plus extra for garnish Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter a 6-inch metal food ring and place it on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
In a large bowl, beat eggs until well combined. Set aside. In a large oven-proof non-stick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add the shrimp, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring until just opaque. Add the garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant and golden. Stir in tarragon and lemon juice.
Add the remaining tablespoon of butter and the eggs to the skillet. Quickly reduce the heat to medium-low. Season eggs with a pinch of salt and cook until they just set around the edges. Use a silicone spatula and gently stir the eggs a few times, combining the cooked and uncooked portions.
ALICIA CAHILL is the owner of The Kitchen Chick, 2402 Market St. in Galveston.
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COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
Transfer the egg mixture into the prepared food ring, distributing the mixture evenly and gently pressing it into place. Place the sheet pan into the preheated oven and bake for 10-15 minutes. The frittata will puff slightly. Remove the frittata from the oven and use a thin knife to loosen it from the edges of the food ring. Remove the ring and transfer the frittata to a plate. Garnish with additional cheese and fresh herbs before serving.
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GAME ON
TASTY TECHNIQUE Blackened fish is easy, quick and delicious
W
story, photo and recipe by CAPT. NATE SKINNER
hat’s better than fresh fish? How about a recipe that turns fillets into a delectable state in a matter of minutes? Simple and tasty is always good when it comes to the kitchen, and blackening fish might be about the easiest and quickest way to cook coastal catches to absolute perfection. Fillets from just about any species of fish will do. But I prefer to use redfish, speckled trout or snapper. Traditionally, blackened fish fillets sport somewhat of a spicy kick, which is a product of the combination of pepper and other spices in the blackened seasoning used to give the meat plenty of flavor. If you prefer things on the milder side, adjust the seasoning to your liking. The only other items you’ll need besides fish fillets and seasoning are a skillet and some grease. My preferences are a well-seasoned, cast-iron skillet and extra virgin olive oil, although, any old pan and some butter will work, too. If you’re feeling adventurous, blackened fish fillets make great tacos or sandwiches.
BLACKENED FISH FILLETS
Liberally season both sides of each fillet with the blackened seasoning.
Extra virgin olive oil
Coat the inside of a large skillet with a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil. Heat the oil in the pan to a medium-high temperature.
Fresh fish fillets Blackened seasoning
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COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
Sear both sides of each fish fillet for 1 to 2 minutes, or until it appears dark and slightly charred. The fish should almost flake to the touch when it’s done. Serve the fillets by themselves, or use them in tacos or sandwiches.
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This home has it all with two lots totaling more than 10,000 sq. ft., including a rare, private, bayside beach!
welcome to West End Paradise!
How would you like your own PRIVATE SANDY BEACH on the West End of Galveston? This home has it all with two lots totaling more than 10,000 sq. ft., including a rare, private bayside beach. Deep water for boating, fishing, kayaking, and swimming, right outside your back door! This home has all the extras: four bedrooms, a downstairs guest suite, fireplace in master bedroom and living room, and a screened porch off of the living room. The large area beneath the house is perfect for entertaining and keeping sand outside! SOLD FURNISHED with a few exclusions. Terramar neighborhood offers boat ramp, pool, pavilion and beach access - this is a vacationer’s paradise! OFFERED AT $925,000.
KAREN FLOWERS (409) 789-7377
JOE TRAMONTE REALTY (409) 765-9837
DAVID BRIDGWATER (409) 392-5655
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
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TASTE OF TEXAS
FRIED AND TRUE Texas popcorn is a popular way to enjoy a beloved Southern staple
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story and recipe by PHIL NEWTON | photo by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
kra, a Southern staple, is believed to have originated somewhere around Ethiopia and was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians by the 12th century. People of various cultures cooked and ate the seed pods, dried and toasted the seeds, grinding them up as a coffee substitute and still do it to this day. Brought to the Caribbean and the rest of the New World by slaves, okra became popular with the Louisiana Creole people for its thickening properties, becoming an essential ingredient in Creole gumbo, according to historians. There’s no escaping the fact that okra is slimy and sticky. And you can’t get rid of those traits by soaking or overcooking, but you can minimize them by frying okra and making “Texas Popcorn.” Be sure and look for young, tender pods as older, larger ones are woody in taste and texture.
TEXAS POPCORN 2 pounds okra, sliced ½-inch thick ½
cup cornmeal
1
cup self-rising flour
1
teaspoon salt
¼
teaspoon black pepper
¼
teaspoon garlic powder
¼
teaspoon cayenne
½
cup buttermilk
Heat frying oil in a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or high-sided skillet to 350 F. Fill no more than halfway up the sides. In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour and seasonings. Dip okra in buttermilk and then dredge in cornmeal-flour mixture to coat well. Carefully add okra to the hot oil and cook until golden brown. (It might be necessary to fry in batches). Remove from oil, drain on paper towels and serve immediately.
PHIL NEWTON is a Galveston baker/cook. He’s the owner/operator of Stiglich Corner with partner Cindy Roberts.
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THE HISTORICAL LISTING
Circa 1911 two story home with double gallery front porches. Completely fenced property with landscaped covered and open deck in the backyard. House is designed for entertaining with large den and kitchen combination. First floor master bedroom with ensuite bath is a much desired feature in older homes. $505,000
1507 Avenue M David Bowers, Realtor®
409-763-2800
David@DavidBowers.com The House Company
SINCE 1976
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
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DOWN HOME
‘THEY REMIND ME OF HOME’ Her family is famous for oysters, but her specialty dish will surprise you
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story by SUE MAYFIELD GEIGER | photo by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
s general manager of Prestige Oysters in San Leon, Lisa Halili knows a thing or two about bivalve recipes. But when it comes to home cooking, Halili turns to a dish she grew up savoring. “I was raised in Center, Texas, and my mom made chicken livers and onions over rice from the time I was little, so I developed a taste for them at a young age,” she said. “There weren’t many healthy ways to fry food back then and using lard was the norm. Sometimes, she would dredge the livers in egg, then flour, and fry them, but I’ve made my own healthy modifications.” Halili’s mother insisted that the family eat both beef liver and chicken livers, sometimes twice a month. Halili’s Italian stepfather from New York wasn’t much of a fan, she said. “My mother had a really hard time trying to convince him to try liver,” she said. “And I get that, because it is an acquired taste, but I loved it at first bite. Mom believed that you needed liver due to its iron content and to keep your blood cells balanced. She was like June Cleaver, the mom in the television show, ‘Leave it to Beaver,’ in that we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time every day without fail.” Aside from the liver dishes, Halili enjoyed a variety of home-cooked meals, she said. “Mom was a great cook and we never, hardly ever ate out,” she said. “It was rare if we went to a restaurant, unless we were traveling, so home-cooked meals were a staple.” The family meals had a lot of variety, she said. “It was rare to eat the same thing twice during a four-week period,” she said. “Mom always came up with something new and different. She introduced us to several new things, created delicious casseroles and we
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never had leftovers.” Although Halili was a big fan of the chicken livers, she also liked her mom’s smothered beef liver. “Mom always mixed her seasonings together before she sprinkled them on anything, then she’d rub them thoroughly into the meat,” Halili said. “Mom said if you add seasonings separately, the flavors don’t blend well. She’d often let the beef liver marry with all the seasonings, and put them in the refrigerator before flouring them and browning them, along with onions. Then, she’d put it all in a glass baking dish, pour a can of cream of mushroom soup and a can of beef broth over the whole thing and bake in the oven.” Halili’s mother’s favorite cookbook was a tattered and torn Betty Crocker edition that her mother gave her years ago, but it was destroyed in a fire, she said. “I’ve looked for a copy of that book all over the internet to no avail,” Halili said. “I don’t remember the version, but I recall what the cover looked like, so I’m still on a quest to find it.” Because Prestige Oysters keeps her busy, Halili doesn’t have too much time for scratch cooking anymore. She also is helping her son, Raz, at their new restaurant Pier 6 underway in San Leon. Yet, she always makes time to make chicken livers over rice for her husband, Johnny, as often as possible. “He loves them,” Halili said. “If he had his way, I’d be making them weekly. He’s from Albania and never had them before he met me, and now he’s hooked.” Halili continues to search antique and resale shops for that Betty Crocker cookbook. In the meantime, she treasures the memories of her mother’s simmering pots on the stove. “Chicken livers and rice are comfort food for me,” she said. “They remind me of home.”
CHICKEN LIVERS OVER RICE Servings: 4 For the rice: 1 cup Uncle Ben’s long grain white rice ½ teaspoon Land O Lakes Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt 2¼
cups water
For the chicken livers: 1½-2 pounds frozen or fresh chicken livers (If frozen, thaw overnight in refrigerator, wash and drain in cool water. Do not microwave.) 1
teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper seasoning 1 teaspoon Lawry’s All Purpose Seasoning 1
onion sliced thin
2 tablespoons Land O Lakes Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt Brown rice in butter/olive oil. Add water, cover with lid and cook over medium heat 25 minutes. Set aside. Combine garlic salt, crushed red pepper and seasoning together and sprinkle generously over the livers. Mix thoroughly till all liver pieces are seasoned and set aside. Sauté the sliced onions in 1 tablespoon of the butter/olive oil mixture in a large skillet. Drain on paper towels and set aside. Melt the other tablespoon of butter/ olive oil mixture in the same skillet until hot. Add livers, turning over to brown. Cook to desired doneness. Add more seasonings if needed. Mix onions and liver together and serve over rice.
