March 2018 Archives

In honor of National Garden Month, National Poetry Month, and Earth Day, Recipe For Success Foundation invites you to participate in our annual Garden Haiku Contest. All ages are welcome to join! Students with a budding interest in poetry, or adults whose passion is in full bloom are invited to enter this online contest. Categories are:

SEEDS: Ages 5-11

SPROUTS: Ages 12-17

BLOOMS: Ages 18 and over

Winners will be chosen from each category by local poetry experts here in Houston and announced at our Earth Day Festival at Hope Farms on April 21, 2018.

More than one billion people around the globe will participate in Earth Day 2018. People of all nationalities and backgrounds will voice their appreciation for the planet and demand its protection. Together we will stand united for a sustainable future and call upon individuals, organizations, and governments to do their part. Attend a local Earth Day event or join us at Hope Farms Saturday, April 21, 2018 for a FREE family festival! Together we will Mobilize the Earth™ on April 22 and demand change.

Recipe For Success partners with the San Jacinto Council of Texas to lead Senior Girl Scouts through this amazing hands-on experience with sessions at both Hope Farms, our 7-acre farm just south of loop 610, and RecipeHouse, our teaching kitchen in the Museum District. Sow What is a social issue awareness program, which counts towards the Harvest Award, their highest achievement.
In the Sow What? Journey, Scouts learn about food--how and where it's grown, processed, distributed, and consumed-- and why it matters. Participants follow their food from the farm to the table, while learning the processes, skills, and considerations to grow, purchase, and create meals on their own. The girls are then asked to prepare and host a meal for their families using ingredients they have harvested and prepared and to provide a short presentation about the role urban agriculture plays in food accessibility solutions and food choices.

So What? Journey for Girl Scouts

Monday through Friday, June 4-8, 2018
9 a.m. to noon at Hope Farms
$165

For more information and to register, please contact: [email protected]

Ron captured a great interview with our veteran farming trainee Daniel Smith during his visit. Daniel was especially eloquent about the therapeutic impact of working on the farm for someone like him who has spend many years on the front lines for our country.

Listen to the entire story:

We have been eagerly awaiting the day when we were ready to have you come share a meal with us at Hope Farms. I'm practically giddy to invite you to the Farm on April 22 for our first Chefs in the Field supper! On day two of our Earth Day Celebration/Birthday, we will start at dusk with a reception and wine tasting in the Chefs Kitchen Garden, then make our way to a magazine-worthy setting: one long table arranged amidst our fields of crops where we will enjoy a three course meal crafted by Chefs Ryan Pera (Agricole Hospitality), Jean Philippe Gaston (Izakaya), and Greg Martin (Bistro Menil). We will limit April's dinner to fifty guests and you can get your seat at the table by clicking here. Other supper dates set for 2018 are June 24, September 30 and November 11. Tickets for the evenings are $250 per person, and 100 percent of the proceeds support our projects to teach children healthy eating habits and grow healthy affordable food for our neighbors.

Our Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education™ cooking classes are popping with excitement as our annual Green Knife Challenge springs into action. In this friendly competition, our students showcase skills aquired throughout the school year.

Classes are divided into teams to compete for four honorable categories: Best Plate Presentation, Cleanest workers, Best teamwork, and, the big prize winner, Best Dish Overall. Instructors present students with a dish they must craft blindly without the guidance of a recipe under time restrictions and other given limitations. Our past challenges have not only been fun for our students but have been an excellent opportunity to show the community and supporters how much the students have learned.

To spice things up, at the start of the competition, each team receives a different basket of ingredients. The teams are asked a round of questions from the year's curriculum to earn "first dibs" on the basket of their desire. As a result, the challenge produces dishes that are a unique combination of the differing ingredients and the team's individual tastes and skills.

While the students excitedly huddle, strategize, and prepare their dishes, guest judges stand by, closely observing and taking notes on the teams. At the conclusion of the challenge, the teams present their dishes to the judges. Students then wait with bated breath to hear the recipients of each category and to receive the certificates their team has been awarded. It is an exciting day for all!

Delicious Alchemy: The Banquet is sure to be the dining event of the season. On May 7, you and 99 other guests (tickets are limited, so don't delay ... secure yours here) will gather at the lakeside home of Lisa and Michael Holthouse, our hosts for the evening, to celebrate culinary excellence: You'll enjoy 10 courses created by 10 chefs -- paired with wonderful wines -- stellar conversation and music, and a bucolic Memorial setting.

