Indy Chefs' Association Meeting

The next meeting of the ACF Greater Indianapolis Chapter will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, December 3, 2007 at:

Ivy Tech Community College
50 West Fall Creek Parkway North Dr.
Indianapolis, IN 46208

The educational portion of the meeting will be held in Room 135 of the Tech Center, starting PROMPTLY at 6:00 p.m.

Dinner will be served at 7:30 p.m. in the NMC Room 405. The hosts for this event will be the students of the Hospitality Program. This will be their “final”

RSVP to Chef Paul Vida at 317-917-5930.

Cost for Active Members and Guests is $10.00. Cost for Junior Members is $5.00

The educational program (starting PROMPTLY at 6:00 p.m.) will be presented by Lisa Trinkler and Albert Uster Imports and titled: “Des Alps Chocolate Methodology".

There's Teaching, and There's Educating...

One day a group of six year olds were sitting in a classroom, and the teacher was explaining evolution to the children.

The teacher asked a little boy: Tommy do you see the tree outside?

TOMMY: Yes.

TEACHER: Tommy, do you see the grass outside?

TOMMY: Yes.

TEACHER: Go outside and look up and see If you can see the sky.

TOMMY: Okay. (He returned a few minutes Later) Yes, I saw the sky.

TEACHER: Did you see God up there?

TOMMY: No.

TEACHER: That's my point. We can't see God because he isn't there. Possibly he just doesn't exist.

A little girl spoke up and wanted to ask the boy some questions. The teacher agreed and the little girl asked the boy: Tommy, do you see the tree outside?

TOMMY: Yes.

LITTLE GIRL: Tommy do you see the grass outside?

TOMMY: Yessssss!

LITTLE GIRL: Did you see the sky?

TOMMY: Yessssss!

LITTLE GIRL: Tommy, do you see the teacher?

TOMMY: Yes

LITTLE GIRL: Do you see her brain?

TOMMY: No

LITTLE GIRL: Then according to what we were just taught, she possibly may not even have one!

Effective Child Rearing, Example 1

A young boy had just gotten his driver's permit and inquired of his father, if they could discuss his use of the car.

His father said he'd make a deal with his son. "You bring your grades up from a C to a B average, study your Bible a little, get your hair cut and we'll talk about the car." The boy thought about that for a moment, decided he'd settle for the offer and they agreed on it.

After about six weeks his father said, "Son, I've been real proud. You brought your grades up and I've observed that you have been studying your Bible, but I'm real disappointed you haven't gotten your hair cut.

"The young man paused a moment then said, "You know, Dad, I've been thinking about that, and I've noticed in my studies of the Bible that Samson had long hair, John the Baptist had long hair, Moses had long hair and there's even a strong argument that Jesus had long hair."

To this his father replied, "Did you also notice they all walked everywhere they went?"

This Thanksgiving, his plate is full

THE Los Angeles Mission will serve Thanksgiving dinner today (a day-before-the-holiday tradition for decades) to anyone who wants it. More than 3,000 guests are expected, an estimated 500 more than were served last year, says Herb Smith, chief executive and president of the mission. The economy has been rough. But hard times aren't the only reason for the surge, Smith says: "We have the best food on skid row."

The menu for the feast here, like Thanksgiving menus everywhere, has treasured traditions -- dishes and gracious gestures the guests anticipate. The centerpiece of the meal, a big, meaty smoked turkey leg on each and every plate, is a symbol of abundance created by executive chef Chris Cormier four years ago.

"Our guests come here looking for connections, rituals, a diversion from an otherwise gray existence," says Cormier, 47, who was once homeless himself. "We have fresh flowers on every table and serve food we'd be happy to feed our own families."

Cormier first came to the mission because of the food. Of all of the soup kitchens where he'd eaten, this was the place that took pride in what was served, he says. One reason: The kitchen is staffed by students in the mission's chef training program. After coming for the food, Cormier stayed to work his way up through the training program he now runs.

