Madeworthy Nov/Dec 2019

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NOV 13-17

FROM HERE

WHERE MINDS SOAR

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JK-12, NONDENOMINATIONAL COLLEGE-PREPARATORY SCHOOL

CONTACT US FOR YOUR PERSONAL TOUR / / / FWCD.ORG

817.732.7718

anywhere…

You’re in for a surprise. After an exciting renovation, we’re transforming the way you can experience American art, with reimagined galleries, expanded exhibition spaces, and new events.

Always free. Always inspiring.

Discover the new Carter.

CARTERMUSEUM.ORG #CARTERART @THEAMONCARTER

Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986), Series 1, No. 1, 1918, oil on composition board, © 2012 The Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

merry

family photo of 6 is by: David S. Irvin, the other 2 ar courtesy Sunflower Shoppe

members SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019, 1–5 P.M. Celebrate the holiday season with the Amon Carter Museum of American Art! Join Carter Family Members for milk and cookies with Santa and Mrs. Claus, explore the collection with a wintery Art Discovery Guide, let your creativity sparkle as you create masterpieces of your own, and more!

Become a Carter Family Member at cartermusem.org/membership.

CONTRIBUTERS’ ® What is your favorite NEW restaurant in Fort Worth?

Issue 14 | The Foodie & Holiday Issue | Nov/Dec 2019

P U B L I S H E R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Victoria Wise E D I T O R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lee Virden Geurkink ILL U S T R A T O R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trish Wise L E A D D E S I G N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sovic Creative

A: The Bearded Lady

A: The Bearded Lady

A: Poke Poke

A: Hot Box Biscuit Club

- Sarah Angle

- Edward Brown

- Lyle Brooks

- Beth Hutson

G R A P H I C D E S I G N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Evangalist Agency C O N T R I B UTI N G W R I T E R S Sarah Angle

Sophie King

Lyle Brooks

Julie Rhodes

Edward Brown

Shilo Urban

Jackie EH Elliott

Trish Wise

Lee Virden Geurkink

William Wise

Beth Hutson

A: Four Sisters

A: Gemelle

A: Hot Box Biscuit Club

A: Derek Allan's TX BBQ

- Shannon Lange

- Julie Rhodes

- Shilo Urban

- William Wise

A: Austin City Tacos

A: Smoke-a-Holics BBQ

A: Funky Picnic

A: Heim on the River

- Victoria Wise

- Lee Virden Geurkink

- Jackie EH Elliot

- Trish Wise

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Shannon Lange Brian Hutson Jodie Miears, Reverie Photo Co.

Madeworthy Magazine is an extension of Tanglewood Moms, LLC., and serves to tell community stories for a family audience. For website and magazine advertising opportunities, please contact: Victoria@MadeworthyMedia.com

create a better quality of life. Her goal was to complement traditional medicine, not replace it.

Aloe vera was one of the first things she started selling, then local honey. She wanted to inspire change, and for her it started with a holistic approach to health.

photos courtesy Sunflower Shoppe

THE SUNFLOWER SHOPPE C E L E B R AT E S 5 0 Y E A R S

by Sarah Angle The holidays are stressful. So is running a small business. The Sunflower Shoppe coowner Erika McCarthy has some tips and tricks to deal with stress of any kind without losing yourself or your sanity. As the Sunflower Shoppe approaches its 50th anniversary, McCarthy reflects on what it takes to make a third-generation family business work while balancing the family life that’s kept it alive.

Madeworthy: Why did your grandparents start the business?

Erika McCarthy: My grandmother’s sister was ill, and nothing was working medically. This was in the late 1960s, and my grandmother was inspired to do something preventive. She wanted to offer her friends and family options to stay healthy and

MW: What’s your best seller?

EM: CBD oil. We’ve been carrying it for nearly 5 years — long before it was commercially popular...

We’ve known about CBD oil for 7 years and kept our eye on the research before we decided to carry it. We don’t make any false claims... We value what’s right, clean, and real. People trust us. You have to keep high quality, good value, and competitively priced items... Second to CBD is collagen. There are so many different types of collagen that work for so many different things.

Our nutritionists on staff explain the differences and what could be the best option for you.

MW: What are the biggest health problems your customers deal with?

EM: Stress and sleep. With stress some people can’t get to sleep, and lack of sleep affects everything.

But we probably see women ages 35 to 55 more than any other demographic.

MW: What makes you different from other grocers?

EM: Customer service. Helping people from all walks of life solve their problems and feel better.

That’s how my grandmother did it. It’s listening to your customer and building relationships that last for years and years.

MW: How do you keep kids healthy during the holidays?

EM: Get their immune systems healthy with fish oils, calcium, and a good B-Complex. Kids do get stressed. Elderberry gummies for kids are great.

But overall, they need to get out and play and get off their screens.

MW: What’s your favorite fish oil supplement?

EM: Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega

MW: What are some strategies to deal with stress?

EM: A good starting point is a Vitamin B-Complex.

[It] does various things, and it’s one of the first nutrients your body pulls from when it’s under stress. But everybody is different… We don’t just want to load somebody up with a bunch of pills.

Customers come back and tell us their results. And over the past 50 years, we’ve seen a pattern of what works and what doesn’t… like turning off screens and getting better sleep. Here, we don’t look at just the symptoms, we look at the underlying cause.

MW: How do you maintain a healthy life/work balance while running a small business?

EM: I’m a big list maker. You make the list and prioritize. I’ve learned not to overcommit. The whole self-care thing is so important. It’s that simple. If your back is aching or you’re feeling depleted, then reset. Take care of yourself, take care of your family, and you’ve got to put God up there. [The Sunflower Shoppe] is not just a job, it’s a family legacy. I’m very deadline driven; I love a good plan. Sometimes that means turning your phone off and giving something your full attention.

You work with what you’ve got to stay healthy.

MW: Who is your typical customer?

EM: In Fort Worth, it varies widely. We have people in their late 60s who have been doing aloe vera for years, and then we have young people who are just getting into living healthy lives. We are not commission-driven or hard sellers. To us, a good sell is something that helps customers live better.

MW: How’s it working with your family?

EM: It’s great. There’s never a dull moment! We don’t take ourselves seriously, we take the business seriously and work very well together. Keep it simple. Take care of yourself. And keep your priorities in check.

V E G E TA B L E S I N A D E S E R T:

OPA L L E E 'S MIS S ION

by Lyle Brooks

Opal Lee has missions. Beyond simple objectives, these missions are quests towards the seeminglyimpossible. At 92, the namesake of Opal’s Farm, an urban farm on the banks of the Trinity, is a force of nature, and her powers of inspiration cannot be overstated.

Just two years ago, Lee symbolically walked from Fort Worth to Washington D.C. to push for inclusion of Juneteenth as a federal holiday. “I ‘walked’ all over the country. Two and a half miles in the morning and evening in order to represent the two and a half years that slaves in Texas didn’t know they were free.”

Retired for more than 40 years, Lee taught third grade for so long that she says she became an eight year old herself. After teaching, she took up new missions, such as the Tarrant County Black Historical & Genealogical Society to highlight the contributions of African Americans to Fort Worth.

She helped to establish the Community Food Bank, and, despite setbacks such as fires and rising costs, it has persisted. From her position on the board, she found ways to feed 500 families every day. While food banks are extraordinarily beneficial, the fight against food insecurity is greater than one food bank can handle; 40 food deserts – areas without access to fresh fruits and vegetables within one mile – persist within Tarrant County.

A problem of this magnitude requires dedicated, driven people, and in her mission to develop an urban farm, Lee is finding them. “People have come from everywhere to help us,” she says. The farm’s manager, Gregory Joel, says of Lee's drive, “I only thought I had energy until I met Lee. From our first meeting we knew we were supposed to do this.”

In his position as farm manager, Joel does a bit of everything. His work with the farm is greatly informed by his work with Healthy Tarrant County Coalition, building community gardens in Como and Birdville. He has worked with schools to create a curriculum around growing things. “With kids who would normally not be inclined to eat vegetables, we find that if they grow it, they are automatically much more interested in eating it.”

Building a network of volunteers, along with active support from the city, Opal’s Farm seeks to be a model for other urban farms devoted to curbing food insecurity that leaves one in seven kids going to bed hungry. In addition, Lee wants to use the farm as a job-training opportunity. The farm’s goals of nourishment, education, and employment, particularly for previously-incarcerated individuals, are also helped by grants and donations. The Water District donated 13 acres of land along the Trinity River near LaSalle Street. Home Depot gave farm equipment, Walmart donated seeds, and Latte Da Dairy gives goat manure for fertilizing. Grow Southeast, a farming initiative based in the Stop 6 neighborhood of Fort Worth, has partnered with Opal’s Farm in the use of a two-wheel tractor hugely beneficial to the urban farm. Unable to build new structures because the farm’s land is below the flood plain, the donation of a storage container was extremely helpful.

Charlie Blaylock, Vice President and Marketing Manager of Cowtown Farmer’s Market, acts as farm

consultant for the operation.

He thinks the key to their progress is simple: trust. “Lee found Greg through the Water District, and he was someone Lee could trust.”

Building on that trust, he explains that he was brought in to consult on soil and planting. “The downside is that everyone thinks any dummy with land can farm, which is not accurate. Turns out there’s a skill to it… you’ve really got to learn from somebody who’s tried it. So that’s what I help them with, trying to get our system efficient enough to be consistent.”

