LOST IN MASTICATION

Update [2010 March 08]: This lunch menu won! Check out all five winners at GOOD magazine’s post here.

GOOD magazine asked readers to submit a healthy, delicious school lunch. Having just put together a grown-ups playground lunch for my sister-in-law’s baby shower, I took inspiration from a recipe my mother-in-law found.

My rendition of the ideal school lunch plays on the classic favorite – PB&J.

The sandwich is made of: whole grain bread, crunchy peanut butter, honey, jumbo raisin medley, sunflower seeds, shredded carrots and broccoli sprouts. The raisins and broccoli sprouts could be replaced with dried blueberries or cranberries and alfalfa sprouts or microgreens, respectively.

This is a great way to “hide” vegetables into a school lunch because the sprouts and shredded carrots easily get lost in the flavors of the peanut butter and honey. The honey and raisin medley together give a “jelly” flavor without all of the artificial sugars. I like the sunflower seeds for the bit of extra crunch.

To follow, is a parfait made of Fage greek yogurt, sliced local strawberries, and cranberry maple nut gluten-free granola. I like to think that if a meal looks visually appealing, it tastes that much better… so, I combined the dairy, fruit and grains into the parfait.

I chose an organic 100% grape juice to finish off the lunch. I think it would be nice for kids to have a choice of drinks including various fruit juices and a variety of milks (chocolate, soy, etc.).

Bon appetit!

I’ll be sure to share the contest’s winning lunch menu here.

The last couple of weeks either work has been hectic for us.  The entire week of 01.17 we were on our own.

Week of 01.24

Sunday – Chanko nabe @ Shinsengumi (for @PadrePablo’s birthday).

Monday – Lobster quesadilla; mesclun salad w/ dates, green onions, lemon tarragon vinaigrette

Tuesday – Lobster fettucine w/ wild mushrooms; arugula salad w/ blueberries, walnuts, gorgonzola pear dressing

Wednesday – Friday – On your own

Saturday – TBD (PadrePablo’s birthday dinner)

We haven’t turned lobster-tarian.  We just landed containers full of lobster meat from a catered event, so we’re getting through it slowly.

Ten – or tenuto – is a musical notation that indicates that you should hold the particular note a bit longer. Ten is also a decade… quite a long time.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since @PadrePablo and I met and began a long-distance relationship.  Back then, airfare on Southwest was about $29 each way, we talked on AIM or land line… and we ran to the nearest college computer lab to see if we had an email from each other. Since then we moved in together, got married, and went back to a long-distance relationship again.

Today, we fly $49 flights, talk on Google Chat and check for emails from each other on our iPhones. (Yes, I measure time through the evolution of technology.)

Consciously or unconsciously, I must have seen a tenuto accent over PadrePablo because here we are ten years later, having accomplished more together than we had individually dreamed of back then.

Here’s to tens more years and a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Main Man!

It’s been nearly three years since I’ve put together a weekly specials list.  Now that I’m done with school and @PadrePablo is back home, I’m slowly gaining my cooking mojo back.

I started these over at ladykeli.com as a way to be more budget and health conscious.  We realized the busier we got, the easier it was to grab take-out or dine out for dinner.  The last few years have been a prime example of that.

So here we go…

Sunday – Jambalaya

Monday – Yellowtail and brie cheese spring roll; Matsutake rice; warm egg custard (chawanmushi)

Tuesday – Pork medallion; steamed broccoli; whipped chive potatoes

Wednesday – On your own

Thursday – Blue cheese soufflé; spinach salad w/ blueberries and pecans

Friday – Chicken quesadilla; chips and salsa

Saturday – Dinner @ Le Pain Quitodien in Claremont

UC Irvine hosted a budget write-in this week and I can’t imagine why we’re still putting pen to paper.

While delivering letters in bulk to our state legislators is much more civil and respectful than the protests and disobedience that have been observed around UC campuses this past month, aren’t there more innovative, collaborative and effective ways in which to communicate our dismay with the state of the State and University?

