♪ hi there, i'm teresa labarbera, and you're watching "connecticut style." coming up, obesity is a serious chronic disease that affects more than 25% of american adults. today we'll meet this couple,
alice and rick, who have both undergone procedures at middlesex hospital's center for bariatric surgery. wait until you see how they look now. plus ann is here to tell bus the toy closet program at yale-new haven children's
hospital. and how you can help put a smile on a child's face. and i'm over here in the kitchen, from octagon, here with maggie keyes, the food and beverage manager, along with chef paul. thanks for being here.
thanks for having anxious is this your first time? yes. what are we making? a beef dish that is part of our three kings day menu that we're featuring. and where are you located? talk to us about the restaurant.
we're off of exit 88 on 95. we are in the mystic marriott hotel and spa. octagon just underwent a new revation, so we have a new look, a new menu. chef does a great job creating classic menu. we are a steak house, so we do
feature very nice cuts of steak as well. very good. i'm going to have you make these in a little bit, but let's start the shw, look into camera two and tell everyone what they need to do. sit back and relax.
you're having lunch with style. morbid obesity is a serious chronic disease that robs people from living a healthy and active life. for those who qualify, middlesex center for bariatric surgery offers minimally invasive
procedures, just wht this husband and wife chose to do. that is before shot of them prior to their surgeries. alice had the robotic gastric bypass while rick had laparoscopic gastric sleeve surgery. look at you too toorksd you look
likebrand-new people! congratulations. thank you. how much weight did you lose? i lost 77 pounds. and how much did you lose? about 101. wow! guy guys feel great?
yes, absolutely. 5u678. are joined by dr. aranow, thank you so much for being here. last time you are were here, we talked about the da vinci robotic technology. these are different procedures, though.
well, the da vici robot was used in alice's surgery to do a gastric bypass. the reasonwe used the robot in that situation is there's a lot of fine-motor function that you need to usto do alternate intestinal connections and some rearranging in there to not only
make the person feel full, but also change what kind of foods they like and dislike, to avoid fats and sugars. as opposed to rick's surgery. rick had just the removal of a segment of the somach, and it's a more simple procedure that doesn't need all the complexity
of the robot. just as an example, there's no one surgery for everyone. and depending on the person's health and personal eating behaviors, different surgeries are for different people. makes sense. now, alice, you had te surgery
first. tell me why youecided to go through with this. i wanted to be healthier and also be off some of the medications and support my husband at the same time. okay. and what was your lifestyle like
before the surgery, would you say? it was just, you know, not eating the right things, and doing the right things for myself, and not feeling good. sure. doctor, what made alice a good candidate for the surgery?
well, the both of them, incredibly motivated. the important thing when considering surgery, first of all, are you morbidly obeseand is your health in danger because of the weight? and the other things we look for for a good candidate is somebody
who's tried some behavioral changes, who understands go diet, exercise, are part of the process, and follow-through. while the surgery does a lot to change how a person eas, makes them so full so diets don't leave you hungry, you still need to be able to bring something to
the package, so really get the best zults you have to do your part. that's right. and alice and rick are hard workers. let's talk about your procedure. yo said you lost how much
weight? 101. wow. you probably had to buy a wole new wardrobe. yeah, ihad to replace everything. that's not so bad. so how did your life change
it's totally d. one of the main reasons that i did the surgery was i have liver disease, and that was my main focus, was to help my liver disease. as far as changing, i literally feel like i was on the sidelines half of my life.
didn't want to do anything. i took up a new hobby, acally splitting wood by hand. that's how different my lifestyle is. i guess s. completely different. and new hobbies for you, alice?
i have five grandkids, and i'm more active with them now than ever. so it'a good thing. what is maintenance like?what do you have to do to keep the weight off? just keeping everythg, portion control, and eating a variety of foods.
all right. i'm sure your grandchildren -- oh, and exercise of course. do you exercise together? yeah. no we actually go to different gyms. you do? [ laughter ]
let's talk about insurance. is this covered by most inrance companies? mos insurance companies do cover it, though it often depends on he employer and whether they paid for an extra coverage or rider. the fact of the mater is the
surgery is not only life-changing, it's lifesaving. life spans actually are longer after surgery. ha the diabetics that i operate on go home two days after surgery without any diabetic medication. sleep apnea is usually gone
within a few months, high blood pressure is gone wan few months, even cancer risks and heart disease go down. yes, insurance companies cover it, but again it does very much depend on the employer and what they have chosen as a plan. i know there there are seminars
offered so people can see i this procedure is right for them, both procedures. when are they offered? we're actually doing a seminar tonight at the crowne plaza, a special seminar where the da vinci robt is going to be there.
