Starbucks shuts 10 Mexico City cafes due to flu

Starbucks Corp. said Monday it has shut down 10 of its cafes in Mexico City in response to the swine flu outbreak. One of its employees in the city is also now being treated for flu symptoms.

The Seattle-based premium coffee chain said it has not been confirmed whether the employee has the same strain as the swine flu now suspected in up to 103 deaths in Mexico, where the outbreak appears to have begun.

About 40 cases – none fatal – of swine flu have been confirmed in the United States and six in Canada, according to the World Health Organization.

Shares fell 31 cents, or 2.3 percent, to close at $13.20.

Starbucks said in a statement that it closed the stores “pursuant to instructions from the Mexican government.” Most of the stores are near major population centers such as shopping malls and universities.

The company said it is communicating with its employees around the world to reinforce personal hygiene guidelines and sanitation procedures.

Starbucks also said it is working with its pork suppliers to “monitor product safety and quality standards.”

Starbucks operates 259 stores in Mexico.

source: BradentonHerald.com

Starbucks to offer gluten-free pastry

Starbucks to sell gluten-free pastry in US stores as of May 5 in response to customer requests

NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks Corp. will begin selling its first gluten-free pastry in its U.S. stores next month in response to requests from its customers.

The pastry, called Valencia Orange Cake, will be made with seven ingredients which are all 100 percent gluten-free, the company said. The cake will be sold in individually wrapped packages for $2.25 each and will be available beginning May 5.

Starbucks said it wanted to offer its gluten-free customers more choices.

“I think one of the things we learned right from the get-go from our gluten-free customers is they can’t eat away from home very easily,” said Adrienne Knapp, a product manager in the food category at Starbucks. “A cake is actually really hard to find for someone that’s a gluten-free consumer.”

Gluten is a protein common in rye, wheat, barley and other grains. More than 3 million Americans are thought to suffer from a condition called celiac disease, which is associated with intolerance to gluten. Even more people claim they are sensitive to wheat and other gluten-filled grains.

More companies are now catering to those looking to avoid gluten…Starbucks said it has received numerous requests from its customers for gluten-free foods on its mystarbucksidea.com web site. The site allows customers to submit ideas for how to improve the company, its drinks and its food.

Starbucks shares rose 45 cents, or 3.9 percent, to close at $12.06 Friday.

4.20.09

My mom came through her second surgery with flying colors thanks to the goodness of the Lord and the prayers of many saints. If you are one who prayed, we thank you! She is healing well and the best news is that there was no cancer found in any of the tissue that was removed last Thursday. Tomorrow she goes back to the doctor for a check up on the surgery site.

I’ve started working on my Coffee Master. Today I took the first 3 test online and scored 100% on all 3. Tomorrow I get to do some coffee tastings 🙂

This is a picture from last Friday night’s BBCS Junior Senior.

This is a special picture to me because these 3 girls represent the beginning of my work at Bible Baptist some years ago when they were just 3 and 4 years old. Out of the blue one day I was asked if I would be willing to babysit the 2 girls on the left so that their mother’s could work at Bible Baptist part time. I wasn’t looking for a job but felt compelled to help them out. Who knew but God what all it would lead to. I started off babysitting part time 5 days a week and ended up doing all sorts of things from coordinating the Fine Arts program, the annual Christmas Card fundraiser to book keeping for the school and graphic arts for the ministry as well as their website which led to all the freelance graphic arts and web design that I now do for other clients as well.  Special girls– special times– special beginnings 🙂

4.19.09

FYI: I’m still alive 🙂

God’s permanent & strong Love :)

My friend Michelle knows my fettish for Sharpie markers– it’s the “tools of the trade” at Starbucks. She found this new refillable stainless steel Sharpie online and bought it for me and this is what she writes: “God’s love is permanent like the marker ink and strong like the stainless steel casing”

I love you Michelle 🙂 Thanks!

4.8.09

Good news, Bad news… which do you want first?

We’ll start with the good news.