Recipe for Success would not be where it is today without the ongoing support and help of some dedicated chefs, and this year's Delicious Alchemy Banquet brigade is an exciting one: Arturo Boada (Arturo Boada Cuisine); Vincent Celeste (La Table); Olivier Ciesielski (L'Olivier); Giancarlo Ferrara (Amalfi); Maurizio Ferrarese (Sud Italia); Felix Florez (owner of Black Hill Ranch); José Hernandez (Lucienne); Kevin Naderi (Roost); Hassan Obaye (Le Colonial); and Claire Smith (Canopy). Martin Preferred Foods has generously given our culinary creators free reign through their catalog of gourmet deights. All of these chefs bring great talent to the mix, and their diverse backgrounds are sure to produce a dégustation that you'll remember for a long time. We'll unveil the menu shortly, so stay tuned.

Want more? Celebrated Italian designer, Brunello Cucinelli is a signature sponsor for the evening, and his style and grace -- and passion for all things culinary -- promise to make this year's Delicious Alchemy the best yet.

Happy Birthday, Hope Farms! It's not every day that you turn three years old, and this anniversary is going to be special, because the farm will be welcoming people of all ages to a spectacular weekend of food, fun, learning, activities and education. We'll be celebrating locally grown food and healthy lifestyles in grand fashion over two days.

A full schedule of events is planned for Saturday's free Family Festival & Picnic, including cooking classes, yoga, tai chi, storytime, farm photo safaris, garden explorations, chicken and bee demonstrations, activities and games. Community partners including The Children's Museum, Magpies & Peacocks, The Garden Hen and Hive Bee will be giving hands-on creative and learning opportunities at creation stations for kids and adults located throughout the farm. Living Well Therapies and Shana Ross Fitness will encourage visitors to get in touch with mother earth through movement classes scheduled on the half hour on the lawn. Smart in the Kitchen, Chef Michael, Urban Chef and the Recipe for Success culinary team will give hands-on cooking classes scheduled on the hour in the Gathering Barn.

In addition, photographer Katie Lenhart will lead Farm Photo Safaris sponsored by Mahindra, and there will be hourly games and activities to choose from in the Hope Farms Children's Garden. Local actor, Laura Bellomy will be reading to tots and youngsters under the Lace Elm Tree where families will be encouraged to picnic. Besides just-harvested produce from the farm, the regular Saturday Hope Farm Stand will celebrate its new United Health Foundation Gathering Barn by expanding to include many Houston makers such as Popston, Grateful Bread and Old Country Olive Oil, while Erin Hicks will be on hand to sign her latest award-winning cookbooks. The Sunnyside Community Center is planning to offer a BBQ lunch for a small donation.

On the following day, April 22, our inuagural Chefs in the Field Supper will take place, and chefs Ryan Pera (Agricole Hospitality), Jean Philippe Gaston (Izakaya), and Greg Martin (Bistro Menil) will create a meal for 50 guests, all seated at a long table amidst the fields of the farm. You can get your seat at the table by clicking here. Other supper dates set for 2018 are June 24, September 30 and November 11. Tickets for the evenings are $250 per person, and 100 percent of the proceeds support Recipe for Success Foundation projects to combat childhood obesity.

Sponsors for the free Family Festival and ongoing programs at Hope Farms include United Healthcare Foundation, Urban Craft Custom Homes, Sprouts Markets, Sysco Foods, Mahindra, Luby's/Fuddruckers, the Robert & Janice McNair Foundation and Enbridge. (See our Hope Farms HTX Facebook page for a complete listing of times for Saturday activities as they are scheduled)

Kids, ages 8-12, take an adventure through their taste buds and minds with our RecipeHouse healthy cooking summer camp! Choose from three deliciously fun food adventures!

Marco Polo - Discover tastes & culture from Polo's journey along the Silk Road.

Eat This! - Create wacky store ready food product & compete to get it on the shelf.

Super Foods - Super Food Heroes come to life through recipes and comic strips.

Monday - Friday: 9am - 3pm, $395/week.

Classes are taught by a chef educator who is certified in Seed to Plate Nutrition Education™ instruction, and camp fees include daily lunch and snacks, all supplies and materials, and walking fields trips to a community garden.

