The things money can and can't buy; happiness is a meal and company to thousands of NYC's elderly; and let's send some love and thanks to Gael Greene
 
Happy, Happy Thanksgiving to all you dear tomatoes from The Three Tomatoes.  Thanksgiving is our absolute favorite holiday.  It's a four day weekend, it doesn't involve buying gifts, we get to pig out on carbs and sugars, watch our favorite parade from the warmth of our home, and best of all, we get to enjoy special times with family and friends.  We are truly grateful and it is always a time of the year that gives us pause to reflect on all the things we're thankful for, especially in these tough times.  And it also gives us pause to reflect on those who are less fortunate, like thousands of NYC's frail, and homebound elderly.  But thanks to Gael Greene, they'll get meals this Thanksgiving.  And can you believe she's been ousted at New York Magazine?  More about that in a minute. But first, back to the things we're thankful for.

Money can buy a house but not a home.
Money can buy a clock but not time.
Money can buy a bed but not sleep.
Money can buy a book but not knowledge.
Money can buy a doctor but not good health.
Money can buy a position but not respect.
Money can buy sex, but not love
Money can buy blood, but not life.
 
But Money can buy meals for the elderly 
This Thanksgiving weekend, 15,000 of New York City's frail and homebound elderly will receive meals and some human contact and company thanks to the tireless efforts of the amazing Gael Greene, whom most of you know as NYC's premiere restaurant critic, contributor to The Three Tomatoes, and "former" restaurant critic for New York Magazine (more about that too in a minute). But most importantly Gael is the mover and shaker of City-Meals-on-Wheels, which she co-founded in 1981 along with James Beard after reading a newspaper article about homebound elderly New Yorkers with nothing to eat on weekends and holidays. They rallied their friends in the restaurant community raising private funds as a supplement to the government-funded weekday meal delivery program. Their first efforts brought a Christmas meal to 6,000 frail aged.  Last year, Citymeals-on-Wheels delivered 2.2 million meals to 18,000 aged New Yorkers at times when they would otherwise have been alone and hungry.
 
One of their fundraiser events every year is the Citymeals-on-Wheels Power Lunch for Women, which The Three Tomatoes had the honor of attending last week, at the Rainbow Room.  This amazing event raised over $1.5 million, enough money to hand deliver 187,000 meals.  And what fun it was for The Three Tomatoes to mingle with hundreds of New York's most powerful and influential women like honoree Martha Stewart, Christine Baranski (and both look even better in person), Kathleen Turner, Geraldine Ferraro, Gloria Steinham, Linda Fairstein, Nora Ephron,  Paula Zahn, Julianna Margulies, Bernadette Peters, Liz Smith, and Cindy Adams, just to name drop a bit.  And author Mary Higgins Clark, who was at our table, is not only incredibly lovely, but generous too.  She was among several women, including Gael Greene who contributed $10,000 on the spot, in response to a $100,000 luncheon challenge grant that was announced by Joan Tisch in memory of her late husband, Bob Tisch.  And in a New York minute, the $100,000 matching grant was exceeded.  Now that's power.
 
Okay, The Three Tomatoes were not among the $10,000 on the spot donors, but here's what our $350 luncheon ticket bought -  about a year of Saturday meals to one of our New York City elderly neighbors.   And for a donation of as little as $39, you could provide six weekend meals to a homebound neighbor.  That's power too.  And 100% of the proceeds from the public to Citymeals goes toward the preparation and delivery of meals for homebound elderly.   So as you enjoy your Thanksgiving feast with friends and family, think about how good it feels to give, and donate to City-Meals-On-Wheels  today.    
 
Send Gael Greene some love and thanks 
Well you know times are tough when even Gael Greene is downsized.  New York Magazine, in cost reduction mode, announced that it was letting Gael Greene go after 40 years as a food critic!  Okay, we understand times are tough everywhere, but icon and legend, Gael Greene?  To much laughter at the Power luncheon Gael announced,  "I WAS downsized, but downsizing does not make you thinner," then added, "If anyone needs an unemployed restaurant critic, let me know."   And read what she has to say about it this week at The Three Tomatoes.
 
So tomatoes, here's what we need you to do.   Send us an email tomato@thethreetomatoes.com and thank Gael Greene for all her City-Meals-on-Wheels efforts (plus donate too) and tell her she's your all time favorite restaurant critic and you're so glad you get to read her every week at The Three Tomatoes.  We'll forward them to her with our thanks and love.  And you can read much more at her web site, the Insatiable Critic and sign up for her newsletter while you're there too.
 
So there you have it for this wonderful holiday week.  We wish you all many, many things to be thankful for. 
 
'til next week,