Recipe For Success Foundation Magazine

CHEF OF THE YEAR: ROBERT DEL GRANDE CELEBRATING FOOD DAY TEACHERS OF THE YEAR: ESMERALDA WARSHAW AND HORTENCIA FLORES

OCTOBER 2015 1

YEAR THREE!

2007-2008 2

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS Gracie Cavnar

FOUNDER & PRESIDENT

Glen Boudreaux SECRETARY

Frank Steininger TREASURER

Monica Pope

CHEFS ADVISORY CHAIR

Deanna Hoelscher, Ph.D.

SCIENCE ADVISORY CHAIR

Amy Anton Helen Bow Heather Carlucci Carrie Colbert Arvia Few Karen Garcia Kendrick McCleskey Paula McHam Lisa Mellencamp Aashish Parekh

Dr. Melanie Mencer-Parks Genevieve Patterson Holly Smith Michael Swail Chisholm Tate Susie Woodard Jeffrey Wooten Bob Cavnar, EMERITUS Laura Spanjian, EX OFFICIO

FOUNDING CHEFS ADVISORY BOARD John Brock Carolyn Carcassi Bryan Caswell Charles Clark Louis Cressy Robert del Grande Randy Evans Lance Fegan Chris Garcia

Peter Garcia Lauren Gockley Jason Gould Anita Jasinghani Ouisie Jones Al King Sandra Mangini Jim Manning Veronica Ortiz

Monica Pope Philippe Schmidt John Sheely Randy Rucker Chris Shepherd Claire Smith Brendon Treanor Scott Tycer

Giancarlo Ferrera Richard Kaplan Monica Pope Barbara McKnight Gary Mularski Ryan Pera

Jean Philippe-Gaston Ellen Schwartz Sandra Shafer Ruffy Sulaiman

CHEFS IN SCHOOLS 2015-16 Joe Apa Garth Blackburn John Buchannan David Cordua Neal Cox Kaz Edwards

COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD Anna Eastman Ellie Francisco Roland Garcia Jennifer & Lance Gilliam Mimi del Grande Melanie Gray & Mark Wawro Joanie Haley Lucia & Justin Hamilton Laura Jaramillo Shelley Taylor Ludwick

Soraya McClelland Ginni Mithoff Sara Morgan Leisa Holland-Nelson Roz Pactor Cynthia Petrello Laura Max Rose Mickey Rosmarin Stuart Rosenberg Jeff Shell

Heidi & Marcus Smith Kate Allen Stuckenburg Mark Sullivan Stacey Swift Claire Cormier Thielke Kim Tutcher Stephanie Walker Ashley Wehrly Andrea White

Gracie Cavnar

Gabie Caballero

Stephanie Hill

Kristen Evon

Molly Kaminski

Cindy Lucia

Justin Myers

Susan Reedy

Paula Arnold Kristen Berger Cathy Brock Elena Buley Honi Boudreaux Kathryn Castellanos Phyllis Childress Yvonne Cormier, M.D. Isabel David Deborah Duncan

STAFF CEO

COO

DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE AND GARDENS

Sandra Cook

EDITOR, PUBLICATIONS

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OFFICE MANAGER MAJOR GIFTS OFFICER GRANTS OFFICER

Marisol Castro

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL EVENTS

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO CEO & AMBASSADOR

Rachel England

SEED-TO-PLATE NUTRITION EDUCATION™ PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Justin Kouri

CULINARY EDUCATION COORDINATOR

VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR

Jovanna David

MARKETING AND STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER

Shannon Smith

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH COORDINATOR

FASHIONABLE FUNDRAISING AT ELAINE TURNER

TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 10 12 14 16

18 20 22 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33 34 36 37

Reflections on 2007-2008 Chef of The Year: Robert Del Grande Recipe Challenge and Spooky & Sweet Tortilla Cutouts Recipe Volunteer of the Month: Joey Luna Golden Whisk Teachers of the Year: Hortencia Flores & Esmeralda Warshaw Three Reasons to Teach Them to Eat Green farmers marKIDS Days Blue Plate Special Cafe Honoree: Phyllis Childress Blue Plate Special Awards Luncheon Dress for Dinner Pie Dinner Conversations In the Community: KHOU at Briscoe Sponsor Spotlight: Simmons Foundation Recipe House Calendar Fall Calendar Mayor’s Award: Lance Gilliam Bistro Menil and Steak (R)Evolution Partners in Research: Center for Science in the Public Interest 5

ABOVE: Dr. Patricia Allen, principal of MacGregor Elementary, Inspects the produce RIGHT: Rainbow ribbons handmade pasta for sale at the market stand at MacGregor Elementary

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“

Reflections on

2007-2008 GRACIE CAVNAR

Rodriguez’ principal, Elena Buley approached me over the summer of 2007. “The kids are so enthusiastic and learning so much about healthy eating, I can’t help but think, ‘Why should this be just for 4th graders? Why can’t all our kids benefit this marvelous program?’” I thought, “Why not indeed?” And on the spot, we decided to expand our footprint at Rodriguez from monthly cooking classes for 4th graders with celebrity chefs, to a fulltime ancillary program. We both committed staff to teach nearly a thousand students—she a fulltime HISD teacher and Recipe for Success, a fulltime Culinary Instructor and a weekly visit from our Gardens Instructor, and funds to outfit a fulltime teaching kitchen and an expanded garden. It is in every way a joint-project.