you can see it? you can see it and you can actually use it. we're going to let people who come actually manipulate and play with it a little bit, gently, of course. and during that seminar i'll be patakiing about various
weight-loss procedures and dr. d'agostino, one of our sleep apnea surgeon an oral surgeon, will talk about sleep apnea procedures. all that information is on the screen. of course, you could find more information on middlesex
hospital, go to mid-sp.org, and of course you can log on there and search weight loss. rick and aice, congratulations on your success. and doctor thairption for you being here, of course. thank you for having me. next we'll tell you all about
the closet at yale-new haven children's hospital when styl returns. don't go anywhere don't go anywhere. when a child is really sick or hurt, a hospital can be a very scary place. that's why ann founded the toy
closet program at yale-new haven children's who have to make these little patients feel comfort and special. she is back today with cofounder from the program. ladies, thank you for being here. thank you for having us.
ann, tell me how you startedded this program, about 20 years ago. 20 years ago, in 2013 we started the toy closet program. since that time, and mary ann can tell you, this is all volunteer based, e've given away about a million toys.
and because yale-new haven hospital has expanded all over the state, we now have armoires, the's a picture in the front where a child goes to an armoir and just opens it up and gets to just delight and pick a toy. that's fabulous forks kids that are sick, really something
to look forward so. without mary ann, she and i have been partners in crime or 20 years now. i just want to you talk about the volunteers and how this works. we started small. we had five when we started, and
now we are in 34 areas, satellites and satellite hospitals. and we have about 20 volunteers, and we collect our toys, we store them, sort them, distribute them to the toy closet nd to alternate areas over there.
and everybody has a little role to play. an important one. not to forget all our hundreds and thousands of donors who every year come and bring toys. fire departments, schools, churches, individuals. lots of area businesses at this
time of year they do their holiday parties, and a toy for the toy closet at yale-new haven children's hospital. it's absolutely fabulous. we should mention that unike holiday drives, you're looking for donation year around. children are sick year
around. i mean, i think a lot of folks think about the holidays and giving, but we go out of our way, w do a lot of outreach too, so we have built playgrounds. we have done all kinds of things.
and it's just about children. and putti a smile on their face when they're going through a lot of trauma. some of our children, unfortunately, never leave the they' oncology patients. but they know that there is something for a moment to keep
them occupied, and their parents ow that too. and i just, i can't say enough about the volunteers and mary ann who oversees us at the hospital and somany other from the hospital auxiliary that make this program work on almost a statewide level now.
great. and there are stories that come back to us about parents who maybe have even lost a child who give back to the toy closet program ballparks they want to see it work. it's very simple, but it's about toys and it's about kids.
something that makes them happy. absutely. and for birthdays, too, right? we've done it all. and it's so heartwarming what we haveseen over the last couple of years, a lot of
familiesdiscuss with their children the fact that why don't we do something for your birthday fr another child. you have so many things. so you see children who have a birthday party and invite their friends to come and celebrate their birthday, and bring a toy
for the to closet program. kids have one that for their bar mitzvah, and it's absolutely fabulous to see even very young children come and share. it's really very powerful. yes, and toys for all ages. all ages from almost zero until about 18.
and we do take monetary donations, and then mary ann and her team and others go shopping for toys. fun! we do go shop for toys. there are places at yale-new haven hospital in a basement ara, and i'm telling
you, it looks like a toys r us, like a huge toy store. and they disseminate this information, they give out the toys, and it's always there for a child in hospitals if they need something to keep them preoccupied. this started as a brian child of
when i was a reporter in oklahoma and i saw a child with cancer go to a toy closet, and i thought, if i could ever replicate that and take it somewhere. so i land in new haven, they're building the children's hospital, and i gave themthis
idea, and it just has blossomed. the poorest ofschools have give us pennies. firefighters have sorted those pennies, and mary ann andy have seen that andthen we go buy toys. it gives me goose bumps. it is the season for giving.
how can people snep. mary ann? well, even one toy or a toy drive with your whole family or with the whole business, schools, you call 203-688-5717. that's the yale-new haven hospital auxiliary, our toy closet program is run.
and we can help you, any questions you want answered, we can give you brochures which give you the basic information about the program, the mission, some sugestions for toys. and actually, one of the things that we really would like to work on, we need a lot of little
things right now. there are somany outpatient areas where about, oh we see about 75,000 chilen, and the children's emergency, it's absolutely incredible. and a lite bit of play doh, a small match boxcars. playing cards.
makeup for the grls. oh, that's even better. ladies, thanks so much for being we'll have the infrmation about the toy closet on wtnh.com. thanks for having us. congratulation ons your engagement. oh, thanks, ann!
next i'll head to the kitchen with chef paul from october gone. he shares a recipe for empanadas when style returns. don't go anywhere. dining should be more than a meal, it should be an experience too.
