Parmesan Potato Gratin will be on the menu at the Nov. 29th dinner.

FORT WORTH _ Chef Lou Lambert will pair recipes from his new cookbook, Big Ranch, Big City, at a special dinner at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 29 at Lambert’s Steak, Seafood and Whiskey, 2731 White Settlement Road.

The hearty cowboy cuisine found in the new cookbook will be paired with Fort Worth’s Rahr Beers in this stop on the Texas Toast Culinary Tours. The evening also will feature the book’s co-author, June Naylor, and its photographer, Ralph Lauer. Fritz Rahr of Rahr & Sons Brewing Company will discuss the beer pairings.

After graduating from The Culinary Institute of America, Lambert polished his cooking techniques in New York City and San Francisco before opening his own restaurants in Austin and Fort Worth. Big Ranch, Big City, his first cookbook, spotlights 125 recipes that combines his west Texas heritage with his classical training.

Cost for the special dinner  is $95 per person and includes appetizers, four courses with beer pairings andan autographed copy of Big Ranch, Big City. For more information, visit www.texastoastculinarytour.com.

On the menu will be Parmesan Potato Gratin, and the recipe is below.

Parmesan Potato Gratin
makes 8 to 10 servings

2 T. unsalted butter
3 C. heavy cream
1 1/2 C. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. white pepper
2 t. coarsely chopped fresh thyme
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
3 lbs. russet 
potatoes, peeled
Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9 by 13-inch casserole dish or a 3-quart Dutch oven with 1 tablespoon of butter.
In a large mixing bowl, combine cream, 3/4 cup of the Parmesan, the salt, white pepper, thyme and nutmeg. Evenly slice the potatoes 1/8-inch thick and place in bowl with the seasoned cream, stirring to coat the potatoes.
Arrange the potato slices in the casserole dish, overlapping them like shingles on a roof. Pour cream mixture remaining in the bowl evenly over the potatoes; the cream should come almost to the top layer of potatoes. Press down on the potatoes to evenly compact them into the cream.
Sprinkle the remaining 3/4 cup Parmesan over the potatoes and then dot the top of cheese with small pieces of the remaining tablespoon butter. Bake the gratin, uncovered, in the middle of the oven until the potatoes are tender and the top is golden brown, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let the gratin rest for at least 15 minutes before serving. To reheat, cover the gratin with foil and place in 275°F oven for at least 40 to 45 minutes.

Hal and Diane Brierley

DALLAS _ The Greater Dallas Chapter of Association of Fundraising Professionals, with presenting sponsor KERA, will honor seven recipients at the 26^h Annual National Philanthropy Day Awards Luncheon Nov. 18 at the Hyatt Regency Dallas.

The awards luncheon, set for 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., will be emceed by long-time supporter Scott Murray in the hotel’s Landmark Ballroom.  Luncheon chair is Tanya Downing, and co-chair is Abi Erickson.

Award recipients are: 

