TEDxDetroit 2011: Positive Ideas for the World from Detroit

Photo credit: ©Jenny's Noodle, 2011.

TEDxDetroit 2011 was held at downtown Detroit's Max M. Fisher Music Center (home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra) on Wednesday, Sept. 28.

I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation to the event. And luckily, I accepted.

Hundreds of local creators, catalysts, entrepreneurs, artists, geeks, designers, thinkers and doers gathered together for a day, seeking to receive inspiration from the various guest lecturers.

TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design) is a global nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. TEDxDetroit was the third annual conference to take place in the city.

We are the X. The multipliers. The catalysts. The connectors. The amplifiers. We challenge the status quo. We come together to collaborate, to share fresh ideas and to find inspiration. We are optimistic about our future. We believe Detroit's best days lie ahead. We are the people who are making it happen. We believe that is an idea worth spreading.

If you've never been to TED, it's definitely something to experience.  

> Find a TED event near you

Etsy Finds: Lionel Richie Tea Set

"And in my dreams I've sipped your tea, a thousand times..."
 
(via Etsy)

Food Cost Template Question

Good afternoon

I was wondering!
I am soliciting for a new job in a wonderful Hotel in Amsterdam as a purchasing manager

But i need some templates in English, such as daily food cost control and other foodcost control templates.
Also i am looking for good templates of purchase orders, RFI, RFP etc etc in English.
Can you help me with this? Thanks in advance

Yours sincerely
Cor N.

Thanks for the email Cor.  I would checkout Ken Burgin's Profitable Hospitality website:

www.profitablehospitality.com

Food Cost Q&A September 2011

Hello Chef,

This is Chef Dixit, how are you?

I know you are obviously fine.
                
Chef I need your help. I want few reports like how to maintain costing report, what is the hotel cost and what is the resort food cost?

If you don't mind sir, please send sir, I want to learn something different to improve my knowledge.

Thank you

Thanks for the email Chef Dixit.  I am doing well.  Thanks for asking me.

I see a department level report as the solution to your needs.  If your property utilizes a central kitchen, you need to allocate usage to the various food and beverage outlets.  There are several ways to allocate costs to each department. 

With central kitchens, you have to decide if the time and expense of costing food shipped out to each department is justified by the cost improvement.  For example, a 3% reduction in cost on a $1,000,000 is $30,000.  If you could lower your cost by 10%, the effort will definitely have a positive payoff.  Completely costing every recipe produced in a complex operation will allow you to accurately allocate costs.



Make sure the benefit allows this much tighter method.

NPR Sunday Puzzle: Sept. 25, 2011

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 18):

Answer: KENT STATE → TENT STAKE

NPR Sunday Puzzle for Sept. 25:
Think of a ten-letter occupation ending in "er." The first four letters can be rearranged to spell something that person would study, and the next four letters can be rearranged to spell something else that person would study. What is the occupation?

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!

Google Doodle Celebrates Jim Henson's 75th Birthday

"As children, we all live in a world of imagination, of fantasy, and for
some of us that world of make-believe continues into adulthood.” ―JIM HENSON

Saturday would have been the 75th birthday of the prolific American puppeteer Jim Henson (Sept. 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990).

From Sesame Street to The Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock, Henson created dozens of characters beloved by children - and adults alike - all throughout the world.

In honor of this momentous occasion, the Jim Henson Company and Google have partnered to create an interactive home page Doodle. Here's a bit of the explanation behind the inspiration:

'The Alphabet 2': a Visual Delight

The Alphabet 2 is a creative video wherein "each character visually represents the meaning of the word itself. Playing with different techniques and materials into little and big spaces, but always focusing on Helvetica font's proportions."

In this case, I happen to have a fondness for the letter P.

(via n9ve)

Not Google Plus, Join the Antisocial Network

I've got one foot outside of a circle, and the other is just on the edge. Barely. And not by choice.

Google+ went live to the public yesterday and I, for one, am not very excited about it.

"And you call yourself a Social Media Director," asks the puzzled audience? Yes. That's right.

(via College Humor)

RHONY's Ramona Singer, Or Is It?

By now you've probably heard that part of the Real Housewives of New York cast has gotten the axe. Unfortunately, Ramona Singer is still on the show. So pour yourself a glass of Pinot Grigio, sit back, relax and watch this. Turtle Time!

(via Gawker)

Guinness World Record for Largest Home Delivery Pizza

Credit: Ryan Schude/Guinness World Records via Telegraph

The Telegraph has published an interesting collection of photos from the new Guinness World Records for 2012. Highlights include: the world's largest collection of 'Do Not Disturb' signs, the largest playable violin and the longest hair. And there's my favorite one:

Largest pizza commercially available (pictured above): On the menu at Big Mama's and Papa's Pizzeria in Los Angeles, California, USA, is an enormous 4 ft 6 in square pizza. Retailing at $199.99 plus tax, this mammoth meal can feed up to 100 people and can be ordered for delivery – as long as you give the pizzeria 24 hours' notice.

NPR Sunday Puzzle: Sept. 18, 2011

Here's one possible solution to the Sept. 4 NPR Sunday Puzzle (a creative two-week challenge):

Answer: "Did I cite operas I'd revere? Verdi's are poetic. I did!"

NPR Sunday Puzzle for Sept. 18:
Take the name of a well-known university in two words. Switch two letters in the respective words; that is, take a letter from the first word, put it in place of a letter in the second word, and put that letter where the first letter was. The result will name something you might take on a camping trip. What are the names of the university and the camping item?

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!

Ad of the Day: The Exorcist Revisited

Be sure to watch this commercial until the end — it's not what you think.

(via OhGizmo!)

Children's Drawings Come to Life

What an ingenious idea! Child's Own Studio turns kids' drawings into custom, unique soft toys. No matter how awful creative the artwork, this company has an amazing ability to transform it into reality.

> See many more of the drawings/toys at the COS Flickr page

(via OhGizmo!)

Reflect: Sept. 11, 2001-2011

A 9/11 tribute poster encouraging people to look back and reflect after 10 years.

Created by Extra Credit Projects.

(via Ads of the World)

In Remembrance: Twin Tower Cameos in Movies

> See the full list of movies at Vimeo

Hats Off to Fine Art [GIF]



How many of these fine art masterpieces do you recognize?

Oh, you're still here are you? Hard to look away, isn't it...

(via WDN)

NPR Sunday Puzzle: Sept. 4, 2011

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (August 21):

Answer: AIR CUSHIONED → AUDIE CORNISH

NPR Sunday Puzzle for August 28:
This is a special two-week creative challenge involving palindromes. A palindrome reads backwards and forward the same.

Write a palindrome that contains the name of a famous person. For example: "No, Mel Gibson is a casino's big lemon." Or "Ed, I saw Harpo Marx ram Oprah W. aside."

You can use the famous person's full name or just the last name, whatever you like. The object is to write the most interesting palindrome that contains a famous person's name, past or present. Any length is fine, short or long. Palindromes will be judged on their interest, elegance and naturalness of syntax.

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!

Lost Footage: Charles Shulz Draws Charlie Brown

"Charlie Brown is mostly me, that's why he often has that dumb expression on his face."
—CHARLES SHULZ, from the unreleased documentary "A Boy Named Charlie Brown"

(via Drawn)

Which Girl Scout Cookie Flavor is the Most Popular?

Photo: Celine Grouard

During Girl Scout Cookie season, it's nearly impossible to exit the grocery store without purchasing a box. Or ten. I'm a Samoas/Thin Mints girl. How about you?

(via Wired)