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“We Dined At The Red Rooster”

The ReadyWriter

In Harlem over the weekend.

Located on Lenox Avenue, in the heart of Harlem, this restaurant just opened on Friday, January 17th.

After months of delay, the ‘Red Rooster’ finally opened to the public this past weekend.  

The new Harlem eatery, which covers two floors of openness, includes front cafe seating (which looks like a food mart) to accommodate 24, a 20-seat bar, a 76 seat dining area, which is very trendy and very different.

I was a bit turned off by the Aunt Jemima box display along with a can of green beans and pickles used as a decorative touch, however the menu is American cuisine and comfort food.

As a meal, I had the daily market greens, the red grits and shrimp while my crony had, the seared salmon, black-eyed peas and smoked collard greens.

Now., just because black-eyed peas, collard greens and cornbread are on the menu, this restaurant is not considered soul food.

The Red Rooster is owned by Ethiopian born celebrity chef and author, Marcus Samuelson. Samuelson was a guest chef for the Obama administration’s first state dinner and he is trying to become a brand in American popular food culture and cuisine.

Marcus Samuelson, 39, is married to model Gate Haile (couple pictured below), and they just appeared in Ebony magazine’s February issue of “Celebrate Black Love”.

So move over Sylvia’s, there’s a new kid on the block!

If you’re ever in the neighborhood and want something different, check out “Red Rooster” their food flare is different and so is their style…The restaurant doesn’t serve breakfast yet but that’s coming soon!

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“He Was For Freedom, Peace And Equality”

The ReadyWriter

Today commemorates the birthday of civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

President Ronald Reagan signed the bill establishing the third Monday in January as the Martin Luther King National Holiday on Nov. 3, 1983. The first observance was Jan. 20, 1986; that year, 17 states also had official King holidays, including Illinois, which recognized King with a holiday in 1973, the first state to do so.

Today, the King holiday also is observed in more than 100 countries, according to The King Center.

In 1994, the meaning of King’s holiday shifted, as Coretta Scott King called for less of an emphasis on his life and more of a focus on his legacy. The mission was expanded to include volunteerism, interracial cooperation and youth anti-violence initiatives.

Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy was for freedom, peace and equality. In an excerpt from his famous “I Have A Dream Speech” Dr. King said:

“Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”

“Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

What will you do today in honor of Dr. King’s memory?

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“Soup Is Good During These Cold Winter Months”

The ReadyWriter

I wasn’t always a ‘soup eater’ but recently started to indulge because this diner in my area make the best soups. I’ll only eat their “new england clam chowder” “lobster bisque” or “mushroom barley”. Vegetable soups and minestrone in my opinion, are just typical and traditional soups.

Anyway, I received the cutest little crock pot for Christmas and will maybe, maybe; attempt to make some soup over the weekend. The gift was for this intended purpose. I could throw everything in the crock pot and forget about it.

So to involve you ‘my readers’ in this venture, tell me what kind of soup you think I should make?

Please keep in mind that I’m a vegetarian so chicken noodle is out!

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“Rat Crawls Up Man’s Leg on New York Train”

The ReadyWriter

This video must have played on every news channel this morning before 6:00 Am.

A man/passenger is shown sleeping on a train when a rat crawls up this man’s leg and finds his way into the man’s face. Jeffrey Ford shot the video as he rode on the train into Brooklyn and said “This is the reason he never falls asleep on the train.”

News broadcasters were trying to determine the video’s authenticity but from listening to Jeffrey, it sounds all the way real!

The video creeps me out but enjoy watching it if you haven’t seen this already.

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“President Speaks At Memorial In Arizona”

The ReadyWriter

Yesterday, U.S. president Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama attended a memorial service in Tucson, AZ.  Where the president visited Congresswoman Gifford in the hospital and remembered the 6 people killed, and 14 wounded during a Jan. 8 shooting spree where Gifford greeted her constituents on Saturday.

“Gabby opened her eyes for the first time,” Obama announced to thunderous applause. Obama was referring to Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford’s, 40, who was shot in the head during an assassination attempt.

“What we can’t do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another,” said Obama.

President Obama praised Daniel Hernandez for aiding Gifford after the shooting. The 20-year-old intern has only worked for Gifford for 5 days and assisted the congresswoman with his first aid skills after she was shot.

Obama concluded his emotional speech by remembering 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green: here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that someday she too might play a part in shaping her nation’s future. She had been elected to her student council; she saw public service as something exciting, something hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.

I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us – we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children’s expectations.