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Food for a Cause
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Selecting a Charity By Ray Photo courtesy of News Tribune
| Charity can be a wonderful
thing. Do you know how much of what you give actually makes it to its'
intended cause? Several years ago, right around the time we started
doing the spaghetti dinner, there
were several scandals involving some of the largest charitable
organizations. This has become the biggest reason we have chosen the
Lighted Way Spaghetti
Dinner as our main charitable cause each year. It is local.
It is needed. We know where 100% of the money is going. Monday, March 29th you can feed a family of 4, including salad,
dinner, and dessert for under $30 and 100% of your dollar goes to a
local charity. Yes, we do carry outs too.I
get extremely perturbed with many of our celebrities and politicians
that love to take the stage and publicity to promote a charity and are
then offended when someone questions where those donations are going.
To me, it is all about how much of your donation gets to its intended
cause. If these people were really concerned about their cause then they
should also be concerned where the donations are going.How can
you know how much of your donation reaches it's intended cause? Once a
charity reaches a million dollars in contributions it has to file a
financial reports with the IRS. Charity
Navigator works to
advance a more
efficient and responsive
philanthropic marketplace by evaluating
the financial health of over 5,500 of America's largest
charities. At Charity Navigator you can look at
the performance of charities, by type of charity, administrative costs,
and CEO compensation. You can also study the tax benefits of giving, and what to do
when a charity calls. You can donate right on
their website using several convenient payment methods. Search your cause
and see how they compare. It really amazes me that some of the larger
"brand name" charities end up delivering less than 30 cents on the
dollar to the cause itself.Charity Navigator |
Holiday Hours and Specials
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Easter Sunday Specials
by Kris |
We will be serving Easter Sunday from 11 am to 8pm. Make your reservations soon.
Brown Sugar and Mustard Glazed Ham
Crab and Shrimp Stuffed Tilapia
Beef Short Ribs over Spaetzle with Veal Demi Glaze
Pasta Primavera
with Garlic Chicken
Slow Roasted Herb
Crusted Prime Rib
Asian Chicken Chop Salad
California Cheesecake
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Lent Special
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Fish Tacos
By Jimmy
Up until a few years ago, I had never heard of fish
tacos. I
guess I really never put the two together. I was introduced to them by
Ray when he came across the idea on putting some new things on the
specials menu
for the Lent season. He had a listing of all kinds of different
ingredients used
in fish tacos. They seemed very interesting but I thought "no way,
tacos are meant to be made with ground beef. Fish in a taco? That does
not
even sound good." But I was wrong, they actually go very well together. I
thought that this was some new food fad that started in recent
years and again, I was wrong.
Beginning 1958 Ensenada, Mexico maked claim to be the
birthplace of the modern day fish taco. However, people along
the
coasts of North and South America have probably been eating them for
thousands of years, taking their fish catch and putting them in hand
made corn tortillas.
Southern California, San Diego in particular, may
be the most popular place to find fish tacos in the United States. They
are
so common that they are even the signature fast food item in the
southwest
because they are cheap to buy and fast and easy to make. They became
popular in 1983 after Ralph Rubio, who tried them on spring break in
Mexico,
brought the idea back to his hometown, San Diego. He had tried to coax a
Mexican
vendor, Carlos, to move to the U.S to start a business with him.
Carlos declined the invitation but did give Rubio a recipe. Rubio's
current
chain of 35 stores makes him king of the fish taco world.
Our
version of the fish taco features soft flour tortilla shells with battered
whitefish, red
cabbage, fresh mango black bean salsa and avocado lime sour cream. Come
in and
try for yourself. They will only be around through lent.
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Around the Valley | Tastee Freez, Brain Freeze By KrisDriving through Spring Valley recently I saw what has become one of the first vestiges of spring. For the 35th year (under the present owner) the Tastee Freez has opened for the season. Even on late winter evenings in the 30's and 40's there is a line of cars at the drive up and people standing in the cold to enjoy what many feel is the best soft serve ice cream around. Once again I am dating myself, but I can remember sitting in the car at the Tastee Freez in the mid 70's feeding my daughter ice cream. She was just a toddler at the time, but you could see the look of "brain freeze" cross her face as she got excited and ate a little too fast. Of course this was way before the "Google" era, so we never really found out what caused the "brain freeze" phenom. Now, of course all you have to do is type it into your search bar and like so many other things, the mystery is solved. Scientific explanation: The reaction is (obviously) triggered by the
cold ice cream or beverage; coming into contact with the roof of the
mouth. It triggers nerves that give the brain the impression of a very
cold environment. To heat up the brain again, blood vessels start to
swell, which causes the headache-like pain. Once the roof of the mouth heats backup, the blood vessels constrict again and the pain is gone.
