Top-Level Exec Who Reads Bedtime Stories and Serves Pork to 500

Amy Dordek Dolinsky has been actively involved in the Chicago business community for more than 25 years. She joined BPI Group, a global HR consulting firm in 2009, bringing extensive experience in business development, marketing and sales in the professional services industry. She is the highest-ranking woman in the U.S., serving as a market leader, national account manager, as well as a member of the operating and management team.

In her current role, Amy manages the Midwest region as well as key client relationships, while also spearheading account management and marketing activities. Prior to joining BPI group, Dordek Dolinsky was a client relationship manager for a human resources consulting firm, Capital H Group. She was also a vice president of business development for an accounting and finance consulting firm for 10 years earlier in her career.

Dordek Dolinksy, along with her husband, ABC 7 Chicago’s Food Reporter Steve Dolinsky, enjoys culinary travel around the world with their two children, Madeline and Max.

Womenetics: You have worked in human resources. What advice would you give to women looking for a job in today’s economy?
Amy Dordek Dolinsky: The advice I would give women would be similar to the advice I give men. First you need make sure that you conduct an inventory of all of your accomplishments and achievements so that you can paint a picture of who you are and what you’ve done. I also advise people to test the market to make sure that all of what they have to say about themselves is relevant and current. This means you look at the job boards and postings to make sure that what you say about yourself and your experience matches what the market is looking for in that particular function or industry.

I also recommend that people use the various social networking tools to their advantage, especially LinkedIn. Many people have a profile, but it may not be complete, and they are not really using it to its full potential. We joke that they are “on it” but not “in it.”

Also, sometimes women aren’t as good at promoting themselves or networking to leverage their contacts. They may not want to ask for help. I say, people love to be asked for advice and help, if you do it in the right way. You’ll be surprised. Many people don’t realize how helpful their networks can be and how most people today find jobs not through job boards but through networking. I always suggest people start with the places they feel most comfortable -- like their places of worship, their alumni groups, their old colleagues -- and go from there.

I’ve also recommended people read an interesting article called “Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg” by Malcolm Gladwell that was featured many years ago in The New Yorker. It’s the article that preceded his book, “The Tipping Point.” It offers an interesting perspective on the concept of how connections and creating different circles of influence matter.

Womenetics: From an employer’s point of view, what makes a good candidate?
Dordek Dolinsky: A good candidate is someone who shares details and specific examples when answering questions about themselves. I’ve always been impressed when people share interesting and specific examples of how they have been successful in a past position. That is the key to what we call “behavioral interviewing:” demonstration of past performance for a similar position.

It’s also good when people say “I” versus “we” in an interview. I always want to know what a candidate did themselves, even if they made a mistake or learned something versus someone who always says “we” because I question what they actually did or the role they did or didn’t play.

A good candidate is someone who appears composed, even if they are not on the inside. Everyone should do their research beforehand, not just on the company but also on the person/people they are meeting. I like when someone smiles or engages me, not just answers the questions but creates a conversation. The most important thing is to be a good match both for the position and for the culture. Most people fail not because they can’t do the actual job or because they lack technical experience but because they don’t fit the culture.

Womenetics: You co-founded TradeStar Expo, a trade show exhibit manufacturing and consulting firm and later sold it. Do you miss being an entrepreneur?
Dordek Dolinsky: I feel like I’ve been an entrepreneur my entire career. Since TradeStar Expo, I have joined several organizations that have allowed me to maintain my entrepreneurial spirit. The Johnsson Group was a startup that I joined after TradeStar, and I helped grow this small accounting and finance consulting to approximately $12 million and then sold it to a French consulting conglomerate. After that I was an investor and one of the first employees of another start-up consulting firm, Capital H Group.

Joining BPI group in growth mode in the U.S. is another exciting opportunity where I can contribute with my experience as we expand in the Midwest and nationally. Although I may be working for a bigger, global organization, that spirit, that need to wear many different hats and roll up your sleeves to make something happen never really goes away no matter where you go. I’ve always joined organizations that have valued that in me. My relationship-building skills, energy and “can-do” attitude were what they were looking for.

Womenetics: You served on the Executive Committee of Reading is Fundamental in Chicago. I understand that you practice what you preach and read to your children every night. Is that correct?
Dordek Dolinsky: I do still read with my children every night. It’s a ritual even though they are 14 and 11. Now that we’re on adult level books, I am just as hooked on the stories as my kids. My daughter and I are racing to finish “Big Miracle” before the movie comes out because the books are always better than the movies. More details!

Womenetics: How do you find time to participate in leadership roles in the community, while filling a demanding professional position and being a mother and wife?
Dordek Dolinsky: Balance is the key to life, and in the end, it’s never perfect no matter how well I try to prioritize. I’m pretty organized, so that helps. But I get a lot of support from my husband, family and colleagues. It requires teamwork on every level. My kids have developed a sense of independence that will serve them well in life.

