Friday, May 11, 2012

Mothers Day Made Sweeter with Beer + Chocolate

Beer + Chocolate for Mothers Day,  May 13, 2012  ~  a great way to kickoff  Craft Beer Week (May 14-20).

Give Mom (or any woman in your life)  the gift of beer made with chocolate, or chocolate made with beer for Mothers Day-- in a bottle or can, in a chocolate bar, truffle, marshmallow, brittle, cupcake, or a pint of ice cream or gelato. There are so many ways to enjoy beer + chocolate, and Mom will thank you for having such great taste, and for thinking of her on Mothers Day.

I've blogged about chocolates made with and paired with beer from Vosges Haut Chocolate in Chicago,  Capogiro Gelato in Philadelphia,  truffle truffle in Chicago, Socola Chocolates in Oakland.  Best of all, these all happen to be women-owned business who have embraced craft beer, and use it as an ingredient!

The new Vosges Smoke + Stout chocolate bar is amazing.  You bet I am biased since Katrina choose to use "my" beer,  but this really is good and a delicious gift to give and receive.

In celebration of Mothers Day and Craft Beer Week, I want to share this quote for the day, posted on Oct 5 1995 in the Bacchus Wine/Beer forum on Compuserve.  I came across an old file of notes and emails on Women in Brewing.  The message below is from  a 1994 article in the Beer & Tavern Chronicle that Alan Eames wrote.  "Beer is a woman's occupation. Beer is a woman's power base. It is the basis for all political organizational power women have had and enjoyed. Women maintain power and status in a male-dominated society by their skills as brewsters. They continue to do so in non-technologoical societies today." 


Today on WHYY Radio Times author Liza Mundy was interviewed about her new book TheRicher Sex.     Here are 3 soundbytes:   71% of women are in the workforce.  40% earn more than their husbands (compared to 23% when the government started tracking incomes for married working couples).  Women under 30 with no children earn more than Men under 30.

Open a bottle of craft beer brewed by a women or with a woman on the label, indulge in gelato, chocolate or other confections made by a women, visit a restaurant with a women chef in the kitchen (and let your server know you are there to patronize them because there is a women in the kitchen!) and toast the successes and future of the women in your life, on Mothers Day and Every Day!   

 Prost!

  

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Knives! Camera! Action! 2012 CityMeals-on-Wheels Chefs Tribute June 4th



On June 4, 2012  CityMeals-on-Wheels'  27th annual Chefs'  Tribute will descend upon  Rockefeller Center. This gala is one of my favorite fundraisers of the year and for a very worthy cause. I will be pouring a selection of Rogue Ales and Elysian Brewing's beers.    

Here is the inside scoop from CityMeals website:

In 1985, Chefs Larry Forgione and Jonathan Waxman went to Citymeals Co-founder Gael Greene with the idea of celebrating the life of James Beard and his love of cooking, all for the benefit of Citymeals-on-Wheels. As Gael remembers, "The first 'American Chefs and Winemakers' al fresco feast was planned to celebrate Jim's 82nd birthday. When he passed away a few months prior to the event, the gala salute to America's harvest and American talent became our tribute to him."

For the last twenty-six years, the Chefs' Tribute to Citymeals-on-Wheels has kicked off the summer season in New York City with a celebration that feeds both the body and the soul. Last year, over 1,000 guests gathered in Rockefeller Center and raised over $782,000, enough to provide 121,800 meals for our city’s frail aged neighbors.

This year, renowned chefs will gather in Rockefeller Center to celebrate food and film by creating dishes inspired by their favorite movies.  Chefs' Tribute 2012: Knives! Camera! Action!  brings the favorite movies of gourmet chefs to life with unique tasting menus from some of the most exclusive restaurants in the world. Below is a list of all the chefs who are taking part in this glamour

--Rick Bayless, Frontera Grill, Chicago
http://www.rickbayless.com

-- Jonathan Benno & Richard Capizzi, Lincoln Restorante, New York
http://www.lincolnristorante.com

-- Richard Blais, The Spence, Atlanta
Press coverage of "The Spence"

-- April Bloomfield, Spotted Pig/The Breslin, New York
http://thebreslin.com
http://www.thespottedpig.com

-- Daniel Boulud & Gavin Kaysen, Café Boulud, New York
http://danielnyc.com/cafebouludNY.html

-- Juan Branez, Cucina & Co., New York
http://www.patinagroup.com/restaurant.php

-- David Burke, David Burke Townhouse, New York
http://www.davidburketownhouse.com/

-- Andrew Carmellini, The Dutch/Locanda Verde, New York
http://andrewcarmellini.com/locanda-verde/
http://andrewcarmellini.com/the-dutch/

-- Cesare Casella, Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto, New York
http://www.salumeriarosi.com/

-- Michael Cimarusti, Providence, Los Angeles
http://www.providencela.com/

–- Scott Conant, Scarpetta, New York/Los Angeles/Las Vegas
http://www.scottconant.com/restaurants/scarpetta/new-york

-- John DeLucie, Crown/The Lion, New York
http://www.crown81.com/
http://www.thelionnyc.com/index.php

-- Chris DeLuna, La Fonda del Sol, New York
http://www.patinagroup.com/restaurant.php?restaurants_id=19

-- Luc Dimnet, Brasserie, New York
http://www.patinagroup.com/restaurant.php?restaurants_id=55

-- Ben Ford, Ford's Filling Station, Culver City, CA
http://www.fordsfillingstation.net/

