EDMOND — Residents of Touchmark at Coffee Creek celebrated Oklahoma’s centennial with the official state dinner, as decreed by the Legislature in 1988.
The celebration is part of the active adult community’s new monthly food and beverage themes, created by Dining Services Manager Mike Bates.
Each week people sample a different aspect of that month’s theme, from unique teas, wines, a dinner and a cooking demonstration.
November is “Prairie Home cooking,” complete with a Sodbuster cooking demo.
In honor of the centennial, the Touchmark dinner menu featured chicken-fried steak, Jack Daniel’s barbecue ribs, cheese grits, cornbread sticks and biscuits and gravy. To complete the meal, pecan pie and strawberry pie were offered.
All recipes were prepared by Touchmark Chef Bob Miller. An Indian Summer Tea with plum tartlets and pecan pies from local produce, a wine tasting with local Oklahoma wines and a cooking demonstration of fried cornmeal-crusted Oklahoma catfish were featured for the month as well.
More than 100 people live at Touchmark, which offers a variety of homes and lifestyle options.
Bates credits the community’s Parkview homes resident Liz Codding as the inspiration for the themed dinners.
“Liz is very creative and wanted to celebrate all the holidays with the other residents.”
“It is exciting every month. We try new recipes, and when we find something people really like, we add it to our regular repertoire.”
A reduced sodium and fat option is offered at each meal. Each entree under this option contains no more than 4 grams of fat and 140 grams of sodium per serving. For the centennial dinner, steamed catfish and sugar-free strawberry pie were served.
Since the inception of the theme dinners, residents have hula danced at a Polynesian dinner featuring a pit-barbecued whole baby pig, dined on the favorites of Elvis with a visit from “The King” himself and had a spot of tea and scones during an afternoon of British tea.
Each month, Bates and his staff feed approximately 200 people at these dinners, as they are a popular opportunity for residents to invite guests to dine with them. Prospective Touchmark residents often also attend to get a taste of Touchmark’s active lifestyle.
DETAILS
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
In 1988, the Legislature defined Oklahoma’s official state meal. Oklahoma’s official state meal became one of the state emblems by virtue of House Concurrent Resolution 1083, approved by the 41st Legislature. The meal includes an extensive menu reflecting Oklahoma’s cultural backgrounds and the state’s historical and contemporary agriculture.
SOURCE: Oklahoma Historical Society
Features
Related Photos
-
Drew Harmon
-
Drew Harmon
Discussion
Cook up centennial fare
Touchmark celebrates ‘official state dinner’
- Features
-
-
High self-esteem, reward system can backfire
The media recently reported “new” research findings to the effect that rewards often backfire and self-esteem is not the wonderful, uplifting personal attribute once thought. As a result, schools are rethinking their teaching and classroom management philosophies.
-
When rooms talk, it’s time to remodel
I think I might need a keeper. Every room in this house is screaming at me (some more loudly than others), and the cacophony is driving me nuts. You know how it goes. You spruce up one room (in my case the kitchen), and every other room in the house clambers for its share of TLC too.
-
Seminar focuses on pet allergies
Paul DeMars, DVM, Community Practice at Oklahoma State University’s Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, will present a Pet Care Seminar at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the McElroy Hall Auditorium at the corner of Farm Road and McFarland on the Stillwater OSU campus.
-
Canadian Carnaval is cool carousing
Yes, I have the coolest job in the world — and I visit some really cool places. But the spot that takes the Popsicle is Québec with the Carnaval de Québec and the Hôtel de Glace.
-
Wobblers syndrome is chronic, progressive
Q: I have an 8-year-old dog that is three-quarters Doberman Pinscher. He always has been quite active and healthy until about a month ago when he began showing slight signs of weakness and stiffness in his hind legs, but didn’t exhibit pain. He’s worse now.
-
Today’s children are being mis-educated about their feelings
Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of England, once said, “One of the great problems of our age is that we’re governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas.”
-
Purging of high heels brings despair
If you recall, last week I promised that you had heard the last of my New Year’s purging of closets and cabinets.
-
Why does my dog eat his own poop?
Q: My dog Max has suddenly started eating his own poop, and I find it totally disgusting.
-
Good Eats
PORK CHOPS WITH ORANGES AND PARSLEY
-
This is the season for citrus
I was born and raised in South Florida and often tell people that I have orange juice running through my veins.
- More Features Headlines
-
High self-esteem, reward system can backfire