After one academic year under our belt, by September 2007, we were ready to build a garden curriculum to complement our culinary lessons. So at our other four pilot campuses, we also expanded beyond fourth graders—who still got special treatment with monthly visits from their celebrity chefs—and began offering monthly gardening and three seasonal cooking classes to Pre-K though fifth graders. For the new Rodriguez Ancillary, we had to build a larger library of worksheets in core curriculum, like math, science and language arts for all grade levels, as well as develop complementary activities to fill a rotating Monday-Friday program. We launched daily after school programs to test including Kid’s Cooking 101, Pasta and Pizza Party, Kid’s Dinner Club and Kid’s Garden Club. With all these new classes, we had multiplied our footprint by ten times, now touching over 3,000 students each month with hands-on, experiential learning built to change the way they eat.

Our team expanded too: Three of our volunteer chefs—Ronnie Ortiz, Lauren Gockley and Carolyn Carcasi came on board as Team Leaders joined by Carlos Meltzer, Natalie Boone and Jodie Eisenhardt to relieve me in the classroom, while Cissy Davis managed special events and Marisol Castro helped me keep it all on track. We moved operations from a room in Bob’s office to duplex apartment in the Museum District. Even more celebrity chefs in Houston joined our efforts and began volunteering.

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A PBS feature story about us aired in late August and our phone started ringing.

We collaborated with community partners to raise awareness about nutrition in with a very well attended Parents for Public Schools (PPS) Town Hall. Perhaps spurred by the Town Hall, we reached a landmark agreement with HISD and their food service provider, Aramark for members of our Chefs Advisory Board to provide “Fresh Eyes” on the HISD school lunch program. The Chefs agreed to review all new HISD lunch items and recipes and recommend changes and additions to make a healthier food product that is tasty and more appealing.

Slow Food came to town to throw a huge fundraising dinner for us in the fall; we enjoyed a great feature in the Houston Chronicle in October which also shot a short film in our classroom.

People all over the country were suddenly talking about what we were up to down in Houston. One Saturday morning, I was going through emails and found one that would set in motion a life-changing experience. “I would like you to meet my friend Mehmet Oz,” wrote Charlotte Cope. “He is also very interested in childhood obesity; maybe you two could collaborate.” I am embarrassed to say now, that the name didn’t ring a bell (I didn’t watch daytime TV). Later of course, I found out exactly who Dr. Oz was and what his advocacy would mean to our budding efforts. Oz and his team were impressed enough with what we were doing at Recipe for Success that they decided to honor me (along with LL Cool Jay) at a gala in New York in April of 2008—a pretty heady experience.

Our Gala in Small Bites dinners raised records sums through the spring, even attracting designer Naeem Khan to come down and cook with us. The kids at MacGregor threw a garden party to show off their abundant crops and we bussed scores of students from our other schools to visit area farms.

We decided to explore an intensive summer program in June, so we tested three programs, each lasting 4 weeks, five, full-days days a week: The Food Marketing Group at MacGregor researched, developed, tested, created, packaged and marketed their own healthy food product. Creating their Rainbow Ribbons, brightly colored handmade fettuccini noodles, by adding beets, spinach, basil and other garden fresh goodies to their basic homemade pasta recipe.

The Jr. Master Gardener Group at MacGregor worked to get their full accreditation and completed all of the projects necessary to receive the Golden Ray recognition in garden 8

The market stand at MacGregor Elementary

nutrition. They also operated a Farmers Market, harvested food for snacks and “sold” produce to the Marketing Class to use in their pasta.

The class at Rodriguez combined time in the gardens and kitchen to study the traditions of a Three Sisters Garden and produce a Native American Harvest Festival that celebrated the culture of food.

All of the children took three movement breaks each day to enjoy a variety of exercise opportunities from walking, to yoga and dance movement class.

The national attention continued: Cookie Magazine sent a crew in to shoot our summer camp kids for a “Mothers of Invention” feature and I was a guest on Dr. Oz’s radio show to talk about how we convinced kids to eat their veggies.

We finished the year celebrating the effects our classes were having on kid behavior and planning our next big events, including building a half-acre garden at Rodriguez and hosting Dr. Oz at our fall luncheon.

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CHEF OF THE YEAR

Robert Del Grande RDG+BAR ANNIE

“ Please give special thanks to Chef

Roberto Del Grande. For first time, just a few minutes after Mr. Del Grande started to talk, my student“ Maria Chavez openly interacted with him. Usually Maria is very shy and I could not find−until that moment−the way to motivate her. It was amazing to see her participating and enjoying the class. As an educator I appreciate the tremendous impact that Mr. Del Grande has made in the heart of all my children but especially Maria.”

Thanks, Sandra Garza

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One of Houston’s first superstar chefs, California native Robert Del Grande received his B.S. in Chemistry and Biology and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry before being drawn to Houston in 1981 by his (now) wife Mimi. Del Grande took a temporary job at the newly opened Café Annie, owned by Mimi’s sister Candace and her husband Lonnie Schiller.

His adventure grew into a long-term family partnership and Café Annie rose to the fore-front of fine cooking in the Southwest, garnering many top honors and awards, including the James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest in 1992. In 2009, Café Annie moved to its current location on Post Oak Boulevard taking the name RDG + Bar Annie, to honor the initials of its founding Chef and the restaurant that revolutionized Southwest cuisine.

