Once again IdeaStar provided Christmas presents for The Phillis Wheatley Josephine Kohler Academy in Cleveland. Staff members purchased and wrapped a present for each of the 84 daycare students. To add a twist to our annual wrapping party, we held a chili cook-off. Wrapping paper, presents, and chili were everywhere!

Jane Hudeck was among the IdeaStar staff members wrapping the pile of presents.

By popular vote, Niketa Parekh was named the winner of the chili cook-off. She is seen here with event organizer Lia Spithas-Fresty. For those of you who didn’t get enough of Niketa’s chili, the recipe is below.

Vegetarian Chili (for 4 persons)

Ingredients Amount Where to buy?
Long Green Chili 7-8 Indian Grocery Store
Green Pepper 1 cup
Yellow pepper 1 cup
Red pepper (vegetable) 1 cup
Cabbage 1 cup
Green Beans 1 cup
Paneer Cubes (or Tofu) 1 cup Indian Grocery Store
Butter 5 tbsp
Yogurt 2 tbsp
Cilantro (optional)
Extra Vegetables:
Potato
Green Peas

Spices
Parampara Veg. Chilli Milli Mix 1 packet Indian Grocery Store
Salt According to taste

Steps:
1. Vertically cut all the vegetables mentioned above except Green peas (if u use it).
2. Mix thoroughly entire content of “ Parampara Veg. Chilli Milli Mix” with 2 tbsp of yogurt and 1 cup of water.
3. Fry paneer cubes in 3 tbsp butter. Fry till paneer turns golden brown. Keep them aside.(If you buy already fried paneer cubes then do not perform this step).
4. Take 2 tbsp of butter in a pan and fry vertically cut chilies and then add all vegetables mentioned above (Green-yellow-red pepper, cabbage, Green beans).
5. Cook them for 3-4 min on medium stove.
6. Add the mixture - prepared in step 2 in the cooked vegetables and cook till this gravy becomes thick.
7. Add fried paneer prepared in step 3.
8. Taste it and add salt if needed. (Parampara mix already contains a little salt).
9. Decorate it with Cilantro.

Notes:
– Buy long chilies (Small chilies are very hot).

P.S. : Niketa lives close to an Indian Grocery and she will be happy to buy the things needed from the Grocery if you find it difficult.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 at 4:11 pm and is filed under Uncategorized . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

A meatball sundae? Gross!

But it’s a perfect illustration of marketing today. Author Seth Godin shared an overview of his soon-to-be released book Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing out of Sync? as the opening keynote speaker at the Search Engine Strategies Chicago conference December 3 through 7.

How could such an unappealing concoction have anything to do with marketing and advertising? Seth explained the meatballs represent tried and true comfort food – or traditional marketing. The gooey sweet stuff on top represent all that Web 2.0 offers, including participation in social media – the new Internet marketing. The two may not blend well.

Like many revolutions, people recognize them only when they are being overrun. A Meatball Sundae lets people know a revolution is at hand, and it’s time to do something new. And, he cautions, combining the old with the new can be as unsatisfying as a meatball sundae, “the unfortunate result of mixing two good ideas.”

IdeaStar members Andi Hoppes and Mary Fisher attended the conference to learn a little more about the gooey stuff on top, and how it can be applied correctly for our customers. Contact IdeaStar at 216-674-1600 to learn what’s new in IdeaStar Internet marketing.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 8, 2007 at 10:24 pm and is filed under Uncategorized . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Last year at the Inter-Company Marketing Group (ICMG) Annual Meeting, IdeaStar raffled-off a Christmas Story leg lamp. It was won by William J. “Jay” Manifold Jr. of Woodmen of the World / Omaha Woodmen Life Insurance Society. He was kind enough to send pictures of the lamp, a highlight of his family’s holiday decorating.

Jay wrote “As I surmised at ICMG last year, my daughter has enjoyed the lamp in her room. Now that it’s the Christmas season my wife allows me to properly display this “Major Award” for all to see. Thank you, it has been quite a conversation starter.”

IdeaStar, which specializes in Web-enabling insurance processes, will be raffling off something at the next ICMG meeting, February 5 through 7. See ya there!

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 1, 2007 at 2:06 am and is filed under Uncategorized . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.