In the Google search, I found some interesting suggestions as to what
you can do to alleviate the pain. One said to pinch your nose with your
thumb and forefinger, at the same time blowing through your nose, not
too hard, with your mouth closed, allowing a little air to escape from
your nose and mouth and keeping the pressure up by continuing to blow. A little complicated for me, just put your tongue on the roof of your mouth and it will warm up and the pain will go away. The bottom line is that it's an arguably avoidable pain. Just slow down (if you can) and you can enjoy the creamy cold deliciousness without the pain. Welcome spring!
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Around the Industry | "Counter Culture" - Stories of the Career Waitress By Ryan
A new book called Counter Culture
was
recently written by Candacy A. Taylor. Candacy is a 30 year old
who was working part-time as a waitress while attending the California
College of Arts for her Masters degree. While attending college she came
up with
a masters thesis; to document the lives of "career" waitresses.
Now,
I've always
been offended by the way most people would describe someone as a
"career"
waitress, almost with a snide undertone. The truth of the matter is, and
ultimately what appears to be the point of Candacy Taylor, is that these
women
aren't miserable and they are not "career" waitresses because they have
to be.
They are waitresses because, they enjoy what they do, they are happy
doing it,
they enjoy the people they take care of and most importantly, they are
good at
it. You won't find too many "career" waitresses because quite honestly,
there
just aren't too many people that are capable of doing it. As Candacy
points out
during her short stint as a waitress during her college years, she was
exhausted physically and mentally as a 30 year old doing the job. She
questions
how someone over twice her age could handle it. Take a look at the
article and
go out and read the book. I look forward to finding these stories.
San Francisco Gate Article
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Yet another Holiday to Consider
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Christmas Parties By Kris
I know, we haven't even gotten past Easter! However, now is the time to think about your Christmas Party. Each year we have to turn away several party requests for our banquet facility. There are just not enough dates to go around. The key is to be the early bird! Don't wait until the dates are all gone. We currently have choices for prime weekend dates available. Offering many options for meals, bar arrangements etc. we are very flexible and accommodating when planning your party. Call today to see what dates are available. You can view our banquet information and menus at the following link. Banquet Menu |
Win a Free Lunch
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Foodie Fight Free Lunch Contest by Kris
Each week in the newsletter we will ask 3 questions from the Foodie Fight cards. The first person to email us (see link below) the correct answers to all three questions will receive a complimentary free lunch. The winner has to have the correct answer for all three questions, no exceptions. The following week we will publish the correct answers and the winner from the previous week. So come on in and have a drink, study the cards, test each other and have fun. Good Luck!
1. Which French Impressionist painter was a gourmand and an avid recipe collector who cooked from his farmyard, pond, and kitchen gardens in Giverny?
2. What is the name for a stemmed, wide-bowled dish used to serve ice cream sundaes?
3. What "Cuban" drink, made popular by Ernest Hemingway, is said to have been invented in 1896 by an American working in Cuba?
[email protected]
Fine Print... You must be the first person to respond with all three correct answers. The response must go to the email address in the above link. You must reply within 24 hours from the time the newsletter is published.
Last Week questions and answers....
1. Who was expected
for dinner in the 1996 movie Big Night? Louis Prima
2. What did C.W. Post
introduce in 1897, claiming it prevented appendicitis, helped cure
tuberculosis, and tightened loose teeth? Grape Nuts Cereal
3. What is a
silence cloth? A thick liner used under a tablecloth to protect the table and reduce noise and breakage.
This weeks winner of the free lunch ... Sarah Wick 3:16pm
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Lent Specials |
Guinness Battered Fish and chips $9.75
Homemade Tortelacci $15.50 White Wine Cream Sauce
Fish Tacos $9.75 Soft flour tortilla shells with battered whitefish, red cabbage, fresh mango black bean salsa and avocado lime sour cream.
Fajita Fridays $20 Fajita Fridays will take a little bit of a twist during lent as we will be serving your choice of our usual chicken fajitas or a lent option of shrimp fajitas. As always, Fajitas for two, served with a 64 oz pitcher of margaritas.
Mixed Seafood Grill $19.75 4 ounce lobster tail, whitefish parma, grilled salmon. Served with a trio of sauces. We will be serving these "Lent Specials" all day, every Friday during lent.
Who said you had to give up all of the good stuff for Lent?
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On Our Special |
Stuffed Jalapenos with Crab Meat and Cream Cheese Grilled and Chilled Asparagus Bagaduce Oysters on the Half Shell Panini - Imported French Madrange Ham with Brie and Honey Mango Spread
Nicoise Tuna Salad Orange Roughy Etouffee
Seafood and Spring Vegetables over AngelhairHoney Dijon Glazed Infused Chicken Breasts Roasted Cauliflower Parmesan
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Uptown Grill 601 First St. La Salle, Il 61301 815-224-4545 Mon - Thur 11 am to 10pm - Fri & Sat 11 am to 11 pm Sun Noon to 10 pm Uptowngrill.com
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