19 minute read
Happy Howlidays
Howlidays Happy
By DWAIN HEBDA // Photos By JAMISON MOSLEY
Barb Jones, wife of Arkansas State University head football coach Butch Jones, had only one directive for Tom Chandler and his crew when it came to the family’s extensive Christmas decorations.
“She is a lovely lady. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her,” Chandler said. “Her only input was that we use the black and red,” denoting the ASU Red Wolves’ team colors.
Little more needed to be said for the project, as Chandler and his team of decorators were already well-acquainted with the layout and décor of the stylish home.
“We had done the Christmas decorating for the former owners of this home,” he said. “When the coach and his wife bought that house, they also bought the Christmas decorations.”
It’s a busy time for Chandler and his eight-person crew from Tom Chandler and Associates, based in Little Rock. In addition to completing interior design work in homes from coast to coast, this is the season of decorating for the holidays. Chandler and his troops will decorate some 75 homes in the weeks leading to Christmas, jobs that start before Halloween.
“We start Christmas on Oct. 27, and we work six or seven days a week until about Dec. 10th. I mean, we do Christmas,” Chandler said. “We only do Christmas in homes where we’ve done the design work. We sort of draw the line there. We need to have been involved with these owners before we’re asked to do Christmas.”
The Jones' project ranks as one of the larger homes on the list, but familiarity with the space as well as the experience of his team enables Chandler to pull off something amazing in a relatively short period of time.
“My team and I can do this in a day,” he said. “I have an amazing team. It’s a very long, demanding day, but most days at Chandler’s are about like that.”
The home’s dimensions are as large as the Joneses’ love for seasonal entertaining; in one memorable example from last year, the couple hosted the entire ASU football team for a holiday breakfast. As such, the Christmas décor must be on a grand scale, and under Chandler’s direction that’s exactly what’s delivered.
There are five Christmas trees in the home including a 12-footer in the foyer and a stunning 16-foot tree in the family room. More than 150 feet of garland graces the staircase, and Chandler doesn’t pretend to know how many lights are used throughout the home.
“I wouldn’t venture a guess on how many strands of lights, but there would be dozens and dozens. Hundreds and hundreds of lights,” he said. “And we prefer just tiny white lights unless we’re doing something childlike. If there’s a childlike influence then we do colored lights.
“We also totally avoid lights that flash off and on. We actually find that offensive.”
The trees are just one part of what Chandler and his team call “floats,” central focal points that complete the holiday tableau in each room.
“We’ll take a huge cocktail table and then do something mammoth on it,” he said. “We take one piece of furniture in each of the primary spaces and do something significant. We’re definitely not into little Christmas stuff just sitting around. We want to make one strong statement in each important room.”
The team’s creativity and skill are also evident in the way the decorations reflect the mood and environment of the room itself, yet somehow create an overall cohesiveness thanks to elements that weave their way throughout.
“The decorations are absolutely related to the room and to the level of formality or level of informality, the level of masculinity or femininity,” Chandler said. “We have two trees that are right off the kitchen, and they are much more relaxed than the foyer tree or the decorations in the dining room. It’s an absolute extension of the room.
“Consequently, none of these trees are alike except the one pair that we have in the sitting room right off of the kitchen. The others are
completely unalike.”
Chandler also prides himself on achieving spectacular results without making the homeowner invest in entirely new decorations every year.
“I mean, Christmas is Christmas,” he said. “We pride ourselves on using these quality Christmas decorations over and over and over again. We’re using ribbon that was $75 a roll 20 years ago, and we’re still using it. We really do like to work with what our clients already have.
“Each year we add something new but not much. It’s our goal to use what they have, and more often than not, we present it differently each time. The same product may not be in the same room, or it’s presented in a new way. To this day, we’re known as the company who loves to take what people already have and do the most we can with it.”
Given his years in the interior design business, there’s not much to derail a project that Chandler hasn’t seen. Born in Jonesboro and educated at Oklahoma Baptist University, he went full time with his business 42 years ago, employing as many as 16 and currently eight. He also began teaching classes in interior design through the business 40 years ago, and to date, he’s passed along the finer points of the art form to some 12,000 students.
“I started out at $15 an hour, working out of the back of my car,” he said with a chuckle. “Our headquarters are in Little Rock on Cantrell, but we presently have jobs going from Montclair, New Jersey, to Lexington, Kentucky, to LaBelle, Florida. We’ve worked in the Caribbean, Turks and Caicos, New Orleans.
