Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Nov 3, 2011, 7:51 am
With the Arkansas Cornbread Festival coming up, I thought I might share two of my favorite cornbread recipes.  This first one is the closest thing I have to a Heritage recipe.  Great with PurpleHull Peas and a little iced tea. Arkansaw Cornbread 2 cups War Eagle Mill White Cornmeal 2 c...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Oct 29, 2011, 7:46 pm
I have very vague memories of the light myself.  Honestly, I still couldn’t tell you if I’m remembering something that actually happened to me or if it was told to me and I just remember the tale.  I hope you enjoy it. The boys were excited -- uncles and cousins of mine, all whooping it ...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Oct 24, 2011, 4:15 pm
Gibbs Grocery and Hunters Outpost south of Sheridan has been the place where hunters prepare for modern gun season in the area for 36 years.   Used to be folks from all around central and south central Arkansas would migrate to one particular area the morning of the start of deer season.  Th...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Oct 21, 2011, 10:21 am
I wrote this piece last year for my syndicated column... and the other day passed by a rehearsing marching band, which reminded me I hadn't posted this piece here. I was winding my way down Highway 25 and absorbing the cool spit out by my vehicle’s air conditioner.  It was grow-some-gill...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Oct 16, 2011, 3:06 pm
This is it.  Take along this handy guide with you to the Arkansas State Fair to find all the crazy, weird and wonderful fair foods. Candy and Caramel Apples.  The best candy apples come from the Colonial Nut Roll Folks inside the Hall of Industry.  They lay the thick red sugar coating on tight. �...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Oct 12, 2011, 2:30 am
Want to know what's being served up at this year's Arkansas State Fair?  I tried a bunch of the items that will be for sale at a special media preview -- which allows me to be able to tell you about all these crazy foods, and to remind you of other foods we talked about in the past that will be mak...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Oct 10, 2011, 12:25 pm
Lazzari’s Italian Oven (sometimes Lazzari’s Italian Kitchen or Lazzari's Italian Restaurant) is one of my favorite restaurants anywhere.  That’s saying something, ya think?  There are reasons for this that go far deeper than the food. It was September 1995.  I was a radio producer and...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Oct 5, 2011, 5:40 pm
... of different places at the Texas State Fair. Newton’s Concessions ... the Caribbean Foods place over north of the Magnolia Beer Garden ... , and it’s excellent. Shredded green leaf lettuce, chunked tomatoes, finely ... can see the shape of Texas. The little thing is 14 ... has been pa...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Sep 29, 2011, 11:33 pm
Big families aren’t the norm any more.  Used to be a family of ten or more would be common -- since families needed to be big to run big homesteads and the like.  Not these days.  As a mom in a single child family, I’m kinda the standard there. How about a couple that had seven kids jus...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Sep 20, 2011, 10:34 am
Fairhope, AL’s Windmill Market takes green to the extreme. With the advent of the locavore movement, more farmers markets are springing up. Groups like our own Certified Arkansas Farmers Market are making sure that what comes from the field and ends up on your table is as organic and pure ...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Sep 15, 2011, 10:12 am
I have been holding out on you for a long, long time. And I’ll tell you why. I like going to Sparky’s Roadhouse Café anytime I am in Eureka Springs -- and once I give it an official review, then I don’t have a reason to go again, right? Of course, I still will. Sparky’s is a nice, ...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Sep 8, 2011, 10:49 am
After a full week of dawn to dusk family time, the hubster and I made a deal. He was going to sleep in Sunday morning in our room at the Fairway Pines at The Woodlands Resort and Conference Center -- and I was going to go enjoy the spa. It had occurred to me the day before that except for whe...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Aug 27, 2011, 5:19 pm
It took a whole lot to get Hunter up the next morning. I think she was getting a little weary on our trip, too. She hid in the bedcovers while we got about and got ready. Breakfast again at the Embassy Suites. I have to admit, I am really impressed with their made-to-order breakfasts. Hu...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Aug 26, 2011, 2:02 pm
B.J. Sams and I at Empty Bowls 2008I don’t talk much about my television days… at least, not here. Maybe at one point that was by design; I started this blog just weeks before I left the station and I was making a new start in my world. But maybe it’s time I did. The station was Today�...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Aug 22, 2011, 11:04 pm
