Kathy Harris hosted a “Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Pairing Party” in her Vickery Place home Thursday afternoon.

By adding the third component— chocolate— to the traditional culinary pleasures, it gave new life to the basic wine and cheese tasting. And who doesn’t like chocolate?

Harris chose four wines for sampling— Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon.  With each wine she offered two cheese selections as well as a chocolate that complemented the wine.

For instance the Pinot Noir was paired with Chevre and Swiss cheese and Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt. The Cabernet was paired with Smoked Gouda and Cheddar and a dark chocolate that was 70 % cocoa.

“Take a bite of chocolate, a sip of wine, and another bite of chocolate to get the full effect of the pairing.” Harris suggested.

Equally as impressive as the tasting of the wine, cheese and chocolate was Harris’ presentation.

She had created cheese boards from inexpensive marble tiles that she purchased from Lowe’s Home Improvement.  She attached felt “feet” to the underside to prevent table scratches and placed fig and banana leaves from neighbor Rick Bentley’s back yard on the top side. Each cheese board held the two cheeses that were paired with that specific wine.

Small bowls at each station held the chocolate and each set- up was accompanied by a framed card naming the wine, cheeses and chocolate.

There were baskets of crackers to eat with the cheeses plus pitchers of citrus-infused water for cleansing the palette.

The center-piece was appropriately a bunch of grapes.

Harris said that she purchased most of the cheese from Trader Joe’s on Greenville Avenue and chocolate from World Market in OldTown.

“I did go to Kuby’s in SnyderPlaza to get the orange chocolate that paired with the Riesling,” Harris said

Harris and her husband Wally Bettes are both enthusiasts of wine and knowledgeable of its varieties.  However, I asked Harris how she knew what chocolate to pair with each variety of wine.

“There are websites that suggest parings and offer tips for a tasting party,” she said.

A general rule to follow is your wine should be as sweet as your chocolate. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a bitter or sour taste.

Lake Champlain Chocolates of Vermont says chocolate and wine are natural companions. Both are made from fruit where terroir (the condition where a food is grown) plays an important role. Just as grapes grown in one area of the world possess a unique quality that is specific to that region, cacao beans are also characterized by the land where they are grown.

Champlain’s website gives pairing tips but go on to say that there is no one correct way to pair chocolate and wine. They suggest exploring and trying new combinations, adding that the beauty of pairings is in the discoveries you’ll make along the way.

There are also many websites that give wine and cheese pairing tips, but to make preparing for your party even more fun, visit one of the local cheese shops like at Central Market where a cheesemonger can help you with your selections and give you a taste, too.

Harris’ party was an afternoon of fun.

 Consider a “wine, cheese and chocolate” tasting for your next party.

Nobody was in the corner at the Dallas Summer Musical’s production of Dirty Dancing Tuesday night when my I attended this fantastic musical with my friend, Becky Riggins.

It was e the summer of 1963 when Johnny Castle (Samuel Pergande) and Frances “Baby” Houseman, (Gillian Abbott) fell in love at Kellerman’s Resort in the Catskill Mountains.

Dirty Dancing has been an American favorite ever since we watched Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey on the big screen in the film production during the early eighties.  Now Dirty Dancing is a live musical on stage in Dallas. The music, dancing and love story appeals to several generations.

My own 94 year old mother, Gloria Shouse who resides at Autumn Leaves Retirement Center  in Dallas, said “I think I want to go see that,” referring to the Dallas Summer Musical. Shouse and several other family members attended the production.

Everyone agreed that it was magic! The casting was right on, sets were incredible and the dancing was sensational.

Did the Doo Wop era produce some of the best and most romantic music ever, or what? 

Doug Carpenter (playing Billy Kostecki) brought the audience to ovation with his rendition of “In the Still of the Night.”

Dirty Dancing plays through July 5 at the Music Hall in FairPark.

One year ago  Connecting Point of Park Cities (CPPC) opened their doors in the educational building of Central Christian Church.  They celebrated this one year anniversary with a cake from Society Bakery, lemonade, balloons and games.

 “It’s been a fantastic year,” program director Jamie Reynolds said.

CPPC is a nonprofit day habilitation program for adults with disabilities.  The participants known as “teammates” spend their day learning a variety of life skills. 

A typical day at CPPC includes classes in current events, cooking, arts and crafts, gardening and manners.

I arrived early for the party and one young lady was being tutored in the proper way to ask someone to do something— using “please” and “thank you.”

In early spring, with the help of Boy Scouts Troop 70, the teammates revitalized Central’s PrayerGarden, adding a raised bed for vegetables and planting a butterfly garden.

“We have accomplished so much this year,” Reynolds said.  “The teammates themselves have volunteered 576 community hours of service.  We have been able to hire five staff members.  We have purchased a wheel chair assessable bus and we have held a second annual fundraiser lunch with Roger and Marianne Staubach.

Thanks to Central’ s generosity with the use of their building, we have been able to increase the number of teammates that we serve and currently have 22 enrolled in the program,” Reynolds added.

Central Christian Church is located at 4711 Westside Dr. in Dallas between Lemmon Avenue and Mockingbird Lane.   In addition to CPPC, Central is home to a community dog park and accommodates workshop space for the DallasSummerMusicalsAcademy.