“My school is approved by the state board of private education, and we have a classroom at our corporate facilities in Little Rock.”
Over the years, Chandler has established a stellar reputation for impeccably tasteful interiors that stand the test of time. Team members work closely with architects and builders to review floor plans, a practice that provides the basis of their design process, sometimes offering suggestions before the foundation is even poured.
“One thing that absolutely does set us apart is we work very hard at avoiding anything trendy,” Chandler said. “Lots of designers don’t think like that, but we make it a point to avoid anything we consider trendy.”
Chandler and Associates has also developed several operational tenets, allowing it to accommodate a wide range of client tastes and architectural designs. It’s as much a business pillar as design ethos, unchanged from the company’s very earliest days and a big part of the firm’s continued success.
“The one thing that has never changed about Chandler’s is that we’re really good listeners, and we do not have a look,” he said. “It’s our goal to pick up on the taste and personality of the client and for the finished
product to be an extension of the client. We really don’t want it to look like a decorator has been there.
“We feel like that objectivity is one of our strong points, even to the degree that the client’s favorite color is our favorite color. We keep lots of jobs going all over the country, and being objective is one of the secrets of the success of this business.”
This corporate philosophy extends to the holiday decorating business where, not unlike paint colors or accent pieces, clients’ tastes and preferences vary widely. To Chandler, there’s no wrong time to decorate, as long as it is in step with the customer.
“We’ve done this so long and have so many clients. We do the same clients over and over that in some instances, I’ve worked for three generations,” Chandler said. “It’s always very interesting how some people just cannot wait for us to get there; they don’t care how early it is. There are also people who will absolutely not let us do Christmas until after Thanksgiving.
“There are also people who really don’t care when we come take it down and other people who are hysterical to have it down the day after Christmas.”
As for his own living space, Chandler said he decorates his home first every year, rather than waiting until the last minute. He said he considers it a mandatory bit of professionalism to have handled his own space before being welcomed into the homes of the clients who have grown into friends.
“My house is that house we do on Oct. 27,” he said. “I get that out of the way first. It’s a little hard to call somebody else and say we’ll be there Nov. 1 to decorate for Christmas if I can’t say my house is already decorated.”
Arkansas Food Products Make Great GIFTS!
J’eet Yet?
By DWAIN HEBDA
Stumped for what to give the person who has everything? Opt for consumables in the form of Arkansas food products. Whatever they love – sweet, salty, savory or sour – you’ll find it among Arkansas’s hand-crafted items. Here’s a sampling sure to please everyone on your list (and get an extra for yourself, too.)
FISCHER’S HONEY
In a world where consolidation and huge corporate interests dominate the food industry, it’s nice to know some local things are so good they’ve stood the test of time. Fisher’s Honey is one such product, delivering raw, unfiltered honey to Arkansas tables since 1935.
The largest and oldest honey processor in Arkansas, the North Little Rock brand originated when hobbyist beekeeper Raymond Fischer started extracting honey and bottling it in the family kitchen. Demand grew so quickly, the operation quickly outgrew Fischer’s kitchen, basement and garage into its own honey plant. Today, the family-owned 20,000-square-foot plant ships to customers all over the country.
More than just delicious, honey is a great alternative to sugar and artificial sweeteners. Last January, CNBC. com reported honey beats sugar in that it contains trace amounts of essential nutrients, including minerals potassium, calcium, zinc and a whole hive of vitamins. Research has shown it to raise blood sugar more slowly, according to a 2018 study released by the National Library of Medicine.
In cooking, you can substitute an equal amount of honey for light corn syrup in many recipes, per testsquiz. com. Fischer’ raw honey is also a fabulous sugar substitute in frostings, baked goods, jams and jellies. fischerhoney.com
For the best in fresh-baked bread, it’s hard to top Neighbor’s Mill Bakery and Café. The passion project of Mike and Karin Nabors, the company offers a variety of delicious made-from-scratch American Hearth breads, more than 25 varieties in all. Each loaf is lovingly created from wheat berries and other grains ground in a 100-yearold gristmill.
There’s a Neighbor’s Mill bread variety to fit every taste in your family from the sweet (raisin cinnamon, cranberry orange, apple cinnamon almond, cranberry pecan and a host of dessert breads) to the savory (asiago and cracked black pepper, garlic triple cheese and tomato herb and cheese). As well, find dinner rolls, baguettes, challah, whole wheat and 9-seed Neighbor’s Best, the company’s top seller. The company’s products can be shipped coast to coast, or you can opt for a gift certificate in any amount and let friends and family choose their favorites. In fact, why not meet them in person for a post-holiday get-together to enjoy the café’s delicious soups, salads and deli sandwiches using house-made bread.
