Southern California Hospitality

Hot sauce on the holiday table?

Nothing less if you want to serve a Southern-style feast such as the one created by chef Paul Jacobsen on Tuesday at the Riverboat Restaurant in Newport Beach.

About 90 people attended the “Christmas in New Orleans”-themed lecture and dinner on behalf of Share Our Selves, an emergency relief organization in Costa Mesa.

Guests dined at tables set with floral centerpieces and bottles of Tabasco sauce.

Included on the menu designed to put the South in Southern California: Cajun prime rib; winter greens tossed with Creole mustard vinaigrette; bourbon-glazed carrots; potatoes au gratin and flour-less chocolate cake (a mostly egg-and-chocolate concoction that evokes the lightness of a souffle).

“New Orleans-style food is making a comeback,” said Jacobsen, 34. “So, when Christmas rolls around, why not cook up something exciting for your family instead of the same old turkey, ham or leg of lamb?”

All you need is know-how. And that’s what the foodies attending the Sharing Chefs event--the second in a series of three lectures sponsored by its A-Team support group--were looking for.

Not only did they get tips on how to prepare the food--”blanching the carrots helps them receive the bourbon glaze,” Jacobsen said--they left with a collection of recipes.

(OK, here’s the one for bourbon-glazed carrots: Cut 6 medium-sized carrots into chunks and partly boil in lightly salted water. In a skillet, reduce 4 ounces of bourbon and 2 ounces of orange juice by half. Add 1 tablespoon of fresh minced thyme, 2 ounces brown sugar, 2 ounces honey, 4 ounces butter. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss with carrots. Serves 6 to 8.)

Among guests: Kathy Thompson of Corona del Mar, founder of the popular dinner-lecture series.

“I thought it would be fun to create a benefit where people could come together, enjoy good food and get new recipes for the holidays,” she said. “We stay away from December because everyone is too busy. So, we cook up a Thanksgiving feast in September, a Christmas dinner in October and a New Year’s Eve dinner in November.”

Proceeds of about $30,000 from the $200-per-person series will go toward Share Our Selves’ relief programs for Orange County’s working poor. “We serve about 265,000 people annually in the areas of food [provision], financial aid and dental and medical care,” said Karen Harrington, director of development.

Chef Celso Rozo of Carmelo’s in Corona del Mar was featured at the September lecture; chef John Sharpe of Aysia 101 restaurant in Newport Beach will be spotlighted at the Nov. 15 event, “A Chinese New Year’s Celebration.” For information: (949) 721-1660.

Preview of Yule Tidings

From shopping at booths brimming with gift items to dining on turkey and the trimmings, the holidays came early for members of the Junior League of Orange County.

Gathered at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa on Saturday for the black-tie preview of the Christmas Co.--the league’s annual five-day shopping extravaganza--party-goers also bid on silent-auction items and danced to the Don Miller Orchestra.

About 1,500 guests cruised boutiques that featured everything from glittering ornaments from Joyeux Noel of Laguna Niguel to mouthwatering cream sherry cake from Donna Marie of Dana Point.

“We’re expecting 20,000 people to shop at Christmas Co. this year,” league President Linda Ruben said. “People come to this event from across the country.”

Proceeds of more than $300,000 from the benefit will be used to support community programs preventing child abuse and adolescent pregnancy. Linda Colton was the Christmas Co. chairwoman.

Hospitals’ Heart in the Right Place

Supporters of St. Joseph Hospital in Orange celebrated the facility’s 70th birthday on Saturday with a black-tie gala featuring entertainment by singer Bill Medley.

More than 600 hospital supporters gathered at the Anaheim Hilton and Towers for the event.

During the festivities, Dr. Milo Tedstrom, 98, of Laguna Woods--a retired internist-cardiologist--received the hospital’s Spirit of St. Joseph Award. In 1929, Tedstrom admitted the first patient to the hospital.

Also honored was Eleanor Graham, 88, of Santa Ana. Graham is known in hospital circles as the “cookie lady” for her dedicated service as a volunteer in the hospital’s blood bank.

Dr. Warren Johnston, a cardiologist, chaired the benefit, which netted about $140,000 for the St. Joseph Hospital Heart Center.

“We’re about to launch a capital campaign for our heart center,” said Johnston, center director. “We have the biggest heart program in Orange County. We do the most bypass grafting procedures and angioplasties.”

Benefits such as Saturday night’s gala go a long way toward providing the community with needed medical services, Johnston said. “In this age of managed care and cutbacks, community support for hospital programs is very important.”

The goal of the capital campaign is to raise at least $3.5 million to add another catheterization lab and cardiovascular intensive care unit to the hospital.

“Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in the United States,” Johnston said. “And that includes women. Women are eight times more likely to die of heart disease than breast cancer.”

Musical Tribute to Beloved Son

Friends of Pacific Symphony music director Carl St.Clair and his wife, Susan, attended the inaugural benefit for the Cole Carsan St.Clair Memorial Fund on Saturday at the Miranda Galleries in Laguna Beach.

Guests at the champagne reception viewed artworks by famed Spanish artist Royo, and purchased books commemorating the exhibit. Proceeds from sales of the book, “Celebracion,” will be donated to the Cole Carsan St.Clair Memorial Fund. The fund was established by the Pacific Symphony after the drowning last summer of the couple’s 18-month old son.

The fund will be used to provide music education for deserving children, Susan St.Clair said.

“We no longer have Cole . . . what better thing to do than keep his memory alive through children and music?” she asked.

Said Carl St.Clair: “What more appropriate way of honoring and paying tribute to our son’s life than using his name to help very young people? He played the harmonica, the piano. He listened to music with headphones. He even had music written for him as a toddler.

“We are touched that the Pacific Symphony wanted to create a fund in Cole’s memory,” Carl St.Clair said. “It will forever connect our son with the PSO, an important part of Susan and my life.”

So far, friends of the St.Clairs have donated more than $100,000 to the fund. For information: (714) 755-5788.

Ann Conway can be reached at (714) 966-5952 or by e-mail at [email protected].