Swingin’ in Houston

8 Jul

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I visited Houston 4th of July weekend to check out wedding venues for my son and his Texan fiancee.

We stopped by the Swinging Door restaurant for some authentic Texan BBQ food. This rustic place is the perfect spot for the rehearsal dinner. The food is fantastic! They serve beef brisket, ribs, chicken, turkey and sausage.  The sides are beans, potato salad, cole slaw, dirty rice and green beans. For dessert, pecan pie, brownies and assorted fruit cobblers are yummy (shown). It’s the perfect family spot too. There’s a house rule: “If you start a jalapeno, you must finish it!”

Since y’all might not be in Houston soon, I recommend Slow’s BBQ in Motown!

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Twenty Pies

4 Jul

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Rebelogged from Trend Bytes  who reblogged it from Downtown Romantic.   YUM!

Spiritual Musings

2 Jul

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Check out the blog readthespirit.com

It’s an online magazine, a blog, a bookstore, and more.

This expanded blog is innovative, fresh and cross-cultural. All faiths are explored.

I stumbled upon it after, my Linkedin connection Bobbie Lewis wrote about it. Bobbie has a new interactive section on this blog called Feed the Spirit.

Veteran journalist David Crumm is a co-founder. He’s the former religion columnist at the Detroit Free Press. I used to read his columns religiously! Another personal connection is Lynne Meredith Golodner, a former colleague from our days at Renaissance Media and the Detroit Jewish News. She is the author (shown) of Flavors of Faith: Holy Breads, published by Read the Spirit Books. Golodner weaves interesting stories in between recipes for challah, hot-cross buns and Native American cornbread. Faith and food intersect in delightful way.

Flavors of the Faith is first in a series “to inspire and nourish readers with real-life stories and cross-cultural traditions.”

I look forward to more soulful recipes and food stories.

“A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou.” – Omar Khayyam

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Channeling Downton Abbey

28 Jun

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The other night some members of my book club group attended a Downton Abbey party where a representative of PBS told us about the upcoming fourth season, and we had a lecture about the some beautiful British estates.Many of the attendees dressed in costume. Everyone thought Christine (top, right) looked exactly like the character Anna. We learned that one new character on the popular TV series will be played by Paul Giamatti. Art historian Wendy Evans presented the lecture on the treasure houses of Britain and told us many interesting facts including that Highclere castle (home of Downton Abbey) and the Parliament were designed by the same architect, Charles Barry.

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Sweet Eight Mile

25 Jun

Diptic In the the movie “8 Mile” with Eminem, the street 8 Mile is portrayed as gritty.  Geographically, 8 Mile Road is also the street that separates the city from the suburbs in Detroit.  To Beekeeper Ron Wieske of Green Toe Gardens, 8 Mile Road is sweet. Wieske’s sweet version is his bottle of honey from one of his hives near the infamous road. If you do not prefer the taste of 8 Mile, then he has other flavors like Harsens Island and Saginaw Valley. He sells his honey every week at local markets in the metro Detroit area. Catch him at the Royal Oak Farmers Market, Farmington Farmers & Artisans Market and Beaumont Farmer’s Market in Royal Oak on Thursdays. For candle aficionados, Wieske makes his own candles from 100 percent beeswax.

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$2 Billion Bash

21 Jun

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Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson thanked more than 700 people the other day by throwing  a party at the Palace. The event celebrated the innovative companies that helped diversify Oakland County, Michigan. The “Emerging Sector” companies generated a $2 billion investment in the county and created 42,000 jobs. The invitation-only event was a thank-you to all the growing and burgeoning businesses.

I attended the event representing Beaumont Health System. Since it was at the Palace, the home of the Detroit Pistons, James “Buddha” Edwards attended. He is a former Pistons. I am in the photo on the right with my friend, Marcia Auster (left). Marcia attended the event with her husband, Barry Auster, M.D., of Oakland Aesthetic Dermatology in Farmington Hills. Dr. Auster is president of the Oakland County Medical Society.

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Italian-Mexican Fare at El Barzon

16 Jun

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Nestled on a residential street in Detroit, El Barzon serves authentic Italian and Mexican dishes.

In the summertime, there is outdoor seating with a lovely waterfall (shown). Indoors there is white tablecloth dining, but all guests are greeted with salsa and chips upon arrival.  Dining at El Barzon is a unique experience — it’s an urban setting with a cosmopolitan flair. The food is delicious, and the portions are large. You will not be disappointed!

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Perfect Sun Hat

13 Jun

UnknownI might have found the perfect sun hat. It’s cute, packable and provides sun protection. It’s called the bucket with a hide-away neck-flap. I purchased it at Dunham’s in metro Detroit. To my delight, it’s from a Motown-based company — Broner Hat & Glove. This fourth-generation family business began in Detroit and is now located in Auburn Hills. Check out their catalog for more sun hats that will keep you cool and sunburn free.

Here are some other fun sun hats!Unknown-1765412-20130314061136-broner-womens-spring-awakening-sun-shading-hat

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Antiques Roadshow Visits Motown

2 Jun

photo Antiques Roadshow kicked off their 2013 season with a taping in Detroit on Saturday, June 1. Although I was not at the taping, I was fortunate to be invited to a behind-the-scenes preview at the Townsend Hotel a few days before the show hosted by U.S. Trust. U.S. Trust thanked my friend, Lois Shaevsky who is on the Board of Trustees at Detroit Public Television for her community work at the luncheon. More than 50 people were treated to a lecture “The State of Jewelry Today” discussing the trends, values and styles. The keynote speaker was Kate Waterhouse (shown, left), a PBS Antiques Roadshow Appraiser and Director of Jewelry, Heritage Auctions. Carolyn Ashleigh (shown, right) is a Heritage consultant in Birmingham. So what’s trending now in the jewelry? According to Waterhouse, watch collections are very popular among the young twenty and thirty-somethings. But the best takeaway was that jewelry rarely loses its intrinsic value. She showed a strand of natural pearls that went up for auction in 2004 and sold for $21,500. A similar pieces sold for $218,00 in 2011. Each guest received the book “The Collector’s Handbook,” by James Halperin, Gregory J. Rohan and with Mark Pendergast. I can’t wait to see the value of some Motown treasures on the upcoming Antiques Roadshow from Detroit!

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Handmade Clothing for Bundles of Joy

27 May

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Treat your new bundle of joy to some hand made clothing created by Jessica Brandt. Jessica (shown in photo) has created a collection of hand made clothing, bibs, blankets, burp cloths, dresses, shorts and other baby accessories. She even makes sheets and takes custom orders! You can find these adorable one-of-a kind items on Etsy.  Her company is called Little Bundlez, and she sews all of her items in her home workshop in metro Detroit.  As a mother of a toddler and one on the way, she chooses cozy fabrics and delightful prints.

Visit her site on Etsy or e-mail her at jessica.bbrandt@yahoo.com

I asked Jessica which baby blog and site she prefers, and she suggested prudentbaby.com

I’m enjoying the Martha Stewart site for tips from clothing to food to decor.

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