Serve Your Sweet Tooth at Girard Gourmet

A creamy filled cupcake with lots of sweet frosting that melts in buttery fashion in your mouth. Food is an American past time and bakeries have enjoyed higher sales in recent years. Bakeries and cafes maybe a place where people sit, work, eat and socialize but they are also a place to serve your sweet tooth. In trendy areas like La Jolla, Girard Gourmet has been attracting customers for over 25 years with their European style bakery. 

Fresh pastries and desserts keep bakeries stocked with motivated buyers. Cupcake sales have increased 63% between 2007-2011 (Odesser-Torpey, 2013). That is right, fluffy sweet creamy cupcakes you lust over in the window do attract people to come inside and buy a dozen to go. When visitors are walking from the beach and making their way through the shopping district they tempted by hunger, smells, and tantalizing sights. 

Girard Gourmet offers fresh and natural bakery items. Many of the ingredients are grown in the owner’s organic garden. Croissants, muffins, breads, breakfast, cookies, sandwiches, salads, and a variety of deserts are offered. It may look like a small outlet but they have a large full service kitchen in the back. If you don't want something heavy try some of their natural juices.

Seating is outdoor on the sidewalk or inside near the food. The outdoor seating acts like a beacon that attracts one’s attention and lets them know that something interesting is going on. As you get closer to the bakery you begin to see and smell their offerings. In La Jolla outdoor seating and natural foods are a big attraction for the fashionable people that frequent the area.

For business customers they offer full catering services that includes breakfast and lunch selections. This means they will cater your next business party, luncheon, or meeting by bringing the food to your office. The advantage of offering catering is that it provides a further reach for a business that wants to start another money stream but don't want to expand or change their facilities. Using evening hours and excess capital a business can develop a strong secondary income.

Girard Gourmet
7837 Girard Avenue La Jolla, CA 92037
http://www.girardgourmet.com/

Odesser-Torpey, M. (2013). Bakery Appeal Goes Beyond Breakfast. Convenience Store Decisions, 24 (2).

The Beige Book Says Modest to Moderate Economic Growth in Most Regions

The Beige Book is prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia as is designed to gauge economic activity across various regions of the U.S. The recent (September 3rd, 2014) update shows broad economic growth with a few exceptions in construction, agriculture and wage pressure. Higher growth rates were experienced in Philadelphia, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Kansas City while moderate growth was experienced in New York, Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, and San Francisco. 

Consumer Spending and Tourism: Improvements in consumer spending. Auto sales were raising and nearly every district experienced improvements in tourism. 

Nonfinancial Services: Strong growth in professional and technology services with moderate growth in freight shipment. 

Manufacturing: Moderate growth in manufacturing throughout most regions with increasing demand for steel. 

Real Estate and Construction: A mixed bag with some regions showing moderate growth and others stagnating. 

Banking and Finance: Growth is most regions with business credit and auto loans strong. There is less demand for housing loans which is in line with slack construction. 

Agriculture and Natural Resources: High yield crops lowered prices for farmers creating mixed results. Higher demand for energy is realized throughout the nation. 

Employment, Wages, Prices: Stable with some skilled labor shortages of information technology workers in Boston District, truck drivers in New York, and construction workers in Atlanta. Wages are not yet under pressure in most areas with the exception of a few high demand growth sectors. 

http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/beigebook/beigebook201409.htm?summary

The Attractive Tourist Activity of Snorkeling at La Jolla Cove

Snorkeling is a great activity for both locals and tourists that helps connect to nature while improving health. In California coastal life, snorkeling is a favorite activity of water lovers. Few things are better than being outside in the warm weather and plunging into the ocean to see the world that exists under the waves. La Jolla Cove is considered one of the best places to snorkel in Southern California. 

The rock reefs are close to the beach requiring only a few feet of swimming before seeing the wildlife. Even though there are more advanced places to snorkel, the cove offers calm waters, life guards, and all the amenities for beginners. Because one can paddle around the cove without much effort most age ranges enjoy snorkeling at the cove. This is one reason why visitors flock to the area.  

To the north are rock formations you can swim out and crawl upon. Try and be safe as the ocean waves can push you right into rocks so it is best to try and climb on them from behind to protect yourself. The ocean currents are strong enough to move you a foot or so in either direction. 

There are lots of great underwater rock formations, shells, and a variety of fish in the area. I’m not that familiar with all of the different types of fish but you can see a range of them in La Jolla Cove. Lying around the cove is Sea Lions that occasional jump in the water and swim right next to you. I’ve heard it is best to keep your distance.

You can see an abundance of orange Garibaldi fish. The males are known to protect female eggs until they hatch and they will bit if the nest is threatened (1). The Garibaldi is also the state fish of California and is protected under law. When I tried to touch one it swam out of my reach, stopped and looked at me as though I was stupid. Seemed to be a fearless fish! 

One of the detractors of the cove is that the beach is small and the tide can move all the way up to the rocks depending on the time. On busy days you aren’t likely to have as much fun as you would if you go down early in the morning at a time when only a few people are around. You will notice the snorkelers and divers making their way to the cove to act as a launching point for destinations unknown. 

