To try and stay fair on this issue, I contacted the Michigan Restaurant Association for their opinion on yesterday’s passage of HB 4163. Vice President of Public Affairs Andy Delony gave me this statement.
The MRA continues to oppose legislation which would take away the ability for restaurant and tavern operators to decide for themselves the kinds of dining environments they may offer to their guests. We were surprised and disappointed with the activity of the state Senate on Thursday.
Just a reminder, tomorrow (May 10) is the Stamp Out Hunger food drive. Put your non-perishable food next to your mailbox and the post man will pick them up when they deliver your mail
The Lansing City Pulse has released their Best of Greater Lansing. The reader’s have voted on everything from best burger to best pawn shop. The one place that popped up a lot in the list was Bonnie’s Place in Lansing. They won for best burger, weeknight hangout, place to play pool, for 20-somethings’s, place to be seen, happy hour, wi-fi spot, bar food, family restaurant, fries, chili, appetizer’s, cocktails, chef, atmosphere, best looking bartender’s/waitstaff, waitstaff, and public bathroom.
I’ve passed by Bonnie’s a few times, but haven’t been there yet. It’s now on the short list.
Check out the rest of City Pulse’s Best of….. by clicking on this link
From the USPS….
2007 Annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive collects over 70 million pounds of food!
Letter carriers in more than 10,000 cities and towns across America are asked yearly to collect non-perishable food items donated by customers for the annual National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Food Drive—the largest annual one-day food drive in the nation. Postal employees in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands collect food and deliver it to local community food banks, pantries and shelters.
An estimated 35 million people face hunger every day in America, including more than 9 million children. This drive is one way to help those right in their own city or town who need help.
Entering its 16th year, long-time supporters of the drive include the U.S. Postal Service, Campbell Soup Company, America’s Second Harvest, local United Ways, Cox Target Media and the AFL-CIO Community Services Network. Since 1993, the “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive has collected over three-quarters of a billion pounds of food for community food banks and pantries. A welcome addition to this year’s food drive is a new, “official” logo, which incorporates the name of the union and also the “Stamp Out Hunger” slogan.
In 2007, more than 119 million postcards were mailed to customers in towns and cities throughout America letting them know how they could help. Each year, customers are asked to place non-perishable food items next to their mailbox before their letter carrier delivers the mail on the day of the drive. The letter carrier does the rest, taking the food to the Post Office where it is sorted and delivered to an area food bank or pantry. Postal customers of some New York City and Chicago areas where there is no mailbox collection of donations are asked to take their contributions to their local participating Post Office but will have an option of virtual Internet food drives to assist with collections for local food banks.
This year’s drive will be held on its traditional second Saturday of May, May 10, 2008.
Help the U.S. Postal Service Stamp Out Hunger!
I’ve been tough on the Lansing City Market recently on this blog, but WLNS ran a story over the weekend on how more people are shopping at the market due to high grocery prices.
Nancy Tucker, Lansing City Market Shopper: “Well gosh, i just bought some potatoes and a cucumber and he gave me the price and I thought he didn’t add the cucumber in because it was less than I was expecting.”
Cheaper, because she’s used to paying grocery store prices.
And with those prices on the rise, vendors here expect more people will be turning to local markets for their summer produce.
Lee Purdy, Lansing City Market Vendor: “Everytime there’s a transaction takes place somebody has to make some money. So if I sell it myself and I produce it myself I can sell it at a lower price.”
My girlfriend and I have been doing about 95% of our shopping at Horrock’s. The first time we went in that store, we were shocked by the low prices. I’ve always made fun of the “hippies” that shop at farmer’s markets, but I’m quickly becoming one of those. The food is just so much fresher and it’s hard to argue with the prices. Before moving here, we did about 95% of our shopping at Wal-Mart because it was right across the street. Now, the only reason we go to Wal-Mart is because they’re the only one that carries the flavor of Propel that I like….and we’ve only been there twice in six weeks.
It’s always good to hear news of new restaurants opening in Mid-Michigan, but really good news on the LSJ’s website today. According to an update story, Small Planet is going to re-open in Chandler Crossing.
Former owner Vaughn Schneider will act as the general manager while his daughter Natalie Schneider takes over ownership.
They already have a liquor license and they’re working to renovate the space. Inside, there’s a concrete bar, and a spot for a large-rounded stage.
The old Small Planet attracted the likes of Kid Rock, The Verve Pipe and Weezer. Natalie Schneider hopes to attract the same type of acts.
If they can get Kid Rock, I will definately be there. According to the article, they plan to offer a full menu and catering in addition to be a live music venue and bar.
ugh….this article was in the Lansing State Journal today.
Americans might be getting another helping of food inflation, and it seems likely to come from higher prices for chicken and pork.
