The Bellaire Buzz - December 2020

Favorite Holiday Sweets

Debbie Robbins

A Cookie Tin Bake-Off The Big Red Truck Gifts for Chefs from Chefs

by Andria Frankfort

Off to See the Trains I Left Ronald Reagan Hanging John Rice’s Christmas Cards Mexico: To Stay or Go Holiday Happenings Houston, TX

When Women in Art Collaborate

Permit No. 2047 PAID US Postage PRSRT STD

New Thinking for a New Year

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 3

EXPERIENCE MATTERS!

PUBLISHER’S NOTE At this point, one thing I think we can all agree on is that 2021 cannot get here quickly enough. Are we sure 2020 had only 12 months? Despite all the challenges, we somehow got through it together, as a community. I hope, in a small way, The Buzz was able to help by sharing stories of your remarkable neighbors. I’d like to thank everyone, including readers, advertisers and vendors, for taking this ride with us again this year.

And thank you to our talented Buzz team, who continued their high-quality work while managing the challenges of a pandemic. I also want to give a big shout out to all the U.S. postal carriers, who provide the literal last step, delivering The Buzz to your homes each month. Wishing everyone a healthy, happy and safe holiday. Whether it’s virtually or in person, we’ll be looking for you in 2021. michael@thebuzzmagazines.com

THE BUZZ MAGAZINES BELLAIRE • WEST UNIVERSITY • MEMORIAL • TANGLEWOOD/RIVER OAKS Published by Hoffman Marketing & Media, LLC 5001 Bissonnet, Suite 100, Bellaire, Texas 77401 info@thebuzzmagazines.com • p: 713.668.4157 • f: 713.665.2940 Follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter thebuzzmagazines.com Editor Publisher Associate Editors Editorial Assistant Design Manager Staff Writers

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Joni Hoffman Michael Hoffman Cheryl Laird Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld Jenna Mazzoccoli John Duboise Tracy L. Barnett Deborah Lynn Blumberg Sharon Albert Brier Cindy Burnett Andria Frankfort Angie Frederickson Todd Freed Cindy Gabriel Cathy Gordon Michelle Groogan Dai Huynh Annie Blaylock McQueen Jennifer Oakley Pooja Salhotra Cheryl Ursin Russell Weil Emily Robinson, Meg Scott Andrea Blitzer Leslie Little Jo Rogers

On our cover: Debbie Robbins bakes these festive Mint Stick Brownies for holiday celebrations.

Cover photo by Nikky LaWell, lawellphoto.com The Buzz Magazines has made all reasonable attempts to verify the accuracy of all information contained within. Advertising claims are solely the responsibility of the advertiser. Copyright © 2020 Hoffman Marketing & Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any portion of this magazine by any means without written permission is strictly prohibited. Printed on recycled paper. Please remember to recycle.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 4

Please Join Us for an Open House Saturday, December 12, 2020 12:00pm to 5:00pm

Dr. Rhesa Bautista 5101 Bellaire Blvd., Suite 260 Bellaire, TX 77401 281-407-1266 boxwooddentistry.com Drop by to meet Dr. Bautista and her staff and tour the office.

Enjoy light refreshments, door prizes and holiday cheer!

COVID-19 precautions will be observed.

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713.764.9850 • mlivingston@gmail.com • www.har.com/mikelivingston BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 5

MAILBAG

Your letters, thoughts, opinions Story was spot on Andria, your Buzz article about the 40-year friendship of the ZBT “boys” [It Started at Texas-OU: Still friends after 40 years, by Andria Frankfort, October 2020] was absolutely spot on. You have captured the spirit of the friendship and supportive and loving circle we are lucky to be a part of. Just want to thank you for the really wonderful job you did. Many, many thanks.

Eleanor Balloff Seline, “One of the wives who wandered into this mess and got sucked into the vortex”

A Tracy Barnett fan Tracy, I saw the article in The Buzz this week [Travel Buzz: Golf pilgrimage to Ireland, by Tracy L. Barnett, October 2020]. It was neat seeing it in print!

You did a really good job of capturing our annual sacred pilgrimage. I can’t say enough about how much my brother Michael and I appreciate your fine work. Now when I am perusing The Buzz I will be looking for your articles!

John Keating

Reminiscing about restaurants This is my story, and I begin in Austin, Texas when I was in college under the G.I. bill. I was broke but together we ex. G.I.s got enough to go to Youngblood’s restaurant in Austin. They had a waiter walk around with a basket of hot rolls. The table had a bottle of honey. We would order one order of chicken and fill up on the rolls and honey! Oh, thank you, Youngblood’s! Once out of college I found a Youngblood’s in Houston.

Well, it was not the same.

I could afford to go to other spots. I found Bill Bennett's for the night crowd, Gilley's for some fun, but then came the restaurants: Kaphan's for the trout; there was Sonny Look's for steaks (but truly, truly, Bud Bigelow's was my favorite); Felix Mexican Restaurant for Mexican food (the Monterey House was for a quick lunch). Then came new places: Virginia Station, San Francisco Steakhouse, and then the most extravagant of them all: the Great Mine Company! How could such a place fold? There is one more I must mention. The reception for my wedding was held at a place meant for memories – long since gone: The Green Parrot.

I must say I miss old Houston. Thank you for giving me cause to reminisce [in Restaurant Memories: A look back at Houston’s dining past, by Russell Weil, November 2014].

Alex Guevara Editor's note: Thanks for sharing your memories with us, Alex. See thebuzzmagazines.com to read this still-popular story from 2014. If you have restaurant memories, share them with us all at info@thebuzzmagazines.com.

Error in article Please accept my thanks for the increasingly interesting articles published in The West University Buzz magazine. I read and enjoy your well written and informative pieces each month.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 6

Please note, however, that there is an error in the November 2020 article regarding the MIA bracelets [Full Circle: Bracelets to remember our soldiers].

She refers to former Senator Bob Dole "who died in 1996." Bob Dole is still alive, at age 97!

Judy Hollinger

Another close reader My husband and I received your magazine recently and read your article "Full Circle" with great interest. In your article you mistakenly write that Bob Dole died in 1996. I am from Russell, Kansas, home of Bob Dole, and have always been proud of the legacy he created as a U.S. senator, one of the greats of the Greatest Generation. I believe he's still alive and well, so it might be a good idea to clarify.

Tammy Barr Editor’s note: Thank you so much, Judy and Tammy, for bringing this error to our attention. Our writer meant to say that Bob Dole served in the Senate until 1996, not that he passed away that year. We sincerely regret the error and have updated it in the online version of the story.

Send letters to info@thebuzzmagazines.com. Please include your name, address, phone number and email address for verification purposes. Letters are subject to editing for clarity and space. Views expressed in letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Buzz Magazines, and The Buzz takes no responsibility for the content and opinions expressed in them.

What’s your story?

We are looking for residents for upcoming articles who: • Have found creative ways to modify traditions this year.

• Know a Buzzworthy neighbor to feature.

• Have an interesting hobby.

• Have a unique travel story.

• Play a musical instrument and would like to be part of our “Name That Tune” video series online.

If this sounds like you or someone you know, please contact us at info@thebuzzmagazines.com or 713.668.4157, ext 12.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 7

by Deborah Lynn Blumberg, staff writer

Collaborate and Create

Armando Rodriguez

NEIGHBORS

Women in visual and literary arts inspire each other

P

laywright Kay McStay and artist Judith Shamp met for tea over several months and talked about the meaning of compassion. McStay brought definitions of the word from the major religions. Shamp shared newspaper pictures of refugees.

Inspired by their conversations, McStay wrote a play about compassion, while Shamp created art using paper, cloth, ink and paints. “We got deep and emotional with each other,” says McStay. “Judy really inspired me.”

During early meetings, McStay jotted down words and phrases – refugees with baggage, circles, empathy. Then the two women spent hours in Shamp’s home art studio. Surrounded by rolls of fabric, precious stones, beads and sewing machines, McStay gave feedback on her partner’s work-in-progress.

“Seeing her piece helped me realize I was on the right track with mine,” says McStay, who lives in the River Oaks area. “We really wanted our pieces to be about action. If you have compassion in your heart, you have to act. For me, these collaborations give me impetus and energy. It’s a beautiful sharing.”

McStay’s play features two spouses or longterm friends – McStay keeps their identities ambiguous – struggling with bad news and anxiety and searching for hope. Shamp’s artwork features silhouettes of refugees with their belongings on their backs.

The women are among 19 pairs of female artists and writers in a project by the non-profit Women in the Visual and Literary Arts, or WiVLA. The art and excerpts of writing are now on virtual display on the Holocaust Museum Houston website.

Sally Worthington and Maria Brown were another one of the pairs.

Worthington created a sculpture of a large figure with outstretched arms beckoning to smaller figures that represent the maimed, dispossessed, indigent and all those in need. The West University resident made her art out of plaster, papier-mâché, chicken wire and images found online, and then used her home oven to bake the figures.

Her collaboration partner, Maria Brown, BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 8

made three of the smaller pieces and wrote, “I am you. I am your neighbor.

We need to care for one another,” in her piece.

“So, it wasn’t, ‘She wrote and I visualized,’” Worthingon says, “but a true collaboration. Making art can be a solitary pursuit. Meeting and collaborating with other artists opens you up to new ideas, techniques and the art of compromise.”

In Bellaire, Mollie Gordon, an THE ARTS Sally Worthington (pictured) may be a visual artist, but she finds inspiration from writers, such as Maria Brown. The two were paired together in a collaborative project artist who is a psy- by the nonprofit Women in the Visual and Literary Arts. chiatrist at Baylor also “Circle of Five” meetings. Five women sit College of Medicine and medical director for in a circle and share their words and art – an the Anti-Human Trafficking Program, created excerpt from a novel-in-progress, a piece of jewa sculpture with an antique mirror from elry, or quilt square.

Goodwill, wood, milk, chalk paint, gold leaf and Each year, WiVLA gives $1,000 to a member barbed wire. who is an artist and another $1,000 to a member Gordon’s partner, Gail Plunkett, wrote about who is a writer. One artist installed a septic syscompassion: “Is it a human thing, or is it a tem so she could safely use special dyeing techwhole-world thing? Or is it other-worldly? niques. When McStay won, she took a trip to Could it be all of these at once?”

San Antonio to see the work of Mexican WiVLA was founded in 1994 by a group of cement artist Dionicio Rodriguez for another women that include River Oaks-area novelist play she’s working on. Over the years, WiVLA Karleen Koen. The women met at a women’s has given out more than $44,000. networking event where most attendees worked “Creativity in some ways is so single,” says in banking, business or law. They wanted a simKoen. “You’re so alone in it, and that means selfilar group that would support women artists and doubt. WiVLA is a place for women to see other writers. women who are doing it. It’s so much fun to “It came about because it’s so darn lonely to watch women blossom in their creativity.” make your living off of creativity,” says Koen.

WiVLA hosts a monthly meeting – currently Editor’s note: You can see the Compassion exhibit over Zoom – featuring artist and writer speakers. online at hmh.org. To join WiVLA, see wivla.org.

Past speakers have included Houston muralist Buzz writer Deborah Lynn Blumberg is a board Anat Ronen, the women behind Zine Fest member.

Houston, and physician-mom crafters. There are

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 9

NEIGHBORS

by Cindy Gabriel, staff writer

I Left Ronald Reagan Hanging Some 2020 hindsight for a ’70s teen

I

t’s the middle of October as I write this, publishing deadlines and such. I don’t know the election outcome. But I’m guessing nerves are raw.

By accident of birth, I found myself exposed to politics in my tweens. My father, Clymer Wright, a newspaper publisher, was a conservative, to put it mildly. The inside of my house and the outside of my house seemed like two different planets.

It’s 1968. I’m 13, getting over three summer months of parent-directed tears. (Who moves a daughter to a new town on the last day of seventh grade?) But then, it starts getting interesting: new school, new friends, make-up, bell bottoms, peace signs, rock and roll, and, most importantly, boys. Boys with long hair weren’t allowed in my house. So who do I like? Boys with long hair. Then, my father starts something called “Texans for Reagan.”

Dad, it seemed, kinda ruled the world from our couch, on weekends, between football games. He saw Ronald Reagan on TV one night and decided this new California governor should be president. So, he went to the Reagan Ranch and asked him. Seriously. Why couldn’t he just play golf like my friends' fathers?

He had a sly, devilish humor that let no one, I mean no one, off the hook, even Reagan himself. Meanwhile, back at the Reagan Ranch, as he told it, Reagan had an “aw shucks” reluctance to run for president because he had been governor of California for only two years. “I’m afraid people will still think of me as an actor,” Reagan said. Dad’s reply?

“Well, Governor, I saw one of your movies on the Late, Late, Show [he added a Late], and I can assure you, actor is a charge that will never stick.” Dad claimed Reagan laughed uproariously at the quip while his two companions, who would later work in his administration, cringed and slid down in their chairs.

Awkward. As much as I wished my dad was more bland, like other dads, the weird juxtaposition between him, me and the ’70s lasted the entire decade, culminating with Reagan’s inauguration in 1981.

Dad’s side hobby was political fundraising for BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 10

candidates and causes he liked. The yellow telephone on the kitchen bar wall was central headquarters. I marveled at his power of persuasion while working his scratchy, handwritten call list. I was sure I was missing some interesting calls myself due to the constant busy signal, perhaps a boy with long hair.

GROWING UP POLITICAL “Why couldn’t he just play golf like the other dads?”

One Saturday after- Life in the '70s with Cindy Gabriel’s dad, Clymer Wright, was anything but dull. noon, Dad and I were A framed, albeit wrinkled picture of Dad with watching some football blooper show that Richard Nixon sat on a bookshelf despite Dad’s seemed really funny at the time. I left my dad effort to toss it, long before Watergate. President guffawing at the tube to answer a slightly annoyGerald Ford, Nixon’s unelected VP replaceing ring from that yellow telephone. ment, became Dad’s (I mean Reagan’s) next “Clymer Wright, please,” came a pleasantobstacle. sounding voice.

A Dallas TV station caught Dad enjoying a “Um, hold on,” I deadpanned, not wanting to choir rendition of Climb Every Mountain at a interrupt the laugh fest. I waited for a commerRepublican state convention. He found one cial, then remembered, “Oh Dad, telephone. subversive line in it, “Ford every stream,” a Probably a radio reporter.” quote that made the local news. Ford got the His voice stood at attention. “Governor!” he nomination and lost to Jimmy Carter in 1976. declared after hearing Ronald Reagan’s voice on Finally, in 1980, Dad chaired the Texas the other end. It seems like a bigger deal now finance committee for Ronald Wilson Reagan’s than at the time. successful election as the 40th president of the Reagan was generally regarded as unelectable.

United States.

The hit comedy show Laugh-In, which ran from Dad did not blindly applaud every move he ’67 through ’73, did a segment called “News of made as president. In the end, he would quip the Future.” One bit began with the words that Reagan made a much better actor as presi“President Ronald Reagan.” That was the laugh dent. In fact, at times I would find myself line. I knew I would hear about it from my defending Reagan as president against my father. young, hip, liberal history teacher, Mr. Gandy.

I would also see him convincing his wealthy I wanted to crawl under a rock. business friends to hire convicted felons who Mr. Gandy and my dad argued politics my would show up at our door on occasion after entire sophomore high school year without ever serving their sentences. Dad would offer them speaking a word to each other. I served as their money and a job lead. conduit, pitching arguments between the dinner For years he attended a racially diverse table and the classroom. I was wired like my dad. church in a poor community. It was his way of He developed his own ideas about the world, acknowledging the other side of the American and I would develop mine. Not his. coin. I don’t think he would be fond of the People labeled him as a die-hard Republican. habit we’ve fallen into lately, of seeing only But we heard more gripes about Republicans in heads or tails. our home than we ever did about Democrats.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 11

FOOD

The Great Cookie Tin Bake-Off Two friends and their Christmas quest

T

here is a quiet but serious hunt for the perfect Christmas cookie going on in some Buzz neighborhoods.