Lee, Joel, and Blaylock are part of a movement that is transforming the way Fort Worth thinks about farming and food. Restaurants like Ellerbe’s and the Taste Project focus on locally sourced produce, while programs such as the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension are helping to foster the next generation of farmers. For projects like Opal’s Farm to become sustainable, however, they need donations of time and money (twenty dollars buys a bag of fertilizer) from other concerned citizens. The Opal’s Farm booth can be found out at the Cowtown Farmer’s Market, where they have a loyal following. What the farm doesn’t sell will be given away to the hungry. As the rich river bottom soil nourishes the carrots, beets, turnips, and radishes, Opal’s Farm nourishes its neighborhood and its city.

CLASSIC SOURDOUGH BREAD

FROM FOR T WOR TH'S FOOD MASTERS

Icon Bread’s Trent Shaskan grew up in San Francisco and missed the fabulous breads available there. Inspired to make his own bread, he struggled for years to perfect his wild yeast levain (starter). This is an involved recipe, but the bread it produces is oh, so worth it!

CHICKEN MO:MO (NEPALESE DUMPLINGS) WITH TOMATO SICHUAN ACHAR After moving from Nepal for college, Dixya Bhattarai craved momos, so she recreated them in her American kitchen. A registered dietician and food blogger, Dixya now teaches dumpling class popups with Hao Tran around the city and at their new home, The Table Market & Culinary Studio on St. Louis Avenue.

F O R T H E L E VA I N ( S TART ER)

F OR THE ACHAR

directions Mix the flours together; this is your flour source throughout the building process. Fill a small-to-medium-sized bowl halfway with water. Add a generous handful of the mixed flours to the water and mix to thick pancake batter consistency. No clumps! Clean sides of bowl with a spatula, cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel, and hide in a cool place for two to three days. Discard half of the mix (it will smell funky – this is good!) and feed it with another handful of the mixed flours and a bit more water. Mix back to the pancake batter consistency. If your kitchen is cool, allow the mixture to sit for five days; if it’s warm, two to three days is enough. There now should be a crust on top, and it should smell like cheese. No mold. If it’s moldy, start over.

If not, scrape off the crust, and feed it like before, once or twice a day for another two or three days. The starter should start to smell sweeter, almost milky. The day before you bake, feed it twice. On the day of the bake, discard a half of the starter (save it for your next loaves!), add 200 grams of the flour mixture and 200 grams of warm water (80° to 85°). Cover and let rest on the counter for three to five hours. Check the readiness with the float test: if a spoonful floats in room temperature water, it’s ready. If it sinks, wait an hour or two.

ingredients 1 sack each bread flour and whole wheat flour

ingredients 3 medium Roma tomatoes 3 cloves garlic 1 dried red chili 1 teaspoon Sichuan powder 2 tablespoons toasted ground sesame seeds Salt to taste

directions In a medium saucepan, bring half a pan of water to the boil, and add the tomatoes, garlic cloves, and chile. Simmer until softened. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the tomatoes, garlic cloves, and chile to a blender, reserving the water. Blend until smooth, adding the reserved water until the sauce reaches a marinara-like consistency. Add the toasted sesame seeds and Sichuan powder and blend to incorporate. Season with salt to taste. This can be made up to 5 days ahead and kept in the refrigerator.

F OR THE MO:MO

ingredients 1 packet dumpling wrappers

F O R T HE B REA D (MA K ES T WO LO AV ES )

(available in the frozen section at Central Market)

ingredients

1 pound ground chicken

1000 grams flour mixture,

1 large onion, finely chopped

(70% bread flour, 30% whole wheat flour)

2 heaping teaspoons fresh minced ginger

750 grams water (divided use)

(NOT the powdered stuff)

200 grams levain

2 green onions, chopped

20 grams salt

¼ cup cilantro, chopped Salt and pepper to taste

directions Measure flours. Add 70% of the water now to the levain in a large bowl and mix. Add the flours and mix to incorporate; the dough should be a sticky mess. Let rest for approximately 30 minutes. Add in more water and the salt and mix back to the sticky dough stage. Allow to rest at room temperature (78° to 82°) for 3 to 3.5 hours, turning (not kneading) every 30 minutes. After it’s fermented, dump the dough onto your work surface; it should be airy, light, no longer sticky, and an indent should remain when you poke it. Lightly coat it with a mix of 50% bread flour and 50% whole wheat flour, cut it into 2-pound loaves, shape into boules (rounds), and let rest for 30 minutes. Shape into rounds again, lightly coat with rice flour or your flour mixture, and place in the refrigerator overnight.

directions In a large bowl, combine the chicken, onion, ginger, green onion, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. To make the dumplings, you will need a small bowl of water. Remove a dumpling wrapper from the pack and moisten around the edge of the wrapper with a finger dipped in water. Spoon about two teaspoons of the chicken mixture into the center of the wrapper and fold the wrapper in half, pressing the edges to close. If you like, you can make pleats or shape it like tortellini. Arrange the dumplings on a baking sheet while you make the rest of the dumplings. This is great to do with your kids! To cook, arrange a steamer basket over boiling water. Coat the inside of the basket with non-stick cooking spray, arrange the dumplings (don’t crowd them), and steam for about 10 minutes.

Cook in batches. Serve immediately with the achar. The dumplings can be frozen for up to 3 months.

(Frozen dumplings will need to steam for 12 minutes.)

illustrations by Trish Wise

Preheat the oven to 460°. You will bake the loaves in cast iron skillets if you have them, on heavy-duty baking sheets if not. (The cast iron keeps the shape of the loaves and develops the crust). Place the skillets or pans in the oven as it preheats. Lightly coat the loaves with rice flour or a bit of the flour mixture and place in the pans/on the sheets. Make a light cut across the top of the loaves to score – this is important! Cover lightly with foil and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the foil covers and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the skillets or pans, place on rack, and allow to cool for an hour. Enjoy!

6

MOST BAGS DON’T REQUIRE AN UPDATE TO YOUR WILL

EV ENTS

ACTIVITIE S

Victoria Wise, TanglewoodMoms.com founder and Madeworthy publisher, brings you the top Fort Worth experiences. You do not want to miss these!

Nov 2

Nov 19

Video Games Live: Will Rogers Auditorium | fwsymphony.org

The Merrilly Market: The 4 Eleven | facebook.com/merrillyco

Nov 2

Nov 21

Toddler Studio - Puente Nuevo by Justin Favela: Amon Carter Museum of American Art | cartermuseum.org

TX Whiskey + Meat Church Present BBQ and Grilling Class: Whiskey Ranch | frdistilling.com

Nov 22 George Strait: Dickies Arena | ticketmaster.com

Nov 2—10 Annie: Casa Mañana | casamanana.org

Nov 6, 6:30pm Great Women of Texas Awards: The 4 Eleven | fortworthbusiness.com

Nov 22—Jan 20

Nov 6

Panther Island Ice: Panther Island Pavilion | pantherislandice.com

Central Market Feast of Sharing: Will Rogers Memorial Center | fortworth.com

Nov 8—10 Fort Worth Greek Festival: St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church | fortworthgreekfestival.com

Nov 9 Fort Worth Margarita Ball: The Worthington Renaissance | fortworthmargaritasociety.com

THEY’LL FIGHT OVER IT WHEN YOU’RE DEAD Shop online @ SaddlebackLeather.com or Come by the showroom @ 600 Railhead Rd Suite 200

Madeworthy-Saddleback-Ad-Oct-Nov-Quarter-Page.indd 1

! e tt u B d e t s e r C in

Japanese Fall Festival: Botanic Gardens | fwbg.org

Nov 23, 6pm 2019 Sundance Square Christmas Tree Lighting: Sundance Square | sundancesquare.com photo by Raul Mosley

Nov 9 Second Saturday Divorce Workshop: 623 S. Henderson | secondsaturdayfortworth.com

Nov 13—17 Lone Star Film Festival: Downtown Fort Worth | lonestarfilmfestival.com

Nov 24

10/1/19 7:10 PM

Your Adventure is WAiting

Nov 23—24

2019 GM Financial Parade of Lights: Downtown Fort Worth | DWFW.org

Nov 26 photo courtesy of "A HIDDEN LIFE"

Friendsgiving Trivia: Pinstripes Fort Worth | pinstripes.com/fort-worth-texas

Nov 13 Bring the Conversation to Light Luncheon: Round Up Inn, Will Rogers Coliseum | jordanharrisfoundation.org

Nov 14 Party in the Plaza- Ricki Derek & Taste of Herb: Sundance Square | sundancesquare.com

Nov 15 Startup Weekend: TCC Trinity River East Campus | eventbrite.com

Nov 15, 16 Hot Wheels Monster Truck Live: Dickies Arena | ticketmaster.com

Nov 16 Mad Scientist Ball: Fort Worth Museum of Science and History | fwmuseum.org

Nov 27 TCU Volleyball vs Oklahoma ($1 tickets & Senior Day): University Recreation Center | gofrogs.com

Dec 3—8 Miss Saigon: Bass Hall | basshall.com

Dec 7, 1—5pm Merry Members: Amon Carter Museum of American Art | cartermuseum.org

Dec 8 Christmas with the Fort Worth Chorale: TCU Robert Carr Chapel | fortworthchorale.org

For All Your Real Estate Needs, Contact Me Today!