Neighbor’s Mill Bakery and Café operates two locations; the original, opened in 2000 in Harrison, was joined in 2016 by a second location in Springfield, Missouri. neighborsmill.com
PINK HOUSE ALCHEMY
The secret to a good cocktail, like that of a good relationship, starts with chemistry. Pink House Alchemy’s founder Emily Lawson innately understood the interplay of flavors while growing up, a knack she perfected during her training as a chef.
Since founding Pink House Alchemy, she and her band of mad flavor scientists have developed a line of syrups, bitters and shrubs that bring life to cooking, baking and libations.
Got a coffee snob or budding baker in your family? Give them Pink House Alchemy’s hazelnut, pumpkin butternut spice, seasonal winter mint or one of the company’s other syrups.
Or, treat the mixologist in your life to craft bitters such as the smoldered, which brightens up bourbon and rum; the sarsaparilla for the perfect Old Fashioned; and the do-everything house variety no home bar should be without. For something completely different, give a bottle of the company’s shrub, a mixer derived from vinegar, water, sugar and fruit. (Ask your Nana; she might know it as drinking vinegar).
Pink House Alchemy products are made from the finest ingredients, blended under Lawson’s critical eye. If you want to know what true love tastes like, here it is. pinkhousealchemy.com
FELTNER’S SAUCE
Among Arkansas-bred burger dynasties, few have a more loyal following than the Feltner family. Whether you crammed for your Arkansas Tech chem exam over a basket of Feltner’s fries or enjoyed the much-awarded place in Fayetteville lately, the restaurant’s fare is the stuff of legend.
For the uninitiated, here’s the burger family tree: Bob Feltner founded the original location in Russellville in 1967, a stone’s throw away from the campus of Arkansas Tech University. The institution has won more awards than it can count, including induction into the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame in 2021.
In 2009, Bob’s grandsons Travis, Chase, and Grant Feltner, who are brothers, opened Feltner Brothers in Fayetteville to carry on the family legacy, topping multiple best burger polls along the way.
A trip to either restaurant is more than just mere nostalgia, as the friendly staff treats each and every customer like an honored guest. It’s the perfect place to take a colleague from work or the family during the holidays.
But if you can’t bring the herd to Feltner’s, send a little taste of Felter’s to the family with a bottle of their famous sauce. The versatile stuff goes with just about everything – including memories of home. feltnerbrothers.com
Theres’s no reason why Subiaco Abbey should be in Arkansas, except that it is. The stately Benedictine monastery, perched on top of a hill in Logan County, is sentinel to the verdant pastures and farmland below. Visitors are taken with the peacefulness of the place and the warmth of welcome by the monks who, as St. Benedict himself decreed, live, pray and work there.
The abbey supports itself through various handiworks, including its habanero hot sauces and legendary peanut brittle, both of which have been in production for decades.
Monk Sauce comes in three fiery varieties, original, verde and smoked. Don’t ask for the mild version, it doesn’t exist, just the full-strength elixir made from habanero peppers grown on the grounds. As flavorful as it is intensely hot, Monk Sauce will delight any spicy food fan who finds a bottle in their stocking or under the tree.
If their taste buds aren’t quite up to the scorching sauce level, give a bucket of Abbey Brittle. The monks follow a closely guarded secret recipe for the candy, but this much is known, the amount of peanuts used far outpaces most other craft versions. One taste and you’ll never go back to commercial peanut brittle. countrymonks.biz
McCLARD’S BAR-B-Q
It’s hard to pin down just one barbecue joint to represent the entire state, but McClard’s of Hot Springs comes mighty close. The restaurant is a destination spot for all things low and slow, attracting smoked meat pilgrims from across Arkansas and from every corner of the United States.
Like every great eatery, McClard’s features a great backstory. Born in 1928 as part of a tourist court, gas station and diner outfit run by Alex and Alice McClard, the restaurant might never have reached its iconic status had it not been for a down-on-his luck traveler. Unable to pay his tab, the stranger offered instead a secret recipe for what he called “the world’s greatest hot sauce.” They accepted the offer, tweaked the recipe, and a legend was born.
