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Ahead of the Forecasted Snowstorm This Weekend, Portland Chefs Are Selling ‘Snowpocalypse Kits’
Restaurant and food cart owners have started promoting family meals and meal kits to help customers stock up before the weather hits and bolster their business.
Meteorologists anticipate a wave of winter weather Friday and Saturday in Portland due to an arctic blast that is impacting much of the country. Forecasts project anywhere from 1 to 8 inches of snow accumulation, plus freezing rain and temperatures in the teens.
Those winter conditions could make travel tricky through the weekend, which dramatically impacts diners’ and food service workers’ ability to access restaurants and food carts. Snow days can be financially disastrous for restaurant and food cart owners, who have estimated that snow days can cost them thousands of dollars in lost revenue.
For some business owners — either those unsure if they will close, or those who are closing preemptively — the solution is to lean into the concept of “stocking up.” Restaurants and carts have started offering winter meal kits ahead of the storm: large-scale family meals labeled “snowpocalypse kits” or “survival kits.” While Sugarpine Drive-In doesn’t plan to close over the weekend, the Troutdale spot will offer sandwich fixings, salads, and soups in a single kit ahead of the weekend, with food for two or three people. Deepak Saxena, the owner of Indian American restaurant Masala Lab and food carts Desi PDX and Chaat Wallah, plans to close his carts ahead of the weekend, using the restaurant space as a pickup location for meal kits. The hope is to soften the financial blow while also providing a genuine service for diners.
“It’s a lot of lost revenue,” Saxena says. “Especially this time of year, coming out of the holidays. ... This is a way to make up for some of that.”
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Historically, snowstorms in Portland have impacted the restaurant industry more significantly than in other cities because of the lack of extreme weather infrastructure: Compared to the Midwest or the East Coast, snow is still relatively rare here, which means even an inch of snow has caused citywide chaos due, in part, to infrequency of plowing or de-icing measures kicking in too late. In response, business owners have called out the city for not creating safer conditions for commuters — for example, by plowing the streets more often. “I don’t mind a snow day, y’all, but this really hurts small businesses when we are forced to close every time it snows,” Jenna Legge, the owner of Jen’s Pastries, writes in an Instagram story. “Our city won’t bother to do anything about it.”
Even if businesses can open, it doesn’t mean employees will be able to work a full day, or even have customers. In past snowstorms, power outages have shut down restaurants; at food carts, keeping food and employees warm becomes a challenge, and if pipes freeze, carts can’t operate. Plus, diners are far less willing to wait outside for meals. “At a cart, unless it’s beautiful out, it’s ‘get your food and go,’” Burger Stevens owner Don Salamone told Eater in 2017. “In these winter days, we take in about $500 to $700 a day, and when we have to close...it hurts.”
However, restaurant owners and chefs are now somewhat used to things being unpredictable, between extreme weather events, wildfires, and, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, they now have an arsenal of alternative service models to use when conditions shift. The “snowpocalypse” kits are reminiscent of the early pandemic-era family meals sold by restaurants and carts for takeout — the idea to create larger orders for diners to use over multiple meals and to help businesses make up for loss of revenue. Some businesses never got rid of their family meal takeout offerings, and have started promoting them for the inclement weather: Por Que No is slinging its taco kits on Instagram, which it has offered for years.
Take a look at a few of the cold weather meal options below:
Masala Lab
Customers can order “survival kit” meals for pre-order at this Northeast Portland Indian American restaurant. Meals include a pint of rice, a pint of chai concentrate, and a pint of the restaurant’s dhal or its masala pulled pork. The meal is $26 for one protein, and $31 for both the dhal and pork. Pickup is at Masala Lab from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, January 12. Venmo @desipdx to reserve. 5237 NE MLK Boulevard.
Sugarpine Drive-In
This Troutdale drive-in is preparing for the bad weather by offering a “snowpocalypse kit,” a meal for two to three people that includes fixings for two pulled pork or three grilled cheese sandwiches; a quart of tomato soup or ancho-roasted butternut squash soup with hominy,
Quaker Oats recalls two dozen more products due to salmonella risk
The company has recalled more than 60 types of cereal, granola bars and snacks since December. The latest on the list includes several Cap’n Crunch products.
By Aria Bendix
The Quaker Oats Co. is recalling 24 more products after recalling dozens of cereals, granola bars and snacks last month due to potential contamination with salmonella bacteria.
The products recalled Thursday include certain flavors of Cap’n Crunch and Oatmeal Squares cereals, additional types of Chewy granola bars, some Gatorade protein bars and more.
In total, more than 60 Quaker products have been recalled since Dec. 15 due to salmonella concerns. Many of the items are sold in multiple sizes or types of packaging.
The December recall included some batches of Quaker Chewy granola bars, Quaker granola cereals and snack boxes that contain those products. The latest recall adds to the list more Quaker Chewy bars and cereals, as well as Gamesa Marias Cereal, Munchies Munch Mix, Gatorade bars and Cap’n Crunch bars, cereals and instant oatmeals.
In an alert posted Thursday on the Food and Drug Administration website, Quaker said consumers should dispose of any recalled products, which are sold throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam and Saipan. The company is offering reimbursements — its product packaging usually includes a SmartLabel that allows consumers to scan a QR code to determine whether a product has been recalled.
