HOMEFRONT A Fort Hood Herald publication | July 27, 2016
Operation Homefront’s backpack brigade P8 | Pokémon Go craze sweeps nation P10
| Homefront
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
[ Inside this issue ] Financial Fitness: How to save on summer road trips
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Financial Fitness: You’ll pay the price if you misuse credit cards
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Financial Fitness: Five ways to declare financial independence
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On the Homefront: Guardian Angel dogs help veterans
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On the Homefront: Operation Homefront ready for school
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On the Homefront: Play it safe with Pokémon Go
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What’s Happening: Upcoming area events
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Dining In: Flavors of Caribbean with jerk chicken
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Dining In: Six summer salads
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Vol. 9, Issue 7 | July 27, 2016 Homefront is a Fort Hood Herald publication. Contact Us Editor: David A. Bryant | dbryant@kdhnews.com | 254-501-7554 Advertising: Call 254-501-7500 On the cover: Photo courtesy of Vickie Starr. Find more news at forthoodherald.com.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
[ Financial Fitness ]
Homefront |
How to save money on summer road trips By Chad Storlie Courtesy of USAA
There is nothing that states “Summer’s Here!” like a family road trip. The summer family road trip is one of those great family traditions to experience new things, spend time together, and truly undertake an adventure as you travel across America or another foreign country. Family Summer Road Trip Savings Tip No. 1: Pack The Snacks. Food can quickly become a major expense for a large family and encourage needless stops to “get something to eat” that can become unhealthy and expensive. The best way to combat this trend is to pack lots of heat resistant summer snacks in small portable bags. Let each child pick several of their favorite healthy snacks and pack plenty of them. Don’t forget about trash bags, paper towels, and wet wipes to help clean up. Finally, milk and water are the best choices to ensure hydration. Limit sugar drinks and sugar snacks to small quantities only a couple of times a day. Family Summer Road Trip Savings Tip No. 2: Hotel with a Kitchen. When you arrive at your destination, the long term style hotels that have a kitchen, stove, refrigerator and microwave are the solution for large and small families. With a small kitchen, you can make great meals when it fits your schedule and at the price point you want. Additionally, snacking is an inexpensive proposition because you have everything that you need in your room. Finally, little children that have
specific food requirements, like a bagel for breakfast, can get a taste of home before they start the day or climb into bed. Family Summer Road Trip Savings Tip No. 3: Consider a Campground. If you are up for an adventure, then a campground that offers spaces for tents, a shower, and some inexpensive dining options close buy is the choice for you. The vast majority of campgrounds can be reserved on line and some campgrounds even offer you the option to choose your own view. Finally, campgrounds offer old style family fun of renting a canoe, swimming in a lake, and, of course, s’mores after a
long, sun filled day. Family Summer Road Trip Savings Tip No. 4: Plan Your Trip, But Not Too Much. Having a general schedule for a road trip is a must. Having a timed to the minute schedule, not so great. When you are planning your routes and destinations, let the entire family pick and choose two or three side destinations along the way to stop and experience some great roadside attractions. There are dinosaur museums, the largest ball of (fill in the blank) in six counties, or a small roadside café with the best peach pie in the state. The point is these unplanned, unique, and corny roadside attractions are part of
the summer road trip experience. That also means getting off the Interstate for a time and going by smaller roads. Family Summer Road Trip Savings Tip No. 5: Look for Off Peak Events. Finding off peak locations for a summer road trip can be an amazing way to discover discounts, get away from crowds, and create incredible memories. For example, in the summer, when everyone is at the beach, you can go to the mountains or a ski town to discover new places. Some summer places have festivals and then have very few people the week following the event — there is an opportunity of discounts there. Get on the phone or email and be creative to find an off-peak location with a discount and a new perspective on what can be done on a summer vacation. Family Summer Road Trip Savings Tip No. 6: Set a Daily Limit for Event Spending. Events such as amusement parks, water parks, and arcades can devastate a vacation budget quickly. For these events, plan a single day at the amusement park and alternate one or two days with some lower cost options such as a State Park or an off-peakdemand location. Having a strict daily limit on your spending will help you enjoy and appreciate the amusement parks and still leave your budget intact at the end of the trip. Summer is a time for road trips, families and being together. Use a few simple techniques to help keep the mood light, the family involved and happy and the budget on track. Have fun, drive safe, and enjoy the view.
