Mad props to Ming Tsai, celebrity chef and food allergy awareness advocate. Thanks to him, Massachusetts peeps with food allergies are eating out with more frequency and less stress. Let's hope others follow suit....soon.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Making it Safer to Eat Out
Mad props to Ming Tsai, celebrity chef and food allergy awareness advocate. Thanks to him, Massachusetts peeps with food allergies are eating out with more frequency and less stress. Let's hope others follow suit....soon.
Monday, February 16, 2009
And how was your week?
If you're, er, a human being, you know what it's like to be overwhelmed. Add children to the mix. Add a full-time job that's been working you 60 hours a week for what seems like forever. Add school contracts, figuring out camp, refinancing a home, and about a zillion other things within a one-week window and you have.......
You have a severe drought of Poker Chick posts, for one. What else? Let's see...
Stress
Anger
Irritability
Major sleep deprivation
Scatterbrain
Disorganization
Tantrums (4 year olds don't respond well to too much going on)
A diet of caffeine and alcohol mixed in with french fries and the occasional meal. Hey, a girl's gotta work through it somehow!
Poker Chick is way hotter than this woman (left)
Stress. Life. Chaos. Now, this is not intended to be a rant but a necessary foundation to set to understand the weekend from hell. It was supposed to be the weekend of catchup. It started out well. Poker husband let this girl sleep in (all the way to 9am!! isn't it sad that that really is exciting?) Then she went to pilates, the first formal exercise she's had in months. And probably the first full breath too (thanks, Miranda, trainer extraordinaire!) Then she went to do several hours of work. She was calm. She was productive. It was amazing. All was going according to plan. When the work was done all she had to do was sign the mortgage papers, do 6 weeks' worth of laundry, write 30 thank you notes, and book a trip of Florida. In one afternoon.
You see where we are going with this, don't you?
Yup. It didn't happen. PC came home to more chaos. A washing machine hose broke. Water damage was in the floor, wall, plaster, somehow all the way through into mini's room. Large chunks of paint and plaster were missing next to her bed. And apparently this was also the case in the apartment below as well.
So forget thank you's and papers and catching up on a huge backlog of stuff. Cue schlepping downstairs for laundry and digging through pockets for quarters. Cue back and forth calls from super to insurance company. Cue men lugging 5 or 6 giant machines into PCs apartment for several days to prevent mold. Cue mini now sleeping in PCs room and using her bathroom as hers were unusable. Cue more stress as these machines were louder than plane engines during take-off, and they had to be on 24/7! Cue plumbers and painters and a threatened lawsuit for the neighbors insurance deductible.
And (this really is the absolute worst part for PC), cue cockroaches. Who like the water and came out to play. In her kitchen. And her bathroom. And her medicine cabinet, which she learned only when opening it looking for a Dora band-aid. Cue more calls to the super. Exterminators. Traps. Cue sleepless nights 'cause this girl is a baby when it comes to these things and the dark meant they would come out creeping and crawling.
So, friends and fans. The lesson for you is: if it's been a while since Poker Chick has had something to say, rest assured. There will be an interesting story in it for you soon.
You have a severe drought of Poker Chick posts, for one. What else? Let's see...
Stress
Anger
Irritability
Major sleep deprivation
Scatterbrain
Disorganization
Tantrums (4 year olds don't respond well to too much going on)
A diet of caffeine and alcohol mixed in with french fries and the occasional meal. Hey, a girl's gotta work through it somehow!
Poker Chick is way hotter than this woman (left)Stress. Life. Chaos. Now, this is not intended to be a rant but a necessary foundation to set to understand the weekend from hell. It was supposed to be the weekend of catchup. It started out well. Poker husband let this girl sleep in (all the way to 9am!! isn't it sad that that really is exciting?) Then she went to pilates, the first formal exercise she's had in months. And probably the first full breath too (thanks, Miranda, trainer extraordinaire!) Then she went to do several hours of work. She was calm. She was productive. It was amazing. All was going according to plan. When the work was done all she had to do was sign the mortgage papers, do 6 weeks' worth of laundry, write 30 thank you notes, and book a trip of Florida. In one afternoon.
