January 2020 General meeting

January 28, 2020 General CPCA Meeting

Happy 2020, Neighbors,

We had our customary January Pot Luck Supper last night to kick off the new year.  Neighbors brought all sorts of hearty entrees and salads and we topped it off with pies and cookies and assorted candy.  A successful Pot Luck with lots to eat.  It was fun seeing neighbors after a long holiday season. Thanks to all who participated!

FLPD Officer Pekrol gave us details of the last two months burglaries and vehicle break-ins.  Good news is that we are not having a crime spree!  In fact, we have very low crime in Croissant Park.  We run neck and neck with Rio Vista for low crime rates.  Three residential burglaries and four vehicle break-ins in the last two months.  One burglar gained entrance by breaking a back window after observing the owner leaving the house.  One attempted burglary did not make entry, and the third on was a known party who stole from the owner.  All four vehicle break-ins were in unlocked cars.  Two things Ofc. Petrol stressed was to put any valuables out of sight and always lock the car.  FLPD non-emergency number is 954 764-4357.  Good idea to put it in your cell phone contacts.  Of course, if you are witnessing a robbery, break-in or whatever, call 911.  Our neighbors on 20th Street  have asked for additional police patrol because it has become a cut-through street and cars are ignoring the stop signs at 6th and 8th Aves.

Rob Hernandez, Deputy City Manager was our speaker.  He gave us an extensive description of the City’s water utilities action plan.  The City is about to embark on a major water utilities investment plan, including a new water treatment plant to replace the Fiveash plant, 60 miles of new water mains, rehab of 118 miles of wastewater mains, to name a few projects over the next 5 years. He also explained why Rio Vista’s sewerage problems occurred. Basically, old pipes and no easy way to access them.  He asked for our patience as there will be road closures in our future.  There is an interactive website to stay informed about projects in our neighborhood  gis.fortlauderdale.gov/LauderWorks. 

Rob also talked to us about more up-to-date methods of dealing with traffic with better computerized traffic systems, more “traffic calming”, i.e. roundabouts and narrowing streets in certain neighborhoods.  The City will also replace the decorative paver at major intersections that are deteriorating, and replace with stamped asphalt.  

Local school teacher, Sarah Leonardi introduced herself.  She will be running for a seat on the School Board.  The election will be on August 18th.

50/50 raffle was won by Matthew Wells.

Minutes by Virginia  

Neighborhood Meeting & Pot Luck Dinner - Jan 26, 2016

Hi Neighbors,

The annual Pot Luck Dinner is this Tuesday, January 26, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Center.  Bring a covered dish, meet your neighbors, join the Association as a voting member for 2016, get a raffle ticket and maybe win a beautiful large Coffee Urn, the 50/50 drawing, or a sign to slow traffic around your home.

We will have Commissioner Rogers on hand to answer questions about Short Term Rentals / Sober Homes and development standards for our neighborhood.

Hope you can make this fun and informative evening.

May Neighborhood Meeting & Ice Cream Social

Commissioner Romney Rogers and Cookies and Ice Cream Headline May 28th CPCA Meeting - Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. in the Community Center 245 West Park Drive (south side of school next to pools)

Commissioner Rogers has confirmed that he will attend our May meeting on Tuesday the 28th. We have asked him to come prepared to answer questions about the half-way house situation in the neighborhood, the lack of enforcement in the code enforcement department, the "Wave" streetcar, paving the streets throughout the neighborhood, installation of sidewalks on at least one side of 15th Street - and of course - any other subject that interests you, or him, so come prepared for a lively discussion.

I had no idea as to the depth of opposition to the Wave until people started talking about it in water aerobic class the other day.  As most of you know, properties in a fairly narrow band adjacent to Andrews are going to be specially assessed to pay for a portion of the project costs. The way it was presented to me at a recent meeting with Downtown Development Authority staff -the funding proposal didn't seem to have a big impact on our membership.  There were only 3 or 4 residential units that were affected and the tax increase for them was around $90 per year. The rest was going to be assessed on businesses and that seemed manageable- at least on the surface. Once we started discussing the concept while treading water (a true mind and body workout) the potential flaws in the proposal started to surface.