But before all the accolades and the culinary career, he was a grad student who developed his passion for cooking, taking inspiration from the meals his mother and grandmother had served. His desires to share those traditions with his roommates and to be near his sweetheart Mimi launched a remarkable career.

Robert says he’s never felt more performance pressure than when preparing to meet a classroom of nine-year-olds. As a founding member of the Recipe for Success Foundation’s Chef’s Advisory Board, he was instrumental in helping us design the curriculum, and as a PhD in biochemistry we could always count on him to deliver a lively and interesting class.

He generously taught in the classroom at Rodriguez Elementary every month for three years. Longtime Recipe for Success supporter Phyllis Childress remembers watching Robert Del Grande teaching students how to make quesadillas. “I was impressed that he chose a dish that they could relate to, while making a very healthy version of it.” She recalls how Robert managed to turn this class on making a quesadilla into the 4th graders’ earliest lessons in geometry, geography, biology and physics.

“Using burrito-sized wheat flour tortillas cut into eighths, he talked about how many quesadillas he’d have to make to ensure that everyone there got a piece, demonstrating by cutting one, then showing the students how he had turned a circle into eight triangles, even how if you held two triangles end to point, you had a rectangle,” says Phyllis.

Every year Robert wanted to adopt the whole class. He and Mimi showed up each December with their arms full of holiday gifts and they would host his students for a field trip to his Uptown restaurant. The generosity didn’t end there−Robert has hosted many fundraising events for Recipe for Success over the years.

Robert’s more than 30 years of experimentation in the kitchen have made him a prominent figure in the historical revision of American cooking, as he has indelibly changed the culinary landscape with his expertise in tastes and flavors indigenous to the region. We are thankful for his many contributions to cuisine, as well as to Recipe for Success Foundation. Cheers to Robert Del Grande!

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RECIPE CHALLENGE!

WE GIVE YOU INSPIRING RECIPES−YOU SEND US YOUR FAVORITES! Join in the fun of Chef Justin’s recipe exchange! Each month, we feature his tantalizing recipes along with his picks of recipes submitted by our readers−that’s YOU! Try Justin’s no-trick tortilla treat for a wholesome Halloween twist. What’s your clever and healthy Halloween treat? Send your tastiest recipe to justinkouri@recipe4success.org by October 31 and you could win the October Recipe Challenge and be included in next year’s VEGOUT! COOKBOOK. You can also check out Justin’s past recipes on the Recipe House blog.

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SPOOKY & SWEET TORTILLA CUTOUTS Recipe and photo by Justin Kouri

These tortilla cutouts remind me of churros, but aren’t fried! Using heart healthy coconut oil and whole-wheat tortillas, make this a fun and healthy activity to do with the entire family!

INGREDIENTS ¼ cup coconut oil ½ tsp vanilla ¼ cup sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 5 whole-wheat tortilla

PROCEDURE Preheat oven to 350F. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Mix and set aside.

Melt coconut oil and vanilla in a small pot over low heat.

Meanwhile, punch out tortillas with Halloween cookie cutters. Lay out on a parchment-lined sheet tray fitted with a cooling rack. Brush tortillas with oil mixture, flip and brush opposite side. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and quickly sprinkle sugar mixture over tortilla, flip and sprinkle over other side. Cool completely.

Find recipe online here.

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JOEY LUNA

OCTOBER 2015 VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH MANAGER AT REVIVAL MARKET & VOLUNTEER WITH EAT THIS! SUMMER CAMP

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WHAT SPARKED YOUR INTEREST TO VOLUNTEER FOR RECIPE FOR SUCCESS? Joey Luna: I worked here at Revival before being a manager, so I knew about the program, and I just wanted to jump at it and learn more about the inner workings of Recipe for Success. (Note: Revival Market has worked with Recipe for Success Summer Camps for the past 3 years and recently promoted the winning product from the 2015 Eat This! Summer camp sessions, the popular Figgy Piggies, fig-filled cookies.)

WHAT KEEPS YOU COMING BACK? JL: The groups of kids−it was surprising how into food they were. My lecturing about butchery was kept to a minimum. It was great having the kids ask question after question about different foods, such as or “what kind of foods do you like?” and “how do you prepare this food?” or tell me “this is the food I like.” It was really nice to see kids that young be that interested in food. They already had a lot more knowledge than the patrons in our store!

WHAT DOES VOLUNTEERING BRING TO YOUR LIFE OUTSIDE OF THE ACTUAL VOLUNTEER WORK? JL: It gets me out of a working mindset. It was fulfilling to know I was just talking to the kids about food, not having to sell anything. You could see the excitement on their faces and they listened with open eyes and ears and gave a lot of feedback.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE MEMORY OR STORY THUS FAR? JL: The unveiling party was a lot of fun! The kids were excited to find out what product won. They were asking me ‘do you remember I came in with my mom the other day’ and ‘I want to try this [pointing at different charcuteries]’ and were asking our Pastry Chef, Alyssa, tons of questions about how she cooks/bakes different items for the store. It was a great culmination of all of their hard work over the summer.

