NPR Sunday Puzzle: July 31, 2011

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 24):

Answer: UKRAINE (from ewe and crane)

NPR Sunday Puzzle for July 31:
Name a famous person from America's past who has four letters in his or her first name and five letters in the last. Take a homophone of the last name, move it to the front. The result phonetically would be something a woman might write. What is it?

Submit your answer to NPR for a chance to be on next week's broadcast and be sure to visit Jenny's Noodle next Sunday to see the correct answer!

What Does Your Favorite Ice Cream Flavor Say About You?

Click image to enlarge. Image Credit: Ultimate Coupons

July is National Ice Cream Month! What does your favorite flavor say about your personality?

(via Buzzfeed)

Food Cost Control Framework Part 1

The essential table required to begin a professional food cost control system is the item list.  This table needs to have the same information you see on the order guides from any national distributor, storage information and vendor information.  In addition, I add several columns to help classify the manner items are purchased including frequency, bid (buy from lowest bidder) and impact.  Impact data can be simplified into the classic A B C model.

The A items are high volume and high cost per pound or volume, the B items are either high volume or cost but not both, and the C items are low volume and cost.  You will see a higher return on your invested time spent controlling A items.

A typical food item would have the fields below for each record:

Name:  BEEF TENDERLOIN PSMO CHC 12-5#UP

Category:  MEAT
Purchase Unit: CASE
Pack/Size:  12/5#UP
Catch Weight: YES
Weight/Case (AVG): 72.0
Cost/Pound: $8.00
Storage Method: REFRIGERATED
Inventory Location:  WALKIN COOLER 1
Frequency: 7
Primary Supplier:  Premium Meat Company
Bid: NO
Alternate Suppliers:
Impact:  A

This records tells us we have a high impact meat item which is ordered by the case and invoiced based on catch weight.  We use a single supplier and we order weekly.  Based on our contract, we now pay $8 per pound.  The tenderloin is stored in the main walkin cooler.

These essential fields help us with the food cost control in several ways.  Beef tenderloin is a high volume item for this restaurant and the $8/pound is a relatively high cost.

This data is sufficient for general information.  We would want to add fields to help out the staff working on ordering the meat.  Demand forecast data is preferable to a par stock level for your A items.  If you expected to serve 2,000 covers and on average 25% of patrons choose beef tenderloin, you need 500 portions of filet mignon for the week ahead.  Depending on the size of the steaks, this case will yield either 72 steaks or 60 steaks.  Our data shows 60% of patrons will choose the smaller steak (72/case) and 40% will choose the larger steak (60/case).  We'll need 3 1/3 cases for the larger steaks and 4 1/6 cases for the smaller steaks.  Since we can't order fractions of a case without a split penalty, we would order 8 cases.

Seasonal operators should not rely on par stock averages to purchase any A items or high volume B items in their inventory.  Accurate forecasts are essential.  Fortunately, the counts in your busy season will be higher and more reliable.

We will develop a data table to recap the information required to analyze A items in the next article - Food Cost Control Framework - Part 2.

Rubik's Cube Battenberg Cake

In honor of Ernő Rubik, inventor of the iconic Rubik's cube, the creative food bloggers over at S'tasty created this colorful Battenberg-style cake.

What is a Battenberg cake?
Traditionally, the Battenberg is a light sponge cake that, when cut in cross section, displays a distinctive two-by-two check pattern alternately colored pink and yellow. The cake is usually held together with apricot jam, covered in marzipan and, when sliced, the characteristic checks are exposed to view.

The cake was originally created to honor the 1884 marriage between Queen Victoria's granddaughter and the Prince Louis of Battenberg, with the four squares representing the four Battenberg princes: Louis, Alexander, Henry and Francis Joseph.

(via Neatorama)

NPR Sunday Puzzle: July 24, 2011

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 17):

Answer: IMPATIENT → INPATIENT

NPR Sunday Puzzle for July 24:
Name the female of a certain animal, add the name of a bird, say these two words out loud one after the other, and phonetically you'll name a country. What country is it?

Submit your answer to NPR for a chance to be on next week's broadcast and be sure to visit Jenny's Noodle next Sunday to see the correct answer!

Harry Potter's Portrait in Jelly Belly Beans

Credit: Foodbeast

To celebrate this summer’s blockbuster movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: – Part 2, the folks at Jelly Belly commissioned California artist Kristen Cumings to create a giant portrait of the boy wizard. The finished mosaic was constructed from 14,000 jelly beans. Wonder how many she ate along the way?