The Los Angeles Mission, founded in 1936, moved into its current facility on 5th Street in 1992. The 394-bed shelter is now one of the nation's largest providers of services to the homeless, offering three hot meals a day as well as vocational training and continuing education. The Thanksgiving tradition, its most visible public event, takes place on 5th Street by the mission between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. It's a block party, with that section of 5th Street closed for the day so that dining tables can be set up in the street.

Because no one stands in line at home to be served Thanksgiving dinner, the mission's guests are served by 450 volunteers who have made this meal part of their Thanksgiving tradition. Guests sit with their friends, other members of the all-too-stable population living near the mission.

On each plate, that smoked turkey leg is accompanied by homemade mashed potatoes with country gravy, candied yams, mixed vegetables, cranberry relish and buttered rolls. There's pumpkin pie for dessert. The pies are donated, but the rest of the recipes have been developed by Cormier, who learned banquet-style cooking from "a couple of guys who used to run kitchens in Las Vegas," he says. "I like to use buttermilk in the potatoes to give them that extra flavor without loading them up with too much fat."

Cormier and his second in command, David Thomas, supervise cooks Carlos Castillo, Harold Reed and Nick Bautista and a rotating support staff. The crew cooks all day today, guaranteeing that everyone gets a hot just-cooked meal. The mission's well-equipped professional kitchen is "controlled chaos" during the event, Cormier says.

"Our friends and neighbors look forward to Chris' food," says Smith. "And not just on Thanksgiving. He makes a mac and cheese with three cheeses for Christmas dinner that people talk about all year. His food brings people to our door and we'll get to know someone. Hopefully, that meal will lead them to want to change their lives.

"Cooking is a bridge to self-sufficiency for the students working under Cormier. He shows them what he wants, then lets them learn by doing the work themselves.

"It was my lifeline back," Cormier says. "It inspired me to dust myself off and carry on.

"With a mother born in Jamaica then raised in Panama, and a father from Louisiana, Cormier's childhood in El Sereno revolved around the dinner table.

"My mother's gumbo was fantastic. She could make chicken wings a gourmet dish," he says. "I'd have cooking competitions with my friends to see who made the best chili or jambalaya." By the early 1980s he was a cook in Redding.

"Then I had my battles with addiction. I thought my life was over. I told people to just take me downtown and leave me," Cormier says.

Still, a man's got to eat. Cormier made the rounds of skid row's soup kitchens, sizing them up. "No matter how bad things get, if you know good food, you go looking for it," he says. "It's no different than music to a musician or a painting to a painter. Food inspires."

Cormier soon joined the mission's kitchen staff, moving on to work in the kitchen at other missions, straightening his life out along the way. He returned to Los Angeles Mission in 1997 and by 1999 was overseeing a revolving group of 30 students in the mission's kitchen.

"The beauty of it is seeing students who don't know anything when they come here and then they are able to go home and make dinner for their mom. Or get a job at a hotel, work at a grocery store deli counter, be a caterer," he says. "I get to teach these kids to go to the next step."

Participants in the mission's chef training program have the opportunity to earn their ServSafe Certificate, an accreditation by the National Restaurant Assn. that says the person knows the food safety rules for operating a commercial kitchen. "When they move on, they are able to get work, to get on with their lives, to return home."

And it starts with sitting down to eat a smoked turkey leg. Since Saturday, Cormier has been supervising revolving crews on the two refrigerator-shaped smokers in the mission's parking lot. His students have taken turns stoking the mesquite fire, spritzing the turkey legs with apple juice and rotating them to make sure every one is cooked perfectly.

Cormier made the smokers out of old transit cabinets, the 6-foot-tall metal storage racks that caterers use to wheel around trays of food. He drilled a line of holes along both sides near the bottom to let in oxygen to keep the mesquite wood burning. Another line of holes along the top and a few in the middle keep the air circulating. Dented metal restaurant trays hold the coals in the bottom of the cabinets. The turkey legs are lined up on wire baking racks that slide in, 5 inches apart, throughout the cabinets. There's just enough room for the smoke to surround each piece of meat.

Dropping a thermometer into one of the "breather" holes, he checks to make sure the smoker stays at 200 degrees Fahrenheit. At that temperature, it takes three hours to cook 65 legs. And four days to cook 3,000 legs.