Relocation | Second Home | Development Investment Opportunities

Dec 14 Floral Design Christmas: Fort Worth Botanic Gardens | brit.org

Nov 16

Dec 19

Itty Bitty Art: Amon Carter Museum of American Art | cartermuseum.org

Women of Worth Speaker Luncheon: Petroleum Club of Fort Worth | reservations@fwpetrolclub.com

Nov 16

Dec 22

Parents Night Out: Fort Worth Zoo | fortworthzoo.org

Kids Connect to Glass: SiNaCa Studios | sinacastudios.org

Dec 22 Community Chanukah Program: Congregation Ahavath Sholom | Ahavathsholom.org

Martin Spencer c: 970.452.9700 / o: 970.349.6653 mspencer@livsothebysrealty.com RealEstateCrestedButte.com

by William Wise

All businesses want to find “it,” that ineffable, indescribable quality that guarantees success. Finding (and keeping) “it” is a race against other businesses and against changing consumer tastes.

Melt Ice Creams, Fort Worth’s favorite ice cream, has “it”. You only need open Instagram to see friends, acquaintances, relatives, and influencers against a bright yellow wall, posing with ice cream cones of compelling proportions, captioned by mouthwatering hashtags.

Started in 2014 by Kari Crowe-Seher, Melt outgrew its original location on Rosedale within a few short months, and within a year and a half, Crowe-Seher moved the operation to a larger spot on Magnolia Avenue. Thinking this space would sustain the business well into the future, she realized the Magnolia location, bursting at the seams upon opening, was only part of the answer for continued success.

So in March of 2018, Melt opened the Joy Factory, a 3000-square-foot kitchen which is, alas, not open to the public, in the newly refurbished O.B. Macaroni building. This move gave Crowe-Seher and her staff some muchneeded elbow room to continue exploring and creating. The addition of a larger kitchen allowed Crowe-Seher to increase production and meet the demands of a three-location expansion. In March, Melt opened their second location in the Bishop Arts neighborhood in Dallas, and in September, they opened in Sundance Square at 308 Houston Street.

Additionally, Melt operates a food truck, the Joy Ride, to help spread the Melt phenomenon farther and wider, and an ice cream cart that serves smiles in Sundance Square Plaza. Melt also successfully collaborates with other Fort Worth businesses. The Sweet Lucy’s Pies collaboration, a back-to-school fundraiser aimed at acquiring school supplies for under-privileged children, sold out in an hour and a half, while a collaboration with Martin House Brewing had Strawberry Ice Cream Ale on the shelves of Trader Joe’s and Target stores and in locations as far south as San Antonio. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

BRINGING SOMETHING

TO THE

T H E TA B L E O P E N S I N T H E N E A R S O U T H S I D E

by Lee Virden Geurkink

To give an idea of the type of person it takes to create an entirely self-funded, sky-rocketing business like Melt, one has only to peer into Crowe-Seher’s life

What do you get when you combine a professional chef, a high school chemistry teacher, a registered dietician from Nepal, and a bread-loving former professor? This isn’t a joke, I promise.

The result of this mixture of diverse personalities and talents is The Table Market & Culinary Studio, which is now open in the Near Southside on St. Louis Avenue. Headed by Dena (the chef) and Trent (the professor/baker) Shaskan, along with Dixya Bhattari (the dietician) and Hao Tran (the teacher), the Table aims to reinvent the neighborhood market for 21st century Fort Worth.

There was a time when most big city neighborhoods had a neighborhood market. Call it a corner shop, a bodega, or a neighborhood market, these were places where you could get a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, a quart of milk, and a newspaper. You might be able to find some locally grown vegetables, homemade soups, or deli sandwiches, and you could always find a neighbor to chat up. The neighborhood market was the center of the community, and it anchored the neighborhood.

The rise of the suburbs and the two-car family combined to drive the neighborhood market out of business. It was more convenient for most people to drive to a supermarket, with its wider selection and lower prices, to load up on groceries for a week than it was to go to the shop every day, and neighborhood markets declined.

With the popularity of food television shows came an interest in eating local and eating seasonally.

Farmers markets, which along with the neighborhood market, had declined throughout decades following World War II, suddenly became popular again. And it was at a farmers market that the idea for The Table took root.

Hao Tran is a chemistry teacher at

beyond her business. In addition to running one of the most recognizable brands in Fort Worth, Crowe-Seher runs ultra-marathons. She participated in the Leadville 100 in Leadville, Colorado, in 2018. A brutal 50-mile out and back course that includes over 15,000 feet of elevation change and requires participants to summit the 12,620-foot Mt. Hope twice, the Leadville 100 is recognized as one of the toughest runs there is. Pitting mere mortals against the Rocky Mountains, the race is one of the ultimate tests of human strength, stamina, and will. Usually fewer than half of the Leadville entrants finish within the 30-hour time limit. Crowe-Seher finished with time to spare.

While she says she won’t be doing the Leadville 100 again any time soon, she is set to participate in several other upcoming ultra-marathons. Says CroweSeher, “Training provides mental stability for me, so having a race on the agenda helps keep me focused.”

In addition to completing ultra-marathons, Crowe-Seher was one of 20 women restaurant and food entrepreneurs accepted into the James Beard Foundation’s Women Entrepreneur Leadership Program in the fall of 2018, a one-week business immersion program which she describes as “life-changing”.

Crowe-Seher is one of those rare people who is wired to push beyond the limits of what conventional wisdom says is possible. In business and in her chosen sport, Crowe-Seher consistently finds the boundaries and then promptly runs right over them. She never settles for less than her best, and that is why we are all willing to get in the back of a line 40 people deep to get a scoop of her life’s work.

Ice cream is a funny thing. It’s more than just food, more than just something delicious and sweet. It is a food we eat on certain occasions, special occasions. In a way, ice cream is a symbol of happiness. We get a scoop of ice cream when we’re having a fun family outing, after a soccer or baseball game, or when we’re out on a much-needed date. It is an expression of shared contentment.

Melt Ice Creams is more than just an ice cream shop. We are drawn to it, to its aura of joy, of celebration. We get a scoop of delicious goodness, and then we stand in front of that happy yellow wall and capture the moment so we can always look back and remember the sweet times. That is the “it” Melt Ice Creams has, and that is why Melt is winning the ice cream race in Fort Worth. photos by Austin Cochran

Trimble Tech High School. She learned T H E TA B L E to cook from her Vietnamese parents and aunt and was managing the shortOpen Mondays through Saturdays lived West 7th Street Farmers Market 120 St. Louis Ave, Suite 103B when she met Trent Shaskan. Trent www.thetablemarket.com is a San Francisco native who missed the amazing sourdough breads he grew up eating. A former political science professor, he decided to try his hand at making bread, and after a long period of trial and error, he had perfected his bread and started his own company, Icon Bread, and was selling at the market.

He knew Dixya Bhattari, a dietician at a local hospital, and said that Hao needed to meet her.

Nepalese-born Dixya taught herself to make momos, the Nepalese dumplings she grew up on. She runs the food blog Food, Pleasure and Health, while Hao runs Lost in the Sauce. The women started teaching pop-up dumpling classes around Fort Worth, garnering a loyal following. However, they had no professional kitchen to support their growing business.

Call it serendipity. Call it a coincidence. Trent’s wife, Dena Peterson Shaskan, had left her position as the executive chef of Café Modern to start her own catering business, Mockingbird Food Co. Trent used Mockingbird’s kitchens for Icon’s breads, so Dena and Trent invited Hao and Dixya to share the space. The friends started talking, and the idea for a market and space to teach classes was born.

“All four of us bring something to the table,” Trent says, perhaps intentionally punning. In addition to showcasing the partners’ products, The Table also features products from local farmers and food producers. On any given day, you can find produce from Demases Farms, cheeses from Latte Da Dairy, olive oil and olives from Fratelli Colletti, and bread, soups, entrees, and dumplings from the owners.

And the Table’s neighborhood is responding. When I went for my interview, The Table was full of people sampling baked goods, deciding which soup sounded best, and above all, talking with each other. Dena and Trent’s daughter Frankie was sitting at the end of one of the community tables, drawing. The official taster of The Table, Frankie’s palate is impeccable. When I asked Frankie what her favorite bread was, she thought really hard before answering. “Weeellll, I guess I like the Classic best. But they’re mostly all good.” High praise from a seven year old!

With space to teach and host tasting dinners, The Table is a warm, inviting space. Products line the walls, and the reach-in refrigerators are full of gorgeous produce and delicious foods. The space opens onto a courtyard which is shared

by Leaves Book & Tea Shop and The Salon Upstairs. “We’re really like a modern bodega,” says Hao. “We’re that neighborhood market where you can get whatever you need.”