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[ Financial Fitness ]
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Risk versus reward: You’ll pay the price if you misuse credit cards Courtesy of USAA
Four in 10 Americans say they enjoy spending money more than saving it, according to a 2016 Gallup Poll. And 32 percent of those people say they will spend even if it means taking on more debt, especially credit card debt. We all know that can lead to problems, but should you try to get by without a credit card at all? That’s not necessary or even preferable, according to JJ Montanaro, a certified financial planner professional at USAA. “Credit cards are part of the fabric of our financial life and using them responsibly can help build a solid credit history and score,” Montanaro said. “Convenience, security, expense tracking and rewards programs all make credit cards a useful tool, if used prudently.” Credit card benefits can outweigh the risks if you do these four things: 1. Choose your credit cards carefully.
Select cards that offer a low interest rate, no annual fees and a desirable rewards program. Keep the lowest number of credit cards possible to
avoid racking up multiple balances you can’t pay off each month. 2. Don’t carry a balance. Use credit cards to buy big-ticket
items like appliances, particularly if your card offers a warranty above and beyond the coverage provided by the manufacturer or retail store. Just pay the balance off right away to avoid interest charges. “A lot of people believe they’ve got to carry a balance to boost their credit score; that’s just not the case,” Montanaro said. 3. Pay on time. If you do carry a balance, you can avoid being late with a payment by setting up automatic payments for at least the minimum amount and keeping the auto-pay feature turned on just in case. 4. Keep your spending in check. Attractive rewards programs lure consumers into charging more than they would otherwise. Paying your bills by credit card to rack up rewards points may be an option for the most disciplined consumers, said Montanaro. “But don’t let credit cards become a means to spend what you don’t have; that’s a recipe for disaster.”
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
[ Financial Fitness ]
Homefront |
Five ways to declare your financial independence this summer By J.J. Montanaro Courtesy of USAA
I love this time of year. First of all, it’s hot. And I like the heat. Maybe that’s why I call San Antonio home. But summer also means baseball, vacations and the granddaddy of all birthday parties, Independence Day. So let’s channel our forefathers and talk about five ways you can declare your financial independence. Moves which may improve your life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Free yourself from oppressive debt. Is there a tyrannical ruler in your life? For many, that dictator is money — or more accurately, debt. Credit card bills, student loans or medical expenses can make you feel like you don’t control your own destiny. Take charge of your finances and provide guards to your future security. How? Create a budget. Use prudence to limit your spending and “find” money to pay off debt by cutting back or cutting out. Let every-
Use your PCS as a reset button for your finances and start making choices with an eye on the long-term financial freedom. one in your household have a voice about your financial goals, and convene regularly for money talks. Use revolutionary tools and apps. Mobile devices put an unbelievable amount of financial information in the palm of your hand. Whether you’re budgeting, receiving reminders to stay on track, reviewing your portfolio, calculating where you stand with your goals or researching your insurance needs, take advantage of the information, tools, calculators and reviews at hand. Remember, all investments are not created equal. Millennials are showing a tendency to save rather than invest, but that could mean their financial plan is incomplete. If you’re only putting money away for long-term goals in shortterm savings vehicles, you risk losing
ground to rising prices or what is technically called inflation. That’s an important consideration, because if that’s the case, your money won’t have the same purchasing power in the future that it does today. Historically, stocks or stock mutual funds have outpaced inflation, but, of course, you can also lose money with stocks. Other inflation-fighting investments are available. The U.S. Treasury’s I Bonds address inflation by providing a guaranteed return that is based, in part, on inflation. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities or mutual funds that invest in TIPS are designed to protect you from inflation, but unlike I Bonds they can fluctuate in value and you may lose money. The bottom line? Check out your portfolio and ensure your investments are aligned with your long-term goals.
This PCS, push the reset button. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams — they knew starting over would not be easy. But they took the opportunity to reinvent the country and ran with it. It was a chance to set things right. A PCS gives you that same opportunity. But, like establishing a new nation, it requires a well-thoughtout plan and some discipline. Use it as a reset button for your finances and start making choices with an eye on the long-term financial freedom. Capitalize on the resources at home. The government of this great United States of America offers you free access to one-on-one financial counseling and classes on your installation’s military and family support center. Accept this providence and use it to your benefit. Military OneSource offers the same, and having access to help is definitely something that will let you pursue more happiness. Make your move toward financial independence today.
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[ On the HOmefront ]
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Guardian Angels dogs are life savers for veterans By Linda Wilson Fuoco Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Darrell Sapp | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Faith, a Guardian Angel Service Dog belonging to Beill Fennell, 67, watches the trainer during a refresher training session in Pittsburgh, Pa.
