Winners Dinner Thursday Night

 
We really enjoyed the Thai and Vietnamese Fine Dining Meal for the raffle ticket winners! The menu was excellent: Chicken Pho Soup
Grilled Sea Bass
Steamed Veggies/Salad
Thai Rice with Spicy Sauce
Bananas Deep Fried Tortillas with Vanilla Sauce

Wow, what a meal! Thanks to Chef Michael Sullivan for the wonderful food and Catering Director Wolcott Fary for the fine dining service!

Earth Day 2010










This 40th annual event was an opportunity to build a healthy, clean energy economy now — and for the future.
There were one billion people in 190 countries who took action for Earth Day.
According to earthday.org, here are what some people across the globe do nearly every day to help our environment.
• “I never throw clean water down the drain. It goes into a bucket to be used for watering plants or filling the kettle.”

• “I am trying to eat only seasonal home-grown vegetables and recycling as much as possible.”

• “I'm using environment-friendly cosmetics for my daughter.”

• “I am encouraging all my friends to recycle by starting a “how green is your bin” promotion. I am also shopping at charity shops and not buying new to reduce the demand for production.”

• “I use stair cases to reach my home on the fifth floor of my apartment, which keeps me fit, reduces electrical consumption and contributes to the reduction of carbon emission.”

While some of these actions may seem extreme, they are the start of what may become commonplace in the future — if we don’t act right now.

Everybody needs to do their part.

National Lima Bean Day

Today is the day of the LIMA BEAN or BUTTER BEAN or MADAGASCAR BEAN
Among the most popular shell beans in the U.S., these smooth, flat shaped, sweet-tasting beans have a rich, starchy, meaty texture and a creamy, distinctive flavor. Lima beans are nutrient-dense and their richness generates feelings of satiety. Often referred to in some southern states as “butter beans,” lima beans date back to around 5000 B.C.E. along the coastal regions of South America; they are believed to have originated in Guatemala and Southern Mexico and are called lima after Lima, Peru, where they were discovered by the Spanish in the 1500s. Spanish explorers brought the lima bean to Europe, where it thrived in the temperate climate; the slave trade brought it to Africa. where it became one of the most vital beans on the continent.

Fresh varieties of lima bean sold in their pods can sometimes be found in local markets. Before European settlers reached the Americas, a type of bean believed to be similar to the lima bean was grown by Native Americans in the southwestern and East Coast regions of the U.S. These beans were commonly inter-cropped by Native Americans with corn; hence, the origin of succotash, a side dish that combines lima beans and corn. Limas are also used in casseroles, soups and salads.

Lima beans were traded along routes that led into North America; eventually they were carried to Europe, Asia, and Africa. Early explorers stored dry lima beans for long periods on their ships, recognizing that they were a nutritious and highly concentrated food source. In fact, lima beans are a good source of B vitamins (vitamin B6, niacin, folate), protein (including the important amino acid lysine), fiber (especially soluble fiber in the form of pectin), iron, potassium, and magnesium; and they have very little fat. Studies suggest that intake of beans can help to lower LDL cholesterol levels, probably due to their soluble fiber content. Lima beans also contain the phytochemicals coumestrol and saponin, compounds that may impart anticancer benefits.

One of the most widely available beans, lima beans come in two sizes: large, flat lima beans (the Giant Peruvian Lima, Phaseolus limensis), also called the butter bean, cape pea, curry bean, lab bean, Fordhook, Madagascar bean or Pole Bean. The other is the baby lima or baby butter bean, which is not a young lima bean but a smaller, milder-tasting variety. Both are sold frozen as well as dried and canned. Beyond Fordhooks and baby limas, there is wide variety of seed sizes, shapes and color combinations among lima beans (see the Christmas lima photo at right), but they are less available. Baby lima beans are less starchy than the larger Peruvian/Fordhook variety. Generally, the greener the thinner bean, the better the texture and flavor.
Giant Peruvian lima beans available at Amazon.com.
Christmas lima beans available at Amazon.com.
Baby butter beans available at Amazon.com.

Tonight's Spring Roll Fling

Spring Roll Fling
Come tonight to the Bison Cafe to learn to make your own Spring Roll! You can roll it, choose your ingredients, everything! It's great learning fun!
What I love about these rolls is that you can improvise and use lots of different things in the filling. Granted, this practice might compromise their authenticity, but unless you’re having a Vietnamese guest for lunch, no harm done. Keep in mind that you can have too much of a good thing: avoid using 6 different veggies, two types of meat, 5 herbs, and a smear of peanut butter inside. These rolls are supposed to be delicate, fresh, and light. Perfect for the warm weather that is certainly peeking at us (fingers crossed).

Easter, which celebrates Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead, is Christianity's most important holiday. It has been called a moveable feast because it doesn't fall on a set date every year, as most holidays do. Instead, Christian churches in the West celebrate Easter on the first Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox on March 21. Therefore, Easter is observed anywhere between March 22 and April 25 every year. Orthodox Christians use the Julian calendar to calculate when Easter will occur and typically celebrate the holiday a week or two after the Western churches, which follow the Gregorian calendar.
Easter is a religious holiday, but some of its customs, such as Easter eggs, are likely linked to pagan traditions. The egg, an ancient symbol of new life, has been associated with pagan festivals celebrating spring. From a Christian perspective, Easter eggs are said to represent Jesus' emergence from the tomb and resurrection. Decorating eggs for Easter is a tradition that dates back to at least the 13th century, according to some sources. One explanation for this custom is that eggs were formerly a forbidden food during the Lenten season, so people would paint and decorate them to mark the end of the period of penance and fasting, then eat them on Easter as a celebration.
Easter egg hunts and egg rolling are two popular egg-related traditions. In the U.S., the White House Easter Egg Roll, a race in which children push decorated, hard-boiled eggs across the White House lawn, is an annual event held the Monday after Easter. The first official White House egg roll occurred in 1878, when Rutherford B. Hayes was president. The event has no religious significance, although some people have considered egg rolling symbolic of the stone blocking Jesus' tomb being rolled away, leading to his resurrection.