PHOTOS WITH COWBOY SANTA - 12PM – 5PM OLD WEST GUNFIGHT SHOWS - 11:45AM & 4:15PM MRS. CLAUS STORYTIME - 12:15PM, 1:15PM, 2:15PM & 3:15PM COWBOY POETRY - 11AM, 1PM & 3PM

VISIT FORTWORTHSTOCKYARDS.COM FOR DETAILS

photo by Shannon Lange

PIONEERING SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL Sarah Castillo and the Sidesaddle Saloon

by Edward Brown

Renovations were well underway when Taco Heads founder Sarah Castillo gave me a tour of the future home of her new venture, the Sidesaddle Saloon. The historic Mule Barns, long known as the vacated buildings that buttress a long parking lot in the Stockyards, are being stripped, cleaned, and refurbished as part of a massive development project that is being headed by Majestic Realty Company and Fort Worth’s Hickman family, which owns many of the properties.

As we traipsed across the dusty construction site, the screech of buzz saws intermittently caused us to pause our conversation.

“This is where Marcus Paisley’s new restaurant will be,” she said, referring to the popular chef/ owner of Clay Pigeon. “That space will hold retail, and that building is where Second Rodeo Brewing will be.”

As we turned a corner about halfway down the dusty street that once held the parking lot, Castillo pointed toward a large opening in the massive concrete walls. Beginning in November of 2019, Castillo will gain access to the space, and construction of Fort Worth’s newest wine bar and cocktail lounge will begin in earnest. She pointed toward a large concrete catwalk.

“There will be stairs there,” she said, gesturing toward the east side of the space. “The bar will be under the catwalk. We’re pricing out an antique bar. You’ll be able to go upstairs for cafe-type cocktail tables.”

The space, she said, will be a “classy saloon” with mahogany woodwork, a beautiful chandelier, and portraits of famous Fort Worth cowgirls.

(Castillo is already in talks with painter Bob Wade for a large commissioned work.) The Stockyards is currently populated with cowboy-themed bars that feature cattle heads, longhorns, walls of cowboy hats, and other Western-themed bric-a-brac that serve a lot of beer. Sidesaddle Saloon will not be that type of watering hole.

The idea behind Sidesaddle Saloon began last January when Castillo, chef Marcus Paisley, and a few friends met for drinks in Dallas. Castillo had just expanded, opening her first Taco Heads in Dallas and was spending large parts of her week managing the new locale. Over drinks that evening, Paisley was naming the chefs who would be heading up restaurants when the renovated Stockyards officially opens this November.

“They were male, male, male,” Castillo recalled.

When she pointed out the incongruity to the group, someone suggested that Castillo pitch her own business idea. More wine was ordered, and Castillo eventually came up with the idea of a cowgirl-themed bar — not a raunchy, Coyote Ugly-type bar but a refined wine and craft cocktail lounge that honors the historic cowgirl and the modern-day female entrepreneur. Castillo sees a common thread between the iconic pioneering women who are honored in the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame and equally trailblazing women business owners like Kari Crowe-Seher, founder of Melt, the twin founders of M2G Ventures, Jessica Miller and Susan Gruppi, and, may I say, Madeworthy’s own Victoria Wise.

“The cowgirl, to me, is beautiful, hard-working, and she has some grit to her,” Castillo said. “Fort 11

photo by Oudthone Productions

Worth’s modern-day cowgirls are moms, Junior League members, [business owners], and other women who don’t mind getting their hands dirty.”

Castillo contacted Miller and Gruppi, who are consultants for Majestic Realty’s Stockyards development, the following Monday to formulate a business pitch for the Majestic Realty staff. They were receptive to the idea.

“I love that Sidesaddle focuses on the female cowgirl,” Miller said. “They are just as important as their male counterparts. I love that celebrating the female cowgirl also gives a fresh perspective to the district. Fort Worth needs more elevated ‘watering hole’ options. This [bar] will be just that for the city and then for tourists. Locals first, tourists second.”

Castillo had a business plan, two business partners in Christian Lehrmann and Glen Keely, and a signed lease, but her concept still needed a name. Over half-price glasses of wine at Clay Pigeon, Paisley presented Castillo with a list of bar names he had drafted. Before he could read the first suggestion, Castillo spontaneously blurted out “Sidesaddle Saloon.”

It was clear to everyone at the table that Castillo hit a zinger. Paisley crumpled the paper and threw it toward Castillo with a laugh.

After growing up in Fort Worth’s Southside and graduating from Paschal High School in 2002, Castillo became the second person in her immediate family to attend college. Her dream of attending The University of Texas at Austin was put on hold for one year when a partial athletics scholarship from The University of Texas-Pan American landed her in the Rio Grande Valley, playing golf for the state university. It was the first of many chance life events that shaped both her business acumen and her culinary tastes.

In her time off from the classroom and the golf course, Castillo crossed the border and explored Mexico. Her grandparents had owned a diner on West Magnolia Avenue in the 1980s, but Castillo

had never delved deeply into Mexican food.

“I fell in love with this taco stand,” she recalled.

“That’s where I found cabbage marinated in lime and cilantro and big slices of avocado. That’s where I began falling in love with food.”

The young college student would order a beer and tacos before taking in the atmosphere. More than a decade later, many of the elements from that far-flung taco stand would be introduced to Fort Worthians when the first Taco Heads food truck opened. In her sophomore year, Castillo transferred to her dream college, UT Austin. Her new crop of girlfriends came from comfortable middle- and upper-middle-class backgrounds.

They filled Castillo’s head with images of pillowy, snow-capped mountains in Colorado and holidays on the Mediterranean coast.

After graduating in 2006 with a degree in American Studies and a minor in business, Castillo sold her car and moved to Aspen where she worked at a ski shop. Wealthy and influential business tycoons and CEOs were regulars at the shop, and Castillo used the opportunity to chat with the entrepreneurs about their world. They, in return, asked Castillo what she planned to do with her life. When she wasn’t working, Castillo played golf with the female patrons every Tuesday. She remembered being intrigued by the conversations with the female power brokers.

“The cowgirl, to me, is beautiful, hard-working, and she has some grit to her.”

One year after moving to Aspen, Castillo followed a friend to New York City where she took in an entirely different culture while working at the Hudson Hotel, a boutique hotel that informed Castillo’s taste on design and thoughts on customer experience. Then wanderlust called again and Castillo made a subsequent move to Majorca, Spain, when a friend offered her a room in her home there.

I asked Castillo how those destinations informed her culinary tastes. Her free time, she said, was often spent exploring unique dining experience, but her biggest influence remains her freshman year when she lived near the U.SMexico border.

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Show and Rodeo brought in droves of cowboys, and they weren’t ordering Budweiser.

“They like finer things,” she said. “Just because they are hard-working doesn’t mean they don’t like chardonnay. I served nice wine to them during the Stock Show and Rodeo.”

It was around that time when Castillo and a handful of waitstaff and managers were playing golf at Mira Visa Country Club. Castillo offered to make her friends breakfast tacos the next morning.

As unbelievable as it seems, that night she had a dream that she owned a taco truck. She talked about this premonition to her mother the next day.

“We kept on talking about it,” she recalled. She finally told herself, “You can do this.”

In 2009, food trucks were yet to earn the respect they now enjoy. There was a stigma surrounding the supposed lack of cleanliness the motorized kitchens maintained. Castillo knew that the outward appearance of her food truck mattered as much as the inward food quality.

Over the next year, she refurbished a small trailer and installed big windows so patrons could gaze inside. While her friends might use their earnings for a night out, Castillo took her cash to retail stores to buy truck parts, sinks, and kitchen equipment.

“That’s what made everything special to me,” she said. “I paid for everything.”

Around four years ago, Castillo befriended

photo by Oudthone Productions

“Now I look back, living in Edinburg [Texas] and crossing the border was a huge influence,” she said.

The most recent chapter of Castillo’s story is familiar to many Fort Worth readers. By 2009, she had settled back in Fort Worth. She was working two service industry jobs: one at Eddie V’s Prime Seafood and another at Globe Life Park in Arlington. A typical day involved working at the stadium 9 am to 5 pm before hauling it to the upscale restaurant in her mom’s minivan. There, she would do her best to wipe off her sweat before putting on her work uniform and waiting tables.

The double shifts and lack of free time to spend her earnings, while exhausting, meant that Castillo was able to save for her first business.

Her time at Eddie V’s informed her vision for Sidesaddle by giving her insight into what true cowboys want. Every January, the Fort Worth Stock

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missing and [fills] those voids. Back in the day, she identified the need for late-night tacos. Not that she was the first person to do tacos, but she did it in a unique way.”

Those early years, when Castillo was wandering across the United States and Europe while trying to find herself, have shaped her current businesses, he added.

“That patio at Taco Heads might feel a little like Austin,” he said. “When you’re at [her upcoming restaurant] Tinie’s, it might feel like Mexico.

Sidesaddle might feel inspired by her time in New York. All those life experiences inform those spaces, and she is an example of not settling for where Fort Worth has been but trying to infuse those experiences into what people think about Fort Worth now.”

photo by Oudthone Productions

When I asked Castillo what she owes her success to, she redirected the credit toward the network of women business owners who have supported her. Women continue to be underrepresented among food and beverage business owners, but Fort Worth’s tight-knit group of female restaurant and bar owners use that reality to motivate and encourage each other.

“The women entrepreneurs [in] Fort Worth are truly amazing,” Miller said. “They astound me with their brilliance, dedication, and resilience, but we can always benefit from more women in leadership positions. Sarah is one of the pioneers.”

