Bloody Cider Punch

On this eve of Halloween, I would like to submit a wonderful punch I saw made on the Rachael Ray show last Friday. Of course she had several other recipes to go with it but I was looking for something fast and easy. This one did ask that you freeze a few things ahead of time-but that's where the easy part comes in!

Bloody Cider Punch

Ingredients
1 quart orange juice
1 bunch seedless green grapes
1 bunch seedless red grapes
2 quarts apple cider
1 quart pomegranate juice
2 liters seltzer water

Preparation
Fill a couple of ice cube trays with the orange juice and freeze. Pick the grapes off the vine and freeze them as well.When the juice and grapes are frozen and you're ready to serve, combine the cider and pomegranate juice in a large punch bowl. Stir in the seltzer and fill the bowl with the frozen orange juice and grapes.

Please visit Rachael Ray's site for more great recipes by clicking here.

Cheers!

Working on Fitness

Everyone knows that staying fit should be a yearlong commitment it's just that some seasons come with more than their fair share of challenges. The holiday season-with the treats, family gatherings, parties and hearty meals that come with it and probably the extra pounds you're going to put on!

Here are a few things we're rehashing on maintaining your fitness goals throughout a busy holiday schedule:

Park your car farther away from your destination (at the mall, work, the store, etc.) so that you're walking more-and burning more calories-every day. (I love asking hubby to park far away-he such a gentleman when he wants to drop me off at the door!)

Always take the stairs instead of the elevator. (Come on-a few steps can't kill you!)

Keep a gym bag in the car and steal a few minutes whenever you can and wherever you are. This can be easier if you belong to a gym that is convenient and offers extended hours and multiple locations, such as a Bali Health Club. (I personally have gone to Women's Workout World and my sister-in-law has gone to Curves-we love both!

Shake Things Up
If you already have a regular fitness routine, try adding some intensity or variety to stimulate new muscle groups and burn more calories and fat. For example:

Sign up for several sessions with a certified personal trainer who can create a custom workout plan so you can achieve your goals or share the cost by training with a friend or two. (This is great-my niece got in shape for her wedding with a personal trainer along with her fiance)

A workout journal might help it can serve as a motivational tool to see what you have already accomplished.

A pedometer for tracking your steps and motivating you to walk or run farther each day. Try looking for a very inexpensive one. My first pedometer was one from McDonald's. You know it came from a Happy Meal.

You can start New Year's Day, but the best time to start is now. It can be hard to take that first step, but it's an important one. Start by doing a few simple things to get moving, whether it's joining a fitness club or just going for a walk outside.

And if you lapse a little, don't be hard on yourself; just get back to your routine. It's never too late to restart a fitness routine.

Remember, once you've made up your mind and set a goal, don't let anything or anyone deter you from it! Good Luck and happy exercising!

Cheers!

Pumpkin Carving

A long, long time ago I used to carved pumpkins. OK, so it wasn't that long ago. It just sound good. But when I was younger and when we had carved pumpkins with our son with took out the insides and carved the the eyes, nose and mouth. Usually it had pretty much the same pattern. In later years, I got a little inventive and expanded to include a surprised pumpkin, besides just a scary or happy one.

As I've mentioned we've been involved with Drum Corps for years, so I was glad to see that DCI had a pumpkin carving contest both last year and this. I'll include a couple of their winners for your enjoyment so you can see how intricate pumpkin carving has become and I will be happy to provide a link to templates for some fun pumpkin carving:

http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/feature/famf0900ohnopump/

This is the Disneyfamily.com page so there's tips at the bottom for more templates

Cheers!

Shoe Pavillion

Shoe Pavilion will be closing down their 64 stores on the west coast. I tried to find one near me, nope, as I've already mentioned these stores are on the west coast. So, I Googled Midwest Shoe Stores and came up with several pages of shoe stores. I guess I had to be more specific.

Anyway, all I know is one of my favorite stores is 'Rogan's. If I want to go for something a bit more inexpensive I'll check out 'Payless' or even shoes at 'TJ Maxx'.

I did the cutest heels at Marshall's. But as everyone knows in today's economy you have to shop around for those prices. The best thing is we have the Internet to help us.

I just saw K-Mart commercial for Layaway. Maybe they have some nice shoes? Unfortunately, I have to have something with arch support. Who knows? Couldn't hurt to check it out!

Happy shopping!

Cheers!