Overall food inflation could double this year, lifted by the rising costs of fuel, corn and soybeans, some analysts predict.
Food inflation hit 4 percent last year, up from 2.4 percent in 2006. While beef prices were already high, chicken and pork prices didn’t reflect record costs for feed and fuel. That’s poised to change as chicken and pig producers who have been losing money slaughter more animals to decrease the supply and raise the prices they can charge.
UGH! Again, this is pretty much do to the Ethanol myth. Guess what?! ETHANOL IS NOT A VIABLE ENERGY SOURCE! All these E-85 vehicles have been a huge waste of money. A 2006 University of Minnesota Study concluded that even if we used every available piece of farm land to produce ethanol for fuel it would only meet 12% of energy demand. 12%!!! Does that sound like a good investment to you?
My dad owns farmland in Illinois. He made a lot more money last year off his crops than in year’s past so it’s hard for me to be critical of a cash cow for my family, but this is ridiculous. Everyday we’re seeing higher food prices because politicians and the media are telling America that ethanol is the solution to ween us of Middle Eastern oil. I don’t have a good solution to higher gas prices, but I know ethanol is NOT what we need. Gas prices are high enough, we don’t need food prices getting higher because of an idea that is nothing more than a fad.
Today was the final day to donate to ABC 3’s Big Give. The project was a spin off of Oprah’s Big Give who donated $10,000 to the Greater Lansing Food Bank for milk vouchers. Tonight on ABC 3 News at 6, they ran a story on some grade school kids at Donley Elementary School in East Lansing who raised money for the cause.
Oprah’s give inspired school kids to collect money to help others and today that money was collected.
“We need each other and I think it’s important to teach children to give back and to pay it forward and just to take care of people in their own community. Teach them young that what we have we need to share” said an unidentified woman at Donley Elementary.
Tomorrow, there will be a press conference at Bethleham Lutheran Church where representatives from Oprah’s Big Give will officially hand over a $10,000 check. More on that story tomorrow……
I love regional food. I love that each city has it’s own trademark. There are some things I miss now that I live in Michigan. I get cravings Giordanno’s stuffed pizza every now and then. There are places that claim to be “Chicago Style” pizzerias, but none of them are. A deep dish pizza is not Chicago Style. It’s the stuffed deep dish that makes it Chicago style.
While living in Central Illinois, I was introduced to the Horseshoe sandwich. Man, do I really miss these. A typical horseshoe took two pieces of toasted Texas toast laid out on a plate. On top of that would be two hamburger patties. On top of that, would be french fries and the whole thing was smothered in a cheddar cheese sauce. There are variations on the concept. Really, you can use any meat. Most menus offer ham, turkey, pork, or chicken in place of the hamburger. They also usually offer smaller sandwiches called Pony Shoes. Recently, Charlie Parker’s was featured on the Food Network show Diner’s, Drive-Ins and Dives where they showed off a Breakfast shoe. They replaced the traditional ingredients with sausage patties, hash browns and gravy.
I really miss yelling at people when they put ketchup on a Chicago Style Hotdog…..big no-no. I haven’t been able to find a real Italian Beef sandwich around here either. You never realize just how regional food can be until you move.
So with all that said, I keep seeing “Coney Island” restaurants around here. Of course, that piqued my interest and I had to figure out what was going on. Another blogger really caught my attetnion with this post.
It’s been quite some time since I’d had the competing Detroit-style coney with its chili sauce. This sauce is wetter than that of the Flint-style sauce and seems to be quite a bit milder. However, no one else in the house had ever had the Detroit-style coney, a situation I felt needed to be rectified. So when I realized GFS Marketplace stores are now offering a package of the Detroit-style sauce, I decided my family needed to see what it was like.
Wait! There are different styles of Coney Dogs? This is something that’s unique to Detroit? I’m not a real big hot dog guy, but just the fact that this is something unique to this area is enough to make me suck it up for one dog just so I can say I did. Road trip to Detroit!
So what else does Mid-Michigan have to offer as far as unique food goes? Anything else I shoud be looking forward to?
Matt Cozza and Erika Warren from Chicago took the top prize in Heinz’s Top This 2 TV challenge. The challenge was to make a commercial for Heinz Ketchup. According to the Jackson Citizen Patriot, Cozza drew on experience at a Benton Harbor restaurant to make the commercial.
In the ad, a couple is seated at a table without a ketchup bottle. They look around the restaurant anxiously as other customers pour ketchup on their food and hoard their bottles. Finally a waiter brings a bottle, and the text, “Now we can eat,” appears on the screen.
For the effort, Cozza and his girlfriend Erika Warren (who is a Jackson native) recieved a $57,000 grand prize and their commercial will be played on Food Network, Fine Living Television, and on closed-circuit TV’s at Six Flags.
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