Dave Morris » Helen Ford Wallace

All State Football and lobster

davemorris — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:13:16 +0000

The Oklahoman will unveil its All-State High School Football team in a couple weeks. Each of the players taped a brief Q&A with Ryan Aber this afternoon.

So we had 20-25 high school kids in football jerseys, shuffling in and out of the 7th floor, while three ladies waited patiently in our green room for a 4 pm taping of Parties Extra with Helen Ford Wallace. To talk lobster.

Kanela Huff, Pam Smith and Rawsie Boyles are here today to tell us about Pam’s birthday party which is always at Kanela’s home and Rawsie cooks the very fabulous lobsters which are served with all the condiments.

And the ladies did talk lobsters and parties. Helen does a great job moderating these interviews. She brings the spirit and the enthusiasm into each interview. And she’s prepared.

I think the audience can always tell when a host is prepared and if a host is interested in the interview. Helen is always prepared and interested.

And early. Which was a bit unfortunate today since we ran long with the football interviews.

So she got to watch the Jenks and Union football players talk about their seasons and where they plan to play next year. Ryan did a great job with each interview, rattling off their stats and asking specific questions to each player. All while Helen and her girls “partied” (or reminisced) in the green room. I hope the water was tasty.

Sara Sara Cupcakes? Yes, please

davemorris — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:46:14 +0000

Helen Ford Wallace taped her upcoming Parties Extra video today in the studio. Her guests included Toni Hoffman from Sara Sara Cupcakes near downtown Oklahoma City.

Toni Hoffman is opening Sara Sara Cupcakes next Tuesday, fulfilling a promise to her niece. Read an excerpt from Steve Lackmeyer‘s reporting back on Sept. 3, 2008.

It was Easter 2007 and Toni Hoffman was doing what she always did with her niece Sara when the family gathered together — making cupcakes.

This is, after all, not just any family — but the descendants of legendary judge Joe Cannon.

“My family is very gregarious and loud,” Hoffman said. “But my niece was the shy one. And for years, we baked cupcakes — it was our own special thing.”

Just as Hoffman was showing Sara Brinson how to create a carrot design atop a cupcake, the 18-year-old made a vow to her aunt: “You and I are going to run a cupcake shop together someday.” Hoffman was puzzled — she repeated what Brinson said to make sure she heard her correctly.

“Yeah,” Brinson said, “that’s all you and I know how to do.”

‘I made a promise’

The next day, Brinson died from sudden cardiac arrest. Three months later, Hoffman was watching “Jimmy Kimmel Live” when she heard the host discuss the reason he loved Los Angeles — the city’s cupcake bakeries. Hoffman called her sister Dana, Sara’s mother, after the late-night show was over and pitched Sara Brinson’s idea. Dana Brinson reminded Hoffman they didn’t know how to operate a bakery.

“I don’t care,” Hoffman said, “I made a promise — we’ll figure it out.”

And that, Hoffman said, is the start of the story of how she decided to open Sara Sara Cupcakes. The location for this new venture, a dilapidated 102-year-old house at 7 NW 9, is yet another story. The property is part of a stretch of properties being redeveloped by Steve Mason, owner of the Iguana Mexican Grill, Earl’s Rib Palace and Cardinal Engineering.

The cupcakes are quite tasty, check out the menu for more. They brought a few crimson and cream examples, which disappeared quickly from the Studios’ green room.

The video will be posted this weekend on NewsOK.com.

Parties Extra!

davemorris — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 21:42:13 +0000

Have you met Helen Ford Wallace? Helen knows how to party. That’s why her blog and podcast are called Parties Extra! with Helen Ford Wallace.

Helen has been instrumental in blogging for NewsOK.com. And she has been a faithful blogger. Then she became a faithful podcaster. All the while, very enthusiastic. And let’s face it, we all encounter enough haters in life. It’s cool when someone just has fun with work. Makes it NOT seem like work. And that’s cool.

So Helen and I got to emailing last week, and she had several good ideas. Including a separate email blast for her listeners. And don’t laugh. She has over 6,000 on her Parties Extra! email list. So today, we fired out a second Parties Extra! email with her latest podcast. Jamie Davis, owner of Jamie’s Foods in Casady Square, joined Helen in the podcast studios, and here it is.