Today, when Cormier looks down the long tables at his guests, he says, he'll be inspired all over again. "To see someone take joy in what you've created, it's beautiful."

The "Glamorous" Life - Reality Check

Don't Just Be A Chef, Be A Glamorous Chef!

(CBS) Dorothy Hamilton is used to fledgling chefs. In 1984 she founded the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan. But even she has been astounded at what's happened in the past five years.

In that short time, she says enrollment has doubled in size. Today there are about 2,000 students taking six month immersion courses at the school.

The story is the same all over the country. Professional cooking schools are expanding and new ones are starting, in part as a tribute to Americans' increasing interest in fine food. But there's another factor, too. Hamilton says the 24-hour Food Network deserves some of the credit.

While early TV chef's like Julia Child helped convince Americans that they could create fine cuisine at home, a later generation of colorful characters such as Emeril Lagasse and the Barefoot Contessa has made cooking seem like a pathway to fun and stardom.

Now many culinary students have stars in their eyes, and who could blame them for dreaming when you watch Guy Fieri? He had worked in the food business for years, already owned four restaurants and then last season he triumphed on a TV competition show.

Now he hosts two Food Network shows himself and is launching a third, but Fieri worries that his success may give some people the wrong impression.

"People that get into it thinking that they're gonna bet all their chips on, on this happening," he told Sunday Morning correspondent Rita Braver. "That's just kind of a long shot."

And it's not just being a TV star that's an enticing long shot, there's also the allure of your own restaurant. Cathal Armstrong is one of those people. He owns Restaurant Eve, one of the top-rated restaurants in the Washington, D.C. area with a six-week wait for Saturday night reservations. He loves his work, but believes there's far too much focus on the glamour of his industry.

"An awful lot of what we do is the same thing all day every day, peeling potatoes and peeling more carrots and cutting more celery, and it's mundane and repetitive," he said. "The kitchen staff arrive between 10:30 and 11 and then they work lunch and dinner service. So they're here until about midnight."

That's more than 12 hours a day, five days a week, at the going rate of about $30,000 a year. So it's no wonder that even as more people want to become chefs, it's harder to recruit good kitchen staffers.

Armstrong says some of the cooking school grads he hired just couldn't keep going. "And have actually dropped out of the restaurant business entirely because of their realization that this isn't the glamorous thing that they expected it would be," he said.

After attending culinary school, Edric Har thought he'd work his way up in the kitchen of a great restaurant, but the pay was too low, the hours too demanding. He now works as a caterer. "While I did love food, and I wanted to be a cook, and that was part of who I was, it wasn't all of who I was," he said.

At the French Culinary Institute, Dorothy Hamilton says that makes perfect sense. Not every one can become a famous chef. "The great thing about our profession is there are hundreds of thousands of jobs every year for cooks," she said. "What you have to have is the right path."

Grandma In Court

In a trial, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grand motherly, elderly woman to the stand.

He approached her and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?" She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a young boy, and frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs.
You think you're a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you never will amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you."

The lawyer was stunned! Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?"

She again replied, "Yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. He's lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. He can't build a normal relationship with anyone and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three different women; one of them was your wife. Yes, I know him."

The defense attorney almost started hyperventilating.

The judge banged his gavel and asked both counselors to approach the bench and, in a very quiet voice, said, "If either of you jackasses ask her if she knows me, I'll send you to the electric chair."

Talking Turkey, Part 3

It doesn't get any simpler than this. I haven't figured out yet how to make it come out in the shape of a can.

CRANBERRY ORANGE RELISH

1 lb raw cranberries
3 whole seedless oranges, unpeeled
½ cup granulated sugar

In the bowl of a food processor coarsely grind the cranberries and oranges.

Sweeten to taste with granulated sugar. Serves 8.

And for the finale...

SWEET POTATO PIE
(Makes one 9-inch pie)

3 cups peeled and cubed sweet potatoes
1 cup evaporated milk
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
5 egg yolks
Kosher salt
1 deep dish, 9-inch frozen pie shell

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with cold water to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until sweet potatoes are fork tender. Drain potatoes and mash with a potato masher and set aside to cool.