But my husband is helping me to practice the word “no.” I’m not very good at saying no. My husband just made me read an article about collecting friends and letting some go. Again, it is all about balance and understanding what is most important to you at different times of your life.

I have learned a lot from my leadership roles in non-profit organizations, which I’ve applied to my job or career. Sometimes this is the leadership or career development that you don’t get in your job if your company doesn’t offer training, and it can be incredibly beneficial.

People often ask me how I do it, especially women who may be thinking of starting a family but are at critical moments in their careers. There is never a perfect time for anything. If you plan too much, you’ll never get things done, so I always tell women to just go for it. You’ll figure it out later.

I promise that people will figure out the balance that is right for them.

I have to try to keep this quote in mind: “Women need real moments of solitude and self-reflection to balance out how much of ourselves we give away.” - Barbara de Angelis

And also: “You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.” - Charles Buxton

Womenetics: What keeps you up at night?
Dordek Dolinsky: The sounds of sirens in the city keep me up at night! No, seriously, what keeps me up at night is worrying about balance and finding the time for everything. Quality time with my husband, kids, family is most important. I go to bed mentally checking everything off in my head from the day and then planning for the day ahead, and that often keeps me from getting a good night’s sleep. I always hope that I’m the best I can be for everyone in my life, and it sometimes creates expectations that I can’t always meet. I can’t wait for the device that pulls things out of your head and does them for you so that I could focus on the most important things and let the little things go.

Womenetics: What do you most hope for your children?
Dordek Dolinsky: I want my children to be confident and independent. I want them to contribute in a way that makes a difference but also be able to support themselves. We always joke about the fact that they are going to work as soon as they are legally able! It’s such good experience for kids to learn from work. I meet with so many young people who are job hunting, and I love when someone comes in and is self-assured, prepared, articulate and a go-getter.

My kids have gone to Montessori school (where play and lessons are all called “work”), and I love the idea of educating my kids to be part of a global community where independence, freedom within limits and respect for others is emphasized. We just had a parent-teacher conference for our daughter, and we said it was one of the best experiences we have ever had as parents because the teacher told us that she’s a kind, hardworking, whole person who may struggle in math, but given her many other talents, she just needs to let it go. She’ll do great things regardless.

What great advice: play to your strengths, and let the other stuff go.

Womenetics: What are your hobbies?
Dordek Dolinsky: I love to travel with my family and experience the culinary and cultural experiences that each city and country has to offer. I’m small in stature so I like to/have to work out with a trainer and do enjoy hot yoga at Core Power Yoga. This all enables me to keep up with the food and cocktail adventures in my life.

Womenetics: Who was the biggest influence in your life?
Dordek Dolinsky: My parents and my first boss, Marilyn Lissner. My parents get top billing, certainly, as they simply are the best parents in the world. You can ask anyone who knows them. They were present and involved (to this day), wise, energetic, supportive and gave all three of their children a ton of self-confidence. We weren’t coddled but were loved and told we could do anything we set our minds to, but it would take work. I was and am a high-energy person, and they helped me channel it appropriately. They joked that I was a little tornado that they knew some day would make a positive impact. They made sure of it!

Following closely behind my parents was my first boss, mentor and now friend -- Marilyn Lissner. She was one of the first women in commercial real estate. Most women stayed in residential. She and her partner were two of the first women brokers and the only women I had ever met that wore pantsuits. That was pretty provocative in the late 80s and early 90s as those were still the days of “Dress for Success” where women wore skirts and jackets.

She has a great mind for business but leveraged her experience as a teacher and mom to her clients' advantage. Everyone who has worked with me knows some of my Marilyn stories because she said things like, “Make sure you get the agreement in writing because you want to protect your client if you should get hit by a bus.” Such a Jewish mother thing to say! Or, “If you don’t get a meeting with that person someone else will - don’t be afraid and just make the call. What’s the worst that can happen? They can just say no.” So many things like that stay with me today.

Marilyn taught me how to be tough yet kind, a client advocate and, above all, to maintain one’s integrity. Clients love her because she goes the extra mile for them and does a little mothering/nurturing along the way. I’m sure many people in the commercial real estate industry would say that they have learned from her. I mentioned her to an old friend recently, and we both smiled when talking about her. She’s still in the business and going strong.

Womenetics: I understand that you host a huge pig roast in your backyard in the summer. Why?