ONE LAST QUESTION, IT’S OUR 10TH BIRTHDAY THIS YEAR, WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS FOUNDATION IN ANOTHER 10 YEARS? JL: Well, I’m still a bit new to knowing your full reach, but I’d love to see your programs in as many schools around the Houston area as possible. I feel lucky to see the elementary school down the street have a community garden. Being in the Heights bubble, I forget that not all schools have that. It’s great that there’s an organization that can provide nutrition and food education from the beginning to end, and it’d be great to see that in as many schools as possible.

Thank you again, Joey, for all you do for Recipe for Success. Here’s to 10 more years!

If you are interested in volunteering with Recipe for Success Foundation, email our volunteer coordinator Kristen, volunteer@recipe4success.org.

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SEED TO PLATE NEWS GOLDEN WHISK TEACHERS OF THE YEAR

Hortencia Flores AND Esmeralda Warshaw

CEDAR BROOK ELEMENTARY

When the bell rings on Friday afternoons, Cedar Brook Elementary teachers Hortencia Flores and Esmeralda Warshaw, our Golden Whisk Teachers of the Year, are not packing up and heading home for the weekend. Instead, they are preparing to teach in the garden and kitchen with an eager group of students. Ms. Flores, who is a first grade bilingual teacher, and Ms. Warshaw, a kindergarten bilingual teacher, were instrumental in bringing Seed to Plate Nutrition Education™ to Cedar Brook.

Two years ago, when Principal Jeffrey Post asked his administration “about levels of interest in the Recipe for Success program, both Ms. Warshaw and Ms. Flores jumped at the opportunity to partner with and lead something as wonderful for kids as Recipe for Success.” Especially rewarding for both teachers is that many 3rd and 4th grade participants were their former students, resulting in a unique bond as they explore a new and exciting curriculum. Parent volunteer Rachel Stinson says that Ms. Warshaw and Ms. Flores are “the heart and soul of this program,” and in a challenging environment of budget cuts, dwindling after-school programs, and time constraints, they have made it their mission to have a Seed to Plate Nutrition Education™ program at Cedar Brook.

Ms. Warshaw was originally drawn to the program after hearing about its benefits, and after her first year teaching the curriculum, she was inspired by the “wonderful opportunity for all students to explore, discover and apply academic and social skills in real life experiences, making the learning relevant and meaningful to them.” She has seen firsthand how the students are applying their knowledge and skills in the garden and kitchen, and she is committed to encouraging them along the way. Most rewarding for Ms. Flores is seeing her students “respond to the challenge of trying new vegetables and foods and their level of involvement in the whole process of the Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education™ program. From the learning of new concepts to the hands-on experiences in the kitchen and garden, they zoom and boom like busy bees. They really look like little busy chefs!”

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TOP: Esmerelda Warshaw RIGHT: Hortencia Flores

With the help of Rachel Stinson and another parent volunteer, Jacinda Woloson, Ms. Warshaw and Ms. Flores are embarking on their second year of the program and are excited to see how it further impacts the students and the school. With the teachers’ encouragement, the students have decorated the lunchroom with banners and pictures showcasing their activities. The signs have not only generated interest in the program, but also the students have become well known to their peers, and they are frequently asked questions about the curriculum and the exciting skills they are developing.

Ms. Woloson added that the teachers have integrated their heritage and an understanding of cultural differences into the class and curriculum, and they have instilled trust in and boosted the confidence of the students. And it is not just the students who have excelled and grown from the program; Ms. Warshaw and Ms. Flores have both developed new skills in their teaching repertoire and have gained new food and nutrition perspective.

With the fun and informative environment these two teachers have created for the Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education™ students, there is a lot more growing at Cedar Brook than just the vegetables in the garden!

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REASONS TO TEACH THEM TO EAT GREEN

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MULTIPLE STUDIES SHOW THAT KIDS WHO GARDEN MAKE BETTER FOOD CHOICES, INCLUDING CORNELL UNIVERSITY FOOD AND BRAND LAB’S A PLANT TO PLATE PILOT, MAY 2015.

RESEARCH SHOWS EATING HABITS ARE FIXED BY AGE 11− EARLY EDUCATION IS CRITICAL TO BUILD LONG-TERM HEALTHY HABITS. RECIPE FOR SUCCESS FOUNDATION SURVEYS REVEAL THAT AFTER 1 YEAR OF SEED-TO-PLATE NUTRITION EDUCATION™ KIDS EAT AS MUCH AS 30% MORE VEGGIES. 19

COME OUT TO SUPPORT THE KIDS! On Food Day, October 24, come out to Discovery Green to support Houston kids from MacGregor Elementary and other area schools who will feature their fresh, local produce at their farmers marKIDS stand.

BECOME FARMERS MARKIDS AND OPERATE A MARKET STAND DURING FARMERS MARKIDS DAYS

OCTOBER 20-26, 2015 GET MORE INFORMATION AND DOWNLOAD A TEACHER TOOLKIT HERE farmers marKIDS is generously supported by Wells Fargo Foundation, Cameron and Target 20

DID YOU KNOW? DOMESTIC PRODUCES TRAVELS AN AVERAGE OF 1,500 MILES BEFORE MAKING IT TO YOUR LOCAL GROCERY STORE. Every October 24, thousands of events all around the country bring Americans together to mark Food Day by celebrating real food, such as produce that is seasonal and locally grown. Another purpose of Food Day is to advocate for better food policy.