First of all, there are a lot of small businesses that will be affected and their cost will be much higher than the residential assessment. Secondly, the basis for the assessment is that these properties will be "specially benefited" by the project - thus justifying asking them to pay for it. That concept seemed to make less sense the more we talked about it.  Don't get me wrong, I (personally) am totally on board (are you tired of my bad puns yet?) with the Wave.  I love the idea of being able to get downtown without driving and the hassle of parking but the discussion made me think more about who should pay for it. Why should a resident nearby who may not ever use it pay for it? How will they be specially benefited? A business such as Tap 42 may be benefited with downtown workers taking the Wave there for Happy Hour, but how would a business like the Farm Store or dentist office receive a special benefit?

It raised a lot of questions and was a good reminder that we tend to view things based on how they affect us.  I like the idea of the Wave partly because I foresee using it and, since I'm not being asked to pay for it, it sounds like a great idea. Then I put  the shoe on the other foot and started  thinking about  how big of a supporter I would be if I were the one paying for it.

As I said - come prepared for a lively discussion.

The "putting the shoe on the other foot" line is a perfect segue into another part of our May meeting agenda- the cookies.  As with our annual "pie night" we are asking you to bake and bring some of your favorite cookies to share with your neighbors. We will be providing ice cream and toppings and Susie from Expresso Coffee on Andrews Ave. will, once again, be providing coffee (keep her business in mind when you need a jolt of java to start your day!) but are relying on you all for the cookies. What, you may ask, is the link between cookies and thinking of others? It's taking me awhile but I will eventually get there.

When we started talking about cookies for the meeting I was in the process of sending another package of goodies including homemade cookies to Afghanistan. My faux (it's a long dull story) son-in-law is a Captain in the Army serving in a small and very  remote forward operating base (FOB) base near the Pakistan  border- FOB Spin Baldac in Kandahar Province. I bake a couple of big batches of cookies every few weeks to send off to him to share with all of his "guys" (and girls).  The cookies are generally a big hit and have in the last few months become even more than a reminder of home and an unexpected treat because they are drawing troops down at these forward bases.  They have stopped serving lunch so pretty much the only thing available is MRE's (meals ready to eat) or chips or other packaged foods from the PX . There is a U-tube video from 2011  www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-N1HvH8BCU that is pretty interesting – though with the draw down – the days of 4 hot meals a day and a pastry chef are long gone. Homemade cookies make a good alternative.

Since this weekend is Memorial Day - what better way for us to remember our troops than by baking an extra batch of cookies to send? Hey - you know it is going to rain - it pretty much always does - so while you are stuck inside looking at your rained out picnic fire up the oven and bake 2 batches of cookies- one to bring to the meeting to share, and one for me to pack up and ship on Tuesday. If you are going to make cookies to send, keep in mind that they go through some temperature extremes and a lot of bouncing around so nothing with icing or very perishable, nothing too fragile, and nothing with alcohol. You can pack them in a tin, a box – or simply put them in a baggie and I will take care of the rest. What a nice easy way to feel like you have done something that will make a difference to some young person a long way from home. As the guy on the video says – they all love getting mail and there are some that simply don’t receive too much – so this is a nice way to spread the wealth.

Now doesn’t that beat sitting on the couch watching a Law & Order marathon all weekend ?  See you all at the meeting on Tuesday night!

Pat Rathburn

CPCA  President

Just to give you all some ideas- these are a few of the recipes that I’ve made that have gone over really well – but don’t let me influence you – they adore chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies.  My last shipment was Snickerdoodles and triple chocolate chip. Make whatever your favorite is.  I’m sure they will be appreciated!