The participants – there are only two – have named their pursuit the Great Cookie Tin BakeOff. They pit cookie recipe against cookie recipe in search of the best of the best. Only those that have pleased their palettes – and those of their taste-testing husbands – will be deemed worthy to include in the Christmas-cookie tins they give to friends and family.

Friends and pilates buddies Adele Bentsen and Kathryn Wilson are the cookie researchers.

“We’re always talking food, even when we’re doing pilates,” Adele says. “We exchange recipes, and Kathryn is serious about it.”

“Adele and I have been on a Christmas-cookie quest,” Kathryn says, explaining that this is yet another baking-project spin-off of the 2020 quarantine. “She and I started [three months] ago and exchanged every one of our cookie cookbooks. We went through them with a finetoothed comb to see what cookies were going into our tins this year.

“Right now, I’ve got a couple packed up and ready to go over to her, and she has some kind of special rum-glazed gingerbread ready for me.”

Husbands Tom Wilson and Lan Bentsen are the beneficiaries of the duo’s many months of baking. “The husbands have become brutally honest with us,” Kathryn says. “They’ll say, ‘You’ve made better,’ or sometimes they’ll say something is good, ‘If you like that kind of cookie.’”

Kathryn keeps track of the cookies she’s given away in past years. She makes sure not to give the same people the same cookies every year. A Christmas cookie-tin document in her computer holds the data.

Adele explains, “We are different in our approach, but it’s fun to talk about it. Kathryn’s a much more experienced baker and has a large repertoire of cookies. We’ll be talking about looking for the perfect gingersnap, and she had the one she always uses. But then we found a triple-ginger recipe, and we were very excited.”

“Adele is so scientific,” Kathryn says. “She studied and made four different sugar cookie doughs and popped them all in the freezer, and BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 12

lawellphoto.com

by Andria Frankfort, staff writer

one by one she is baking them and deciding what will be her go-to sugar cookie. I’m not that dedicated, but I’m with her in spirit.”

The appeal for Adele truly is in the science.

“I’m very interested in what happens when you use [different kinds] of butter, like the other day I used brown butter and the cookie didn’t crisp up because the browning had taken the water out of the butter.”

Kathryn loves the baking. She is known for her homemade breads, which she has been baking since she was 15. “When I was a teenager,” she says, “I saw a recipe in an old Betty Crocker cookbook with the red-andwhite checks. It had picBEAUTIFULLY BOXED Recipients of the tins filled with cookies by Kathryn tures of bread, and I Wilson and Adele Bentsen (from left) are in for a treat. thought, ‘I can do that.’”

As for the tins themselves, “Adele is hot on She was even younger when she began baking the trail for some kind of beautiful ribbon, and Christmas cookies with her grandmother. “We she’s hunting for something more unusual than started with slice-and-bake dough that we would a tin,” Kathryn says. “I think a tin is a tin. Adele put sprinkles on,” she says. “When I was a teenagsaid she couldn’t go to sleep the other night and er and my mother let me loose in the kitchen, one was lying in bed deciding how she was going to of the first things I remember being so proud of – layer the cookies in her cookie tin.” maybe I was 16 – I did stand-up gingerbread trees, Christmas cookies are serious business. “I where the cookies sat together like puzzle pieces.” couldn’t begin to count the text messages To this day, Kathryn cites gingerbread as her between us about this Great Cookie Tin Bakefavorite holiday cookie. “The roll-out kind, Off. It’s just evolved into a nonstop discussion because you can do so much with it.” of cookies that are worthy of going into our Year after year, Kathryn’s family is partial to cookie tins.” her Chunk Wild Cookies, with chocolate, white “We text nonstop,” Adele says. “It’s kind of chocolate and peanut butter chips. “It’s a King ridiculous.”

Arthur recipe,” Kathryn says, “and it’s a win.”

Delicious ridiculousness, nonetheless.

She adds, “But this is a wonderful year to focus “There’s nothing much that gives me more on some new cookies instead of the same oldpleasure these days,” (continued on page 14) same old.”

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 13

lawellphoto.com

(continued from page 12) Kathryn says. About hav-

ing all the cookies around to taste-test, she says, “It is just an embarrassment of riches.”

Cranberry, Oat and White Chocolate Biscuits Adele Bentsen loves this recipe, created by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh. Adele uses walnuts in place of the almonds, and she adds some candied orange to the top of the cookies after icing them.

Dried cranberries could be used as a garnish in place of the candied orange.

1 cup whole almonds, skin on 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting ½ cup whole wheat flour 1½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats ¼ teaspoon salt 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 1½- inch pieces ½ cup sugar Finely grated zest of 1 large orange ¾ cup dried cranberries, chopped in half (if they are not already chopped), soaked in 1 Tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons orange juice 9 ounces white chocolate Candied orange or dried cranberries for garnish (optional) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the almonds out on a baking tray and roast for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and, once cool enough to handle, roughly chop into ⅓-inch pieces. Transfer the nuts to a large bowl and add the flour, oats and salt. Mix together and set aside.

Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees.

Line two or three baking trays with baking parchment and set aside.

Place the butter, sugar and orange zest in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment in place. Beat on medium for about 2 minutes, until combined and light. Add the almonds and flour mix to the butter and sugar mix, and continue to mix on low until the dough just comes together. Add the cranberries and orange juice and mix for another few seconds to combine, then tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough into a ball, sprinkling over more flour if needed to prevent it getting too sticky.

Cut the dough in half and roll out one half to about ¼-inch thickness. Use a 3-inch cookie cutter to cut the dough into rounds. Transfer these to a lined tray while you continue with the remaining dough. Bake for 18 minutes, until lightly browned all over. Remove from the oven and set aside until completely cool.

Meanwhile, place the white chocolate in a small bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, stirring occasionally, until melted. Do not let the base of the bowl touch the water. To coat the cookies, use the back of a dessert spoon to spread a tablespoon of melted chocolate over each. Set aside on a cooling rack for the chocolate to set, up to an hour, before serving.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 14

WINNERS Only the cookies that passed muster with Kathryn Wilson, Adele Bentsen and their husbands Tom and Lan (respectively) fill Christmas cookie tins.

Soft Gingerbread Tiles with Rum Butter Glaze An Adele Bentsen favorite: From Epicurious, “Sweet: Desserts from London’s Ottolenghi,” by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature ⅓ packed cup plus 2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar ¼ cup blackstrap molasses 1 large egg yolk 1¾ cups plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus extra for pressing 1 Tablespoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder ½ teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ground ginger ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Rum-Butter Glaze ⅔ cup confectioners' sugar ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and warm 1 Tablespoon dark rum (or lemon juice) 1 teaspoon warm water Note: If you don’t have cookie stamps, the gingerbreads can be made as regular cookies, using round cutters, or cut into squares or rectangles with a knife.

Place the butter, sugar and molasses in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment in place. Beat on medium speed until smooth and incorporated. Add the egg yolk and continue to beat until fully combined.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt and pepper into a bowl. Turn the speed of the mixer to low, and add the dry ingredients to the butter and molasses. Once the mix comes together, tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently. Roll out the dough so that it is about ¼-inch thick. If the dough is very soft, you will need to chill it.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Dip cookie stamps in a small bowl of flour, shake off any excess and then press them firmly into the dough, one at a time, to create a deep imprint. How far you need to press to get an imprint will depend on your stamp; the patterns on some are more deeply cut than others.

Bear in mind that the cookies rise a little when cooked, so any soft imprints will disappear.

Using a round cookie cutter that is slightly larger than the pattern, cut out the pieces of imprinted gingerbread. Transfer the cookies to the lined baking sheets, spaced about ¾ inch apart. Reroll the dough and continue to stamp and cut cookies until all the dough is used up.

Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until firm to the touch. They will continue to firm up as they cool, so don’t be tempted to bake them for any longer.

Make the Rum-Butter Glaze while the gingerbreads are in the oven, as the glaze needs to be brushed onto the cookies while they are still warm. Sift the confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl. Add the melted butter, rum (or lemon juice) and water and mix with a spoon until smooth.

The glaze will thicken slightly if it sits

Christmas Spice Cookies Shared by Kathryn Wilson, this recipe is originally from Dorie’s Cookies, by Dorie Greenspan. Kathryn altered the recipe slightly by creating sandwich cookies with cookie butter filling, which was her friend Adele Bentsen’s idea.

1 pound unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature 1⅓ cups sugar 1 teaspoon fine sea salt 2 large egg whites, at room temperature 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract 4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger ¼ teaspoon ground cloves ¼ teaspoon ground allspice Sanding or decorative sugars for sprinkling (optional) Biscoff Cookie Butter (optional) Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar and salt together on medium until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low and blend in the egg whites, followed by the vanilla. The dough might curdle, but it will smooth out with mixing and the addition of the flour.

Measure the flour in a separate bowl and whisk in the cinnamon, ginger, cloves and allspice.

Still working on low speed, add the flour in 3 or 4 additions, beating only until it is almost incorporated each time before adding more; scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl a couple of times as you work and then continue to mix until the flour has disappeared into the dough.

Divide the dough into quarters and shape each piece into a disk. (The dough may be frozen at this point.) Working with one disk at a time, place the dough between pieces of parchment paper and roll it to a thickness of ¼-inch. Slide the dough, still between the paper, onto a baking sheet – you can stack the slabs – and freeze for at least 1 hour, or refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Peel away the paper on both sides of the dough and return it to one piece of paper.

Using a 2-inch-diameter cutter, cut out as many cookies as you can. (You can use any size or shape cutter you like – just know that the yield will be different.) Place them on the lined baking sheet about 1½ inches apart.

Gather the scraps together, re-roll them between paper, and chill.

If you’re using sanding sugar, sprinkle the tops of the cookies with it. Bake for 19 to 21 minutes, rotating the sheet after 10 minutes, or until the cookies feel firm to the touch. Transfer the sheet to a rack and let the cookies rest for 5 minutes before lifting them onto the rack to cool to room temperature. Repeat with the rest of the dough, making sure your baking ‘TIS THE SEASON Friends Kathryn Wilson (at right) and Adele Bentsen strive sheet is cool. to find the best recipes for the holidays.

Note: To make 1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips sandwich cookies instead, use a simple, small 1½ cups chopped pecans or walnuts cookie cutter such as a round or rectangle to cut the dough, and then use a very small Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Lightly cookie cutter or a knife to cut out a design in grease (or line with parchment) four baking the center of half the cookies before baking. sheets, or as many as you have.

Don't use sanding or decorative sugar. After Beat together the butter, sugars, baking powbaking, spread cookie butter on half the der, baking soda and salt. Beat in the eggs and cookies and immediately top with a cookie vanilla. with a decorative cut-out. The small cut-out Using a blender or food processor, process the isn't necessary; pairs of small cookies can be oats with the white chocolate until the oats are used. finely ground, and the chocolate is mostly The rolled-out dough can be wrapped and ground; a few small chunks are okay. refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 Add the oats and flour to the butter mixture, months. The cookies will keep in a covered conthen stir in the peanut butter chips, chocolate tainer at room temperature for up to 1 week. chips, and chopped walnuts. Drop the dough by They can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto the prepared to 2 months. baking sheets. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes, until they're just set. They may be bareChunk Wild Cookies ly starting to brown around the edges, but the From Kathryn Wilson, adapted from a King tops won't be brown at all. Remove the cookies Arthur Baking recipe from the oven, and cool.

16 Tablespoons butter, softened These are great to make ahead and store in 1 cup granulated sugar the freezer. Scoop out the dough onto a wax 1 cup light brown sugar, packed paper-lined cookie sheet, putting them very 1 teaspoon baking powder close together. Wrap well and freeze for up to 1 teaspoon baking soda two months. They can be baked straight from 1¼ teaspoons salt the freezer, or let them sit on the counter for 30 2 large eggs to 45 minutes, well spaced.

1 teaspoon vanilla extract Peanut butter chips can be replaced with 2½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats 2 dried fruit, such as cranberries, or with other fla⁄3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips vors of chips such as butterscotch or cinnamon.

2 cups all-purpose flour The nuts are optional.

1 cup peanut butter chips lawellphoto.com

around, so stir through a little more warm water if you need to – it should be the consistency of runny honey.

Remove the cookies from the oven, leave them to cool for 5 minutes, then brush or dab the glaze all over with a pastry brush.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the dough is made, it can be covered in plastic wrap and kept in the fridge for up to two days before baking. These will keep for up to five days in an airtight container. The glaze will discolor and crack a little, but this will not affect how they taste.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 15

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NEIGHBORS

by Jennifer Oakley, staff writer

Gifts of the Magi John Rice’s Christmas cards

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n John Rice’s world, angels alight, French hens nest, Lords leap and three fantastical Magi bear gifts. Through paper collage, poetry and pen and ink, Rice weaves a tapestry of art forms into memorable Christmas cards.

This December marks the 59th year that Rice has hand-made his cards, which he mails to friends and family in commemoration of the holiday season. It’s been a journey for Rice that pays homage to his grandparents, parents, wife, children and grandchildren and has taken him through almost six decades of artistic evolution.

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eck the halls with boughs of holly; A candy cane and a lolli; A Christmas goose, a jugged hare; A golden Partridge (sans a pear)…

Rice grew up in Galveston, where the sea, the arts and church melded together to influence his calling as an adult. Drawing and writing interested him from an early age, and he credits his family for nurturing his creativity and exposing him to classical music, books and poetry.

“One of the greatest gifts my parents gave me was the gift of reading,” he says. "I had free rein of my dad’s library, and that was a huge influence on me because I was always encouraged to read.”

And paint. “When I was a little kid my parents allowed me to paint on the walls of my bedroom. I remember painting an American Indian in a full headdress with an eagle-feather war bonnet. I had seen the image on, of all things, a beach towel, so I painted it on my plaster wall with poster paint.”

Rice’s grandfather was a ship agent with a creative side, as was John’s father. “My grandfather was a poet,” Rice says with a kind smile. “We all went to Trinity Episcopal Church in Galveston, where my dad was choirmaster and organist and my mom sang in the choir. I also sang in the choir there when I was young. There is an enormous stained-glass window commissioned by my dad and grandmother, to honor my grandfather after he died. I always feel at home when I go back there to the church. I am sure that the church influenced what I do.”

After attending college at The University of Texas at Austin, Rice returned to Galveston and started working in the maritime business.

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HOLIDAY KEEPSAKES For 59 years, John Rice has created unique, handmade cards for friends and family.

He was 21, and that Christmas, he got a hankering to make cards. “I had drawn and painted almost all my life, so I thought, what the heck – I will make my own card,” Rice says of his first effort in 1961, which was a simple, colorful collage of the Three Wise Men, crafted out of construction paper. “I got a good reaction to the card, so I thought I might as well do it again.”

Rice decided to take a chance at hand drawing for Christmas 1962, using black ink on white cardboard. He enjoyed that medium so much he used it annually until 2001, which was the 40th anniversary of his first card.

From 1961 to the present, Rice’s cards have grown in size and scope. He has a full-time job, so he composes his cards at nights and on weekends in the study of his West University Place

home. “I have my grandfather’s 100-year-old roll top desk that he used to use, and now I work at it,” says Rice.

