National Ice Cream Day and Dinner with Strangers
Food can bring people together
Hello, Substack friends to the happy place. All happy all the time here.
So vibrant, so colorful flower power excellence…
Food waste is a big problem, but there is a new app that hopes to solve that problem called Too Good to Go.
“Too Good To Go is a social impact company on a mission to inspire and empower everyone to fight food waste together. Our app is the world's largest marketplace for surplus food. We help users rescue good food from going to waste, offering great value for money at local stores, cafes and restaurants.”
What’s even better is Whole Goods teaming up with Too Good to Go. From Axios: “There are two different surprise bags at Whole Foods stores through Too Good To Go — a prepared food bag and a bakery bag.”
The $9.99 prepared foods bag has a retail value of $30 and may include soups, ready-to-eat meals and protein salads.
The $6.99 bakery bag has a retail value of $21 and can contain various bakery items like breads, muffins and scones.
Too Good to Go is becoming a big movement and has "officially launched" in 27 cities including Washington D.C., Chicago, Miami, Denver, Minneapolis, Detroit and several Texas cities, such as San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and Austin, the company told Axios.”
When it comes to food, having a meal with people is still a great way to connect. There is a new social experience to test this, by having dinner with strangers. Say hello to Timeleft.
“We create opportunities for the magic of chance encounters. The conversations you would have missed, the people you wouldn’t have met. Safe moments to interact with people around you so that you can be more involved with the world you live in.
Free-fall into social possibilities without digital screens. Open up to the people around you without expectations. Start a conversation, spark a connection. Go out for a dinner with strangers.”
Axios reports: When you sign up for dinner on its app, Timeleft poses a series of questions.
It also asks about your dietary restrictions and menu preferences. Then you pick a date to attend a dinner party. The app matches you with five people based on your compatibility.
You don't know anything about those strangers. The only details come the night before, when the app tells you what industries your dining partners work in and what their zodiac signs are.
The app will tell you the restaurant location on the morning of the dinner. There are multiple groups having dinner in the same city, at various restaurants, every week.
I guess I have food on my mind because do you know what today is? It’s National Ice Cream Day.
“Dish or cone? That's all we need to know. National Ice Cream Day on the 3rd Sunday in July offers up every flavor on the menu to honor the day! The holiday also lands in the middle of National Ice Cream Month.”
Some U.S. ice cream facts:
Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson enjoyed ice cream.
1813 -First Lady Dolley Madison served ice cream at the Inaugural Ball.
1832 - African American confectioner, Augustus Jackson, created multiple ice cream recipes as well as a superior technique to manufacture ice cream.
1843 - Philadelphian, Nancy Johnson, received the first U.S. patent for a small-scale hand-cranked ice cream freezer.
1920 - Harry Burt puts the first ice cream trucks on the streets.
“In 1984, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed July as National Ice Cream Month and established National Ice Cream Day as the third Sunday in July.”
If you want to try your hand at making ice cream, how about this vanilla ice cream recipe from The Kitchn? All you need to make your own ice cream:
· 4 large egg yolks
· 2/3 cup granulated sugar
· 1 1/2 cups whole milk
· 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
All the awws to this wee little turtle eating a strawberry:
This week’s book recommendation is from 2011- The Naked King by Sally Mackenzie.
One night of slight overindulgence-oh, all right, he was drunk-and Stephen Parker-Roth finds he must betroth himself to prevent yet another scandal. But his "intended" is lovely, a redheaded beauty under her horrendous, unfashionable bonnet, and before long, he's congratulating himself on compromising such an excellent candidate-and anticipating what other naughtiness they'll get caught at before the wedding...
Lady Anne Marston has long since given up any thought of marriage. That is the price she pays for the mistakes of her past. But one little conversation with a handsome rogue should never have led to a sham engagement. Even if it did end in a rather shocking kiss...in broad daylight...on the front step of London's premier gossip. Now, trapped between a secret and a lie, Anne must somehow disentangle herself from this charming, maddening man before the truth comes out-or her heart gives in...
Why I’m recommending this book- The Naked King gave me the warm fuzzies. I had a crush on Stephen from the very first page and I loved how he can see Anne for all her worth and sticks to her like glue because he’s fallen hard for her. Anne is a stoic heroine, but very much a martyr because she’s ruled by remaining proper and can’t misstep because she feels if she does one wrong move, everyone will look at her with disdain. Stephen wants her to loosen up and ignore her critics. These two have great chemistry and share awesome dialogue. Stephen’s thoughts for Anne the majority of the time are very naughty. Sally is the queen at writing cute and adorable, and The Naked King is the perfect example of this.
Don’t give up and keep doing what you’re doing or what you want to do….
“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” ― Ella Fitzgerald