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DOWN HOME
‘JEWISH SOUL FOOD’ Islander puts a sweet twist on a beloved holiday comfort dish
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story by SHANNON CALDWELL | photo by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
ood, family and faith are cornerstones for Galveston resident Ericka Schwenk. This month, all three come together beautifully for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Originally from New Jersey, Schwenk spent much of her adult life in Illinois before moving to Galveston five years ago. Known as a good and generous cook, she loves eating, trying new recipes and sharing delicious dishes with her family, friends and colleagues, she said. “I love Jewish and Italian food, which makes sense because food and family are so important to both,” she said. “We want to feed everyone and always worry there isn’t enough food, even when there’s way too much.” Jewish holidays are a special time for this former Sunday school teacher who loves cooking traditional feasts with food rich in flavor and symbolism. Rosh Hashanah means the “head of the new year” and is the beginning of a time of celebration culminating in Yom Kippur a week later. “Rosh Hashanah is a time of reflection, a time to think about the year past and the year to come,” she said. “There are some traditional staples we always have on our table. We have apples and honey for a sweet year ahead and our challah bread is round instead of rectangle to symbolize no beginning and no end. We also have wine for a sweet year and light candles as an offering to God.” Another staple for the High Holidays is kugel, an egg noodle side dish, particularly popular after fasting during Yom Kippur. “It’s a real comfort food like lasagna, but
without meat,” Schwenk said. “You can make it sweet with ricotta and raisins or savory with noodles and potatoes. It’s pretty high in carbs, but then there’s no keto-friendly, lowcarb Jewish anything.” Every cook puts their own twist on kugel, and Schwenk likes to make a sweet version. “I like to season it with cinnamon and sugar,” she said. “It is a simple recipe and it goes a long way, which is important as we often have 20 to 30 people to break the fast after Yom Kippur, just like a big Thanksgiving celebration. I describe kugel as Jewish soul food because it’s comfort food and the recipes are always the sort where you add a pinch of this and a pinch of that.” Schwenk had several cooking mentors, starting with her mother who taught her to cook. Friends made through her faith, including a Jewish chef who wrote his own cookbook, furthered her cooking education, but mostly she likes to experiment with new recipes or take inspiration from favorite restaurant meals, she said. As a child, Schwenk was a picky eater, so when she raised her four children — Joey, Emilie, Danny and Annie — she was happy to accommodate their preferences, she said. Now adults, they often call her to ask for recipes and they’re still influencing her cooking as she incorporates more vegetarian options into her feasts. “My bookend children were the most interested in cooking and would always be my helpers in the kitchen, especially for the holidays,” she said. “My husband, Joe, never cooks, although he does make a good meat sauce. We’ve been married 32 years and he still loves everything I make.”
ERICKA SCHWENK’S NOODLE KUGEL 1
pound wide egg noodles
2 (8-ounce) packets cream cheese, softened 1 pound (16 ounces) ricotta (You can substitute full fat creamed cottage cheese.) 1½
cups sugar
1 stick butter, melted, plus more for greasing the baking dish 8
eggs
2
teaspoons vanilla
1
teaspoon cinnamon
1
cup golden raisins
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Parboil the noodles (5 to 7 minutes) and drain them in a colander. In a very large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy, add cottage cheese and beat for another minute. Scrape the bowl down well. Add sugar and combine, then add butter, and scrape down bowl another time. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between additions. Add cinnamon, vanilla and mix. Then stir in golden raisins. Finally, carefully mix in the drained egg noodles. Pour into baking dish and bake for 1 hour before checking whether center is set. It may need up to 30 minutes more. (“I know this is crazy, but I have cooked kugels that took either end of the range,” Schwenk said. “They refuse to be predictable.”)
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DESSERT ISLAND
SOUTHERN COMFORT Its origins are murky, but there’s no doubt Texas sheet cake is a funeral food
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story and recipe by PHIL NEWTON | photo by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
hat’s the quintessential Texas dessert? A good argument could be made for Texas sheet cake. The origins of this dessert are murky. And there’s also debate about whether it’s a Texas invention at all. “Many point to the recipe’s use of local specialties, such as pecans and buttermilk, and its large size as signs of its Texan heritage. Impressive portions are a point of state pride,” according to atlasobscura.com. “Another argument is that the cake’s wide, flat shape resembles Texan topography. There was even a rumor that former first lady Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson was the cake’s inventor, but historians couldn’t find any recipes confirming this in the presidential archives.” Its popularity rose in the 1950s at the same time as German chocolate cake, according to culinary historians. Texas sheet cake was similar to German chocolate cake, but easier to prepare, making it very popular. It’s the easiest chocolate cake to make and perfect for parties, potlucks and funerals. The classic dessert is well-known for offering mourners comfort in the form of a moist chocolate base, gooey frosting and a crunchy topping of pecans. “And if you are going to a funeral in Texas, you should show up with a cake,” according to Southern Living. “Specifically, a Texas-sized chocolate sheet cake, which has become such a common fixture at the tables at funeral potlucks that it has earned the name Texas Funeral Cake.” Sheet cake is so named because it’s made on a sheet pan, also known as a jelly roll pan.
TEXAS SHEET CAKE For the cake: 2
cups all-purpose flour
2
cups granulated sugar
1
cup (2 sticks) salted butter
1
teaspoon baking soda
1 ⁄3
cup water
1
cup regular cocoa powder
1
cup sour cream
2
eggs
1
teaspoon vanilla extract
For the frosting: ⁄2
cup (1 stick) butter, melted
⁄2
cup milk
1
⁄4
cup cocoa powder
1
pound powdered sugar
1
tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1
1 cup pecans, chopped and toasted
Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a 13-by-18-by1-inch sheet pan. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and baking soda. Whisk the mixture until well combined. Set aside. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add 1 cup of butter, water and 1⁄3 cup of cocoa. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, then remove from the heat and add to the flour mixture. Mix to combine, then add the sour cream, eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Spread the mixture in the prepared pan and bake for 20-22 minutes or until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the center and the edges of the cake are coming away from the sides of the pan. While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting. In a medium bowl, combine 1⁄2 cup of melted butter, milk and 1⁄4 cup cocoa powder and mix until smooth. Add the powdered sugar to a large bowl and add the butter mixture and vanilla. Whisk until no lumps remain. Cover with plastic wrap until the cake finishes baking.
out of the oven. Spread the frosting to the edge of the cake, then sprinkle the pecans on top. Alternately, you can add the pecans to the frosting before pouring onto the cake.
Pour the frosting on the cake as soon as it comes
Let the cake cool completely before serving.
PHIL NEWTON is a Galveston baker/cook. He’s the owner/operator of Stiglich Corner with partner Cindy Roberts.
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Fresh Gulf Seafood & Prime Steaks with a Latin American Sabor! For 24 years, Rudy & Paco's has delighted guests with its innovative, yet classic cuisine. Conveniently located next to the 1894 Grand Opera House, Rudy & Paco’s is perfect for your pre-show dinner or any occasion.
Buying or Selling
Lunch Hours: Monday - Friday 11am to 2pm Dinner Hours: Monday - Thursday 5pm to 9pm; Friday & Saturday 5pm to 10pm For Reservations please call 409.762.3696 or visit rudyandpaco.com Proper attire required.
Vargas Cut and Catch features Prime Steaks, Texas Wagyu and the Freshest Seafood available. Set in a beautiful midcentury setting, Vargas Cut and Catch transports you to the golden era of fine dining. Private Room available for your special occasion or next company meeting.
Living the Dream Call Me Today 409-771-2649 Wendell Odorizzi
Realtor® GRI, RSPS, ABR, SRS
wendell@sandnsea.com | sandnsea.com
Tuesday -Thursday 5pm to 9pm Friday & Saturday 5pm to 10pm For Reservations please call 409.762.2101 or visit vargascutandcatch.com
COASTAL REAL ESTATE EXCELLENCE SINCE 1974 COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
49
DOWN THE HATCH
SOMETHING IN THE WATER? Nah. Blame the peculiarities of the Third Coast on our strange cocktails
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story by MARK G HANNA photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
lot of people in other parts of this big country have an opinion about life along the Third Coast. Peculiar is a word that comes up regularly. In polite company, they say it must be something in the water. Well, they’re wrong. Oh sure, taken together, the food, the accents, the driving, the weather and the attitude make it impossible to deny that this part of the world is quite a few steps over the property line of peculiar. What people are wrong about is thinking it’s the water. Have they seen our cocktails? Consider the Sazerac or the Hurricane or the Crusta, the frozen margarita and the refreshing Ranch Water. These aren’t imports. Cocktails in these parts are kind of an imbiber’s version of the famed Louisiana dish gumbo, a conglomeration of cultures, environs and tastes all coming together to explode into something just not found in other regions. And even in this region there are regions. New Orleans is in a class of its own in the history of sipping civilization. Outside of that city, another family of cocktails fill the happy hour cups, drifting from Cajun country into Texas where influences from cowboys and Mexico form a blend. “In general, I would say that the New Orleans and the Gulf Coast cocktail scenes are two different worlds, albeit with some overlap,” said Dylan O’Donnell, also known as, coincidentally, Doctor Gumbo, owner of Doctor Gumbo Tours in New Orleans. His tours focus on New Orleans cocktails and the city’s cocktail history. “For New Orleans, think bartender in a white tuxedo, Louis Armstrong echoing gently from the speakers,” O’Donnell said. “For Gulf Coast, think feet in the sand and Jimmy Buffett on the jukebox.” Such are the peculiarities of a region that hands out a Texas Paloma made with tequila, fresh ruby red grapefruit juice and simple syrup at one bar and, at another, a Vieux Carré, a potent 1930s-era cocktail gumbo made with brandy and liqueur from France, Italian vermouth, Kentucky bourbon and Caribbean bitters. It’s why, after several Vieux Carrés, people can speak in tongues.
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The Roffignac was named after Count Louis Philippe Joseph de Roffignac, mayor of New Orleans from 1820-28.
DOWN THE HATCH
(Clockwise from left) The Crusta is made with brandy and gets its name from the lightly sugared rim of the glass in which it’s served; the Sazerac is a New Orleans cocktail that can be ordered with rye whiskey, or cognac, or both; Ranch Water is a refreshing cocktail from West Texas featuring tequila, Topo Chico and lime juice over ice.
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“Gulf Coast cocktails tend be rum-forward, given the historical relationship with pirates, sugarcane plantations and the Caribbean,” O’Donnell said. “Throughout the Gulf Coast, you’ll find the propensity to offer large, gaudy plastic cups full of sickly sweet yet seriously boozy concoctions, often with thematic designs or catchy names. This has been the case here long before Vegas picked up the trend. In this vein, NOLA and the Gulf Coast find common ground in drinks like the Hurricane, the Hand Grenade and the Fish Bowl.” With its connection both to the Gulf of Mexico and to the Mississippi River, New Orleans had from earliest times a plethora of choices for filling its bar shelves. There has long been rye from Canada, bourbons from the mid-South, all kinds of exotic liquors and liqueurs from Europe and rums coming from the islands of the Caribbean and the coastal countries of South America. The results, even if the creations were supposedly for medicinal purposes, put New Orleans alongside New York and Paris for being the birthplace of drinks now called classics. “New Orleans’ classic cocktails are definitely in a league of their own,” O’Donnell said. “From the Sazerac to the Vieux Carré, what you’ll find is a complex approach to multiple spirits, especially brandy and whiskey, and the use of aromatic cocktail bitters such as angostura and New Orleans’ own Peychaud’s. The Sazerac cocktail, in particular, can be ordered with rye whiskey, or cognac, or both. The former spirit a nod to the American influence post-Louisiana Purchase, the latter a nod to her French colonial roots.” As early as 1852, the city was making a cocktail name for itself. That was the year Joseph Santina opened the Jewel of the South, and along with it, began serving his own invention, the Brandy Crusta. Made with brandy, maraschino liqueur, Cointreau and lemon juice, it gets its name from the lightly sugared rim of the glass in which it’s served. Today, there’s a gastro pub in the French Quarter called Jewel of the South, but it isn’t the same one where the Crusta was born. Just the same, the bar scene in it has received accolades far and wide. “The bartending scene in New Orleans is so full of energy, creativity and talent,” O’Donnell said. “All over the city you’ll find
barkeeps riffing on all the great classics like the Sazerac, the Old Fashioned, the Negroni and beyond. But if I had to pick one, I’d say that anything Chris Hannah is serving at Jewel of the South is a classic in the making. Even if it’s not on the menu, check out his Bywater cocktail.”