The 6th Annual Pig & Pinot

Dordek Dolinsky: We host an event that’s now called “Pig & Pinot” at the end of August every summer. We started it to celebrate my husband’s birthday, which is the end of August. Last year was the 6th Annual Pig & Pinot. It all started with this crazy pig roast box called The La Caja China. My husband’s good friend, Rick Cooper, has one of these boxes, and he and my husband wanted to try to cook a pig in this box with a few chef friends. Rick is a music industry professional and an investor in several Chicago restaurants, which is how he met my husband. Also because of my husband’s job, we eat out at many restaurants and have become friends with chefs and restaurant industry professionals both here in Chicago and nationally.

Another reason we originally hosted the pig roast was to entertain the chefs in our home. They so often entertain us and because at the core, every chef truly loves to feed people. We wanted to repay the favor and feed them! So the first year we ended up hosting about 100 people – mostly friends, neighbors and restaurant and music industry people – and it’s grown from there.

Two years ago it became too big, and we had about 500 people. People we invited then invited their friends and so on. It was crazy. We do the entire event in the alley behind our house which is why we can entertain such a large group. The invite says, “You bring the wine (Pinot or other). We’ll bring the swine (sides, etc.).” Pastry chefs sometimes bring cupcakes or cookies, mixologists bring cocktails and on and on. It’s become this huge, crazy almost pot luck-like event. 

Dorothy L. Sayers, Marjorie Barber, and the Story of a Wartime Lemon

In February 1943, Marjorie Barber, who was known to everyone as Bar, carefully wrapped a lemon in a jeweler’s box and sent it to her friend, the detective novelist Dorothy L. Sayers. The packaging was appropriate: a lemon was as precious as a jewel in the depths of World War II in England. This was a war that devastated the home front: nearly 70,000 British civilians died, and no one escaped the shortages, the long hours, or the near-constant menace of bombs.

The ‘home’ front was fraught on another level for Bar and Dorothy. They were both in complex long-term partnerships that frequently offered stress rather than succor and uncertainty rather than support. Their quiet friendship was a refuge and a source of the fresh air, space, and humor that makes it possible keep muddling through in one’s marriage and one’s life, and the lemon, both treasured and refreshing, is its perfect symbol.

Wartime rationing and controls aimed to ensure that every person had access to a minimum supply of basic goods – not only food, but also clothing, furniture, and other items. A points system governed access to rarer items like cereals, lentils, and tinned (canned) foods. Lemons, though, were never rationed: like bananas and other items that had to be shipped from warmer climes, they simply became essentially unobtainable. The war disrupted trade routes and filled ships and cargo holds with munitions and soldiers rather than tropical fruits.

A queue for food in wartime London.

Dorothy called the lemon a “Museum Piece” for its rarity and splendor. Her husband, Mac Fleming, looked at it with a “stupefied gaze” and asked, in mock bewilderment, “What is it?”

But a lemon is not a jewel: it will not last forever. Mac said it “would be a pity to destroy it,” but Dorothy countered that “it would be a pity to let it dry up or grow green whiskers.” He wanted to put it in a glass case and sell tickets for the privilege of viewing it; she wanted to make that curry that he’d rejected before because it was “no good without a squeeze of lemon.” Manifestly unable to agree, they wrapped the lemon back up in its wadding and put it aside.

Bar had lived in London with her partner, Muriel St. Clare Byrne, since the 1920s; while Bar taught English literature to high school girls, Muriel was a Shakespeare expert and historian who taught at Bedford College and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. All three women had attended Somerville College, Oxford, together around the time of the First World War. Muriel and Dorothy were members of the same writing club there, the archly named Mutual Admiration Society. While Muriel and Bar were setting up house in their London flat and writing poems about their beloved cat, Dorothy had a more tumultuous romantic trajectory, involving some fraught love-affairs with men, a son born out of wedlock, and finally marriage in 1926 to Mac — a veteran of World War I, a journalist, and a gourmand who had already been married once before.

By 1943, both partnerships had been through good times and bad – the marriage of Mac and Dorothy, and the partnership of Muriel and Bar, who called each other “friends” or “companions” but functioned socially as a couple and wrote to each other with the frank love, deep concern, and possessive annoyance of spouses. Mac had eventually adopted Dorothy’s son, but the marriage had grown less close and was put under strain by his chronic ill health and the deaths, in rapid succession, of both of Dorothy’s parents. In the early 1930s, Dorothy considered separation and perhaps divorce; she took a long vacation with Muriel to discuss the matter, and ultimately decided to stick it out. Her subsequent letters narrate their spats and disagreements with a witty veneer that is hard to penetrate. To what extent had they found a reasonable modus vivendi, and to what extent does the humor cover a profound marital unease? The lemon incident is only one example: read the exchanges in different tones of voice, and their meaning shifts from the charming to the depressing.