After all, isn’t the University of California the top public institution in the world?  Don’t we produce Nobel Prize winners and Fulbright Scholars, life-saving research and game-changing technology?

Advice to UC students.  Take what you know best — Facebook, YouTube, Twitter — and turn it into a campaign that legislators can’t ignore, toss aside, or hand to an aide to craft a scripted response.

The write-in would have been a good opportunity for student leaders to flip out their mobile phones and interview each other about the personal impact the fee hike will have on them come the new academic year.  It was a chance for students to plead their hardships, share their personal stories, and talk about their needs… and to tell their stories through a new medium to legislators and public citizens alike.

If just a 1,000 students from each campus joined a Facebook fan page or custom website that integrates Facebook Connect (or the like) and allow students to voice their concerns online – that would be a collective power of 10,000 voices telling their story to the public. The public and media can then help pay it forward and tell tens of thousands of other people how devastating the fee hikes are.

A letter only goes to one person, and your voice may or may not ever be heard.  But new media content can be shared, redistributed, repackaged, emailed, linked, tweeted…  The same effort put into a letter can be put into a message that has the potential to be heard across the world.

And all it takes it the one story that becomes viral.  The one story that tugs at the hearts of the voters of California, the philanthropist across the globe, and the legislator who votes on the UC budget.

How about a video profile of how much it costs to be a bio major:  How much are your textbooks?  What additional lab fees do you pay?  And how are you able to afford the expensive rent around Westwood, Irvine, Santa Barbara?

Letter-writing campaigns didn’t even work in my time as a UCSA Legislative Affairs member or ASUCD External Affairs Chair.  What worked were the face-to-face meetings with the educational committee members, staffers for the legislators or better yet the legislators themselves.

Today, students have the best tools at their fingertips: new media and social networks.  Whether it’s a student, parent, professor or staff member speaking, why aren’t we using these innovative communication mediums, which are either no-cost or low-cost, to effectively lobby the State and its citizens?

A collective voice is a powerful thing when used the right way.

Protesting and rioting may have worked in the 1970s.  But times are different. Technology is different.

The UC’s budget is an obvious mess, and I have strong personal opinions about it.  What it boils down to though, is there’s plenty of blame to spread.  But I don’t think it’s too late to make a new media move — the right move — to influence change from the ground up.

Picket signs, the wood sticks and magic markers to poster board is so last millennium, and so un-ecofriendly.  If you want to be heard, to be green, to be innovative with your message, take a lesson from the 2008 Presidential elections.  That wasn’t that long ago…

THEN

Marketing and branding were about pushing your message to consumers. You sold them what they never knew they wanted.

Marketing used to be all about the product or service. What made your product unique from anything else on the market? What was the value-add in your version versus a competitor? Did you have the best price or experience for the money?

Branding was all about the image of that product or service. What perception did you want your customers to have about your company? What did customers feel about consuming what you had to offer?

NOW

Marketing and branding are responses to real-time customer demands and needs. Customers are telling you what they want. You are listening – more than ever – to the consumer, instead of dictating to them what they can or cannot live without.

Marketing is now much more than the product or service.  While people still connect with an object such as a particular coffee brand or airline, it’s not enough to sell how tasteful your peppermint latte is or the extra 6-inches of legroom compared to a competitor.

Likewise, branding is now about customer interaction (not to be confused with customer service), corporate social responsibility, online culture and community, and much more.

Making this shift to social media isn’t an easy move. Wait too long to get on the bandwagon, and you’ve lost your first-mover advantage. Act too fast, and you may not have a well thought-out strategy.

So how do you know whether to jump into the next new web trend? How do you evaluate your presence in that landscape? How do you use the new media tool in such a way that no one else is using it? Thinking outside the box and being innovative with the new media tools will help in setting your company, brand and product apart.

