One of the pleasures of moving to a new place includes making new friends. I will say that for both Keith and myself this has been no easy task. However, the friends we have made are genuine and will always hold special places in our hearts.
One great friend I have made is Lisa Moss. She is a hard working co-worker who has an amazing, beautiful, life-loving family. Only one hitch; their 5 year-old son Evan has been suffering from seizures since he was an infant. After just getting to know Lisa, I watched her whole family go through the terrifying process of brain surgery to give Evan a life that is seizure free. No parent or child should EVER have to endure this.
Taking lemons and making lemonade, Lisa and her husband Rob created SeizureTracker.com. This FREE website is designed for those living with seizures a way to log their activity and provide detailed info to their doctors. Born from her son's battle with seizures, and launched from the waiting room of his brain surgery, this site is a much needed help to the 2.5 million people in the US currently affected by epilepsy.
American Express, iVillage & NBC Universal have started the "Shine A Light" spotlight award. This award is to recognize and spotlight local businesses who are inspiring. This is the real Main Street being highlighted with this contest, of which the winner will receive $100,000. SeizureTracker is a nominee for this award and I can't stress enough how much this would help the development of the site, of which Lisa and Rob completely pay for out of their pockets.
As great as Seizure Tracker is, they need your help! In order to even be considered to move onto the next round, Seizure Tracker needs a certain amount of votes. PLUS, THERE ARE ONLY 5 DAYS LEFT TO VOTE!!! Follow these simple steps to make a real difference:
1) Register - Click on the link below and then click on the blue hyperlink that says "register" on the resulting page. I have signed up with my real info and haven't been spammed. http://shinealight.ivillage.com/learn-more/
2) Vote - http://shinealight.ivillage.com/sbo-profile/?ProfileID=3513 After you register, click on this link here (SeizureTracker's profile for Shine A Light) and click on the blue box that says "Support this story, ENDORSE NOW" at the very top left of the page just below Seizure Tracker LLC. It will say something like your endorsement has been recorded.
3) Forward This To Your Friends & Family - If you know anyone affected by seizures or who is willing to help Seizure Tracker in its efforts to provide free help for those living with epilepsy, forward this on and urge them to vote.
By doing this, know you are making a difference in many lives. Thank you!
I love food for many reasons. Influences from my childhood range from my Dad's soupy-soup, my Mom's chicken and wine sauce, Nonny's cream puffs and Grandma's tamales.
Equally important were the culinary lessons I learned at my best friend (who I met in Kindergarten) PJ's house growing up together. We were the original frick-and-frack. Found one? The other wasn't far behind. This meant endless meals together, most cooked by her and her mom. These were lessons that inspired me to get to know Vietnamese cuisine a bit better and write about it.
Here is yet another lengthy C-School paper for your enjoyment.
Ready for yet another foodie travel show? If it stars the eponymous Ruth Reichl we certainly are. According to Mediaweek, Gourmet Magazine has our beloved Editor-in-Chief jet setting between international culinary schools with film and television stars happily tasting and reacting along the way. Coming along for the ride is American Airlines who is spending beaucoup bucks for signage, 30-second spots, magazine ads, website road blocks and corporate sponsorship of the Gourmet Institute Cooking School.
Every chef has a chef they truly love and admire. I am no different. Before culinary school I knew very little of the iconic Chef Paul Prudhomme. I had passed his spices in the local grocery store, but had no idea that his upbringing, background and influences led him to uphold a higher culinary standard to this day.
In all my travels to New Orleans, I have yet to experience K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen. For this reason, I am itching to get back to the N.O. to experience what freezer-less cuisine can offer. If you can't make it to the Big Easy, head to your spice aisle and pick up any one of Chef Prudhomme's Magic Seasoning Blends. Each one is outstanding, just like Chef.
Below is a project that a couple of classmates and I put together for our Organizational Psychology class about Chef Paul Prudhomme. See if you don't feel the same after reading.
There's no doubt that I'm a HUGE fan of Ruch Reichl. This former LA Times and New York Times food critic, and current EIC at Gourmet is a heroine in her own right. She's got a kick ass palate and a sincere love of food that shines through brightly. I'm not ashamed to admit that she's the reason I subscribe to Gourmet (although I probably should be). As you can tell, I'm a bit of a stalker fan.
I got the chance to see her speak at the LA Public Library while I was in culinary school and have been hooked ever since. Here is an article I wrote about that Ruth Reichl speaking engagement which first published in the CSCA Newsletter. Hope they don't mind if I publish it again.
Every foodie needs her fab electronics to keep it all straight. I absolutely LOVE my iPhone and would never trade it for the world. I can blog from it (as you early readers can tell from my unedited posting earlier), check my account balances, tweet my heart out, play Mafia Wars, preview a restaurant at Yelp before giving it a shot and keep a gratitude journal all in one place.
The first loss was somewhere along the 28 here in glorious Virginia. The most recent iPhone travesty was closer to home. She found it 12 hours later laying in the street, a shell of it's former self.
I had the chance to see the mess up close. I've got to tell you, it's quite a sight. The shattered display was mesmerizing. I even kept pushing the central home button, hoping there was some Apple magic to bring it back to life. To no avail.
(Doesn't the new update come out in a month?) Hopefully for my sweet iPhone-killing friend, the third time will be the charm.
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