Father of the Gyro

In the event that many of you do not get SmartBriefs, I just had to share a story that was on the one I was sent today for personal interest or to pass along to students. No doubt, you have seen the "cone of meat" rotating in many Greek restaurants from which a portion is shaved on demand to make a gyro. As it turns out, the American gyro can be traced to Milwaukee's John Garlic -- who, with his wife, came up with the idea for a gyro plant. Although Garlic never made any money on his brainchild it is worth knowing that he made this American Greek diner staple a reality. To read a rather interesting story on Garlic and his invention visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/dining/15gyro.html?_r=1&ref=dining

So, now the next time you watch the spinning cone of meat you can turn to the person next to you and give them the history of this great Americanized interpretation of an Old World classic.

Amateur Cookie Contest hosted by Whole Foods

Do you have a student or two who shows promise as a pastry chef and living in the Midwest? Perhaps they should enter the second annual cookie contest and put their skills to the test. The second annual Amateur Cookie Contest will be hosted by Whole Foods, on July 25, 2009. If your student has a a great cookie recipe, encourage them to compete. This year's contest flavor is "Citrus".

Second Annual Amateur Cookie Competition Rules:
* Entries must be submitted by July 17th. Only the first 25 entries will be accepted for the competition.
* Contestants must submit 10 cookies for tasting by the judges.
* Contestants must submit 5 identical cookies for display (these cookies will judged on appearance only - not a full presentation of cookies).
* Display space is limited to a 12" X 12" area on a white plate that will be provided.
* All cookies are submitted at the time of registration, cookies will be displayed for you and presented to the judges for tasting.
* Cookie recipes must be submitted with the cookies for tasting (if no recipe is submitted your cookies will not be judged).
* No baking is done on premises.
* All contestants must use the following ingredients, but are not limited to only these ingredients: Nielsen Massey Vanilla, Plugrá European-Style Butter, King Arthur Flour and a citrus flavor of your choosing (all of these items can be found at your local Whole Foods store).
* Each entry must be solely the work of the entrant.
Cookies must be at least 1.5" in diameter and no larger than 4" in diameter (cookie must fit within a 4" X 4" square).
* All cookies and decorations must be edible.
* Pastry Chicago and Whole Foods are not responsible for any items left behind at the end of this event.
* Please note that this competition is for amateurs only. This excludes professionals working in the pastry industry as well as graduates of pastry or culinary programs.

Registration form is available at:
www.pastrychicago.org/calendar/documents/09PC_090725_CookieComp_regrulesforms.pdf

For information on becoming a participant of the competition or should you have any questions please contact Lindsay Koriath at mailto:info@pastrychicago.org?subject=RSVP, 312.726.2419 ext.208.

Call for Proposals, FELC Summit 2010

The call for proposals for the FELC 2010 Summit will go out at the end of July. Members and non-Members alike are free to submit refereed or non-refereed proposals to do poster sessions, standup presentations, workshops, or roundtables on how they have enhanced the quality of their teaching to enhance our learning community. We are seeking proposals on how culinary arts and hospitality educators have been able to effectively teach any math-related course to students who sometimes seem to be mising a "math gene." We are also happy to accept any proposals that have enhanced the quality of your teaching for presentation at the Summit, too.

What we are asking for in all proposals is for the person submitting it to a) present the problem/opportunity that was faced by an educator, b) any research that was done to learn ways generate solutions to the problem based on the experience of others, c) the teaching application that was selected, and d) the results.

Look for the call to come to you in your mailbox, other associations you may belong to, as well as the members newsletter. So sharpen those pencils and jot down something you would like to present at the 2010 Summit ( http://www.fooded.org/annualsummit.html) in anticipation of the upcoming call.

Cup for Education...Learning for the Future

The Cup for Education is a nonprofit that has the following mission statement, "...help poor, rural coffee communities around the world build schools within their communities, and assist in providing them with teachers and the basic tools needed to educate the future generations of coffee farmers." All proceeds raised go to help purchase educational supplies, such as the ones we load our K-12 kids up with every fall in preparation for school.

This appears to be a credible organization with a cause near and dear to our hearts -- education!

To learn more about the organization or make a donation the mailing address is:
Cup for Education
P.O. Box 140706
Staten Island, NY 10314

You can also visit: http://www.cupforeducation.org/