Paper Trails

New series shows fare from state

MEATY SUBJECT: The new National Geographic Channel series Eric Greenspan is Hungry focuses its cameras on Arkansas in an episode airing at 6 p.m. Monday. The new show explores authentic American food by visiting with those who grow, hunt and cook it.

During the "Arkansas Buffalo" episode, the Los Angeles chef and restaurateur and his sidekick Captain Mauzner visit Joseph and Janet Morgan, owners of the Arkansas House-Boardwalk Cafe in Jasper where Janet cooks her local bison tenderloin and her "buffaloaf" made with bison and suckling wild pig. During the visit, the show also traveled to Marshall to visit and film at L.C. Ratchford's farm near the Buffalo National River, from which the restaurant gets its free-range, naturally raised bison. Ratchford arranged for the crew to film the killing and butchering of a bison, which was hunted and shot near the river.

While in Arkansas, the show also visited Warren for an episode set to air soon titled "Arkansas Wild Hog" in which the pair seek out the local delicacy.

A CAPITAL IDEA: USA Today and its 10Best newsletter are seeking votes for the "Best Travel-Worthy State Capital" from 20 nominees, including Little Rock.

The entry for Little Rock states:

"A downtown renaissance has transformed Little Rock into a city with culture, cuisine and abundant outdoor activities. Visitors can rent a bike and pedal the 16-mile loop along the Arkansas River Trail, visit the Clinton Presidential Center and the Little Rock Central National Historic Site, a National Park Service unit that interprets the crucial role played by the school in the civil rights struggle."

Others in the running include Annapolis, Md.; Austin, Texas; Boise, Idaho; Boston; Carson City, Nev.; Denver; Helena, Mont.; Honolulu; Indianapolis; Juneau, Alaska; Madison, Wis.; Nashville, Tenn.; Phoenix; Providence, R.I.; Sacramento, Calif.; St. Paul, Minn.; Salt Lake City; Santa Fe, N.M.; and Springfield, Ill.

As of late last week, Arkansas' capital was in fifth place. Those wishing to vote can do so daily at tinyurl.com/qhtoh7e through Jan. 5.

ONE GOOD TURN... Johnny Cash's daughter Rosanne has donated 200 copies of a limited-edition 45-rpm single of her song "The Sunken Lands" to be sold to benefit the Arkansas Heritage Sites program's restored Historic Dyess Colony. The colony includes Johnny Cash's boyhood home. The records are being sold for $10 each at the Dyess Colony Administration Building gift shop in Dyess, the A-State Foundation in Jonesboro, and at tinyurl.com/mblfwq7 online.

HIGH PRAISE: "Ending in Little Rock might have been one of the greatest shows I ever got to be a part of," country musician Garth Brooks recently told Jimmy Kimmel of his latest tour stretch. "Not because of me or the band, because of the crowd."

Contact Linda S. Haymes at (501) 399-3636 or lhaymes@arkansasonline.com

SundayMonday on 12/21/2014

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