• Diane and Hal Brierley, Outstanding Philanthropists.  The couple has focused on the arts (AT&T Performing Arts Center, Booker T. Washington Arts Magnet School, The Dallas Opera, Dallas Symphony Association, Dallas Theater Center, Shakespeare Dallas TACA), animals (the Dallas Zoo and the SPCA), healthcare (American Cancer Society, Baylor Medical Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center), education (Harvard, Regis College, the University of Maryland), as well as promoting North Texas (Super Bowl XLV).  The Brierleys donated $8 million for the construction of the AT&T Performing Arts Center.  Their recent gift to the Dallas Zoological Society of $1.5 million is the largest single gift the couple has given to any charitable organization outside of the performing arts.  Named in their honor are the Resident Acting Company at the Dallas Theater Center; the Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Research at UT Southwestern; and the Principal Trumpet Chair at Dallas Symphony.
•  The Rees-Jones Foundation, Outstanding Foundation. Founded in 2006 by Trevor Rees-Jones and his wife Jan, the foundation focuses on projects affecting community development, youth, education, human services, and medical and mental health.  In its first years of operation, The Rees-Jones Foundation averaged $35 million in annual giving.  Its largest gifts to date, each in the aggregate amount of $25 million have been for construction of the new Perot Museum of Nature and Science, the construction of a new Parkland Hospital, and the support of Circle Ten Boy Scouts and its Scout Reach program. It has also been a major contributor to the SPCA of Texas and Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center, among many others. 
• ExxonMobil, Outstanding Corporation. The petroleum and petrochemical company supplies energy needed around the world. In 2010, Exxon Mobil Corporation, together with its employees and retirees, and the ExxonMobil Foundation provided $237 million in contributions worldwide.  In 2010 in North Texas alone, more than $6 million and 21,000 employee volunteer hours were donated to local nonprofits and area universities.
• Fredye Factor, Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser. Factor has organized volunteers for more than 20 years, planning and supervising more than 25 fundraising events.  She has been involved with numerous civic groups including  the Crystal Charity Ball, the Texas Medical Association Foundation, Ronald McDonald House,  the Alzheimer’s Association, The Science Place and St. Phillip’s School and Community Center.  She is past president of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League and is currently co-chairing the Baylor Foundation’s “Celebrating Women” Luncheon.  Factor was
• Deborah Montonen, Outstanding Fundraising Executive. She has spent the last 30 years in the philanthropic world both funding and fundraising, with a primary focus in social service and health care organizations, including six years at KERA.  She presently serves as chief development officer for LaunchAbility, formerly Special Care and Career Services.  She has been active with the Junior League of Dallas and London, the Ballet Folklorico Board of Directors and the YMCA Urban Services Board of Management.
•  Nicholas Cobb, Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy. Cobb, 15 and a sophomore at Allen High School, started a nonprofit called Comfort and Joy when he was 12 to help the homeless.  His passion to help began at age four when he saw homeless people living under a bridge.  Through the years he has participated in numerous projects,  and for his Eagle Scout project in 2009, he set a goal to provide new winter coats for Samaritan Inn residents, raising $3,400 and buying 129 coats.  Comfort and Joy was named one of 13 recipients of USA Weekend Magazine’s Make a Difference Day, and Cobb was awarded a $10,000 prize in Washington, D.C. in 2011, funded by the Paul Newman Foundation.   
• Becky Sykes, Special Recognition Award. Sykes is only the third person to receive this award in the 26-year history of the National Philanthropy Day Luncheon in Dallas.  Sykes, the founder and immediate past president and CEO of the Dallas Women’s Foundation – now the second largest women’s fund of the 170 funds in the world – will be honored for her leadership in philanthropy and the impact she has had on philanthropy and the nonprofit sector in our community.  Dallas Women’s Foundation is a public foundation that strengthens the community by increasing the investment in women and girls and empowering women’s philanthropy.  Throughout her career, Sykes has been active in public policy, nonprofit management,strategic planning and fundraising.   

 The Greater Dallas Chapter of AFP was among the first to begin celebrating National Philanthropy Day in 1981, and this year the luncheon is expected to draw  more than700.   National Philanthropy Day celebrates the great contributions philanthropy, and those who work in the philanthropic process, make to our community.   

Luncheon tickets cost $85 each, $850 for a table of 10, or $1,250 for a premium table of 10.   For further information on tickets and sponsorships, visit afpdallas.org or contact Madeleine Crouch at 972-233-9107, ext. 204, afpchapteroffice@afpdallas.org.

Suzie Humphreys

Humorist Suzie Humphreys, best known for her years as an on-air personality with KVIL Radio, headlined the 2011 Shining Stars Awards Luncheon recently at the Hurst Conference Center.

The annual event, sponsored by The Arts League, benefits the Arts Council Northeast. Each year local organizations honor outstanding members as their “shining stars.”

Those recognized this year were:

• Linda Pavona, Altrusa International Inc. of DFW
• Margie Poole, American Association of University Women–Northeast Tarrant County Branch
•  Rebecca Barksdale, Arts Council Northeast
• Wanda Thompson, Battered Women’s Foundation
• Sue Parent, Christmas is for Children
• Debbie Snyder, Circle of Friends
• Lynn Stillman, Colleyville Area Chamber of Commerce
• Jean Neisius, Colleyville Public Library Foundation
• Paula McCollough, Colleyville Woman’s Club
• Donna Wilbanks, Community Enrichment Center
• Olivia Pace, Community Storehouse
• Kim Harrison, Grapevine-Colleyville Education Foundation
• Linda Pekowski, GRACE
• Patty Recca, Greater Keller Women’s Club
• Gretchen Carter, Greater Southlake Women’s Society
• Linda Huggins, Hurst-Euless-Bedford Chamber of Commerce
• Pam Conley, HEBISD Education Foundation
• Dottie Nicholson, I Can Still Shine
• Diana Behrens, Metroport Meals on Wheels
• Cindy Flint, Mid Cities Fine Artists
• Patty Shaw, Mid-Cities Supporters of SafeHaven of Tarrant County
• Marlene Turner, North Texas SNAP
• Diane Johnson, Rocky Top Therapy Center
• Monica Mainard, Southlake Women’s Club
• Diana Panther, Summer Santa
• Sharon Mayes, The Arts League
• Nancy Doyle, Northeast Tarrant Chamber of Commerce
• Barbara Hentzen, Trinity Arts Guild

