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0 1350

Amy Kruppe, HP Schools Superintendent
Foam Custard
A family recipe from my grandparents: Good, Southern holiday spirit.

Foam Custard
INGREDIENTS:
• 3 quarts of milk
• 1 dozen eggs , separate
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. corn starch
Put all of the milk except 2 cups to boil. Stir the egg yolks to boil. Stir the eggs yolks, sugar and corn starch and 2 cups of milk together. Then pour in boiling milk and stir constantly for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Beat egg whites till stiff and then fold in custard. Do not beat. Let cool and then add 2 tsp. vanilla.

0 1038

Baron Brown, Ferndale Police
Hamburger Soup
My favorite meal at a restaurant is the Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse ribeye, medium rare. Nothing else on it or with it…maybe a small Caesar salad as a starter. It’s the second best thing, next to my wife of course, about my wedding anniversary.

Hamburger Soup
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 lb ground beef (browned and drained of grease)
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 packet of sazon seasoning
• Very finely chopped jalapeño (add seeds for extra hot!)
• 1 Potato-1/4 inch cubes
• 1 Small onion-finely chopped
• 1 Small shallot-finely chopped
• 14 oz can of beans, pinto or garbanzo are my favorite
• 14 oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 2×14 oz cans of your favorite low salt chicken broth
• 1 bag of your choice of frozen veggies for soup
• 10 sprigs of finely chopped cilantro
• 2 or 3 cloves of crushed garlic
Brown meat. Remove from pan and pour out grease. Cook shallots and onions in remnants of grease in pan until they become almost translucent. Add all spices and jalapeño. Cook until spices become fragrant, 5 mins. Add canned goods, do not drain beans. Add two cans of water…maybe 3 based on how big your soup pot is. Bring to a boil. Simmer over gently rolling boil for 20 minutes or until beans start to soften. Add potatoes and cook for 10 minutes over simmer. Add bag of frozen veggies and cook another 10-15 minutes over simmer until potatoes are soft. For last 5 minutes add in the cilantro. Eat with warm tortillas and a spoon of homemade salsa.

0 1314

Jim Poole, Lead Pastor Renaissance Vineyard Church
Sloppy Jim
If I’m eating out, my fave date night spot is Assaggi Bistro. The owners are hospitable and the prices are right. Starters are bread with oil. A bottle of the Lebanese red wine. And I love the gnocchi for my main dish. Espresso and a dessert to share are not uncommon.

If it’s family dinner at home and I’m cooking, top of the list is Sloppy Jim. This is a variation on the sloppy joe recipe my grandma taught me growing up as a kid, renamed, since “Sloppy Granny” doesn’t quite sound appetizing! This recipe has plenty of flexibility for your preference.

Sloppy Jim
INGREDIENTS:
• Worcestershire sauce
• mustard
• garlic powder
• ketchup
• oregano
• basil
• Italian seasoning • seasoned salt
• minced onions (optional)
I start with a pound of ground turkey or beef, browned in a cast iron skillet over medium heat with Worcestershire sauce. Once browned I add large amounts of ketchup and small amounts of mustard to form the sauce, with some extra Worcestershire sauce to taste. I let this reduce, adding in dashes of oregano, garlic powder, basil, Italian seasoning, and seasoned salt to taste. Minced onions are also a possibility. Once the flavor is right, I turn the heat to low, cover and simmer until the taste and temperature are right. Sloppy Jim works equally well over spaghetti, or buns for a more traditional approach. I’ll often serve with fries, green beans, asparagus, even sometimes a summertime corn on the cob.

0 883

Erik Tungate, Oak Park City Manager
Dirt
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 bag Oreo cookies
• 1/2 stick softened margarine
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 6 ounces instant vanilla pudding
• 3 1/2 cups milk
Crush one bag of Oreo cookies. Combine 1/2 stick of softened margarine, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 8 ounces cream cheese. Combine 6 ounces of instant vanilla pudding and 3 1/2 cups of milk. Add 1 cup of Oreo crumbs to pudding. Combined pudding and cream cheese mixture. Add 12 ounces of whipped topping. Layer in order, end with Oreo crumbs on top: Oreo crumbs/mixture/Oreo crumbs/mixture.

