Bring on the peas!

My friend Sarah found this awesome food face dinner plate at perpetual kid. It cracks me up!

Everybody remembers Dapper Dan The Magnetic Man - that bald little fellow with all the iron filings that you could drag into really bad hairdos!

Well we've given Dan a new home on our Food Face Dinner Plate, made from hotel-quality, food-safe, high-fire ceramics. So now you can play with your food and give Dan a whole new look. Bring on the mashed potatoes and peas... the possibilities are endless!

Boxed with lots of inspirational food art. Wouldn't YOU have loved this when you were a kid? Plate measures 8.5 inches in diameter. Ceramic.

One plate is $11.99

Cincinnati Reds respond to peanut-free request

The Reds responded to my inquiry regarding a peanut-free (or peanut-controlled) section during one of their games. They basically said no...but they did send the girls a really cool package! They were so excited when it came in the mail. It contained kid-sized Reds Snuggies, baseball cards, book covers, magnets, and stuffed monkeys with Reds and Chiquita banana logos. I really appreciated that they took the time to send us something.

Here is the response I received:

Ms. H,
As you already know, we do not have a peanut free zone at Great American Ball Park. We have previously looked into this idea, but even if we are able to create a peanut free suite, we cannot guarantee a peanut free path to the suite, nor could we guarantee that our ventilation system was free of any peanut dust. The same issues would arise if we established a seating area as peanut free. Even if we could guarantee a path into the ballpark, we could not keep a breeze from off the river from blowing peanut dust into the established peanut free zone. I know other teams have established “Peanut Free” areas, but in talking with some of these teams, I would consider them “peanut sensitive” areas. I would consider the Padres a “peanut sensitive” area.

It is unfortunate we are unable to accommodate those with a peanut allergy. I know that this can be a very sensitive allergy for many and we do not want to put anyone in harms way. If we do decide we are able to offer a peanut free or peanut sensitive zone in the future, I will keep your information on file and will be sure to contact you directly. I can assure you that you are not alone. If you could let me know your address, I would like to send your child a care package to keep him a Reds fan until we can find a solution to our peanut allergy dilemma.

Thanks,
Sean Brown - Director of Ballpark Operations

Sean and I have continued to exchange emails about this, and I hope we can eventually come up with a 'peanut-controlled' area for one or two games.

Peanut-Free Baseball

It's opening day here in Cincinnati! Our kids are 5 and 2 and still haven't been to a Reds game. Both girls are severely allergic to peanuts, and we'd have to wipe down the seats and worry about them touching or stepping on peanuts and peanut shells. Their skin would react to the residue, so we wouldn't want to drag it home on our shoes. Rowan is still at the age where she'll pick food up from the ground and put it in her mouth, and most games have been past their bedtimes anyway. At this point it's just not worth the stress.

I think it's really exciting that more and more Major League teams are starting to offer peanut-free sections on certain nights. The San Diego Padres are offering 1 game, the St. Louis Cardinals are offering 3 games, the Seattle Mariners are offering 4 games, and the Red Sox have 2 games. For more info, visit peanutfreebaseball.com

To prepare for the event, the Padres will power wash the seating section, have trained emergency responders aware of the sections needs, remove peanut items from the vendors in the immediate concourse area above the section, post "No Peanut Zone" signs around the section, and staff the section with ushers to help insure compliance.

As far as I know, the Cincinnati Reds do not offer peanut-free sections for games. I contacted them today to see how we could make this happen. I would love to take our girls to a game without worrying about a reaction! I'll post more info here if we actually work something out.