Dedication page, BUSMAN’S HONEYMOON (the novel version, 1937) by Dorothy L. Sayers

Dorothy found, in her friendships with Muriel and Bar, both emotional and intellectual connection. With Bar’s regular input, Dorothy and Muriel collaborated on a series of writing projects, beginning with a play, Busman’s Honeymoon, that dramatized the early married experience of Sayers’ famous fictional sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey, and his beloved Harriet Vane. By World War II, Muriel and Dorothy had launched an edited book series, “Bridgeheads,” that aimed to explore different aspects of a rapidly changing world. The three old school friends were in constant conversation about books, poetry, criticism, ideas, theology, and drama; Sayers’ letters to editors and other friends frequently cite something either Muriel or Bar has said on a given topic. Dorothy wrote a cycle of twelve radio plays on the life of Jesus early in the war, and her work was informed by the reactions of Bar’s students, who listened in each month. But Mac was not entirely left out of this circle: he painted a portrait of Bar, for example, in 1941, and sent it to her when it was not included in an exhibition.

Muriel and Bar, for their part, were separated by the war. Bar followed her students when they were evacuated from London, part of the large-scale effort to protect English children by moving them out of the zones likely to be worst-affected by German bombs. She worried profoundly about Muriel’s safety in London. And she found it harder and harder to cope with the terms of their relationship, which seems to have involved a certain degree of openness or latitude for Muriel to have relationships with other women. One such woman lived in their flat during the war, causing increased tension with Bar. Bar found, in Dorothy’s home, a refuge from those tensions. She spent long holidays with Dorothy and Mac, on a scale reminiscent of a Jane Austen character. Witness Dorothy’s invitation in 1942: “Well, dear, have a good term and come back at Christmas to pay us a nice long Eighteenth-Century visit.” Bar did spend that Christmas with her friends, leaving Muriel in London with her other companion.

Bar advised Dorothy to put the lemon in water occasionally to plump it out again, should it show signs of deterioration. This Dorothy did, until at last, about a month after the lemon’s triumphant arrival, she decided to take covert action. The lemon, it seemed, was beginning to grow whiskers, and the butcher had sweetbreads in stock. So, as she told Bar, “I cast reverence to the winds, cut the precious creature open (it was in perfectly good condition), used half the juice for the sauce, and served up the sweetbreads adorned with slices of lemon as per Mrs. Beeton.”

“You’ve CUT the LEMON!” Mac cried when he saw the dish. But Dorothy placated him by pointing out that he never looked at it and it was growing moldy. And they ate Mrs. Beeton’s sweetbreads and lemon, and then Dorothy made barley-water with the peel and even saved a small piece of the lemon to eat alongside some fish at the following morning’s breakfast.

It was “a very beautiful and encouraging lemon,” Dorothy said. And it carried with it the networks of love and care that had brought it to her doorstep. As she ate it, she told Bar, “I thought humbly and gratefully of you, and of our Armies in Africa and of the Merchant Seamen and the Warships and all the other kind and courageous beings who had toiled to bring the lemon and the sweetbreads.”

When life sends you war, rationing, and personal hardship, true friends send you lemons.

---

Sources

Barbara Reynolds, ed., The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers, Vol. II: 1937-1943: From Novelist to Playwright (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996)

Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska, Austerity in Britain: Rationing, Controls, and Consumption, 1939-1955 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)

Top 5 products for longevity

Familiar products will help to look young and significantly improve your health.

Such products as nuts, turmeric and eggs that are familiar to us, if used properly, will help to look young and significantly improve your health.

How to Re-use Coffee Grounds

With the average amount of coffee grounds you use up everyday, do you ever wonder if there’s anything you can do with them aside from just tossing them straight into the bin? Here are more than one ways to re-use coffee grounds. Take note of these so you won’t waste the beans the next time you have coffee.

Use coffee grounds to drive away pests and even cats. It is known that these animals don’t like the smell of coffee. Use grounds against ants, too. Sprinkle the used grounds on areas where you usually see those ants and they’re sure to find another home to infest.

Use coffee grounds to remove bad odors in the house. Simply dry the coffee grounds and put them in an old pantyhose-like material to hold and hang them or in a small container with air holes. This will trap the bad smell in your closet, cupboards, ref, and even in your freezer.

Use coffee grounds as hair shiner. Use before shampooing or conditioning so you won’t smell like latte. Rub through your locks and use some on the scalp to rid some dandruff. Make sure to rinse thoroughly. Important note: coffee grounds are believed to work better for brunettes.

Stock Up on Emergency Supplies

Storms and hurricanes. Tornadoes and thunderstorms. Floods and ManBearPig. Anything can happen these days. If you happen to live where such occurrences are quite common, you just have to be prepared for them. One thing you can do to help you survive disasters is to stock up on emergency supplies. The rule of thumb is to have at least supplies to last you four days. If you happen to have a storm shelter, make sure it’s well stocked. Here’s a checklist to guide you on things to stock up on.