Rice, who also writes poetry and haiku, says he thinks about his cards all year long, but usually spends four to six weeks each fall on the detail work. He uses cardboard, the kind from the dry cleaners in a folded shirt, as his foundation.

“For the collage process, I do a positioning layout on the cardboard that will serve as the base, so I have a starting point. In the case of the three kings, when they have been on a horse, for example, I will start with the horse’s head and work piece by piece to fill out the body, and then I move on to the kings. It’s like assembling a puzzle. I have to use very fine forceps or tweezers to place the papers I have cut onto the col-

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lage, and I use glue sticks to glue them down.”

Once complete, he takes the cards to a professional printing company to produce. “My printer then reduces them to fit a normal card-sized envelope,” says Rice, who sends out 250 cards each Christmas. “When I get the cards back from the printer, I sign and number each one.” roasted loin, doves in pastry –; Enough for all and oh, so tasty.;Bombe, glace, souffle, torte; Café noir and a glass of port...

From 1961 to 1982, Rice focused on “The Three Magi” and “Mother and Child” exclusively. And then, in 1983, he became inspired by “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and delved into depicting the lyrics into his cards. His black-ink interpretations are both realistic and whimsical. The 1999 card “Five Golden Rings” has fanciful polar bears ice skating and tossing rings to one another. The 1998 card “Eleven Pipers Piping” has 11 pipers – one is a rendering of his first grandson, then age 4. An orb motif, repeated in numerous cards, is a nod to a Celtic knot that his wife, clinical psychologist Glenda Rice, uses on her business cards.

During that time period, Rice began adding dedications on the cards to honor people who had impacted his life. “The memorial section started in the late ’80s and early ’90s,” says Rice, president of Resk Maritime Resources, which provides consulting services to the maritime industry. “I worked at Enron [as director of fleet operations] at the time, and one of my colleagues passed away, and that is the first time I started adding an in memoriam. People’s families are pretty taken with it, and I think they all have appreciated it.”

“I love all the cards,” says his wife, Glenda.

“And I love the Christmas tradition that John has created, not just for our family, but for our friends and their families. If I had to choose one card that stands out for me, it would be “Mounted Magi” [pen and ink, 1995]. When I look at it, I’m struck by how delicate and intricate the work is, but how strong the images are, and how vividly they express the story of that moment.”

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o toast the old year, it’s almost went; Consider Season’s Greetings sent! – “Banquetry” poem by John E. Rice (1989) In 2008, Rice stretched his hand by going back to where it all began: He created another color collage card. But this time, he decided to make the design more intricate, with varied papers. He says he was inspired by the Cubistperiod collage works by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, along with children’s storybook illustrator Eric Carle.

Rice socks away papers that grab his eye in a large drawer at home. That drawer is a treasure chest of pages torn from magazines and catalogs and paper from art supply stores.

“I comb through magazines, and if something strikes me as a good color or texture, I will keep it,” says Rice, who often uses up to 60 different kinds of paper to create one card. “A lot of times

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ANNUAL ART PROJECT Top: John Rice uses black ink as a medium to create many of his memorable Christmas cards. Bottom: A sampling of his cards. The collage of the three Magi wearing red robes in the center was his first card, made in 1961.

I let the paper guide me. In one card, the wings in the central angel are pictures of fish fins.

Other red wings are window blinds in a picture I saw in an interior house magazine.”

With the new collages, Rice returned to the Magi as his subject material, and he interpreted their journey to Bethlehem in a variety of ways.

Rice constructed them making their way, following the star, via foot, camel, horseback – and one year, even on magic carpets.

“I have had the kings doing everything,” laughs Rice. “I have them dancing – I have them as musicians. I have sent the kings on journeys around the world – they have been on a longer journey than they have bargained for!”

One year the Magi looked mythological, with animal faces (bear, lion, black panther).

Another year, in 2014, the “Dancing Magi”

were rounder, and one of the kings sported a long gray beard and a red gown. “He’s the closest I ever got to Santa Claus,” says the 79-year-old Rice, laughing, who with his own gray beard and twinkling eyes (but without the girth) could pass for a very sweet Saint Nick.

Much like the Magi, who are on a journey, so is Rice. The process of creating, printing, signing and sending the cards is his own pilgrimage. In 2010, after his mother passed away, Rice created a card in her honor. She loved angels, he said, so that year he collaged a trio of angels, wings spread and hovering above, looking down on the world.

“Mom loved angels, and she collected them her whole life,” says Rice. “She said she really didn’t believe in angels, but she said she liked the idea that they might be around.”

In John Rice’s world, they are.

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FOOD

by Andria Frankfort, staff writer

’Tis the Season

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is the season for cookies, and this year we are showing up early with our bells ready to jingle. Because it’s been a funky year. And what’s more of a guaranteed pick-me-up than a sweet holiday cookie? We’ve gathered some of our neighbors’ best here.

Here’s to happier times, and to happy baking.

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onoring tradition: Swiss Christmas cookies: Margrit Young came to Houston in 1969, the year her daughter Sarah Sampson was born in Switzerland, where Margrit grew up.

“Ron [Margrit’s late husband] finished medical school in Switzerland the week Sarah was born,” Margrit says. “He got a job in Houston, so we came here for one year. It’s been a long year.”

Margrit, who was the Swiss consul in Houston for 11 years, brought Sarah and her three boys home to Switzerland every year, making sure they knew the traditions she grew up with.

“We have a big tradition in Switzerland of making certain cookies only for the holidays,” Margrit says. “I grew up after the war, and people were very excited about baking cookies for Christmas. A lot of them have nuts and honey, because that’s what we had in Switzerland 100 to 150 years ago. I usually make two kinds, and they will last for at least a month.”

Margrit explains that many of the cookies’ names end in li: mailaenderli, brunsli. “Li means ‘small’ in German,” she explains. “So the cookies are small.”

For her part, Sarah says she looks forward to the Swiss cookies every year. But because Margrit’s recipes are mostly written in grams, she hasn’t learned the recipes. “As much as I’ve always baked, I was never doing them on my own, because I wasn’t translating the recipes.”

Margrit has now done the work and is sharing it with us all.

Zimtsterne (Swiss Christmas cookie) From Margrit Young 3 egg whites 2 cups powdered sugar 1½ Tablespoons cinnamon 1 Tablespoon Kirschwasser (kirsch) or lemon juice BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 18

3 cups finely ground hazelnuts (or ground almonds) Granulated sugar (for rolling out cookies)

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Our favorite holiday sweets

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Carefully fold the powdered sugar into the beaten egg whites. Set aside 1⁄3 cup of the mixture to use as a glaze.

Fold the remaining ingredients into the powdered sugar-egg white mixture to form a dough, and shape it into a ball. Dust the countertop lightly with granu- BAKING LEGACY Margrit Young is teaching her daughter Sarah Sampson lated sugar. Roll the and granddaughter Anna Sampson how to make Swiss Christmas cookies. dough so that it is ¼- to cookie dough],” Joy remembers. “I loved the lit½-inch thick. Use a star-shaped cookie cutter to tle puff that occurred as I placed the peanut butcut out cookies. Brush the tops of the cookies ter cup in the hot baked cookie dough. with the reserved glaze. Refrigerate the cookies “I’d highly recommend Peanut Butter Tarts for at least 30 minutes. as a universal favorite, one that is perfect for Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Bake the child bakers everywhere.” chilled cookies for 3 to 5 minutes. Cool before serving. When stored in an airtight container, Peanut Butter Tarts the cookies will stay fresh for a month.

From Joy Yeager and Kathy Archer ½ of a 16½-ounce roll Pillsbury refrigerated ond memories: Mother-daughter baking: sugar or peanut butter cookie dough Joy Yeager says her mother’s middle name 24 Mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, could be “Baker” (her real name is Kathy unwrapped Archer). “My mom always baked a wonderful array of Christmas cookies,” says Joy, who is a Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a mini mother of two girls. “And may I add that her muffin pan with nonstick spray. mother was the pastry chef in a hotel in St. Cut the cookie dough into 24 pieces. Place Cloud, Minnesota, about a century ago.” one piece of dough into each muffin cup. Bake Joy says Christmas cookies are “dear to my for 11 to 13 minutes. heart. Year to year, the assortment stayed fairly While the cookies are still hot, gently push consistent. Sugar cookies with red and green a peanut butter cup into the top of each. Let sugar were a favorite.” the cookies cool for 5 minutes, then use a Mostly, though, Joy remembers her mother’s spoon to scoop each one out of the muffin tin.

“Peanut Butter Tarts,” which consist of a simple Cool the cookies on a rack, and then refrigermix of Pillsbury pre-made dough and Reese’s ate them so that the candy becomes firm, about Peanut Butter Cups. “The best part for me was 30 minutes. placing a peanut butter cup in each circle [of (continued on page 20)

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BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 19

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HOLIDAY TRADITIONS Left: Joy Yeager has fond memories of making these Peanut Butter Tarts with her mom Kathy Archer at Christmastime. Right: Debbie Robbins likes to make her mom's recipe for festive Holiday Mint Stick Brownies for Hanukkah and Christmas celebrations. (continued from page 18)

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new twist: Experimenting with flavors and ingredients: Debbie Robbins is a tutor, a mother of three and a student becoming certified as a health and wellness coach. She is also an avid baker.

“My mom always had things baking and freezing, and I learned from her, being in the kitchen and watching. She is one of those who will come across a recipe and will say, ‘I’m going to try this tonight,’” Debbie says of her mother, Ingrid Eastman.

Savory baking is a favorite of Debbie’s. She recently learned how to make bagels. “I’m revising recipes, trying to make healthier versions that are still really, really yummy. So I’m experimenting with whole wheat and almond flours.”

For cookies – that aren’t necessarily healthy – Debbie says she bakes a lot of chocolate chips.

“But I’ll add caramel to them, so they’ve evolved into something like a chocolate chip-caramel cookie,” she says. “I like to take a basic recipe and throw other things into it, whether that’s nuts or caramel or Craisins. Whatever I find in the pantry. I’ll find myself on the baking aisle [in the grocery], saying, ‘Oh, I do need a bag of mint chocolate chips!’” During the holidays, Debbie likes to make her mother’s Mint Stick Brownies.

Holiday Mint Stick Brownies From Debbie Robbins 2 squares Baker’s Chocolate ½ cup butter 2 eggs, well beaten 1 cup sugar ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract ½ cup all-purpose flour 1 ⁄8 teaspoon salt ½ cup chopped nuts (I prefer walnuts) Mint Frosting (see below) Glaze Topping (see below) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9inch square pan.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 20

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the chocolate and butter together. Cool completely. Add the beaten eggs, sugar, peppermint extract, flour, salt and nuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Cool the brownies completely.

When the brownies are cool, frost them with a double layer of Mint Frosting. Drizzle the Glaze Topping over the frosting, and carefully tilt the pan back and forth so that it covers the surface (or very carefully spread with a rubber spatula). Refrigerate the brownies until the glaze sets, about 30 minutes. Cut and display on a pretty holiday platter. Note: This recipe can be doubled for a 9-by-13-inch pan.

Mint Frosting 2 Tablespoons butter, softened 1 cup sifted powdered sugar 1 Tablespoon heavy cream ½ teaspoon peppermint extract A few drops of green food coloring (festive for a Christmas party; change to blue if you are having a Hanukkah party!)

Beat all of the ingredients together using a stand or hand-held mixer. Refrigerate while you make the glaze.

Glaze Topping 1 square Baker’s Chocolate 1 Tablespoon butter, softened In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and chocolate together. Stir to combine.

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ampling recipes: Finding new favorites: Pediatrician and mother of four Susan Danziger says she bakes “whatever hits my fancy. I’m not that person who does the same thing over and over.”

She sources recipes from Facebook or New York Times emails. “I use that a lot. Smitten Kitchen, I also use. I barely use cookbooks anymore except for the old recipes I have. They’re too much work.”

Last year Susan happened upon a Nigella Lawson recipe for Forgotten Cookies that she loved. “They’re merengue, and you leave them in the oven overnight,” she says, “which I think is why they call them ‘forgotten.’ They’re really different tasting, crunchy and with spice.”

With all the recipes she tries, Susan finds it hard to keep track. “I make it, I like it, and then I forget to make it again!” she says. For help, she’s been using an app called CookBook – The Recipe Manager. “You can download recipes from different places or type in your old recipes,” she says. “And my kids can go in and see my recipes so I don’t have to read them to them.”

Forgotten Cookies From Nigella Lawson 2 large egg whites, at room temperature 1 pinch of fine sea salt 7 ⁄8 cup caster sugar 1 teaspoon cornstarch 1 teaspoon cider vinegar or white wine vinegar ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom 2 ⁄3 cup mini chocolate chips 2 ⁄3 cup finely chopped pistachios Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a greasefree bowl, whisk together the egg whites and salt until you have soft peaks. Whisk in the sugar a little at a time until thick and gleaming.

By hand, fold in the cornstarch, vinegar and cardamom, then add the chocolate chips and most of the pistachios, and very gently fold these in.

With a spoon, drop mounded blobs of the mixture, 1½ to 2 inches in diameter, onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Sprinkle with the remaining pistachios.

Put the cookies into the oven, shut the door and turn off the oven immediately. Let the cookies sit in the turned-off oven overnight.

These are best eaten within 24 hours but can keep up to five days stored in airtight containers.

They also can be frozen for up to 1 month.

NEIGHBORS

by Jenna Mazzoccoli, staff writer

Photo courtesy of Rudolph’s Lightshow

Holiday Happenings Things to do in 2020

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he holidays may not be typical this year, but they are still happening. And a lot of events are happening too, with modifications for safety. Here are some options for you and your crew.

Rudolph’s Lightshow 19623 Bauer Road, Hockley; Nov.1-Jan. 3, 6:30-11 p.m.

Rudolph’s Lightshow is only 30 minutes outside of Houston in Hockley. Drive across acres of land with millions of lights synced with holiday music. Admission: $30-35

Houston Ballet Nutcracker Market

Virtual

houstonballet.org; Nov. 11-Dec. 11 The Houston Ballet Nutcracker Market has pivoted to an online shopping event this year. You can find gifts and décor from 200-plus vendors online. A part of the merchandise sales will benefit the Houston Ballet Foundation. Admission: Free

Santa’s Wonderland 18898 Hwy. 6, College Station; Nov. 13-Dec. 30 Santa’s Wonderland, a seasonal amusement park in College Station, celebrates a Texas-sized Christmas. Walk through the Trail of Lights, meet Santa, race down the toboggan chute, enjoy live music, or take a carriage ride. This year, they are enhancing sanitation procedures and adhering to social-distancing guidelines.

Admission: $27-51

The Ice at Discovery Green Discovery Green, downtown Houston; Nov. 14Jan. 31 The Ice at Discovery Green is a Houston favorite holiday activity. The ice rink is brought in once a year and set up in Discovery Green.

This year, tickets must be purchased in advance, face masks are mandatory, and santitation is increased. Admission: $8-15

Zoo Lights Houston Zoo, Hermann Park; Nov. 14-Jan. 10 Zoo Lights is back this year with timed ticketing to allow for distancing. As you stroll BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 22

DRIVE-THROUGH LIGHTS At Rudolph’s Lightshow in Hockley, you can drive through acres of festive lights synced with holiday music.

through the zoo, thousands of lights illuminate your way. You can stop and snap a picture in the giant ice throne and take socially distanced photos as Santa prepares for the holidays in his workshop. Admission: $13-25

Galaxy Lights Space Center Houston, Clear Lake; Nov. 14Jan. 3, 6-10 p.m.

Galaxy Lights at the Space Center Houston may be the most advanced light show out there.