You see where we are going with this, don't you?
Yup. It didn't happen. PC came home to more chaos. A washing machine hose broke. Water damage was in the floor, wall, plaster, somehow all the way through into mini's room. Large chunks of paint and plaster were missing next to her bed. And apparently this was also the case in the apartment below as well.
So forget thank you's and papers and catching up on a huge backlog of stuff. Cue schlepping downstairs for laundry and digging through pockets for quarters. Cue back and forth calls from super to insurance company. Cue men lugging 5 or 6 giant machines into PCs apartment for several days to prevent mold. Cue mini now sleeping in PCs room and using her bathroom as hers were unusable. Cue more stress as these machines were louder than plane engines during take-off, and they had to be on 24/7! Cue plumbers and painters and a threatened lawsuit for the neighbors insurance deductible.
And (this really is the absolute worst part for PC), cue cockroaches. Who like the water and came out to play. In her kitchen. And her bathroom. And her medicine cabinet, which she learned only when opening it looking for a Dora band-aid. Cue more calls to the super. Exterminators. Traps. Cue sleepless nights 'cause this girl is a baby when it comes to these things and the dark meant they would come out creeping and crawling.
So, friends and fans. The lesson for you is: if it's been a while since Poker Chick has had something to say, rest assured. There will be an interesting story in it for you soon.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Bohemian Glam
Shoutouts. Poker Chick has lots of shoutouts to make. Necklaces, roses, dinner, shows, good wishes, surprise cupcakes. The amazing combination of good friends, polenta fries, Veuve Clicquot...and a babysitter. All of you know who you are and we love you and thank you.
No, we're not talking about Valentine's Day, peeps. That is a holiday that is contrived and disingenuous and cheesy. Poker Chick has always looked upon Valentine's day with disdain and if you want to know more we encourage you to read this post or you can read this post. We're talking about a holiday none other than our very own girl's birthday. And, for once in long while, she's engaging in some shameless enjoyment of it.
But seriously, to everyone who remembered, thanks and you rock. And to everyone who's confused, we'll post something for you soon too, so don't hurt your head trying to make sense of this post title. Poker Chick readers are pretty awesome and loyal so in the meantime we're going to throw in a shoutout of gratitude to you too.
Finally, another shoutout (boy, are we keeping them in business) to Sephora, where the cashier smiled at PC, said "Happy Birthday", and proceeded to give her free lip gloss. Three of them. Sweet!
OK, 3...2....1....lovefest officially over. Your usual Poker Chick is back :)
No, we're not talking about Valentine's Day, peeps. That is a holiday that is contrived and disingenuous and cheesy. Poker Chick has always looked upon Valentine's day with disdain and if you want to know more we encourage you to read this post or you can read this post. We're talking about a holiday none other than our very own girl's birthday. And, for once in long while, she's engaging in some shameless enjoyment of it.
But seriously, to everyone who remembered, thanks and you rock. And to everyone who's confused, we'll post something for you soon too, so don't hurt your head trying to make sense of this post title. Poker Chick readers are pretty awesome and loyal so in the meantime we're going to throw in a shoutout of gratitude to you too.
Finally, another shoutout (boy, are we keeping them in business) to Sephora, where the cashier smiled at PC, said "Happy Birthday", and proceeded to give her free lip gloss. Three of them. Sweet!
OK, 3...2....1....lovefest officially over. Your usual Poker Chick is back :)
Monday, February 9, 2009
Live From Hell It's A Poker Chick Update!
Poker Chick has been a little behind on posting. There is an explanation, and she'll post pictures of proof. But all we have to say is look up the word "industrial strength dehumidifier", add in a little insurance, a superintendent, and a 'neighborly' coop lawsuit, and you'll begin to understand what the last few days have been like.More to come, we promise.