October 24 is a day to resolve to make changes in our own diets and to take action to solve food-related problems in our communities at the local, state, and national level.

For 2015, Food Day planners are encouraging people worldwide to shift “Toward a Greener Diet” by seeking more locally grown real food.

Recipe for Success Foundation’s engaging, free, downloadable farmers marKIDS curriculum offers a rewarding way for kids, teachers and parents to celebrate Food Day, joining in the nationwide celebration and a movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food.

Participating in the farmers marKIDS program not only connects entrepreneurial kids to a healthy, sustainable way to raise funds to support their gardens, it also makes fresh produce easily accessible to the surrounding neighborhood. Kids are encouraged to stage their farm stand the week of Food Day: October 20-26, during the nationally celebrated, annual farmers marKIDS DAYS. We think a great way to green-up your diet is to buy homegrown produce from local neighborhood kids! We hope to see lots of Houston supporters come out to our farmers marKIDS stand at Discovery Green on October 24.

Don’t forget: All kids who participate in the program and register their market stands with us have a chance to win garden seeds, and farmers marKIDS who send in a photograph of their stand in operation will earn a chance to win up to $500 in garden supplies and be featured on the Recipe for Success Foundation blog, social networking sites and in media coverage. Just be sure to register and submit photos of your stand!

Get your class, scout troop or family started with the free, downloadable farmers marKIDS toolkit, which includes five lesson plans to develop financial literacy, entrepreneurial skills and business experience.

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Phyllis Childress

BLUE PLATE SPECIAL CAFE HONOREE

Longtime Recipe for Success Foundation supporter, Phyllis Childress has been a wonderful part of our organization from the very beginning. This former caterer jumped in as a Recipe for Success founding board member and has come through as an enthusiastic volunteer and dedicated fundraiser many times over.

In preparation for our pilot, Phyllis helped Gracie source and gather kitchen supplies for six kitchen carts for those first classrooms. Hunting down kid-sized utensils and equipment, they scooped up whisks, spoons, lettuce knives, food processors and induction burners at Costco, Best Buy, Target and Restaurant Depot. “Wheeling those giant ‘shopping trucks’ around and loading them up with what we thought our chefs would need was an exciting exercise, both figuratively and literally,” recalls Phyllis.

As a volunteer in the classroom she witnessed the transformative nature of our Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education™. “I realized that these children could see that their chef instructors were like rock stars. And the seed was planted: learning about cooking might be a career opportunity,” says Phyllis. “Another great observation was watching the effect of these classes on mothers who had volunteered as helpers in their children’s classrooms. Their body language clearly said that these healthy food ideas just wouldn’t fly−that is, until they tasted the results.”

Phyllis has also been a superstar fundraiser, hosting a Gala In Small Bites fundraiser every single year since 2005. Reflecting on the many Small Bites dinners, she says it would be hard to pick which meal and which chef impressed her the most. “But I will confess to a giant crush on Garth Blackburn,” says Phyllis. “Besides being a fabulous chef, he’s so cute, and he’s a great teacher (something I know about since I taught cooking classes during my catering days). Consequently, I’ve been the annual hostess for the Gala In Small Bites at his SubZero Wolf showroom every year since he came onboard with Recipe for Success.”

It’s friends like Phyllis Childress that have helped keep the momentum going for Recipe for Success Foundation over the past 10 years and will continue to fuel our future.

THANK YOU, PHYLLIS! 23

BLUE PLATE

SPECIAL AWARDS LUNCHEON Join us as we honor our friends and supporters in November! Reserve your seat at the Recipe for Success Blue Plate Special Awards Luncheon to hear our featured speakers, Ceri Marsh and Laura Keogh, internationally noted bloggers and the co-authors of the bestselling cookbook How to Feed a Family: The Sweet Potato Chronicles. These delightful speakers will be sharing their experiences and anecdotes, making for a most enjoyable afternoon. The luncheon is set for November 18 at the River Oaks Country Club.

Click here for tickets and sponsor information and purchase your table today!

u GREEN GROCER (table for ten), $5,000 u TAPAS (table for ten), $3,000

u INDIVIDUAL TICKET:

u $300 u $150 u $500

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ge cka he a p t n aso any of e s ll, s nt y y’a r 4-eve on’t mis you! e r H you e fo ou d Buy y so y in stor toda e have w fun rie Car Carrie Colbert invites you to

Dress for Dinner at Saks Fifth Avenue with Edgardo Osorio of Aquazzura Wednesday, October 28th 6pm 6p - 8pm Reception & Show 8:00pm Dinner $50 Fashion Show only $350 Fashion Show & Dinner

for tickets: recipe4success.org or 713.520.0443

MEET SHOE DESIGNER EDGARDO OSORIO OF AQUAZURRA AT DRESS FOR DINNER AT SAKS FIFTH AVENUE

OCTOBER 28

Join us for a dazzling evening at Saks Fifth Avenue Houston Galleria with Edgardo Osorio, the designer behind Aquazurra shoes, known for modern design and impeccable craftsmanship. Born in Colombia and raised between Miami and London, Edgardo Osorio combines his eye for drop-dead glamour, his passion for modern design, and his hand for high-luxe craft into desirable footwear.

He made his first strides in the footwear world with luxury brands such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Sigerson Morrison, René Caovilla, and Roberto Cavalli. In 2011 after working in the industry for 10 years, he launched the luxury footwear brand Aquazzura.