After four nights away from home, I was determined we’d get out and about early on Friday to take in the sights around Houston. To this end I managed to get everyone up and out of bed and down to the second floor of the Embassy Suites for breakfast. Hunter was more than a little groggy. She was ...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Aug 19, 2011, 1:38 pm
Thursday was our big water day. We thought we were going to hit Schlitterbahn Waterpark just as soon as it opened at 10 a.m. Well, that didn’t happen. And it wasn’t because we slept all that late, either. I was working on my regular writing when Hunter got up around 9:30. We got throug...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Aug 19, 2011, 8:20 am
One bit of advice when you’re traveling with a toddler: they set the schedule. Sure, that’s within reason. Obviously you’re not going to let your toddler hold you up on checking out of the hotel on time or determine certain mealtimes. But there are battles you have to pick. The battl...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Aug 17, 2011, 11:55 am
We made it to Galveston early in the afternoon. It was crazy hot, but the wind off the ocean made it bearable. I went and checked us in at the Moody Gardens Hotel while the hubster and girl child waited in the car. Inside I found an oasis -- and a lot of kids. A LOT of kids. I’ve become ...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Aug 16, 2011, 11:46 am
You never get out of the house on time. So, once again we have been defeated by the genies of time.  Yes, even though I made the official leave time 9 a.m. for the family, knowing full well it’d more likely be noon, everything has once again conspired to make sure our final departure for va...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Aug 16, 2011, 12:37 am
Lunchtime Bento from IgibonThere are few foods I won’t eat. I get around a lot and get to try all sorts of different things. One thing I really like is a good Bento box. Now, there’s the fact I like Asian food for the most part. But with a Bento box you’re not getting your average mea...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Aug 15, 2011, 11:25 am
Grav Weldon’s great pic of Hunter shows how vital it is for us to pack sunscreen.I am blessed with a child that manages to stay pretty cool in just about any situation. Hunter at 2 ½ is ruffled by very little. She plays hard, gets creative with her toys and will spend hours flipping...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Aug 3, 2011, 11:09 am
On our search for stories in the area, we stopped at another bait shop for clues.  We turned around and saw, right across Highway 14, an anomaly.  A Chicago restaurant, advertising Chicago dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, Pirogues, just about everything.  There was a big wooden hot dog out front, t...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Aug 2, 2011, 9:44 pm
We all know Gaston’s White River Resort in Lakeview is a premiere fishing destination for anglers and fishing enthusiasts all over the United States.  But you may have wondered a few things about the destination itself.  I found out some neat facts about the place from Jim Gaston himself. So, w...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jul 28, 2011, 8:48 pm
I’ve talked before about the legacy of Winthrop Rockefeller atop Petit Jean Mountain.  It’s an amazing campus and you should go if you get the chance. This week I was invited, along with several other Arkansas Women Bloggers, to attend a special class by Chef Robert Hall in the cooking cl...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jul 25, 2011, 10:00 am
Tim and Tammy Partin run the 101 Grocery and Bait Shop in Gamaliel.  They get up early every morning and work every night to provide drinks, grocery items, bait and pizza to the folks who live nearby. They’re not from around here.  The Partins are from Fort Wayne, IN.  Tammy was an accoun...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jul 23, 2011, 8:25 pm
Raimondo Winery may be small, but its Sicilian-come-California vintages are making an impact here in Arkansas. You’ve heard of many of the bigger wineries in Arkansas. But did you know there’s one in the middle of north central Arkansas? It’s tucked away in Gamaliel at the Blue Lady Re...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jul 22, 2011, 10:28 am
“It was hard to visualize.  We came out here on a path all the way out to the edge and you could sort of see it.  But as the trees came down you could see more of it, and it was just breathtaking.” Tina Watson is referring to the view from her back porch at the White River Inn Luxury Bed...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jul 21, 2011, 12:34 pm
The Cotter Bridge has become one of the most famous sights in the Arkansas Ozarks, spanning the White River with beautiful rainbow arches.  But if a county judge hadn’t taken action, it might not have been built. The Cotter Bridge across the White River is a stunning, beautiful affair, a Ra...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jul 15, 2011, 10:27 am
The third largest metropolis in the United States, Chicago is a mid-way point. It’s neither New York nor Los Angeles. It has a flavor of its own, both big city and small city, neighborhood-friendly and enriched with the diversity of a complex culture. I’ve never been TO Chicago before....
