Tag Archives: Fort Wayne

GINGERKITCHENdog- Our Week with Brava’s Dogs

When I met Bo, the creative force behind Brava’s Dog, a few months ago to work out the details of our Picnic in the Park event to benefit Cancer Services, I was thoroughly impressed. Here is a young entrepreneur who is chasing his dream and making it work. Not only that, he also has an appreciation for quality food and a desire to introduce people to it. And he truly loves our city. I love meeting people who love our city. It’s so refreshing. I love our city and too often I run into people who want to get out of here. Not only is Bo staying, he’s revving up our culture by bringing us stellar food, as well… I can’t wait until he launches his food truck.

After our first meeting, Bo started reading our blog and would often drop me a line to rave about the yummy dishes we had prepared. I couldn’t believe it. I relished his feedback. To say I was blown away when he asked us to create a recipe for him is an understatement and I dove into the task, carefully crafting my “dream dog.” Eventually, I presented him with 3 original recipes to consider and together we chose a simple, yet powerful, mango salsa. With his permission, I am posting it here. We’d love for you to recreate the GINGERKITCHENdog experience for yourself. After all, it’s important to get close to your food, to know where it’s coming from, and to realize how easy it is to make a wholesome meal with quality ingredients at home.

Thanks again, Bo. That was fun. Let’s do it again soon!

Ingredients:

  • 1 large ripe yet firm mango
  • 1 medium red bell pepper, diced into small pieces
  • 1 medium Jalapeno, seeded and diced into small pieces
  • 1 small red onion, diced finely
  • 1 -2 tbsp lemon/lime juice
  • Salt to taste
  • Little sugar to sprinkle if your mangoes are not sweet enough
  • Few sprigs of cilantro, chopped
  • Few mint leaves (optional)
  • Sriracha to taste
Preparation: 
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Top your dog with the salsa and add a few drops of Sriracha.
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Our Urban Garden

Year two of the urban garden and we are wildly more successful than last. Don’t get me wrong… I loved eating tomatoes until I was seeing red, but I am glad that we’ve mixed it up this year. Our crop includes grape tomatoes, beef steak tomatoes, green and red onions, kohlrabi, eggplant, broccoli, green peppers, red bell peppers, banana peppers, Serrano peppers, cabbage, fennel, Brussels sprouts, basil, spearmint, chives, lavender, sage, oregano, and rosemary. We’ve been enjoying the fresh herbs and kohlrabi already. I can’t wait until the rest is ready!

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Jimmy Kimmel & Harry Baals- Take 2

In early February, Jimmy Kimmel spotlighted Fort Wayne on his nightly show poking fun at our Harry Baals debacle. You can view the original video here: 
http://theycallmeamber.com/2011/02/10/harry-baals-receiving-national-attention/
.

Last night, Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry appeared on the show via Skype. Initially, I was concerned, but I believe the Mayor handled himself well and that his appearance was good press for our city. Sure, Jimmy Kimmel poked fun at us, but I don’t feel he was disrespectful.

In case you missed it, here’s the clip. What do you think?

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Do You Love Your Job This Much?

We’ve all seen them- those people who stand out in front of businesses dressed as mascots or holding signs to draw attention. Everytime I see them, I think, “wow, you couldn’t pay me enough to do that job.” I always feel particularly sorry for the folks on Coldwater who are promoting “We Buy Gold.” They are always wearing ridiculous costumes and always look miserable. I think I even saw snow accumulating on one of them a few weeks ago. They can’t possibly like their job, can they?

Saturday morning, from several blocks away, I spotted one of these sign holders on State promoting Little Caesar’s. He caught my attention because he was literally busting a move on the street corner. And he kept right on dancing for a long time- so long in fact,  I had enough time to pull up to the stop light, fish my camera out of my purse and record him. Unlike other sign holders  I’ve witnessed around town, it was apparent that he was really enjoying himself. And he made me smile. It was so refreshing. Maybe he doesn’t love his job. Maybe he was dancing simply to pass the time- lord knows I would get bored standing out there for hours on end. No matter the motivation, the message I walked away with is that this guy loves his job. And for a brief second, I even contemplated stopping in to get some pizza. Of course, I didn’t. I was running late, but he certainly brightened my day.

When I am stressed and tired and feel overworked, I am going to remember this guy and maybe even bust a move myself right here in my office.

Please excuse the poor quality of this video. I had to answer the phone halfway through!

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Harry Baals Receiving National Attention

Jimmy Kimmel is just one of many to pick up this story and run with it. I especially love the article from MSNBC – “Scratch Harry Baals Off List of Names for Government Center.”

And the Twittersphere is all frenzied on the subject too… someone even made up some t-shirts (
https://shirtyshirtshirt.com/Wear/Harry-Baals
). Wow.

I suppose, as with anything, all of the hub bub surrounding this issue will die quickly.

My personal opinion is, that while Mayor Baals may deserve the honor, we shouldn’t name our Government Center after him. I am sorry, maybe that means that I have the mentality of a 12 year old, as this site suggests.

What do you think?

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That Chicago Influence

Jon and I grew up near Chicago and one of the things we miss the most about living there is the food. Not only is the variety out of this world, but the quality is often unmatched. Take the Chicago-style hot dog or the Italian beef for instance. You just can’t find ‘em done quite right here in Fort Wayne… well, unless you live in our house.

You may think that hot dogs are NOT a fancy food. And as a self-proclaimed food snob, I can understand that sentiment, but you’ve probably never had hot dogs done like this. Mmmmm. And it’s simple- grill your hot dog, buy some cheap buns (or poppyseed if you can find them) and then load it up with your favorite chicago-style toppings. Typical toppings include yellow mustard, chopped white onions, sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, pickled sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I changed mine up a bit and went for yellow and red cherry tomatoes from our garden and cucumbers. I left out the relish and white onions.

Italian beef is a bit more upscale because it is prepared with “real” meat as compared to the hot dog, but you still can’t find one just right here in town. I’d be happy to be proven wrong. A true Italian beef is not a Beef Au Jus, which you can find at many local establishments. For Italian beef, you douse the meat in a ton of seasoning and cook the roast slowly- sometimes all day, and then slice it up real thin with a meat slicer. When you are ready to serve it, you heat it up in the leftover juices and layer it on top of dense, long fresh italian roll. Jon and I like to drench our sandwich with some of the extra juice and top it off with giardiniera or Italian sweet peppers. It is to die for. If you’ve never had “real” Italian beef, I urge you to stop by Portillos or Buona Beef the next time you are in Chicago. You won’ t be disappointed. 

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