“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” — The Declaration of Independence, 1776
Hello! Welcome to the middle of the year. Lots of changes have happened and many more are coming as you all know. The good news is that we are nearer to the end of our renovation than the beginning— at least that is what the construction team tells me. I want to thank you all for the Food and Beverage Forum we had last Thursday. There were a lot of good questions and I think it was a very positive meeting. As I said there several times things will be sort of loose for a while when we open the new dining spaces and we will adapt as we go to fit our operation with the space and resident needs.
One thing I meant to bring up last Thursday is that we need information when you have a concern. If you "hear" about something going on or have a problem that an employee shared with you I really need all the information. I can't address problems with rumors or fix problems with only part of the story. Please be prepared to give details if something is to be done. There are a lot of balls in the air and I am juggling as fast as I can, please help out when you can-remember I can't chase rumors I need facts.
Hopefully you all got to meet our new Sous Chef Alberto Pelcastre who just started with us last week. he has an impressive background and we are all eager to see his contributions to the menu and his impact in the kitchen.
This week we celebrate Independence Day with a classic menu of barbecue and some of our traditional favorites: Barbecued Ribs, Burgers, Bratwurst, Corn on the Cob, Macaroni and Cheese will be served along with salads and desserts . The chicken is from Red Bird Farms and the Honey Glaze is with our own house-harvested. As always we celebrate our Holidays early and this Thursday we will be seating at 11:00 a.m. and again at 12:30 pm. Chef David will have many of the same items available in The Hive market for those who choose to take it away.
I have a confession: I had planned to surprise you all with an Independence Day beer. I even named it "Gluten Freedom" and it was going to be our first Gluten-Free beer. Well it's awful. I really mean that, as a brewer I always take my work in stride and understand that some beers will be better than others but really, this was terrible. I won't be serving Gluten Freedom this week, although I did already design the labels. I will take another swing at a GF beer sometime soon but I really need to go back to the drawing board. One part of the problem is that my brewing area has become a holding space for all manner of items during this construction and so maybe I will wait until we get a little more breathing room.
Some of you might know that we have started dumping ice into the coolers right before service to help cool things down which seems to be helping but of course there's only so much we can do. For the most part people understand that it is summer and we are outside but I thought it might be a good idea to talk about heat-related problems. Heat exhaustion is the body’s response to an excessive loss of water and salt- usually through excessive sweating. Some of the symptoms are headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, irritability, and heavy sweating.
Heat stroke is an even more serious heat-related illness. It occurs when the body can no longer control its temperature: the body’s temperature rises rapidly, the sweating mechanism fails, and the body is unable to cool down. When heat stroke occurs, the body temperature can rise to 106°F or higher within 10 to 15 minutes. Heat stroke can cause permanent disability or death if the person does not receive emergency treatment. Symptoms include confusion, slurred speech, fainting, hot dry skin, and very high body temperatures.
If you are feeling overheated, or are having any of these symptoms when exposed to the summer heat please let us know immediately so we can get help. These conditions are very serious and even fatal— particularly as we age. Alcohol consumption may compound these dangers and can mask the seriousness of symptoms. Again if you feel weak, unsteady, or just not right don't hesitate to tell us. Summer can be difficult and we care very much about you all.
In July keep an ear open for a special event, the Sip and Savor event will be a special one with our own bees in a starring role.
Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at Culinary Corner, 10 am in the Art room.
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