PITTSBURGH — German shepherds named Lily, Oliver, Shilo and Faith have been in their new homes for less than a month, but they’ve already made life-altering improvements for the local veterans with whom they’ve been teamed. One of the dogs sniffs the breath of her sleeping partner, who has diabetes, and wakes him if she determines that his blood-sugar levels are too high or too low. Then he takes his medication. All of the veterans report they are sleeping better because the dogs ease or even prevent nightmares. The highly trained dogs prevent daytime panic attacks and flashbacks. They lessen the anxiety, depression and hypervigilance that comes with post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. Some are trained to help veterans with mobility issues. Many can push a but-
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
ton to call 911 without a command from their partners. Each dog was custom-trained to meet the needs of a specific human partner by Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs Inc. in Williston, Fla. The cost for each dog is $22,000, which includes food, veterinary care and 500 to 2,000 hours of training. Veterans pay nothing for their dogs. Currently, 150 people nationwide are on a waiting list for the dogs. The four German shepherds came with their partners Friday to the Marriott City Center for a refresher training session with Carol Borden, whose organization since 2009 has trained and placed medical service dogs with 170 people, many of them veterans. Training starts when the puppies — bred on the 35-acre Guardian Angels property — are less than a month old, Ms. Borden said. Puppy training sessions are designed to be fun and very short. Six professional trainers are in the program, which currently has 80 dogs on the property. Most are German shepherds because “they mature early, learn quickly” and love to work, she said. Staff trainers work with the puppies
[ On the HOmefront ]
For the final stages of training, veterans go to Florida for two to three weeks to bond with their dogs and learn how to handle them. for a year, teaching basic obedience and using positive reinforcement — praise and treats — to build the confidence of the dogs. Then dogs go into foster homes for eight weeks, where families get the young dogs accustomed to being out in public, Borden said. They come back to Guardian Angels for 500 to 2,000 hours of professional training, which takes one to two years, depending on the number of skills the dogs need to learn. Borden says picking the right dog for each veteran “is more art than science,” but there are some guidelines. A young dog with extremely high energy levels is generally best suited for a younger veteran, for instance. For the final stages of training, veterans go to Florida for two to three weeks to bond with their dogs and learn how to handle them. Borden and her staff stay in touch with the people who get the dogs, and she travels the country to do refresher courses with the dogs and
their partners. “Talk to them in a high-pitched voice and tell them how good they are. They love that,” she said Friday at the hotel training session for the four vet-dog teams: Lily, 22 months old, and Vietnam Marine veteran Joe McQuade of Monroeville, Pa.; Faith, 4, and Vietnam Marine veteran Bill Finnel of Pittsburgh’s Carnegie; Shilo, 6, and Army veteran Larry Rebar of Homer City, Pa., who served in Grenada and Iraq; and Oliver, 22 months old, and Iraq Army veteran Mitchell Baldwin of Harrisburg, Pa. The vets put their dogs through their paces, healing on a very loose leash and showing off learned skills including picking up keys and other dropped items and handing them back to their partner. Five dogs, at a total cost of $110,000, have been funded locally. Three were funded by philanthropists who have established Pittsburgh Foundation funds: the family of retired Steelers star Troy Polamalu; Robinson, Pa., businessman
Homefront |
Scott Noxon; and retired Peters, Pa., businessman Joseph Fairbanks, a Navy veteran who works with organizations that help veterans. The Pittsburgh Foundation donated $44,000 for the other two. Tony Accamando of Eighty-Four set up an organization called Life Changing Service Dogs for Veterans to raise $500,000 for 22 dogs from Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs. He also co-founded Veterans Cable Services, which exclusively hires vets for techindustry jobs. “Twenty-two is the number of veterans who commit suicide each day,” Accamando said. “For veterans who have received a Guardian Angel dog, the number of suicides is zero.” Life Changing Service Dogs for Veterans is partnering with PNC Bank to launch the first annual fundraising Mutt Strut, which will be held Oct. 1 in Frick Park. A kickoff breakfast was to be held this morning. To donate, make checks payable to Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs and mail to Veterans Cable Services Inc., 3591 Ridgeway Drive, Bethel Park, PA 15102.