This classic New Orleans cocktail recipe comes from Dylan O’Donnell, also known as Doctor Gumbo, owner of Doctor Gumbo Tours in New Orleans. Named after Louis Roffignac, mayor of New Orleans from 1820-28, the cocktail has been around since the late 1800s. O’Donnell describes it as “the sleeper hit of my Cocktail History Tour. No one has ever heard of it.”
THE ROFFIGNAC 1.5
ounces cognac
.75
ounce raspberry liqueur
.25
ounce apple cider vinegar Soda water Raspberries (garnish)
Build in a highball glass full of ice. Start with cognac, then raspberry liqueur, apple cider vinegar. Fill rest of glass with soda water. Serve with straw (or other stirring device). Garnish with raspberries.
One of the world’s most famous gin concoctions, right next to the gin and tonic, made its debut in a bar inside New Orleans’ Meyer’s Table D’Hotel International in 1888. It was created by bartender Henry C. Ramos and was unique not just because it was made with gin, but because of its signature frothy egg whites in which the gin was mixed. The Ramos Gin Fizz got additional fame when it became a favorite of the legendary Gov. Huey P. Long. When visiting New York, Long took his own bartender to provide him the drink, both sharing it with guests and then declaring it his gift to the Big Apple. Talk was he had the Airline Highway constructed from the capitol in Baton Rouge to New Orleans so he could get to the Sazerac Bar, where Ramos was then working, and have his Gin Fizz 40 minutes faster. Ramos
later sold his rights to the drink to the Roosevelt Hotel, where it can be had today. For the historic parts of Doctor Gumbo’s tours, O’Donnell has a favorite, though lesser known cocktail to tout. “Honestly, the Roffignac is the sleeper hit of my Cocktail History Tour,” he said. “No one has ever heard of it, including the locals who come along. To be honest, I had never heard of it while growing up in New Orleans, but it is a solid crowd pleaser, and I think it would be very successful on a larger scale. It has everything you want: it’s refreshing, strong, sweet and sour.” Another word would be peculiar. The Roffignac was named after Count Louis Philippe Joseph de Roffignac, a Frenchborn aristocrat who managed to escape the ravages of the French Revolution — with his head — and settle in New Orleans. He became mayor in 1820, the last New Orleans mayor to have been born in France, and during his two terms, extended the levees, paved Royal and Orleans streets, added gas lighting to parts of downtown, established the city’s first fire department and began what would become a public school system. Just why the drink was named after him is not clear. It first appeared in the late 1800s, nearly 40 years after the former mayor died at his estate back in France. The drink’s debut was at a Royal Street bar called Mannissiers, which remained open until 1914. It then became the house specialty of a Creole restaurant called Maylie’s, which continued serving it until closing up in 1986 after 110 years in business. Unlike Mayor Roffignac, Mannissiers and Maylie’s, now all part of history, the cocktail lives on. Texas has made its own mark on cocktail classics. One would need look no further than the frozen margarita, a drink one Dallas restaurant owner was able to mass produce after a late-night stop in front of a Slurpee machine. The three-ingredient Ranch Water, made with tequila, Topo Chico and lime juice over ice, found its way out of West Texas to statewide adoration. Of course, if more people experienced the wonders of this region’s cocktail scene, it might come to pass they won’t find everyone here quite as peculiar. But they still shouldn’t drink the water.
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COUNTER CULTURE
ON THE BAYOU Galveston doctor uses kitchen to make healthier versions of famous Louisiana recipes story by VALERIE WELLS photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
O
ld family traditions influenced the creation of the light-filled kitchen of the Haver home on Bayou Shore Drive in Galveston. “Let me show you my favorite cookbook,” Dr. Mary Claire Haver said as she walked into a tall and roomy pantry, stretched to reach an upper shelf, and pulled out a wellused book with one page slightly sticking out of place. “It’s my grandmother’s recipes,” Haver said. The book was “Family Recipes: Secrets of Maude Landry’s Kitchen.” Haver was born into the Landry family of Lafayette, Louisiana. Willie G. and Maude Landry entered the restaurant business in 1952 and operated highly successful independent restaurants throughout Louisiana and Texas. The idea to have numerous spacious drawers instead of cabinets in Haver’s kitchen came from chefs in the family advising her on storage and efficiency.
(Right) Dr. Mary Claire Haver, who started The Galveston Diet, center, her daughter, Katherine Haver, left, who created Galveston Prime, and Ashley Simon, operations manager of The Galveston Diet, prepare for a social media post in Haver’s spacious kitchen overlooking English Bayou in Galveston.
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COUNTER CULTURE
(Above) The 7-foot by 8-foot island in Dr. Mary Claire Haver’s kitchen is made from two pieces of metamorphic sandstone with a geode. The island provides plenty of seating as well as work space for slicing fruits and vegetables. (Opposite) Italian Deruta ceramic dishes are displayed in a dining-room cabinet.
From a large, almost square kitchen island in the center of the kitchen, Haver can command a view of English Bayou as well as the entire living room and backyard. The natural stone top of the 7-foot-by 8-foot island is two pieces of metamorphic sandstone with a geode. Haver, her husband, Christopher Haver, and their two daughters have lived in the home for about five years. When they saw a lot on English Bayou was for sale, they were interested. Haver had been taking mental notes and adding ideas to her Pinterest photos for years as she planned her dream kitchen. She had an idea of the type of bayou kitchen she wanted. She also wanted to entertain, so she paid attention while she was at parties to the places where people congregated, where they stood, where they stayed. Not only did she see the kitchen was the most popular spot, she knew how to open the kitchen and living room into one large space that still felt traditional. 56
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
“Nothing is hidden here,” Haver said. A large piece of butcher paper rolled out over one end of the island is the base of one of Haver’s favorite buffet-style meals for guests. She creates a charcuterie spread on the butcher paper, grouping deli meats, gourmet cheese, special crackers, fruit and vegetables. She writes directly the specific name of the meat or cheese on the paper, distinguishing the prosciutto from the salami and the Edam from the Gruyere. Haver, who is an obstetrician and a gynecologist, founded The Galveston Diet in 2017 to help middle-aged women lose weight. Her program combines low-carb meals, intermittent fasting and anti-inflammatory foods. Her old family recipes don’t always fit a low-carb diet, but Haver is working on that, she said. With the help of a sister-inlaw who is a chef, Haver is collecting new healthy versions of the old Landry dishes.
Much experimentation happens in the open air of her home kitchen. Even more food prep happens there. Haver believes in keeping healthy food ready for grab-and-go snacks. Every week, she slices carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, fruit and berries to keep available in the fridge. Every fall, she participates in a soup exchange with a group of friends. Her fall soup recipes include one for butternut squash, one for turkey and kale and one for chicken with lime. Ever since her family moved in, the kitchen has been filled with teenagers. The wide space and clear views made the kitchen a fun and relaxing space for teens as well as the soup-exchange friends and diet-learning friends. It’s the center of entertainment for Haver she said. “People tend to hide kitchens in the back of the house,” Haver said. “Make it the center of your house.”
BEEF PORTOBELLOS 4
large portobello mushrooms
8
ounces lean ground beef
1 cup cauliflower rice (Haver prefers the frozen version here, cooked according to package instructions) 2
cloves of garlic, minced
1
tablespoon olive oil Dried Italian seasoning to taste
4
ounces Parmesan cheese
4
cups fresh spinach leaves
high heat for 10 minutes. Add spinach and cook until extra moisture is evaporated. Add Italian seasoning according to your taste. Place mixture in portobello mushroom caps, divided equally. Top each stuffed mushroom with 2 ounces of Parmesan cheese. Bake stuffed mushrooms on cookie sheet until cheese is melted.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Place portobello mushroom caps on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake until warmed through. Remove from oven.
Serve with cauliflower rice.
In a pan, add oil and cook garlic in it. Add ground beef and cook on
40 grams of protein
Nutritional Information Macros: 6
grams net carbs
35 grams of fat
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HOMEPORT
LEAVING THEIR MARK Island couple adds character and charm to a modest two-story house story by BARBARA CANETTI photos by STUART VILLANUEVA
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sther and RJ DeLange want to make Galveston Island a prettier place to live. And they’re doing that one house at a time. The DeLanges, who own the remodeling company Galvestonish, recently moved into one of their renovated homes, changing its character from a modest storm replacement house to a modern, up-to-date comfortable home in a nice neighborhood complete with a garden. The house, a 1,450-square-foot, two-story structure, was built in 2013 by the federal government to replace a home destroyed by Hurricane Ike in 2008. Dubbed an Ike House, it was one of about 97 built through a federal program. The house was up to code, but lacked style and needed work, the DeLanges said. “The house was built well, except there were problems,” RJ said. When they bought the house, the entire first-floor flooring had rotted because it had been improperly insulated, he said. “This was a mess,” he said. “It was so nasty when we walked in.” The DeLanges removed the plywood floors and replaced it with a durable vinyl tile that’s also waterproof. They updated the kitchen by painting it, replacing the appliances, redoing the backsplash in a scalloped tile design and installing white quartz countertops. “It had been very traditional, and now it is more happy colors,” said Esther, who dabbles in art as a painter.
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Esther and RJ DeLange relax with their son, Pepijn, and the family dogs on the patio of their Galveston home.
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HOMEPORT
The living room is decorated with eclectic pieces, mixing antiques and other unusual furnishings.
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Paintings by Esther DeLange are found throughout the home.