MORE INFORMATION

It's Event Frenzy! The foundation is ready for spring with a host of fun events and festivals you will not want to miss. Hop right into the action by volunteering at one or all of these delicious occasions celebrating food and community.

Hope Farms Work Day, Friday, April 6, flexible shifts starting at 8:30 a.m.

Help us prepare our farm for Earth Day weekend. There is much to do from helping to build our Children's Garden, to grounds clean up, to painting! Sign Up within our Hope Farms work day opportunity!

Earth Day Festival, Saturday, April 21, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This year marks our first annual Earth Day Festival at Hope Farms. The festival is a a free community event offering family friendly activities including farm tours, art & crafts, upcycle stations, and goodies from local Houston vendors. Thank you for your interest in helping to make our Earth Day Festival a success - sign up HERE!

Chefs in the Field, Sunday, April 22, 5:30 p.m.

This is the ground-breaking dinner within our new quarterly Chefs in the Field event series to take place at Hope Farms. The dinners will host 50 guests who will dine on a 3-course meal crafted by 3 local Houston chefs. Volunteers will help with set up logistics and event check in. Sign up!

Delicious Alchemy: The Banquet, Monday, May 7, 2018

Please join us for the third annual Banquet, to benefit Recipe for Success Foundation's programming. This exquisite seated dinner for 100 fortunate guests raises 20% of the Foundation's annual budget while celebrating the community of a shared meal. It will be the most extraordinary dinner party that you have ever attended, featuring 10 splendid courses, each prepared by a different celebrity chef and matched with award-winning wines--the meal of a lifetime. We're recruiting now for all aspects of event logistics including pre-event set up, check in, break down, and more. Spaces are limited so sign up today!

We are happy to feature Robin Rawles as our March Volunteer of the Month who has devoted her time in the classroom as a Seed to Plate Nutrition Education ™ SWAT Member for two years. The program appealed to Robin, who, outside of her volunteer service, works with older students in various subjects. To Robin, the foundation's educational program is the "embodiment of [the] mission statement". She enjoys working with Seed to Plate Nutrition Education ™ instructors, Will Isbel and Lynsey Beat, boasting that they "are two of the most knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and committed educators I have ever encountered. It is a joy to learn from them and to see the children learning." One of Robin's favorite memories created while volunteering in the classroom is of a conversation with a first-grader who paused his playtime during recess to ask about the work she was doing in the school garden. For Robin, this child's curiosity proves how impactful the program is for all children, event those who are not directly involved.

The Recipe for Success team is thankful of the impact Robin has in helping us change "the way our children understand, appreciate, and eat their food." Thank you, Robin!

What an evening it was. Guests assembled at Neiman Marcus on February 28 to meet Lela Rose, enjoy cocktails and a fashion show, and support our programs. Our VIPs ended the evening in Mariposa restaurant, where they dined on tomato tartare, sous-vide halibut, and panna cotta, a three-course meal created by A Fare Extraordinaire's executive chef, Ryan Bouillet.

Lela Rose loves food and entertaining, so she was an ideal partner for Dress For Dinner. Her enthusiasm was evident throughout the evening, and she spent a lot of time conversing with our guests, whose generous support allowed us to raise more than $30,000, all of which will go toward funding our missions. Houston Chronicle Fashion Editor, Joy Sewing began the show with an interview of Rose and then we were treated to a look at her spring collection, which met with enthusiastic applause.

Co-chairs Ally Shell-van Koolwijk and Jeff Shell put on a great show, and spoke with pasion about the importance of teaching children how to eat well. Some of our notable guests included Karen Lerner, original founder of A Fare Extraordinaire, and the catering firm's current owner, Rachael Volz and her husband, Jason; Diane Lokey Farb; Dr. Wissam Khan and Fatema Khan (in photo); Dr. Sippi Khurana and Ajay Khurana; Curry Glassell and her son, Nathan Glassell; Kimberly Miller and Carolyn Tanner; Tammie and Andy Johnson; BJ and Bob Shell; Stacey and Al Lindseth; Sheree and Norman Frede; Jennifer Swallen and Melissa Sugulas; Roz Pactor; and Marsha Montemayor.

We were blown away by Neimans' support--even transforming a major window in honor of Hope Farms.

Read some of our fabulous media coverage in PaperCity, The Houston Chronicle and My Red Glasses. Click here for our own post event release, and make plans to Dress For DInner in 2019!