Place cooled sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl and beat with stand mixer or hand mixer until smooth. Add evaporated milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and egg yolks and beat until well combined. Add lemon juice, vanilla extract, and salt, to taste, and beat until well combined.

Pour batter into pie shell and bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until the pie filling reaches a temperature of 180 degrees F.

Remove from oven and cool. Keep pie refrigerated after cooling.

Talking Turkey, Part 2

Here's another super easy recipe for an accompaniment to your turkey. Even though it's called "stuffing" I never put it inside the bird. In fact, back home we always called it DRESSING:

SAUSAGE AND APPLE STUFFING

8 ounces mild pork sausage
2 Granny Smith apples, chopped and unpeeled
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped celery
2 Tablespoons chopped garlic
1/3 cup butter
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning (Recipe included)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
5 cups coarsely crumbled corn bread
2 cups day-old white or wheat bread, cubed
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/2 to 1 cup low-sodium chicken or turkey broth

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large skillet, cook sausage until brown.

Remove sausage; drain and set aside. Drain fat from skillet.

In the same skillet, sauté apple, celery, garlic and onion in butter until tender. Remove from heat. Stir in poultry seasoning, salt and black pepper.

In a large bowl, combine sausage, apple mixture, corn bread, white bead, and parsley. Drizzle with enough broth to moisten, tossing gently.

Transfer to a buttered 2-quart casserole. Cover and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through.

Serves 8.


POULTRY SEASONING

1 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp. Onion Powder
2 Tbsp. Dried Tarragon
2 Tbsp Rubbed Sage
2 tsp. Dried Marjoram
1 tsp. Dried Thyme
1 1/2 Tbsp. Black Pepper
2 Tbsp. Paprika

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Store mix in airtight container.

Makes 2/3 cup.

Talking Turkey, Part 1

If you're still undecided about your menu for your family's Thanksgiving Day dinner, here are some suggestions.

Roast Turkey
Sausage and Apple Stuffing
Creole Creamy Succotash
Orange Cranberry Relish
Sweet Potato Pie

Below is my recipe for the juiciest, and EASIEST roast turkey ever.

1 (12 pound) whole turkey, DEFROSTED and giblets removed
¼ cup olive oil
4 carrots, chopped
2 yellow onions, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
1 lemon, quartered
12 garlic cloves
½ cup Poultry seasoning, divided
¼ cup water
Kosher Salt
Black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Rinse turkey and pat dry thoroughly.
Season the inside of the turkey liberally with Kosher salt, black pepper, and poultry seasoning.
Combine the celery, onions, garlic, carrots in a large mixing bowl.
Stuff the cavity of the turkey with the lemon and half of the vegetable mixture. Place remaining vegetables in the bottom of the roasting pan to act as a base for the turkey.
Rub the outside of the turkey with olive oil and season liberally with the poultry seasoning.
Pour water into the bottom of the roasting pan..
Place in 400 degree oven for 45 minutes, then lower temperature to 325 degrees F.
Continue to cook turkey until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 180 degrees F.
Basting the turkey is not necessary, but will promote even browning.
Protect the breast from browning too much before the thigh is done by loosely covering it with a tent of aluminum foil, if necessary.
Remove bird from oven, and allow to stand for about 30 minutes before carving.


FOOD SAFETY NOTE: People who are members of high risk groups or with challenged immune systems should use care. The test for doneness is the TEMPERATURE of the meat, not the color of the skin. Government food safety guidelines recommend cooking the turkey until the thigh meat temperature reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees F.

Great Music and Great Art For A Greater Cause

Tonic Ball VI

Friday, November 16

8:00 p.m.

It’s on again: Indy’s best night of music and art.

Kick of your holiday season in style at Tonic Ball VI, celebrating the music of The Clash at Radio Radio in Fountain Square… and the music of Madonna next door at the Fountain Square Theatre.

Your $20 ticket gets you into both rooms to enjoy the sound stylings of nearly 30 of the area’s most popular local musical acts!