You don’t want to miss this fabulous Fashion Presentation & Dinner with the Designer. Book your tickets online or call 713-520-0443 today!

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Pie

Rich Levy from Why Me?: Poems Published 2009 by Mutabilis Press

How mollifying, late afternoon, when one is alone and lunch is long over, to stop at the cafeteria for a slice of key lime pie. You take a table by the window and turn your back to the room as if you have much to think about, when in reality you are staring blankly at an almost rainy blank sky and the windblown gestures of trees. You don’t linger, eating deliberately, carving each forkful into equal parts topping and filling, which together create tiny bifurcated hillocks of cloud and meadow with a sandy crust below, the topping the color of fine creamery butter, the filling a green so pale, so diluted, its hue is almost invisible. The ice water you sip with your pie lends an appropriate austerity to the occasion. There are others here: the tall bleached blonde and her mother stirring their coffee, the khakied group from an office overearnestly eating a late lunch, the cashier leafing through her newspaper. When you rise, brush off your lap, and pause to take stock of the one untouched dollop of cream on your plate (obeisance to the pie gods), your crumpled napkin, fork, and the old airport parking tag you fished out of your wallet when you paid the cashier, it is as if you were never here, you never ate this slice of pie, you never sat in this chair, chewing and watching nothing out the window, thinking of nothing except how finite pie is.

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Above: TV journalist Sharron Melton & Leisa Holland-Nelson Top Right: CultureMap’s Clifford Pugh & Sherri Frede Bottom Right: Sugar & Rice magazine’s David Leftwich & Gabriela Camacho

DINNER CONVERSATIONS Guest Reporters have appeared at our events throughout September capturing stories for Dinner Conversations, which is our year-long multi-media project of collecting personal essays, poems, written, recorded and video interviews and photography capturing Houstonians sharing their most powerful food memories, life changing meals and fondest family food traditions, which will be published throughout the year and honored for posterity in an online archive of Houstonians at the Table.

Send us your own story or poem about food! Tell us the stories that warm you soul: your most powerful food memories, life-changing meals and fondest family food traditions. Email us: dinnerconversations@recipe4success.org 27

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IN THE COMMUNITY

KHOU’S DAY OF SERVICE AT BRISCOE

KHOU Channel 11’s staff will trade in their sleek news desks and microphones for shovels and soil at Briscoe Elementary on Saturday, October 24. Their day of volunteering marks the annual Make A Difference Day, which falls on the fourth Saturday in October each year, and is the largest nationally recognized day of community service. Especially serendipitous this year is that Make A Difference Day also happens to fall on Food Day, which occurs each year on October 24 and is a celebration of wholesome food and a call to action to affect changes in food policy.

It’s great that KHOU’s desire to help in Briscoe’s garden amplifies Food Day messaging, and the convergence of both events certainly gives the volunteers and students a lot to celebrate!

The KHOU team will be tending to the Briscoe Elementary garden, helping students cultivate their produce. The Briscoe students will be participating in Recipe for Success’s farmers marKIDS program this year, not only growing and harvesting produce, but also learning how to sell it, developing financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills along the way. On Make A Difference Day, KHOU Volunteers will build a permanent, wooden farmers marKIDS stand for the students that they can use to sell their produce to the neighborhood throughout the year.

In addition to the market stand, the children will be expanding their garden. With the help of the KHOU volunteers, four new raised beds will be created and 10 new trees will be planted to establish a mini orchard. By expanding the garden, the students will be able to have a much more robust selection of produce, and they’ll be able to keep their farmers marKIDS stand open throughout the year, selling to parents, teachers, and other community members and having the opportunity to put all the proceeds back into their garden.

To beautify the garden, Houston muralist Suzi Sellers has designed a colorful tableaux of oversized fruits, vegetables and garden critters. Using a brick wall as their canvas, KHOU volunteers will help her paint it. In 2010, Sellers donated her time and talents to create magnificent murals for our gardens at MacGregor and N.Q. Henderson Elementary schools. We cannot wait to see how she once again transforms the garden into a work of art!

A big thanks to KHOU for volunteering to provide people, supplies, and their time, and also for bringing their TV cameras so the excitement of the day’s activities can all be shared with our community!

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is

NATIONAL

TO

Small fingers planting turnip seeds during science class. Locally grown greens, tomatoes and snap peas on the cafeteria salad bar. A classroom visit from everyone’s favorite apple farmer to celebrate the harvest and sample crisp, red fruit. National Farm to School Month celebrates the connections that are happening all over the country between schools and local food.

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Get involved at farmtoschool.org

MONTH

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT

Simmons Foundation

Recipe for Success Foundation is appreciative of the ongoing support by valued community partners like The Simmons Foundation. Without their support, we never would have come so far in our efforts to combat childhood obesity and create healthier communities for our youth and families. It’s been a pleasure working with the Simmons Foundation’s former director Linda May, featured in the video below, and we are excited to welcome and continue our work with Amanda Cloud, their new President & CEO. The Simmons Foundation has made two generous grants for our work in the coming year: $15,000 to underwrite Seed-to-Plate-Nutrition Education™ in our Showcase Schools and $25,000 toward Hope Farms operating costs.

