With last nights big game going to the New Orleans Saints and the upcoming Mardi Gras celebration, it got me reminiscing about time I’ve spent in the Big Easy. The history of New Orleans is so special with its French, Creole, and Caribbean influences, the city is one of the most unique places in the United States. Sometimes it can feel so foreign, it doesn’t even feel like you’re in the United States.
You can’t think about New Orleans without thinking about Bourbon Street – the restaurants and bars here are some of the best in the nation. A special cocktail that calls New Orleans its home is the very historic and rare Sazerac. The drink is considered the oldest cocktail recipe in the United States; Made with rye whiskey, part of the cocktails magic is the ritual involved in making it.
Sazerac
1 sugar cube
1 1/2 oz of Sazerac Rye Whiskey
2 dashes of Peychauds Bitters
Absinthe
Lemon Peel
In an Old Fashioned Glass (it must be made in this glass) melt the sugar cube down with a few drops of bitters. Combine the Rye Whiskey and sugar/bitters along with a few small ice cubes. In a second chilled Old Fashioned Glass coat the inside of the glass with a few drops of Absinthe, discard excess. Strain the contents of the first glass into the chilled glass and garnish with a thinly sliced lemon peel.
The first Saturday (TONIGHT!) of every month DJ Brett Koshkin & the Bayou City Soul Club hosts a party at Boondocks at 1417 Westheimer called Dirty Honey. Playing rare and obscure funk and soul 45’s – this dance party looks completely awesome. Check out the party’s myspace page here for more information. Admission is free!
Yesterday The New York Times Travel section featured an article on the new Houston food scene called “Remixing Regional Flavors in Houston“. The article mentions some of our favorites – Reef, Beavers, Textile, Stella Sola, and Block 7 Wine Company. There really are so many good restaurants here in town, its too bad that the article didn’t mention more! If you do check out the article, be sure and click on the Lone Star Dining slideshow…just make sure you’re not hungry when you look!
Alfred Hitchcocks film classic “Rear Window” is playing this Friday and Saturday night at midnight at the beautiful River Oaks Theatre.
In the film, Jimmy Stewart observes the goings on in his urban courtyard while he recovers wheelchair bound with a broken leg. He fills his time observing his neighbors as he takes his beautiful but easily available girlfriend, Grace Kelly, for granted. Not until she puts herself into a perilous situation on his behalf, does Jimmy finally realize how much he really does love her. The movie proves on many levels – that what you see on the outside, may not be necessarily be the truth on the inside.
Rear Window is one of Hitchcock’s finest and most stylish films and Grace Kelly is at her icy blond best. Also starring is the famous character actress, Thelma Ritter, as Jimmy Stewarts straight talking visiting care-taker. I’ve seen this movie more times than I’d like to say, but seeing it in the neon covered River Oaks Theatre would really be great.
Back in 1968, John Milkovisch, a retired upholsterer for the Southern Pacific Railroad, started on his epic project now known as The Beer Can House. Decorating his Houston home with over 50,000 beer cans after finishing the landscaping for his front and back lawns, Mr. Milkovisch was compelled to do this because he “got sick of mowing the grass.” Covering almost every square inch of his home with some form of aluminum or tin can, he unknowingly created one of the greatest examples of pure American folk art.
John & Mary Milkovisch
Continuing to work on the house for the next 18 years, the home features beer top garlands, flattened can siding, and fences created out of linked beer pull-tabs. The work is staggering.
Houston has some of the finest art museums in the country, but isn’t it amazing when you see something thats done purely for the unexplainable joy of creating? There are many fantastic quotes from Mr. Milkovisch on the house’s website, but my favorite has to be “People say this is sculpture, but I didn’t go to no expensive schools to get these crazy notions” – “I don’t consider this art. Its just a pastime, but sometimes I lie awake at night trying to figure out why I do it“.
If that’s not art, I don’t know what is.
The Beer Can House, 222 Malone Street (between Memorial Drive and Washington Ave) Open to the public Saturdays and Sundays from 12-5. Admission is $1 and tours are $5 for a guide to walk you through.
“He didn’t think anybody would be interested in it. He just loved drinking his beer and loved being outside cutting up his cans“- Mary Milkovisch
With a brand new record called “Transference” and world tour scheduled, Austin’s much acclaimed rock-n-roll band Spoon has finally returned. Best known for their 2007 record “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” that went all the way to #10 on the Billboard 200 – it included the hit songs “The Underdog” and “Don’t You Evah”. This new disc released back in January immediately went to #4 on the Billboard chart where it sold 53,000 copies in its first week. Featuring a harder, rougher sound than the last record, “Transference” sounds like its heading in an angrier and more emotional direction.
The first single from the album is called Written in Reverse. Check out this cool live performance of the song recorded for internet public radio station KCRW:
A lot can be told about the people of Houston by looking into the regional foods and local cookbooks from the area. One of the best new cookbooks to check out is a copy of the Junior League of Houston’s Peace Meals – A Book of Recipes for Cooking and Connecting.
I recently was lucky enough to be given a copy of the book and its quickly become one of my favorites. Some of the recipes already on repeat are the Winter Guacamole, Spinach and Mushroom Enchiladas with Cilantro Cream Sauce, Congressional Chili, and the Big as Texas Brandy Apple Pie. Published by the collaborative efforts of thousands of Junior League members, these combined talents come together to give you a unique look at popular ingredients, styles of cooking, and food trends from this particular moment in time.
The Junior League of Houston was founded in 1925 by 12 very civic minded women with the purpose of helping and building a better community. The proceeds from the sales of the book benefit the organization and all the different good deeds that that they do. I highly recommend picking up a copy – not only will you get a great cookbook, but your purchase will help do some good. Order your copy here.
Opening tonight at the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston is a fantastic show called “Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of Cool“. Best known for his giant portraits of friends and local people from the artists hometown community in Connecticut, these oversize canvases portray everyday regular people on such a large scale that it elevates them to iconic status. This is the first painting retrospective of Mr.Hendricks work, and the show includes over 50 canvases from 1964 to the present. This Houston show is the last stop on a tour of US museums including the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Santa Monica Museum of Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. As you can tell by these images posted below, this show is as much a documentation of style, as each elegant painting gives you a glimpse into a certain time period of fashion and personal expression. Don’t miss it.
You can catch Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of Cool now through April 18th at Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston. 5216 Montrose Blvd. Houston, Tx . 77006 ph. 713.284.8250 Admission is free.