The kinetic lights in the Main Plaza move in choreographed synchronicity. Guests can explore the solar system through a massive outdoor model.

This year, Space Center Houston has adapted the experience to include open-air paths and safely distanced experiences. Admission: $16-20

Deck the Trees George R. Brown Convention Center, downtown Houston; Nov. 20-Jan. 3 Deck the Trees, an installment hosted by the Alley Theatre, will happen this year with a twist.

Instead of decorating the Alley foyer, the over-thetop Christmas trees will be on display in the central windows of the George R. Brown Convention Center to allow for social distancing while viewing.

This season’s theme is Frozen. Admission: Free

Sugar Land Holiday Lights at Constellation Field 1 Stadium Dr., Sugar Land, Nov. 20-Jan. 3 Constellation Field is typically home of the Skeeters baseball team, but from November to

January, it is lit up with over 3 million lights for the Christmas season. With precautions in place, the Sugar Land Holiday Lights are back, plus food, vendors and Santa Claus. Admission: $12-16

Holiday in the Gardens 1 Hope Blvd., Galveston; Nov. 21-Jan. 2 Holiday in the Gardens returns with protocols to celebrate the holidays safely. From the Arctic Slide to 3D holiday films, Moody Gardens offers pyramids, activities and gardens decked out in 2 million twinkling lights.

Admission: $15-30

Movie Night at Market Square Park 301 Milam St., downtown Houston; Dec. 2 and 16, 7 p.m.

Snuggle up with a blanket and cider to watch a Christmas movie on the lawn at Market Square Park. This holiday season, the Downtown District will be showing The Night Before and The Muppet Christmas. Admission: Free

Merry Christmas, Darling A.D. Players at the George Theater, Galleria area; Dec. 3-23; times vary.

As a part of the Artist Lounge Live concert series, Heidi Kettenring, an actress and singer, performs the holiday hits of Karen Carpenter in concert at the George Theater. The theater has put into place sanitation procedures and temperature checks. Tickets to stream the concert via Vimeo are available online, along with inperson tickets. Admission: $35-75

Photo courtesy of Discovery Green

SKATE IN THE PARK The popular ice rink at Discovery Green downtown is happening again this year, with required face masks and reduced capacity to keep skaters safe.

A Christmas Carol, The Alley Theatre Sign up for viewing link on alleytheatre.org; Dec. 4-Dec. 27 Christmas in Houston is not complete without A Christmas Carol at the Alley Theatre. This year, the Alley has pared down the show, adapted the script, and filmed the Dickens classic from their homes to be streamed directly to yours. Admission: Free

The Nutcracker Bayou Theater, University of Houston – Clear Lake; Dec. 4-6, 11-13; times vary.

This year, the Bay Area Houston Ballet & Theatre will perform The Nutcracker with socialdistance guidelines in place. They will be operating at reduced capacity, temperatures will be taken upon arrival, and a face covering must be worn. This youth company brings back the traditional ballet, filled with toy soldiers and dancing snowflakes. Admission: $30

Art Market at Finn Hall 712 Main St., downtown Houston; Dec. 4, 410 p.m.

All Access Art Show’s goal is to connect art lovers with local artists. Finn Hall, an indoor food market, will be hosting an All Access Art Market. You can admire and purchase more than 25 local artists’ work and dine in the food hall. Admission: Free

Holiday Market at Levy Park 3801 Eastside St., Greenway/Upper Kirby; Dec. 4-5, 3-8 p.m.; Dec. 6. 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Come to the Holiday Art Market for vendors and activities outdoors in Levy Park. Admission: Free

Dickens on the Squares Various locations in Galveston; Dec. 5-6, 10

a.m.-6:30 p.m.

Experience the architecture, sights and sounds of a Victorian holiday, and you can dress up for extra fun. This year’s event will take place in five separate locations (Hendley Green, Old Galveston Square, Saengerfest Park, Galveston Historic Seaport and Pier 22) to allow for social distancing as you interact with Dickens entertainers and shop at the food and craft booths.

Admission: $10-20

Caring Santa 303 Memorial City Way, Memorial City Mall; Dec. 6 and 13, 9-10:30 a.m.

Memorial City Mall, in collaboration with Autism Speaks, invites children with special needs and learning differences, along with their families, to enjoy a sensory-friendly, private photo session with Santa. Reservations are required, so call ahead or reserve a spot online. Admission: Free

West U Tree and Laser Lights West U Recreation Center, 4210 Bellaire Blvd.; Dec. 7, 6:30 p.m.; Dec. 18, 6-7:30 p.m.

The holiday spirit is coming to West University this year in two separate events. Watch the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony online on Dec. 7 as it is streamed live through the City of West University Place Facebook page. Also, reserve a spot to drive in to the Dec. 18 Holiday Laser Light Show.

Limited spots are available, so make reservations online at www.westutx.gov/lights. Admission: Free

Starry Night at the Arboretum houstonarboretum.org, Memorial Park; Dec. 12, 7-8 p.m.

Cozy up with your loved ones, listen to stories of the constellations and learn about space. Tune in via Zoom with a package that includes Saint Arnold beer (for the adults), hot chocolate (for the kids), and a constella-

tion craft (for the whole family). Register online and pick up your package ahead of time at the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center.

Admission: $20-45

Breakfast with Santa at the Aquarium 410 Bagby St., downtown Houston; Dec. 12, 19, 20 and 24, reservations 9-10:30 a.m.

Who knew Santa loves to swim? This downtown restaurant is surrounded by an enormous aquarium, where fish (and Santa) swim.

Admission: $40 and under

Chanukah of Gratitude Bellaire Town Square, Bellaire; Dec. 13, 4:30 p.m.

Chanukah of Gratitude, hosted by the Shul of Bellaire, will honor eight frontline workers by creating a giant gratitude menorah on the Great Lawn of Bellaire Town Square. Individually wrapped Chanukah treats and to-go crafts will be passed out. Social distancing will be in place, and masks must be worn. RSVP online. Donations support the Chanukah Festival and community activities by The Shul of Bellaire. Admission: Free

Main Street at the Mic mainstreettheater.com; Dec. 17, 7:30 p.m.

Main Street at the Mic, a live-streamed cabaret of holiday songs and spoken work performed by local actors at the Main Street Theater, will premiere 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 17 and will be available through the weekend on YouTube. Admission: Free

MORE ONLINE See this story at thebuzzmagazines.com for more details and events, including photos and links to websites. Before you head out, be sure to check event sites to monitor any Covid- or weather-related changes.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 23

NEIGHBORS

by Meg Scott, contributing writer

Just the Ticket Photo courtesy of Hermann Park Photo courtesy of Rosenberg Railroad Museum

Photo courtesy of Rosenberg Railroad Museum

Photo courtesy of Hermann Park

Holidays and trains go together

ALL ABOARD Top photos: The Hermann Park Railroad carries visitors around the park grounds with holiday flair throughout December. Bottom photos: The Rosenberg Railroad Museum brings out its holiday-themed G gauge model train for the festivities.

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ne of our holiday traditions is to head to the Houston Museum of Natural Science for Trains Over Texas.

We have brought our young boys, along with all our family members, to see this magical miniature representation of our state. The exhibit – the size of a tennis court – is the largest indoor O-scale model railroad in Texas.

As tiny steam engines chug along the tracks, lined with illuminated shops and snow-covered BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 24

trees, the holiday spirit comes to life. You can imagine Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney are singing to you. Or Tom Hanks calling, “All aboard!” the Polar Express.

This year, we will return (with our masks on), and we have set our sights on several more train adventures.

Trains Over Texas Houston Museum of Natural Science, Hermann

Park; Nov. 20-Jan. 3; 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

This exhibit recreates the state of Texas in all its natural beauty and historic significance.

Trains run at eye level, above you, and down below at your feet. In the immersive experience, see familiar Texas sites – Enchanted Rock, Big Bend, cities – all at once. A crawl space allows the kids to get down on the ground (where the train travels through the Caverns of Sonora) and pop up like a gopher somewhere near San

Photo courtesy of Rosenberg Railroad Museum

Meg Scott

BIG CITY LIGHTS Left: Texas twinkles under the Christmas tree lights in the Trains Over Texas exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, where the Scott family returns each holiday season. Right: The Rosenberg Railroad Museum decks the halls of 1950s downtown Rosenberg, replicated in its outdoor Garden Track.

Antonio.

While you are at the museum, visit the adjoining Cockrell Butterfly Center, which is decorated for the holidays with Christmas trees.

You can wander among butterflies to a gentle soundtrack of holiday tunes. Admission: included with museum admission, $16-25; free 2 and under; free Thursday afternoons.

Hermann Park Railroad Museum District/Medical Center area; 10 a.m.5 p.m.

Why just look at trains when you can ride one? Pack a picnic and a soccer ball, and make a day of it at Hermann Park. The Hermann Park Railroad is a small, open-air passenger train operating year-round, giving families a tour of the park over and around McGovern Lake, passing by the Houston Zoo, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Rice University and the Texas Medical Center. (We will be the family wearing Santa hats.)

While the train previously could give you a lift to other spots in the park, rides currently are purely for enjoyment, as they stop for pick-up and drop-off at one location – the Kinder Station at Lake Plaza, next to the Houston Zoo main entrance and Hermann Park parking lot G. Seating has been limited as a precaution during the pandemic.

Admission: $3.75.

Historic Bellaire Streetcar Paseo Park, 5000 Bellaire Blvd., Bellaire An electric trolley is retired and parked under a replica of the old Bellaire Trolley Station and Pavilion. This trolley carried passengers to and from downtown Houston from 1911 to 1927 on the Bellaire Streetcar Line.

Historic signs give a brief history lesson while you watch the modern world pass by. Paseo Park is a grassy median in the middle of the bustling Bellaire Boulevard, so if you visit with small children, keep them close. Admission: free.

Rosenberg Railroad Museum 1921 Avenue F, Rosenberg; 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Fridays and Saturdays, 1-4 p.m. Sundays The Rosenberg Railroad Museum sits on 1.5 acres adjacent to downtown Rosenberg at the site of the original Union Depot – a station on the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific rail lines around the turn of the 20th century. There is a passenger car from 1879 called The Quebec, a red caboose car from 1792, and a control tower from the early 1900s.

In December, there are family activities planned, and a holiday-themed train will be in the open air on the “Garden Railroad,” a replica of Rosenberg in the 1950s. The G gauge model train track features the Brazos River and the old Richmond Railroad Bridge. Admission: $5-7.50; free under 2.

MORE ONLINE See this story at thebuzzmagazines.com for links to event sites.

Down the track Galveston Railroad Museum 123 25th St., Galveston; Nov. 27-Dec. 23; times vary.

The Galveston Railroad Museum hosts “A Railroad Christmas,” with five acres of retired train cars decorated for the holidays and a one-mile, mini-train ride for families along Harborside Drive.

Admission $15-20; free 2 and under.

Texas State Railroad Polar Express Palestine, Texas; up to five trips daily in December This 60-minute train ride simulates the journey from the popular

children’s book. The passenger train from the 1920s operates yearround on the Texas State Railroad at the Palestine and Rusk depots, a couple of hours north of Houston. Prices vary.

The Christmas Train Alvin; Nov. 27-Dec. 23 An after-dark train ride through trees sparkling with Christmas lights at Victory Camp in Alvin. Watch miniature trains race through a wintry display at this annual event 25 miles south of Houston. Admission: $3 for 3 and up.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 25

lawellphoto.com

NEIGHBORS

by Jennifer Oakley, staff writer

The Big Red Truck From Round Top to River Oaks

B

ig Red was tired. For more than a half century, it had done its job. The 1955 Chevrolet 3100 Apache had hauled barbed wire, pulled horses in trailers, and lent a seat and a steering wheel to beginner drivers.

The Big Red Truck was primarily a country truck, resting at the end of the work day under a shady oak tree at the family farm in Round Top. Throughout the decades, it would sometimes become a city truck and get called in to ferry friends and run errands around town.

But by age 59 – with timeworn parts and a rusted frame – the pickup was about worn out. Many would have turned that truck in for scrap. Others would have kept it locked away in a garage.

But not the Cochran family, who felt a connection to that old truck. Which is why Steve Cochran gave Big Red to son Frost for his 50th birthday. And with that gift in November 2014, the truck got a new lease on life.

T

o understand how far this truck has come, you have to go back to the beginning, to 1966, when Steve walked onto a used car lot looking for a truck for his farm.

“I had bought this property and did not have a lot of money, and I needed a pickup truck, so I went over to Jack Roach Ford,” says Steve, who now calls himself “almost retired” from his job in commercial real estate.

“When I got there, I saw a career Navy man, dressed in uniform, who had just dropped the truck off. I observed him, and then I inquired about the truck. It was for sale for $800, not negotiable, so I bought it. The speedometer was stuck at about 65,000 miles, but it probably had a heck of a lot more than that! I immediately drove it to my farm, where it initially was used to pick up barbed-wired trash around the farm.

In its first days, it saw a lot of hard work around the farm.”

Over time, the truck also saw a lot of fun when Steve and wife Betty brought their kids, Frost and Wendy, out to the property. “As the children started growing, just like my father did with me, I put the kids in my lap to teach them the standard shift,” recalls Steve with a smile.

"They drove in circles and circles and circles BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 26

SOMETHING ’BOUT A TRUCK Top: Frost, Lisa and William Cochran (from left) are thrilled with the restoration of their 1955 Chevrolet 3100 Apache pickup truck. The truck has been in the family since 1966, when it was used on dad Steve Cochran's farm. Bottom: Steve fishing with Frost and Wendy on the farm.

around the farm.”

Betty became especially fond of the truck.

“My wife claimed it for herself, and I was under orders to not trade it or sell it,” Steve says. Many people offered to buy it, but he always refused, saying, “My wife won’t let me!” and ensuring the memories would continue being made.

“We would sit on pillows to be able to reach the pedals, and we could barely see over the dashboard,” says son Frost. “It’s not an easy truck

to drive. If you can drive it, you can drive anything. It was just a work truck before there were ATVs or anything like that, so if you wanted to fish or do anything, you were not gonna take Mom's station wagon. You were gonna take the truck. It’s been stuck many times. It’s been around going fishing, pulling hay rides, rabbit hunting and taking people out.”

As decades passed, the truck continued to do double duty. “It went back and forth between

lawellphoto.com lawellphoto.com

lawellphoto.com lawellphoto.com

ALL DECKED OUT Top: Frost Cochran’s restored 1955 Chevrolet 3100 Apache pickup has a license plate noting it is a classic truck. Top, center: Last December, the Cochran family dressed up Big Red in Christmas lights and drove around the neighborhood. Frost Cochran is behind the wheel and wife Lisa is in the passenger seat. In the bed of the truck, (from left) son-in-law Samuel McAllister, daughter Kelly McAllister and son William enjoy the ride. Bottom: William takes the wheel.

Round Top and River Oaks,” says Frost, managing director of Post Oak Energy Capital. “It spent many nights and weeks on Ella Lee, parked by the circle in the late ’60s and early ’70s. But since the ’80s it stayed in Round Top because it was no longer road-worthy.”

And it was there at the farm that Frost and wife Lisa, taught their kids, Kelly, 26, Shelley, 25, and William, 20, how to drive the truck. “I was 10 years old when I learned how to drive it at the ranch,” says William, a sophomore at Ole

Miss. “My dad was in the car teaching me. Even as a rusted-out truck that it was, with holes in the floorboards, a bashed-in fender and an engine that was misfiring, I thought it was the coolest car in the world. It was loud, and I had never heard a car like that before, and I thought it was beautiful.”