Garret Popcorn Shops

We had the pleasure of attending the musical 'Wicked' yesterday. I had bought the tickets several months ago so as the day drew near I told a few of my friends about our planned excursion. A couple of the girls at the office told me to make sure and stop at Garret Popcorn when I told them where the play was. "Oh, Garrets' is right next door!" I honestly had my doubts because I had thought that I given the wrong theater! But after the mile walk from the train station, we drew near to the Oriental Theatre the smell of popcorn wafted through the air. At first it was very faint, then as I looked up I looked into the window and there was a huge vat of popcorn being turned around-I supposed it was being coated with caramel. Either that or cheese. We walked to the theater, the next door down and checked when we could get in. Since we had an hour to kill we turned around and went back to the popcorn shop. Although the line was a little long, hubby and I waited only ten minutes and picked up 'The Mix'. We then shared it with my son and his girlfriend-who had come with. That bag was large for only a medium size. I still had to bring it home! There is still a little downstairs! Oh, it was very good! We did prefer the caramel corn over the cheese popcorn, but I've always had a sweet tooth and it's going to be the death of me!

They also have a great menu that is all popcorn, and you don't have to buy a tin, they have small to extra large bags with a cooler of drinks before you order-hence Popcorn Shop! If you're dieting though, be careful.

I would like to go back and try more when I get more time. Here is the link for nutrition.

http://www.garrettpopcorn.com/nutrition.asp

As I've said, you can find Garret's downtown, next to the Oriental Theatre, here is their exact

address:

Neighborhood: The Loop

4 E Madison St (between Holden Ct & State St)

Chicago, IL 60602 (312) 263-1108

Cheers!

Halloween costumes

I saw on Google trend where there were some couples costumes but when I sent back to collect more information it had disappeared.

So, here goes: to the best of my recollection some of the best couples costumes were:

Marge & Homer Simpson

A nut & a bolt

Bonnie & Clyde (I threw that in-told you I didn't remember them all)

Barack & Michelle Obama

John & Cindy McCain

Rum & Coke (Now that one was there-I remember it!)

Other ideas included going to the website for Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum and getting more ideas. Now there's a thought! Of course I'll provide the link. Have fun!

http://www.madametussauds.com/NewYork/

Cheers!

Monkey Bread

I found this recipe on the Internet and it looked oh so yummy!

You follow the directions and eat this with your hands!

INGREDIENTS
3 (12 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9 or 10 inch tube pan.
Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Cut biscuits into quarters. Shake 6 to 8 biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the prepared pan. Continue until all biscuits are coated and placed in pan. If using nuts and raisins, arrange them in and among the biscuit pieces as you go along.
In a small saucepan, melt the margarine with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the biscuits.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Do not cut! The bread just pulls apart.

Monkey Bread, also called Hungarian coffee cake and bubbleloaf, is a sticky, gooey pastry served as a breakfast treat. (This is from Wikipedia-personally, I think you can eat it at any time!)

No one knows where the term "monkey bread" came from, but it's been suggested that the bread resembles the monkey puzzle tree.

Recipes for the towering bread first appeared in American women's magazines and community cookbooks in the 1950s. It is made with pieces of sweet yeast dough which are baked in a cake pan at high heat after first being individually covered in melted butter, cinnamon, sugar and chopped pecans.

It is traditionally served hot so that the baked segments can be easily torn away with the fingers and eaten by hand.

For more information on this recipe and tips visit, http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Monkey-Bread-I/Detail.aspx

My thanks to LuAnn Connolly for submitting a delish recipe!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Seeds

It's that time of year again when we go out and carve pumpkins and get stuck with all the innards. So, last year I attempted baking the seeds to have pumpkin seeds to munch on at work. It was all guesswork and they didn't turn out that well...But this year I have an actual recipe! Let me share it with you!

First, remove the seeds from a pumpkin, leaving behind as much of the fiber as you can. Immediately place the seeds in a large bowl of water to avoid any fiber drying on the seeds.

Secondly, transfer the pumpkin seeds to a colander. Thoroughly rinse the pumpkin seeds under cold running water, rubbing the seeds between your fingers until the pulp and strings are washed off. Drain well.

Third, preheat the oven to 300°F. In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine 3 cups of the pumpkin seeds, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon salt; stir to coat well. Spread the seeds onto a baking sheet. Bake for 65 to 70 minutes or until lightly browned and crisp, stirring often to brown the seeds evenly. Cool to room temperature. To store, place in a tightly covered container (will keep for 1 week).