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HOMEPORT
Before Hurricane Ike, a tired looking and frail house stood on this lot. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, working with the city of Galveston, replaced the fallen building and other similar structures wrecked in the storm. The original owners of 62
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the replacement house encountered some personal problems in 2018 and weren’t able to handle the upkeep of the new building. They sold it to the DeLanges in 2019, who evaluated the problems but liked the layout and decided to buy it and give it a new
life with a new look. “The house is built solid; those piers are so deep they go to China,” said RJ, who recently stepped away from a computer security business to work full time on island restorations. “Once we fixed the floor problem, the
rest was easy.” The dining area is a small nook, leaving a large open space for the living room. The primary bedroom and adjacent bathroom also are on the main floor. The house has high ceilings, lots of double-paned win-
dows allowing for constant sunlight. Upstairs are two more bedrooms and another bathroom. Their son, Pepijn, uses one of the rooms during his extended stay from college because of COVID-19. The DeLanges decorated the rooms
(Clockwise from far left) The kitchen features clean lines and a bright sun-lit atmosphere; antique furniture is paired with modern accents; The DeLanges use a lot of repurposed materials and are constant customers of the Antique Warehouse in Galveston.
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HOMEPORT
(Clockwise from top) Esther and RJ DeLange are reflected in a mirror on the patio of their Galveston home. Esther calls the area her “tropical paradise”; the DeLanges replaced a heavy, metal elevator with a spa surrounded by colorful plants and flowers; the couple in 2019 purchased the FEMA-built Hurricane Ike house and gave it a new look.
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with eclectic pieces, mixing antiques and other unusual furnishings. Everything they use for the restorations — supplies, hired help, crews, professionals, furniture — comes from Galveston Island, they said. They use a lot of repurposed materials and are constant customers at the Antique Warehouse on 25th Street in the island’s downtown. “We buy from the island because we want to work with people who also live here,” RJ said. “And they know us, so we get good deals.”
“It has become my passion. I wanted to leave a permanent mark. I hope that when we fix up these houses, they will last another hundred years.” RJ DELANGE
Perhaps the most changes to the house are on the outside. First, they moved a heavy, metal elevator and replaced it with a spa. They put up new fencing and enclosed the driveway, making what Esther refers to as her “tropical paradise.” They selected colorful plants and flowers to decorate the area, comfortable furniture and a private dog run. They cut out a small section of the garden door to allow their dogs to peek out during the day and monitor local traffic. Large trees provide enough shade so that it’s pleasant outside, even in the Texas summer. The couple, originally from The Netherlands, has lived in Texas for 23 years, mostly in the Sugar Land area. They moved to Galveston two and a half years ago and started buying, restoring and then selling homes. “It has become my passion,” RJ said. “I wanted to leave a permanent mark. I hope that when we fix up these houses, they will last another hundred years.”
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FEATURE
CARVING OUT A NICHE Inspired by reclaimed wood, brother and sister launch San Leon furniture shop
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story by SUE MAYFIELD GEIGER | photos by STUART VILLANUEVA
hat does someone do after working in the oil and gas business in a managerial capacity for 25 years? The answer was easy for Seabrook resident Lisa Yarbrough — build furniture. Yarbrough along with her brother, David Gerhardt, put their heads together and started New From Old, opening their first combination store/warehouse in Bacliff in 2016, later moving
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it to San Leon. They specialize in reclaimed wood. “Every piece of wood we acquire is reclaimed, meaning it’s architectural salvage from a demolished period house or barn wood, weathered planks, floorboards and the like,” said Gerhardt, who has been a carpenter for 25 years. Both brother and sister grew up in Texas City, and neither one of them are quite sure what motivated them to launch the venture except for their desire to work with salvaged wood.
(Clockwise from top) David Gerhardt moves a carved piece of wood while assembling a table in the workshop at New From Old in San Leon; an assortment of reclaimed wood at the workshop; a chair and table made from reclaimed wood. (Opposite) Seabrook resident Lisa Yarbrough creates beautiful furniture from reclaimed wood. After working for years in the oil and gas business, she opened her furniture workshop New From Old in San Leon with her brother, David Gerhardt.
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FEATURE
The workshop at New From Old in San Leon is full of piles of wood that soon will become dining tables, sofa tables, desks, bookshelves and fireplace mantels.
“David had just moved back to the area, and the timing was right,” Yarbrough said. They began taking trips to Galveston to see what resources they could find to help them get started, and everywhere they went, they’d hear, “Go see Scotty.” “We finally connected with Scott Hanson of Antique Warehouse, and he really helped us out,” Yarbrough said. “He asked us what we wanted to make, and I told him I didn’t have a clue — that we were presently refinishing furniture out of my garage in Seabrook. Scott advised us to rent a building
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somewhere and he’d help us find inventory.” Hanson, whose business is in Galveston, makes 100 or more pieces of commissioned furniture each year and is revered for recreating new pieces from rescued wood. And that’s how it all began, Yarbrough said. Yarbrough found a building in Bacliff almost immediately, bought some racks, rented a U-Haul and headed to Galveston to collect the wood they’d acquired from Hanson. Armed with some starting materials, Yarbrough and Gerhardt began building cabinets with doors made from vintage shutters,
kitchen islands from shiplap and anything and everything out of beadboard. Hanson became their mentor, Yarbrough said. “We’ve had learning curves, so it took us a while to find our groove,” Gerhardt said. “But we eventually had customers and plenty of wood.” Within two years, it was time to expand, so they moved into a 5,000-square-foot building, 2220 Broadway St. in San Leon. “We got a lead on a large quantity of Colombian banak wood that had been
Norm Soucy, left, and David Gerhardt assemble a table in the workshop at New From Old in San Leon.
sitting in a warehouse at the Port of Houston for 15 years,” Yarbrough said. “Banak is a hardwood with coarse texture and a straight grain, and we started using that almost exclusively for our projects.” Because they were cutting and routing everything by hand, they knew they had to step up their game, they said. Their equipment includes a drum sander, a computer numerical control, or CNC, machine and a software program that allows them to design just about anything consumers want, Yarbrough said.
“It works especially well when making corbels, because they look like those from the 1800s, a true replica of that era,” she said. “It’s amazing the furniture pieces we’ve been able to make.” She also is working in tandem with San Leon business owner Norm Soucy, a master woodworker in his own right, who has been instrumental in tutoring Yarbrough and Gerhardt on the intricacies of the CNC machine. Piles of wood stacked on racks from floor to ceiling soon will become dining tables, sofa tables, desks, bookshelves and fireplace
mantels, Gerhardt said. “When we start sanding old beadboard, the different colors start appearing, and I can actually recreate that paint color from a chip of the old paint,” Yarbrough said. “We’ve even found a way to give any surface that vintage, crackled-paint effect.” Yarbrough has no regrets about starting a business from scratch, especially one she knew nothing about. “I can build something new from something old every day and it intrigues me,” she said. “Plus, it’s fun.
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FEATURE
(Above) Jerry Klekotta, left, and owners Sandra and Bobby Connatser operate the1860 Charles W. Adams Mansion in Galveston. The Connatsers hope to make the historic mansion a creative retreat. (Opposite) A front parlor is decorated with Victorian-style furniture and decorations. Large pocket doors lead to the house’s formal dining room.
MANSION MAKEOVER While visiting another island inn, couple falls for Victorian beauty
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story by SHANNON CALDWELL | photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
alveston long has attracted artists and photographers keen to immortalize the island’s wildlife and scenery. The new owners of the Charles W. Adams Mansion have renovated and updated the grand Victorian with a plan to attract more creative tourists to Galveston. Bobby and Sandra Connatser live in Houston but fell in love with Galveston during weekend stays on the island, they said. They were looking for a retirement project when the Charles W. Adams Mansion,
2314 Ave. M, caught their eye. “We were staying at the Coppersmith Inn and visited the farmers market and then walked around the neighborhood,” Bobby said. “We saw it and decided we wanted to buy it.” Bobby, who has worked in commercial real estate for years, researched the investment opportunity and then hired broker and historic home expert Tom Schwenk, of Tom’s Galveston Real Estate, to represent the couple. They closed on the property in early March, just before the coronavirus hit Galveston.
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FEATURE
(Clockwise from left) An antique coal shuttle sits at the base of a decorative mantel in a second-floor suite; this large second-floor suite is one of six in the main house. Each has an en suite bathroom and features many antique shop finds; the library is one of two rooms owners Bobby and Sandra Connatser plan to use for creative retreats.
The couple used the pandemic stay-athome period for renovations to ensure the updated mansion embodies their vision for a comfortable historic retreat for people wanting to appreciate the island. They have repaired the historic elevator, added a ramp for easy access, updated the garden and styled each room with thoughtful antiques and curiosities to fit the Victorian décor of the property. The Charles W. Adams Mansion was built in 1860 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The double-galleried home
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has many historical features, including the original long leaf pine floors, 12-foot ceilings, “bundled wheat-style” porch railings, pocket doors and a grand “floating” staircase in the entrance. Sandra, who had a career in retail and then education, is an enthusiastic scrapbooker and photographer who loves taking pictures of birds and landscapes. She is the driving force behind the creative retreat part of the business, having enjoyed many creative retreats herself. “The men’s parlor and library are adjoining
rooms with wonderful pocket doors connecting them,” Sandra said. “These are our retreat rooms for crafting, meeting or other retreats. We know there is a whole network of scrapbookers and other such creative organizations looking for new venues for retreats, and we really want to tap into these networks.” The Connatsers are members of the Galveston Island Nature Tourism Council and enjoy participating in FeatherFest, the island’s annual birding and nature photography festival. Because of that experience, they know the island has much to offer creative
(Clockwise from left) A seating area is tucked under the floating staircase in the entryway; Bobby Connatser shows a leather folio used as packaging for silk stockings that is displayed in one of the guest suites; the formal dining room can seat a least eight guests.
people, they said. Their retreat rooms are on the first floor and feature 5-foot-long tables, ergonomic adjustable rolling chairs, a coffee and iced tea bar, snacks and table lamps. A whiteboard also is available. Although they haven’t worked in the lodging industry before, they have had a lot of support from Coppersmith Inn owner Theressa Stonecipher, “who has been amazing,” Sandra said. Bobby adds he and Sandra are both “people people” and problem solvers who thrive on helping others.