> More Harry Potter treats from Jelly Belly

Higher Food Costs Can Lead To Higher Profits

As commodity prices have leveled recently, we have consumers modifying their food purchases due to much higher prices for many staples.  The financial press has featured plenty of articles on the high prices for gold, oil, corn and other key commodities.  Many restaurant chains have increased their menu prices to offset the higher cost of goods sold.

In the short term, savvy restaurant managers can boost profit through strategic menu engineering analysis.  Imagine your food purchases are 5% higher for the same sales level.  If you raise selling prices by 5%, you can cover the higher cost of sales and increase profits by holding overhead and labor costs low.  With a check average of $18 and a 33% food cost, your cost of sales is $6 and your gross profit is $12.  Raising the $18 by 5%, you would expect a check average of $18.90.  The cost of sales would go to $6.30 in the same 5% rise.  Your gross profit would increase by $0.60.

In terms of the original $18 check average, this $0.60 is an additional 3.3% of gross margin.

Flash Report Question

Thanks to Felix for his recent email.

Hi! Joe,

I read your comments concerning the weekly flash report in foodcostwiz.com and indeed it was a great information on financial perspective.
I'd be more happy if you could post me the weekly flash report format to cross check the one I'm doing.

Appreciate it Joe.

Thank you.--
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

Every flash report should meet the number one need - timely information.  

Critical operations data should be summarized including the following items:

Forecasted Sales (by category)
Actual Sales (by category)
Scheduled Labor (by department)
Actual Labor (by department)
Purchase Targets (by category - based on forecasted sales)
Purchase Recap (by category)
Overhead Estimate

You can profile the report in columns comparing the actual results to your plan figures.  A variance column with appropriate explanations is a plus.

Don't waste time reporting every single accounting transaction.  A breakdown of cash, credit card charges, house account charges, etc. will help management forecast cash flow.  Labor costs are a prime cost item and you will find excellent tools to manage this activity.

Above all else, make sure the report is published on a timely basis.

Sharp Inventions: Parmesan Pencils

Credit: The Deli Garage

Parmesan Pencils should be manufactured in bulk, like in a 64-pack, à la Crayolas. Because I'll be requiring more than just three.

The cheeses are shaped like oversized pencils, where the “leads” contain three different flavors: truffles, pesto and chili. With the sharpener included, the required amount of cheese can be sprinkled on the dish. A scale on the pencils and on the back of the packaging doesn’t just simply list how much of the Cheese Pencil is needed for each dish, but even how many calories the portion contains.

Unfortunately, only 500 of these were made and they've already sold out. Somebody call Kraft!

(via jazarah!)

"Late Night" Returns with 'History of Rap: Part 2'

If you enjoyed Part 1, you've gotta see Jimmy and Justin in Part 2.

(via NBC)

Ultimate Pie in the Face Supercut

Definitely more entertaining than the Rupert Murdoch "Piegate" fiasco that we're all tired of hearing about. Plus it features "old timey" music.

(via BWE)

Cheesy Poofs Are Coming, Sweeeeet

Credit: NYTimes.com

Possibly the only good reason to shop at Wal-Mart...

As part of an extensive promotional campaign, Year of the Fan, to observe the 15th season of the show, Comedy Central, which has been presenting “South Park” since August 1997, is teaming up with the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo to produce 1.5 million packages of Cheesy Poofs to be sold in Wal-Mart stores beginning next month. (via NYTimes)

Sweet, you guys.

NPR Sunday Puzzle: July 17, 2011

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 10):

Answer: STAR TREK ( - T, K) → SARTRE

NPR Sunday Puzzle for July 17:
Think of an adjective that might describe a child before a summer vacation. Change the second letter to the next letter of the alphabet, and you'll name someone you might see in a hospital. Who is it?

Submit your answer to NPR for a chance to be on next week's broadcast and be sure to visit Jenny's Noodle next Sunday to see the correct answer!

26-Foot 'Forever Marilyn' Sculpture Draws Crowds in the Windy City

Credit: phillyburbs.com

Even before "Forever Marilyn" got her finishing touches on Friday, the 26-foot sculpture of Marilyn Monroe had been attracting crowds.

The work was created by sculptor Seward Johnson and depicts the late actress in her most famous stance from the 1955 film "The Seven Year Itch."

The provocative sculpture was installed on Chicago's Magnificent Mile, at 401 N. Michigan Avenue in Pioneer Plaza.

