September 21, 2008
The Culinary Community Pulls Together to Benefit the Koonce Family
The community spirit shone brightly through the last ten days as Houstonians pulled together to deal with the aftermath of Ike. Although the disaster has been widespread, few have suffered like James Koonce and his daughter Katherine who were both badly burned in the fire that destroyed Brennan’s restaurant. James—best know to patrons as “The Wine Guy”—and his four-year-old daughter, Katherine are both in specialty burn units in San Antonio and remain in critical condition. Through this tragedy, the extended Brennan’s family has gathered round to help.
The moment he regained power and reopened Catalan, partner & chef (former Brennan’s sous chef and Wine Guy himself), Chris Shepherd designed a special menu that pays homage to Brennan’s cuisine. Each order generates $10 for the Koonce Family Relief Fund. The menu will continue indefinitely.
This week Jason Gould follows suit at Gravitas with a wine tasting on Monday afternoon from 1:20 to 4:00 September 21 with all funds collected going to the relief fund. For more details, call David Maib at 713-962-9085 or email yolanda@gravitasrestaurant.com
On Wednesday, September 24 at the complimentary fete—Singapore Slings and Asian Street Fair hosted by Gigi’s Asian Bistro and Dumpling Bar for Recipe for Success from 6:30-8:30—we will collect donations for the Koonce Family Fund. RSVP to nar@wardandames.com
On Sunday, September 28, Del Frisco’s is hosting a wine tasting fundraiser from 6-9. Dozens of premium vintners are participating in this event which costs $50 per person with all proceeds going to the Koonce Family Fund.
Other chefs, including Monica Pope, are planning events and we will keep you posted as they unfold.
For those who want to help but unable to attend an event, please go to www.amegybank.com for a list of bank branches. You can make a donation at any of the branches by simply giving the account name: Fund for Denise Koonce in Trust for James and Katharine Koonce.
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September 19, 2008
Don't Be Fooled by the Corn Producers Association's New Ad Campaign
I couldn't believe my eyes and ears the other night as I was monitoring coverage of Hurricane Ike on CNN. The scene: young couple in the park on a blanket under a big tree--the quintessential idyllic picnic setting. She offers him a Popsicle, which he initially refuses because "It's filled with corn syrup sweeteners." She smiles lovingly at his silly ideas and says "But why is that bad? Corn is natural and corn syrup is no different that sugar--it's fine in reasonable amounts." After which he sees the error of his foolishly misinformed ways and accepts the yummy treat. A voice-over says "know the facts."
Good idea. What it doesn't say is that often times high fructose corn syrup is the dominant ingredient in soft drinks and snack food. I don't think anyone would consider eating 16 teaspoons of sugar at a sitting, while they think nothing of downing several sodas a day, each one with the corn syrup equivalent of 16 teaspoons of sugar. But the FACT is that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is much worse than sugar in the way it interacts with our body chemistry.
Our bodies function through a series of chemical interactions that act as traffic signals and everything we ingest has an effect. When operating properly, our systems generate one chemical to signal our brain that we are hungry--ghrelin, and another to signal that we are full --leptin. HFCS plays havoc with these two important message systems. First, it inhibits the secretion of leptin, so your brain never gets a full message. To make matters worse, it never shuts off ghrelin, so even with a full tummy, your brain keeps getting a hungry message.
Knowing the facts is an excellent idea.
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September 02, 2008
Gigi's throws a party for the Blue Plate Special Cafe's event Chairs, Committee and Sponsors
RSVP for party on September 24
to Nancy Heitshusen at nar@wardandames.com
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Turn Up the Heat Raffle offers 5 Great Prizes
To buy your tickets
email info@recipe4success.org
Don't wait!
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August 17, 2008
Join us on August 26th to kick-off the Blue Plate Special Cafe Festivities
Join in the party as we kick-off festivites for Blue Plate Special Cafe
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August 03, 2008
Don't Miss the Chance to Have Lunch with Dr. Oz
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The MacGregor and Rodriguez Elementary Summer Camps have Kids Cooking and Gardening!
Not only did these fourth and fifth grade groups continue to hone their cooking and gardening skills, over the course of four weeks, they each focused on a special project.
The Food Marketing Group at MacGregor researched, developed, tested, created, packaged and marketed their own healthy food product. Over the course of the program the children learned all about how food is marketed to them. Then they turned the tables to apply their newly acquired skills to the development of a healthy packaged food using produce from their 1/4 acre Recipe Garden. What was the final product? Rainbow Ribbons, brightly colored handmade fettuccini noodles created by adding beets, spinach and basil, and other garden fresh goodies to their basic homemade pasta recipe.
The Jr. Master Gardener Group at MacGregor worked to get their full accreditation
and completed all of the projects necessary to receive the Golden Ray recognition in garden nutrition. They also operated a Farmers Market, harvested food for snacks and "sold" produce to the Marketing Class to use in their pasta.
All of the children took 3 movement breaks each day to enjoy a variety of exercise opportunities from walking, to yoga and dance movement class.
Dr. Allen Inspects the Produce
The Market Stand at MacGregor
Rainbow Ribbons Handmade Pasta for Sale
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