“We just want to give people a great experience of Galveston,” he said. In their initial opening weeks, they already have hosted a steady stream of guests. They also have hosted an intimate wedding, which resulted in six suites being booked. The Connatsers are interested in the history of the building and want to learn more about the early days of the mansion, they said. The mansion features seven rooms. Five suites are on the second floor of the main house and one is on the third floor attic. There also is a Carriage House on the grounds that
sleeps two. The suites all have en suite bathrooms and feature a romantic Victorian style, including many antique shop finds. “One room has an unusual coal shuttle that we found,” Sandra said. “We have a Hungarian cradle in another room, and in another is a gorgeous leather folio, which was used as packaging for silk stockings. That is particularly special as the mansion is in the Silk Stocking District.” Retired educator Jerry Klekotta lives onsite as venue manager to assist with guest queries.
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FEATURE
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED Designer transforms drab League City patio into a space bursting with color
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story by VALERIE WELLS photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
eague City resident Ilse Benard was a guest participant this year in the One Room Challenge, an online space where designers encourage each other and hold each other accountable as they finish one room in their own homes. Benard, a designer who lives in League City and owns Galveston-based Staged for Perfection, accepted the challenge, which was launched by designer Linda Weinstein in 2011. Benard’s challenge? Transform her drab, beige patio into a vivid, textured space that’s eye-catching and unconventional. “I want the back porch to be eclectic in the feel and to actually create an outdoor room,” Benard said earlier this year as she began the project. Over eight weeks, she blogged about her progress, including small changes to her initial plans. She added a ceiling fan in the place of an ugly light fixture. She experimented with shades of blue. Then, this summer, Benard revealed her completed project on the One Room Challenge site. Her small backyard turned into an explosion of color and cohesion of shapes. The turquoise roof of the patio and the oversized turquoise vase in the new garden set a calm tone against the green grass and oak trees. The garden attracts butterflies, birds and bees, Benard said. That’s intentional, too. “Most of the plants are native,” she said. “Some are evergreen and many are perennials. I added a water fountain, as I find that soothing.” The blue-white-and-black geometric designs on the floor of Benard’s patio pop with so much life, they appear at first to be raised sculptures of some sort.
(Left) Designer Ilse Benard transformed her patio and backyard as a guest participant in the One Room Challenge, where designers fix up a room in their own homes.
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FEATURE
(Clockwise from left) Designer Ilse Benard used bright, eclectic pieces in her table setting; Benard used colorful cement tiles to cover the concrete patio and created a seating area with colorful planters at one end of the covered patio; she also added a stone path between two new flower beds.
But the cement tiles are flat and smooth, although the color that seeps into the tile tricks the eye. Laura Flora, who owns Beyond Floors in Webster along with her husband, Johnny Flora, helped Benard choose the right tiles. “It was so fun to see her ideas for colors, materials and paint come together,” Laura Flora said. A long, rectangular wood table makes the small patio seem even larger. Bright colors and more geometric shapes cover the tablecloth from South Africa. It’s all at home in
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the Texas backyard. Benard is from South Africa. She left in 1986 to travel, then to work, and eventually found her way to the Houston area and then Galveston County. “It’s down to earth here,” she said. Benard always has had a talent for design, she said. It’s not necessarily something a person can learn. “One of the things is seeing the end result, the whole picture,” she said. It’s something that has come easy to her, and she discovered it was a skill she could
use to help others. Her job as a designer is to explain the process to clients and to understand what people envision for their homes, she said. “It’s important to talk to people about how they are using the room,” she said. She uses her patio every day for breakfast and dinner or a cup of coffee or two, she said. Even when it rains, she can sit at the table under the turquoise roof and look at her new garden. “Almost every day, I’m out here,” she said.  https://ilsebenard.com
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GARDEN VARIETY
(Above) Gene and Pauline Aaron sit with their dogs, Lily and Phineas, in the front garden of their League City home. The Aarons had the house built five years ago and have done all the planting in the gardens themselves. (Right) Flagstone pavers create paths to the garden.
‘THANK OUR LUCKY STARS’ League City couple enjoys a quiet country life amid urban growth
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story by SUE MAYFIELD GEIGER | photos by STUART VILLANUEVA
mid urban development, League City couple Pauline and Gene Aaron enjoy a quiet country lifestyle on a little more than 11 acres. Behind a line of crepe myrtles and wrought-iron fencing, a variety of species of mature trees, along with recently planted ones, grace the property. A few free-standing flower beds, as well as some surrounding their home, are full of colorful blooms. 80
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The Aarons, semi-retired, have spent the past five years improving and adding on to their existing property they call their forever home. “We’d been living in a subdivision and I was really wanting to spread my wings,” Gene said. They started with just 1.3 acres and built the house, Pauline said. “That was five years ago, and since that time, we’ve acquired 7 more acres and most
recently an additional 3 acres,” she said. Flagstones play a major role in this yard. The Aarons made good use of them in creating walkways and flower-bed borders. “We planted everything in the front yard except for the tallow tree, which we kept
due to its leaves that turn a nice fall color when autumn arrives,” Pauline said. “The property already had some nice live oaks, an elm and hackberry in the back, but we planted everything else, including all the fruit trees.”
A mix of drift and knockout roses, limelight hydrangeas, mums, day lilies, agapanthus, inpatiens, and a loropetalum that sporadically blooms thin petals of pink fringe-like flowers, are just a few of the many ornamentals in the front beds.
Around the corner to the left, past a tall yellow esperanza, is a thriving vegetable garden, sharing space with potted plumerias. Beds along the fence line are full of Texas star, coleus, wild roses and day lilies. The backyard takes you to a shaded patio,
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GARDEN VARIETY
(From top) Shade trees complete with swings surround a fire pit. Situated on more than 11 acres, the home offers a country life despite being in fast-growing League City; flowers frame a tranquil pond on the expansive back acreage; the pond is home to a family of ducks and turtles. (Opposite) A tree stump doubles as a gnome house. Gene Aaron made the houses for his grandchildren, he said.
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GARDEN VARIETY
“Aside from the upkeep, we are so thankful for this place. It’s given us great purpose and it’s a real blessing. We thank our lucky stars every day.” PAULINE AARON
(Clockwise from top left) Pauline Aaron checks the progress of tomatoes in her garden; a small bird feeder hangs above a hibiscus plant; a spacious front porch offers relaxing views of the front garden; Mother of Pearl roses are just one of the rose varietals found blooming in the garden; a hibiscus blooms in the garden.
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bordered by more beds, including a luscious bleeding heart vine. A lap pool, a corner full of sizable live oaks, and a large pond, home to a family of ducks and turtles, add to the serenity. “This pond was already here, but we made vast improvements to it,” Pauline said. “We enjoy watching the Muscovy ducks, and especially the whistling ducks, when they afford us the opportunity, as they are a rare sighting.” Beyond the backyard, the entire scene changes dramatically as the rest of the acreage comes into view. It’s a country atmosphere not easily found elsewhere when you take into consideration that a major grocery store is mere minutes away. “This area was all overgrown when we bought it,” Gene said. “We planted 60 trees, dug this second pond ourselves and stocked it with catfish, so the grandchildren like to come out here and fish. It’s about one-third acre in size and is 11 feet deep.” Each corner of the pond has been landscaped with oleanders, roses, butterfly bushes and a variety of other ornamentals. A grove of pecan and oaks stand in a far corner toward the side of the property. One of the majestic oaks — original to the property — is estimated to be nearly 200 years old, Gene said. A cottonwood tree, Queen Anne’s lace, wooden birdhouses and a couple of homes for the gnomes are among their favorites, they said. “I made the gnome houses from tree stumps for the grandchildren and added windows and doors,” Gene said. “They are still waiting for the gnomes to appear and ask me all the time, ‘When are they coming out?’” The upkeep for a yard of this size isn’t easy, but the couple shares the labor. “It takes a lot of work, but we have a system,” Gene said. “I do all the tractor work and the two of us mow all 11.3 acres ourselves, and we can do it in about six hours.” “Aside from the upkeep, we are so thankful for this place,” Pauline said. “It’s given us great purpose and it’s a real blessing. We thank our lucky stars every day.”
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CURRENTS | ART
HOUSE OF HOSEK An East End island cottage contains a stunning collection of American art story by VALERIE WELLS photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
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ne private collection includes the original work of four artists from three generations of the Wyeth family, considered the first family of contemporary American art. And that art collection is in Galveston. N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, Henriette Wyeth Hurd and Jamie Wyeth all painted pictures that are now in The Hosek Collection of American Art. Howard “Chip” Hosek placed N.C. Wyeth’s oil painting “The Young Charles Lindbergh” over the fireplace inside his home, the Allardyce Cottage on Ball Street. The illustration of the pensive boy and his dog appeared in the July 1931 issue of McCall’s Magazine in a profile about Lindbergh. The next year, Lindbergh’s toddler son was kidnapped and murdered. Hosek also has a copy of that issue of McCall’s. He now has more than 100 pieces of American art in his collection, but it started on a smaller scale.
(Left) Paintings by American artists Henry Salem Hubbell, from left, William Worcester Churchill and William McGregor Paxton hang above an antique Empire sofa in Howard “Chip” Hosek’s living room of his East End home in Galveston.
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CURRENTS | ART
(Clockwise from top left) N.C. Wyeth’s oil painting “The Young Charles Lindbergh” hangs above the fireplace in Howard “Chip” Hosek’s 1859 Allardyce Cottage in Galveston; a painting by Lily Martin Spencer hangs in the dining room; Jamie Wyeth’s painting “The Monhagen Post Office” hangs above his father Andrew Wyeth’s “Gunsight” in the hallway; a painting of flowers by Henriette Wyeth Hurd, right, is part of Hosek’s collection of American art. Hosek has paintings by N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, Jamie Wyeth and Henriette’s husband and fellow artist, Peter Hurd, in his collection. (Opposite) A painting of hunting dogs by artist Percival Leonard Rosseau hangs near the entrance to the pool room.