Radio Radio1119 E. Prospect Street, Indianapolis, IN 46203

Fountain Square Theatre1105 Prospect St Indianapolis, IN 46203

Note: Fountain Square Theatre is an all-ages venue. Under-age tickets may be purchased separately.

Call or email Jennifer Arnold at 632-2662 X. 12, or jennifer@secondhelpings.org.


Tonic Gallery

Friday, November 16

5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Our sister event gets bigger and better every year.

Start your evening in Fountain Square at the Wheeler Arts community, where 70 of Greater Indianapolis’s most talented visual artists will donate their work to raise money for Second Helpings.

It’s free to attend…but come with your checkbook. You’re gonna want to buy art.

Wheeler Arts CommunityHistoric Fountain Square, 1035 Sanders Street #111 Indianapolis, IN 46203

Brain Time, Body Time, or Butt Time?

by Marcia L. Conner

Different times of day are best for learning different sorts of information. Schedule your time to maximize how much, and how efficiently, you learn.

A long-time client and I recently broke up. Our schedules no longer meshed. The primary contact didn't need my help late or on weekends anymore. He increasingly wanted my assistance [gasp] during the day, the middle of the day. I helped his firm occasionally during daylight, but I wouldn't offer him more of those hours regularly.

Aside from a commitment I needed to explore with my young son then, midday is a lousy time to strategize, learn large lessons, think big thoughts, and in general get things done. Whenever I can, I avoid mental lifting between noon and two, and I encourage my clients to do the same.

After years (longer than an infradian clock yet shorter than a lifetime) wondering the scientific reason coworkers and clients struggled to understand new information after lunch, and why I did some of my best work after hours, I found the reason.

Chronobiology, the science of biological clocks within living organisms, proves different times of day are best for different sorts of activities. If you can organize your time, you'd be well served by using your natural rhythms to work smarter.

To assess these rhythms, chronobiologists measure everything from the speed and accuracy with which people multiply numbers, to how quickly they become exhausted from bicycle pedaling, to how adeptly they recognize patterns, grip objects, lift loads and learn at different times.

From their work, I devised a simple model to describe how your body learns best during the day. Dubbed once the Conner Brains-Body-Butt model, I've used this with teachers and trainers to reorient their approach to curriculum and daily planning. Lately, business people, conference planners, and group facilitators have sought this perspective to gain a competitive edge.
Consider using this model to help allocate your hours to get the most from your time.

Brain Time

When your jobs demands you internalize new information, measure it quickly, and make important decisions, morning should be your first choice. If your job depends on generating ideas and then communicating them, morning also reigns. Even if you're not a morning person you're most likely to grasp new concepts and understand complicated details between 9:00 AM and noon when short-term memory and mental activities peak.

These are the hours when reporters can best synthesize complex stories, executives make their finest presentations, and test-takers are most likely to succeed. These are also the hours when an entrepreneur is most likely to sell a concept; more business contracts are sealed over lunch than at any other time.

This is not only because you're mentally firing most effectively -- those you're talking with are at their sharpest too. This makes the morning the best time for meetings, pitches, or classes where you have weighty topics to convey.

Morning time as brain time is almost universally true, independent of age, time zone, season, or your level of wakefulness. Even when I talk with people who characterize themselves as night owls, and who sleep through the morning, they often can describe vivid dreams they had just prior to waking (the result of heightened mental activity).

Use this time to take in all you can through your eyes and your ears. Schedule your most thought-intensive activities and make important decisions. Structure this time to minimize distractions from random events like incoming phone calls or drop in office hours. This is optimal time for intellectual focus.

Once noontime passes, though, so does your mental brilliance. Your cognitive abilities can vary by as much as twenty percent over the course of the day. Lunchtime begins your slide toward the less grounded part of your day. Thankfully, for those who think, talk, and listen for a living, the remainder of the day holds other sorts of potential.

Body Time

As your mental capabilities fade, your physical abilities improve. In the middle of the day, after your body processes a meal (or when it anticipates eating), you're physically strongest and most flexible. Your hands are also steadiest and you work at your swiftest clip. You body even requires less oxygen to do the same activity you huffed and puffed over earlier.