0 916

Raylon Leaks May, Ferndale City Council
Banana Pudding
INGREDIENTS:
• 2 boxes of instant, vanilla Jello pudding (3.4 oz boxes).
• 1 box of vanilla wafers
• 1 large tub of Cool Whip
• 6 medium bananas, sliced
• Whole, skim or 2 % milk is fine
• 8 X 9 rectangular baking dish or disposable aluminum pan
Take about 5 vanilla wafers and crush them up in a bag. Prepare instant pudding as directed on boxes and pour into the pan. Place sliced bananas, in row formation, in the pudding. Place whole vanilla wafers on top of the bananas and keep interchanging between bananas and wafers, layer style and until the bananas and wafers are no longer able to be covered by the pudding. Spread a layer of Cool Whip over the pudding, completely covering the pudding. Sprinkle vanilla wafer crumbs on top of the cool whip. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours, allowing wafers to soften.

0 811

Chow 2019 : Colton Dale, OP Community Engagement Pumpkin Cookies
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tspn baking soda
• 1 tspn baking powder
• 1 tspn cinnamon
• 1 tspn pmkin pie spice
• 1/2 tspn nutmeg
• 1/2 tspn salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup pure pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
Combine wet ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Refrigerate dough for 4 hours. Scoop into one inch balls and place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake at 375F degrees for 11-13 minutes.

0 1177

Story by Sara E. Teller
Photo by David McNair

EACH YEAR, CITIZENS FOR A FAIR FERNDALE (CFF) SELECTS NOMINEES FOR ITS GOOD NEIGHBOR AWARDS, which recognize the ongoing efforts of those who live, work, or attend school in Ferndale and who value the fair and equal treatment of others, building an equal and strong community. Cheryl Salinas-Tucker and Jeny Bulatovic, sisters and founders of Rouge MakeUp & Nail Studio, were honored with a 2018 award.

“It was definitely a surprise to us,” said Bulatovic. “To us, it just means we are doing our jobs. When we started Rouge, we wanted to take people in, treat them with kindness, and take care of their needs. We welcome all kinds of people in every age and stage of life, and the goal is for them to feel better when they leave. You never know how you’re affecting someone else’s life.”

Rouge was started in 2010, and the vision came about after the sisters and their families were impacted by the recession. “My husband worked in the auto industry, and I had been a preschool teacher for fourteen years and had just started doing nails at the time,” said Bulatovic. “Cheryl had been on the corporate side of the industry. She helped start Douglas J. Aveda Institute in Royal Oak and had been an Aveda regional director. We decided to pool together our resources.”

The sisters didn’t want to start just any salon, though. They decided to focus on those services that typically get put on the back-burner, and that they would work with plant-based products only. “Most salons don’t have makeup and nails at the forefront, so we decided to go this route. I had worked with acrylics, shellac, gels, and there’s a price to pay for that,” Bulatovic said. “As someone who is more a caregiver than anything, I felt bad putting that stuff on people’s nails. What goes on our bodies goes into our bodies.”

SO ROUGE USES VEGAN AND ORGANIC, PLANT-BASED NAIL PRODUCTS rather than chemical-based. “We started working with a small, Michigan-based company, Eve Organics. Her products work and are good for you,” explained Bulatovic. “We want to offer our clients only the best ingredients – we call it their ‘personal eco-system.’ And, we’ve introduced Spa Ritual and Zoya, which perform really well. Our products are better for you, but they still need to perform and be competitive.”

Rouge has regulars who have been coming to the salon since its inception, as well as new customers who stop in all the time. “We have clients who have come to us since we opened and new people coming from all over,” Bulatovic said. “Word-of-mouth advertising has been key. When you’re a small business, it’s all about building relationships and trust, and we strive to bring that to our people every day.