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[ On the Homefront ]
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Operation Homefront
Group ready to get children back to school By David A. Bryant Fort Hood Herald
O
Photos courtesy of Vickie Starr
Operation Homefront is ready to help families on Fort Hood get their children ready to go back to school with their Back-to-School Brigade 2016 distribution event, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Bronco Youth Center.
peration Homefront is ready to help families on Fort Hood get their children ready to go back to school with their Back-to-School Brigade 2016 distribution event, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Bronco Youth Center. “We’ve opened registration for military families who want to save a bundle on back-to-school supplies by getting them free from us,” said Stephen Thomas, regional communications manager for Operation Homefront. “All they have to do is visit www.operationhomefront. net/event/list, scroll down to the Fort Hood event under Aug. 13, and sign up. We’re going to give away a thousand backpacks and accompanying school supplies at the Bronco Youth Center on post. Fort Hood is currently on a wait list, though.” Operation Homefront’s annual Back-to-School Brigade is a nation-wide school supply collection campaign hosted by the nonprofit. In 2015, the organization distributed more than 25,000 backpacks filled with school supplies to military kids across the country, according to the group’s website. Dollar Tree partnered with Operation Homefront as a presenting sponsor for the eighth year by setting out collection barrels from July 5 to Aug. 11 at over 5,000 Dollar Tree and Deals stores across the nation. All families of active duty military in the ranks of E-1 to E-6 are eligible to receive the school supplies,
[ On the Homefront ]
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
as well as all families of post-9/11 wounded, ill or injured veterans of all ranks, Thomas said. Operation Homefront assists military families during difficult financial times by providing food assistance, auto and home repair, vision care, travel and transportation, moving assistance, essential home items and financial assistance. The Back-to-School Brigade program is a nationwide campaign by Operation Homefront and Dollar Tree. This is the eighth year that Dollar Tree has partnered with Operation Homefront to provide school supplies to military children. Last year, Dollar Tree patrons purchased more than $5.6 million dollars of school supplies. “Operation Homefront’s goal is to help military families to thrive — not solely struggle to get by — in the communities they have worked so hard to protect, and our amazing 10-year partnership with Dollar Tree and their incredibly supportive customers has allowed us to make a difference for tens of thousands of military families by helping to ease the financial burden many face during the back-to-school season,” said retired Brig. Gen. John I. Pray Jr., president and CEO of Operation Homefront. “We are absolutely delighted to partner with Dollar Tree, a caring corporate partner and a friend to military families, for an eighth year on our Back-to-School Brigade program.” “We are proud to be a national sponsor of Operation Homefront,” said Chelle Davis, Dollar Tree spokesperson. “We are honored to once again participate in the Backto-School Brigade and we thank our Dollar Tree customers for their continued generosity and support.” Each Operation Homefront field office has few or no paid staff. Without the dedicated support of volunteers, the organization would not be able to accomplish its mission, according to their website. From special event to staff-level volunteers, each person
Homefront |
“Operation Homefront’s goal is to help military families to thrive — not solely struggle to get by — in the communities they have worked so hard to protect, and our amazing 10-year partnership with Dollar Tree and their incredibly supportive customers has allowed us to make a difference for tens of thousands of military families.” Retired Brig. Gen. John I. Pray Jr. makes a life-changing contribution to the troops, the families they leave behind and to wounded warriors when they return home. Over the next six weeks, Operation Homefront will welcome thousands of military families into communities across the county through the Back-to-School Brigade, which is now in its ninth year of collecting and distributing backpacks and other school supplies to military families. dbryant@kdhnews.com | 254-501-7554
Operation Homefront is ready to help families on Fort Hood get their children ready to go back to school with their Back-to-School Brigade 2016 distribution event, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Bronco Youth Center.
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[ On the Homefront ]
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Pokémon Go craze sweeps nation
Players find monsters — and injuries, robberies and worse By Ben Guarino
The Washington Post
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Bloomberg photo | Victor J. Blue
Gamers play Pokémon Go on July 13 on Fifth Avenue in New York. Pokémon Go has turned looking for characters in the real world into a real hobby.