Go into a meeting and you'll likely crave a siesta or just not grasp what's being said. I've seen meetings where even the presenter had a hard time staying awake, pacing nonstop in an intuitive quest to engage the body.

Studies of swimmers, runners, and rowing crews show afternoon and evening improvements in ability by as much as thirty percent. In the gym you can lift heavier weights; if relocating you can move bigger furniture, and this is the time to try opening that stuck window.

Use the time from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM to work with your hands, move things around, and use your strength and adaptability. Spend this time being active, taking information in through movement and touch.

Butt Time


The afternoon lull arrives around 2:30 PM when you're neither quick to think or smooth to move.

Your ability to concentrate and make decisions is at its daily low, accidents rise to their daytime height, and based on your inner clocks, time actually slows.

This is the ideal time to sit, contemplate, and think laterally rather than deep. Although you may feel too tired to learn any more, biologically, you're primed for rumination and reflection.

Use this time to talk with other people, hear different perspectives and integrate into your thoughts how their responses impact your work. Although this is not the time to convince others, it's well suited to convince yourself. If you do, you'll also remember your plan more accurately because while short-term memory is a whiz in the morning, long-term recall improves later in the day.

Late afternoon arrives with a surprise. Around 4:00 PM you get restless and consequently your speed builds up. Athletically you're near your peak; so is your quickness for addition, multiplication, and even counting on your fingers. Because long-term memory improves with the day, too, ask yourself, "How will I use what I learned today?" and "What implications does this mean to my department?" You're more likely to remember your conclusions tomorrow.

Repeat.

Fortunately, once you pass butt time, some of your mental skills begin to click back in. The three stages repeat their sequence during the evening, nighttime, and early morning hours. This explains why you might feel alert and focused long after everyone else has gone to bed and you sleep restlessly around 3:30 AM.

I know an entrepreneur who when she wants to be creative stays up late, and when she wants to motor through her do-list, gets up early.

During the second brain time, thanks to hormone cycles, your senses are at their peak. Taste, smell, hearing and sight are at their most acute. As your temperature peak around 6:30 PM, your vigilance soars. Navy recruits monitored to determine when they could best detect and respond to a faint signal amid noise, are found to turn in their best performances around this time.

During the second body time, you'll experience the best time to play a musical instrument. With senses tuned, orchestras and folk-guitarists alike record their best performances at night.
During the second butt time, when most people are laying down rather than sitting, your temperature drops and your ability to think clearly and react quickly plunges along with your fire.

The time you require to notice warning signals increases, and your reaction time can fall as much as fifty percent below peak performance. If you're up and around, these are the hours when you're prone to have a driving accident. Your skills at driving will be poorest just before dawn even with the radio on, an early night's sleep behind you, chomping gum, and drinking coffee.

External Influence

You don't live in isolation, though. Your rhythms are internal and influenced by your environment. Your body needs regular signals from the outside world to keep you functioning on schedule. Chronobiologists call signals including social activities, food, and light zeitgebers (time givers). They keep your clocks from getting out of sync with the culture around you. With a change in the season, daylight saving's time, and even the type of food you eat, you're making adjustments each day.

Zeitgerbers are most effective when you're young. Early in your career you might even manipulate them and think it insignificant when you override biological cycles to advance. As you get older your rhythms become less flexible so your goals and habits may need to become more flexible.

Learning Time.

When you have control over your daily schedule, make a list of what you need to do, including time to mull over events, and then look at how these activities might fit together with your body’s natural schedule.

Schedule brain intensive tasks early in the day, activities where you can engage your full self mid-day, and then late afternoon, sit and reflect on how much easier it is to work this way.

http://www.fastcompany.com/resources/learning/conner/brain-body-butt-110907.html

Line Six, Sir!

Today, November 11, is Veteran's Day.

The Sentinel's Creed

My dedication to this sacred duty

is total and whole-hearted.

In the responsibility bestowed on me

never will I falter.

And with dignity and perseverance

my standard will remain perfection.

