The Verry Cherry Plum
If you like cherries and plums, then you’re in for a very special treat this month. The Verry Cherry Plum – a new fruit that looks like a very small plum or a very big cherry (or even a mini Macintosh apple from afar) with the crunchy texture of a sweet succulent cherry and the flavor of a juicy plum – has arrived. What could be better?
The Verry Cherry Plum hit grocery stores this past week and will only be around for a few short weeks so make sure you pickup a bag of these summer fruits before they’re all gone (until next summer!). You absolutely won’t regret purchasing these flavorful sweet juicy fruits! Read more 
The Wife
Written by Meg Wolitzer, The Wife begins on an airplane, and specifically in seats 3A and 3B where Joe and Joan Castleman are sitting. The couple is on their way to Finland to attend the annual Helsinki Awards dinner where a prestigious literary award will be given to Joe, a distinguished well-respected American writer of fiction who previously won a Pulitzer for one of his books.
Narrated by Joan Castleman, the long-suffering wife who displays impatience for a husband who acts more like a baby than a man, while basking in the attention that goes along with being the wife of a man put on a pedestal, The Wife is the story of a marriage from the point of view of the wife. By the second page of the novel, the reader learns that Joan has finally decided to leave Joe after more than 40 years of marriage, and all the reader can think about is why. Read more
Executive Compensation at Pomona College
Pomona College (Pomona) in Claremont, California is often referred to as the Harvard of the West (Forbes ranked Pomona the number one college in America in 2015). With only 1,700 students, Pomona charges about $50,000 for tuition and another $16,000 for room and board annually, which is in line with other top private colleges in the country.
Pomona reported $236 million in revenue in 2016 – about half ($104 million) of which came from tuition, room and board payments. The remaining revenue primarily came from the sale of assets ($75 million) and contributions, gifts and grants ($44 million). Expenses totaled $192 million (net of depreciation) including $38 million in tuition assistance to 973 students (an average of $41,000 each). At year-end, Pomona had $2.4 billion in net fund assets. Read more
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Years ago, I used to make a Pineapple Upside Down Cake that was to die for – literally, as the recipe called for two sticks of butter, a few eggs, and a cup of sugar. So, the challenge was to figure out a way to make a Pineapple Upside Down Cake without the butter (or substituting 2 sticks of vegan butter), eggs, and an overload of sugar. Not an easy task but with all the beautiful fresh pineapples in the grocery stores, I thought it was high time to learn how to make a healthier version so I went through all my cookbooks and came up with a variation of Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Read more
Sweet Potato Pecan Pie (Vegan)
The one question that most people ask when they find out I follow a plant-based diet is: Do you miss any of the foods you used to eat? Yes, I do, but not many.
I used to miss doughnuts but then I tasted a Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut made by the talented folks at Vortex Doughnuts in Asheville, North Carolina and the experience was pure bliss so I know where to go to get a doughnut fix. Turtles – those caramel, nut, and chocolate treats – were also a favorite treat but then I tasted Lagusta’s Luscious (available on-line or at their “Confectionary” store in the East Village in NYC) “Salted Galapagos Turtles” – vegan caramel, pecan, and chocolate turtles that taste just like the non-vegan version, only better! Read more
Executive Compensation at Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is one of the top private universities in the South and in the USA. At nearly $70,000 a year for tuition, room, and board, Vanderbilt’s fees are right in line with other top private colleges and, yet people still wonder why a 4-year education at Vanderbilt costs nearly $300,000?
The answer: tuition dollars are supporting a huge education machine where, in the case of Vanderbilt, nearly half of the total expenses ($640 million out of $1.4 billion in expenses, not including depreciation) are compensation-related costs for the 37,165 employees in 2016 (an average of $17,000 per employee – compare this to $75,000 at Yale, $68,000 at Penn and $64,000 at Princeton) although the prior year, it is interesting to note, $2.3 billion was used to compensate 36,272 individuals, which equates to an average of $64,000 – more in line with the industry averages above. The IRS Form 990 offers no explanation explaining this discrepancy. Read more
Where Does $100 to the American Breast Cancer Foundation Go?
The American Breast Cancer Foundation (ABCF) is a 501 (c) (3) whose mission is to provide financial assistance to the underserved and underinsured for the screening and diagnosis of breast cancer. Based in Columbia, Maryland, ABCF has a 6-person governing board whose chairman is Brenda Loube (her husband, Paul J Loube is the Chief Executive Officer). Unfortunately, only 18% of revenue was awarded in grants to individuals and other non-profits to help the underinsured. Read more
Confetti Slaw, Black Bean Quinoa Salad, and Roasted Carrots
The perfect summer lunch plate – Confetti Slaw, Black Bean Quinoa Salad, and Roasted Carrots – was inspired by a Purple Carrot recipe (Chipotle Roasted Carrots with Confetti Quinoa Salad, Black Beans, and Cumin Yogurt).
I’m a big fan (and subscriber) of Purple Carrot TB Performance meals (high in protein, gluten-free, and plant-based) but I prefer little or no added oils and no creamy yogurt or vegan mayo sauces. So, whenever I start to cook one of these meals, I figure out ways to reduce, eliminate, substitute, and/or add other ingredients so as to not give up flavor. Read more
You Think It, I’ll Say It
You realize, don’t you, that you weren’t saying what I thought? You were saying what you thought.
You Think It, I’ll Say It is a collection of ten short stories written by Elizabeth Curtis Sittenfeld (who goes by Curtis Sittenfeld). Published in 2018, You Think It, I’ll Say It is hard to put down because the stories draw the reader in to the turmoil between what appears to be true and what is actually true. Personal perspective, as determined by history and experience, is a key part of each story which only reinforces what we all know but sometimes forget: most of us start out optimistic and naive; life experiences either strengthen us or bring bitterness and disillusionment which means that truth is often subjective. Read more
Executive Compensation at Yale
The staggering cost of a college education perplexes many people who often wonder: Why does a 4-year degree from a top private school cost about $300,000 (or about $70,000-$75,000 annually)? The answer is not as complicated as some people would lead you to believe.
In the most simplistic terms the answer is because you are supporting a huge education machine where, in the case of Yale, more than half of the total expenses ($2.2 billion of the $3.4 billion in expenses – not including depreciation) are compensation-related costs for the 28,739 employees in 2016 (an average of $75,000 each). The next largest expense categories were for grants (primarily to domestic individuals for undergrad scholarships) which totaled $437 million, Fees for Services (primarily management related with no detail provided) of $186 million, office-related expenses (occupancy, IT, office and insurance) of $182 million, $170 million in supplies, and $145 million of other expenses (no detail provided). Read more
Paddock Post 