This was my first effort in baking cookies to send to Afghanistan. It was also a learning experience as I previously had no idea what the difference was between Dutch processed and non-Dutch processed chocolate - although you see the command in recipes all the time - “not Dutch processed”. Turns out it really does make a difference and if you are looking for it in the grocery store you may not see it right away.  Look for Hershey’s Extra Dark Special in one of those boxes next to regular Hershey’s cocoa- then in little print it will say “Dutch processed”. Don’t use the regular stuff- it will not turn out.

Cherry Pistachio Biscotti

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried sour cherries
• 2 cups shelled pistachio nuts
• 1 3/4 C. flour
• 1 3/4 c. firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 C. sugar
• 3/4 c. unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder ***** SEE NOTE ABOVE
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3 large eggs, room temp.
• 4 Tbs. unsalted butter, room temp.
• 1 1/2 Tbs. coffee extract
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 8 ounces extra bittersweet chocolate, cut into chunks

Directions

• 1. Place the cherries in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then turn of the heat and let cool. Drain the cherries (this can be done up to several days in advance, and you can also plump them up with a little rum instead of water- when you drain the cherries- save the rum and have a cocktail).( I know I said no alcohol – but if you want to use it- this is so little – and it burns off).                                                                                                                       
• 2.  Preheat the oven to 325. Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and toast them in oven, stirring occasionally, until they are lightly golden- about 5-7 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool. Keep the oven on.                                                                                                           
• 3. In mixer with paddle attachment, mix at low speed flour, sugars, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the butter and extracts and mix to combine. Stir in nuts, cherries and chocolate. After mixing,            let the dough rest for 5 minutes.                                                                                                                       
• 4. With wet hands, divide the dough in two and form 2 logs, each 2 inches in diameter. Place logs on parchment lined baking tray and bake until firm, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on rack.                                                                                                                       
• 5. Lower the temperature to 200. Use a bread or other serrated knife and slice the logs on the diagonal into 1/4 inch thick slices. Arrange the biscotti slices on parchment lined (you may need 2-3) baking sheets and dry them in oven until firm and crisp- about 1 hour (or up to 1 1/2 hours- depends on humidity, oven, etc.) Transfer to wire rack to cool                                   
• 6.  I made these first when George’s daughter- a nurse in Army – was in Afghanistan – now it is her husband who is there and he and his friends seems to like them as much as she did.  She said they turned out really well (actually - I knew that as we tasted them – a lot- before shipping)- but I wasn’t sure how they would hold up- and was glad these did.
•  

Pistachio Brittle

I’d been trying to come up with some different ideas for homemade treats to that could withstand the rigors of travel and thought of peanut brittle - but that seemed a little too ordinary. It turns out though -  that no matter how they get knocked around in shipping - home made treats are everyone’s favorite. A slight change up of the nuts made these ideal - they are really simple and last forever.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup shelled pistachio nuts (try and get the un-roasted/unsalted kind- but use whatever you have on hand in a pinch.
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp. PLUS 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Directions

If using raw nuts, preheat oven to 350. and spread the nuts out in one layer on a baking sheet and bake until they are golden brown- about ten minutes, stirring from time to time. Let cool.

Butter a baking sheet or line it with a Silpat. Set the pan on a cooling rack or trivet. Grease a spatula and set aside.

In a large heavy saucepan, combine sugar, 1/2 cup water, corn syrup and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring at first to dissolve sugar, until the mixture is light caramel in color- about 10-15 minutes. Keep an eye on it!! Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in baking soda, salt and nuts.

Working very quickly (it is hot and it hardens really fast - so be careful) spread the mixture on greased pan with the greased spatula. Spread it out as much as you can - and again - be careful -this stuff is HOT!. Let cool completely and then break into pieces. Keeps quite a while in a cookie tin - but not really - since it is irresistible - it really never lasts that long.