“The Simmons Foundation is pleased to support programs like Recipe for Success that are highly engaged with children in their neighborhoods, transforming lives. It’s exciting to visit the program in a classroom and share in the student’s enthusiasm for the food they have grown and prepared,” says Amanda Cloud. “Our Foundation recently underwent a transition in leadership and I am so glad that Recipe for Success is able to share the support of our former Executive Director and current Board Chair, Linda May.”

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NEW THIS FALL! CSA COOKING CLASS Make the most of your CSA pick-up!

6-8pm, October 20 & 27, November 3 DATE NIGHT AT RECIPEHOUSE Cook a romantic three-course dinner with your main squeeze!

6-9pm, November 6 & December 4 HOLIDAY BAKING CLASS Get in the spirit with Healthy Cookies, Cakes & Sweets!

4-6pm, December 5 (parent/child), 12 & 19 (kids only!)

Contact Justin Kouri for more information at (713) 520-0443 or justinkouri@recipe4success.org

RECIPE HOUSE OFFERS A FULL CALENDAR OF COOKING CLASSES FOR ADULTS Regular spring break classes Intimate dinners with celebrity chefs held monthly Private cooking classes available for your special event: • • • • • • 32

Birthday parties for adults and kids Corporate team building Bridal and baby showers Client appreciation Celebrations and more!

FALL CALENDAR OCTOBER 4, 12-4PM

Sunday Streets HTX on Washington Avenue, find us in the Cigna tent with cooking demos by chef Justin Kouri following the on-site fitness activities. (Free event)

OCTOBER 9, 7PM

Steak (R)Evolution, a film screening at MFAH with Dinner Conversation Panel following, featuring Glen Boudreaux of Jolie Vue Farms. Film only repeats October 10. (More info.)

OCTOBER 11, 5-8PM Bistro Menil First Anniversary Event & Wine Auction, benefitting Recipe for Success Foundation. (Request Tickets) OCTOBER 24, 12-2PM

Farmers marKIDS from McGregor Elementary and other area schools host their fresh produce stand at Discovery Green for Food Day. (Free Event)

OCTOBER 28 6:30PM

Dress for Dinner with Aquazurra at Saks Fifth Avenue followed by Dinner with the Designer (Tickets $50 and $350. Buy now!)

NOVEMBER 1, 12-4PM Sunday Streets HTX in the Museum District, look for our Recipe for Success tent, complete with fun activities. (Free event) NOVEMBER 4, 6:30PM

Dress for Dinner with Giuseppe Zanotti Boutique (Invitation only)

NOVEMBER 5, 5-8PM

Mid-Main First Thursdays Celebration benefitting Recipe for Success Foundation (Free Event)

NOVEMBER 8, 2-6PM

Risotto Festival at Houston Design Center on Old Katy Road. Come try Chef Justin Kouri’s deliciously healthy risotto, featured in the pro chef risotto competition. (Tickets $65 or $125.

Buy now!)

NOVEMBER 10, 6-9PM Spain’s Great Match at Silver Street Studios, Enjoy Spanish food and wine in style with 25% of event proceeds benefitting Recipe for Success. (Tickets $65. Buy now!)

NOVEMBER 18, 11AM

Blue Plate Special Cafe Harvest Market and Awards Lunch honoring Amy Anton, Glen & Honi Boudreaux, Phyllis Childress, Peg Lee and Kim Tutcher (Tickets from $150. Buy now!)

DECEMBER 1, 6:30PM Dress for Dinner Holiday Pop-Up Shop at Zientte (Free event) 33

MAYOR’S AWARD: CHAMPION OF FOOD JUSTICE

LANCE GILLIAM

In the business world, Lance Gilliam has more than 35 years of experience representing retailers, restaurateurs and financial institutions with market analysis, site selection and transaction negotiation. He currently serves as a Partner for Waterman Steele Real Estate Advisors specializing in building and managing face-to-face outreach operations to build support for products, causes, issues and real estate market strategies to achieve tangible outcomes for clients.

With his background as the co-owner of the Cooking School of Aspen with his wife Jennifer, and his passion for philanthropy, Lance has been a longtime Recipe for Success Foundation cheerleader and is donating the land for our Hope Farms urban agricultural project in the Sunnyside area of Houston.

“I learned about Hope Farms in 2014, and although our proposed development in Sunnyside remains complicated and a work in progress, the commitment to include Hope Farms is an important one,” says Lance Gilliam. “Hope Farms is an initiative that will bind a community with a place,” he says. “It will connect people with land. Not only will it create jobs by training new farmers, it will offer a community the opportunity to experience urban farming at a scale well beyond what they have experienced before.”

“Solving food access issues in our food deserts is so important on so many different levels, and it’s really just the right thing to do,” Lance says. “The only conversation to be had is how do you do it? Recipe for Success really teaches people how to access the food in a garden and how to use that food, how to do good things with it−and make it taste good.”

He believes connecting people to the land is essential, “not only for the health of our families and children, but it’s also healthy for business,” he says. “Especially for communities that are lower income, solving food access 34

“ Hope Farms is an initiative that will bind a community with a place,” he says. “It will connect people with land. Not only will it create jobs by training new farmers, it will offer a community the opportunity to experience urban farming at a scale well beyond what they have experienced before.”

Lance Gilliam

issues is important for revitalizing those communities, not only on a family and individual level, but also in terms of the entire community.”