Yesterday the girls and I went for a fun day of well-funded shopping at Perimeter Mall, which included lunch at MAGGIANO’S and dessert at The Cheesecake Factory.

The day started with Sari Beri and I going to breakfast at Starbucks, then it was off to Perimeter. When we arrived at the mall we witnessed a flock of Canadian geese that had landed in the mall parking lot. What an odd thing, but I guess they had to stop somewhere on their way back to Canada. I’m sure thought, with how cold it was yesterday morning that they had started out way too soon. We actually saw snow flurries about lunchtime—it was THAT cold! This IS Spring Break, right? Not Winter Break.

Lunch at MAGGIANO’S was AMAZING to say the least! However, when I sat down at our table a weird thing happened. I went to check my Twitter on the iPhone and I had a message welcoming me to MAGGIANO’S! I TOTALLY FREAKED OUT!!! I thought, “How in the world do they know that I just entered the restaurant?!?” It was really, quite scary. I thought about it a while and in the mean time I realized that the post welcoming me to the restaurant was an hour old. Then I figured out that they really didn’t know I was actually IN the restaurant, they had just read my Twitter post from earlier in the a.m. saying that I was going to MAGGIANO’S for lunch and responded to it. I was relived. The day will come though, more than likely, when they’ll know. Scary stuff!

Lunch was much more impressive than dessert at The Cheesecake Factory and funny enough—about the same price.

I bought a cover for my iPhone—something I should have done a long time ago, and I bought a new scarf. That’s about all I bought.

It was a good day with the girls 🙂

Now, the bad news.

Last night my mother got a call from the surgeon and the cancer IS in her lymph nodes and there is still cancer in the breast as well. She will have to have more surgery and chemotherapy as well as radiation. This was a real shock to us. More of a shock I think than the original diagnosis.
My parents met with both the chemo doctor and the surgeon today. The surgeon sent my mom to a place that makes wigs and she got a wig. She will go Friday to Southern Regional for an echocardiogram to be sure her heart is strong enough for the chemo. Then the additional surgery will be a week from tomorrow, also at Southern Regional. Chemo will begin about 2 weeks later and last for 6-8 months. That will be followed by radiation.

The rest of this year is going to be consumed with all of this but all we can do is to take one day at a time and trust the Lord.

We are thankful for your prayers!

4.6.09

Last I left you, I think the power was out or something like that– some of the power anyhow. Well, the power company responded pretty quick, within an hour or so. They set up a temporary transformer and we had power for the night– the stuff in the freezer did not defrost and the fridge was good too.

This is the weird part… The power company did all this just before midnight, knowing that the next day a crew would have to come out and quite possibly, and probably dig up the yard to find and fix the problem. Well, on that note, the phone company was knocking on the front door, in the rain, in the pitch dark, at 5 something the next morning. That’s right 5 a.m. something! This IS the phone company, they DO have our phone number, right?!? And what really scares me is that I OPENED THE DOOR!!! Crazy! I was like 1/2 asleep and looked like who knows what I’m sure and it could of been anyone and I OPENED THE FRONT DOOR! I really need my head examined!

Fortunately, it WAS the phone company just like the man said and he just wanted to let me know that he would be marking the phone line so that the power company didn’t dig it up. I’m still not sure how he did that in the pitch dark and rain, but he did.

The power company was out in the early a.m.– after the sun came up. 3 trucks, 1 backhoe [which they did not have to use] a boom and 5 men it took to fix the problem. It took about 2 hours, but now it’s fixed.

My mom had surgery on Friday morning. The doctor had to do a little more than he had planned. I think he really would have liked for her to stay in the hospital over night but she was pretty adamant that she was GOING HOME! And she did. As soon as she got to recovery she was saying, “Where’s my clothes?” he he he he…

The whole thing was much more involved than I realized it would be, but she is doing GREAT! And I can only attribute that to the goodness of the Lord and the prayers of many saints. We appreciate you so much if you are one who has been praying.

She will go back to see the surgeon on Wednesday, and the radiologist as well. Then we will find out when her radiation treatments will begin.

Please continue to pray…