Croissant Park General Meeting-February 2013

Hi Neighbors,

Our annual Pot Luck Dinner was a huge success!  All ten Board members were in attendance as our President Pat kicked off the first Association meeting of 2013.  Our first speakers were the Junior Ambassadors from The Pantry of Broward, an organization that collects food donations to lend a helping hand to area seniors on low fixed incomes, and economically challenged grandparents who are raising their grandchildren.  The Junior Ambassadors are jr high and high school volunteers who will deliver flyers to our doors in the next week telling us when to place canned or boxed food donations on our doorsteps for collection. Let’s help The Pantry in their food drive with our generosity and goodwill for those less fortunate.

Cara Perrin from the Wellness Center at Broward General spoke to us about the health benefits we receive when we exercise. She left us with pamphlets and a coupon that waives the Wellness Center initiation fee, a savings of $49.  She emphasized how something as simple as walking for exercise can reduce the need for medications, and helps to promote health and well-being.  National Walk Day will be celebrated on April 3, 2013 on the grounds of Broward General with a 20 minute walk around the hospital.  All are invited to join in.  Staying with the walking theme, our Board member Michelle introduced us to her favorite walking app MapMyWalk, an application that allows us to log our favorite routes in the area, share them with others and encourages us to walk with friends, reminding us that Fitness is more Fun with Friends! Michelle has already done the heavy lifting by mapping out a one, two, and three mile route.

FLPD Officer Jackson gave us her neighborhood crime report: our neighborhood’s “numbers are good”.  That is to say that our crimes are down.  In the last 3-month period there have been 4 arrests for burglaries, 1 arrest on a warrant, 1 car break-in (no valuables taken, just a lunch in a brown bag).  Ofr. Jackson reminds us, as always, don’t leave stuff in your car because they may break your windows for a sack lunch!  The details about the strong-arm robbery on SW 13th St. are that a woman lured a man into a home, and the man was then jumped by 3 males who then robbed him. There are no details yet on the alleged child porn activity on 4th Ave. because it is still under investigation.  

Our next speaker was John Gossman, a Supervisor from Code Enforcement who explained the legality of the halfway houses that are popping up all over.  There are several classifications, but the ones in our neighborhood are generally Level One residences for those with disabilities and people fresh out of rehab. These homes require no approval from the City or State when there are 6 or fewer unrelated people living at one address.  However, if any services are being rendered at a Level One home, such as counseling or administering medications, they are in violation.  If the property is not being maintained at a reasonable level for the neighborhood, Code Enforcement should be notified.  If people are acting out in any offensive or illegal manner, FLPD should be called. The State has set the laws for these homes and they supersede the regulations set by the municipalities.  Code Enforcement’s only tool is to make sure these homes are in compliance. 

The recipient of the Joe Shover Citizenship Award  for 2012 was our former CPCA President Steve Cook, who has kept us very much in the loop with City doings by attending a mind-numbing number of meetings concerning all manner of City business.  We all thank you, Steve.  His current report on bike lanes on SW 4th Ave:  within the year we will have bike lanes painted on both sides of 4th Ave from Perimeter Rd. to SW 9th Street (north of Davie), some portions of which will be resurfaced and will have 10 foot wide lanes.  Steve also wants to remind us that plastic bags are not recyclable.

Our 50/50 Raffle winner was Paul Ruble who won $32 big ones.  We also gave away a few CPCA T-shirts.

This Pot Luck Dinner boasted a long table full of hors d'oeuvres, entrees, salads, and over-the-top desserts.  It was our biggest turn-out ever.  

See you at our meeting next month-March 26th.

Virginia-Secretary

Annual Pot Luck Dinner

Come eat and help the Pantry of Broward

A friend's teenage son, Brooks, recently became Chair of The Pantry of Broward's Junior Ambassadors. Part of his responsibility is to help collect food and raise money to buy food for The Pantry. The Pantry provides food and needed services to area seniors who are raising their grandchildren on fixed incomes. 

According to Brooks, "the shelves at The Pantry are nearly bare and the Junior Ambassadors are reaching out to area homeowner associations to try to get approval to hold food drives in those neighborhoods. " Here's how it works: the Junior Ambassadors will place flyers in grocery bags on door knobs during the week prior to the food drive and then pick-up donations from doorsteps (no knocking on doors involved) the following Saturday morning. 