arly morning on July 8, 19-yearold Shayla Wiggins hopped a fence to walk along the bank of Wind River in Riverton, Wyo. She was looking for Pokémon, the collectable cartoon critters that debuted in Japan in 1996 and proceeded to win the hearts of every fifth-grader since. What Wiggins found instead would reduce her to tears, sparking a police investigation. A week prior to her discovery, Wiggins’s search for Pokémon along the Wind River would have been met with concern or ridicule. But the world — or, so far Australia, New Zealand and the United States, including Riverton, Wyo. — changed on July 6. That’s thanks to Pokémon Go. Pokémon Go has turned looking for video game characters in the real world into a real hobby. For the uninitiated, Pokémon Go is a new augmented reality game that invites players to hunt for digital Pokémon on their smartphones, placed using an algorithm by the company Niantic Labs via GPS. The catch is the game, unlike the original Nintendo series and most video games to this point in history, requires physical exploration. By trading a Game Boy for a smartphone, Pokémon Go can filter reality into a giant game world. The combined effect is part bird-watching, part geocaching, part trophy hunting, with a heavy dose of mid-’90s nostalgia. To collect Pokémon, players walk to a location and spy them on their smartphone. Seen through the smartphone’s camera, the creatures pop into existence alongside physical objects. The mole-like Diglett peeks out of a toilet. Or a flaming demon Shetland called Ponyta gallops across the National Mall. With an upward flick of finger or thumb, as though playing the world’s tiniest game of skeeball, the Pokémon Go player attempts to capture these creatures with Poké balls. Repeated
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
captures of the same type of creature yields candies. Force-feeding enough candies to a Pokémon causes it to grow in power. Powerful creatures battle at gyms, which are digital arenas located at real points of interest. “We’re excited that Pokémon fans and gamers can now start exploring their very own neighborhoods and cities to capture Pokémon using the Pokémon Go app,” developer Niantic Labs wrote in a release. “Players can discover and catch more than 100 Pokémon from the original Red and Blue games.” If you are a Pokémon fan, or if you live in Australia, New Zealand or the United States, there is a good chance you have already stumbled across a Pokémon Go player (signs include vigorous touchscreen taps, eyes glued to phones and meandering walks). Perhaps you have fallen down its rabbit hole. The app is free to download and, like the franchise that spawned it, massively popular. Twenty-four hours after its release on the U.S. market, Pokémon Go had been installed on more Android phones than the dating app Tinder, according to analysts at SimilarWeb. By July 8, Pokémon Go players installed the app on one of every 20 Android phones in the United States, and users spent an average of 43 minutes a day playing — much longer than the average time spent using Twitter, for instance. Similar data are not available for Apple phones, but Pokémon Go rocketed to the number one grossing iTunes app on Thursday on the back of its optional in-app purchases. Shares of Nintendo stock spiked 10 percent as the game beat expectations.
Across the globe
Pokémon Go is playing out across the globe: In Sydney, an impromptu gathering July 9 blossomed into 2,000 Pokémon hunters who marched in procession like leafcutter ants. Half the world away, long after last call had come and gone, the millennials were still strolling through Washington, D.C.’s parks looking for rare Pokémon. According to a 40-year-old Pokémon Go player on Reddit, a 3 a.m. nocturnal hunt joined by two “twentysomething black dudes” aroused police suspicions that allegedly abated only when the cop downloaded the game himself. Because the critters can pop up virtually anywhere, they already have — in
[ On the Homefront ]
Homefront | 11
Bloomberg photo | Victor J. Blue
Gamers play Pokémon Go on July 13 in Central Park in New York.
offices, at funerals, in delivery rooms. Pokémon, as Wiggins told Wyoming’s KTVQ, can be found everywhere. Specific types are tied to certain habitats, thanks to geographic data. “I was trying to get a Pokemon from a natural water resource,” she said. True to the original Pokémon spirit, players can use their creatures to fight. Westboro Baptist Church, the site of a competitive Pokémon Go hotspot called a gym, became a social battleground as well as a virtual one. Progressive players who conquered the gym gave their Pokémon names like “LoveIsLove”; the Church gave a bird Pokémon a name using a homophobic slur. (Players are divided into one of three factions and compete for dominance over gyms. The fountain on the White House’s North Lawn, digitally accessible from the civilian side of the fence, is a prized location.) The popularity means that certain points of interest, manageable in “Ingress” due to a much smaller player base, have been swarmed. What was a church prior to 2015 — and therefore an “Ingress” locale — became a home when Massachusetts designer Boon
Sheridan bought it and converted it into a space to live. Now it is also a gym, which has been swamped by players. There is currently no option on Niantic’s website for Sheridan to remove or alter the gym, prompting him to note the point on Twitter. Despite the increased foot and car traffic — including some at odd hours of the night — Sheridan said he is not upset. “I’m not angry — it was more surprise than anything else,” he told Buzzfeed.
Physical problems
Playing in the physical world comes with physical problems, too. Pokémon Go has fractured metatarsals and bruised shins. The game’s loading screen cautions players to pay attention to their surroundings. Worse still is the crime. On Twitter, Omaha, Neb., police reported a Pokémon Go robbery. As The Washington Post reported, Missouri police say players were robbed after visiting remote Pokéstops. The perpetrators allegedly used digital items called lures to make the Pokéstops more alluring to Pokémon — and the players who would follow them. Four suspects, all teenagers, were
charged with armed robbery, as police recovered a handgun from one teen. Players have also found themselves in uncomfortable situations. At Medium, Omari Akil, a black writer from North Carolina, describes the worry he felt when playing Pokémon Go, afraid that if he wandered — as the game seemed to want — he would arouse potentially lethal suspicion: “I spent less than 20 minutes outside. Five of those minutes were spent enjoying the game,” Akil wrote. “Very quickly my Pokemon catching dreams were obliterated by the unfortunate reality that exist for a black Man in America. I realized that if I keep playing this game, it could literally kill me.” For Wiggins, Pokémon Go meant discovering a body. “I was walking toward the bridge along the shore when I saw something in the water,” she told KTVQ. “I had to take a second look and I realized it was a body.” Authorities believe the death was accidental, according to CNN. Wiggins was shaken by the discovery. But she, like thousands of people like her, plans to return to play Pokémon Go another day.
