Windfalls

The Cairo Connection

Claude Albritton and David Yan-cey are the wheelers and dealers of the Cairo Cotton Belt Trading Company that imports handcrafted goods from Egypt to sell, not trade. They travel to Aswan, Luxor, and Cairo three times a year and bring back an assortment of unusual items that include one-of-a-kind, handwoven, wool tapestries; mummy beads; Aswan baskets; applique and enamel work; and Bedouin jewelry in silver with agate, amber, and old coins. One unusual aspect of the tapestries is that the weavers, who design their own tapestries and weave without the aid of a drawing, range in age from 8 to 17 years, plus one lone “oldtimer,” 29 year old. Call to find out when the next caravan pulls in. Tapestry prices start at $150.



-Carol Taylor



Cairo Cotton Belt Trading Company/David Yancey and Claude Albritton/521-73381 by appointment.

Best Beets

There’s a paperback book about food bargains and gourmet goodies that declares, for openers “. . . grocery shopping can be a pleasure.”

Most ladies who still have all their marbles would not endorse this view. Given the choice of yet another trip to the Farmer’s Market, Mother’s Pies or the Zing-O Salvage Co., they’d probably agree with W. C. Fields who said, “On the whole, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.”

This isn’t going to be the most fun you ever had, but here are a few places to buy fresh produce the paperback doesn’t mention. At least it’s apples, squash and pumpkins and not Dinky Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Double Bubble.

Fruit and Vegetable Stand/southeast corner Beltline and Preston Rds.



Gardner’s Market (organically grown produce)/13193 N. Central Expressway (across from Texas Instruments) /Saturdays only 8 to 11 a.m.



Pic-A-PeclSkillman at Abrams/348-9733.

Tout de Suite

French food fans, gather ’round – especially if your tastes run to the exotic in the dessert department. Think about charlottes, eclairs and cream puffs. Yummy to eat but hard to buy and impossible to make.

Not for Melanie Fogel and Dee Anderson, two local ladies who are in the desserts made to order business. You order it, and they can probably make it for you. Their large repertoire also includes chocolate cakes, angel pies and very special birthday cakes for children, like a Snoopy cake or a rocking horse. They did a giraffe once but had to turn down an order for one nature lover whose mother requested a snake cake.

Now if that’s not a sweet tout, what is?



Desserts to order/Melanie Fogel, Dee Anderson/350-9626.

Are There Any More Like You at Home?

Yes, in fact, seven. And home is the Family Workshop, a jewelry boutique in Chelsea Square that specializes in the work of local craftsmen. Certainly, this is one of the most innovative display mannequins to come along in quite a while, designed by shop owner Marise Ridell and created by Dallas artist Cecilia Feld.

Stop by and meet the beauties in person and invite them out for a beer in J. Mulkey’s Restaurant and Beer Garden, a really charming spot and one of the nicest features of the recently opened complex of antique and craft shops.



The Family Workshop/3136 Routh Street/748-1005.



J. Mulkey’s Restaurant and Beer Garden/3136 Routh St. at Woodrow (Chelsea Square).

Pick a Card

Not just any card, of course, but a beautiful, arty Christmas card from the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. They’ll give your friends a spiritual boost; the museum, a financial boost.

Three works from the museum’s permanent collection -one a recent acquisition -have been reproduced in these beautiful cards.

The new work is a detail of one of the 11 leaded glass panels designed for the Little house in Minnesota by Frank Lloyd Wright. The others are the Matisse collage, “Ivy in Flower,” and Hicks’ “Peaceable Kingdom.” Boxes of 25, at $8.50 each, are available now in the museum gift shop.

Museum Christmas cards/Museum Shop/421-4188.

Get the Massage?

It’s strictly footwork, ladies and gentlemen. Mrs. Christine Gates, a member of the American Massage and Therapy Association, has developed a technique for massaging the feet that has earned her a devoted following. She makes no medical claims, but says the massage helps improve circulation and relaxes the nerves.

“My profession has been getting a lot of dirty smirks lately,” she said, referring to the recent publicity about some area massage parlors. “Some people don’t think you can get a good massage with your clothes on.” That’s a fact. There’s just no accounting for the way some people think.



– Carol Taylor



Mrs. Christine Gates/foot massage by appointment/817-481-1934.