A little more, as promised, picture of industrial dehumidifier (right).
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Wake Up And Smell the Fenugreek Seeds!!
Poker Chick is not sure which is more upsetting, the fact that this is national news, or the fact that it was on the front page of CNN.com. Regardless, it's still kind of funny. And it's not even satire.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The source of a mysterious maple syrup-like smell that has periodically blanketed New York is not a particularly aromatic pancake house but a New Jersey factory involved in the processing of fenugreek seeds, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Thursday.
The source of New York's sweet-smelling aroma has been identified as a food-flavoring firm in New Jersey.
The sweet aroma first descended upon Manhattan and northern New Jersey in October 2005, initially triggering several building evacuations as well as concern the scent was physically harmful. Authorities from the Office of Emergency Management soon concluded it posed no danger to the public.
The odor made several return appearances in subsequent years, each time confounding nostrils before vanishing as perplexingly as it arrived.
Comparing information about local wind speed, wind direction and air humidity against the locations of citizen complaints about the smell, officials from the city's Department of Environmental Protection narrowed down the potential source to four factories in northern New Jersey that produce food additives and fragrances.
Last week, when several dozen residents of Upper Manhattan called to complain about the smell, the environmental department, having developed a new evidence gathering procedure, gathered air samples from each suspected source in canisters. Tests revealed the pungent perpetrator of that incident was a Hudson County facility owned by Frutorom, a company that develops and manufactures flavors for the food, fragrance and pharmaceutical industries.
The specific chemical agents responsible for the scent are esters, compounds "created by the reaction between an alcohol and an acid" during the processing of fenugreek seeds, according to Bloomberg.
Toasted fenugreek seeds are often used in the production of artificial syrups and in the cuisines of a number of cultures.
The mayor said New Jersey officials, who cooperated with New York in the investigation, had concluded that Frutorom had not violated any rules. He said New Yorkers will have to tolerate the syrup smell's occasional return, noting that it's a relatively benign odor.
"All things considered I can think of a lot of things worse than maple syrup," he said.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The source of a mysterious maple syrup-like smell that has periodically blanketed New York is not a particularly aromatic pancake house but a New Jersey factory involved in the processing of fenugreek seeds, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Thursday.
The source of New York's sweet-smelling aroma has been identified as a food-flavoring firm in New Jersey.
The sweet aroma first descended upon Manhattan and northern New Jersey in October 2005, initially triggering several building evacuations as well as concern the scent was physically harmful. Authorities from the Office of Emergency Management soon concluded it posed no danger to the public.
The odor made several return appearances in subsequent years, each time confounding nostrils before vanishing as perplexingly as it arrived.
Comparing information about local wind speed, wind direction and air humidity against the locations of citizen complaints about the smell, officials from the city's Department of Environmental Protection narrowed down the potential source to four factories in northern New Jersey that produce food additives and fragrances.
Last week, when several dozen residents of Upper Manhattan called to complain about the smell, the environmental department, having developed a new evidence gathering procedure, gathered air samples from each suspected source in canisters. Tests revealed the pungent perpetrator of that incident was a Hudson County facility owned by Frutorom, a company that develops and manufactures flavors for the food, fragrance and pharmaceutical industries.
The specific chemical agents responsible for the scent are esters, compounds "created by the reaction between an alcohol and an acid" during the processing of fenugreek seeds, according to Bloomberg.
Toasted fenugreek seeds are often used in the production of artificial syrups and in the cuisines of a number of cultures.
The mayor said New Jersey officials, who cooperated with New York in the investigation, had concluded that Frutorom had not violated any rules. He said New Yorkers will have to tolerate the syrup smell's occasional return, noting that it's a relatively benign odor.
"All things considered I can think of a lot of things worse than maple syrup," he said.
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