The organic farm at Paul Quinn College has purple-top white-globe turnips for sale.  I like to cook the greens and make baked turnip fries.

Turnip Greens

3-5 pound of turnip greens

2 teaspoons olive oil

½ teaspoon sea salt

2 slices of bacon, chopped

1. Fill a large pot with one inch of water.
2. Add olive oil, sea salt, and bacon.
3. Add turnip greens.
4. Turn on the burner to medium heat and cover.  The water will start to steam to the top.
5. Cook the turnip greens for about 5-10 minutes; most of the water will be gone.  Serve with Baked Turnip Fries.

Baked Turnip Fries

3 pounds turnip bottoms

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
2. Cut the turnips into french fry size pieces and place in a bowl.
3. Toss the turnip pieces with the oil, garlic powder, and salt.
4. Place turnip pieces in a single layer on the cookie sheet and put in the oven.
5. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Serve with Turnip Greens.

What to plant this week:

Radishes – reduce sinus ailments and hay fever
Beets – natural blood purifiers, cleanse the intestines, liver, gallbladder and kidneys
Collards – nutritional powerhouse with anti-cancer properties
Spinach – be strong like Popeye; spinach is full of vitamins and minerals
Turnips – high in fiber and vitamin B6
Oregano – is said to help control cholesterol
Strawberries – sweet vitamin C packet
Broccoli – dietary fiber and vitamin C
Cabbage – healthy bones from its vitamin K
Cauliflower – antioxidant, anti-inflammatory
Arugula – a spicy leafy green with anti-viral properties
Mustards – eating regularly is said to prevent arthritis

Garden Lady’s green dates to remember:

Feb. 12 Rainbow Garden Club Dallas Garden Talk at Repotted
Feb. 18,  8:30 a.m., Small Scale Urban Agriculture class at the TOFGA Conference.
Feb. 17-19 Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association Conference at the Mesquite Convention Center

© Andrea Bithell for Advocate Magazine, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
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Unfortunately, Salvation Army has decided not to reopen the West Jefferson store; the 10,000-square-foot building is for sale. It is listed, as is, for $480,000. C.J. Dunn Commercial already is is negotiating with a potential buyer, says Patrick Patey, a Salvation Army spokesman for the Dallas area.

Salvation Army decided to make the thrift store on Village Fair its “anchor” in Oak Cliff.

“That was our smallest store,” Patey says. “So it was a good time to go ahead and let the other one be the anchor store in Oak Cliff.”

© Rachel Stone for Advocate Magazine, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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White wines from France’s Rhone region aren’t particularly well known and, at least in this country, don’t get all that much respect. You don’t see many of them on store shelves or restaurant wine lists, and you don’t see many of them reviewed, for that matter.

Which is a shame, given that white Rhones are usually different and interesting, and that’s something I’m always looking for. The Belleruche ($12, purchased, available at Spec’s), from one of the Rhone’s largest producers, has always been one of my favorite wines for just that reason. When I can find it, of course.

This is a previous vintage, and the extra year of bottle age has given the wine, a blend of grenache blanc, clairette and bourboulenc, a little more character. There is lots of white pepper, some oiliness and just a hint of a green fruit, like lime or apple. This is a not a white wine for people who need something fruit forward, like sauvignon blanc or chardonnay, but it’s not supposed to be.

And don’t worry that you haven’t heard of the grapes used to make it — almost no one who isn’t in the wine business has heard of them, either. Which is another reason why the wine is so interesting, and that’s three more grapes for your Wine Century Club effort. Chill this and drink it on its own or with something like goat cheese; roast pork with apples would be terrific, too.

© Jeff Siegel for Advocate Magazine, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chapoutier, French wine, Rhone wines, white wine, wine of the week, wine reviews

“Up here in North Dallas land, where I live, no one has heard of Greiner,” Ordinario says.

That’s a problem. Last year, DISD nearly closed Greiner’s Exploratory Arts Academy, which is known for its music program. Parents rallied to save it, but it is just funded. The academy’s budget includes teacher salaries and nothing else.

“There’s no budget for costumes, instruments … I don’t think the pianos have been tuned in years,” Ordinario says. “There’s just no money.”

Ordinario started thinking about how Booker T. Washington School for the Performing Arts is so successful. What is their “secret?” she wondered. So she met with the PTA president there and found that much of Booker T.’s fundraising and publicity is due to its advisory committee.

So Ordinario is putting together an advisory committee for Greiner. Goals for the committee are not in writing yet, but they will include fundraising, applying for grants, gaining publicity and securing public performances for Greiner Arts Academy students.