• Fresh drinking water (at least three gallons per person)
• Battery operated transistor radio
• Flashlight
• Extra batteries
• First aid kit (here’s how to pack a first aid kit)
• Canned goods
• Special food items (e.g. baby formula)
• A camping stove
• Can opener
• Disposable utensils
• Canned juices (replenishes nutrients and sugars, and hydrates)
• Large zip top bags/Garbage bags
• Fire extinguisher
• Waterproof matches
• Candles
• Sleeping bags (or roll-up mattresses with blankets)

As another rule of thumb check your supplies monthly and replace items that can go stale or bad.

How to Store Canned Goods

And you though canned goods are built to last. Canned goods need a bit of care to get the most out of them. Canned goods save you time when cooking a quick meal. Here are tips on storing canned goods.

• Keep track of expiry dates. Canned goods usually last for two years. Acidic canned foods (tomatoes) may only go to about a year to a year and a half.
• Your cupboards and shelves are good enough storage for your canned goods as long as they’re cool and dry. Never store cans near heating pipes and stoves. Heat would cause them to expand. Likewise with extremely cool places where the cans might freeze.
• Throw out any can that has discoloration or rust. Don’t bother checking the date or even taste-testing it. Seems like waste but there’s no point in gambling your health over a couple of dollar’s worth of canned food.
• Here’s a tip that goes well with my previous tip on cutting down on fat from your diet. Refrigerate unopened cans of soup. You’d note that the oils and fats would’ve congealed up top. You’d be able to skim them off easily.

How to Make Fast-Food Eating “Healthy”

Now the question “Will fast food ever be healthy?” That’s why I placed “healthy” in between quotes there. Super Size Me really broke down any association between healthy and fast-food eating. But if ever you end up eating in a fast-food joint, here are some ways to trim down on the bad stuff and make your meal a bit more healthy.

• Order them plain. When ordering a burger, get it without cheese, bacon, sauce, mayo… You can, however, ask to have some more tomatoes and lettuce in them.
• When ordering chicken, choose the dark meat portions (the thighs would be best!). Remove the extra crispy and extra fatty breaded skin (but that’s the yummy part! :p ).
• Resist supersizing! The deal maybe “worth it” in terms of bucks per serving but you’re unnecessarily doubling (or even quadrupling) your calorie intake.
• Order mashed potatoes (without the bacon and cheese topping) instead of French fries.
• When going for salads, try going for a vinegrette dressing instead of the rich and thick cream ones. Avoid the other fatty stuff in the salad too like eggs, bacon bits and croutons.

WHERE TO EAT A CROQUE-MONSIEUR IN PARIS?

The croque monsieur is indeed the trendy specialty of the moment ! Revisited by many beautiful places in Paris, this snack a priori the most common found acclaim in the capital account and many eventually  dethrone the burger . So not wait to discover the most essential haunts the undertaker !

1 - THE HOUSE OF CROQUE MONSIEUR

After a hit in New York, La Maison du Croque Monsieur arrives in Paris with two beautiful places in Montparnasse and the side of Montorgueil. Presented in its version of snacking , the croque monsieur is declined in all its forms : classic, house, veggie, sweet ... according to the food! If, on the spot, you have to elbow find a seat (the restaurant is small enough ), we gladly took our croque takeaway to eat on the run. Inside the frame is quite nice: Deco retro-chic and beautiful terrace for sunny days. At any time of the day (breakfast brekkie, lunch, tea, happy hours ), map revisits taste this typical Parisian specialty (do not forget!) And is accompanied by salad or its chips (for a big  cheat meal ). We revel in their crusty country bread to perfection and signed Jean-Luc Poujauran, the baker star of Paris. The portions in the US stall quickly: small stomachs refrain !

A must for dessert : the Mr Gonzalo (croque-based mascarpone, Nutella and banana)

Practical information :
The House of Croque Monsieur 37, boulevard du Montparnasse, 75006
Metro: Falguière (line 12)
09.67.10.97.76
Monday to Saturday from 8am to 20:30
salty Croques between 7 and 9 euros - sweet Croques between 5 and 6 euros - Packages at 9,5 and 11,5 euros

2 - LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

In this bistro croques 9th is the framework that prevails! Cozy and very cute decor, Mrs. Gentlemen is a little place in which to settle down to eat in a friendly atmosphere . On the menu, a selection of toasted sandwiches to presidents names : the Valéry (classic croque-based ham, bechamel County and nutmeg), the John Casimir (croque-based veggie spinach, feta and Zucchini) or François (basque style crunch with bayonne ham, sheep cheese and sweet peppers). Knowing that every bite can be disguised as Lady , wearing his confit egg yolk ! In accompaniment: a green salad mix and homemade french fries. It is recommended!