As of Dec. 15, Quaker said it had not confirmed any illnesses related to the recalled products. The company has not publicly said whether any illnesses had been reported since then, and Quaker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While foodborne illnesses are hard to track, salmonella most likely causes more than any other bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency estimates that there are more than 1 million foodborne cases of salmonella in the U.S. each year.
Earlier this month, the CDC announced that 24 people had been sickened from salmonella after consuming ready-to-eat charcuterie meats. And since October, more than 300 salmonella cases and nearly 130 hospitalizations have been linked to cantaloupes. The CDC currently advises people not to eat pre-cut cantaloupe unless they can be certain it came from a brand other than Malichita or Rudy.
Salmonella usually causes diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps six hours to six days after eating a contaminated product. Some people may also develop nausea, vomiting or a headache. These symptoms typically resolve within four to seven days without antibiotics.
However, the infection can be more severe — and sometimes fatal — in children under 5, adults ages 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems.
https://www.nbcnews.com/health..../health-news/quaker-
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Aria Bendix
Yes, and lyrics.
Guess What Ariana Grande’s New Song Is About
Portrait of Danielle Cohen
By Danielle Cohen, a writer for the Cut who covers pop-culture news and entertainment.
Since her last album came out in 2020, Ariana Grande has gotten divorced, started dating one of her Wicked co-stars, and been called “not a girl’s girl” by the ex-wife of said co-star. That’s plenty of material for a full-length record’s worth of lyrics, and based on her new single, “Yes, And?,” that’s exactly what we’re going to get.
After a flurry of Instagram posts suggesting a new album was imminent, Grande dropped “Yes, And?” along with its music video on Friday. By all appearances, (“appearances” being the lyrics), the song seems to be addressing Grande’s much-discussed relationship with Ethan Slater.
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Slater, as you may remember, played SpongeBob on Broadway before joining the buzzy cast of the Wicked movie adaptation, where he met and subsequently started dating Grande. When rumors of their relationship first surfaced, Slater had recently welcomed a baby with his then-wife, Lilly Jay, who told tabloids that her family was “collateral damage” and deemed Grande “not a girl’s girl.” While we don’t know the exact timeline, it seems safe to say some drama was involved.
This brings us to the release of “Yes, And?,” a song that includes lyrics like “I’m so done with caring what you think” and “My tongue is sacred” over a house beat. At one point, Grande asks, “Why do you care so much whose **** I ride?” (The word dick appears to be censored in both the clean and explicit versions of the song — she is a Disney adult, after all.) Hmm, I wonder what she’s talking about here!
Yes, and lyrics.
Guess What Ariana Grande’s New Song Is About
Portrait of Danielle Cohen
By Danielle Cohen, a writer for the Cut who covers pop-culture news and entertainment.
Since her last album came out in 2020, Ariana Grande has gotten divorced, started dating one of her Wicked co-stars, and been called “not a girl’s girl” by the ex-wife of said co-star. That’s plenty of material for a full-length record’s worth of lyrics, and based on her new single, “Yes, And?,” that’s exactly what we’re going to get.
After a flurry of Instagram posts suggesting a new album was imminent, Grande dropped “Yes, And?” along with its music video on Friday. By all appearances, (“appearances” being the lyrics), the song seems to be addressing Grande’s much-discussed relationship with Ethan Slater.
Enter your email
Slater, as you may remember, played SpongeBob on Broadway before joining the buzzy cast of the Wicked movie adaptation, where he met and subsequently started dating Grande. When rumors of their relationship first surfaced, Slater had recently welcomed a baby with his then-wife, Lilly Jay, who told tabloids that her family was “collateral damage” and deemed Grande “not a girl’s girl.” While we don’t know the exact timeline, it seems safe to say some drama was involved.
This brings us to the release of “Yes, And?,” a song that includes lyrics like “I’m so done with caring what you think” and “My tongue is sacred” over a house beat. At one point, Grande asks, “Why do you care so much whose **** I ride?” (The word dick appears to be censored in both the clean and explicit versions of the song — she is a Disney adult, after all.) Hmm, I wonder what she’s talking about here!
https://youtu.be/eB6txyhHFG4
National Weather Service warns of heavy snow in Buffalo on Sunday, when Bills play
All week, NFL fans have been aware of the possibility of high winds in Buffalo for a wild-card playoff game.
Now you can add a potential snowstorm.
The Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills game is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, and the National Weather Service issued an ominous report for Saturday and Sunday in Buffalo. NWS warned of "heavy lake effect snow bands with gusty winds" for the Buffalo area, and said "travel will be difficult to near impossible within snow bands."
The NFL said Thursday "there have been no discussions about making a change to the game’s status," via WGRZ.
The snowfall is expected to be bad enough that the Bills put out a call for volunteer snow shovelers later Friday, offering $20 per hour to make Highmark Stadium hospitable in time for the game on Sunday.
It's not like Buffalo is unfamiliar with bad weather games. There is often snow for Bills home games late in the season. The combination of snow and wind, however, could make the game very difficult to manage for the Steelers and the Bills.
Perhaps the snow will not be as heavy in Orchard Park, where the Bills' stadium is located. But it seems likely that weather will be a big part of the story for the Bills' first home playoff game this postseason.
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