This sounded like such a fantastic idea and the Board agreed, first how great that these teenagers are doing their best to help others, and second - how timely is the request that Croissant Park paticipate in the food drive for such a worthy cause on the eve of our Pot Luck dinner?

To kick the food drive off we have asked Brooks to come to our pot luck dinner and explain the program. What YOU can do to help is, in addition to whatever dish you might be bringing to the pot luck (or in lieu thereof - but I hate to let you off the hook that easy!) to bring some canned or boxed food to contibute to the Pantry. I'd love to send Brooks home with a car load of food, so please, yet another reason to attend the pot luck dinner - food for us and food for some people who can really use a hand. 

Hope to see you and lots of food of all types on Tuesday!!!!

The Pot Luck Dinner is Tuesday, Feb 26 in the Community Center - 7:00  - Everyone is invited and we will have speakers from the City to address important issues affecting our neighborhood.

Moldy Berries Tip

The key to preventing moldy berries...

Berries are delicious, but they're also kind of delicate. Raspberries in particular seem like they can mold before you even get them home from the market. There's nothing more tragic than paying $4 for a pint of local raspberries, only to look in the fridge the next day and find that fuzzy mold growing on their insides.

Well, with fresh berries just starting to hit farmers markets, we can tell you that how to keep them fresh! Here’s a tip I’m sharing on how to prevent them from getting there in the first place:

Wash them with vinegar.

When you get your berries home, prepare a mixture of one part vinegar (white or apple cider probably work best) and ten parts water. Dump the berries into the mixture and swirl around. Drain, rinse if you want (though the mixture is so diluted you can't taste the vinegar,) and pop in the fridge. The vinegar kills any mold spores and other bacteria that might be on the surface of the fruit, and voila! Raspberries will last a week or more, and strawberries go almost two weeks without getting moldy and soft. So go forth
and stock up on those pricey little gems, knowing they'll stay fresh as long as it takes you to eat them.

You're so berry velcome!

Minutes Croissant Park meeting 1/31/12

Happy New Year, Neighbors

We kicked off our first Croissant Park Civic Association meeting of the year at the Community Center on Tuesday night with a Pot Luck Supper that featured tons of tasty dishes, from appetizers to desserts, and everything in between.

Before digging in to all the mouth-watering morsels, we welcomed our first speakers, Capt. London from the FLPD and the five officers who make up the new Neighborhood Action Team. They will be actively collaborating with our neighborhood in a community partnership effort by attending our civic association meetings to report their findings, to listen to our concerns, and to step up their presence on our streets. Some suggestions they offer to help fight crime are 1) when you buy a TV, computer, or any big ticket item, don't put the cardboard box it came in out on the street for all to see. Instead, flatten it and discard it in your recycle bin, or the green dumpster in the northwest corner of the parking lot at Croissant Park Elem. School. 2) Keep your blinds closed when you are not at home so that would-be burglars cannot see into your home. 3) Don't be shy about reporting suspicious behavior to the FLPD non-emergency number (954) 828-5700. They would rather show up for a false alarm then not be called when a crime actually occurs. And of course, call 911 in an emergency.

After everyone had a plateful or two of food, we introduced Romney Rogers, our District IV Commissioner. He informed us that $18 million has been trimmed from the budget and yet there will still be public improvements made at Hall of Fame Swimming Pool, new streetscapes in some areas, among other improvements. He mentioned that Fort Lauderdale has the second lowest taxes in the state of Florida! Who knew?And an interesting statistic he shared: 6% of the population commit 60% of the crime here. Romney is running for re-election in the upcoming election. We also heard from Jacquelyn Scott who is running for the same commissioner seat. If you would like to learn more about these two candidates, there will be a Candidates' Forum on March 7th at 7pm at the Embassy Suites.

