February 2009

Food Focus-Newsletter

359 N. Main Street
Milford, MI 48381

phone: 248-685-3354
fax: 248-685-3359

Check us out at Carls YMCA

That’s right, we are going be at the "Y" Monday through Friday 6:30am - Noon, Saturday 8:00am - 1:00pm & Sunday 10:00am - 2:00pm with our coffee, Harney teas, muffins, scones, bagels (with cream cheese packets), juices, our fruit parfaits & granola and a crockpot of our soup of the month - Chicken Tortilla. So work out and miss the extra stop and still enjoy all of our breakfast delights.

Help us name this new locale – turn in a slip either at the Y or on Main Street – include “the name” your name and email contact. We will pull the winner at the end of the month and you will win lunch for two.

February 14th Special

For Valentines Day we will have chocolate cupcakes with white frosting, sprinkles and candy hearts $1.00 ea.

February Drink Specials

We have three wonderful drinks to tempt you with this month:

Blackberry Mocha Latte we use our Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate and blackberry syrup with espresso and steamed milk topped with whipped cream & sprinkles.

small $3.25
med $3.75
lrg $4.50

British Chocolate Kiss is our hot chocolate this month. It has our delicious blend of Ghiradelli dark and white chocolate, English toffee, steamed milk and whip cream with chocolate sprinkles and caramel drizzle.

small $3.25
med $3.75
lrg $4.50

White Chocolate Toffee Truffle is Ghiradelli white chocolate, English toffee and steamed milk and caramel drizzle.

small $3.25
med $3.75
lrg $4.50

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Lunch Specials

Our soup for the month is Chicken Tortilla Soup – hot and spicey! Can you tell I’ve had enough cold.

Chicken Quesadilla: Chicken with tomatoes, onions & cheddar cheese pannini in a white flour tortilla served with a dill pickle spear and our bagel chips & salsa.

$6.75 full
5.25 half

Breakfast Specials

Our special this month will be two crepes with your choice of meat. We will have a vanilla cream with mixed berries rolled in the crepes with white and dark chocolate drizzle over the top.

$6.50
without meat $5.50

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Our Services

Many of you have been surprised when we talk about our catering service, so I though I would give you some of the extras we offer:

1. You can have an event at the Café. We have room for approximately 55 people. We are a dry house, which means no beer or wine, but with enough espresso you could still get buzzed. With this option, you can provide the food and beverage and just rent the space, we can provide part of the food & beverages equaling the room rental which would be waived or we provide everything and you just come in enjoy and leave all the clean up to us. With our mid afternoon closing hours it makes having a meeting or event at the Café easy.

2. We do a drop & go cater at another location. You tell us the time to be there to set up, the menu you would like us to prepare and when you want us to return to pick up our equipment or you can drop off our equipment to us the next day.

3. We can also do a fully staffed event. We prepare the menu items, we have staff there to serve beverages or food items and then we remove all the equipment, wrap all left-overs for you and disappear. Let us know what you are planning. We would love to work with you on your menu and make your event a no stress, no hassle event.

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Bust A Bad Mood

The causes of depression may vary as much as our individuality, yet we often fail to consider our eating habits as possible culprits. A study done in 2005 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that people take antidepressants even more than they pop pills for high blood pressure, asthma, & high cholesterol. & psychiatrist says there are lots of other strategies that can bust those blues (like 80 degrees and two weeks of sun would do for me right now!!).

Fish oils contain omega-3 fatty acids. The study done at The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that omega-3 fatty acids and foods high in a compound called uridine were able to reduce the symptoms of depression as well as or better than three different antidepressant drugs that were tested. Dr. Joseph R. Hibbeln, MD says eat cold-water fish (salmon or mackerel) at least twice a week. This will increase the levels of dopamine and serotonin. Serotonin is an important neurotransmitter which is needed for sleep onset, mood regulation, carbohydrate craving and consumption, and a host of other functions. Celiac’s have a more difficult time with getting rid of the blues as they have reduced number of platelet receptors for serotonin.

Molasses was another food product listed in the study as it contains most of the nutrition of the original food, sugar beets, including the vitamins, minerals, and various compounds such as uridine. It is this molasses that's normally sent off to be used in livestock feed, and yet what we're finding here with this research is that this molasses can help prevent depression. Eating molasses is part of a food strategy that's just as good as antidepressant drugs.

Brewer's Yeast contains vitamins B1, B2 and B3. Brewer's yeast should be avoided if you do not tolerate yeast well, but if you do, mix a thimbleful into any smoothie for your daily dose. This superfood packs a wide assortment of vitamins and minerals in a small package, including 16 amino acids and 14 minerals. Amino acids are vital for the nervous system, which makes brewer's yeast a no-brainer for treating depressionBrown Rice contains vitamins B1 and B3, and folic acid.

Brown rice is also a low-glycemic food, which means it releases glucose into the bloodstream gradually, preventing sugar lows and mood swings. Brown rice also provides many of the trace minerals we need to function properly, as well as being a high-fiber food that can keep the digestive system healthy and lower cholesterol. Instant varieties of rice do not offer these benefits. Any time you see "instant" on a food label, avoid it.

Another mood boosting assist is milk, drink three 8 oz servings of whole milk a day and have yogurt, cheese, poultry, eggs, bananas and peanuts as they also raise serotonin levels and elevate mood. Sooo, come into the Café have breakfast of eggs and turkey sausage, a large latte, hot chocolate, or steamer with us, take one of our yogurt parfaits to go and you should be one happy camper!