They seek us out for a number of reasons. We have cancer survivors who are now more aware of ingredient lists, those with allergies, and those who just tell us, ‘I don’t like the way it smells in the nail salon.’”

Rouge offers a variety of other, unique services as well. “A year ago last May, we opened our sauna lounge,” Bulatovic said, adding, “We also built a pedicure platform at that time. The lounge consists of two infrared dry heat saunas with ambient heat. We tell our customers ‘this is time for you.’ We never book you with strangers, it’s always quiet and private. You can go back and forth, in and out. The sauna helps with muscle tension and with releasing toxins. It helps with insomnia, anxiety, and chronic pain, and is good for your cardiovascular health, too, because it gets your heart rate up.”

Microblading is performed by Myranda Jennings who has been with the salon for seven years. “She is our brow expert, and she does threading, waxing, and body work. She’s also a makeup artist who’s worked for the Detroit Opera House. People who have over-plucked for too long and their brows never grew back, those who’ve lost brow hair due to age, and blondes love the microblading option. We are fully certified with a body art license.”

Rouge’s service room also offers facials, massage, reflexology, and Reiki. Bulatovic is certified in Reiki, and says, “I always love when I can take a short break from doing nails and work with a Reiki client. It’s rejuvenating.”

www.rougemakeupandnails.com

0 1867

By Sara E. Teller

HAZEL PARK’S CITY COUNCIL consists of members Alissa Sullivan, Andy LeCureaux, and Beth Holland. Mayor Michael Webb also represents the City, along with Mayor Pro Tem Amy Aubry.

Alissa Sullivan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andy LeCureaux

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beth Holland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chief of Police, Bucholz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mayor Michael Webb

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amy Aubry

 

 

 

 

 

 

“In my opinion, the Hazel Park City Council is a bit of a checks-and-balances system,” explained Council member Alissa Sullivan. “We’re tasked with looking at current deficiencies, and finding and suggesting creative and effective solutions while being fiscally responsible. We oversee budgets, permits for new businesses, and find creative solutions for issues that our residents face. We also seek out volunteer opportunities, education opportunities and resources for our residents.”

Mayor Webb has served on the Hazel Park City Council since 2001. Prior to that service, he was a planning commissioner for several terms. He is also a visible presence in Hazel Park as the owner of Taylor Auto Maintenance, located on John R Rd. “I’m still a technician. My wife works the front desk, and my son-in-law is in the back. I’ll call my two daughters in here if we need them!”

Webb is a long-time Hazel Park resident. “I married my wife at 19, and we bought a house here. I had gone to school to be an auto technician, and got into politics by volunteering in the community,” he said. “I began coaching little league soccer and baseball.”

He added, “Hazel Park is a friendly city with a good base of culturally diverse people. The continuity of the community is the most important thing. We need to reach out to our neighbors and work with each other to achieve a unified goal of living together. If we don’t teach kids how to grow together and work together, society could be hurting. We need to look beyond the present, and focus on our children and the future.”

He said there have been some changes since he took office. “We’ve gotten some new investments, and there are new prospective buildings and, hopefully, new jobs coming. There have been road improvements and some redevelopment work. Over the years, Hazel Park has seen many new businesses come in, retail and restaurants. The 8 Mile and Dequindre area has really turned around.”

He credits the change to the centralized location of the city, which has drawn millennials to the area. “Millennials are moving into the area and starting families, because we’re ten minutes from downtown Detroit, and they can easily commute east or west, even north, to work. There’s colleges all around to further their education.”

SULLIVAN SAYS THE ONGOING COLLABORATION between the Mayor, City Council members and staff, as well as the public safety department heads, allows for Hazel Park to effectively implement proposed community improvements. “City Council has a great freedom in the ideas we can present, and then the City’s staff lets us know how we can achieve these goals together,” she explained. “I think each Council member brings their own set of experiences and skills to the ideas.”

“While I am newly elected, my experience has been that the city and department heads are very helpful,” she said. “I’ve seen issues that I felt needed to be addressed; for instance, the newly-applied-for Hope-Not-Handcuffs program.”