Jonathan Morris, owner of Fort Worth Barber Shop and the proprietor of a boutique hotel that will open near Taco Heads next year. As a fellow small business owner who is also in his 30s, Morris said he and Castillo often chat about the “trials and tribulations” of business ownership.

“Sarah creates things that bring people together, products that people fall in love with, and places where people want to gather,” he said.

“She has a knack for identifying what Fort Worth is 12

Echoing Morris’ thoughts, Castillo said that, at the time, she didn’t see how her travels would inform her current ventures. She’s humbled when people describe her as a role model or community leader. For her, the journey has been about collaborating with like-minded creatives in our community.

“We push each other and try to create something beautiful for Fort Worth,” she said.

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MAMA, BABY

by Sophie King Driving down Rosedale Avenue, past Torchy’s Tacos and the hospital district, I spot a small brick building with barred windows and a large sign boasting “Mama E’s Bar-B-Que and Home Cooking”. I pull into the gravel parking lot and make my way inside. Three women stand behind the counter, slicing brisket, buttering buns and pulling fresh, homemade pastries out of the oven.

The oldest is a small woman standing just over five feet, with a smile as bright as the sun. She walks out of the kitchen through a side door covered in children’s art and hugs me.

“Call me Mama, Baby.”

One of the only female pit masters in Fort Worth, Ernestine Edmond knows nothing beats a home-cooked meal made with love. When I asked her why she thought the North Texas barbecue scene was dominated by men, she laughed.

“Who do you think taught those men how to cook? Their mamas. Who do you think at home making the potato salad and caring for the babies?

Their wives. I’m just the only one in the foreground.

People don’t realize the weight this 115-pound woman can handle. I picked cotton as a child; if I can carry a bag of cotton as a little girl, I sure can pick up a bag of meat on my own.”

This strength, this gutsiness, runs through the four generations of women who own Mama E’s.

At 67, Mama E runs this place like she runs her home because this restaurant is an extension of her home. Her 8-year-old great-granddaughter helps to run the cash register after school. Her daughter creates the tea cakes and pies that fill the small room with a heavenly smell. Her husband oversees changing the light bulbs and holding the door for Mama. Her family, however, is not limited to her blood relatives. It extends to her customers.

“You know, I don’t do this for the money because I don’t make a lot of money. I do this because this is where the Lord needs me.... The customers who come in are my family, we pray together… I have nurses from Cooks who come in because their patients won’t eat the hospital food, so I send them what they need. My customers' babies become my grandbabies. Everything I do, I do with love. It’s a pleasure”.

In a corner, a sign reads, “When God sends you an Angel, he don’t always look like you!! Thank you God for my Angel, Jeff Carpenter. Love you always!” When I ask Mama about it, her eyes begin to water, her voice shakes, and she tells me a story.

After a burglary, the missing cash register and pit were covered by insurance, but the damages to the property were shattering, financially and emotionally. As an insurance adjustor surveyed the damage, a stranger walked through the door, saying he saw the broken windows, and a spirit told him to pull over. This was Jeff Carpenter, a local contractor. He told the adjuster to leave, called his team, and got to work.

After repairing the damages, adding bars to the windows for protection, Jeff sat with Mama E and a list itemizing the repairs. She wasn’t sure how she would cover the cost, but her faith in the Lord was strong. Jeff took the list and a pen, scribbled something at the bottom, and slid the paper back across the table. She owed him nothing.

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a spice rub, although she’ll throw some cayenne on your order if you request it. The flavor comes from the hands that prepare the meal. Some call this soul food; to Mama, this is just home cooking.

As we wrap up our time together, Mama hugs me again and tells me I’m one of her babies now.

The hour we spent together was filled with laughter, love, and the occasional tear. It isn’t hard to see why her customers are fiercely loyal once they find her. She represents all the things that make this city great: family, love, good food, and good times.

Mama gives me a chopped brisket sandwich and a bottle of Coke. The sandwich bursts with flavor – the tender meat, smoky sauce, and buns toasted to perfection. She learned these recipes from her mama, and she knows her daughters will carry on her spirit after she is gone.

Mama E’s Bar-B-Que and Home Cooking is located at 818 E Rosedale Street, and is open every day except Sunday.

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by Julia Rhodes

CASA'S NEW DIRECTOR FOR Y O U T H T H E AT E R C O M E S H O M E B.J. Cleveland is a bit of a legend in the Dallas/Fort Worth theater community. And when I say “a bit,” what I really mean is “a ridiculously big deal.” B.J. has had a long and storied career in some of the most beloved productions across the most respected Metroplex stages. Recently, B.J. took the helm at Casa Mañana as the Director of Theatre for Youth, which means he’s in charge of the iconic kids’ shows that have been part of Fort Worth culture for decades, drawing families from all over the city and beyond. It’s a big, ahem, role for B.J., but it’s pretty clear he’s the man for the job.

For one thing, B.J. coming to Casa is really B.J. coming back to Casa.

Before he started this past spring — and found himself immediately writing scripts and directing 150 students in Wizard of Oz – B.J. already had a long history with all things Casa. He took classes at the Casa Playhouse school starting when he was six and continued there as a student/child star through the 1970s. In the 1980s, he was an actor/dancer in the Summer Musicals and then was a resident company member from 1991 through 1994, appearing in or directing all the Playhouse shows and teaching classes.

(That’s a lot of jazz hands, folks.) He came back over the years to direct several shows followed by a long break before Casa asked him to return to play Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar.

“Casa is always home,” says B.J. His philosophy of kids’ theater is simple: respect the kids. “There is sometimes a pre-conceived notion (from patrons to snooty actors) that ‘Children’s Theater’ is just amateur children wearing cardboard costumes and reciting a song,” says B.J. “This couldn’t be further from the truth.

This is professional theater for children and families, and I feel they deserve the best we have to offer as much as the Broadway Series.” Casa often uses

the same professional actors in both the children’s shows and Broadway productions, which gives young performers a chance to grow as artists themselves. “Theater for kids produces great thinkers, artists, designers, public speakers, and [it] instills an appreciation of the arts for generations to come,” says B.J. When it comes to actually picking the season’s line-up of shows, there’s a lot to consider. Theaters must plan far ahead for marketing, budgeting, and performing rights availability, according to B.J. If a theater has a particularly strong production that’s well attended, you can bet that show will rotate around again in about 4 or 5 years as new young audiences are born and grow. “Name recognition is very important, but it is also our goal to produce new works to introduce to our audiences,” says B.J. And while the upcoming season was chosen long before he took the helm, B.J.’s excited because it includes Tuck Everlasting, Matilda, and Shrek, Jr., which were all big Broadway musicals that have now been streamlined for a TYA — Theatre for Young Audiences — production.

The beloved Casa Christmas show this year happens to be one of the new plays Casa has in the works for its ever-growing audience. Jack Frost is an original musical about a spritely character that you might associate with the season but know little about. The plot: when an elf frets that there is not enough snow for Santa’s sleigh to begin its Christmas journey, Santa tells her the story of Jack Frost and his adventures to “Bring on the Winter World” with all its majesty. Sounds like a lot of fun to see, as well as a fun directing challenge.

What does B.J. see as his biggest strength? “First and foremost, I love it.” says B.J. “I have spent the entirety of my life in theater, and I am a proud product of Casa Mañana. I couldn’t have had any better training growing up than working with the professionals who soon became my peers. I always feel that working on any production, whether it is with seasoned professionals, students, or a mix of both, is a collaborative and learning experience for everyone. Professional, quality theater is our business, but it is also our job to help students get to that level through education, rehearsal, and performance.” Both educating and entertaining the next generation of audiences and performers is a tall order to be sure.

But when it comes to directing in the Dome, love seems like a great way to set the stage.

Break a leg, B.J.!

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“I don’t want to drink anymore,” I said to my bestie. “Oh, babe, you don’t have a problem. You rarely even drink,” she said.

“I’m never drinking again,” I said to a guy friend. “Sure,” he said.

“I think I’m going to stop drinking,” I said to my colleague. “No, then you can’t drink bubbles with me, anymore,” she said.

“I’m never drinking again,” I said on June 19th of this year. This time, I really meant it. I had a new mindset.

Over the past few years, I’ve toyed with the idea of “breaking-up” with alcohol, but I didn’t have the courage to do it. Drinking in almost any capacity is a social norm, and unfortunately, abstaining from alcohol is not part of that norm. It’s kind of like glorifying busy-ness. There’s some type of unspoken “achievement badge” you get for throwing back some drinks. But it’s not right for everyone. And that’s okay.

Although wine has been part of a lot of great memories in my life, including a stint as a wine writer earlier in my career and getting engaged in Napa Valley, it just didn’t have the same appeal to a working mother of two.

In all fairness, my bestie was right. I didn’t drink that much. I kept no alcohol in my home, and I didn’t drink around my family, but I was drinking socially.

Although social drinking is perfectly fine for many, I didn’t feel that I was safe or that I put my best foot forward when I was drinking. So I put it out there on social media: “I’m breaking up with alcohol.”

After turning 40 earlier in the year, I finally felt confident in the woman I was becoming, imperfections, quirks, and all. I became clear on my own personal “brand standards” in life and realized that drinking didn’t align with them. For me, alcohol was a false security blanket in social situations.

