Monday, October 8, 2012

Red Meat Allergy?


Found this article that talks about the association between tick bite reactions and red meat allergy in humans.

"Twenty-five patients living in a tick-endemic region of Sydney, New South Wales developed red meat allergy after experiencing large local reactions to tick bites. This represents a potentially novel cross-reaction between an arthropod and a food protein."

Left to right: larva; nymph during engorgement; and adult female during engorgment. Image courtesy of Dr Bernard Hudson
I got a tick bite once before.  It's no fun, but it would truly suck if I developed an allergy to red meat from that!! I am a total omnivore!
Tomato bisque w Vermont cheddar grilled cheese sandwich and pulled pork sandwich w/ rosemary truffle fries!!

Monday, October 1, 2012

October, Baseball, and Breast Cancer Awareness!

Pink Baseball  Beer Cupcakes to celebrate this month's events!

Oops, September sure flew by!  Let's see, what October's got in store for us...
  • October's namesake: Oktoberfest, one of the most famous and the world's largest fair to celebrate, none other than BEER, its consumption of, and all in merrymaking!, begins in late September and goes through this first week of October.  I might need an Oktoberfest dictionary in order to keep up!
  • Sports, sports, sports!! <3, <3, <3!!
    • MLB regular season wraps up and is gearing up for the post-season.  Congrats SF Giants for already clinching the NL West Title and the Oakland A's could very well be ONLY 1 game behind the Texas Rangers. (The score is 4-3, A's, top of the 9th, at home, as I type.)
    • The NFL season is well on its way into the 4th week.  And one of my Fantasy League Teams has a whopping 146 points...but too bad it's my bye week! >=T
    • If you are an NBA fan, as I've just received my Warriors Season tickets in hand with pre-season beginning soon, I *cross my fingers* for a good season for us.  Maybe they'll join the bay area sport team craze playoff contentions?  Highly wishful thinking, I know.
    • NHL typically starts fairly soon, but we are in the 2012 edition of the lockout.    They seem to have a lockout almost every year, huh?  Just maybe, the SJ Sharks will get further into the playoffs this year, baby steps, baby steps.  Wait, forget baby steps, just bring the Stanley home!
    • I can boast to have attend three, including my very first, MLS games this year, rooting for the hometown team, SJ Earthquakes.  So far, I'm 3-0 at our games!  Right now the Earthquakes are 3 points ahead for the Supporters' Shield and in first for the Western Conference for the MLS Cup in December!  We still have all of this month until the playoffs begin.  Since, the MLS season feels so long, doesn't it seem like a year round sport?  Also, the Quakes' new stadium construction breaks ground (largest ever ground breaking!) this month!!  Almost all of the bay area team home locations are getting a change during these few years!
  • Oh, and there's lots of Bay Area festivities like this FREE Music Festival at Golden Gate Park: The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Concert, the Blue Angels make a visit to SF for an awesome airshow at Fleet Week, and the America's Cup World Series starts tomorrow!  That's just the tip of the month's events!
  • But of course, this is a food blog so here's a teaser for Oktober:
    • Off the Grid, "a roaming mobile food extravaganza that travels to different locations daily to serve delicious food, with a free side of amazing music, craft and soul," has a weekly residency at Fort Mason on Fridays, but check out their stops for all other days and times before the winter months roll in and they are on operation hiatus.
    • For the South Bay-ers, we have SJ Eats, to cover the southern cities of the Bay Area.
    • If Beer is your middle name, and as this month's celebration entails (yes we should be celebrating Oktoberfest all of October!), SF Beer Olympics occur every Friday at Impala!  Play your favorite Beer games like Beer Pong, Flip Cup and Relays to win prizes!  "Like" them on Facebook and RSVP for attendance to get your first beer for $1!
    • Almost lastly, BART celebrates 40 years of service with a number of giveaways, including FREE ice cream on specific dates at select stations:
      • September 29, 1 pm - 4 pm
        • Rockridge & Powell Street
    • October 13, 1 pm - 4 pm
      • Castro Valley & Fremont
    • October 27, 1 pm - 4 pm
      • El Cerrito Plaza & Pittsburg/Bay Point
    • All Hallow's Eve is on Wednesday, the 31st, of course.  There'll be lots of pumpkin patching, trick-or-treating, and with the month's namesake celebration and Halloween, lots of drinking!  Here's a tip to being safe and not driving under the influence on Halloween night: Call AAA Tipsy Tow at (800) 222-4357 (AAA-HELP) anytime from 6pm to 6am the next day.  Anyone may call, even if you do not have AAA service.
     Yikes! This list only scrapes the surface of October and I've only survived the first of the month!  Anyway, I'd like to leave you with a final mark of this month, the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Hence, all those pinks and pink ribbons you see.  Let us be aware of this disease, support those fighting it, help research, and remember to be aware for early detection.  Happy SpooOktober!