[ What’s Happening ]
12 | Homefront
Best Bets Tablerock’s Goodnight Amphitheater presents “Salado Legends,” an outdoor dinner musical celebrating the history of Salado and Central Texas, on July 30 and Aug. 6. Dinner is at 7:15 p.m., reservations required; cost: $10 per person. Show is at 8:15 p.m. Tickets at the gate: $20 for adults; $5 for children. Tickets are available online, at the box office, First State Bank, Fletcher’s Books, Compass Bank (Salado, Temple or Belton) or ITR at Fort Hood. For information, call 254-947-9205 or go to www.tablerock.org.
Local Music Dirty Harry’s presents live music on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. For ages 21 and older, no cover. Dirty Harry’s is at 206 W. Veterans Memorial Blvd., Harker Heights (next to Kin Pin Tattoos). Call 254-680-6557. Stillhouse Wine Room has live music 8 p.m. to midnight every Friday and Saturday. Jon Austin Duet is Friday’s featured performer. On Saturday, jazz saxophonist Patrick Trahan returns to the Wine Room. Tuesday is Game Night. Enjoy a glass of wine or beer while playing your favorite game.
Thursday Night Trivia is at 7:30 p.m. with a relaxed version of the game. Topics include music, movies, sports, geography, animals and more. Every 10 questions someone wins a bottle of wine. Stillhouse Wine Room is at 403 E. Stan Schlueter Loop, Suite 308, Killeen. For more information, go to StillhouseWineRoom.com. The Dead Fish Grill at 2207 Lake Road in Belton presents live music from 7:30 to 10 p.m. every Friday and Saturday. Call 254939-5771 or go to www.deadfishgrill.com. Schoepf’s Bar-B-Que presents Texas Music Series. Cody Canada with Parker McCullom performs from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday. Cost: 12 and under free; ages 13 to 20, $5; 21 and over free. Schoepf’s is at 702 E. Central Ave., Belton. Go to www.schoepfsbbq.com.
a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays. Every first Friday will feature an art activity for a $5 supply fee. Vendors can reserve an uncovered spot on the patio or lawn for $25 a year. For more information or to reserve a vendor spot, call 254-773-9926 or email marketing@ cacarts.org. The Water Street Farmers Market in Belton is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday downtown on Water Street in front of The Gin. Local vendors will have a variety of vegetables, foods and crafts. The Harker Heights Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays at Seton Medical Center Harker Heights, 850 W. Central Texas Expressway.
Farmers Markets
The Mayborn Museum Complex offers free admission from 1 to 5 p.m. the first Sunday of each month. The museum is at 1300 S. University Parks Drive in Waco. For information, call 254-710-1104.
All-Year Pioneer Farmers Market will be open in front of Tractor Supply Company on Central Texas Expressway in Killeen from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, weather permitting. Call Heike at 254-458-8223 or go to www.facebook.com/pioneerfarmersmarket. The Cultural Activities Center Farmers’ Market in north Temple is open from 9
Arts & Theater
Bars, Clubs Chopstick, 2600 Trimmier Road, Suite 200, Killeen has karaoke from 8 to 11 p.m. every Thursday.
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Club Easy Street, 702 W. Elms Road, Killeen, presents the Bombshell Vixens from 9 to 11 p.m. every Friday. Cover: $5.
Fundraisers Vendors are being accepted for the eighth annual Flavors of Central Texas. The Flavors of Central Texas will be from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Aug. 18 at the Killeen Civic and Conference Center. Flavors of Central Texas is a highly anticipated annual community event that brings all of our area’s best restaurants, caterers and bakers together under one roof, giving attendees the opportunity to try them all in one night. Restaurants and caterers are invited to participate in this event by becoming vendors. Sponsor opportunities start at $100 for nonchamber members. For information on sponsoring or being a vendor, email rebekah@killeenchamber.com.