I gave not drinking a chance, and I found that I could socialize just fine without my blankie. In fact, removing alcohol from social situations created opportunities to connect in a more meaningful way because I could be more authentic and present. Even more surprisingly, I found that I could still dance without liquid courage and that I still had plenty of jokes to share over a #TopoTuesday happy hour.

Less than a week after removing alcohol from my life, the vision of a blog that celebrates an alcohol-free lifestyle with recipes and videos came to me like a gift from above. It felt purposeful. I knew that I wanted to advocate for alcohol-free options and to do it in a fun, delicious, and visual manner! It felt like a culmination of my unique experiences coming together in a meaningful way. As the CEO/Executive Producer of a branded content agency, Elevated Content, and with my background in the food & beverage industry, everything aligned. It’s like God took all my experience – a publicist to chefs, a wine writer, and a recipe video producer – and put me to work on a new mission.

It also aligned in my marriage.

My husband is a professional photographer with a focus on culinary content. He’s a former wine buyer and was my wine-writing

The Spiced Apple Ginger INGREDIENTS • • •

3 oz Bundaberg Spiced Ginger Beer 5 oz Spiced apple cider Ice

DIRECTIONS Combine apple cider and ice in a shaker and shake vigorously. Pour over fresh ice in a glass. Top with spiced ginger beer and enjoy.

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photos by Brian Hutson

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partner. He has also been sober for nearly 7 years. Our constant search for alternative drinks for him served as a huge inspiration for the next step in our journey.

Thanks to these blessings and challenges, The Elevated Elixir was born. The Elevated Elixir is a lifestyle brand and IGTV show that includes culinary-focused beverages and experiences that are also alcohol-free. We share recipes, produce and release video episodes, and feature other fun pieces of content like personal profiles, stopmotion photography, and more. The Elevated Elixir is really about celebrating the experience of sharing well-thought out beverages, just without the added alcohol.

We also want to be sure to encourage a judgment-free zone.

We believe that cocktails and mocktails can co-exist. Our goal is to inspire drinkers and non-drinkers alike with delicious flavor profiles and creative ingredients. We love showcasing the restaurants mixing up mocktails, as well as amazing brands offering fabulous products, from tonics to simple syrups, shrubs, and other ingredients.

The response has been incredibly positive and encouraging.

People are opening up with their own experiences with alcohol and saying that an alcohol-free lifestyle is relatable. I think people are still wanting to be social but are craving fresh alternatives on the beverage side. We’re here for that, and we hope you’ll follow along with and contribute to our journey.

Cheers!

Pomegranate Pear Fizz INGREDIENTS • • • •

Looza Pear Juice Pear-cardamom sparkling soda Pomegranate Italian soda Ice

DIRECTIONS Combine Looza, pomegranate Italian soda and ice in a shaker and shake gently. Strain into glass. Top with pear-cardamom sparkling soda and enjoy.

O U R C O M M U N I T Y ’ S M O V E R S & S H A K E R S by Lee Virden Geurkink

Anne England knows that little girls and tea parties go together like Earl Grey and petit fours. Raised by an English mother who observed teatime every day, Anne started A BeauTEAful Day catering to bring the experience of a tea party to others. Anne creates delicious, organic, non-GMO sandwiches and pastries to match perfectly with a variety of teas and brings them to you, along with bone china teapots, plates, cups, and saucers, as well as silver teaspoons and pretty napkins. A BeauTEAful Day is the perfect caterer for children’s parties, bridal/baby shower, church groups, and business luncheons. Pinkies up!

photo courtesy of www.skycraftapv.com Quickly gaining prominence in North Texas as a destination for shopping, wellness, dining and entertainment, the Crockett Row area continues to grow! Two new spas, Hiatus Spa & Retreat and It’s A Secret Med Spa, have chosen Crockett Row as the location for their first Fort Worth locations. The Concrete Cowboy is a night club which opened recently, and Dallas restaurants STIRR and Toasted Coffee + Kitchen are expanding west and will open soon. In addition, the venerable sushi restaurant The Blue Fish will open in the Crockett Row area in 2020.

Music 4 Kidz believes that children’s music classes should be fun as well as instructive. Specializing in piano, guitar, and voice lessons for children ages 3 through 17, Music 4 Kidz goes at the pace of the student, adapting to each child’s needs and interests, while fostering confidence, joy, and a deep appreciation for music that will remain with them throughout their lives. They also offer a unique “Mommy & Me” music exploration class for infants and toddlers. Owner/instructor Elizabeth England is a licensed and ordained Minister of Music and has been working with children for over 15 years.

The Junior League of Fort Worth (JLFW) is proud to announce Ashley Freer as its 2019-2020 president. Freer first joined the Junior League of Atlanta before transferring to the JLFW in 2006. A principal at Fort Worth’s Balcom Agency, Freer brings nearly 20 years of experience as a marketing professional and businesswoman to the League. “For 90 years now, the women of the Junior League of Fort Worth have sparked possibility in our community, volunteering their time to lead and unite over community service. That has been our past, it is our present and it will be our future,” says Freer.

photo courtesy of Tiffini Crum On October 4, 2019, Fort Worth Country Day School honored the memory of alumnus Barrett Havran by dedicating its track and field facility in his name. A 1998 graduate of Country Day, Havran was a scholar-athlete who set multiple school athletic records, some of which stand to this day. He died in 2011 at the age of 31, and the dedication of the Barrett Havran Track marks a milestone in the fundraising efforts in Havran’s memory. “FWCD is honored to dedicate this facility in remembrance of Barrett’s legacy and we’re extremely grateful for all of the generous donors who have made these new additions possible,” said FWCD athletic director, Brian Phelps.

Diagnosed with an autoimmune disease ten years ago, Chris Kerr started a personal health journey that included managing diet and exercise, migraines, and major back surgery before discovering hemp supplements. Rich in phytocannabinoids, hemp extracts have been shown to be anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and neuroprotective. Chris enlisted a group of like-minded friends and formed Tiki Biosciences to bring the highest-quality hemp supplements to Texas – at an affordable price. As the hemp supplement industry grows, so do scams, but Tiki Biosciences provides their customers with the best hemp products available, creating a simpler, more affordable, more sustainable path to wellness.

photo courtesy of Christina Judge Founded in 2014, the Jordan Elizabeth Harris Foundation envisions a world where suicide is never the choice. To that end, the Foundation sponsors programs such as Let’s Taco ‘bout QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) and the school-based Hope Squad (pictured are the members of the Tanglewood Elementary Hope Squad). On November 13, the Foundation will host the sixth annual Bring the Conversation to Light Luncheon at the Will Rogers Coliseum. The luncheon is an excellent opportunity to learn more about mental health and suicide prevention and how the Foundation is partnering with community resources to develop strategies to eradicate suicide. For more information, go to www.jordanharrisfoundation.org.

photo courtesy of Julia Cooper Tickets for the upcoming River & Blues Music Festival are now on sale and are going fast! Top country and blues artists will take the stage at Panther Island Pavilion May 15 and 16, 2020, and the full festival lineup will be announced on November 7 at the River & Blues Launce Party at Heim Barbecue on the River. Fans can purchase general, VIP, and Platinum tickets. VIP and Platinum level tickets will include such benefits as valet parking, prime seating, complimentary beer and wine, climate-controlled spaces, and more. For more information and to buy tickets, go to www.riverandbluesfest.com.

photo by Rachel DeLira

New mom (and TCU grad) Tia Cherie Beckerich began a design label inspired by her daughter, Ella Rossi. Tia Cherie Designs (TCD) features Tia’s baby outfits for the fashion-forward infant available via Etsy and Facebook. Tia was taught how to sew as a child by her late grandmother, whose Italian surname, Rossi, lives on in Ella. After her grandmother’s passing, the skill was lost until Tia found her old sewing machine in the back of a closet. Tia now creates adorable bummies and bibs that are coveted by the most fashionable babies on the block. To order, check out Tia Cherie Designs on Etsy.

photo courtesy of Nancy Farrar

The students at the Young Women's Leadership Academy of Fort Worth are our future. The first and only all-girls public school in Tarrant County prepares students from typically lower socioeconomic backgrounds to excel in fields where women are traditionally underrepresented. Through a STEAMfocused curriculum, students build robots, learn engineering concepts, use professional design software, and more. This unique school was formed through a public-private partnership between Young Women's Preparatory Network and Fort Worth ISD and is sustained through programming and donor support secured by its nonprofit partner, the Foundation for YWLA. Together, they prepare talented young women for leadership and success in college, career, and life. Learn more at ywlafortworth.foundation.

After the phenomenal success of the program at the Fort Worth location, Central Market is bringing their immensely popular Curbside & Delivery service to the Southlake location!

Now customers in northeast Tarrant County can either pick up delicious and healthy food on the go or have it delivered.

The delivery ZIP codes go as far north as Argyle and as far south as Hurst-Euless-Bedford and east Arlington. To mark the occasion, Central Market will present the Carroll Education Foundation with a check for $2500.

Charlyse Lewis opened Boulevard of Greens to bring organic, whole plant-based foods and raw cold-pressed juices to Fort Worth. She loves eating this way, and she wanted to have a convenient place for not only her own family, but for others in Fort Worth who want delicious, organic, highquality nutrition any day of the week. The response has been phenomenal! The flavorful, healthy food and drinks, as well as a generous loyalty program, have turned new customers into regulars, and regulars into family. Charlyse says that eating a plant-based diet is good for you, the animals, and the planet.