Dr. Gregg Jantz, in his book, "Moving Beyond Depression"

From Ron Hoggan M.A. & James Braly M.D., How Modern Eating Habits can Contribute to Depression, Updated: December 8, 2003

Joseph Hibbeln, acting chief of nutritional neurochemistry at the NIH’s National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Dr. Stuart Shipko, MD

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Politics

This truly speaks to some of the difficulties faced by your local restaurants and small businesses, is well spoken by one of our own.

Michigan needs to pass bills that lower the heavy tax burden on restaurants, says Flint Journal guest columnist
by Jim Eggl | Flint Journal guest columnist
Monday December 01, 2008

Eating out isn't what it used to be. Restaurants used to be filled with customers most nights of the week, and particularly on the weekend. Patrons were glad to have a delicious meal served to them and pay for the dining experience. Oh, how times have changed.

As a small business owner and operator of independent dining establishments in Milford, I have been faced with tremendous economic challenges to keep my restaurants in business and my customers well fed. And of course, my customers have been faced with similar economic challenges that make it more difficult to make ends meet.

As almost everyone knows, Michigan's economy is really bad right now. It has never been harder to own and operate a small business, especially in the restaurant industry. Labor costs and supplier costs are up, and that is on top of the taxes we face.

Michigan has a new business tax, and while the services we as taxpayers get are still the same, the new tax is costing many small businesses twice as much - or more - than the old business tax did.

Make no mistake. The old Single Business Tax was a bad tax. But the new Michigan Business Tax (MBT) is even worse. While it was promised that the new tax would help the economy grow, the new tax has instead raised taxes for countless Michigan small businesses like mine.

The result is that business owners have seen their taxes skyrocket. While we want to keep prices down for our customers, sometimes we have no choice but to pass some of the increases onto our customers, something I don't want and I know my customers don't either.

If you're a small business with dwindling sales and almost nothing to show for it after costs are paid, how are you supposed to pay your tax bill? Apparently those legislators who voted for this tax never thought about that when they created this tax.

For small business owners like me, times have never been tougher. Small business owners have been fighting like never before in this down economy to keep our costs down and operate efficiently, but this higher tax has helped eat away the income that small businesses have had.

But legislators can act quickly to make things a little better. The state Senate has just passed a bill in a bi-partisan fashion that would eliminate the ridiculous 22 percent "surcharge" all businesses pay on top of their MBT bill. The way the 22 percent surcharge works is that if your taxes are $10,000, add roughly another $2,200 to the bill.

Also, there is another bill passed by the Senate that would eliminate things like the sales tax I collect from the base of the tax. Essentially, I pay more in business taxes because the state requires me to collect sales tax from my patrons. That is a tax on a tax, and it is wrong.

I call on the state House of Representatives to quickly pass these bills. The way Michigan taxes its businesses is killing businesses, and the state must act - soon - to change that.

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Milford Business Association Upcoming Event

Steals & Deals is a one day event February 21st, you can preview the steals on February 20th. The Hometown Connection has a tear out sheet with ads from many of the local businesses. So check it out, come downtown on February 21st. Regardless of what the weather is doing support the local businesses.

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Other Local Happenings

February 5th - Taste of the Valley is again at Baker’s of Milford and supports the Huron Valley Youth Assistance. Many of your favorite restaurants will be there to give you a taste of what they serve daily.

Feb. 14th – Luti & Brian will be performing at Huron Valley Council for the Arts.

March 7th – Highland Business Association is putting on Comedy Night at the White Lake Inn featuring Norm Stulz and Steve Lind to raise monies for their scholarship program. Contact 248-889-1422.

April 25th - Women’s Enrichment Day from 8am-1pm at Highland Middle School. Saint George’s Café will be sponsoring the coffee for the morning and will have a seminar this year. Check us out.

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Produce Quality Barometer

Our suppliers are saying the following –

Beans have been impacted by cold weather in the last couple of weeks.

Cucumbers are not in as high demand so pricing softening a little mostly coming from Florida and Mexico.

Green Peppers are in flux due to cool weather in Florida, lack of demand is keeping pricing reasonable.

Oranges are staying on the trees longer due to heavy fog and rain so they are a little larger in size than is typical.

Raspberries are difficult to come by as poor weather in Calhas knocked out much of the crop. Berries are coming in from Chile, but they are smaller and not as good.

Strawberries have also had a hard go with the cool weather and it is unknown how many blooms may have dropped off the plants.

Zucchini & Yellow Squash are in good supply and not impacted by weather so great supplies in Florida and Mexico.

Wheat prices may be up in spring as winter wheat crop conditions have been dismal.

Soy market will be tight this year.

Black and White pepper markets are seeing Indian crops now and Vietnam crops in the next 30 days, prices are expected to stay the same.

Chili & Paprika are to be short this year. Peru crop of paprika 20% short, with domestic 35% short, more suppliers looking to China for paprika. Domestic Chili crop expected February/March and expected to be short 10-15%.

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New Hours

We have obtained a long term commitment from Prepaid Legal Services for lunch meetings on Monday’s so we will be closing at 11:00am on Monday’s throughout April.

Tuesday, & Wednesday we will be open from 7:00am - 3:00pm

Thursday & Friday we will be open from 7:00am - 4:00pm

Saturday we will be open from 8:00am - 3:00pm

Sunday we will be open from 9:00am - 2:00pm

We are currently hosting meetings for a non-profit organization, health seminars and a for profit home party company. We are happy to work with any organization to rent the café after hours. We are also looking for commitments from organizations or businesses for office space and/or larger meeting space as we have the opportunity to add to our existing location. If you have an organization that would like morning or lunch meetings let us know your requirements, we will need to make a decision by the end of February.

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Working with Meena Puri to offer great Indian Vegetarian foods at Saint George’s and possibly do cooking class once a month. If you are interested please sign up via email at saintgeorgescafe@hotmail.com or at our website we have an event booking site so we can schedule.

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