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“I started with realism,” Hosek said. Hosek grew up in the Houston area. In 1978, he started a masonry construction company, Brickfield Builders, based in Pearland., where he lived, too. In 2018, he bought the Allardyce Cottage, built between 1859 and 1860 by John Allardyce, a shipyard caulker by trade, and his wife Catherine. The house survived the 1900 Storm among other natural disasters. Hosek moved into the house in October 2019. Hosek’s collection that fills the walls and hallways of his historic Galveston home initially showcased American art from 1850-1950, but it has expanded. The collection now features art created after 1950 to now, including that of New York NeoPop artist Peter Tunney. The first art Hosek bought were prints of artist John Cowan’s work. Hosek was at a Resolution Trust Corp. auction in 1989 and bought a Cowan painting for $500. That’s how the collection started. Hosek looked for more of Cowan’s paintings and eventually had the second-largest Cowan collection. An art gallery owner in Austin called him one
day in 1997 to let him know about some Cowan paintings that were available and for sale. Hosek went right away. “I walked in, and I saw these two paintings,” Hosek said as he pointed to “Gunsight” by Andrew Wyeth and above it a winter landscape by Jamie Wyeth, Andrew’s son. Hosek made a decision. He sold all of his Cowan collection to acquire the two Wyeth paintings. The Hosek Collection of American Art was born. “I started reevaluating paintings,” Hosek said. “What I had before were all regionalists.” The collection now includes work by Norman Rockwell, George Henry Durrie and John William Casilear. The collection also includes works by noted American women painters such as Lily Martin Spencer, Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, Jessie Wilcox Smith and Jessie Hazel Arms Botke. He has Texans on the wall, too, such as the blue-bonnetscapes of Robert William Wood. Hosek often lends pieces of his collection to museums. His collection twice has been an entire exhibit at the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts in Spring.
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CURRENTS | ART
“Find that period where an artist changed,” he said. “Artists have to have a niche to take them to the next level.” Collectors need to think about displaying the work, he said. “Fifty-five percent of homes have 8-foot ceilings,” Hosek said. “Do not collect art too big to hang by yourself. Homes rarely have a wall big enough to properly display large works of art. The perfect-sized painting is 20-by-24. That could hang on any wall in anyone’s house.” Never buy a painting that deals with death or religion, he said. “The perfect painting is a woman in
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a white dress in a small rowboat with a parasol, blue water and green background,” Hosek said. “Throw in a puppy. That is your perfect painting.” Don’t just buy a painting because the artist was famous, Hosek said. A collector has to evaluate where the piece fits on a scale of 1 to 10. “Do not settle,” Hosek said. “Choose the best.” Walking through his renovated home is like walking through a Currier & Ives catalog of snowscapes and Hudson River Valley scenes. But the large, modern kitchen that flows into a sunroom is full of airy, bright
paintings that are light and breezy. The breeze flows into the backyard that Hosek designed for comfort. Outside, there’s a hammock by the pool. Bougainvillea crawls up a trellis near a fire pit. An outbuilding contains a large pool room with an antique rosewood-inlay pool table made in 1870. Paintings with hunting themes hang on these masculine walls. Passersby often stop at the fence bordering the backyard to look at yellow roses that seem to be growing there, but they’re steel buds and blooms welded onto twisting vines with leaves Hosek bent into place. The gate features a bouquet of red roses.
A bouquet of red metal roses, above, and yellow metal roses, opposite, adorn Howard “Chip” Hosek’s custom fence at his East End home in Galveston. Passersby often stop and photograph the floral fence.
Inside the gate is a path to the impressive art collection that both American Art Review and Fine Art Connoisseur magazines have featured on their covers. Hosek focused on realism earlier in his collection career, but he has a new appreciation for impressionism, he said. “If I could do anything, I would love to gather together the 10 best American impressionists who ever lived and bring them to Galveston,” Hosek said. His time-travel fantasy is to have these painters set up their easels at the same exact time in the same spot on the island and have them paint the scene before them. “If you did that with realists, they would all paint the same scene,” Hosek said. That would never happen with impressionists, who would add colors and shapes and textures they felt and put their emotion on the canvas, he said. “Each painting would be different.” Hosek continues to look for American artwork to grow his collection. “Art is a treasure hunt,” he said.
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FEATURE
LOVE IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS How two people found each other in the era of social distancing
T
story by BARBARA CANETTI | photo by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
here was more than just COVID-19 in the air for Galvestonian Tom Rice. During the lockdown and quarantine, Rice also found love. Rice, 55, was limiting his social exposures to his mother, Cathy Conlon-Townsend, his children and grandchildren, and customers at his auto repair shop, when he met Traci Hester at an outdoor family dinner gathering in March. Rice’s family and their next-door neighbor, Sharon Simmons, met regularly for dinner and Hester was new to the group. Hester said there was no magic when she first met Rice. She had recently arrived from Austin, where she was working from home and needed to get away. She came to Galveston to be with her sister, Simmons, for a few days. “I came for a week, and then it just extended,” Hester said. “When we met, Tom was totally not my type: he’s cute, but too quiet. Since I wasn’t interested in him, I just acted like myself and enjoyed the evening.” But Rice was smitten, he said. He was widowed two years ago when his wife of 17 years died tragically as a passenger in a car accident in Galveston. His two grown children and three grandchildren kept him company, but he mourned privately. Turns out, Rice was so quiet at the dinner because he was nervous when he met Hester, he said. She has a lively personality and seemed so comfort-
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Tom Rice and Traci Hester met in March during a coronavirus quarantine dinner and are now engaged.
able. She had lived in Austin for 34 years and raised a son and daughter. She has two grandchildren and has been single for 26 years. The two families gathered frequently for weekend meals during the city’s shutdown and dubbed themselves the “Rosenberg Quarantinos” because Conlon-Townsend and Simmons — the hosts for most gatherings — both live on Rosenberg Avenue in Galveston. A few days after the first dinner, Hester’s car broke down and she called on Rice to help fix it. She, in turn, offered to give him a much-needed haircut because the barber shops had been shut down for more than a month during the pandemic. “He rescued me and gave me a
great deal on my car repairs,” Hester said. “I offered to give him a haircut and it just took off from there.” They made a lunch date — difficult to do with all the restaurants closed, but they were able to grab a meal together, talk and laugh and realized they had a lot in common, including the fact that they were single, had grown children and grandchildren and were the same age. For her birthday the next week, Rice prepared grilled poblano peppers — her favorite — and gave them to her. “That was the kindest thing anyone had ever done,” Hester said. “I had her now with just five peppers,” Rice said. A few weeks later, the two moved in together when Hester decided to stay in Galveston. Her job as a sales representative for Office Depot requires her to work remotely, so Galveston was as good a place as Austin, she said. Happily, family members have given the couple a thumbs up. Hester’s daughter, Amy, said Rice “passed the test.” His family is onboard, as well. “I could not be more pleased,” Conlon-Townsend said. “I knew Traci first — great gal. Tom went through a rough time when he lost his wife and I have never seen him be so happy since he met Traci. I love her for making him happy again.” Now, the two are seriously planning their future together. The couple got engaged in July and plan a spring wedding at the Carr Mansion in Galveston. “I’m in love,” Rice said.
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STEM TO STERN
DULCINEA For one sailor, love at first sight took decades to requite story by MATT DEGROOD photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS
W
hen Jamie White rechristened his prized 20-foot Flicka sloop, Dulcinea, he knew he would have to hold a proper maritime renaming ceremony. You might reasonably ask what such a thing entails. That would be lots of rum and seeking blessing from all the gods of the deep, White said. “You’re asking for Neptune to accept a new boat into his book of ships,” White said. “As myth has it, Neptune has a book, where he keeps track of every ship in the water.” For White, former director of the Texas Seaport Museum in Galveston, that renaming ceremony was the culmination of a lifelong admiration of Flicka boats. It was a moment of almost literary aspiration, right down to the ship’s name, which was drawn from one of his wife’s favorite books, “Don Quixote.” “It has the look of a small ship, but it’s very stout,” White said, describing what he loves so much about the vessel. “It sits in the water, instead of on the water. It’s more like a prizefighter, compared to a ballerina.” The Dulcinea was the 302nd of 400 Flicka 20s built in August 1984 at Seacraft Yachts in Southern California, White said. Naval architect Bruce Bingham modeled it on deep-sea fishing boats plying the North Atlantic Ocean from Chesapeake Bay, he said. White fell in love with that model at a California boat show in the early 1980s, he said. But at the time, they were expensive. In the 2010s, White found himself in Galveston, working on a $3.3 million restoration of the 1877 tall ship Elissa, he said. “To try to keep my sanity, I was trying to sail different types of boats in my free time,” White said.
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He’d just completed one of those trips, and was at the Marina Bar & Grill near the Galveston Yacht Basin, when he saw it — the Kittiwake. The ship measures 20 feet long, 8 feet across the beam and weighs about 6,000 pounds, White said. “It’s a small little cruising sloop,” he said. “It has a heavy displacement for its size.” The interior of the boat is teak. It sleeps four below deck and features a small galley with a stove and an icebox, White said. After first spotting the vessel sometime around 2010, White began making regular visits to it every three or so months in hope of seeing its owner, he said. Years went by; the paint began to fade and the rigging went to tatters. “You could just tell it had not been sailed,” he said. White tracked down the owner’s number and met him for a drink, he said. The previous owner was a retired NASA employee who was having trouble getting out on the water regularly, and thought he might be looking to sell the Kittiwake. The man offered the boat for a price too good to turn down, White said. The rest, as they say, is history. White and his wife renamed the boat Dulcinea, which White said feeds into both their histories quite well. “The work I do restoring ships is somewhat like chasing at windmills,” he said. “It’s not an everyday job.”
(From top left) Jamie White’s Flicka sailboat is named Dulcinea after the fictional character in Miguel de Cervantes’ novel “Don Quixote”; White replaced the outboard chainplates on his 20-foot sailboat with ones made from silicone bronze. He also added lightweight, heat set Dyneema rope for some of the sailboat’s rigging and lifelines; a California Republic pennant and one of the Flicka 20 scrollwork fly from the rigging; knotwork in forest green and gold adorns the tiller. The knotwork matches the sailboat’s hull and scrollwork. (Opposite) White stands aboard his sailboat at the Galveston Yacht Basin.
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HOOKED
DRUM ROLL PLEASE Red is the color of this angling season, and success calls for new approaches
T
story and photos by CAPT. NATE SKINNER
he red drum might be one of the easiest species of inshore fish to target in Galveston Bay, especially this time of year. Redfish are swarming all across the estuary in both shallow and deep water right now. That said, scoring a fight with one of the bronze-scaled brutes isn’t just as easy as going fishing. Knowing what to look for to effectively target reds can save you a tremendous amount of time and frustration when covering the vast waters
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of Texas’ largest bay system. One of the biggest mistakes anglers make is getting locked into one technique or strategy. Tunnel vision prevents them from taking note of what’s happening around them. I’ve been on the water and watched schools of redfish swim within a couple of hundred yards of other boats full of anglers who had no clue the fish were there. Consequently, they didn’t catch those reds, because they just didn’t know what was going on. Being able to read the water is essential to finding redfish, especially when they’re schooling.