Hope-Not-Handcuffs is a program that seeks to get addicts into treatment centers rather than having them arrested and incarcerated. Addicts choose to turn themselves in at participating police departments or submit a form on the Families Against Narcotics web site. From there, a desk officer at the station will call for a program volunteer who will sit with the individual and help them get into a program. The idea is to help addicts long-term, thus curtailing the nation’s addiction epidemic, rather than simply working to get those who abuse drugs off the streets for a limited period of time.

“I researched the benefits of this for our city and residents. I spoke with another local municipality and the director of the program there. They have had great success with this in their department. And then I presented the information I had to the City Manager, City Attorney, and the Chief of Police,” Sullivan said. “I got the ‘ball rolling,’ as they say, and let the department heads know this is a program that is available at no cost to the city or residents and has been successful and well-received in other communities as well.”

“From there, Hope-Not-Handcuffs gained support from other community members, and Chief of Police, Bucholz, recently announced that Hazel Park applied for participation and expects the application to be accepted within the next three to six months.”

SULLIVAN SAID THE MAIN PRIORITY OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL truly is to provide for Hazel Park residents and make it a better place. Sullivan is happy to be involved at a time when Hazel Park is finally moving out of a budget deficit and can adequately focus on instituting new programs and services that will benefit everyone in the area.

“Our overall goal is to provide the best practices and services that we can for our residents. It’s great to be a part of this turning point – getting past survival mode and moving into enrichment and growth for our city. It’s exciting to see what we can achieve,” Sullivan explained.

As far as other projects in the works, Sullivan said, “We are currently working on the approval process for the medical marijuana licensing here in the city. Additionally, as a member of the Hazel Park Arts Council – the vice president – and co-chair of the Hazel Park Art Fair committee, my personal goals are to bring art in all its forms to my neighbors and neighborhoods.”

There are a few arts-related events scheduled to return or be rolled out for the first time very soon. “We’re currently in the planning stages of the 7th annual Hazel Park Art Fair,” (#hazelparkartfair) she said. The ArtOber Art Walk will return in October, and the Arts Council also partners with the Hazel Park Growers & Makers Market, hosting an arts and crafts booth.

Sullivan is hoping to implement an animal-focused initiative as well. “I’m also personally working on a low to no-cost TNR (trap, neuter, return) initiative with an ordinance that I hope other cities will be able to duplicate easily for their communities,” she explained. Trap-neuter-return is a program in which free-roaming cats are temporarily captured, spayed or neutered, and returned to the location in which they are found. If the location is unsafe or otherwise deemed unfit, the cat may be relocated. Some are taken to farm houses or placed in animal shelters or foster care for eventual adoption into homes as companion animals. This program has been used to keep the stray cat population to a minimum, while offering a better life to those that are rescued.

Sullivan said she has a long history of volunteerism, and her background lends well to her current position. “I personally come from a grassroots volunteer background and draw my experience from that. So, new ideas and getting them accomplished with little to no budget are things I pride myself on being successful at.”

SHE BRIEFLY MENTIONED THE CLOSING OF THE FAMOUS HAZEL PARK RACEWAY and the city’s future plans for the site. “As you know, just recently, the city lost a landmark with the closing of the Hazel Park race track. This, however, has opened up the opportunity for land development by a great construction partner here in the city, which will allow for new business. Also, because of the new construction, there will be an increase in the tax base for that property. The possibility of more local jobs is great for our residents and the local economy as well.”

Sullivan encourages Hazel Park residents to get involved in current and upcoming projects, or just share their input on newly instituted projects and ideas. The Mayor and Council continually take into consideration new ideas from local community members.

Sullivan said, “Attend council meetings and speak at them, volunteer, or email in your ideas. Organize a fundraiser for your favorite local non-profit. Participate in community activities and events. The Friends of the Hazel Park Library have great free kids events – and some for parents and adults, too. We have great community partners who host car shows, barbecues, and other events throughout the year. Sign up for the Hazel Park City email to stay informed.”