Worship is at 11 a.m. Sunday mornings and all are welcome.

The popularity of summer camp has increased over the past several decades. This may be partly because of the number of working moms who need quality child-care during the summer, but don’t want their child to miss out on summer fun. It may also be due to the variety of camps offered today that further a child’s development in a particular interest.

Whatever the reason for the popularity of summer camps, they have become more sophisticated and specialized than ever before.

The Dallas Summer Musical Academy (DSMA) recently held a camp in musical arts at Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Dallas.

The one week, three hour a day camp ended with a stage production of song and dance numbers from Disney’s “Jungle Book.”

Those of us who helped with the camp were amazed at how the kids, ages 6-12, flourished in such a short period of time. By the end of day one, they had script in hand, were assigned their character and learning song and dance routines. They were having so much fun! 

The energy radiated from both the kids and the instructors was so contagious that we adults found ourselves mimicking monkeys and singing along to “I Wanna Be Like You.”

Kevin Cook is the Director of Education for the Dallas Summer Musical Academy. He has a B.A. and M.A. with emphasis on writing and directing in Theater Arts from the University of Bowling Green in Ohio.

“Besides being a lot of fun, what are the benefits of theater arts to a child?” I asked.

“Learning to perform in front of an audience is an advantage to everyone as it builds confidence, poise, self-esteem and teaches the ability to ‘to think on one’s feet,’” Cook said.

“Since some children are really shy in front of an audience, what do you do to encourage them and help them work through their fear?” I asked.

Cook said if a child is shy, they will be given a small part to start with and allowed to move at the child’s pace — not the instructor’s. DSMA instructors are very aware of not instilling or promoting the fear factor. There are also exercises to help calm the mind.  

Accompanying Cook at camp was the Production Stage Manager Ty Lawrence; Director Lindsey Crawford; Choreographer Kristina Kirkenaer-Hart and Music Director Chris Wilson.

Crawford said she has been singing, dancing and acting since she was 3 years old. She trained at Abilene Ballet Theater for 15 years and graduated with a B.A. in Theater Arts from TexasTechUniversity with emphasis in dance and education.

Like Cook, Crawford stressed a child’s need for self confidence, adding that of energy and the ability to work with others. She said that theater teaches those skills and they are necessary for whatever career one chooses.

“I love seeing a group of kids start with a simple script and watching it grow into a work of art that they have created together,” she said.

Choreographer Kirkenaer-Hart attended North Carolina School of the Arts and Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.

She danced professionally in New York and  toured Europe. While living in Norway, she ran a dance studio and created a theater school. 

“I get honesty and energy from the kids,” Kirkenaer-Hart said.

Those of us watching the week’s camp activities can sure vouch for the “energy.” Kirkenaer-Hart radiates it.

Another energetic leader was the music director who played the piano and belted out songs with a talent for animation and a knack for humor.  Wilson got his start at Six Flags Over Texas and went on to Royal Caribbean Line and Holland American Line.  He has toured with two Broadway shows.

The students seemed at ease imitating the choreographer’s body language as they learned the dance steps while learning to project their voices at Crawford and Wilson’s coaching.

It was the first time on stage for some of the kids, but you couldn’t tell by watching.

“Our instructors are excellent at integrating a class comprised of students who have no performance experience with students who have years of experience in the singing, dancing and acting disciplines,”  Production Stage Manager Lawrence said.

The week was filled with theatrical magic, and Friday was electric as the jungle characters came to life during dress rehearsal.

When the kids were asked, if they’d had fun throughout the week, there was a resounding “yes!”  The room was filled with “Look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities. Forget about your worries and your strife.”

If you are interested in a camp this summer for your child, email academy@dsm.org or contact Ty Lawrence at 214-498-5434

The  Book Trotters, a Lakewood book club, met Monday evening at Times Ten Cellar in Lakewood to discuss “Barbara Jordan: American Hero” by Mary Beth Rogers.

Barbara Jordan was the first African American to serve in the Texas Senate since Reconstruction, the first black woman elected to Congress from the South, and the first to deliver the keynote address at a national party convention. Yet Jordan herself remained a mystery to the public eye.

Rogers, a Dallas native, knew Jordan as a colleague at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs in Austin, Texas.

In the biography, “Barbara Jordan: American Hero” Rogers skillfully weaves together the events of Jordan’s personal life with her public persona and the struggle for black voting rights in the South.

I asked hostess Jane Lampton why she chose the book for this month’s Book Trotter’s read and she responded that Jordan was a great Texan and she played such a big part in Watergate.

“We heard so much about her and then we didn’t.  Where did she go?’ Lampton asked.

The Book Trotters reminisced about Civil Rights, segregation and even recalled the distinctive sound of Jordan’s voice.

Jordan passed away on January 17, 1996, in Austin, Texas from pneumonia, a complication of her battle with leukemia.

The Book Trotters have a way of tying in food with their book selection so Lampton treated the book club member to barbecue from Lockhart’s Smokehouse and pecan pie from Emporium Pies.  Pam Thomas brought some fried okra to pair with our wine.

See you next month.