“With Marilyn, we hope to rekindle an attitude and optimism from an era that this iconic figure represents – a time when we, as a nation and a people, were proud, productive, optimistic and self-assured, if a bit mischievous," said Paul Zeller, chief of Zeller Realty, the company that leased the sculpture. "We seek a return to American Exceptionalism, and trust Marilyn will propel our attitudes in the right direction.”

"Forever Marilyn" will be on display until spring 2012.

(via MyFoxChicago)

Just for Muggles: Make Your Own Harry Potter Glasses

If you're lucky enough to score tickets to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," this simple, yet creative project is one the kids you can wear to the theater. Fashioning a spectacular pair of glasses à la the boy wizard just takes a little bit of magic. And five black pipe cleaners.

(via Freep)

The 'Back to Basics' Project

French creatives Zim and Zou can manipulate paper in interesting ways. Incredibly, all of the items in these photos were constructed using scissors, paper and glue!

The project, called Back to Basics, meticulously recreates retro gadgets — such as a Nintendo Game Boy, a Polaroid camera, a Sony Walkman and cassette tapes — out of brightly-colored pieces of construction paper.

Don't believe it? Check out the video of how it was done below.




> More photos of the "Back to Basics" project

(via The Awesomer)

Create Your Own Robohash Robot

 Credit: Robohash

Robohash calls itself "an easy web service that makes it easy to provide unique, robot/alien/monster/whatever images for any text."

Type in any text — an IP address, email, file name, user id, or whatever else — and get back a pretty image for your site.

I typed in jennysnoodle.blogspot.com and generated this cute little green robot creature.

There are supposedly "hundreds of millions" of variations possible.

> Try Robohash for yourself

(via Presurfer)

Hexadecimal Color Clock

What time is it? When I grabbed this screenshot it was rouge o'clock!

The Colour Clock represents the current time as a hexadecimal color value, and the website's background color changes to match.

HTML colors are defined using a hexadecimal notation (HEX) for the combination of Red, Green, and Blue color values (RGB). For example, #000000 is black.

Warning: it's mesmerizing.
 
> See what color o'clock it is now

NPR Sunday Puzzle: July 10, 2011

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 3):

Answer: TRUFFAUT (true and faux)

NPR Sunday Puzzle for July 3:
Name a classic television show in two words with eight letters. Remove one letter from each word. The remaining six letters, in order, will spell the last name of a well-known writer. Who is it?

Submit your answer to NPR for a chance to be on next week's broadcast and be sure to visit Jenny's Noodle next Sunday to see the correct answer!

Blogging Women Lists Jenny's Noodle

A quick thank you to Blogging Women for including Jenny's Noodle in their listings!

Blogging Women is a free directory of blogs written by us women. Manually edited and organized by category, Blogging Women aims to offer a comprehensive collection of the best spam free women's blogs online.

It's always wonderful to be recognized by the blogging community, so thanks again!

> Submit your blog to Blogging Women

It's Never Too Late for DIY Stop-Motion Fireworks

What can you make with a pin, a sheet of black paper and a whole lot of patience?

The filmmaker explains: "Being an American living in Canada, I don't get fireworks on the 4th of July. So I created my own."

Well done, sir.

(via Blippitt)

Farmers Construct Gigantic Bike to Salute Tour de France

A group of creative farmers in the French countryside have constructed a giant bike made of hay bales and moving tractors. The animated sculpture was built in honor of the 98th annual Tour de France, taking place July 2-24, 2011.



(via Newslite)

Funniest Twitter Reaction to Casey Anthony Verdict

Image: elibraden/Twitter

(via someecards)

Check Out Vanity Barcodes

Image: Incredible Things

Virtually every product or package has one, but now traditional barcodes are getting a creative new look.



A Vanity Barcode is a product UPC (or similar) barcode that's being turned into a decorative design, yet still scans like a regular barcode. They're a powerful marketing tool that can transform a boring, space-hogging barcode into a terrific brand asset.



> Check out more of these innovative designs here

Happy Fourth of July!

Photo: Barry Yanowitz/Flickr

NPR Sunday Puzzle: July 3, 2011

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (June 26):



Answer: L'IL ABNER

NPR Sunday Puzzle for July 3:

Think of a common four-letter adjective. Then take its opposite in French. (It's a French word that everyone knows.) Say the two words out loud, one after the other, and you'll name a famous film director. Who is it?

Submit your answer to NPR for a chance to be on next week's broadcast and be sure to visit Jenny's Noodle next Sunday to see the correct answer!