Our final speaker was Diana Alarcon, Transportation and Mobility Director for the City. Diana described the proposed plan for a Greenway on the east side of 4th Avenue. The Greenway will be a 12 foot wide paved path for pedestrians and cyclists. Between the path and the roadway there will be a 4 foot landscaped buffer, reducing the width of the automobile lane next to it to 11 feet. There is also a move afoot to reduce the speed limit on 4th Avenue. The project will be done is phases, probably over a period of 3 years at a cost of $2.8 million, hopefully funded by grants.

Diana informed us that FDOT will have an open house on February 2nd from 5:30 to 7:30pm at the Renaissance Hotel. The pre-construction project for 17th Street will be discussed and you are welcome to attend and voice your concerns.

The 50/50 raffle was a big success with lots of T-shirt winners. The cash prize went to Joe Shover. Congrats, Joe!

We had a great turnout tonight...Thanks to all who attended and to those who contributed to the Pot Luck. See you at the next meeting on February 28th.

Virginia Russell--Secretary

Pot Luck Dinner

The annual neighborhood pot luck dinner will be this Tuesday, January 31st. We will be set up by 7:00 pm in the Croissant Park Community Center. Bring your favorite dish, or just come on over to share a bite to eat. This is a nice opportunity to meet your neighbors.

We will also have a representative to update us on the 4th Avenue Greenway that is planned for the East side of 4th Avenue through our neighborhood.

We have also invited our neighborhood police officers to update us on crime in the past few months and answer any questions you may have.

Should be fun and we hope you can make it. Everyone is invited.

The Croissant Park Civic Association

Brownie's ....... Tap 42

Everyone is curious about "The New Brownie's," which is still months from opening at 1411 South Andrews. So I had a chat with Lizette Cruz, the new bar manager, about what's planned for the location. Below is a rundown of what she told me, and some photos. Cal PS: I don't get paid for this — not even a free wedge fry! Please pass it on to your lists, though! NAME: "Tap 42" because — you guessed it — they will have 42 beers on tap. The beers will include many unusual "craft beers." Plus there will be 100 types of beer available in bottles. OWNERS: Brothers Blaise and Shawn McMackin CUISINE: "Jacked-up bar food," which is to say freshly-made, never-frozen burgers with never-frozen, made-on-site, hand-cut wedge fries. Biiig servings of them, too! Eight types of burgers. Tacos. Salads. Ahi tuna. Appetizers, including the popular wings (with some unusual, made-on-site sauces), jalapeno poppers, and appetizer platters, which will change frequently. Plus much more!! Breads will come from a local baker, not a factory. Other than the breads, pretty much everything will be made in-house and made fresh daily. (The menu is not yet available.) HOURS: 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. OPENING: Late summer. Maybe August. LIQUOR: In addition to the beers, they will have a full bar. ENTERTAINMENT: Jazz, reggae and lighter music will be among the offerings at night. There will be NO outdoor music! On the weekends there will be live music in the afternoons, too. They have purchased the NFL's TV package so sports fans will be able to do their thing. CHILDREN: No kids menu. Not really a place for kids. DECOR: Dressed-up "warehouse modern." Galvanized steel, reclaimed wood, cement, rebar. A "modern, very clean" look. For an online logo design contest they called it "a cool, edgy, industrial-type space." Their color preferences were listed as "black, copper, gray, galvanized steel." Doesn't sound very tropical to me! I guess we'll have to see it! No renderings are available. They are doing the interior themselves, so this won't be one of those corporate rubber stamp places. There will be an outdoor patio. PHILOSOPHY: They would rather keep the prices down so you can come by often, than jack up the prices so you only come by once in a Blue Moon. The most expensive burger — freshly-made with those fresh, made-on-site fries (a lot of them!) — will be about $10. CLIENTELE: A place where business people will feel comfortable bringing their clients for lunch or stopping by for Happy Hour, and couples will feel comfortable stopping by for dinner, or visiting for some late-night food and music. TO STAY IN TOUCH: Go to http://www.facebook.com/tap42bar and hit "Like" to get on their list.