Galia
Random tidbits:
I'm so grateful for this opportunity. I love what you're doing. I love reading your newsletter and really learning about cool people. You did one where I actually called the person and followed up with them for some business connection. I went to a meeting because of your newsletter! I love that you care about the community enough to take your time to talk to me, to talk to all these people and to publish a newsletter to communicate, to bring the community together. How do you scale it and how can I be helpful to help you do that? I know so many people I can connect you with.
Tom And Elizabeth
Random tidbits:
Don Shula, he was such a strong personality. We'd always have a meeting before going out to practice. He had all the players sit by position. So when he walked into the room, he'd kind of look around and take attendance. And I remember, he would always look at you and you'd look away because he was a scary dude. I recently mentioned this to Larry Csonka, and he said 'It took me two years to stare him back in the eye.' I was the seventh round draft pick, and was like 'Oh my God, I'm going to a team that just went undefeated, so they really don't need anybody.' They brought in 25-30 rookies and ended up keeping only four of us. I was lucky to be there and going to the Superbowl and being part of that. The guys from '72 and '73 are really an exceptional group and we're still very close.
Laura
Random tidbits:
What we find in early childhood is that kids need to have experiences. Some of it is resources you're given access to, like markers or crayons, and it is also how early you start the writing process. There's a connection between being able to write and being able to do well academically. There's a lot of research that shows college students who write their notes versus take a laptop to class have an advantage. When they type, it's so automatic that they're not thinking about it anymore. Being able to produce a letter with your hands is very different from pressing the letter a on a keyboard, right? If you press a letter B or C, it all feels the same, but if you're writing it, it's creating a memory in your brain.
Kēvens and Amber
Random tidbits:
So...our engagement ring was designed by Walt (Adena’s husband) - who we met at the Pinecrest Farmer's Market about 4 years ago. We were buying fruit from Adena at the LNB stand and started chatting (like we love to do with vendors at the market). I noticed her wedding band; she mentioned it was designed by her husband and called him over for introductions. He confirmed that he is indeed a jewelry designer and gave us a website to see his work. As we were walking away, I casually mentioned to my then boyfriend of only 1 year, "Hey, maybe we'll get him to design our wedding rings someday". Almost 4 years later, Kēvens proposed with the most stunning, unique, and magical ring...designed by Walt. How's that for a Farmer's Market testimonial?!
Dina
Random tidbits:
Yes. A fun fact about my family, I grew up in a family restaurant called People's Barbecue - located in Overtown. The restaurant is currently undergoing renovations. My Miami is growing up in that culturally rich community, and also in a family business. It's a lot of hard work, a lot of long hours, helping grandma stock shelves in the back with spices and sauces. I used to wash dishes in the back. I used to answer phone calls. When I would come home for college in between breaks, I would help with catering orders. I liked getting to meet a lot of different people. I love our customers and their loyalty. It's fun to see them come in and they're like, 'I remember when you were three years old and you could barely say welcome.'
Alissa And Jeremy
Random tidbits:
Chef driven ice cream means we're making everything in house ourselves. We make all of the mix-ins like salted caramel, cookies and cream, and brownies. We also make our ice cream base from scratch -which is rare. We often start with the traditional French style custard and then all the flavors evolve from there. One of our favorites is our passion fruit ice cream with an almond brittle. We get fresh passion fruit and strain out the pulp that goes into our ice cream. And then we use the seeds to make the almond brittle. With the almonds, you also get the crunchy texture from the passion fruit seeds and that bright acidity that comes with it.
Mitch (round 2)
Random tidbits:
It is called the RX of Dr. Z. It's unlike my other writing. I had a friend a few years ago who was going for STEM cell transplant and had to be 40 days in isolation. His wife asked us to keep him entertained during his isolation. I invented a fictional person who was worse off than he was. This fictional person was keeping a 40 day journal at the suggestion of his psychiatrist. Each day I would write about a thousand words and send it to my friend. It was a wonderful experience because we had this fictional person between us, to talk about. At the end of 40 days, he recovered and I had 40,000 words.
Jacob
Random tidbits:
Around 2011 we started to see a change. There was a push, in 2013, towards local craft beer with the opening of Daddy Brews, followed by Wynwood brewing and MIA. Then, we started seeing local chefs communicating with the brewers. We started sharing sources and discovering so many local fruits. Now, there is a whole movement towards eating and supporting local and there is a real community around it.
Stephan
Random tidbits:
A sitar is a 19-string instrument that originates from medieval North India. It is an acoustic instrument that is made from a large gourd (pumpkin). It is four feet long – with a hollow neck and movable frets. It first came to popularity, in the West, with the Beatles and a musician named Ravi Shankar. Sitar has popped up in popular music from time to time. I teach the instrument, but not many people stick with it. It’s harder than a guitar and hurts your fingers.
Adena
Random tidbits:
There are so many ingredients to choose from. My dream is a restaurant in the middle of the farm where you actually pick your meal and cook it. We have chickens now. That's a big project that my brother has undertaken and the organic eggs are phenomenal. There's a bit of a controversy in my family - do we eat the chickens? I'm currently working on a turmeric hummus and I think green jackfruit is next. Green jackfruit can resemble the texture of meat when cooked and seasoned properly but it's hard to process because of all the sap.