Something to smile about.

Dr. Brazeal and Dr. Gold provide dental care for children and adolescents, focusing on healthy smiles that will last a lifetime. Our goal is for your family to have a fun and comfortable visit, allowing you to leave our office smiling bigger than when you came.

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P: 817.731.6964 | 4200 Bryant Irvin Rd #129, Fort Worth, TX 76109

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by Jackie EH Elliott

Holidays with a side of Healthy

Hark! the herald holiday buffet sings, beckoning us to indulge in glories of pies and cookies, turkeys and hams, potatoes and yams.

Then cometh the post-feast brain fog and fatigue, often accompanied by all-of-a-sudden tighter clothes. Most of us probably won’t learn our lesson from this first encounter with the holiday table. In fact, several studies conducted by researchers at Texas Tech University confirm the average level of holiday weight gain for men and women is about 1.5 pounds. And yet, many of us go into every new season with at least a willingness to avoid binge eating.

Enter Dabney Poorter, a local Certified Nutritionist (CN) and Registered Nurse (RN) whose journey with Type I Diabetes inspired her to help others through nutrition and wellness coaching. In 2015, Poorter founded Engage Your Wellness, a health and lifestyle company that supports a range of needs—everything from gluten intolerance to gestational diabetes.

“What I teach people is to eat a sustainable lifestyle diet.” Poorter explained.

“Which means we’re going to have holidays, birthday parties, and vacations that make us want to indulge a lot. So [what] we want is to be as consistent as possible with our choices. We can always make healthier choices by having healthier recipes available to us—ones that aren’t as high in sugar and carbs.”

What counts as a healthier recipe is open to interpretation, of course, but Poorter said that making simple ingredient swaps can make all the difference that your waistline needs. Coconut cream, for example, is an easy stand-in for the heavy cream called for in some holiday recipes. For high-sugar, inflammatory desserts, swapping out white sugar for honey, maple syrup, or another lessprocessed sweetener is always the better choice for your blood sugar.

Poorter also believes that cooking with color in mind is key. She said, “I like to eat lots of different colors, but colors come from fruits and vegetables, so if you have a variety of [natural] colors on your plate—not just the mac-and-cheese or the white potato dish—you are likely always eating good things.”

At the very beginning of any color wheel is red, and foods rich in the color red boast promising levels of lycopene and anthocyanin, which support heart health, cancer prevention, and urinary health. Some of the best red food sources include beets, tomatoes, strawberries, and raspberries.

In the orange and yellow family are the carotenoids. Many people know that carrots and sweet potatoes are high in the beta-carotene, but another carotenoid is lutein, which promotes health of the eyes, skin, and the immune system. Other sources of carotenoids include butternut squash, peppers, and cantaloupe.

Seeking out healthful greens means you’re inviting some carotenoids to your palate party in addition to folate to promote cell growth and metabolism. Kale, bok choy, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts, of course, are all easy to incorporate into holiday side dishes. The cancer-fighting properties of greens can’t be beat, and they contain antioxidants that boost eye health, too.

Blue and purple foods offer anthocyanins and flavonoids to improve cognitive function and are readily available in dark-colored berry varieties, eggplant, and purple cabbage.

Not only are those brightly-colored fruits and vegetables bursting with antioxidants and nutrients, the visual appeal adds another element of satisfaction.

“It’s just prettier.” said Poorter. “It’s like artwork you can build on a plate, which makes eating more appealing and appetizing.”

When it comes to building your plate, Poorter’s go-to tip that she shares with all clients is this: Put vegetables on your plate first.

“We don’t always want to be grabbing the starch or the cookie.” Poorter said, adding that when we can choose vegetables first and starchy carbohydrates last, we set healthy, self-imposed parameters that don’t overwhelm our metabolisms.

“If I’m watching my portions and choosing a variety of colors by putting vegetables and fruit on my plate first – paired with other needed macronutrients like protein and fat – then I don’t need to worry about counting calories. It’s more important to be limiting in terms of certain kinds of ingredients and certain types of food our bodies need than to be obsessed with counting calories.”

Finding your way to foods with color isn’t the only trick you’ll need. Poorter realizes the power of hunger pains in derailing otherwise good eating habits.

For this reason, her next best tip is to eat before you leave for a party. What you

CRANBERRY SAUCE

BRUSSELS SPROUTS

ingredients

ingredients

1 ¼ cup fresh cranberries

2 bags of organic Brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered

1 tablespoons orange zest ¼ cup maple syrup cup organic orange juice, (recommended: Lakewood Organic Pure Orange Juice) directions In a sauce pan on medium heat combine the cranberries, orange zest, orange juice and maple syrup. Let simmer for approximately 15 minutes until the cranberries have all popped and the mixture has begun to thicken (it will thicken more as it cools).

Allow to completely cool before serving.

You can store it in the fridge for approximately 1 week.

choose to eat doesn’t have to be large or small. Instead, it’s best to mindfully tune into your level of hunger to determine the size of healthy snack you’ll want to consume. A handful of nuts or a hard-boiled egg might be all that’s needed to tide you over until the merrymaking begins.

Where you physically locate yourself amid all the festivities can be equally important, too. Socializing near the food table or the bar can come with unintended consequences, such as non-stop nibbling, noshing, and sloshing.

Being proactive with one’s health gets complicated when imbibing is involved.

Unlike some nutrition experts, Poorter doesn’t believe that you need to pour out every ounce of alcohol in order to maintain your figure, but she does believe in setting limits. One of the best ways for your body to naturally intuit how much alcohol is enough is to counterbalance each alcoholic beverage with a full glass of water. Matching water and alcohol drink-for-drink keeps you better hydrated, feeling fuller, and better able to judge when you’ve had enough.

Even the most virtuous of eaters slip up from time to time, and many will call it quits until January 1, but Poorter has her reasons for believing that it’s better to pick up where you left off as soon as possible.

“A lot of people eat a lot over the holiday and then talk about getting back on the bandwagon in January.” Poorter said. “But January is also when school starts, so it’s easier [for them] when [they] don’t go all out over the holidays. They don’t feel like they need to get on a plan in January, which can feel stressful when getting into the rhythm of the school season again.” She went on to say that she believes in calling any departures from one’s diet a “detour” instead of a “cheat” because the word cheat is associated with far too much guilt.

More than anything else, Poorter wants people to know that they are allowed to enjoy eating at holiday parties. She said that enjoying what you eat is a big part of enjoying life, and you can have both by enjoying deliciously prepared healthful foods. Through her wellness coaching and nutrition consulting work, she’s been able to help countless others see this truth. Her recipes model for clients what ingredients to use, how to prepare certain foods, and what to look for in selecting foods prepared by friends. In early December, Poorter along with other local health aficionados will open Restore and Revive (or R&R for short) located at 5001 Byers Avenue. The partners will offer a wide range of services, including acupuncture, bodyworks, counseling, vitamin and mineral therapy, functional medicine treatments, personal training, small-group training sessions, a detox sauna and a detox footbath.

“We are thrilled to open our wellness center to the public.” said Poorter. “We are both medically minded and functionally focused. A killer combination.”

T W I C E - B A K E D S W E E T P O TAT O ingredients 4 medium sweet potatoes

3 tablespoons full-fat coconut milk

Sea salt for baking

1 tablespoons nutritional yeast

6 slices Pederson’s Farm Whole30 Approved Bacon

1/4 garlic powder

1 large onion or 2 small onions, thinly sliced

Sea salt

5 ounces fresh spinach, chopped

Pepper Ghee

directions Preheat your oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scrub potatoes and coat them in ghee with your hands, then sprinkle sea salt all around. Poke each with a fork a few times.

Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour or until soft on the inside. (Times will vary depending on the thickness of your potatoes.)

While potatoes bake, begin caramelizing the onions and cooking the bacon.

To caramelize the onions, heat a non-stick skillet or well-seasoned cast iron skillet over med-low/ low heat and coat with 2 tbs ghee. Add all the onions, stirring to coat with ghee. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and cook over low- or medium-low heat, stirring every 5 minutes or so to prevent burning.

Once onions have been cooking for about 25 - 30 minutes and have turned a deep golden brown color, remove from heat and transfer to a plate or bowl.

For the bacon, heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat until crisp; drain on paper towels and set aside. Reserve at least 1 Tbsp bacon fat to sauté the spinach.

For spinach, place 1 tbsp bacon fat in a large skillet (or simply use the same skillet used to cook bacon) and heat over medium-high heat. Add all the spinach and stir or toss with tongs to wilt evenly. Cook for about 2 minutes or until spinach is soft and wilted.

Once potatoes have baked and are cool enough to handle, cut each one in half lengthwise and carefully scoop out the inside using a spoon, leaving a thin layer to avoid breaking the skin.

Place what you’ve scooped out of the potatoes into a mixing bowl and begin to mash. Stir in the coconut milk, nutritional yeast, mustard and garlic powder until smooth. Crumble in the cooked bacon and stir in the caramelized onions and spinach. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Bake (at 400ºF degrees) for another 15 - 20 minutes or until toasty.

Serves 8 as a side dish or 4 as a meal. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in the toaster oven or oven.