Redfish are easy to spot and easy to miss. Being able to read the water is essential to finding these bronze-scaled brutes. (Opposite) The Bill Lewis SB57 crankbait is a great redfish bait to use when targeting hard structure such as shell, rocks or riprap.
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HOOKED Some of the best red fishing in the entire Galveston Bay complex takes place in open water around the Houston Ship Channel, as well as along mid-bay stretches in both East Galveston Bay and Trinity Bay. Those who don’t know the signs that schools of reds are feeding nearby will simply cruise right on past them. Slicks are the number-one indicator of schooling reds in open water. But not every slick you come across will mean there are redfish in the vicinity. Three or more slicks tracking in a general direction is ideal. Most of the time, fish feed into a wind-blown current. So, when slicks are continually popping upwind of one another, that’s usually a pretty good sign a school of redfish is feeding. Mud boils also indicate reds are in an open-water area, especially when they show up in and around a set of slicks. If muddy water appears around slicks you’re targeting along the surface, cast to it immediately and prepare to get bit. These open-water signs also reveal where redfish are lurking in just about any other location as well. For example, it’s still wise to pay attention to slicks and mud boils while targeting the shallower waters of back lakes, marshes and shorelines, all of which are loaded with red drum as we speak. Many anglers like to focus on the grassy banks of shorelines and back bay areas. And these stretches do attract plenty of reds; however, that doesn’t mean the fish are always going to be right up against the bank. Redfish in these locales also will feed around shell reefs, humps, guts and depth changes. These structures might lie off the bank, and you’ll never know for sure unless you get away from being glued to the shoreline. Shell reefs are dynamite for redfish. That’s true from the heavy oyster reefs in West Galveston Bay and its satellite bays, to the clamshell reefs in the upper regions of Trinity Bay. Redfish absolutely love using shell as ambush points. Often, they’ll circle these reefs, moving in and out around the edges as the tide flushes baitfish and crustaceans across the reefs. Being patient and thoroughly working over every nook and cranny of a reef can result in strikes when the action begins to slow. Slight changes and disturbances along the water’s surface also are worth keying in on. Sometimes, schools of reds can be in 102
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
Red drum can be one of the easiest species of fish to stay hooked up with this month if you know what to look for when fishing the vast waters of the Galveston Bay Complex.
such a relaxed state that they’re just cruising right below the surface. Baitfish fleeing an area, slight ripples or wakes, or simply nervous-looking water all can be worth casting to. When it comes to bait presentation, I tend to take the power fishing approach for redfish. I prefer to chunk hardware that covers a lot of water. Topwater plugs and soft plastic swim baits are among my go-to choices.
Other options that are typically used by bass anglers also can be deadly on redfish. These include spinnerbaits, weedless soft plastics and the lineup of Bill Lewis crank-baits and Rat-L-Traps. Keep your eyes peeled and your mind open to trying new techniques and areas. Reds are the word this month on Galveston Bay, and you just might find they are lurking in more places than you thought.
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Dove hunting is a relaxing, enjoyable activity. (Opposite) South Zone hunters can now sling lead at white-winged doves during the special white-winged dove season anywhere within the South Dove Zone.
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FEATURE
FOR THE LOVE OF THE DOVE A booming white-wing population is a boon for Lone Star lead slingers
D
story and photos by CAPT. NATE SKINNER
ove hunting is arguably among the most fun and social means of hunting. Most of the time it revolves around relaxing with plenty of cold beverages, good conversations and in-the-field antics. It’s a sport just about anyone can enjoy and makes for a great outing with family and friends. Doves provide hunters with some of the most affordable opportunities to chase wild game in Texas. Basically, all you need to hunt dove is a shotgun, shells and a place. Sure, there are some other gear
items that could marginally improve your success on occasion, but they aren’t necessary. In fact, donning camouflage isn’t all that important, especially when the birds are thick. The combination of a nonchalant environment and affordability is what attracts most folks to dove hunting. Add the wing-shooting action it involves, and the chance to get gun dogs back to doing what they love, and it’s clear why so many are chomping at the bit to chase the migratory game birds as dove seasons open this month. For the fourth year in a row, Texas
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
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FEATURE
dove hunters can take advantage of early September opportunities statewide. These result from expansion of the Special Whitewinged Dove Area, which went into effect in the 2017-18 license season. This regulation change broadened the Special Whitewinged Dove Area to include the entire South Dove Zone. Before this regulation change, South Zone hunters had to wait until later in the month to join the action Central and North Zone hunters already were enjoying. That’s unless they were able to hunt in the Special White-winged Dove Area, which was limited to the Rio Grande Valley at that time. The reason behind expansion of the special area
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is pretty simple — the white-winged dove’s range in Texas has significantly increased over the years. “We are finding them all over,” said Owen Fitzsimmons, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department’s Webless Migratory Game Bird Program leader. “Since the early 1990s, we’ve had population estimates as high as 1 million whitewings in urban areas like Corpus Christi and San Antonio. The birds have now expanded their range right up the I-35 corridor to the Dallas-Fort Worth region, and we are even seeing good numbers of them in parts of East Texas, too.” As many as 85 percent of Texas white-
winged doves are found in and around cities and urban areas, Fitzsimmons said. “We consider a large portion of these birds to be nonmigratory, based on banding data,” he said. “Harvests of banded white-wings are revealing that the majority of these birds don’t travel very far from urban areas. Some of them never travel farther than a 500-yard radius outside of the town that they live in.” There are plenty of places for hunters to take advantage of the Lone Star State’s booming white-winged dove population. Just about anywhere with crop fields, water or other food sources near a city limit is likely to attract plenty of white-wings. The Special White-winged Dove Season
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dates for the South Zone include Sept. 5, 6, 12 and 13. The regular dove season in the South Zone opens Sept. 14 and commences in the Central and North zones on Sept. 1. Once the regular season begins, it’s game-on for hunters of both white-wings and mourning dove. In South Texas, areas around Dilley, Pearsall, Uvalde and Hondo sport some prime dove hunting grounds. Farther north, excellent dove hunts can be enjoyed around the Coleman and Abilene regions. El Campo is another great area, especially when it comes to white-wings. Food sources are key to finding hordes of dove. Fields of seed-bearing crops such as sunflowers, millet, sorghum, corn and milo are usually swarming with birds in September. Water sources also are important. That’s why stock ponds and cattle tanks offer some of the best dove hunting around on hot afternoons, especially if there are very few other water sources nearby. It’s time to pull out the shotguns and make some memories in the field. There are opportunities to pursue dove across our state, so don’t miss out. Grab some buddies, the family and go sling some lead. Even if your shots miss more than they hit feathers, it’s still guaranteed to be one heck of a good time.
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www.ThePaulVincentTeam.com 1177 West Loop South, Suite 700 | Houston, Texas 77027 | Branch NMLS 2258 2228 Mechanic Street, Suite 318 | Galveston, Texas 77550 | Branch NMLS 1831759 Cornerstone Home Lending, Inc. Not a commitment to lend. Borrower must meet qualification criteria. Equal Housing Opportunity.
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
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BIRD’S EYE VIEW
BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCK DENDROCYGNA AUTUMNALIS story and illustration by CHRISTINA MATTISON EBERT With a name that sounds like it fell out of a fairy tale, the black-bellied whistling duck is a very real Gulf Coast waterfowl species that one could just as likely spot dabbling by a golf course pond as perched on an old pier piling. Compared with other regional duck species, black-bellied whistling ducks stand out on account of their longer legs — making them more avid walkers than most ducks — and for their eye-catching red bills. Also a unique trait of the black-bellied whistling duck is a lack of sexual dimorphisms between males and females. And keep an ear out in the evening hours, as you may hear their distinctive high-pitched calls as flocks depart roosting trees to forage in harvested agricultural fields and near shallow ponds. FUN FACT: Females often lay eggs in the nests of other whistling ducks — a behavior known as egg-dumping.
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COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
Bulk Spices • Blends • Olive Oil • Tea & Coffee Imported Specialty Foods From Around the World
Market & Deli Monday - Saturday 11:00 am -5:00 pm Closed Sunday
409.763.3331
2706 Market Street Downtown Galveston www.maceospice.com
OUR MEMBERS ARE
Donna Newding
RESTAURANT OWNERS
FIVE STAR REALTOR TEXAS MONTHLY MAGAZINE 2011-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20 2011-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19 -20
11836 14th Street • Santa Fe 3 Bedroom, Downtown, 1-1/2 Baths
Keith and Holly Lilley Owners of Dickinson BBQ, est. 2009 & Marais, est. 2017
$164,500
JOIN THE AMOCO FAMILY! 822 6th Street North, Texas City, TX 77590, 409-939-8095 donna@donnanewding.com | www.donnanewding.com
800.231.6053 | AMOCOfcu.org Subject to membership eligibility.
COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
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SHUTTERBUGS
MIKE HAWKS
ALIA BENAVIDES
SEND US YOUR COASTAL PHOTO What do you love about living on the coast? Send your photos to shutterbugs@coastmonthly.com.
OLIVIA PHILLIPS
LARONNA DOGGETT
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COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
DOUG RICHARDSON
hop ry
IT’S FALL, Y’ALL!
www.galvestonRRmuseum.org
AMI & GEORGIA BARZILAY 811 6th St. Ste. 100 • texaS City • 409-766-0498
West End Gems
is Turn Your Broken & Unwanted Gold into a Smile on Your Face & $$
4211 Navarro Sea Isle | $449,000
No expense was spared in building this quality 3BR/3BA masterpiece.
16602 Captain Kidd Jamaica Beach | $375,000
Beautifully landscaped 3BR/2BA corner property with a view of the Gulf from the deck.
Offered by
Offered by
Terry Custer | 409-539-9769
Sylvia Barrett | 404-944-6698
“46 Years of Trust” 409-737-2020
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Gay Fundling COASTMONTHLY.COM | September 2020
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SPECIAL ADVERTISING PAGE
Real estate experts LO OKING FOR A
What Does Your Dream Home Look Like?
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Touching Lives One Home at a Time Lynn Sullivan Winget Better Homes and Gardens Realtor
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REALTOR® Andrea P. Sunseri, REALTOR®
Show.Tell. Sell!
Call Gary!
GARY SCHERO
GALVESTON COUNTY BEST REALTOR 2015 – 2017 – 2018 – 2019
Andrea P. Sunseri, REALTOR®
409.497.5773 GJschero@aol.com
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andrea@sandnsea.com andrea@sandnsea.com
______________________________ ______________________________
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LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Where you advertise matters!