A must for dessert : the Banoffee (cake made of gingerbread, caramel sauce and topped with a homemade whipped cream)

Practical information : 
Ms. Gentlemen- 80, rue Maubeuge, 75009
Metro: Poissonnière (line 7) or Gare du Nord (lines 4 and 5)
01.40.16.49.95
Monday from 12h to 15h and Tuesday to Saturday from 12h to 15h and from 19h to 23h (Thursday until midnight)
Croques from 11.8 euros

3 - FRIC-FRAC

In this restaurant in the retro-chic decor (white walls decorated with scribbled drawings or framed, exposed beams, logs separate from the kitchen), all toasted sandwiches are prepared by chefs Meilleur Ouvrier de France . The bread comes straight from the oven MOF Frédéric Lalos, coffee roasters of Customs, the hams of a true Parisian artisan , farmed salmon from Norway (GMO, marinated house) while the chicken farmer (high in outdoor) income is served in a Mexican marinade 100% homemade . Suffice to say that Fric-Frac put the package on the quality of its products . On the menu, a wide selection of toasted  more conventional (with or without his boiled egg) to the most original (Thai or Mexican recipes), through two veggie versions (vegetarian and vegan), served cold for some hot for d 'other. To 1.5 euros more , it serves us along with mesclun salad , chips or their perks (lentils, cucumbers, tabouli, soup of the moment).

A must for dessert : banana cake the house (with his English cream or Nutella)

Practical information :
Fric-Frac- 79, quai de Valmy, 75010
Metro: République (lines 3, 5, 8, 9 and 11)
01.42.85.87.34
Tuesday to Friday from 12 to 14:30 and 19:30 to 23h and Saturday Sunday from 12h to 23h
Croques between 11.5 and 15 euros (1.5 euros for accompaniment)

4 - PÂTISSERIE-TEA ROOM OF THE TUILERIES

Voted "Best croque monsieur" all Paris by Le Figaro , the recipe for the pastry chef Sebastien Gaudard famous is undoubtedly a must! Snack combines crisp and fluffy.  The chef does not skimp on the quality of products : sausage pork ham Aveyron Linard, AOC county of Jura wineries Marcel Petite and in Landemaine bread. Sébastien Gaudard present his creation in its most traditional formbut which is nonetheless unprecedented . Made with salty custard base to replace the heavy béchamel, the croque monsieur the  Tuileries Tea Patisserie-Salon is served with salad of fennel mash, salmon or a simple green salad seasoned with a net Olive oil and banyuls vinegar. Comfortable in this intimate tea room , located under the arcades of the Rue des Pyramides , we savor the ham and cheese sandwich way pastry chef in a setting worthy of the past century !

A must for dessert : the rhubarb pie with meringue

Practical information : 
Patisserie-Salon de Thé des Tuileries - 1, rue des Pyramides, 75001
Metro: Tuileries (line 1)
01.71.18.24.70
Tuesday to Friday from 12h to 19h and Saturday and Sunday from 10h to 19h (the exhibition hours tea)
Croque € 15

5 - THE ATELIER DU BURGER ET DU CROQUE MONSIEUR

This restaurant located close to the Grand Mosque of Paris and the Jardin des Plantes also puts much honored burgers as croque monsieur. Served with home fries (1.5 euros more), ABC offers us three different versions of toasted sandwiches made with fresh, quality products, made by local artisans: The Original (mozzarella, emmental-cheddar- Tomatoes), Le Fumiste (salmon-goat-honey-cream cheese) and Le Récalé (turkey-mozza-cornichons-cream cheese). We appreciate the sober and cozy and warm family atmosphere of this address 5th.  One can choose to eat on site or take -away .

A must for dessert : pie Périgord walnuts (depending on availability)

Practical information : 
The workshop Burger and Croque Monsieur - 11, Rue Linne, 75005
Metro: Jussieu (lines 7 and 10)
01.43.36.20.18
Monday to Thursday from 11:30 to 15h and Friday-Saturday from 11:30 am to 15h (up to 16h on Saturday) and from 19h to 22h
Croques 5.5 and 6 euros

Feeling tired and bloated? You could be eating too much salt

What’s next? We’re supposed to cut fat, sugar and now salt from our food?

But before you think this is just another scare story, look at the facts and think again.

Salt is a big deal and could be responsible for tiredness, a bloated stomach and puffy ankles.

Reducing your intake could improve your mood and help you shed as much as 7lb of retained water – as Natalie Sullivan and husband Mike found out when they put my theory to the test.

“We’d always been pretty healthy and used fresh ingredients,” says Natalie, 28. But their good intentions lapsed when their son Will was born two years ago.

