Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1468549
"IT WAS SO COMFORTABLE AND SO LOVELY. WE DIDN'T HAVE AIR CONDITIONING OR A HEATER — MOM WANTED TO KEEP EVERYTHING IN ITS AUTHENTIC TIME PERIOD." — Ginny Elverson Welch Your mom's culinary connections. GEW: Two of her good friends were Julia Child and Simone Beck. She was also friends with the chef Jacques Pépin. When Julia and her husband, Paul, came to Houston, they would come over to our house. Mother and father also visited Julia and Paul at their place in France. Sometimes my mother would invite people over, and Simone or Julia and my mother would cook or give demonstrations, and guests would pitch in and prep. Julia Child was very funny. Simone Beck was quietly funny. I don't remember Jacques' personality; he was much younger than Julia and Simone. Jacques visited Walnut Hill Farm, probably for one of mom's cooking parties. I don't know if Julia and Simone ever came to Round Top. Your folks' Round Top hospitality. GEW: My parents entertained a lot at Walnut Hill. We would have 50 people to something called a chinking party. A chinking is something you put between the logs to enclose the house for winter. She also had cooking-school parties with a wonderful meal at the end, dictated by the season. It 's fascinating how you've continued your mother's work, i n c l u d i n g he r m i s s i o n w i t h Winedale. GEW: I wouldn't think of doing anything else. I'm the protector of history around here. After mother died and I wrote her obituary, I realized just how much she was involved in. Walnut Hill Farm dates from 1872 and was built by influential German settler Victor Witte. Virginia Lee Elverson and Robin Elverson acquired it from Witte's descendants, the Williams family; the Elversons and daughter Ginny Elverson Welch have left the homestead as authentic as possible. Its importance has been recognized by a Texas historical plaque. 43