Through the years of diligence and praise

and the discomfort of the elements,

I will walk my tour in humble reverence

to the best of my ability.

It is he who commands the respect I protect,

his bravery that made us so proud.

Surrounded by well meaning crowds by day,

alone in the thoughtful peace of night,

this soldier will in honored glory rest

under my eternal vigilance.

-Simon, 1971

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/11/11/natpkg.tomb.guards.cnn

Huddle for Hunger

Next time you go out to eat, you can eat well AND do good:

The Tie Dye Grill, in partnership with Warren Central High School, is acting as a collection site for Food for Warren Townships' Hungry. Bring in some of those extra canned goods you have in your cupboards and help some local people in need.

We will accept all dry and non perishable food items. Let's show them how a community can work together.

Thank You for you help, and for supporting local Business.

Peace & Love

Shayne & Jan Dye
The Tie Dye Grill
1311 N. Shadeland Ave.
Indianapolis, In. 46219

Star Gazing

Food Network personality Dave Lieberman of Good Deal with Dave Lieberman fame will make an appearance at the Castleton Mall Macy's store Thursday, November 8, 2007 at 6 p.m. With his third book to be released in 2008, Lieberman is no stranger to the kitchen. Just in time for the holidays, he'll offer a cooking demonstration focusing on his style of quick and practical cooking - even for a crowd. Afterwards, join Lieberman for a cookbook signing. RSVP to (800) 835-9718 if you would like to attend. The mall is located at 6020 East 82nd Street in Indianapolis.

Chocolate Has Sweet Effect on Blood Flow

We're going to call this the "Barga Effect":

Chocolate lovers, take heart: A Japanese study finds that flavonoid-rich dark chocolate can improve coronary blood flow.
The study looked at what's known as coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR), an indicator of the ability of the coronary arteries to dilate and allow more blood flow in response to medications.
The two-week trial included 39 healthy adults, average age 29, who ate either 550 milligrams per day of dark chocolate versus white chocolate with no flavonoids.The researchers used Doppler echocardiography to assess CFVR at the start and end of the study. They also measured the participants' blood pressure, blood lipids and two markers of oxidative stress.
Participants who ate dark chocolate showed significantly improved CFVR after two weeks, while those who ate white chocolate showed no change, the study found."Flavonoid-rich dark chocolate intake had acute effects in improving coronary function in healthy adults, as compared to non-flavonoid white chocolate, independent of changes in oxidative stress parameters, blood pressure and lipid profile," wrote the researchers from Chiba University.
However, they noted that difficulties in blinding (preventing participants from knowing which kind of chocolate they were eating) may have affected the results.
The study was to be presented Sunday at the American Heart Association annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.
More information: The Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University has more about flavonoids.
SOURCE: Nov. 4, 2007, presentation, American Heart Association annual meeting, Orlando, Fla.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/04/AR2007110401019.html

Jicama Slaw with Chipotle Dressing

Here's the recipe for the slaw to accompany the crab cakes:
(Serves 8)

1 large jicama, peeled and finely shredded
½ Napa cabbage, finely shredded
2 carrots, finely shredded
1 cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup canned Chipotle peppers in adobo, mashed
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place jicama, cabbage, and carrots in a large bowl.
Whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, chipotles in adobo, and sugar in a medium bowl.
Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Pour the dressing over the jicama mixture and toss to coat well.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Maryland Crab Cakes

By request, here's the recipe for the crab cakes that Second Helpings served at Friday night's Harvest event:

Maryland Crab Cakes
(Makes 8 servings)

2 pounds jumbo lump crab meat
2 large eggs
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning

Pick through crab and remove any shell pieces. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except crab and mix to combine thoroughly.
Add crab and toss GENTLY to prevent breaking up the lumps.
Divide into eight equal portions and shape into one-inch thick patties. Place on an ungreased parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake the crab cakes for 12 - 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Building Community One Individual At A Time

Join me this Thursday night at the John H. Boner Community Center's 2007 Harvest Celebration

Thursday, November 08, 2007 at Marian, Inc. 1011 East Saint Clair Street, Indianapolis, IN.