Whether it’s a mobile app, interactive website that has nothing to do with your product and everything about your consumers, there’s definitely a niche that you can create for yourself within your industry that will accomplish the original goals of branding and marketing.

Here are a few new media integration examples that are successful at tying together “new marketing” and “new branding” into the digital customer experience:

Sonicare: Adopt-a-Tooth

The Sonicare Facebook application keeps the user engaged over and over again by encouraging good dental hygiene through a “pet” tooth.  Take better care of our “canine” and be privy to special gifts and promotions.

When someone takes action with their pet tooth, it can appear on their friends news feeds, and is always visible on the owner’s profile.

In today’s social network landscape where the popularity of social gaming such as Mafia Wars and Farmville are growing exponentially, it’s smart for a brand to jump into the arena with the right interactive app.

Coke Zero Facial Profiler

Coca-cola claims that Coke Zero has been one of the most successful product launches in its history. In the two years since its release, Coke Zero has sold nearly 450 million cases and is available in more than 100 countries. So why not take this success and broad reach to connect your fans online?

That’s exactly what cokezero.com does. The site says nothing about the product except for a wordmark that includes the tagline “Real Coke Taste. Zero Calories.”  Instead, their site is home to the Facial Profiler application, which uses Facebook Connect to troll tagged images of you to help find your look-alike.

The premise? A social experiment: If millions of people like you enjoy Coke Zero, then there surely is another person that looks like you that enjoys Coke Zero.

USAA Mobile App

Your new media presence doesn’t always have to be through a web browser. USAA takes personal finance management to a whole new level with their iPhone app. Unique features include:

• Deposit@Mobile — Depositing a check is as simple as snapping a photo.
• ATM Locator — Find the closest ATMs.
• Loan Calculator — Estimate monthly payments on a loan.
• Rental Car Locator — Find the nearest Avis, Budget or Hertz location.
• Accident Checklist — Record accident details to help you file a claim.

They say that you’ll always remember when…

I remember watching thousands of East Germans pushing through the holes in the Berlin Wall on the evening news.  And I recall Mr. Megargee telling us how important this was to our world.  But of course, I didn’t realize the enormity of the event until much, much later.

We saw pieces of the Berlin Wall at the Newseum this past year:

Two thumbs up for Noah Haidle’s play, Saturn Returns at South Coast Repertory.

On a whim, @PadrePablo and I decided to get rush tickets.  It’s only the second time that we’ve seen a show at SCR.  The first time we saw a preview showing of Hamlet.  We’re both 2 for 2 and impressed with the caliber of plays right in our own backyard.

The story follows Gustin Novak through three phases of his life: at 28, 58 and 88 years young, though not chronologically.  At each stage of his life you see Gustin interact with a different woman who brings equally different meaning to his life: Loretta, Zephyr and Suzanne.  Each of the different relationships is a reaction to an experience he’s had throughout his life in a small Michigan town.  “Saturn” is a reference to the nearly 30 years that it takes for the planet to make one orbit around the sun.

The three female characters are brilliantly and uniquely played by one actress, Kristen Bush.  And each Gustin, (Nick Ullett at 88,  Conor O’Farrell at 58, and Graham Michael Hamilton at 28), plays a stubborn, hardened, and simultaneously gentle father and husband.  I laughed, cried, giggled and scoffed.  Saturn Returns is a story full of emotions and keeps you completely entertained for the full 80 minutes.

Turns out it was the preview evening.  But as fresh off rehearsal as the cast was, it was a great show and worth every dollar.

With Opera Pacific having folded half way through the last season, I often worry about SCR’s fate too.  But if they continue to feature well-written and well-played scripts like Saturn Returns… I don’t think there’s much to worry about.

The play runs through November 22 at SCR.

Behind almost every XKCD comic, there is a true story about @PadrePablo and I… or at least we can relate in a funny way.

If a picture paints a thousand words, then the smirk on @PadrePablo’s face paints a whole lot of patience as I took some 150 photos of leaves in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.  See the full set on Flickr here.