Lance is a firm believer in the Hope Farms vision. “My hope is that Hope Farms will take food justice to the next level not only by providing a physical place for families to gather and get food from the garden together, but in terms of job training and creating jobs, it’s literally like giving someone a fishing pole and teaching them how to fish, instead of just giving them a fish,” says Lance. “Hope Farms will bring opportunities to teach folks how to farm and create an income and hopefully get them out of tough places, giving them new job skills, which is wonderful.”

Lance champions Hope Farms for the capacity it has to transform and revitalize the Sunnyside community. “This great community has an incredible history,” says Lance. “It is currently home to about 70,000 people, most of them are African-American, many of them lower-income families.

It’s an area where there hasn’t been a new grocery store built since the early 1970s. Although there’s number of community gardens, that are important, but nothing on the scale of Hope Farms.”

“My hope for Hope Farms is that it makes an impact that goes well beyond the property itself,” says Lance. “And that it brings a brightness to the men and women that work there, as well as to the families around the Hope Farms site and really carries through their daily lives.”

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CHEERS AND THANKS TO BISTRO MENIL Chef Greg Martin’s Bistro Menil, located on The Menil Collection museum campus, is celebrating its first anniversary with an evening of complimentary small bites and house beers and wines. This casual cocktail party will take place on Sunday, October 11, and will feature a silent wine auction, with 100% of the proceeds benefitting Recipe for Success. Tickets to this event are limited, so please email events@recipe4success.org to request an invitation.

BEEFINGtheUPBig Screen STEAK (R)EVOLUTION

SCREENING AND POST SCREENING PANEL DISCUSSION WITH GRACIE CAVNAR-FOUNDER, RECIPE FOR SUCCESS; GLEN BOUDREAUX-OWNER, JOLIEVUE FARMS & MORGAN WEBER-OWNER REVIVAL MARKET

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9*, 2015, 7PM MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON 1001 BISSONNET STREET HOUSTON, TX 77005 *ADDITIONAL SCREENING ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2015, 7PM

MORE INFO HERE 36

PARTNERS IN RESEARCH: CENTER FOR SCIENCE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST Food marketing to children affects their preferences and diets, which is why 18 companies participate in the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative. But how successful are those efforts to protect children from unhealthy food ads? To find out, Recipe for Success Foundation is collaborating with the Center for Science in the Public Interest to compare American nutrition standards for food marketing to those recently adopted by the WHO for Europe.

Working with Margo Wootan, CSPI’s Director of Nutrition Policy, and Jessica Almay, Senior Nutrition Policy Counsel, Recipe for Success is analyzing more than 200 kid-oriented food products to see whether they would meet new WHO nutrition standards for advertising to children. Our goal is to publish the results in a leading peer-reviewed journal.

“It can be hard for kids to eat well in America today—and all the ads on TV don’t help,” says Jessica Almy. “Companies believe that Frosted Flakes, Happy Meals, and Fruit by the Foot are healthy enough to advertise to American kids. Our study looks at whether foods advertised to kids in the U.S. would meet WHO nutrition standards for Europe.”

“Recipe for Success Foundation is a valued partner in our shared efforts to protect children from unhealthy food ads,” says Almy. “We are happy to have this opportunity to collaborate on this research project.”

Visit the Center for Science in the Public Interest at www.cspinet.org.

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PHOTOS FRONT COVER Robert Del Grande with students at Rodriguez Elementary PAGE 2

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Chef Philippe Schmit with student, Tiye McKethen; Recipe for Success Staff LEFT-RIGHT: Cissy Segall Davis, Natalie Boone, Ronnie Ortiz, Jodie Eisenhardt, Marisol Castro, Lauren Gockley, Carolyn Carcassi Carlos Meltzer, Sharon Siehl; Kim Tutcher, Patty Hubbard and Susan Criner; NQ Henderson students visit Atkinson Farms, chef Marcus Jimenez with kids at Rodriguez

PAGE 5

Carrie Colbert and Donae Chramosta, Matt and Christine Tabrizi

LEFT TO RIGHT:

PAGE 10

LEFT: Chef

Robert Del Grande and Bob Culpepper with students at Rodriguez

RIGHT: Robert

Del Grande, Gracie and Bob Cavnar.

PAGE 11 Robert Del Grande with his Rodriguez Elementary 4th grade class PAGE 12 Photo by Justin Kouri PAGE 14 Layne Cruz, Davelyn Pacheco and Joey Luna PAGE 17 Esmerelda Warshaw, Cedar Brook students, Hortencia Flores PAGE 18 A Gross Elementary student PAGE 22

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Garth Blackburn and Phyllis Childress; Cathy Brock and Phyllis Childress; Phyllis and her guests at a Gala in Small Bites at SubZero Wolf

PAGE 28 Students at Briscoe Elementary

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WE ARE GETTING STRAIGHT A’S WITH INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS LIKE SEED-TO-PLATE NUTRITION EDUCATION™, FARMERS MARKIDS, AND VEGOUT! YOU CAN BRING THESE GAME-CHANGING PROGRAMS TO MORE KIDS WITH A GIFT TODAY.

CLICK HERE TO MAKE YOUR DONATION TO OUR ANNUAL FUND

P.O Box 56405 Houston, Texas 77256 713.520.0443 www.recipe4success.org DONATE NOW!

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