Leftovers

What to do with the extra stuff; plus, a couple who resurrected an old cultural gem, a best in show winner, and bad dogs running wild.

Hello readers,

Belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Did you have a great day, surrounded by all the right people, eating all the best things? Hit reply and tell me about it.

By the time you are reading this, I will be elbows deep into making a turkey and andouille gumbo with some of yesterday's leftovers. We smoked a turkey breast and we fried a turkey breast yesterday, but the smoked turkey breast is what's going into the pot. I feel like that smoke and the spices will be out of this world.

Now I would share my recipe with you, but the truth is, I learned how to do this by watching various relatives, so my recipe is kind of my own sense of which of those things makes something that I think tastes good. My mother taught me the value of a good, lovingly stirred dark roux. And since you start there, and you build from there, it's important to get that roux right. Mom knows. Meanwhile, my father used to say that you need red, black, and white pepper in your gumbo because each activates taste buds on different parts of your tongue, "and that is what you want." The "that is what you want" line still makes me laugh, because I don't think I ever wanted as much white pepper as he threw in the pot. Still, I sprinkle in a little bit – I don't know how much – because what if I didn't and the witchcraft didn't work?

Recipes are kind of maps, anyway. You can usually find your way to the same destination by taking a couple of different routes. Who hasn't been in the car with someone who said "hey, you know what, I've got a better way...turn left up here." and then found that while that way was different, it was every bit as delightful?

Granted, the person creating and providing the map has to know what they're doing for that to even work. Once upon a time a friend of mine asked me for my jambalaya recipe, and again that was a case of "yeah, I don't actually have one of those." But she asked me to figure it out, and because she is my friend, I did, I think. I tried really hard to write down every little step, and I handed it to her, hoping that it would work. I guess it did, because she moved into a new apartment and couldn't find the recipe, so she asked me to write it down again. I wrote it down. I gave it to her. Then she found the old recipe and realized that it was completely different from the new one. And so of course she had a little fun with that at my expense, which is absolutely fine.

So...gumbo. That's what I do with my leftovers. I'll be spending the day tending to my bubbling pot of goodness, while watching college football and waiting for a certain visor-wearing coach to announce whether he's going to stay where he is, or go elsewhere.

What do you do with your leftovers? Any favorite recipes? And how will you be spending the last few days of November?

Thank you again for being here. I'm grateful for each and every one of you who takes this weekly ride with me, with all its twists and turns and randomness. I hope that whatever it is I do here gives you a little dose of goodness.

XO,

Paige

Writing prompt: Write about the things for which you are most thankful and why.

Happy are those who see beauty in humble places where others see nothing.

-- Camille Pissarro

Endnotes

A Star is Reborn

Shortly after Jill and Avram “Avie” Glazer moved to Palm Beach with their two daughters in 2002, The Royal Poinciana Playhouse closed, so the culturally minded couple never got to experience what so many other locals had—a night of great performances, right there on the island.

“People would tell us stories about how they used to go with their parents and grandparents, but we didn’t have that,” says Jill, a director for the Palm Beach Civic Association and emeritus trustee at Tulane University, her alma mater.

The Glazers knew that the 860-seat playhouse, designed by the architect John Volk, was once a glittering hot spot in the 1960s and 1970s, known for the Broadway musicals, ballets, and concerts it hosted, as well as the dinner and dancing that took place in its Celebrity Room. It attracted big-name performers like Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, and ticketholders like the Kennedys and Duke of Windsor. When the curtain closed on the venue in 2004, there were plenty of ideas for what to do with the space, but, as Avie says, not much action. The building sat unused until just before the COVID-19 pandemic, when Avie came home one day and had a heart-to-heart talk about it with Jill.

“I said to my wife, ‘You know, someone’s got to do something,’” recalls Avie, who co-owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and is co-chairman of the English Premier League club Manchester United F.C. “‘No one is doing anything, so it might as well be us.’ And fortunately, we were in a position where we could make something happen.”

The Glazers are putting forth more than $15 million of their own money to breathe new life into this once-iconic landmark and create the first new cultural nonprofit on the island in 60 years. After more than five years of anticipation, that venue—now known as Glazer Hall—will open in phases, with the theater expected to be ready by mid-January.

I spoke with the Glazers for the December issue of Palm Beach Illustrated. Click here for more on the fascinating labor of love that bears their name. It's the epitome of using your powers for good.

Best In Show

Congratulations to Soleil the Belgian Sheepdog for winning Best in Show at the National Dog Show yesterday. The American Kennel Club describes Belgian Sheepdogs as highly trainable herders who are bright, watchful, and serious-minded and are sensitive souls who crave human companionship and abhor neglect. The judge went further to say that Soleil "didn't put a foot down wrong. Didn't miss a beat." I'd guess her handler probably said she was made for this moment, because most handlers rattle off a quote like that when their dog wins. While Soleil was certainly lovely, I have to confess I had a soft spot for Paris the Norwich Terrier, the bright-eyed little sprite who was absolutely robbed in the terrier group. No offense to Schnauzers, but Paris was so stinkin' cute. As for my own dog of unknown provenance, he got loose yesterday and spent the rest of the day contrite. No ribbons, and no turkey, for him.

Please consider a gift to...

your local community food bank. I'll probably be harping on this for a while, so if you can give what you can – either food or funds – it would be fantastic. Thank you.