More than just a fundraising event, the Center’s Harvest Celebration is a celebration for the entire near Eastside of Indianapolis.

Each contribution from this event directly benefits the Center’s programs and services while bringing our neighbors together for a night of fun and festivities!

For more information, visit the Boner Center's website at

http://www.enn.org

What are the odds?

Eleven people were hanging on a rope under a helicopter, ten men and one woman. The rope was not strong enough to carry them all, so they decided that one would have to leave, because otherwise they were all going to fall.

They were not able to name that person, until the woman gave a very touching speech. She said that she would voluntarily let go of the rope, because as a woman she was used to giving up everything for her husband and kids, or for men in general, and was used to always making sacrifices with little in return.

As soon as she finished her speech, all the men started clapping their hands.......

The Oink-less BLT?

It sounds like a sci-fi nightmare: giant sheets of grayish meat grown on factory racks for human consumption. But it's for real. Using pig stem cells, scientists have been growing lab meat for years, and it could be hitting deli counters sooner than you think.

Early attempts produced less-than-enticing results. Then, in 2001, scientists at New York's Touro College won funding from NASA to improve in vitro farming. Hoping to serve something, well, beefier than kelp on moon bases and Mars colonies, the scientists successfully grew goldfish muscle in a nutrient broth. And, in 2003, a group of hungry artists from the University of Western Australia grew kidney bean-size steaks from biopsied frogs and prenatal sheep cells. Cooked in herbs and flambéed for eight brave dinner guests, the slimy frog steaks came attached to small strips of fabric — the growth scaffolding. Half the tasters spit out their historic dinner. (Perhaps more significant, half didn't.)

Today, scientists funded by companies such as Stegeman, a Dutch sausage giant, are fine-tuning the process. It takes just two weeks to turn pig stem cells, or myoblasts, into muscle fibers. "It's a scalable process," says Jason Matheny of New Harvest, a meat substitute research group. "It would take the same amount of time to make a kilogram or a ton of meat." One technical challenge: Muscle tissue that has never been flexed is a gooey mass, unlike the grained texture of meat from an animal that once lived. The solution is to stretch the tissue mechanically, growing cells on a scaffold that expands and contracts. This would allow factories to tone the flaccid flesh with a controlled workout.

Lab-grown meat isn't an easy sell, but there could be benefits. Designer meat would theoretically be free of hormones, antibiotics, and the threat of mad cow disease or bird flu. Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins could be blasted into the mixture (see illustration above) or dispersed through veins. Revolting? You bet, but have you ever visited a sausage factory? Currently costing around $100,000 per kilogram, a choice cut of lab meat makes Kobe beef seem like a bargain. But meat-processing companies hope to start selling affordable factory-grown pork in under a decade. Bon appétit.

Originally posted at:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/4212533.html

Gather Your Friends for Indy's Premier Food and Wine Event!

7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Friday, November 2, 2007
Ritz Charles, 12156 N. Meridian Street

• Taste over 300 wines from around the world• Sample culinary creations by more than a dozen of Indy's top chefs, including chefs from these restaurants and others:

• Adobo Grill• Artist’s Vineyard• D’Vine A Wine Bar•ELEMENTS• Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar• Ivy Tech Culinary School• Just ’Cause Catering• Lulu’s Restaurant & Cocktails• McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant• Melting Pot• OAKLEYS bistro• R bistro• Taste Café & Marketplace

Thanks to our table sponsors:

• AXA Advisors• BOMA• Customer Loyalty Research Center• Mike and Jeannie-Regan Dinius• Capitol Construction• Cathy's Concepts• Marigold • Abrasive Processing & Technologies • Sallie Mae • The Holland Family• Lakeside Building Maintenance• Lewis & Kappes• Mainscape • Baker & Daniels • Hendrick Regional Health • Global Plastics• Bingham McHale• Cindy Kelly & Friends of Second Helpings• Steel Dynamics

• All proceeds benefit Second Helpings.

For ticket information, visit us on the web at:

https://www.secondhelpings.org/harvest/default.asp