La Jolla is an ideal tourist location and snorkeling is just one activity that enhances the tourist experience. A study of tourists found that activities such as swimming, snorkeling and other water sports contributed to tourist satisfaction (Lacher & Harrill, 2010). Nontraditional activities such as city tours, safaris and the like are growing in popularity but pale in comparison to traditional summer fun. If you are giving advice on having fun to visitors this is where you may want to point them.

Whether you are a tourist, a host to outside friends, or just want to enjoy the coast life for yourself I suggest you try snorkeling at least once. On warm days you can still enjoy lying on the beach while engaging in some activity that will help you stay in shape and provide a positive experience. You might want to purchase a disposable waterproof camera for your trip. The one I used was a digital camera as I spend considerable time in or near the water. 

Lacher, G. & Harrill, R. (2010). Going beyond sun, sand, and surf? An importance-performance analysis of activities in a 3S resort destination. E-review of Tourism Research, 8 (4). 

The Influence of IQ, EQ, and Personality on Student Academic Success

Some students excel at learning while others lag behind in the overall process. What makes one student more successful than another has always been an interesting topic for educators. A study by Kiss, et. al. (2014) delves into higher academic achievement and its association with intelligence (IQ), emotional intelligence (EQ), and personality preferences of students. Understanding what types of students are most likely to be successful helps in college selection and advanced placement. 

Intelligence can be something difficult to define as it takes into consideration a broad range of skills that impacts a person’s ability to navigate their environment. It can be seen as, “a very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience” (Gottfredson, 1997, p. 13).

Those who are intelligent question their environment and try and understand the world around them. As intelligence rises, the higher the ability to solve complex problems becomes apparent. Intelligent thinkers excel quickly in learning and seem to grasp concepts faster than others. 

Emotional intelligence is also something that can be difficult to comprehend. It can be defined as “a type of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions” (Mayer & Salovey, 1993, p. 433). It is a process of awareness of internal and external states of feeling. 

Emotionally intelligent people are not unemotional but are aware of the ranges of their emotions and can monitor them. They may also be more in-tune with the emotional nature of those around them. They can pick up on the cues, behaviors, facial expressions, and logic of language to assess how others are currently feeling. 

The student’s personality type is the way in which the student views the world. It is the style of understanding they are most natural and comfortable with. Tests such as the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator measures introversion-extraversion, sensing-intuition, thinking-feeling, and judging-perceiving planes of personality. Different personality characteristics determine how we understand the world and come to conclusions about it. 

The study found that lower IQ hindered academic performance while education could not indicate individual cognitive differences at higher levels of intelligence. Lower EQ hindered performance while higher EQ improved performance. Success was also associated with introversion-extraversion, thinking-feeling and judging-perceiving. Educational attainment certainly has many other compound factors such as access, cost, and social support that help students be successful but IQ, EQ, and personality influence the success of those that attend higher education institutions. It should not be forgotten that formal education does preference particular styles of learning and those that fit within that style are more likely to be successful than those who do not fit within institutionalized education curriculum. 

Gottfredson, L.S. (1997) „Mainstream Science on Intelligence: An Editorial with 52 Signatories, History, and Bibliography,” Intelligence, vol. 24(1), p. 13-23.

Kiss, M., et. al. (2014). The relationship between intelligence, emotional intelligence, personality styles and academic success. Business Education & Accreditation, 6 (2). 

Mayer, J.D. and P. Salovey (1993) “The Intelligence of Emotional Intelligence,” Intelligence, vol. 17(4), p. 432-442.

French Onion Soup with Fewer than 100 Calories

Increasing health requires eating right and engaging in regular fitness.  Food is one of the most important components to healthy living but is unfortunately often overlooked due to the significant personal investment of time and energy one has to make. As home cooking appears to be a dying skill across American kitchens many fitness enthusiasts are left unaware of what actually goes into their food. Learning to cook something simple like an onion soup with fewer than100 calories can make a huge difference in the long run. 

Eating a dish with fewer than 100 calories is fairly rare. Consider the 215 calories in a cup of mashed potatoes or 350 for a cup of macaroni and cheese and you will begin to appreciate the additional benefits of healthy food. Augmenting your fitness goals with a hobby in cooking can improve upon multiple areas of your life. Many sports trainers say it is a requirement.

Did you know that onions have many benefits that protect the body against diseases? Red and yellow onions have an anti-oxidant called quercitin that has antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties (1). Not only does it improve your waistline but also improve upon your cholesterol levels. Can’t beat that! 

The type of cheese and the way in which you prepare this dish will make a significant difference in how healthy it is. Using low-fat Swiss Cheese with than less than 50 calories a slice will keep the entire serving under 100 calories. Unlike other French onion soup recipes this has no bread. Cooking in a slow cooker will also help to ensure that most of the nutrients are retained within the soup. 

Ingredients:

-2 yellow onions

-Soy Sauce

-1/2 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

-Packet Stevia Sugar

-8 cups beef broth

Step 1: Finely chop both onions and place in frying pan with 1 cup beef broth. Caramelize onions to bring out sweetness by cooking until the water evaporates. 

Step 2: Add the caramelized onions and the rest of the ingredients to a slow cooker. Lightly mix. Place on high for 4 hours. 

Step 3: Ladle hot soup into bowls and place a slice of low fat Swiss cheese on each.  Place in oven to broil for only a few minutes to melt and brown cheese.