-- Larry Forgione, Conservatory for American Food Studies, St. Helena, CA

-- Marc Forgione, Marc Forgione, New York
http://www.marcforgione.com/

-- Yuhi Fujinaga & Michael Gabriel, The Sea Grill, New York
http://www.patinagroup.com/restaurant.php?restaurants_id=31

-- Duff Goldman, Charm City Cakes/Charm City Cakes West, Baltimore
http://charmcitycakes.com/
http://charmcitycakeswest.com/

-- Rick Moonen, RM Seafood, Las Vegas
http://www.rmseafood.com/

-- Marco Moreira, Tocqueville, New York 
http://tocquevillerestaurant.com/

-- David Myers, Comme Ça, Los Angeles
http://www.commecarestaurant.com/

-- François Payard, François Payard Bakery, New York
http://www.fpbnyc.com/

-- Alex Pilas, Eataly, New York
http://eatalyny.com/

-- Alfred Portale, Gotham Bar and Grill, New York
http://www.gothambarandgrill.com/

-- Pierre Poulin, Aureole, New York
http://www.charliepalmer.com/properties/aureole/ny/

-- Antonio Prontelli, Rock Center Café, New York
http://www.patinagroup.com/restaurant.php?restaurants_id=18

-- Andrea Reusing, Lantern, Chapel Hill, NC
http://lanternrestaurant.com/

-- Eric Ripert, Le Bernardin, New York
http://www.le-bernardin.com/

-- Missy Robbins, A VOCE, New York
http://avocerestaurant.com/avoce_columbus.html#/home/

-- Marcus Samuelsson, Red Rooster, New York
http://redroosterharlem.com/

-- Mindy Segal, Hot Chocolate, Chicago
http://www.hotchocolatechicago.com

- Nancy Silverton, Mozza, Los Angeles
http://www.mozzarestaurantgroup.com

-- Joachim Splichal, Patina, Los Angeles
http://www.patinarestaurant.com

 -- Bill Telepan, Telepan, New York
http://www.telepan-ny.com/welcome-to-telepan

-- Toshio Tomita, Nobu New York, New York
http://www.noburestaurants.com

-- Jacques Torres, Jacques Torres Chocolate, New York
http://www.mrchocolate.com

-- Rich Torrisi, Torrisi Italian Specialties/Parm, New York
http://www.torrisinyc.com/
http://parmnyc.com/

-- Laurent Tourondel, BLT American Brasserie, New York 
http://bltamericanbrasserie.com

-- Silvana Vivoli, Gelateria Vivoli, Florence
http://www.vivoli.it

-- Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Jean Georges, New York
http://www.jean-georges.com

-- Jonathan Waxman, Barbuto, New York
http://www.barbutonyc.com

-- Bill Yosses, Washington, D.C.

TEDxDrexelU: Why Not Add Chocolate to Beer


Why Not....  is the theme for TEDxDrexelU on May 16, 2012.   I was invited to participate and immediately thought Why Not Add Chocolate to Beer.  

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to “Ideas worth Spreading.” It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, & Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. 

TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience (Ideas worth sharing). At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.  

The outline of my TEDx talk:   Beer is one of the building blocks of civilization that spans across many continents and cultures. Created from grains that were cultivated and steeped, the first evidence of beer dates to the Neolithic (7000 BC). Join me as we fast forward 9000 years and explore the art of brewing and the state of the beer industry in the 20th and 21st century. Theobrama cacao (aka chocolate) also plays a significant role in civilization. Discovered in the New World when Montezuma introduced Cortes to xocolatl almost 500 years ago, today chocolate is consumed around the world, and is also an ingredient and flavor used in craft brewing. 

Here is the list of  TEDxDrexelU speakers and their Ideas Worth Spreading:

  1. Tyler Hartung:  Co-Founder and VP of Finance and Operations at The Unreasonable InstituteWhy Not quit your job and become a server?  
  2. Nick Anselmo: Director of Theather at Drexel University Why Not engage in the dynamic world of theater? 
  3. Carla Diana: Associate Director of Interaction Design at Smart Design,  Bringing Objects to Life through Form, Code and Electronics 
  4. Bill Moggridge: Director at Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design MuseumWhy Not change the world with design thinking? 
  5. Sebbie Buhler:  Beer Craft Adventurist,  Why Not add chocolate to beer? 
  6. Robb Armstrong: Cartoonist at GoComics.comWhy Not go to work in your underwear like me? 
  7. Brian Robertson:  Co-Founder at HolacracyOne,   Why Not ditch bosses and distribute power? 
  8. Chelsea Briganti, Leigh Ann Tucker, Monica Bhatia and Ingrid Zweifel: From The Way We See The World, Why Not make the world the way you see it? 
  9. Dan Formosa:  Ph.DConsultant in Design,  Why Not admit there is a problem with math and music? (or why Pythagoras would have liked the cats in Nashville) 
  10. Marek Swoboda: Biomedical Researcher at Drexel UniversityDemocracy in science and technology. Why Not? 
  11. Jason Ingle:  Executive Director at Greener PartnersWhy Not fix our food system? 
  12. Russell Meddin:   Founder of Bike Share Philadelphia, Why Not bring Public Use Bicycling, bike-sharing, to Philadelphia? 
  13. Patrick McDonald:  Founding Partner of Onion Flats LLC, Jack 
  14. John Anderson Fry.  President of Drexel University Guest of Honor  

Tickets for TEDxDrexelU are available online. Follow these links for more details, posted on the  facebook page,  at the website TEDxDrexelU.com  and on the TEDxDrexelU blog.

Join me for the journey to TEDxDrexelU!