William’s interest was immediate and constant. “When I was 12 years old, I told my Dad, ‘Let’s change the oil and get a paint job. It will be like brand new,’” says William, unaware of

how much work restoring the truck would take.

“It was just an old beat-up truck. For more than 50 years it was never in a garage. It was parked up under a big oak tree. The tree would try and protect it from the weather and the hail, but eventually the oak died because the truck leaked too much oil. And the mice – they loved it and lived inside of it and would chew through wires.”

At the time, Frost did not seriously consider taking William up on his refurbishing idea, but the seed was planted. “For (continued on page 28) BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 27

Nancy Aidee Photography

GETAWAY CAR Frost Cochran finished restoring the family’s 1955 Chevy pickup in time for daughter Kelly’s September 2019 wedding to Samuel McAllister. The couple drove away from their wedding reception in Big Red. (continued from page 27) my 50th birthday, my Dad

asked me what I wanted,” says Frost. “I said, ‘How about the old truck in Round Top? And I will restore it.’ And he said, ‘Done!’”

His dad was thrilled. “By the end, the truck was not safe to drive, so I parked it in the equipment shed, where it sat, accumulating dirt, dust and mice. It was literally farmed out,” Steve says.

“But then it was resurrected by my son and grandson. It had to be given a new life. I was delighted to pass it on to him, since it was the first vehicle he ever drove.”

F

rost and William spent the next five years working with mechanics who specialize in car restoration to give Big Red a new outlook.

Given that William was so enthusiastic, Frost let him take the lead in the restoration process, which took longer than anticipated. The restoration was filled with mishaps and delays, none of which deterred William, who learned everything about that model.

“Chevrolet, in 1955, introduced the Chevy small block, a 283 cubic-inch V-8 that was shared on the platform of the Chevy Bel Air,” he says. “It made it, at the time, a very, very powerful work truck. The normal base engine for that truck was an in-line 6 cylinder, and when that truck was new, it was optioned to have a V-8. These trucks were mostly used as farm trucks and work trucks. They did not have turn signals and brake lights because they were used solely on farms and ranches.”

Almost every inch of the truck was refurBELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 28

bished. "The only things that are original to the truck are the body panels and the engine block,” says William. “The main thing is that the engine was converted from a carburetor to fuel-injection to make it more reliable, and the whole front end of the truck was changed from a solid front axle to independent suspension for better ride quality and better handling.”

William and Frost are especially proud of the fact that they added air conditioning, brake lights and a radio – things the truck never had in the first place.

“These are fairly common trucks, but you never see them how they came from factory, like we restored it,” William says. “We added air conditioning, a bluetooth radio, turn signals and brake lights. The truck looks old but performs like a modern car.”

An important family deadline gave them impetus to complete the restoration. “My dad and William worked on fixing up the truck for many years, and when I got engaged, they set a goal to have it finished before the wedding,” says Kelly, who married Samuel McAllister in 2019.

“The wedding was the grand debut of the finished truck. William was the biggest factor in deciding to use the truck as the ‘getaway’ car.”

The finished truck looked wedding-ready: shiny, bright fire-engine red, with red wheels and whitewall tires. Guests cheered when the couple drove away from the reception.

For Kelly, that moment was more than just a ride away from her wedding. “Most of my memories of the truck are from when I was really little

driving around the farm,” says Kelly, who now works in Denver doing energy corporate development. “I remember frequently squealing because there were a few mice that lived under the seat of the car. Most of the time the mice would scurry out when we opened the car door, but sometimes they would pop out as we were driving! Although I miss the mouse family living under the seat, it is a lot more comforting knowing that nothing is going to jump out when you open the door or sit down.”

William laughs. He made sure that the Big Red Truck is in mint condition. “Now it is absolutely perfect,” he says with a wide grin. Big Red is now a city truck and lives full-time in River Oaks. “When I do drive it around, I am always being flagged down by people who say, ‘This is the coolest car ever!’ My mom loves it, too, and she likes it when I drive her around, and she waves to people!”

Lisa says she likes to catch rides in The Big Red Truck with the family around the neighborhood. “The red is so appropriate,” she says. “It looks like a heart to me. You look at the red, and you feel something. I mean, you feel passion for it. It signifies life and all that it has been through generationally.”

Steve says the truck links the family across the years. “It is fun to think the truck could survive that long: a testament to its durability,” he says. “Three cycles within the Cochran family.

I am not really a car man, but that truck has been a longtime part of our life. Vehicles come and go, but this one had to be saved.”

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 29

KIDS

by Annie Blaylock McQueen, staff writer

Buzz Baby

Christmas-tree traditions

Buzz Baby is a column about life with babies.

Writer Annie McQueen is a mother of four children under the age of 6.

A

ll year long, Elizabeth Shackouls looks forward to gathering on Christmas morning around the family’s Christmas tree with her husband Scott and their four young children. They have two sets of twins, Charlie and Caroline, 7, and Annie and Cate, 5.

They put up a large artificial tree before Thanksgiving each year. The two reasons they choose artificial over real is that, first, “well, it would be dead before Christmas because we put it up so early,” says Elizabeth, whom Scott nicknames “Captain Christmas.” The second is that when Charlie and Caroline were crawling babies, putting everything in their mouths, having a real tree dropping needles became a challenge.

This year, they are putting up two Christmas trees. The first, which her 7-year-old son Charlie has coined “the adult tree,” is adorned with the family’s extensive silver-ornament collection (special ones the kids get each year) with white lights. The second tree is what he calls the “fun kid tree,” covered in bright, multi-colored twinkling lights and kid ornaments.

Elizabeth says Christmas-tree traditions have always been an important part of her life. She recalls Christmas mornings growing up in Columbia, South Carolina. She, along with her four siblings, would sit on the top stair of her childhood home’s staircase. The kids would smell the grown-ups’ coffee brewing and bacon sizzling and feel the warmth of the fire filling the living room. They waited for their parents to give the “go” to run down the stairs to see what Santa had left under their tree.

Their childhood Christmas trees had brittle needles from being put up so far in advance in the excitement of the holiday. Elizabeth recalled her dad putting sugar in the tree water every day one year. “Someone told him to do that, but you’re apparently only supposed to put sugar in one time, he did it every day, and the tree turned brown by Christmas,” she said, laughing. The family ran to the Piggly Wiggly store on Christmas Eve and got the last tree in their lot.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 30

Sitting atop the pine needles and branches was a dried mixture of cake batter, Ivory Snow laundrydetergent flakes and water. Yes, that is right.

Elizabeth’s mother – and her mother’s entire side of her family – put laundry detergent in the tree to make it look as if it had real snow sprinkled on the branches.

“We would put it in a bowl with warm water and stir with a cake mixture, where it would thicken like O CHRISTMAS TREES The Shackouls family, including twins Charlie and Caroline icing,” said (pictured, who are now 7), put up two Christmas trees this year.

Elizabeth.

“We The newest Shackouls tree tradition is their would take handfuls of it and brush it along handmade and colorful Christmas-tree skirt, every branch we could reach. It would harden which Elizabeth had made by an artist she found and then look like real snow had fallen on the on Etsy. The tree skirt fills up their family living tree.” room with the story of their family.

That tradition is no longer around, but there “The tree skirt has sewn onto it the church in is a special one from her childhood that has South Carolina where we were married, the been passed on to her kids now. On Christmas church where we attend now, our colleges, our morning, each child opens a special sterling-silfirst home, our current home, our three dogs, the ver tree ornament. star flower of Hawaii where we honeymooned, When Elizabeth was growing up, she received dunes and a dock and the state bird of South a handmade Christmas ornament every year Carolina, where I was born and raised,” said from a local, now-retired artist. Each one was Elizabeth. Also on the tree skirt are ski slopes to relevant to the happenings of her life – from prerepresent Colorado, where they have a family teen to post-marriage. house, along with reindeer holding packages “I remember getting an ornament one year of with everyone’s names on it. a girl talking on the phone, then one year on “It is just a neat thing to pull out each year rollerblades,” said Elizabeth. Scott and Elizabeth and explain to children what each part reprereceived a bride-and-groom ornament the year sents,” said Elizabeth. “Family traditions have they married, followed years later by an expecalways been important to me. There is sometant mother eating pickles and ice cream, and thing so fulfilling about looking forward to the the last ornament from the artist, a mother holdsame things each year.” ing a baby.

Allison Wallace

.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 31

NEIGHBORS

.

by Cindy Burnett, staff writer

Buzz Reads

Five picks for December

Buzz Reads is a column about books by reviewer Cindy Burnett. This month, Cindy recommends five recently released titles.

D

on’t Look For Me by Wendy Walker – Molly Clarke disappeared one night with scarcely a trace, and her family doesn’t believe that she chose to walk away from them and the tragedy that defines them all.

When a new lead surfaces soon after the investigation stalls, Molly’s daughter Nicole decides to investigate in the poor, decrepit town where her mom was last seen. Alternating between Molly’s and Nicole’s perspectives and shifting back and forth in time from Day 1 of the disappearance and Day 14 as Nicole launches her own search, the story rapidly unfolds as the reader learns more about Molly, Nicole and the creepy town of Hastings and its inhabitants. Don’t Look For Me is Walker’s best thriller yet, and the twists kept me on the edge of my seat until the clever and satisfying resolution.

Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind by Kermit Pattison – A group led by the renowned fossil hunter Tim White discovered a skeleton in the Afar region of Ethiopia in the mid-1990s that significantly altered scientists’ understanding of human origins, but simultaneously triggered a seismic rift in the scientific community. Based on the radiometric dating of nearby rocks, the group determined that the bones were 4.4 million years old, making “Ardi” (as they nicknamed the bones) more than 1 million years older than “Lucy”, the previously oldest-known skeleton. In compelling detail, Pattison brings to life the discovery and the resulting drama and the importance of science in helping humans understand their origins.

Stories from Suffragette City edited by M.J. Rose and Fiona Davis – To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave some women the right to vote, Davis and Rose decided to assemble a historical-fiction compilation of short stories that all take place on Oct. 23, 1915, the day tens of thousands of women marched down Fifth Avenue in New York City for the right to vote. The collection contains an introduction by Kristin Hannah and stories by 12 BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 32

WHAT TO READ This month's picks include a short story collection about the suffrage movement, two nonfiction titles, a clever thriller and a fun rom-com set in Canada.

authors, including Lisa Wingate, Paula McLain, Chris Bohjalian, Steve Berry, Christina Baker Kline and more. While each story stands alone, they all are tied together by a unifying thread that weaves throughout the tales. My favorites are “A First Step” by M.J. Rose, “Deeds Not Words” by Steve Berry, and “The Last Mile” by Fiona Davis.

The stories cover a range of socioeconomic, cultural and racial perspectives.

Talking to GOATs: The Moments You Remember and the Stories You Never Heard by Jim Gray – Award-winning sportscaster and interviewer Jim Gray reflects on his career, specifically on his interviews and relationships with sports legends. He includes moments that made history, but he also writes about events such as how his infamous interview with Kobe Bryant concerning Shaq and the Lakers came about and his years-long pursuit to tell the story of George W. Bush’s decision to throw the first pitch at the World Series opener in New York following the Sept. 11, 2011, terrorist attacks.

Gray’s frank and informal style lends itself well to his recounting of the standout moments in his career, which are often also monumental moments in his subjects’ careers as well. Talking

to GOATs is a quick and entertaining read and a fascinating glimpse into the lives of icons.

Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo – Jane Igharo addresses issues of culture, identity and the stress of family pressure in this clever and fun romantic read. Azere, a Nigerian immigrant who moved to Canada when she was young, develops feelings for a white man named Rafael. Azere had promised her dying father she would marry a Nigerian man to preserve their culture and traditions, and her mother insists she abide by this deathbed promise. While Azere does her best to avoid Rafael, he is hired by her company, and Azere struggles to balance her mother’s wishes and her desire to forge her own way. While reading this one, I learned a lot about Nigerian culture and traditions and just thoroughly enjoyed the story from beginning to end.

Editor’s note: Southside Place resident Cindy Burnett also writes our weekly Page Turners column at thebuzzmagazines.com. She hosts the Thoughts from a Page Podcast, is co-creator of the Houston literary event series Conversations from the Page, runs the Instagram account @thoughtsfrompage, and regularly speaks to groups about books.

St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School PK4 – 8th Grade

Online applications available Schedule a virtual tour today!

Application deadline - January 14, 2021 www.saintvincentschool.org 6802 Buffalo Speedway, Houston, TX 77025

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 33

TRAVEL

.

by Tracy L. Barnett, staff writer

Travel Buzz

Mexico: To stay or go

I

f you’ve been wondering whether it might be a good idea to head south and sit out a bit of the pandemic on a Mexican beach or in a historic colonial city, you are far from alone. To stay or to go – that is the essential question this holiday season.

And while undoubtedly it is less risky to stay at home, the emotional costs of doing so after closing in on a year are arguably growing higher.

So we decided to check in with a few of our recent Mexico travelers – including a couple who have now become Mexico homeowners — to get a sense of the situation on the ground.

Full disclosure: I live in Mexico, so I have been here – though far from any beach – since the beginning of the pandemic, returning to the States only for the month of September; even at the heart of a city comparable in size to Houston, it feels generally safer to me here. There are a number of reasons for this, which we will explore through the eyes of these Buzz residents.

I

t begins with Sharon Brier and her husband, Mike, whose love affair with Mexico began five decades ago. Their first years they usually stayed in Acapulco and Mexico City. But 10 years after they began traveling to Mexico, they learned that friends were building a huge and beautiful house in Akumal in the Yucatan, so they went to check the place out.

An imposing Alamo-like exterior with striking architectural features halfway between Tulum and Playa del Carmen, the place caught their fancy, and they decided to buy in along with six other families, which now, in the second generation, have grown to 15. They’ve been sharing time – time-share style, one family at a time – at Casa Mayanah ever since.

At first, the idea was to use the house for family reunions, so that the cousins could spend time together and get to know each other. As the kids grew up and moved on, the retreat became a place to invite friends, including Steve and Marilyn Saks and Larry Feingersh. One golden week in October 2020, Casa Mayanah became a haven for these Texas ramblers.

“I think it’s a little piece of paradise,” said Sharon. “We felt secure in going there; it’s a BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 34

remote area, and people were taking precautions.”

Protocols in many parts of Mexico are strict, with mask-wearing required to enter stores, restaurants and other establishments, where staff greet incoming guests with a handheld thermometer and a bottle of disinfectant gel and require groups and families to wait outside CARIBBEAN BLUE Michael Caplan and wife Diane relocated to Tulum during the while one person at a pandemic and are telecommuting to their businesses in Houston. time enters the estaband Diane Caplan, Buzz residents who have lishment, to avoid crowding. Disinfectant mats recently built a home in Tulum, just down the for the entryway floor are a common fixture. coast from Akumal.

These protocols are standard throughout the As it turned out, the flight was indeed the country’s tourist destinations, explained Isaac riskiest part. Steve and Marilyn took González, an epidemiologist and public health Southwest Airlines and found an open middle specialist who works within the hotel and seat throughout the plane. Sharon, Mike and restaurant industry throughout the Riviera Maya Larry flew United and found the flight nearly and helps to implement training programs for full, but face masks and hand sanitizer were hotel staff. mandated, so they weren’t terribly concerned.

Sharon had heard about the protocols from Arriving in Cancun, however, was a trial. her friends Marjo and JW Leussink, who had First they deplaned on the tarmac and were recently moved to San Miguel de Allende, so crowded onto a shuttle, where distancing was she and Mike decided to take a chance. nearly impossible. Then they were obliged to The first week in October was their family’s wait in crowded conditions in customs for an week for the timeshare, but Sharon had almost hour and a half. given up on it this year – not because of conditions Fortunately, they made it to their destination in Akumal, but because of the prospect of boardapparently virus-free, and the Caribbean blue ing a plane. Mike, at 72, was reluctant to risk it, gaze that awaited them was worth the harrowand hadn’t flown since February. Sharon had ing transit. already canceled a girls’ weekend at the house.