EASY
LIVING,
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JOHN NAGY 409-683-5305 John.Nagy@GalvNews.com
To advertise on this page, contact John Nagy, 409.683.5305 or john.nagy@galvnews.com.
ADVERTISING FEATURE
HOME of the MONTH
Ford Custom Homes Evia, Pirates Cove and other premier Galveston neighborhoods Christopher J. Ford Custom Homes is building fine homes in Evia and other sought-after West End neighborhoods. The team of Chris Ford and Jim Rosenfeld provides incomparable client service and exceptional professionalism along with stellar product and market knowledge. Chris, a sixth generation BOI (born on the island) builder and proud Texas A&M graduate, personally crafts and curates every home he builds. He is constantly present at every building site, working alongside his talented craftsmen and contractors. The sophisticated designer finishes, marvelous millwork and state-of-the-art upgrades of Chris’ homes are unparalleled. In addition to Chris’ superb craftsmanship, he offers extremely competitive pricing. Chris’ portfolio includes numerous waterfront and water vista building sites in Evia suitable for one-, two- or three-story homes with ample room for sparkling pools and lush tropical gardens. His extensive and varied collection of architectural plans can be modified to fit your personal tastes and preferences. From the $400s.
Are you properly insured? JIM ROSENFELD
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Let GIA’s 125 experience work for you!
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MORTGAGE
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LEAGUE CITY
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409-763-4641
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409-925-3800
601 S. FRIENDSWOOD DR. #103
281-332-3521 905 LOGAN
Serving Galveston County Since 1893
TREE SERVICE
SUSANA FINKEL
Mortgage Loan Officer MLO 628242
SECURE
MORTGAGE COMPANY NMLS #70160 409.771.1316 713.355.9999 Fax
2500 West Loop South, Suite 250 Houston, Texas 77027 sfinkel@securemortgagecompany.com
TREE SERVICE MIKE’S ANTIQUES & ESTATE SALES Stump Grinding • Senior Discounts We Do Price Matching & Payment Plans
713-477-4145 • 281-470-6453 33 Years of Experience - Insured
ISLE | $160,000
SEA ISLE
SUNSET COVE
4039 SAN JACINTO LOTS 603,604 & 606
4407 S SUNSET BAY DR. | $117,000
LINDA SIVY VY
iate
00
SEA ISLE
SEA ISLE SUE JOHNSON
LOT 8 GU
SUNSET COVE
LOT 8 GULF | $160,000TO SUE JOHNSON 4039 SAN JACINTO LOTS 603,604 & 606 4407 S SUNSET BAY DR. | $117,000 WORKING PARTNER CONSISTENTLY RANKED AMONG THE TOP TWO PRODUCERS
ON GALVESTON ISLAND FOR DOLLAR VOLUME & NUMBER OF CLOSED TRANSACTIONS
Realtor Asso
Realtor Associate WORKING PARTNER TO SUE JOHNSON 409-599-5847 | linda.sivy@garygreene.com TE RELATED EXPERIENCE OVER 45 YEARS OF REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE • Honored 9 times by the Houston Business Journal for Closed Transactions
I know Galveston Beach to Bay, OVEREast 25toYEARS OF West Local bred, local raised! 409.599.5847
RS ESTATE RELATED EXPERIENCE • Seller Representative Specialist - SRS manOF REAL • Honored by H Texas Magazine
REAL ESTA
• Honored as #1 Top Producer Company-wide for Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene in 2019 • Better Homes & Gardens Gary Green Emerald Elite Award Winner in 2019
• Nationally as a Real Trends Top 250 Real-Estate Professional for Closed Transactions & Dollar Volume • Resort & Second Home Priority Specialist RSPS • recognized Seller Representative Specialist - SRS n of Realtors 2018 MLS Chairman
16 MLS Committee MemberPublic • Notary
Broker Associate, GRI
409.682.9050
sue.johnson@garygreene.com
• Resort & Second Home Priority Specialist - RSPS • Notary Public
presentative - ABR
409.599.5847
• Galvestonlinda.sivy@garygreene.com Association of Realtors 2018 MLS Cha linda.sivy@garygreene.com
… a d n i L o t n e t s Li
TRIMBLE & LINDSEY
BEACHSIDE VILLAGE
CASA DEL MAR CONDO
TRIMBLE & LINDSEY
12240 JENKINS ROAD | $850,000
LOT 69 CONCH | $89,900
6102 SEAWALL BLVD #381 | $125,900
LOT 278 HOMER RD. | $299,000
• GAR 2014, 2015, 2016 MLS Committee Member CLIENT TESTIMONIAL • Accredited Buyer Representative - ABR “Linda remained positive throughout the sale of our home. PIRATES BEACH
JAMAICA BEACH
SEA ISLE
PIRATES COVE
LOTit 588 SAN JACINTO | $99,000 3211a MUSKET | $585,000 There were few LN. situations where didn’t appear the sale 16709 ALBATROS | $775,000 was going in the right direction, but she solved all roadblocks. She was always available for questions / concerns. She is definitely working in a field for which she is well suited and obviously enjoys. Upbeat! Upbeat!” -Greg & Mary
LOT 2 MUTINY CT. | $125,000
SEA ISLE
POINTE WEST
JAMAICA BEACH
PIRATES BEACH
21239 GULF | $625,000
26727 BAY WATER | $54,000
16514 JEAN LAFITTE RD. | $373,000
LOT 41 SAN DOMINGO | $95,000
BAY HARBOR 3922 3RD ST. | $259,000
D L SO SEA ISLE
LOT 8 GULF | $160,000
Binnacle Way LINDA SIVY 13339 Realtor Associate
0 0 0 , 0 1 $1 SEA ISLE
SUNSET COVE
4039 SAN JACINTO LOTS 603,604 & 606
4407 S SUNSET BAY DR. | $117,000
1503 Sylvia - $110,000
WORKING PARTNER TO SUE JOHNSON
OVER 25 YEARS OF REAL ESTATE RELATED EXPERIENCE
OVER 25 YEARS OF REAL• Seller ESTATE RELATED EXPERIENCE Representative Specialist - SRS
• Galveston Association of Realtors 2018 MLS Chairman
•• • • • •
Galveston Association of Realtors 2018 MLS Chairman • Seller Representative Specialist - SRS • Resort & Second Home Priority Specialist - RSPS GAR 2014, 2015, 2016 MLS Committee Member GAR 2014, 2015, 2016 MLS Committee Member • Resort & Second Home Priority Specialist - RSPS • Notary Public Accredited Buyer Representative - ABR Accredited Buyer Representative - ABR • Notary Public 409.599.5847 Certified Negotiation Expert - CNE • Working partner to Sue Johnson linda.sivy@garygreene.com
SUE JOHNSON CONSISTENTLY RANKED AMONG THE TOP TWO PRODUCERS ON GALVESTON ISLAND FOR DOLLAR VOLUME & NUMBER OF CLOSED TRANSACTIONS
OVER 45 YEARS OF REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE • Honored 9 times by the Houston Business Journal for Closed Transactions • Honored by H Texas Magazine • Honored as #1 Top Producer Company-wide for Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene in 2019 • Better Homes & Gardens Gary Green Emerald Elite Award Winner in 2019 • Nationally recognized as a Real Trends Top 250 Real Estate Professional for Closed Transactions & Dollar Volume
Broker Associate, GRI
409.682.9050
sue.johnson@garygreene.com
TRIMBLE & LINDSEY
BEACHSIDE VILLAGE
CASA DEL MAR CONDO
TRIMBLE & LINDSEY
12240 JENKINS ROAD | $850,000
LOT 69 CONCH | $89,900
6102 SEAWALL BLVD #381 | $125,900
LOT 278 HOMER RD. | $299,000
PIRATES BEACH
PIRATES COVE
SEA ISLE
JAMAICA BEACH
LOT 2 MUTINY CT. | $125,000
3211 MUSKET LN. | $585,000
LOT 588 SAN JACINTO | $99,000
16709 ALBATROS | $775,000
SEA ISLE
POINTE WEST
JAMAICA BEACH
PIRATES BEACH
21239 GULF | $625,000
26727 BAY WATER | $54,000
16514 JEAN LAFITTE RD. | $373,000
LOT 41 SAN DOMINGO | $95,000
BAY HARBOR
SEA ISLE
SEA ISLE
SUNSET COVE
3922 3RD ST. | $259,000
LOT 8 GULF | $160,000
4039 SAN JACINTO LOTS 603,604 & 606
4407 S SUNSET BAY DR. | $117,000
LINDA SIVY
Realtor Associate
WORKING PARTNER TO SUE JOHNSON
OVER 25 YEARS OF REAL ESTATE RELATED EXPERIENCE • Galveston Association of Realtors 2018 MLS Chairman
• Seller Representative Specialist - SRS
• GAR 2014, 2015, 2016 MLS Committee Member
• Resort & Second Home Priority Specialist - RSPS
• Accredited Buyer Representative - ABR
• Notary Public
409.599.5847 linda.sivy@garygreene.com
Pending
Midtown
3520 Avenue P 1/2 Jana Turner I 713.819.9233
Riviera I Condos
11949 Termini San Luis Pass Road #503 Stacey Weber Rubio I 832.889.2133
Pending
Diamond Beach
10327 Termini San Luis Pass Road #515 Wendell Odorizzi I 409.771.2649
Bermuda Beach
13020 Bermuda Beach Road Alison Christensen | 409.539.1794
Lot
Jamaica Beach
Jamaica Beach
Treasure Island
Jamaica Beach
Midtown
Sea Isle
Midtown
Evia
Pirates Beach
Midtown
16530 Edward Teach Road Barbara Zimmerman I 409.599.4344
5628 Borden Avenue Andrea Sunseri I 409.370.0088
4308 Karankawa Way Peter Van Borssum I 409.771.0946
4107 Hardin Drive Julie Greenwell I 281.622.1344
13108 Buccaneer Parkway Carolyn Gaido I 713.851.3377
2526 46th Street Patti Zajack I 409.789.3199
16613 Jamaica Beach Road Michael Gaido I 409.457.4900
4 Barque Lane Pamela Gabriel I 409.789.4990
Pending
Jamaica Beach
16701 Davy Jones Road Becky McClain I 832.455.9454
Crash Boat Basin
1319 Pilot Lane Courtney Sapio I 409.599.7030
13907 San Domingo Drive Kimberly Gaido I 713.498.2020
COASTAL REAL ESTATE EXCELLENCE SINCE 1974
3819 Avenue O 1/2 Jana Turner I 713.819.9233
sandnsea.com | 409.797.5500