Harvesters’ Canstruction 2011 Winners Announced

Vote today to help decide the People’s Choice award winner.

“Weeeeeee’re off to feed the hungry…” by Black & Veatch won the Jurors Favorite award at Harvesters’ 10th annual Canstruction competition. Thirteen incredible, edible sculptures are on exhibit through February 7 at the Ward Parkway Center, 8600 Ward Parkway, Kansas City, MO. At the end of the exhibit, all of the nonperishable food items used in the sculptures will be donated to Harvesters to feed hungry people in our community.

This year’s creative Canstruction sculptures used nearly 38,000 cans of food and will provide more than 23,000 meals to the hungry. During its 10-year history, Canstruction has provided more than 282,000 pounds of food—more than 217,000 meals—to feed the hungry.
Other 2011 award winners include:
Best Meal – “Angry About Hunger” by BRR Architecture
Structural Ingenuity – “SpiderCAN!” by Urban Prairie Architectural Collaborative
Best Use of Labels – “Colorful Harvest” by Ellerbe Becket an AECOM Company
Honorable Mention – “CANny Ducky You’re the One” by Treanor Architects
This year, the People’s Choice Award will be determined by the public’s on-line votes at www.harvesters.org. Each vote will include a $1 donation to Harvesters. Because Harvesters can provide five meals with every $1 donated, every vote matters.

Judges for Canstruction 2011 were Debbie Gold, The American Restaurant; Sarah Staten, A. L. Huber Construction; Dan Maginn, el dorado, inc.; Archie Scott Gobber, artist; Rich Smith, Henderson Engineers; and Mary McClure, Harvesters’ board of directors. Sponsors of this year’s event are Focus Architecture, BRR Architecture, SureWest Foundation, Ward Parkway Center, BA designs, llc and Henderson Engineers, Inc.

About Harvesters—The Community Food Network
Harvesters is this area’s only food bank. Serving a 26-county area of northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas, Harvesters provides food and related household products to more than 620 not-for-profit agencies including emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, children’s homes, homes for the mentally disabled and shelters for battered persons. Agencies in Harvesters’ network provide food assistance to as many as 66,000 different people each week. Harvesters, which was founded in 1979, is a certified member of Feeding America, a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks, serving all 50 states. For more information, visit http://www.harvesters.org/

About Canstruction
A global anti-hunger project, Canstruction ® was founded 19 years ago by the Society of Design Administration, an affiliate organization of the American Institute of Architects. The event’s primary goal is to “construct” a world without hunger. It is held in more than 100 cities across North America.
Participating Teams, Kansas City 2011

Art Institutes International
Black & Veatch
BRR Architecture
Ellerbe Becket an AECOM Company
Gastinger Walker Harden Architects
Helix
HNTB
Hoefer Wysocki Architects/McCownGordon
Park University/Shafer Kline & Warren
SFS Architecture/Turner Construction
Treanor Architects
Urban Prairie Architectural Collaborative
WJE Healthcare Architects

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THE YEAR OF THE RABBIT!

The Chinese New Year provides all the traditions and rituals you need to clean away the bad luck of last year, be optimistic for the year ahead, cultivate friends and placate your enemies. Here’s all you have to do:

During the last few days of the last moon, clean the house, pay debts, cut your hair, and buy some new clothes. Decorate your doors with vertical scrolls of Chinese characters on red paper; the text seeks good luck and praises nature, and even keeps away evil spirits. For good measure, burn a little incense in your home; it’s a mark of respect to ancestors.

Light your house brightly on Chinese New Year’s Eve, February 2, and serve a large family dinner. On Chinese New Year’s morning, give the kids lucky money in red envelopes. Splash the color red everywhere; it’s the color of luck. Greet everyone you meet with your best wishes for a happy Chinese New Year. Get rid of your old grudges, and make up with anybody you need too; now is the time for goodwill and reconciliation.

Avoid housework on New Year’s Day; you run the risk of washing or sweeping away good luck. Don’t use anything sharp like scissors or knives or razors on New Year’s Day --- you don’t wish to cut the threads of good fortune brought in at New Year’s. Try hard not to break anything. And above all, avoid negative language. No arguments, no mentions of sickness or death. Follow these guidelines, and The Year of the Rabbit will be a good one for you.

Of course, Chinese New Year calls for special dishes to be served and eaten with gusto! Join us at one of the Bo Ling's restaurants throughout the Metro

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GO RED PARTY AT RA SUSHI

RA Sushi will help draw attention to heart disease next month with a Go Red party and month-long fundraiser to benefit the local chapter of the American Heart Association.

The Go Red party is from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2 and is open to the public. Guests are encouraged to wear red and will enjoy complimentary appetizers. The event will help raise money and awareness for the America Heart Association in honor of its Go Red for Women movement. February is American Heart Month, drawing attention to heart disease, America's No. 1 killer, and the strides being taken through research and education to raise awareness of risk factors and to decrease death rates.

RA will also launch a specially-created Go Red sushi roll and cocktail at the event. The two Go Red menu items will be available through Feb. 28 and $3 from the sale of each will benefit the local chapter of the American Heart Association.