“Once we got to Akumal, we felt safe,” said Eventually, love won out, and the couple Steve. “We felt like everywhere we went they planned a trip to see their grandchildren in took our temperature – even at happy hour on Portland. But as the departure approached, wildthe beach, they would take your temperature fires raged around the city, and it didn’t seem and put hand sanitizer on your hands.” wise. Sharon decided to parlay the travel comHighlights included snorkeling, the architecmitment into a trip to their happy place on the tural museum in Tulum, happy hour at Lol-Ha in beach, and Mike took the bait. So, with a week’s Akumal, beach walks, games and being at Casa notice, Akumal it was.

Mayanah itself, with its curves and open spaces She put out the word, and Steve and Marilyn and four ample bedrooms, each one facing the and Larry jumped at the chance. Their plan was sea. The front of the house looks out on the bay; to hang out on the beach and visit with Michael

MI CASA, TU CASA From upper left, clockwise: Sharon and Mike Brier have enjoyed a love affair with Mexico for 50 years, the last 40 of them in Akumal, where they own a timeshare at Casa Mayanah. Steve and Marilyn Saks (right) joined them there for a quick getaway in October. Bottom left photo: Here’s a view from the balcony of Casa Mayanah, with the palapa in the background (the thatch-roofed shelter).

down the street is the spectacular Yal-Ku Lagoon, where they snorkeled among parrot fish, zebrafish and many other colorful specimens.

F

or Michael and Diane, the decision to go to Mexico and stay during the pandemic was a no-brainer. They’d already decided to build a house in Tulum and had hired the contractor and begun the work when the pandemic hit.

Diane, a marketing consultant, and Michael were on lockdown and forced to work from home. “We said, ‘Hey, I think we can do this,’” said Michael. “I’m doing Zoom videos with my employees and she with her clients, and it proved to us that we can work remotely.”

Being in a small town on the Caribbean coast felt inherently less risky than Houston to both of them.

“We feel safer down here than we do in Houston in this pandemic,” said Mike, who is now running his café business remotely, for the most part, from his new home in a gated enclave in Tulum. Every five to six weeks he travels back to Houston to check in with his coffee shops.

Their home is in the jungle, with currently only two neighbors within walking distance.

And when they do go out, the risk seems mini-

mal. Mask-wearing in Tulum is nearly universal, for one thing.

“I like the idea of wearing a mask and keeping other people safe,” said Mike. “And when we do eat out, everywhere we do eat we’re always outside in the breeze, and that makes me feel safer as well.”

W

hile the Caribbean gems of Tulum and Akumal may be humming, as are Pacific beach towns like Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and those along the so-called Gold Coast of Oaxaca, San Miguel de Allende is barely a whisper of its normal party-hearty self.

Marjo and JW Leussink, formerly of The Netherlands and then Houston, recently bought a home in the UNESCO-recognized colonial city. It’s still as beautiful as ever, with its wedding-cake parroquia, or cathedral, and its mountain-ringed views. But these days, you could shoot a cannon through its emblematic central plaza, normally a vibrant hub of artisanal activity, said Marjo. And the social life that distinguishes the place has come to a halt.

It’s been a little disappointing for the couple, who moved to San Miguel as a base for their coming forays throughout Latin America, which they’d been wanting to explore for years. Not

long after their move, the pandemic hit.

“Everything was closed for six months,” said Marjo. “Finally they opened some restaurants and coffee shops, but they’re very careful – and I like that. They closed off the Centro [historic center], so the garden across from the parroquia is closed… It’s more or less a city asleep.”

Moreover, being a highland city, nights can get pretty nippy, and mornings are cool. For visitors who are fond of solitude and are there to enjoy the stunning architecture or to explore the nearby nature reserves, it’s a great place to go. If you’re looking for a party, not so much.

For now, Marjo and JW are mainly hibernating – except for the occasional forays to make purchases or to explore the nearby wildlife reserves. But they know that this, too, shall pass – and when it does, they will be ready.

“There are so many places in Mexico that are beautiful and different. You can almost spend your life there,” said Marjo.

Editor’s note: Buzz travel columnist Tracy L. Barnett is a Lowell Thomas travel journalism award winner and longtime travel and environmental writer. Email her at info@thebuzzmagazines.com to share your own travel tales.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 35

DINING

by Dai Huynh, staff writer

Chef’s Corner

What chefs like to give and get

E

very year, it’s the same thing: What gifts to buy for Christmas? This year, we asked our local chefs. Who else to go to for wine and food recommendations?

Below, we’ve asked the following: What gifts do you like to receive? What do you give a food lover? And what are a few wines and other highoctane sips to give to the cocktailians and wine enthusiasts in our life?

Executive chef Carlos Rodriguez of King Ranch Texas Kitchen To receive: Homemade tamales. “My grandmothers, both of them, made (tamales) every year,” says Rodriguez, whose go-to is Tamales Dona Tere (8331 Beechnut St.). Other shops that specialize in homemade tamales include Texas Tamale Company (3340 Fountain View Dr.), Alamo Tamales (809 Berry Road) and Tamales Don Pepe (3816 Link Valley).

To give: Rodriguez frequently gives homemade pickles to friends and family at Christmastime. “They're easy to make and last a long time,” he says, “and it's more personal.”

To toast: Bubbles are always a great gift, says Rodriguez, who is a fan of J. Schram Rosé, a marriage of Chardonnay and pinot noir. He considers it reasonably priced at about $47.

Another favorite gift item is Fernet Branca, an after-dinner digestif hailed by seasoned bartenders as a rite of passage for cocktailians.

Rodriguez stresses that the Italian herbal liqueur is an acquired taste. Dating to the 1800s, the recipe consists of 27 herbs and other ingredients. Seductively complex, this pour makes those who know about it seem cool in social settings.

Executive chef Mark Schmidt of Rainbow Lodge To receive: Cookbooks by European chefs, such as Sex & Drugs & Sausage Rolls by Graham Garrett and inspired…by by Stephen Terry.

Another fave is Out of My Tree: Midsummer House by Daniel Clifford, a British chef who went from being a dyslexic child from a broken home to a two-Michelin-star chef. The 384page book is part autobiography, part cookbook.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 36

To give: Cool kitchen gadgets, such as a flour mill for a foodie’s Kitchen Aid. The allmetal mill grinds oats, wheat, corn, rice and other grains – from “cracked” to extra fine consistency.

To toast: R. Jelinek Fernet, an after-dinner digestif enjoyed solo or added to coffee and ORGANIC TEXAS OLIVE OIL This chef-endorsed Southeast Texas Olive oil cocktails. This liqueur is pressed from arbequina and koroneiki varieties grown in groves in Liberty from the Czech County, just east of Houston.

Republic is described as milk chocolate. It’s sold at Cost Plus World having a minty bouquet. On the palate, its Market. herbaceous character dominates, with flavors To give: Yarra Valley Dairy’s Saffy, a jarred from ripe plums, cloves and anise. feta cheese marinated in olive oil with saffron, lemon rind and cumin seeds. He also loves givChef-owner Philippe Verpiand of Étoile Cuisine et Bar and ing out Maldon Smoked Sea Salt, Yakami Orchard’s Yuzu Juice and Cocina Selecta Brasserie du Parc Spanish Marcona Almonds (ideal on a cheese To receive: “I love to get fishing and hunting platter). gear, also vegetable garden equipment,” he says.

To toast: Stag’s Leap Artemis 2015 Cabernet A practical gift, but always appreciated, are Sauvignon, which scored 93 points from wine sharp shears for snipping and pruning, or else expert Robert Parker. On the palate, this rich, surprise the gardener with a cushioned kneeler smooth wine tastes like black cherries and to keep him comfortable during planting. chocolate. For the gin lover, try one of several To give: “Always foie gras au torchon! But not by premium Scottish distillery Eden Mill St. only,” says Verpiand, who serves this at Étoile.

Andrews. There is the original, then the famous You also can order it online from D'Artagnan, pink Love Gin, with floral and warm berry which supplies foie gras to restaurants. notes. Looking for a tequila alternative? Doherty To toast: Looking for an impressive French suggests a bottle of mezcal from Los Cuerudos, wine that is gentle on the pocketbook? Verpiand which makes four varieties using the maguey suggests Gros Frere et Soeur Bourgogne Hautes plants of Oaxaca in southern Mexico.

Cotes de Nuits, a red burgundy, for about $40.

Neil Doherty, senior director of culinary development for food supplier Sysco To receive: Growing up in Ireland and the United Kingdom, this chef loves to get plum pudding, minced pies, English Stilton cheese, Medjool dates, and Fry’s Turkish Delight, a chocolate confection made by Cadbury. It was launched in the UK in 1914 and comprises a rose-flavored Turkish delight surrounded by

Pastry chef Pamela Manovich of Third Coast Restaurant To receive: Whole Foods Market’s Chantilly Cake and rose chocolate, a relatively new confection. Three years ago, Swiss-based Barry Callebaut debuted the first new natural chocolate since white chocolate in the 1930s. Rose, or “ruby,” chocolate is made from ruby cocoa beans. It’s a gorgeous rosy-pink hue, with hints of ripe berries. Some great stocking stuffers are

the Chocolove Ruby Cacao Bar and Harry & David Ruby Cacao Truffles.

To give: Wolfgang Puck 7-in-1 Immersion Blender with 12-Cup Food Processor.

To toast: “Hands down, St. Germain,” Manovich says. “It’s like no liqueur I have ever had.”

This artisanal French liqueur boasts about 1,000 fresh, wild elderflower blossoms in each bottle.

Corporate executive chef Jason Gould of Common Bond To receive: Unique spices that this Australian uses to create his own seasoning blends, such as wattleseed, featured in many Australian dishes.

Harvested by Australian Aborigines 6,000 years ago, it is reminiscent of hazelnuts and chocolate, with hints of coffee.

To give: “I tried giving people Vegemite, but nobody ever seems as happy to receive it as I am to give it,” Gould says with a chuckle. “Instead, I like to give savory jams and relishes.” His current favorite? Stonewall Kitchen Roasted Garlic and Onion Jam to go with Christmas ham.

To toast: Tequila or bourbon, but “I usually give Bailey’s or another digestif to enjoy,” Gould says.

Jim Mills, culinary director for Buc-ee’s To receive: Extra virgin olive oil.

To give: Spanish Saffron and Ava Jane’s Colima Sea Salt, a coarse and crunchy, moist sea salt from Mexico that is hand-harvested just 16 weeks each year. A big fan of olive oil, the former executive chef of the Houstonian Hotel recently discovered Organic Texas Olive Oil, from Southeast Texas Olive in Devers, less than an hour’s drive west of Houston. The olive oil is sold at Spec’s. Mills also recommends Rancho Gordo’s Cranberry Beans from California (great for minestrone soup); Jovial Foods’ Organic Einkorn Flour from Italy; La Quercia’s Nduja, an Italian Calabrian-style spreadable salami from Iowa (not Italy!) and Carmen & Lola White Anchovies Boquerones in Vinegar and Olive Oil from Spain.

To toast: Syrah wines from the tiny Northern Rhône River valley south of Lyon, France.

Facing south, these angled hills harness the sun and nurture some of the world’s finest Syrahs.

One to try? Anything from Côte Rôtie, a vineyard noted for bold, yet precise, wines.

Randy Evans, H-E-B’s director of culinary development for restaurants To receive: “I love getting homemade baked goods,” Evans says. “My mom loved baking – a warm pound cake, chocolate sheet cake or coconut meringue pie just makes me smile and reminds me of my childhood growing up…The idea of someone taking the time to make a sweet for me does so much more than anything they could purchase online. It’s like getting a handwritten letter.”

To give: Amazing beef, such as Prime 1

PINK CHOCOLATE For Christmas, pastry chef Pamela Manovich would like a batch of ruby chocolate to make her own candy bars. Pictured: John Kelly Chocolates' Ruby Cacao bar, available at Central Market, is naturally dark pink in color and has an intense fruity flavor with sour berry notes.

ribeyes or New York strips. For someone who loves barbecue, how about a wagyu brisket? “To complete the gift, wrap it in a soft-side Kodi cooler so it can stay nice and cold while waiting to be unwrapped,” Evans says. “I thought it was the craziest thing ever; my mother-in-law would give her father an ice chest of steaks.” But then Evans realized it wasn’t something her father would do for himself.

To toast: Evans is a bourbon man. Recently, he received a W.L. Weller Full Proof made with wheat, rather than rye, from award-winning chef Chris Shepherd to celebrate their 25th “friendanniversary.”

Chef-owner Chris Shepherd of Underbelly Hospitality To receive: Boudin from the Best Stop Supermarket in Scott, Louisiana, and Cochon Butcher in New Orleans. You can do a weekend trip (like a few folks we know) or order online.

To give: “May I suggest Cook Like a Local”?

Shepherd teases, about his own book, adding that he’s also a fan of Poole's: Recipes and Stories From a Modern Diner by Ashley Christensen and Kaitlyn Goalen.

To toast: Hirsch Pinot Noir. Shepherd says Jasmine Hirsch is “a dear friend, who has donated so much to Southern Smoke [crisis relief organization], so I love to support … her family’s winery, plus it’s delicious!”

Cocktail celebrity and owner Alba Huerta of Julep To receive: Coquito, a traditional Christmas drink from Puerto Rico. “It's similar to eggnog, but with more charm and decadence,” Huerta says of the drink made with condensed milk, egg yolks, coconut milk and vanilla.

To give: A homemade chile ristra. “Ristras are the strings of chile you see hanging along fences on patios and portals all over New Mexico. They are also said to bring good health and good luck,” Huerta says. “They are simple to make [and] are a beautiful decoration. They last year-round, and can add flavor and aroma to just about anything.”

To toast: Winter is for schnapps! But not just any schnapps – Rochelt Schnapps, Huerta says.

This Tyrolean treasure from Tyrol, Austria, contains meticulously selected and harvested fruit that is fermented and distilled to capture it at ideal ripeness. The brandy is aged an average of a decade and sold in gorgeous emerald crystal bottles. At about $250-500, Rochelt is really meant to be a keepsake for years to come, Huerta says.

Editor’s note: Buzz dining columnist Dai Huynh is a James Beard food-journalism award winner and longtime Houston-based restaurant writer.

MORE ONLINE For chef Carlos Rodriguez’s King Ranch Texas Kitchen House Pickles, see this story at thebuzzmagazines.com.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 37

by Emily Robinson, contributing writer

Cooking Buzz

Photo courtesy of The Junior League of Houston

FOOD

A Christmas-breakfast tradition Cooking Buzz is produced in partnership with the Junior League of Houston, a women’s charitable and education organization founded in 1925.

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here is nothing like waking up Christmas morning filled with excitement, wearing matching pajamas, and being with family. One of my family’s Christmas traditions is to have a big breakfast together. The smell of coffee and pastries fills the air. It is one of my favorite things.

Since the holidays are always busy, and Christmas morning is no different, we like to use recipes that are easy to make ahead and fun for the whole family to help create.

Start your morning with the Holiday Coffee from Peace Meals while you cook. The Sausage Cheese Pie from The Star of Texas Cookbook is a great savory entrée to accompany the Gingerbread Pancakes from Peace Meals. (If you don’t want to make the sausage pie, you can buy it from The Pantry at the Junior League of Houston, at 1811 Briar Oaks Lane near San Felipe and Loop 610. It is great to have stocked in your freezer for visitors.)