“Ready meals slowly crept into our diet,” Natalie admits.

The couple agreed to keep a week’s food diary, confident they’d both consume less than the Food Standards Agency guidelines of 6g of salt a day.

But on two days Natalie’s salt intake shot to 8.4g, while Mike’s was high throughout.
“I was shocked,” says Natalie, who’s 8st. “I felt tired and bloated, but I thought it was work-related.

“I’ve cut down on salt – I have unsalted butter and less bread. I feel energised, less waterlogged and I’ve lost 1st.”

Low-down on salt

 Salt is sodium chloride – it’s the sodium that’s bad for you. Look out for monosodium glutamate and sodium bicarbonate too.

 An adult should have no more than 6g of salt a day. Kids between four and six can have 3g, seven to 10 year olds can have 5g. Most food labels list sodium – to calculate salt, multiply it by 2.5.

 It’s easy to cut down on salt by choosing unsalted versions of your favourite foods and making meals from scratch.

Pie recipe original apple

The apple pie is a delicious dessert very easy to prepare. As shown in this video, just to have the right ingredients and know a few tricks to succeed a nice apple pie in 45 minutes flat.

Recipe Grandmother

1. Preheat oven to 170 ° C.
2. Wash and peel the potatoes before cutting into wedges.
3. Then make cook the apples with butter.
4. Gently add the raisins, brown sugar and peanuts.
5. Mix and add a little water.
6. In a baking dish, arrange the first puff.
7. Pour the packing above.
8. Fold the edges.
9. Cut another puff pastry into strips and lay them gently on the liner, taking care to dispose vertically and horizontally.
10. then perform a nice weaving with the same slats interweaving.
11. Using a brush, coat the top of the pie with the egg yolks.
12. Bake in the oven for about 45 min.
13. Check the cooking apple pie with a knife. If the knife blade clean clear from this, the pie is cooked properly.
14. Remove the pie from the oven and let cool. Enjoy your original tart apples.

ingredients

• 8 apples
• 4 c. raisins to soup
• 4 c. chopped peanuts
• 1 knob of butter
• 2 egg yolks
• 4 c. tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 puff pastries

Equipment

• A baking pan
• A pastry brush
• A knife

The advice of our grandmothers

• Peanuts and raisins are also optional ingredients you can replace it with something else, depending on your personal preferences.

En savoir plus sur http://www.grands-meres.net/recette-tarte-aux-pommes-originale/#VvAFjHGQVXpvs2CD.99

Food for Thought: A Few Deep Questions

Anyone can answer any of these questions, please leave a comment:

• Why do banks charge a fee on “insufficient funds” when they know there is not enough?
• Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
• Why do they use sterilised needles for death by lethal injection?
• Whose idea was it to put an “S” in the word “lisp”?
• What is the speed of darkness?
• Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
• If it’s true that we are here to help others, what are the others doing here?
• If someone with a split personality threatens to commit suicide, is it a hostage situation?
• What level of importance must a person have, before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered

How To Pack a Healthy Picnic Lunch

Healthy Food for Picnic Time

One of the most popular activities in the summer  is to be outdoors and enjoy a picnic with the family. This article is about how to pack a healthy picnic lunch.  This article includes suggestions for food you can take, quick salads to prepare, and tips about food safety.

A park is the most convenient place to have a picnic. Most have tables, which make it easier to eat and serve the food, particularly if you are using plates and utensils. Many people  have folding chairs and even small tables they can take in the car, but this isn't always possible if you do not have much space. A more casual gathering may involve taking a blanket and eating on the ground.  Generally kids prefer this to picnic tables anyway.

A beach is another great place to have a picnic lunch although they are often quite crowded, particularly on hot days.  Food safety is always important and we need to have good habits to prevent illness.   If you have ever gotten sick from eating food you know how terrible it feels.   Read on for tips on packing healthy food for your outdoor lunch.

Food Safety Tips
The most important thing to keep in mind is that a lot of the food that we typically eat at a picnic will spoil very quickly. Bacteria will multiply rapidly in most food when it is at room temperature, and it grows even faster  on a hot day.

You cannot always know if something is still safe to eat. Of course, it will become obvious eventually. However, people get sick sometimes from eating something that tasted and smelled fine . This is why food safety is so important when packing a healthy picnic lunch.

Our hands normally contain a lot of bacteria. Bringing along a waterless hand cleaner is a good idea, unless you are going to be somewhere that has public washrooms.

Food must be kept cold, and the best way to do this is to carry a cooler. Anything that normally requires refrigeration at home should be kept cold until you will eat. Leftovers should be put away soon after eating. This is easy to forget when we are having fun and visiting with others, but it only takes a minute to repack in a cooler.  It may seem obvious, but toxins will multiply fast and you may not even be aware of it.