“It’s only natural that RA Sushi, with our signature red interior design and logo, would partner with such a worthy local charity that just so happens to be encouraging guests to wear red to support their cause. It’s a perfect fit, and we’re thrilled to be associated with the American Heart Association,” said Brent Welch, general manager of RA Sushi.

RA Sushi’s own Red Heart Roll, which is only available through the end of February, sells for $12. The slightly spicy heart-shaped roll is a mixture of kani kama crab mix and cucumber wrapped in rice and seaweed, topped with spicy tuna mix. The Red Dress Martini, which sells for $10, is Skyy Raspberry vodka and X-Rated liqueur shaken with a splash of cranberry and pineapple juices.

Other retail locations at Park Place will offer giveaways and prizes at the event.

February has been celebrated as American Heart Month since 1963 to urge Americans to join the battle against heart disease. A presidential proclamation pays tribute to the researchers, physicians, other public health education professionals as well as volunteers for their tireless efforts in preventing, treating, and researching heart disease.
Call 913-850-6260 or visit web page

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Raphael Hotel

Enjoy rewarding stay now, more rewards in February

The Raphael's listing as one of Travel+Leisure's 2011 T+L 500 World's Best Hotels and the February induction into the new Marriott Autograph Collection are reasons for you to celebrate now...and again in February. For each night booked using the January Celebration Rate Code for a stay in January 2011, receive $50 worth of Chaz dining certificates at check-in plus a 50% off certificate that you may use for a February stay. Start earning Rewards Points in February for stays at The Raphael and other distinctive independent hotels that are members of the Autograph Collection. To reserve your January Celebration, call 800-821-5343 and request rate code January Celebration.

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New Year's Resolution

If your New Year’s resolution includes checking out a great new restaurant, you are in luck! The Kansas City area is full of exciting, innovative, delicious and award winning restaurants just waiting for you to enjoy. Make 2011 the year of tasty dining!

Grunauer is the place to enjoy classic Austrian and continental European cuisine right here in Kansas City. Sprechen sie delicious? Located in the historic Freight House in the Crossroads Arts District, this relaxing new eatery is the perfect place to dine with friends and family. Each menu selection is prepared simply and served in generous portions at a reasonable price. If you are looking for a lighter menu, check out Wunderbar offering affordable small bites and sausage plates until 1:30am every night and providing a lively complement to the nearby dining room. Come for a finely crafted cocktail and stay for a hearty sampling of Grunauer’s specialty foods. For reservations or more information, please call 816.283.3234.

Don’t just settle for ordinary pizza. Treat yourself to the extraordinary creations of Pizza Bella. This cozy pizzeria features delicious wood fired artisan pizza. Each pizza is carefully made with hand tossed dough and loaded with innovative topping combinations of only the freshest ingredients. Check them out at 18th and Baltimore in Kansas City. For more information, please call them at 816.471.3300

Start your day with a hearty breakfast at the historic Majestic Restaurant. Breakfast is served 7 days a week starting at 7 am and features eggs Benedict, stuffed French toast, granola pancakes and all of your breakfast favorites served in a relaxing, enjoyable atmosphere. The Majestic is also an ideal place for business breakfast meetings. For information or to make reservations, please call 816.221.1888

It’s a brand new year and things are heating up at the original Thai Place location on 87th Street. Come see the newly renovated dining room, sip on a libation form the full bar and dine on one of your Thai Place favorites that Ann Liberda is creating in the kitchen. Thai Place now offers a private dining atrium with a sound system and karaoke for up to 60 guests. They also offer catering and free delivery within 5 miles ($50 minimum purchase). Click here for more information

Han Shin Japanese Restaurant has a new location! Step inside and experience the wonderful taste of true Japanese cuisine. You will be presented with an exciting selection of choices from the menu. The talented chefs are eager to prepare your meal tableside or you are invited to enjoy a plate of delicious sushi or Japanese favorites with a wonderful glass of plum wine. Join them at 121st and Metcalf for lunch or dinner 7 days a week. Click here for a money saving coupon.

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Eat more - Lose Weight

You probably already know the math: You have to cut 3,500 calories to drop one pound. To lose a healthy pound a week, that’s 500 calories a day! But you don’t have to deprive yourself or add an hour to your exercise routine to reach your weight loss goals.

Few years ago, in France, Montignac wrote a book about how to lose weight. The method is simple and it is not a diet.

The Montignac Method is the fruit of years of research and testing. It is the synthesis of numerous scientific publications dating from the 1980s and the successful results of the tests carried out by Michel Montignac in junction with a varied group of medical doctors and researchers. From a scientific viewpoint, the method is unquestionable. Several papers have been published on the Montignac Method, as for example, Professor Jean Dumesnil’s paper published in November 2001 in the British Journal of Nutrition.

The hardest part in America is when we go to the restaurant! No bread! No butter! No wine! No French fries.... but it is only for the phase I! After you can have some wine! Yeah!

Ok it is time for me to start Montignac Phase I!

More about him at http://www.montignac.com/en/index.php

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