The sauce hit so big, the diner soon outpaced the other business ventures and began a barbecue legacy that would stretch for four generations of the McClard family to follow. And while it’s unlikely most hobby chefs on your list can duplicate the McClard’s experience, you can still give a classic taste of the Spa City with the world-famous sauce and rub that started it all. mcclards.com
ONYX COFFEE
If your mood and productivity revolves around a great cup of java – or that’s true for someone on your list – you need to look into Onyx Coffee. Whether you’re a coffee roast expert or just know what you like, there’s something for every taste in this catalog.
Onyx takes ownership of every step of its product’s life cycle, from traveling to coffee-growing countries to selecting the best beans to roasting and cupping at the company’s headquarters to ensure the perfect pour, every time.
The company also operates with a conscience. It roasts and ships from its solar-powered production facility and provides pricing and trade data with every package, allowing the consumer to buy with confidence.
The result is a variety of splendid blends – try the Southern Weather, a brew appealing to a wide range of palates, or the Monarch, a sumptuous blend offering notes of dried berries and dark chocolate. For the more sophisticated palate, browse the company’s line of single-origin coffees, each of which tells a story of the place from where it came and the culture of the people who brought it to you. This holiday season, give them the world in a cup with Onyx Coffee. onyxcoffeelab.com
Looking for the perfect gift for the gourmet in your life? Why not show your good taste with something good-tasting from Fresh Harvest? This Northwest Arkansas purveyor of ultra-premium olive oils, balsamics and specialty groceries is a chef’s delight, chock full of gift ideas for cooks of all ages and abilities.
Headlining the store’s products is its line of extra virgin-olive oils. Olives are purchased through partner growing operations around the world, crushed mere hours after being harvested, then cold-pressed using proprietary techniques. The resulting olive oils are unsurpassed in flavor and rich in antioxidants and nutrients.
For the past decade, Fresh Harvest has been a gourmet outpost for sophisticated ingredients, through which founders Troy Johnson and Steve Ketchersid educate their clientele about the healthful benefits of their products versus the big brands. Its extensive inventory of fused and unfused olive oils ensures you’ll find the right gift in the right flavor profile – spicy, sweet, savory or pure and clean.
Can’t decide? Choose from one of Fresh Harvest’s ready-made gift packs, the perfect remembrance for family, friends or business associates. The fine quality and amazing versatility of these products are sure to please everyone on your list. freshharvest.co
JANIS & MELANIE
Throughout its history, Janis & Melanie has lived a mission to bring sophisticated, wholesome snack foods to the marketplace. Now, almost 40 years after its founding, the Little Rock company’s products are a staple in pantries throughout Arkansas and the centerpiece of family gatherings, special occasions and ordinary evenings in.
If you’ve never tried cheese straws, you’re missing a true Soutern delicacy. The decadent snack was one of Janis & Melanie’s first big sellers and remains at the forefront of the company’s product line today. Now available in four flavors, their version is considered by many to be the standard against which all other cheese straws are measured.
The rest of the product line centers around cookies, ranging from soul-pleasing, softbaked varieties to tea cookies, traditional cookies and biscuits just like Mom used to make. There’s even a seasonal collection that captures the flavors of the holidays.
Janis & Melanie can be found in better retailers and specialty stores throughout Arkansas, but for that extra-special someone, visit the company website and peruse the company’s line of gift boxes. You’re sure to find the perfect combination of savory and sweet as you give a true taste of Arkansas this year. janis-melanie.com
MOONLIGHT MIXES
Sometimes the simplest things in life are the most satisfying. Walks by the lake, summer breezes and drives through neighborhoods decorated for Christmas can all refresh us in ways that are surprisingly powerful.
The same can be said for gift-giving; whoever said the holidays had to be expensive or complicated never tried Moonlight Mixes. Easy to give and always eagerly appreciated, the company’s products take a lot of the work out of holiday giving.
Moonlight’s famous Wicked Mixes combine bold flavors and satisfying crunch, sure to be a hit among work colleagues, dirty Santa parties or for anyone who enjoys a great snack. Available in spicy original, sweet-salty-spicy, chocolate-laced or smoldering chipotle, these snacks are always in season.
Check out the line of Wicked Minis, seasoned oyster crackers available in four tempting flavors – garlic Parmesan, garden dill, crushed red pepper and jalapeño cheddar. These crunchy bits liven up soups and salads or are great eaten straight out of the bag.
With online ordering and corporate gift options, Moonlight Mixes makes gifting easy, so why overthink it? Take care of everyone on your list and hold back a couple of bags for yourself, because no one’s been better than you this year. moonlightmixes.com