If you are taking raw meat to cook on a barbecue, it should be kept separate from other food. If you are taking a lot of meat, the safest option is to pack that in a separate cooler and use another cooler for other food.

Meat should be well wrapped and in a ziplock bag, or a container with a tight lid, so that any juices that may leak will not end up on other food. Use separate utensils for handing the raw meat when you are barbecuing, and not the same ones you will be using to eat your meal. Raw meat has a lot of bacteria.

Planning a Healthy Lunch For the Picnic

A healthy lunch should include protein as well as lots of vegetables, and some fruit. Protein with each meal helps to keep the blood sugar at a good level.  This will keep you from  feeling hungry  not long after eating. Besides meat and fish, protein is in eggs, cheese and yogurt. The salad pictured here is a filling meal, as it has eggs and ham.

However, you don't need to eat meat or dairy to get protein. Other sources include beans, quinoa, tofu, yogurt (particularly Greek yogurt)  and nuts. Raw almonds, walnuts, and pine nuts all add nice favor to salads, or can be eaten by themselves. Seeds such as pumpkin, sesame and sunflower seeds are good choices as well.

Once you have decided on a protein food, you will want to include lots of vegetables. You may wish to cut up raw veggies and eat them with a dip or salad dressing. There are endless possibilities as far as salads are concerned. Almost any vegetable can be eaten raw, and is better for you than cooked as no nutrition is lost. There are lots of varieties of lettuce. The darker it is in color, the more antioxidants and vitamins it contains. You also may want to use spinach or other greens. You will get a lot of vitamins and minerals and fiber with these foods.

Cooked pasta, potatoes and rice can be used as well to make salads.  Red and yellow potatoes are particularly nice to make a salad.

Almost everyone loves fruit, and it has a lot of nutrition. One nice thing about summer is  fruit is in season and can be obtained fresh from farmers markets. It's delicious and great for growing and active kids to eat.

For dessert, you could bring homemade cookies, yogurt or raisins, just to give a few examples.

Vintage picnic poster from the public domain.

Some Quick Food Ideas
Quinoa

Quinoa is delicious in a salad. Combine cooked quinoa with cooked squash, sliced zucchini, cherry tomatoes, or other raw veggie that you like. Add parsley, basil or other fresh herb and toss with a vinaigrette.

Pasta

Cooked pasta goes well with tomatoes, cucumber, shredded carrot. It's particularly nice with a sun dried tomato or Italian dressing.

Beans

Beans are healthy and have protein. A variety of your favorites with a zesty vinaigrette will provide a lot of nutrition, and they are a good source of fiber as well.

Eggs

Add more flavor to cooked eggs by cutting in half and sprinkling with paprika and pepper.

Samon and tuna

Canned salmon or tuna can be packed in containers and eaten as is, or with a bun or bread to make sandwiches. Simply mash, add onion and flavorings that you like and just enough mayo to combine. If you use a lot of mayo it will get too wet and a bit mushy.

Finger Foods for Kids

Watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon are all popular items to eat at a picnic. I find it a lot easier to take these items whole, and cut them up just before eating them. They spoil quickly once cut, and even if kept cold they don't taste as good as when eaten fresh.

Watermelon is healthy and has almost no calories, and it is one fruit that almost everyone loves, especially kids.

Kids love finger foods, and there are many healthy ones. Carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, broccoli florettes, grapes and cherries are some great choices. Finger foods are handy to have around for snacks, particularly if you plan to be gone for several hours.

Child Eating Watermelon by Petr Kratochvil

Items to Pack for a Picnic
Nothing is more frustrating than sitting down to eat and realizing you forgot something important. One thing you may need to include is a manual can opener. You may want to take a can of salmon, for example, and prepare it when you arrive at your destination.

You may also need a bottle opener. You don't want to take a bottle of wine with you, only to discover you can't open it.

Condiments may be necessary if you are going to make sandwiches. Mustard, mayo, ketchup. pickles or pickle relish are items that a lot of people like to have.

You also probably will need utensils of some kind, depending on what you are eating, as well as plates. A knife may be necessary to cut up anything that wasn't prepared ahead of time at home.

Many people use paper plates and plastic knives, forks and spoons so they won't have dirty dishes to take home. This makes it easier and more convenient if you don't want to do dishes when you get home.

If you are taking your own coffee or tea, don't forget mugs. You may need glasses for juice or soda unless you don't mind drinking right from the container.

There are other things you might need that have nothing to do with food when eating outside. These would include a large blanket, folding chairs that fit into the trunk of the car, bug spray, and sunscreen.

Napkins and towels are a must. Hands can get sticky eating fruit like watermelon, peaches and so on. Taking some hand wipes or waterless hand cleaner are convenient when you are outdoors.