She added the best thing to do is to attend meetings, “ask questions and let us know what you need to be successful. We’ll see if we can help you accomplished that.”

For more information on Hazel Park’s City Council or Mayor or any of the Council’s current programs, please visit www.hazelpark.org or call 248.546.7000.

0 1793

By Sara E. Teller

FEW PEOPLE COME AS QUALIFIED FOR THEIR POSITION as Hazel Park City Manager Edward Klobucher. Prior to becoming city manager, he served as Hazel Park’s acting city manager, assistant city manager, acting city clerk and special projects coordinator. A lifelong resident of Hazel Park, he was appointed city manager in
February of 2002 in the middle of a serious municipal budget crisis. Klobucher credits the City Council and cooperative employee bargaining units for his ability to present a balanced budget for the following fiscal year.

When asked about the economic outlook for the city, Klobucher shares that Hazel Park has enjoyed resurgence in the past few years with the addition of dining and entertainment venues such as Joe Bar/Frame and Mable Gray. Existing businesses have been renovated, like Kozy Lounge; and other mainstays in the city, like House of Shamrocks and Loui’s Pizza are thriving. From a dining, entertainment, and night-on-the-town perspective, Hazel Park is doing quite well, and continuing to field inquiries from people interested in bringing new venues to the city.

The biggest economic development news this year is the closing of the Hazel Park Raceway. The most visible and an iconic landmark, for many years it was the most important business in the city. In the 1950s, the race track provided nearly 50 percent of the City’s general fund revenues. The importance of the raceway cannot be overstated. The revenue it provided was down to 25 percent in 1980s. Unfortunately, with the proliferation of casino gambling in the state of Michigan, the popularity of horse racing declined in the 2000s and accelerated dramatically until the track closed earlier this year. By that time, it provided fewer than two percent of the City’s general fund revenue.

Ashley Capital is the organization which developed the Tri-County Commerce Center in part of the raceway property. They also recently purchased the remaining raceway property, and plan two more industrial developments by Spring 2019.

Hazel Park cut the ribbon on the Tri-County Commerce Center last year. Since it opened, it has attracted an Amazon fulfillment center, Bridgewater Auto Interiors, LG Electronics, and it is also where they will be building the battery for the new, fully-electric Chevy Volt. That will bring about 200 jobs to the region. Hazel Park has been very successful with the first Ashley Capital development.

AS OF THIS WRITING, KLOBUCHER SHARED THAT THE CITY IS IN THE PROCESS of licensing establishments who will grow, process, test, transport and provide medical marijuana to Michigan residents. They are currently in the review-and-selection process for the multiple license applications. There will be a study session and lots of committee involvement. Although Klobucher is unable to provide an exact number, there are multiple licenses for each of the four business categories, depending upon the category and type of license. Council, by resolution, may expand or shrink the number of licenses being considered. Currently they are looking at four of every classification, but that number is not final.

The City of Hazel Park is currently in the process of updating its Master Plan. They will be completing that work after they finish the burdensome process of the medical marijuana establishments.

Hazel Park has become a magnet for entrepreneurs. Klobucher conveys that he is very lucky to work for a good City Council and to have energetic entrepreneurs who believe in and invest their time and resources into Hazel Park.

“The cool thing about the new entrepreneurs opening businesses in Hazel Park, like Chef James Rigato of Mabel Gray, is that they are very community-minded,” Klobucher says.

Also home to the only suburban community Promise Zone in Metro Detroit, the Federal government has targeted Hazel Park for support and partnered with the local leaders in Hazel Park to improve educational opportunities. Promise Zone Scholarships are available through the Local College Access Network (LCAN). Every student that graduates from Hazel Park High School is guaranteed money to attend Oakland Community College for two years. This is changing and improving the educational opportunities for Hazel Park students.

When asked about the future of his city, Klobucher sees Hazel Park thriving. The city has an opportunity to build lasting prosperity.

“We can continue to have outstanding facilities: EMS, police, roads, city services. We can have a community full of happy residents living fulfilling lives,” Klobucher says. “I want to make life better for the HP residents.”

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