Planetarium Several films are now showing at the Mayborn Science Theater at Central Texas College. For show descriptions, full schedule and ticket prices, go to www.starsatnight. org or call 254-526-1800.
[ Dining In ]
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
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Bring home flavors of Caribbean with jerk chicken dish By Gretchen McKay Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Scotch bonnet peppers are the chilies of choice in Caribbean cooking, lending a fiery bite to sauces and marinades. Pureed with sugar, scallions and warm spices, the yellow-red pepper pods are an essential ingredient in jerk chicken, one of the best-known Jamaican dishes to have been exported from the island. This dish comes from Weber’s terrific “New American Barbecue” by Jamie Purviance, who suggests cooking the chicken “low and slow” over handfuls of apple or pimento wood chips to achieve a smoky tenderness. (I used a gas grill and no wood.) I served it with cilantro-lime rice and roasted bell peppers. Scotch bonnets are among the hottest chilies on the market, so handle them with care — Wear gloves to avoid burning your skin or be sure to scrub your hands, knife and cutting board really
well after they’ve touched the peppers. If you can’t find Scotch bonnets, substitute habanero peppers.
Gretchen McKay | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
JERK CHICKEN
For marinade 1 Scotch bonnet or habanero chili pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped 6 large scallions (white and light green parts only), coarsely chopped ½ cup vegetable oil 2 tablespoons tamari 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 2 tablespoons ground allspice 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar 1 tablespoon peeled, minced fresh ginger 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh thyme leaves 1 teaspoon kosher salt ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped For chicken 1 whole chicken, cut into 6 pieces 1 lime, cut into wedges
In blender, combine marinade ingredients. Puree marinade, stopping to scrape down the inside of jar as needed and add a little water if it is too thick. Place cut-up chicken in a 13-by-9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Pour marinade over chicken and use tongs to turn and coat the meat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 18 hours, turning the chicken occasionally. Prepare grill for direct and indirect cook-
ing over medium-low heat (350 to 400 degrees). Remove chicken from dish, letting any excess marinade drip back into the dish. Transfer marinade and juices in the dish to a small bowl, cover and refrigerate. Grill chicken, skin side up, over indirect medium-low heat, with the lid closed, for 45 minutes. Turn chicken over and baste with some of the reserved marinade. Continue grilling until juices run clear and meat is no longer pink at the bone, 30 to 50 minutes longer, occasionally basting with the reserved marinade until the last 20 minutes of grilling. Discard any remaining marinade. If desired, to crisp and brown the skin, during the last 2 to 4 minutes grill the chicken, skin side down, over direct medium-low heat, turning once. Remove from grill and let rest for 3 to 5 minutes. Cut leg pieces in half at the joint, and cut the breast pieces crosswise in half. Serve warm with a squeeze of lime on top. Source: “Weber’s New American Barbecue: A Modern Spin on the Classics” by Jamie Purviance (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, May 2016, $24.99)
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Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Six sassy summer salads to serve By Kathleen Purvis The Charlotte Observer
Help me, world. It’s tough enough to find the time to cook in summer. Who wants the heat, too? Add the other things I want every day — something fast, something healthful, something affordable — and weeknight dinners can become daunting. Did I mention that I actually want it to taste good, too? The idea behind The Observer’s Assembly Line Cooking series is to find ways to combine fresh food with a few high-quality, high-flavor shortcuts. With that in mind, I set to work to come up with six really good dinner salads. I wanted the kind that can be full meals. And I didn’t want the kind that are glopped up with too much creamy dressing. At the end of the day, I realized that I had hit on something good here. These salads aren’t deprivation dinners, they’re delicious. They’re recipes I’ll keep in my weeknight dinner rotation from now on — even when it isn’t summer anymore. 1. Shrimp Salad With Green Curry Dressing: Empty a 1-pound bag of frozen cooked shrimp (any size will work, although I like at least 41- to 50-count) into a colander and rinse under cold running water to thaw. In a salad bowl, whisk together ¼ cup fresh lime juice (2 to 3 limes; zap them in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds to yield more juice), ¼ cup canola oil and 2 tablespoons green curry paste. Add the thawed shrimp, about 6 cups shredded romaine lettuce, and ¼ cup each chopped cilantro and mint. Top with roasted peanuts. Find green curry paste with the Asian ingredients in most supermarkets. (Adapted from “Market Math: 50 Ingredients x 4 Recipes 200 Simple, Creative Dishes,” by the editors of Food & Wine.) 2. Greek Chicken Salad With Feta Dressing: Puree ½ cup feta cheese, 3 tablespoons water and ¼ cup oil in a blender. Toss with 2 cups diced cooked chicken, 4 to 6 cups chopped romaine, 2 cored and diced tomatoes, and ¼ cup pitted kalamata olives. Just before serving, toss with 2 cups crushed pita chips.