Makes: 3 cups

That was it, I didn't use vegetable oil. I would like to thank "Like Grandma Used To Make." To go to the Amazon. com website for more information on this cookbook Click here.

The Silo Restaurant

Last night we had the opportunity to go out-after saving up for a week and eating in. So, I picked up the phone and asked my son and his girlfriend if they would like to go with to The Silo Restaurant in Lake Bluff. I checked out their menu and found that although they specialize in pizza they also offered entrees from steak to pasta bowls. I got the small chicken teriyaki dinner, which came with a soup or salad, grilled veggies, a wild brown rice mixture and a loaf of bread which was warm when served! Hubby got the half slab of ribs and fries, along with clam chowder. He also had some of that yummy bread.

The kids-they're in their twenties-indulge me-ordered huge sandwiches which came with a mound of fries each. My son had the chicken teriyaki folder, while his girl had the chicken sandwich. They must have been good, they finished the lot!

In comparison to some other places I found the prices at The Silo to be very reasonable. Unless you were opting for the highest priced item on the menu-their specialty pizzas at $23.95 you for a 14 inch (large) you then went to $6.95 for a burger. And they have several different types! They menu was large and very appropriate for a dinner menu.

Overall the atmosphere is terrific with Chicago paraphenalia strewn about neatly and several TV's going that you can watch-or not, Our waitress was really friendly and we were seated immediately, even on a Friday night.

Please click here to check out their website.

Cheers!

Coupons!

I was never really into coupon cutting. When we first got married, I thought I'd do the wifely bit and go through the papers and make a list of what was needed for the household and cut a few coupons. Unfortunately, those were few and far between. In today's market of not only the huge paper some of us receive, but we can pick up at any Convenient Store, there is an Advertiser and a Coupon paper of some sort that inevitably seems to be floating around one of the major food stores. And if that's not enough, while we do our shopping we are being flagged by lovely blinking red lights waving us down with what? Another coupon.

So, my friends and dear readers, it is with great pleasure that I give you a link to what else-a page to more coupons! In this day and age, we need to save all the money we can!



Click here to find and print coupons.



You can also click here to read 'How to Cut Your Grocery Bill'

Mom's stew and more...

I knew what had happened with the Cubs-I’m not deaf, blind nor dumb, but to walk into work and be accosted by a couple of my coworkers was utterly ridiculous. They proceeded to harp on how badly the Cubs had lost and how wonderful the White Sox were doing. Sorry guys, but the Sox are not doing THAT entirely great. I have always tried to remain a Chicago fan, Neither a Cubs or Sox fan-although our household was mainly Cubs fans. So I did try to keep an open mind during the division playoffs. As I said in my last blog, I had mourned that loss of the Cubs and would look forward to next year. My only regret is that my parents are getting on in years and I don’t know how much longer they can hold out!
So, to all you really MEAN White Sox fans who are berating any Cubs fans-why don’t you stop it? I’ve got one guy at work who is emailing all the Cubs fans he knows and is making fun of the fact the Cubs lost! SO WHAT! There’s always next year, remember?

Anyway, I promised a recipe to chase the chill away and get ready for Bears season. Here’s my mom’s stew recipe. Hubby swears by it! Enjoy!

1 1/2 - 2 pds. beef stew meat

3-4 potatoes

2 stalks celery

1 onion

Brown meat for 1 hour after adding 2 beef bullion cubes and covering with water. Add cut up potatoes, celery, onion and cook another 1/2 hour while preparing gravy.

Gravy: 1/4 Cup water & 2 teaspoons cornstarch or flour and add to stew.

Makes enough for 4.

Hint: For an extra zip make sure you salt and pepper your stew OR add any Seasoned Salt. We used Tastefully Simple. (About 2 tablespoons)

Cheers!

NLDS

I believe that stands for National League Division Series. My blog will be short tonight. My Cubbies lost, so I'm in mourning-until the next game. The first game yet. I know it's a five game series, etc., etc., etc. But when you get your hopes up and you work with three White Sox fans this really hurts!!


So, good luck to the Dodgers-whatever...and hopefully I'll have better news in my next blog. I'll also be looking for some good recipes to post.

Remember our motto: Cubs fans never die, we just wait around for next season!

Cheers!