at's what you will find at octagon, a restaurant just outside ofmystic. here to tell us about octagon's 12 days of christmas and three kings dinner are maggie keyses -- did i say that right? mm hmm. food add beverage manager
along with chef paul. thank you for being here. maggie, tell us about the restaurant. octagon is right outside of mystic on 625 north road. we just underwent a very nice renovation, so it's a brand-new space with a great menu,
something fo everybody. we also feature a happy hour monday through friday from 4:30 to 6:30, and we do live music every thursday. so it's definitely a great environment, great people, great food. you have some upcoming dinners
to get into the holiday spirit? yes, yes. we are celebrating the 12 days of christmas. so each day of the 12 days of christmas, which starts on christmas day, we are featuring a special based on tat day. i love that idea!
so there will be food specials, wine specials. and then we're going to end it with three kings day, which is the celebration of when the three kings arrived, and it's huge in the latin communities, a huge festival, larger than christmas, actually.
so today what we're doing is part of that menu, which is a be empanada. and that's what we're going to be cooking today. let's get started. what do we need? we need a hot pan. so what this is, it's not
just beef empen adda -- empanada, it's a prime sirloin, because that's how we roll there. it's very simple. this is very, there's a million different ways tomake it. i lived in the islands for ten years, so i'm very accustomed to
every grandma has her own special recipe. this is mine. where did you live? i lived in puerto rico. nice. a litt snoifl. a little olive oil, and we add the ground sirloin to it.
how did you prepare that? we just have prime sirloin that we feature in the for one of our burgers aso. but this is a very simple process. just browning the meat. sure, browning it up. we're going to add --
oh! yeah, qeen olives. raisins. i was confused about that ingredient, but it must add a little sweetness? it does. it ounds a little weird, but once you try it.
i'll trust you. this is tomato paste, adobo seasonin and this is the love. basically it's a combination of different herbs and spices and peppers, onins, capers. and again, just like i was explaining before, everyone has
their own version. so that's where all the flavor is actually going to come in. if you want to get your enhance i don't mind. hat do you immediate? all the olives? let's do half. half of them, all right.
let's put up some pictures on the screen so you can see the restaurant.you said you had renovations. yes, these are photographs of the new renovations. lovely. a big dining room, but you recommend a reservation? we recommend reservations
definitely to insure we know you're coming and you get a see. we do get very busy on the weekends especially, so reservations are always recommeed. is that chef paul right there? it is.
look ought! that's me, yeah. that is his handsome new photograph we took of him. oh, boy. aittle steak, wine, and all that reresents october a zon where did the name come from? inside the restaurant we have
an octagon-shaped grill. it's a nice marble-top grill. yeah, we do awful our cooking out there, everything that's grilled yeah, so there's a chef out there live, cooking your steak right in front of you in the dining room.
you can hear the sounds, smell the smells. it's really just -- it makes the whole experience that much better. so ask can you smell that? yeah, it smells awesome. what is this called? this is frito.
it's just a combination, i have capers, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro. and a few other -- secret ingredients? secret ingredients, yeah. i can't give it all away, but that's the love of it. that's wher it gets all the
flavor. and it's just pretty much -- this is it, we're done. of this. the filling here. for the filling part. now what you want to do next, is fill the empanada, the flour -- do you want to grab those?
i thought it was blogna at no, these you can buy, they're in the freezer section. goya makes them, it's a lot easier. i'm sure they taste great. we have about a minute left. okay what we do, this is -- the cooled-down mixte.
the cooled-down version of what we just did. do you have to cool it offfirst? yeah, otherwise it will be too hot. i but a tablespoon in there, a little cheese. gotta have cheese on exactly.
fold it over? all do you is fold it over and crimp it. easy enough. looks great. maggie, are you taking reservations for new year's? we absolutely are. new year's is very big event
that we have going on. we have live acoustic mus until 10 p.m., and from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., we have a dj, outside in the obby area, going on allnight long. so it will be a great event, a great time. chef has a wonderful menuthat we'll be offering.
you can go on the website, octagon steak house.com to, get information on the menu, and what we'll be doing that day. but definitely reservations. these are jst going to cook and we'll try these at the end of the show. yes, they fry for a couple
minutes each side, tht's it. coming up next we have more you don't want to go anywhere. we'll be right back. so last friday was firehouse friday to raise awareness for the connecticut burn center at bridgeport hospital. to learn more go to ct burn
center.wtnh.com. we are back here in the kitchen with folks from octagon. how did you finish off these empanadas, aul? well, we fried them in extra virgin olive oil, fry them for maybe three to four minutes on each side.
that's it. at are you serving it with? i just made a quick pico de gallo, or fresh salsa. you can put, you know if you like spicy, a nice spicy sauce also. you can put that on it, all right.
sounds good. maggie, we want to mention your farm to table menu. we have on our menu a farm to chef program we do, here chef creates a different local item to feature every night. you can order that at a flat price and you get something
different every time. i'm going to try these, we're out of time. thank you so much for watching. make t a great day. we'll see you back here tomorrow. bye-bye.
by Jillur Rahman
Jillur Rahman is a Web designers. He enjoys to make blogger templates. He always try to make modern and 3D looking Templates. You can by his templates from Themeforest.
Follow him @ Twitter | Facebook | Google Plus
