A Season to Celebrate

Warm Wonderland

Wendy Powell in the Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel. “Watching the expression come across people’s faces when they walk in the chapel is one of my favorite things,” she says. photo by Steve Sanders

Winter can’t stop a good thing. Even as most gardens go dormant, the enjoyment of nature doesn’t stop for some people. “I love winter walks through the gardens,” says Wendy Powell, Powell Gardens board member and wife of George Powell III, grandson of the gardens’ founder. While cold weather rolls through and snow blankets the ground, the gardens still offer beautiful scenery and wonder to those willing to bundle up. With rosy cheeks and lungs full of crisp fresh air, Wendy and other patrons of Powell Gardens learn firsthand about the seasons.

In fact, the cycle of seasons in the Midwest was praised as a major benefit to making the site a botanical garden in 1988, when the gardens opened to the public. Some Kansas Citians do not realize botanical gardens of this caliber exist locally, much less visit during the off-season. But that is just when this amazing attraction and resource gets warmed up. In addition to the trails remaining open year-round, holiday events are plentiful.

Wendy will make several visits this holiday season to introduce her 20-month-old grandson to Santa, when he’s visiting children on Saturdays in December, and attend chapel holiday performances, held December 8 and 15. An annual crowd favorite includes the Gardens by Candlelight event, December 8-9, when thousands of glowing luminaries line the walkways throughout the gardens.

The Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel is one of the area’s most identifiable forms of contemporary architecture and a popular location for special events. Designed by Fay Jones, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, the glass and wood structure inspires awe, especially during the season of reverence. Wendy calls the land and the Prairie style of architecture “an ideal marriage.”

“Watching the expression come across people’s faces when they walk in the chapel is one of my favorite things,” she says.

Her passion for Powell Gardens is clear, and she takes the simplicity and serenity of the surroundings to heart. “I’m a ‘less is more’ type of person,” she says. At home, a remodeled condominium at The Crestwood, Wendy keeps holiday decorations relatively simple, with a collection of nutcrackers and a tree. That saves her time for an old tradition that was passed down to her: cooking a true Swedish smorgasbord, complete with Swedish meatballs, ham, fish, beets, potato salad and a relish tray.

The idea of a bounty of food will be emulated in Powell Gardens’ newest addition, the Heartland Harvest Garden, debuting spring 2009. The 12-acre agricultural area will showcase orchards, field crops, vegetables and other food plants grown around the world, with the theme “From Seed to Plate.” It will be the gardens’ largest expansion since the opening of the island garden in 2001 and the only garden of its kind in the U.S.

“It’s fitting because one of the first temporary gardens here was a vegetable garden. To think of the foresight and ability of our family to do this…,” Wendy trails off, looking around. “We are so blessed.”

Thinking Inside the Box

Christopher Elbow of Christopher Elbow Artisanal Chocolate. “If you say you don’t like dark chocolate, you probably haven’t had a good dark chocolate.” photo by Steve Sanders

Traditionally, a box of chocolates makes a great gift. Unless you’re Jenifer Elbow. “I’m in big trouble if I give my wife chocolate,” says husband and local artisanal chocolate maker Christopher Elbow. She and he both get their fill at his quickly growing business, Christopher Elbow Artisanal Chocolate. “I don’t eat a lot outside of work, but I do eat some every day for quality control,” he says.

If you made 30,000 individual chocolates a week, would you still like chocolate? You would if you’ve tried this kind.

Christopher specializes in dark chocolates highlighted by all-natural flavors and presented as miniature works of art. Jenifer, a graphic artist, does the design work. The combination is a knock-out, more like something to display in your home than digest: simple white and green lines placed diagonally across Fresh Lime; a red swirl to the top of a volcanic Grand Marnier; the poly-sided Caramel with Fleur de Sel.

Fifteen chocolates are available year-round, and a handful change with the seasons. Each is attained by old-fashioned trial and error.

Although 90 percent of the product is made with dark chocolate, Christopher says some people are hesitant to make the switch from milk chocolate or white chocolate.

“Americans fall behind Europeans for their love of dark chocolate, but part of that is educational,” he says. “If you say you don’t like dark chocolate, you probably haven’t had a good dark chocolate.”

Christopher’s own education with chocolate and cooking started at an early age. While other children flipped on Saturday morning cartoons, he watched cooking shows and made chocolate chip pancakes. His professional career took off quickly, with stints in Paris and Las Vegas, and then as a pastry chef at The American. There, he laid the foundation of his future by creating a petite four that were so popular they helped him make the transition from side job into a full-blown business.

“I was always steering toward my own shop or restaurant, but it happened faster than I thought it would,” says the 33-year-old. The business launched in 2003. Just this year, Christopher Elbow’s expanded, moving to the east side of the Crossroads Arts District to 1819 McGee, where business has doubled.

His objective was to gain space for people to linger. The contemporary interiors were designed by Rafael Architects and are marked by a tangerine-colored wall behind the counter, dark wood, glass, polished concrete and white quartz. The setting emulates the artistry of the chocolates. “Modern fits the product,” Christopher concurs, adding, “Architecture is a second passion of mine.”

In fact, he’s been overseeing progress on a second location in San Francisco, which he hopes will be open by Thanksgiving. That’s when production goes into overdrive to meet demand for the holidays, and Christopher will be working 20 hours a day. With that in mind, probably the best gift he can give his wife is his time. As for the rest of you, time is also of the essence to get your own chocolate boxes: “We always run out at Christmas,” Christopher says.