Two women have committed to serve on the board so far. One is an education lawyer who has experience with grant writing, and the other is Adrienne Jackson, a lawyer who is the wife of Sylvan|Thirty developer Brent Jackson.

Anyone interested in serving on the board should contact Ordinario: rordinario@me.com or 214.418.9043.

By the way, Ordinario’s son, Cameron, is the kid who last year was inspired to write the song “Please Save Greiner”:

Click here to view the embedded video.

© Rachel Stone for Advocate Magazine, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
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Both projects are expected to be completed in August. They are expected to cost $50,000, and Molina teachers will submit proposals on how to spend the remainder.

Librarian Hazel Peterson and program development specialist Cathy Pinnell, who have worked at Molina since it opened in 1997, applied for the grant. “The Ellen DeGeneres Show ” invited viewers to submit compelling stories about schools that deserved the Target grant. Target selected 48 schools, including Molina and two other Texas high schools.

Adding cafes to school libraries is becoming a trend since studies have found students are more likely to frequent coffee shops than libraries to study and use the Internet.

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J.D. Tippit

The Texas Historical Commission has approved markers for two sites in Oak Cliff. One historical marker will be placed at 10th and Patton, near the site where Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed officer J.D. Tippit after the Kennedy assassination.

Another will be placed two and a half blocks away from there, at the site of the original Adamson High School,the Dallas Morning News reports.

That will protect the building, constructed in 1914, from being demolished or inappropriately remodeled, as DISD had considered in 2009. A group of Adamson alumni fought the school district’s plans and applied for historical designation.

The new Adamson High School is under construction and is expected to open in the fall.

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The company sells local and organic produce, bread, meat and dairy, as well as “sustainably produced” groceries and sundry items and delivers to homes and offices.

Greenling threw a launch party Saturday at Bolsa Mercado, inviting local growers, including Oak Cliff Organics and the Texas Honeybee Guild, for snacks and sips.

© Rachel Stone for Advocate Magazine, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
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I don’t spend a lot of time wondering what it would be like to be rich, but I have to admit it does cross my mind from time to time.

What would I do first, I wonder, if money was no object?

I saw a 139-day-long cruise listed in a travel brochure the other day; the cost was $49,000 per person for the least-expensive “discounted” cabin. So for just under $100,000, my wife and I could spend more than four months traveling the world without a care. Would I spend a fraction of my imaginary fortune on a trip like that, knowing that when I returned home, there would still be plenty of money left to live on?

There’s a car called the Lamborghini Reventon I could buy for $1.6 million; it takes only 3.3 seconds to reach 60 miles per hour, and it tops out at 211 miles per hour. I don’t know if that price includes a warranty or pre-paid legal assistance, but if I could afford to spend that much money on a car and still not worry about my next meal, I wonder what my life would be like?

Or what if, after my $100,000 cruise, I drove my $1.6 million Lamborghini to Las Vegas, where I could buy a $5,000 hamburger meal that includes a 1995 bottle of Petrus wine?

What if that kind of stuff happened to me every day because money was no object in my life?

Or instead of spending everything on myself, would I be a generous rich guy, showering money on nonprofits and churches and working to make life easier for my neighbors?

Of course, all of the time I’ve spent thinking about being rich isn’t really helping me or anyone else. And just thinking about it isn’t going to get it done, either.

And that’s what I like about this month’s cover story. The people we’re profiling are “regular” folks, and I say that in the nicest possible way. While many of us dream about what could be, they’re doing simple things to enjoy life and make the lives of others better, too. Money doesn’t seem to be much of an issue to them; I don’t know if they want to be wealthy or not, but they don’t seem to be spending any time worrying about it.

Instead, they’ve staked out some simple ways to make their lives fulfilling and rich, and I don’t mean in the bank-account way, either.

Be happy. Say “hello.” Care about customers. Help people. Be kind.

Those concepts are so simple, it’s almost laughable to think stuff so basic would make anyone happy over the course of a lifetime. But it’s working for these neighbors, and it would probably work better for me than worrying about cash.

Here’s betting that if someone served them a $5,000 hamburger, these neighbors would simply send it back to the kitchen for someone else to obsess about.