If you have kids, making the Gingerbread Pancakes is a fun way to get them involved.

They can mix the batter and watch the pancakes bubble. Top the warm pancakes with fresh berries and Maple Butter from Peace Meals.

Holiday Coffee From Peace Meals ¼ cup (6 ounces) peppermint schnapps ½ cups (4 ounces) crème de cacao 8 cups hot, strong coffee ½ cup heavy whipping cream ½ cup crushed peppermint sticks Stir together the schnapps, crème de cacao and coffee in a carafe. Whisk the cream in a small chilled bowl until slightly thickened. Pour the coffee mixture into coffee glasses or mugs, top with the cream and sprinkle with peppermint. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Sausage Cheese Pie From The Star of Texas Cookbook BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 38

CHRISTMAS MORNING Cooking Buzz contributor Emily Robinson says one of her family’s traditions is to have a big Christmas breakfast together, with dishes such as Sausage Cheese Pie, Gingerbread Pancakes and Holiday Coffee.

½ pound sausage, cut into ¼-inch slices 1 8-inch pie shell, partially baked ½ pound grated Cheddar cheese 3 eggs, slightly beaten ½ cup milk 2 Tablespoons bourbon 1 Tablespoon lemon juice ½ Tablespoon salt 1 ⁄8 teaspoon pepper Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cook sausage slices until browned. Drain well and spread over bottom of pie shell. Cover with grated cheese.

Beat eggs with milk, bourbon, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and pour into pie shell. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Serves 6.

Gingerbread Pancakes From Peace Meals 1 Tablespoon instant-coffee crystals ¾ cup warm water 3 eggs ¼ cup of firmly packed brown sugar ¼ cup molasses 1 cup buttermilk 2½ cups all-purpose flour 3 Tablespoons pumpkin pie seasoning ½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon baking soda 4 Tablespoons (½ stick) butter, melted Stir the coffee into the warm water until dissolved; set aside. Mix the eggs, brown sugar and molasses in a large bowl until well combined.

Stir in the buttermilk and the coffee mixture. In another large bowl, sift together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Slowly add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until just combined; stir in the melted butter. Lightly oil or butter a griddle or heavy skillet and preheat over medium.

Pour ¼ cup of the batter onto the griddle for each pancake and cook until little bubbles break around the edges; flip and cook until golden brown. Serve immediately with Maple Butter.

Maple Butter From Peace Meals ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened 1 ⁄3 cup maple syrup Combine the butter and the syrup in a bowl and beat until smooth. Transfer the maple butter to a small bowl; cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Top the warm Gingerbread Pancakes with a dollop.

Your smile can last forever Anna Maria Salas, D.D.S., M.S. Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics

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by Todd Freed, staff writer

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ith three consecutive runner-up finishes at the UIL District 18-6A cross-country meet, Bellaire Cardinals senior Cate Urbani was determined to break through with her first individual district championship.

Sure enough, Urbani ran to victory in a winning time of 18:54 over the 5k course. “It was really special. To finally get that victory in my senior season was an incredible moment,” said Urbani.

A state qualifier two years ago as a sophomore, Urbani came within a second of running a personal best time while winning the race by a hefty margin of 2:12 seconds over second-place finisher and Bellaire teammate Anh Ho. “I’ve been training extremely hard and felt like I was in my best shape ever. I was hyped up and able to run one of my best races,” said Urbani.

Meanwhile, the overall girls’ team title was won by the Lamar Texans, who edged out Heights and third-place finisher Bellaire for the District 18-6A championship. “I thought it was a huge accomplishment,” said Lamar senior runner Dina Owers, who finished in sixth place. “We hadn’t qualified for regionals in several years, and we improved so much with our new coach. This is something really amazing for this group of girls.”

The top runner for Lamar was fellow senior Sofia Diaz, who came in third place overall.

Juniors Skylar Park and Maryah Hampton were top 10 finishers, coming in eighth and 10th, respectively.

“I came over from Sam Rayburn High School this past summer, but with everything going on with the Covid pandemic, I wasn’t really able to work with the girls over the summer. Still, I couldn’t have asked for a better group to make this kind of tough transition,” said Texans firstyear head coach Brandon Cosler. “The team accepted everything I asked from them all season. They trained extremely hard, and it’s really rewarding to see that kind of effort pay off with a championship. This is why you get in the business of coaching.”

On the boys’ side, the Bellaire Cardinals won the District 18-6A championship by a dominant 26-point victory margin. Leading the way was Cardinals sophomore Zain Hamdani, who

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 40

RUN TO GLORY Bellaire Cardinals senior Cate Urbani raced to victory at the UIL District 18-6A girls crosscountry meet. Urbani finished first, with a winning time of 18:54 over the 5k course.

won the individual championship in a scorching time of 16.39 seconds over the 5k course.

“We had a really fast senior last year [Koet Jimata] who led the way for us, so to come in and finish first as a sophomore is really cool and exciting,” said Hamdani.

Hamdani’s first-place finish set the pace for a Cardinals team that boasted four top 10 finishers. In addition to Hamdani, senior Fnan Measho was second overall, with senior Abo Jimata finishing sixth and junior James Dylan Ballard taking seventh place.

“Even though we couldn’t work out as a group during the summer because of Covid-19, we all still trained extremely hard and kept it going once the season started,” said Hamdani. “We were only able to compete in four meets, but we won all four of those races. Our two seniors really gave us the kind of work ethic to be successful.”

Among the private schools, the St. Thomas Eagles finished second in the state for the second straight year at the TAPPS 5A state crosscountry meet. “I was very proud of the way the boys ran,” said St. Thomas cross-country coach Nathan Labus. “They ran as a pack all year long, and even at the state meet, our top five fin-

ishers all crossed the finish line within 30 seconds of each other.”

The top finisher for St. Thomas was freshman Benjamin Lauzon, who came in eighth place overall in a time of 17:00.7 seconds. Eagles junior Brett Koehn finished 10th, while sophomore Patrick Bourg and senior Emilio Castaneda were 11th and 12th place overall.

“Our guys ran for each other more so than as individuals,” said Labus. “They were extremely unselfish. Plus, credit our seniors for setting the pace for us to get that second-place finish.”

In addition, the Eagles’ average finishing time for their top five runners was the second-fastest time among all divisions at the state meet.

“You’re talking about hundreds of runners across the 1A-6A levels, and to finish with the secondfastest average time is extremely impressive,” said Labus. “It was a great race for our guys.”

Editor’s note: Todd Freed is the host and executive producer of H-Town High School Sports, which airs Monday through Thursday on AT&T SportsNet SW. To submit high school sports news for possible inclusion in SportzBuzz, please email todd@thebuzzmagazines.com.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 41

SPORTS

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by Angie Frederickson, staff writer

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elcome to SportzBuzz Jr., a column spotlighting neighborhood athletes in elementary and middle school.

Game changer Southwest Football League (SFL) players Addison Perry and Trace Langin (top photo, from left) get ready to take the field for the Orange Shamrocks team. Addison is the only girl on the team of seventh and eighth graders, and the only girl to play for any division in the history of the SFL. She is the team’s kicker, responsible for kicking extra points and field goals, and she made the extra point in the team’s first winning game.

SFL’s coed team is composed of middle schoolers from River Oaks Baptist School, Presbyterian School, St. Francis Episcopal School and St. John’s School. The Orange Shamrocks are currently 1-1 in league play, led by head coach Mike Quinn and assistant coaches Bill Langin, Woodrow Scriven and Jason Berlin.

Determined to play The Emery/Weiner School wrapped up a successful volleyball season.

Middle-school players (middle photo) adapted to new protocols so everyone could safely play during the pandemic, and they were able to get in several games. After a slow start, the team made it to the playoff semifinals before a tough loss to St. Mark’s Episcopal School in the third-place game. They wrapped up the season with an outdoor awards ceremony to celebrate the team’s efforts. The Emery/Weiner volleyball players are (top row, from left) Jillian Garrett, Juliette Hess, Sophie Grosman, Micayla Farber, Emily Williams, Lexi Robinson, Sofya Domakhina, Hailey Sheena, Elissa Roser, Sophia Zimmerman, Avery Josef, (bottom row, from left) Maddie Lacombe, Raya Weinstock, Esther Gordon, Emmy Brounes, Sara Callahan. Not pictured: Amy Benavides and Sofia Kulkarni.

Speed racers Runners from St. Vincent de Paul School (bottom photo) started off a successful season at the 3rd Annual Hay Bale Cross Country meet at Nottingham Park. The team continued to compete at several additional meets, consistently placing in the top five spots. Team standouts eighth grader Benjamin Seaworth and fifth grader Ceci Bass had top finishes at the meet. Benjamin ran 3,000 meters in 12:01, finishing 16th out of 181 runners, and Ceci placed first in her age group in the 3,000-meter run.

SVdP runners include (top row, from left) Benjamin, Dominic Phan, Sophie Bireley, Alessia Fuestes, Emma Stoett, Natalie Schwartzenburg, Sophia Bellard, (bottom row, from left) Benji Adachi, Oscar Castro, Bennett Hughes and Bobby Fiore.

Editor’s note: Send your best high-resolution photos and behind-the-scenes stories about young local athletes, in both team and individual sports, to SportzBuzz, Jr. at info@thebuzzmagazines.com. Include all contact info, names, ages, grades and schools. Featured athletes must live in Buzz-circulation neighborhoods. Items will be published on a space-available basis.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 42

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Powers of attorney: the fine print Powers of attorney are documents that allow one person, the agent, to act for another, the principal. Long found in business, since 1972 Texas has blessed their use to avoid a guardianship during disability. Before, powers of attorney usually terminated on mental incapacity: they weren’t durable.

Just when you needed it most, the law revoked it.

So-called common law powers of attorney still exist, and are found most often, you guessed it, in business transactions, e.g., oil and gas development.

They are governed solely by judicial precedent, no statute blesses them, and no particular form is required.

From 1972 to 1993 durable powers of attorney had no particular form either, except for a few words addressing disability or incapacity. In 1993 the Durable Power of Attorney Act first provided a complete form, designed to increase acceptance by banks. Estate planners prefer that statutory durable form. Invariably, banks and brokers prefer their own forms, which are still respected during disability with the right language.

All three powers of attorney (common law, durable, and statutory durable) impose common law duties on the agent to (1) act in good faith; (2) do nothing beyond the authority granted in the power of attorney; (3) act loyally for the principal’s benefit; (4) avoid conflicts that would impair the agent’s ability to act in the principal’s best interest; and (5) disclose the agent’s identity as an agent when acting for the principal.

By statute, durable and statutory durable powers of attorney impose additional duties to (a) make records of each action and decision, (b) keep those

records until delivered to the principal or released by the principal or a court, and (c) provide a detailed accounting on request by the principal, to include a balance sheet, income statement, and inventory, among other things.

These are extraordinary burdens. The statutory durable form sets them out for the agent, but few read them and even fewer meet them.

Pity the agents under durable and common law powers of attorney, who have liability but no notice.

For a plain English guide to serving as an agent under a power of attorney, visit protecttheirmoneytx.org. Before accepting appointment as an agent, discuss your potential duties with the principal. Personal finance software like eMoney, Mint, or Personal Capital can help, allowing the agent to track assets in an online account that can be shared, e.g., with the principal, spouse, and alternate agents.

We write wills and go to probate court. We offer no-obligation initial interviews for estate planning and administration, so it costs nothing to hear specific recommendations that suit your needs. Foreign nationals and international families welcome.

Russell W. Hall, J.D., LL.M. (Tax), Board Certified – Estate Planning and Probate Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 6750 West Loop South, Suite 920, Bellaire, Texas 77401, 713.662.3853, bellaireprobate.com/blog

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BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 43

SHOOT FOR THE STARS Tracy Huang, a junior at Carnegie Vanguard High School, worked over the summer as a virtual NASA intern.

KIDS

by Tracy Huang, age 16

Buzz Kidz

Out of this world

“We want to offer you a place at NASA’s Virtual SEES internship.”

As I read it, I screamed! It was the first month into the Covid-19 pandemic. In the middle of chaos, a glimmer of hope appeared inside me. For the first time since Covid-19 started, I felt safe and reassured. I was so excited to get a chance to work with other passionate STEM students, and I couldn’t wait to get started. Even though the internship was in three months, NASA had already sent out five courses for us to finish. After completing over 80 hours of python and spacescience classes, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment and pride. Little did I know, this was just the beginning of a long but exciting journey.

The primary purpose of the SEES (STEM Enhancement in Earth Science) program was to

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get a team and pick a Covid-19 space-related topic to thoroughly research and present to NASA at the end of the internship. After brainstorming, my eight-member team decided to focus on locating pathogens and other harmful bacteria inside of NASA’s spaceships by creating a UWB (ultra-wideband) anchor tag sensor to locate target areas of cleaning. I was the leader of the coding aspect, which developed a sample-data analysis graph using hypothetical data from the UWB anchor tag sensor to graph the modules in the spaceship that were the main targets for bacteria.

Using the data from my sample-data analysis graph and a Python program called Dash, my team and I were able to locate the target areas specifically on the 3D model we developed, and accurately compare the modules to each other.

This experience taught me so much about the aspect of teamwork, computer science and engineering. Over 120 hours were put into this project for over seven weeks, and I felt a rush of pride as our team presented our presentation to NASA’s board members. I had a fantastic time at this internship, and I am so thankful I got an opportunity to meet wonderful teammates and mentors from NASA and UT at Austin.

Want to be a Buzz Kid? Email approximately 350 words, a high-resolution photo and caption to info@thebuzzmagazines.com. Or mail it to The Buzz Magazines, 5001 Bissonnet, Suite 100, Bellaire, Texas 77401.

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Update on dog allergy A few years ago, I wrote about whether there really was such a thing as a hypoallergenic dog. The answer was “sort of.” Breeds claimed to be hypoallergenic, like a Bichon or Poodle, produce just as much dog allergen per square inch of body-surface area as Golden Retrievers. But Goldens are bigger than Bichons, so one Bichon produces less allergen than one Golden. Also, Bichons and Poodles shed a lot less than Goldens, so the dog allergen stays on the dog, and doesn’t get spread all over the house.

What if you are allergic to your dog? It’s best not to have the pet you’re allergic to, but dogs become part of the family, and it can be hard to part with them. Allergy shots work great for dog allergy, if your allergist is following the latest Practice Parameters for Allergen Immunotherapy.

Unfortunately, that’s a big “if.” Most allergists only test for one dog allergen, either Acetone Precipitated (AP) dog, or dog epithelium. AP dog is great because it has about 50 times more of the most important dog allergen than dog epithelium has. But using it alone isn’t good enough. AP dog doesn’t have any of the minor dog allergens. That’s why we test for and treat for both AP dog and dog epithelium. I can’t tell you how many patients we have seen where their previous allergist told them, “You’re not allergic to dog,” and then find out they’re just allergic to the other dog allergen.

Sometimes, the patient who has allergy symptoms around the dog really isn’t allergic to dog at all. Dogs go outside to walk and do their business, and their fur is really good at trapping pollen grains and mold spores and

bringing them inside. And mostly-inside dogs who use the same soft bed usually share that bed with lots and lots of dust mites. Dust mites aren’t picky; they don’t mind eating shed human skin or dog dander. Dust mite-avoidance tips should be applied to the dog’s bed, too; wash the bed covering in hot water once a week and prevent the humidity from getting too high where the dog sleeps.

If possible, keep your bedroom free of pets. If that’s not possible, then at least keep the dog out of your bed. And if in spite of the avoidance measures listed above you are still having allergy symptoms when around your dog, then it’s time to make an appointment to see us.