The Hurst Conference Center will be the site for North Texas SNAP’s Masquerade Ball, set for Oct. 29.

Beginning at 6 p.m., the fundraiser will include dinner, an auction and dancing to the sounds of the King Creole Band. Tickets cost $75 per person, and reservations may be made at www.ntxsnap.org.

All proceeds will benefit North Texas SNAP, an organization supporting adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in northeast Tarrant County. Established in 1999, the non-profit organization is committed to helping these adults live, work and play in their own communities.

Revivals of classic musicals get revived, usually, because they’re a good enough show to warrent a do-0ver.

So it is with “West Side Story,” the current offering at The Music Hall at Fair Park. The show, which originally opened on Broadway in 1957, was nominated then for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Since then it’s been revived on Broadway in 1964, 1980 and 2009.

A national tour brings the latest production to town during the Texas State Fair, a spot always reserved for a blockbuster. The original Jerome Robbins choreography has been reproduced by Tony Award-nominee Joey McKneely, and  it is outstanding. Combine that choreography with this national touring company’s terrific dancing talent, and the result is fantastic. Production numbers for the Jets and the Sharks could be seen again and again and remain mesmerizing.

The music, such as “Tonight” and “Something’s Coming,” is predictably lovely, and the dramatic lighting quite effective. It’s obviously a carefully crafted turn on a Broadway classic.

Often with revivals, someone feels the need to inflict a new twist. For this production, the major innovation was the translation of many of Stephen Sondheim’s original lyrics to Spanish. Luckily, the show’s modern retelling of  Shakespear’s “Romeo and Juliet” is well known enough that not much meaning is lost. But it seems contrived, a superfluous stab at “realism” in a medium where we already are asked to suspend logic to believe street characters break into song.

This new production also adds much more graphic sexual content in several scenes, including one of rape. During “Gee, Officer Krupke” teenage boys act like some teenage boys act, but some of the stabs at ”humor” might make Grandma blush. Were the scenes realistic? Perhaps. Offensive? Maybe. Parents definitely should be warned that this is not the typical “West Side Story” suitable for all ages or tastes.

The show, presented by Dallas Summer Musicals, will continue through Oct. 23. It’s an interesting take on the “West Side Story” classic. Go for the dancing. Go for the beautiful music. But don’t go if you’re expecting a 1957 version of a classic.

The dance band Professor D will highlight the 2011 GRACE gala.

Dancing to the sounds of Professor D will highlight the annual Grapevine Relief and Community Exchange Gala, set for Saturday in the Grand Ballroom of the Irving Convention Center.

Chairing the event, “Angels Among Us,” will be Nicole and Mike Tesoriero. A cocktail reception is planned for 5:30 p.m. with a gourmet dinner following at 6:30 p.m.

Grapevine Relief And Community Exchange (GRACE) is non-profit agency based in Grapevine, TX since 1987. The organization provides food, clothing, financial assistance and other necessities to people struggling with a limited resources or recent emergencies. Programs have expanded to include technology training classes,  medical services and transitional housing

Individual gala tickets cost $250, and tables of 10 may be purchased for $2,250. They may be purchased online at www.gracegala.org or by calling 817-305-4654.

Mayfest 2011, featuring musical entertainment, food, art and more, raised enough money to award more than $150,000 in grants.

FORT WORTH – Mayfest, Inc. (www.Mayfest.org) has announced grants totaling $155,000 from proceeds from the 2011 Mayfest festival to three of Mayfest’s founding organizations.