© Rick Wamre for Advocate Magazine, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: A rich life

Photo by Can Türkyilmaz

Jason, you’re probably the most recognizable person in the neighborhood.
It’s funny you say that because the only reason I’m considered a bike source for the city is because I take all these passionate stands. And I don’t think I’m necessarily the best representative of all things bicycle. But what I do think I can represent is better form, better use, walkability and all that kind of stuff. I want holistic communities where you have your small grocery, your butcher, your local businesses, and you can ride your bike or walk to them or take a streetcar. I’ve almost become a reluctant activist because I just want a better place to live. But when you’re seen as a leader in certain causes, you start to feel some pressure on the back end from people saying, “Why isn’t this happening?”

How did you become this leader of causes?
I see all these cool things happening in other places, and I think, “Why can’t we have these things here?” You can’t wait for other people to do it. If I want bike lanes, I can’t wait for other people to do that. I have to learn as much as I can about it and take that on myself.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was in a band. I had just moved to Oak Cliff.

Where did you move from?
Garland. That’s where I grew up. When I married Andrea, we wanted to live in an older neighborhood, so at first we looked for a house in the M Streets, but that was just so expensive. And then Andrea said, “You know, I think Oak Cliff could be the place to look.” If you’re from the northern suburbs, nobody went to Oak Cliff. I don’t think we realize how bad the perception was of the area. When you told people you were moving to Oak Cliff, they were like … “Why would you ever go there?”

Well, what did you like about it?
It has a sense of community. It’s not like the suburbs. You know your neighbors. We realized what a great community we were in. But then we realized that a lot of our needs were missing here. If you wanted a certain food item or a certain restaurant or activities for your kids, you had to leave the community, and we didn’t necessarily want to leave our community.

How did you get started with community work in Oak Cliff?
Art Conspiracy was the first thing. It was at the Texas Theatre in 2005. My band had been playing around the country, and we had seen a lot of cool places. Hurricane Katrina had just happened, and we had friends who lived in New Orleans, so we thought maybe we could use this event to raise money for them. I asked Sarah Jane (Semrad) if she could get 20 artists to participate, and she said, “Let’s make it 100.” It was kind of an excuse to use the theater, too. We really wanted to get people inside the Texas Theatre. And before we opened the doors, we thought, “Maybe this is a terrible idea.” We were asking people to come out to this old boarded-up theater, in Oak Cliff, in December. We put it all on our credit cards, and we were afraid it would be this abject failure. But then 700 people came out. That proved that with a little elbow grease and a little moxie, you can turn something around and at least change perception. I’ve applied that to everything from bikes to streetcars to blocks to schools, and I’ve realized that half the battle is perception.

Changing perceptions is the basic idea behind the Better Block project.
We were really just trying to get the conversation going about public spaces and these outdated city ordinances that were affecting businesses on Tyler and Davis. Zoning had taken away all these uses. You should be able to have café seating, and you should be able to put flowers on the sidewalk, but none of these things were allowed. Unless you do something dramatic, people won’t get involved. The first Better Block was a way to show people what we were talking about. Can we not make it into this block that we’ve all dreamed of having? So we decked it out, and we broke every ordinance we could think of. We put in bike lanes. We didn’t close the street because we wanted to show what it would be like realistically in the long-term.

That event got a lot of attention in the media, including a mention in the Washington Post, and it’s been copied all over the country.
What was kind of amazing about that project is that so many people came out, and city staff was almost relieved because they want these things, too, but they just need a champion. And all the old ordinances were immediately questioned.

I have some silly questions for you. Here’s the first one: Where do you buy your hats?
All over. Anywhere I can find them. Epiphany, Target, House of Macgregor. When you’re a bald guy, you need all the help you can get.

What is something most people don’t know about you?
I’m a huge Woody Allen fan. I love old music from the ’20s and ’30s. I love vaudeville. And I’m a Francophile. Andrea and I were married in Paris. We were poor, but we figured out a way to get over there. That’s why I did Bastille Day, because it wasn’t feasible to take a family vacation to France, so I wanted to find a way to bring Paris here. That was just something I did for Andrea, and it’s amazing how popular it’s been. It just shows you that there’s pent up demand for that kind of thing.

Superman or Batman?
Superman. Flying would be a lot of fun, although I guess that would take away from my bicycling.

You were a co-founder of BFOC. Have you ever thought about unicycle friendly oak cliff?
That’s funny you mention it because Jeremy [Ordaz of Oak Cliff Bicycle Co.] just bought a unicycle that he has in the shop there. We’ve joked about moped oak cliff.

© Rachel Stone for Advocate Magazine, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
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Tank is not even 2 years old yet, but he already has personal style. His owner is a Edgar Salas of Winnetka Heights.

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