No one nose allergies like we do.™ Note: Information contained in this article should not be considered a substitute for consultation with a board-certified allergist to address individual medical needs.

David B. Engler, M.D., The Allergy Clinic, 7707 Fannin, Suite 100, Houston, Texas 77054, 713.797.0993, *1200 Binz, Suite 180, Houston, Texas 77004, 713.522.9911, www.allergyclinic.com, *Operating as Houston Allergy and Asthma Clinic

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Trafton Academy Educating Minds, Building Character For Life

For more information and to register for virtual tours, please visit:

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PETS

Neighborhood Tails Harpo, age 7, Poodle, Willow St. Hello! My name is Harpo Harris. I am 7 years old, and my mommy says I’m so smart that I’m going into second grade. I love everyone I meet and make sure each person gets to pet me.

If my mommy stops petting me I slap her gently with my paw. I am a certified animal-assisted therapy pet. As a member of two different groups, I get to visit Texas Children’s Hospital and MD Anderson, where I perform amazing tricks to children in each room we visit. I also visit very nice seniors in assisted-living homes. I usually elicit lots of smiles and “oohs” and “aahs” when people touch my soft fur. Do you know people even stop their cars on the street to yell, “That’s sure a beautiful dog!” I’m sure something, huh? I hope I get to meet you.

Got a cute critter? Email a picture of your pet with approximately 150 words to info@thebuzzmagazines.com or mail it to The Buzz Magazines, 5001 Bissonnet, Suite 100, Bellaire, Texas 77401.

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Retinal detachment Retinal detachment describes an emergency situation in which a thin layer of tissue (the retina) at the back of the eye pulls away from its normal position. Retinal detachment separates the retinal cells from the layer of blood vessels that provides oxygen and nourishment.

Retinal detachment itself is painless. But warning signs almost always appear before it occurs or has advanced, such as: 1. The sudden appearance of many floaters – tiny specks that seem to drift through your field of vision.

2. Flashes of light in one or both eyes. 3.

Blurred vision. 4. Gradually reduced side (peripheral) vision. 5. A curtain-like shadow over your visual field.

The following factors increase your risk of retinal detachment: 1. Aging – retinal detachment is more common in people over age 50. 2. Previous retinal detachment in one eye. 3. Family history of retinal detachment. 4. Extreme nearsightedness (myopia). 5. Previous eye surgery, such as cataract removal.

6. Previous severe eye injury. 7. Previous other eye disease or disorder, including retinoschisis, uveitis or thinning of the peripheral retina (lattice degeneration).

See your Bellaire retina specialist if you are experiencing the signs or symptoms of retinal detachment. Retinal detachment is a medical emergency in which you can permanently lose your vision.

Annan Retina Eye Center, Dr. Jaafar F El-Annan, 6550 Mapleridge St., Suite 125, Houston, Texas, 77081, 346-22ANNAN, www.jaafarelannanmd.com

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Intensive therapy for mental health When an individual is seeking help with navigating emotions, processing life transitions and/or exploring the self in relation to others, we may recommend individual, group or couples therapy. If an individual is so impacted by their struggles that they are unable to function in their day-to-day life, we would recommend more intensive mental health treatment, such as The Lovett Center’s Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP).

What is an IOP? The Lovett Center’s proprietary IOP is an eight-week program designed for those who are experiencing considerable distress, anxiety, depression, interpersonal struggles and/or substance use issues. It offers a structured curriculum that can be an effective alternative to hospitalization. Beyond the eight weeks, we offer continued options for ongoing care to facilitate long-term healing. Our IOP can also serve as an aftercare program following residential treatment. In order to best meet the needs of our clients, treatment is divided into groups based on stage of life.

IOP for young adults: Individuals ages 18-25 who are struggling with mental health issues that are preventing them from individuating from their parents, succeeding in school and/or building appropriate self-esteem may benefit from participating in our IOP. In this program, individual therapy is combined with group therapy, mediation, trauma-informed yoga and financial skills training. It may be paired with family therapy and sessions with a recovery support therapist, if applicable.

IOP for adult professionals: Our IOP for adult professionals is tailored to high-achieving individuals seeking to manage their health, well-being and work-life balance. Often, high-pressure professions compound work-

place challenges and interfere with personal relationships.

In these cases, we work with individuals via solo and group therapy, skills training and more to help them achieve longterm wellness.

Our approach: No matter the age group, The Lovett Center uses a psychodynamic approach, which is widely considered a holistic, global approach to treatment that focuses on the client’s emotions, perspectives and life experiences.

Our compassionate, master’s-level clinicians provide intensive care while allowing clients to continue with their normal work and academic activities, guiding them towards long-term healing by setting them up with skills for daily life and offering aftercare support through The Lovett Center or other healing locations within the Ethos Behavioral Health Group family.

Virtual therapy options are currently available to assist clients of all ages. For more information about our IOP programs, please contact us confidentially.

The Lovett Center, 900 Lovett Blvd., Houston, Texas 77006, 713.470.9878, thelovettcenter.com, info@thelovettcenter.com

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NEIGHBORS

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by Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld, staff writer

Buzz About Town Belles dance on

Trivia time

Since March, the Bellaire High School Belles Dance Team has practiced virtually, held virtual auditions and welcomed 25 freshman members. After only two short in-person practices, the Belles performed the half-time show at the first football game of the season.

Although the dancers haven’t had much of a chance to bond as in the past, they are carrying on the big and lil’ sis traditions and will exchange holiday gifts in December. Pictured, at the first football game of the season, are (from left) Caroline Desrosiers, Yasmine Wheeler, Morgan Lawter, Leah Mei Guttentag, Valeria Serenil, Leila Nguyen and Laura Cheng.

The nonprofit Breakthrough Houston hosted the second annual “Are You Smarter Than A Breakthrough Student?” trivia event, which took place via Zoom this year. Co-chairs Gisela and Igor Cherches (pictured), Allison and Kyle O’Neill, and Linsay and Jeremy Radcliffe planned the evening of competitive trivia and cocktails. Participants saw how they measured up against Breakthrough Houston students by answering questions based on the organization’s curriculum. Quizmasters were David Gow and Carla Dawson of Gow Media. Vanderbilt freshman Collins Agyeman spoke on how Breakthrough Houston helped him achieve his educational goals, and eighth-grader Shelby

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Haskett closed out the evening with final remarks. The winning team, Nerd Immunity, participated from New York City after being “recruited” by chair Gisela Cherches. Supporters raised more than $130,000.

On par The Eric M. Suhl Foundation hosted its 5th Annual Eric M. Suhl Memorial Golf Tournament at Wildcat Golf Club. Thirty-two teams, comprising 128 golfers, competed for the titles of 1st Place, Middle Place and (a fanfavorite honor) Dead Last Place. The winning team included team members Corey Powell, Luke Carpenter, Adam (continued on page 50)

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Encompassing Quality

• Elegant kitchens and baths • All-inclusive remodeling amenities • Rehab, make-ready and maintenance • We also work in Galveston 832.231.9793 • www.artisanhomepro.com BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 49

CSM Photography

Elizabeth Groff, Alma Connor, Karen Fernbach, Karen Vine Fuller and Julie Kuenstle. Their kids graduated from local high schools, including Bellaire High School, Duchesne Academy, Houston Christian High School, Lamar High School and St. Thomas High School.

Daniel Ortiz

Supporting Houston Hospice

(continued from page 48) Carpenter

and Matt Werner. The foundation, which was formed in 2016 in memory of Eric Suhl, announced that it would donate $30,000 to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, JFS Touching the Heart Suicide Prevention Program and The Eric M. Suhl Scholarship at UT Austin. Pictured (from left) are Kyle, Debra, Randy and Ryan Suhl at the 2020 tournament.

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Red Raider moms Buzz-area moms of Texas Tech University freshmen gathered to assemble care packages for their students. Goodies included granola bars, popcorn, fruit snacks, candy, tea bags and lottery scratch-offs. Pictured are (from left) Kathy Tedor, Melanie Modica, Laura Winston, Anne Vachon, Theresa Bosley, Kellie Green,

The 22nd Annual Laura Lee Blanton Community Spirit Award Dinner was attended by 80 masked guests at River Oaks Country Club and more than 200 who gathered virtually. The evening raised more than $225,000 to support the Houston Hospice Program. Chairs were Elizabeth and Peter Wareing, and the recipient of the Laura Lee Blanton Community (continued on page 52)

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(continued from page 50) Spirit Award – named in

honor of Elizabeth’s mother – was The Garden Club of Houston. The crystal award was accepted

by Julie Griffin, president of the board of the Garden Club. Author Elin Hilderbrand Zoomed in live from Nantucket for an interview with emcee Lisa Malosky. Hilderbrand volunteers at the Hospice in Nantucket, and her latest book, 28 Summers, reflects on end-of-life decisions. Pictured are (from left) president and CEO Rana McClelland, event chairs Elizabeth and Peter Wareing and board chairman Dr. Paul Mansfield.

Bellaire Young Mothers organized a Treat-NoTrick drive-through fall event and faux pumpkin patch at Feld Park. Kids received a goodie bag, and families enjoyed taking photos at this outdoor, socially distant event. Pictured are (from left) Maya Davé, Edita-Sage Bitner and Rayna Patel. In December, the group has several meetand-greet events planned to connect families and support moms. See bellaireyoungmothers.org.

Hazel’s masks Hazel Donato designed dozens of masks to donate to the Bellaire Police Department. They

featured a monogram of the BPD initials and incorporated a pocket to insert N95 masks. In addition, she created and donated masks to the UTHealth Cizik School of Nursing. The Student Government Organization sold Hazel’s masks, and proceeds went to the Student Assistance Fund. Pictured are (from left) dean Diane Santa Mario, SGO president Isabel Blow, SGO vice president Joseph Boyle, Hazel and neighbor Allison Edwards, who is assistant professor at UTHealth.

Tricky, tricky Larry Feingersh had tried to gather friends on Halloween to celebrate his birthday, but invitees all had trick-or-treat plans with grandkids. They told him they would celebrate Larry – who’s known as a prankster – the next day instead.

Friends were excited to turn the tables on him for a special surprise. Son Harry kept him occupied while food was prepared at Larry’s home.

When he walked back into his own house, he was surprised to see friends, including Gary and Donna Bumpass, Deborah and Reuben Bar Yadin, Cindy and Brian Atlas, Sharon and

Mike Brier, and Harry Feingersh and Kelli Brace, waiting to celebrate him. It was a treat of an evening.

The three amigos Stephanie Maierson Photography

Maria Benzon

Connecting with community

The loss of Rabbi Sam Karff not only leaves a void at Congregation Beth Israel, where he was senior rabbi for 24 years and rabbi emeritus since 1999, but also in an interfaith trio that set an example for promoting respect and dignity throughout Houston. The Three Amigos is what religious leaders the Rev. William Lawson, Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza and Rabbi Karff (pictured, from left) called themselves. They banded together more than 50 years ago to fight for civil rights for people of all races and faiths.

Recently, a new Amigo was named by the Rev. Lawson and Archbishop Fiorenza. Rabbi David Lyon, the senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel who was mentored by Rabbi Karff, was already a partner in ADL’s Coalition for Mutual Respect. Rev. Lawson and Archbishop Fiorenza needed a third partner to continue their work in Houston, and Rabbi Lyon was the obvious choice. They look forward to honoring Rabbi Karff’s legacy and continuing their work. Find more details at thebuzzmagazines.com; see “Finding a Fourth for the Three Amigos” by Andria Frankfort.

Be seen in Buzz About Town. Send your high-res photos and community news to info@thebuzzmagazines.com.

Items are published on a space-available basis. Also share your upcoming-event listings on thebuzzmagazines.com.

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 52

Watch Their Smiles Grow

Oral healthcare for the growing & developing child Joel J. Vela, D.D.S. Bellaire Pediatric Dentistry, P.A. 6750 West Loop South, Suite 795 713.661.1100 • www.bellairesmiles.com

BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 53

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by Andria Frankfort, staff writer

Back Porch

New year, new thinking

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ou can’t positive-think a terrible situation into something glorious. But as we take stock of 2020 and look forward to something new, a little positivity might be in order.

Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and Outer Order, Inner Calm, has been tackling the question of how to say goodbye to 2020 and hello to 2021 on her Instagram feed.

She says that positivity isn’t just in the thinking.

It’s in the doing.

“I’m a big believer in the power of concrete actions to shape our emotions and thoughts,” she writes. “With a ritual to ‘Exorcise 2020,’ we can help ourselves look forward to the future with more energy and cheer.” Her followers suggested a few rituals: “Exorcise the Covid-19 so that our pants fit again.” “Purge the pantry.” “[Focus on] the words of the Bee Gees, ‘Stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive.’”

And then there were more serious responders, like the one who said, “[We] can’t wait for the return of normal, because 1) we don’t know when the pandemic will actually end, and it isn’t likely to be January 1; and 2) we have lived through so much change, the old version of normal isn’t coming back… what will we create with this opportunity we’ve been given to create our own new-and-improved versions of normal?”

Henry Richardson, who founded DEFINE fitness and holds a master’s degree in positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, reiterates the notion that everything is not going to completely change overnight with the new year.

“It’s important to remember that each and every day, we have a new chance to ‘slow-drip’ into positive change. Fear, anxiety, these are below-the-line emotions that are narrowing, constricting, leading us to seeing more of the same. Small movements make long-lasting change. Over time, when the slow drip happens consistently, it becomes saturated, and it dissipates the negativity.”

Henry suggests creating positive interventions. “Intervention is something we typically think of as a negative,” he says, “but what if we shifted our mindset to creating a positive intervention, creating a momentary injection of positivity? What works for you? Going for a walk, BELLAIRE BUZZ DECEMBER 2020 54

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NEIGHBORS

cooking, putting on your favorite playlist? These are the ways you can pause and intervene in that downward spiral. Then, when we find ourselves deviating into a direction we are not happy with, we can pull out a tool and change direction.”

“For me, the best thing is to focus hyper-locally on my own life,” says Lisa Helfman, the H-E-B director of public affairs and founder of the nonprofit Brighter Bites. “When I get upset, it’s because I’m focusing on big things that I have no control over. HERE AND NOW Let's gather up our energy to welcome 2021 with renewed positivity.

When I’m focusing the food [they distribute fresh, organic produce on my kids and my life, on where I can actually to underserved families]. It’s that people feel make change, that really helps me.” cared for.”

Lisa sends a quote in her son Drew’s lunch Sean Fitzpatrick, executive director at The every day. Recently she found a new favorite: Be Jung Center, says living in the present can be so happy that when others look at you, they become our key to peace in the new year. “We all face happy too. “I think that’s what guides me,” she challenges,” he says. “We naturally want to says. “What makes me happiest, what fuels my resolve them and avoid new ones. What often positivity, is being able to give to others. Not happens, though, is that our attention is drawn just the big things like getting to be the H-E-B to the past, to figure out how to keep suffering ‘fairy’ [Lisa oversees H-E-B’s contributions to the from happening again, or to the future, where community], but in little ways, making connecnew stress may emerge.” tions, helping people, doing something for my Instead, he tells us to notice the gifts of today. kids. I brought home Mi Tienda for dinner, and “They may be loving relationships, a secure job, I know my boys are going to enjoy it. Finding our health or even the ability to walk outside in the joy in the little things like that that I can cool Houston winter days. Rather than worry make an impact on. about what we can’t control, we can choose to “We all want to be cared for, and when we plan for what we can control, and otherwise live care about each other, it fills us up. I know that’s our lives now, here.” the secret of success at Brighter Bites. It’s not