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jul 11, 2011, 8:12 pm
Chef Lee Richardson left New Orleans for Little Rock… and decided to make Central Arkansas his home. Lee Richardson is not an imposing man. He is not intimidating. The quietly spoken guy in chef’s whites does seem more focused and determined than the average individual, like one of those golf ...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jul 10, 2011, 7:23 pm
Building on the love you share with someone can be one of the greatest experiences of your life. But what happens when one part of that equation is lost? There’s a restaurant in Eureka Springs called KJ’s Caribe Restaurant y Cantina. Caribe (as everyone calls it) is out west of downtown ...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jun 30, 2011, 6:02 pm
I was in the middle of a computer update when the news came over the web this morning. I kept looking at my phone, reading the messages coming across Facebook and Twitter while I helplessly waited for the computer to finish. By the time I could get back on, the rumor had been confirmed. Yarnell�...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jun 26, 2011, 10:32 am
I spent a lot of time as a little girl traveling up and down Highway 65 north of Conway for family obligations.  I remember those treks with some trepidation.  They were long drives on curvy two-lane roads, many of which were steep and treacherous.  Of the things I recall most vividly along that...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jun 23, 2011, 12:13 am
The view from Arkansas 125 east of Highway 14 (photo: Grav Weldon)Way up in north central Arkansas, all the way up Highway 14 and across Highway 125 to one of the many fingers of Bull Shoals Lake, out past a tiny town called Peel… is a last vestige to a different time. When my home state�...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jun 21, 2011, 2:30 pm
I love fried pies. I’m willing to go a long way for them, too. And I’m willing to wait. For years now, when I’m actually free on a Saturday I mosey over to DeValls Bluff to pick up some pies at Ms. Lena’s. But they’re only available on Saturdays -- and always have been, except for...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jun 15, 2011, 7:13 pm
I lean away from reviewing popular joints.  I would much rather find the great out of the way place that has a good thing going than to either heap more praise on a well-established location or be disappointed with said place.  But sometimes I’m even drawn in by the hype… under the thought of ...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jun 14, 2011, 10:39 pm
I’ve been to some of the nation’s largest festivals, and now I’ve been to one of the smallest in my home state. Though I can’t imagine why the Berryville Ice Cream Social doesn’t have droves at its doorstep. The annual event on Berryville’s town square is a great way to kick off t...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jun 13, 2011, 11:27 am
In the movie Ratatouille there is this moment where food critic Anton Ego tastes a dish and is instantly transported back to childhood (sorry, hope I haven’t ruined that for ya). The very flavor of the ratatouille he has just savored have brought him back to his youth, a memory so strong that he ...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jun 9, 2011, 4:44 pm
I’ve never known all that much about the art scene. Always been a bit of an outsider in that respect. I have many friends who are making their living as artists; Tracee Gentry, Louis Garcia and Michael Murphy immediately come to mind. But I’ve always been a media chick. I’ve been the gal o...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jun 6, 2011, 11:08 pm
It’s hard to imagine that in one week’s time I have consumed three distinctive Chicago dogs. The first, at Max’s Take Out on Adams a few blocks from Chicago’s Millennium Park. The second, at Carm’s Italian Beef and Ice in Chicago’s Little Italy. The third, at Lynn’s Chicago Foods in...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jun 6, 2011, 3:01 pm
Saturday, May 28th marked a personal milestone in my life.  At 3:03 that rainy afternoon, a half block down Adams Street from Wabash, I had my very first Chicago dog. We’d been in Central Camera Company on Wabash, picking up ink and paper and goobing over photographic equipment and waiting for a ...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - Jun 5, 2011, 11:40 am
I have had many an experience over the year around Arkansas -- and a few non-Arkansas locations -- where I am recognized when I walk through the door.  Sometimes it’s a fawning over.  Most of the time it’s a raised hand of acknowledgement, and for a few places it’s a hug.  I get that doing ...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - May 28, 2011, 12:32 pm
Kansas City’s loss is Bentonville’s gain. Four star restaurant chef Al Rubaie has opened up Rubaie’s Café on the south end of the shopping center at Walton and Macy. Now Rubaie is offering up splendid dishes made from scratch to diners for lunch and dinner. Rubaie spent 30 years in the rest...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - May 23, 2011, 11:42 pm
Sweep your sweetheart off her feet and head for the Dallas Arts District. Over the past 30 years, the city has relocated existing art facilities and built new ones along a sweeping path in the northeast corner of the downtown district. Today you can visit a museum, hear a symphony, enjoy the balle...
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Kat R. posted an article on Tie Dye Travels - May 16, 2011, 3:04 pm
You can’t get more high-end than a specialty food shop in some cities… and you can’t get more laid back than a country diner.  But can you have both?  You can -- and thrive -- when you’re Keeley DeSalvo and you own next-door neighbors The Pancake Shop and The Savory Pantry.  She’s mana...
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