Diedra Laird | Charlotte Observer
3. Mediterranean Chicken & Chickpea Salad: Whisk together 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, and ½ teaspoon each Dijon mustard, honey and dried oregano in a serving bowl. Whisk in 3 tablespoons olive oil. Stir in 3 tablespoons chopped pitted kalamata olives and about 3 tablespoons diced red onion. Add 4 to 6 cups chopped romaine or other sturdy salad greens, 1 cored and diced tomato and 2 (15-ounce) cans
rinsed/drained chickpeas. Top with ¼ cup crumbled feta and about 2 cups diced, cooked chicken. (Adapted from “Dinner A.S.A.P,” by the editors of Cooking Light.) 4. Sort-of-Nicoise Lentil Salad: Place ½ cup bottled Italian dressing in a mixing bowl. Whisk in 1 tablespoon honey and 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil. Add cooked green lentils (1 package Trader Joe’s steamed lentils or 3 cups cooked green
or Le Puy lentils). Stir in 1 cup grated carrot (1 large shredded carrot, or saladbar carrots) and about 2 tablespoons minced onion (red, yellow or shallot). Line a serving platter with lettuce and pile the lentils over it. Flake a can of drained, oil-packed tuna over the top. 5. Layered Antipasto Salad. (See recipe.) 6. Pastrami & Rye Panzanella Salad. (See recipe).
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
LAYERED ANTIPASTO SALAD
Adapted from cookingchanneltv.com. Look for giardiniera and pepperoncini on the pickle aisle. 1 (12-ounce) jar pepperoncini 1 (15-ounce) jar giardiniera 2 tablespoons olive oil About 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce 1 cup pitted kalamata olives 1 (9-ounce) jar artichoke hearts 2 tomatoes, cored and diced ½ pound thinly sliced provolone ½ pound thinly sliced soppressata Place 2 tablespoons of brine from each of the jars of pepperoncini and giardiniera (4 tablespoons total) in a mixing bowl and whisk in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stir in the lettuce and set aside. Drain pepperoncini. Remove stems and chop. Drain giardiniera and combine in a separate bowl with the chopped pepperoncini and the olives. Set aside. Drain artichoke hearts and cut into quarters. Core and dice the tomato. Slice the
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4 HANDY INGREDIENTS FOR FAST SALADS
• Trader’s Joe’s steamed lentils, $2.99 for a (17.6-ounce) pouch. I usually have a couple of packages in the refrigerator all the time. You can use them hot or cold. • Perdue Short Cuts Carved Chicken Breast, $4.39 for a (9-ounce) bag. I tried two flavors, roasted and rotisserie, while testing these recipes and was pleasantly surprised. It’s not as salty and fatty as rotisserie chicken, and it’s free of preservatives, hormones and steroids. Look for it near the lunch meat. • Bottled Italian dressing. Yes, I’d rather have from-scratch. But who has time? A basic oil-and-vinegar Italian dressing can be dressed up (try a little sesame oil and honey), and it can double as a marinade. • Olive bar: Many supermarkets have them now. While olives with the pits in have the most flavor, there’s no shame in saving a little time with good-quality pitted olives. What you’re after for salads is fast flavor.
provolone and sopressata into bite-size pieces. Place a third of the lettuce in the bottom of a large, clear bowl. Top with a third of the pickled vegetable mixture, a third of the artichoke hearts and tomato and half the sliced meat. Repeat layers, using the remainder of the meat, then a third layer
of the lettuce, pickled vegetables, artichoke hearts and tomato. Yield: 8 servings.
PASTRAMI & RYE PANZANELLA Adapted from countryliving.com.
½ red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
About 6 slices (½ pound) light or seeded rye bread 1 cucumber, peeled and diced 2 tomatoes, cored and diced ¼ pound sliced pastrami, chopped 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil ¼ teaspoon caraway seeds Put the onion slices in a small bowl and cover with cold water. Set aside until ready to use. Cut rye bread into 1 ½-inch cubes. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place in a 450-degree oven for 6 to 8 minutes, until the edges are crispy. Remove from oven and cool. Prepare the cucumber and tomato and put in a large salad bowl. Add the toasted rye bread, drained onion and pastrami. Whisk together the vinegar and mustard, then whisk in the olive oil. Just before serving, pour over the salad and toss well. Sprinkle with caraway seeds and serve. Yield: 4 servings.
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Wednesday, July 27, 2016