Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

It's my Friday so as soon as I get rid of an annoying little stomach bug I'll be ready enjoy the holiday. Here's your morning Sift, readers.

A- Food for Thought describes the Hurricane Sandy Relief Dinner at The Dutch.

When I heard Carmellini had a stash of truffles for a planned "Trufflepalooza" dinner that had to be cancelled, I suggested he send them down to Miami so we could do a fundraiser down here. The truffles found another home, but the idea stuck. Chef Carmellini suggested lining up some local chefs to team up for a charity dinner, and the outpouring of support was overwhelming. In only a couple days, Michelle Bernstein (Michy's), Richard Gras and Antonio Bachour (J&G Grill), Aaron Brooks (Edge Steak), Brad Kilgore (Exit 1), Jeremiah Bullfrog (gastroPod), and Bar Lab had all agreed to participate. Andrew Zimmern sent his AZ Canteen truck down for the event. Many others - Michael's Genuine, The Bazaar, Bourbon Steak, neMesis Urban Bistro, Wolfe's Wine Shoppe, South Beach Wine & Food Festival, Miami Wine and Food Festival, and more - contributed items for a silent auction.

B- It's in the 70's so Obalesque has started whining about the weather.

As it is, we already have two heavy blankets on the bed (plus assorted restless felines) and are weeks away at best from pulling out the electric mattress cover. We’ve already switched from frozen tequila to room temperature Jack Daniels. The terrazzo floors are painfully cold on my bare feet — my toe rings keep loosening and threaten to fall off — and coffee gets too cold to enjoy halfway through a cup.

C- Speaking of cold weather, Go Hydrology! says that it has arrived and has the graphs to prove it.

D- Lots of opportunities for South Florida artists at Arterpillar.

E- Random Pixels analyzes the fashion sense of CBS4's Brian Andrews.

I got a hold of Andrews and asked him about his fashion choices.

Andrews told me that when he moved to Colombia in 2007, he soon realized he had to re-think his attitudes towards fashion. "I needed to step up my game."

F- Make no mistake, Marco Rubio is a tool of the Far Right, as Bark Bark Woof Woof notes.

Mr. Rubio’s dismissive “I’m not a scientist, man,” (which is sure to join the campaign lexicon along with “binders full of women” someday) and his attempt to pivot the question to things that he think are more important like GDP and economic growth tell us that he knows he shouldn’t wade into this swamp if he wants to keep the nutsery GOP base happy.

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