3 to 4 slices Pederson’s Farm Whole30 Approved Bacon, diced Maple syrup Balsamic vinegar directions Cook bacon in a Dutch oven until crisp, add Brussels sprouts and cook until they have browned a bit.

Once the sprouts have cooked to your liking, drizzle balsamic vinegar over the top and deglaze the pan of any bacon bits, cook for a minute or two more before drizzling with maple syrup. Stir and enjoy!

Recipes from the Kitchen of Dabney Poorter, CN and RN

photo by Amber Shumake

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Opening in the Foundry District in the winter of 2019, Thirty Eight & Vine offers a new kind of wine tasting experience. 42 wines on dispenser to self-serve for sipping, tasting, pouring, or by the bottle, as well as a wine retail shop and a 10-person tasting room.

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Sundance Square Plaza Sundance Square Plaza

2020

CALEN DAR H A P P Y H O L I D AY S F R O M M A D E W O R T H Y

FORT WORTH'S MOST EXTREME FOODS:

2

HOW MANY HAVE YOU TRIED?

by Shilo Urban

The biggest. The spiciest. The wildest, the weirdest, and the just plain crazy. Eat your way through a bucket-list adventure of the most extreme cuisine in the city!

1. WORLD’S LARGEST PIZZA AT MOONTOWER PIZZA BAR Over eight feet long and 32 inches wide, this ginormous pizza holds the Guinness World Record for the largest commercially available pizza. You can order it for delivery, dine-in, or carry out – but you’re going to need some help with your door-size dinner. The pizza comes with one topping and covers a whopping 3,072 square inches!

137 S. WILSON ST, BURLESON

2. PIG EARS AT WABI HOUSE Dog lovers already know how much the slobber squad loves munching on dried pig ears. They’re crunchy, meaty, and bacon-y. Now you can get in on the action with the tempura-fried pork ears at Wabi House.

Sprinkled with furikake seasoning and a squirt of garlic aioli, they might just make you a believer – and they’ll definitely make you salivate.

1229 8TH AVE #227, FW

3. OCTOPUS INK SPAGHETTI AT PIATELLO ITALIAN KITCHEN This is not your mother’s spaghetti. Twirl up a spoonful of this purple-black pasta, which looks like your pen exploded in your plate. But this is no accident – it’s a spaghetti symphony made with succulent Spanish octopus, Calabrian peppers, a bright tomato sauce, and the freshest homemade pasta ever. Look for “Spaghetti all Chitarra Neri” on the menu, and start with the house ricotta and sourdough for your appetizer – you won’t be disappointed.

5924 CONVAIR DR #412, FW (photo by Brian Hutson)

4. RATTLESNAKE SAUSAGE AT LONESOME DOVE If you’re out in the countryside and stumble across the fearsome sound of a rattle, your first thought is probably not “Let’s EAT!” Assert your status at the top of the food chain and bite back at Lonesome Dove.

Rattlers are paired with fluffy wittle wabbits (the ultimate insult for the snakes) and turned into a delicious sausage appetizer. It’s a flavor bomb that’s smoked over hickory wood and served with velvety crème fraiche.

2406 N MAIN ST, FW

8. ONI REAPER AT ONI RAMEN Not for the faint of taste buds, this “demon spiced” dish comes with a warning label. Five of the world’s hottest peppers go into this eyeball-burning broth: habaneros, ghost peppers, Trinidad scorpions, 7 Pot Brain Strain chilis, and the namesake Carolina reapers.

Even better, the miso pork broth is served piping hot.

Maybe those bean sprouts will cool you off.

2801 W 7TH ST, FW

9. TRIPA TACOS AT SALSA LIMON

550 THROCKMORTON ST, FW (photo by Salsa Limon)

10. WAGYU TASTING AT DEL FRISCO’S DOUBLE EAGLE STEAKHOUSE Coming in at a cool $160, this tasting dinner might be the most expensive menu item in the city – so you better savor every single bite. It features three different types of Wagyu, which is a fatty, fine-textured beef from Japanese breeds of cattle. You’ll get three ounces each of Australian, Japanese A5, and Rosewood TX Wagyu.

Sides cost extra.

11. CBD DONUT HOLES AT FUNKYTOWN

7. PANCAKE CHALLENGE AT OL’ SOUTH PANCAKE HOUSE Forget the short stack – this massive pile of pancakes is eight deep and almost a foot in diameter. Eat all eight of the fluffy flapjacks within 60 minutes, and it’s free (or $19.99 if you throw in the towel). There’s one catch: the Pancake Challenge isn’t available on Saturdays and Sundays from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Go to church, you heathen.

1509 S UNIVERSITY DR, FW

7 9

10 11

1000 8TH AVE. #101, FW

12. ELEVEN POUND BURRITO AT BAD AZZ BURRITO How many people does it take to eat a burrito the size of baby? Five, according to Bad Azz Burrito. Less extreme eaters might prefer the 9-pound or 6-pound version. They’re all stuffed with beef, beans, and vegetables and then capped off with cheese, sour cream, and guac sauce. Advance notice required.

13. CHOCOLATE LOVER’S PIÑATA AT UNCLE JULIO’S

4015 E BELKNAP ST, FW

5

Funkytown Donuts is known for its far-out flavors, like peach jalapeno, BBQ brisket, and Fruity Pebbles with pop rocks. But this might be their most tripped-out idea yet. Only available in pop-up situations, these heady donut holes are dosed with cannabidiol oil aka CBD. It’s the active ingredient in cannabis (minus the highinducing THC) and is used medically to manage pain.

And it tastes much better than Vick’s Vapor Rub.

There’s nothing extreme about a meatball – unless it’s the size of a baby’s head. Slathered in a spicy tomato sauce and plenty of parmesan, this baller meatball is made with one pound of 100% wagyu beef. It’s topped with a giant scoop of fresh ricotta, drizzled with honey, and served with slabs of toasted brioche. Share it as an appetizer or keep it all to yourself – no judgment.

Beans are a savory side dish in the U.S., but in Asia they’re often served in dessert. My Lan’s 3 Flavor Bean Pudding layers yellow mung beans and red kidney beans into a refreshing parfait – their rendition of a classic Southeast Asian dessert with crushed ice, green jelly strips, coconut, and sweetened condensed milk.

It’s the perfect antidote to a hot Texas day.

4

812 MAIN ST, FW

1200 S BLUE MOUND RD, SAGINAW

6. BEAN PARFAIT DESSERT AT MY LAN

3

Made from the stomach lining of a cow, tripe is a Mexican delicacy that’s best known for its appearance in menudo (the soup, not the boy band). Adept chefs at Salsa Limon slow-simmer the vaguely sponge-like organ meat with herbs, onion, and garlic. It’s crisped on the griddle and then served in tasty street-style tacos.

5. ANGRY MEATBALL AT DOC B’S

5253 MARATHON AVE, FW (photo by Doc B's)

1

Bust into a chocolate wonderball filled with chocolatestuffed empanadas, crispy mini churros, and bright red strawberries – no blindfold required. Grab your favorite treats and drag them through sweet tooth heaven: semi-sweet fudge sauce and whipped cream topped with dark Belgian chocolate shavings.

5301 CAMP BOWIE BLVD., FW

14. CALF FRIES AT RISCKY’S STEAKHOUSE Call them mountain oysters, cowboy caviar, tendergroin, or the original sack lunch – calf fries are bull testicles, battered and deep-fried. The taste hits somewhere between chicken, venison, and rubbery.

Calf fries are the house specialty at Riscky’s, where they come with a side of house-made cream gravy and bragging (?) rights.

120 E EXCHANGE AVE., FW

15. THE BIG EDDIE AT EDDIE V’S

12.

16. HORSE & SIDECAR BLOODY MARY AT SNOOZE Sometimes you just need a beer with your Bloody Mary.

While cocktails are technically drinks, this one makes the food list because of the small meal of garnishes that come on top. Nosh on a fat cube of ham, a chunk of smoked cheddar, an olive, a big pickle – and yes, an entire can of beer as your “sidecar.” It’s perfect for washing down a flight of pancakes.

2150 W 7TH ST #108, FW

17. UNI SASHIMI AT BLUE SUSHI SAKE GRILL Plain ol’ raw fish is extreme enough for some people, but uni takes it to a new level. Creamy and golden, the briny paste comes from spiny sea urchins. It’s the only part of the animal that you can eat: its gonads. Uni is hugely in-demand by seafood lovers around the world.

Diver-caught, sustainable uni from California is available sporadically at Blue Sushi.

3131 W 7TH ST, FW

18. TOMAHAWK PRIME RIB AT WOODSHED SMOKEHOUSE

Stacked three levels high, this massive seafood tower is more than a meal – it’s an experience. Super-fresh shrimp, ahi tuna, raw oysters, Maine lobsters, and King Crab legs are piled high on platters of ice, so everything stays cool as you conquer your dinner.

You even get to use those adorable tiny forks.

Channel your inner Fred Flintstone with this gripping roast, which indeed could double as a weapon. A thick bone juts towards the sky from its bed of tender beef, just begging you to grab ahold and beast it up like the wild-eyed carnivore you are. Listed on the “Dining with Friends” portion of the menu, the tomahawk prime rib comes with potatoes, asparagus, green salad, and bread. It just might have you screaming “WIL-MA!”

3100 W 7TH ST, FW

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26

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