Grants include $30,000 to the Junior League of Fort Worth for a garden project, located near Trinity Park in Fort Worth. Fort Worth Parks and Community Services Department will benefit from $15,000 to improve a Trinity Park pavilion and for solar powered, self-compacting trash containers. Streams & Valleys, Inc. received $63,500f for the extension of the Trinity Trail system, with construction expected to begin in 2014.

Additionally, each of the three organizations received $15,500 for their general operating funds.

Mayfest, presented by Mayfest, Inc., is a four-day family festival attracting more than 200,000 people annually to Trinity Park. All profits from Mayfest, $6 million to date, are distributed to its founding organizations that support beautification and recreational development.

The 40th anniversary Mayfest is set for May 3 through 6, 2012 at Trinity Park.

Tanya Brown, sister of the late Nicole Brown Simpson

Winners have been named for the 2011 Legacy of Women Awards, chosen annually and honored a  fall luncheon benefiting SafeHaven of Tarrant County.

This years luncheon, set for Oct. 14 at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel, will feature keynote speaker Tanya Brown, youngest sister of the late Nicole Brown Simpson.

Honorees are nominated by the public, and chosen for their outstanding contributions by specially-formed committees. This year’s winners and their catergories are:

Winners in the arts  Shirley Orr, of Theatre Arlington; Deborah Ferguson, news anchor at NBC 5; and portrait artist Cheri Irwin. For the business category, selected were Connie Gauntt, owner of Gene Allen’s Gift Stores; attorney Patricia Cole; and Realtor and broker Roxann Taylor.

Education honorees include Judy Leflore, director of the Pediatric and Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Programs at University of Texas at Arlington; Triesha Light, psychology professor at Tarrant County College;  and Shea Stanfield-McGarrah, pre-kindergarten coordinator for the Hurst-Euless-Bedford school district. Winning for health and human services are Jackie Finch, president of Cancer Research Foundation of North Texas; Dr. Karen Albritton, director of adolescent and young adult oncology at Cook Children’s Medical Center; and Jenny Ellis, oncology nurse specialist at Texas Health HEB Hospital.

Outstanding for their volunteerism are Laura Distefano, Martine Ginsburg, Ginny Richards and Karen Parsinen.

Guest speaker Brown and her family created The Nicole Brown Foundation in 1994 to educate communities on strategies to prevent domestic violence. Nicole Brown Simpson’s famous ex-husband, O.J. Simpson was accused of her murder in 1994 before being found not guilty in a controversial decision. Tanya Brown recently was the keynote speaker at The Sixth Annual Conference to Promote Mental Health and Prevent Mental Illness in Washington, D.C.
A frequent guest on national TV programs, Tanya Brown is completing her master’s degree in counseling at Argosy University.

For sponsorship information, contact Valerie Salter at 817-546-6040, ext. 246 or vsalter@safehaventc.org.  Additional information about SafeHaven is available by visiting www.safehaventc.org.

Honoring Chris and Curtis Wells, owners of The Classic Cafe in Roanoke, with the second annual LINK Award will highlight the sixth annual Metroport Meals on Wheels fall fashion show and luncheon, scheduled for Sept. 30 at Marriott Solana, Westlake.

The award, which stands for Leadership, Inspiration, Nurturing Spirit and Kindness, will be given to the brothers for their support to Metroport Meals on Wheels (www.metroportmow.org).

The event will begin at 10 a.m. with a shopping bazaar. Lunch and the fashion show, featuring fashions from Doncaster Private Collection, David Hunt Furs and Brooks Brothers, will follow.

Tables for the event are priced at $650 and $1,000. To purchase tickets, contact Karen Malone at 817-491-1141 or email her at kmalone@metroportmow.org.

Sonny Burgess

Sonny Burgess will headline the fifth annual Steaks and Stetsons dinner dance, sponsored by Special Olympics Texas/Greater Fort Worth (www.sotx.org). The fundraiser is set for 6 p.m. to midnight Aug. 20 at the Hyatt Regency DFW Airport.

The western-styled evening also will feature a steak dinner, auctions and dancing. Serving as co-chairs are State Rep. Barbara Nash and State Rep. Diane Patrick.

Proceeds will support some 4,200 Special Olympics athletes in the Tarrant County area.

Tickets for the party cost $100 per person, and reserved tables of 10 will sell for $1,500. Sponsorships are still available by calling Special Olympics’ Fort Worth office at 817-332-3433.