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Kids Luggage Suitcase Sets – Melissa and Doug Trunki – Disney Suitcases For Kids and Babies

Grandma — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 22:45:48 +0000

Kids luggage, specially designed suitcases for kids, babies and toddlers are very popular for children of all ages for travel or when going to Grandpa and Grandma’s house for a visit. Children enjoy having their own luggage to call their own and put their clothes and toys in when traveling out of town, and since Grandpa and I have grandchildren that enjoy visiting, we thought it would be a great idea to look for kids suitcases for sale that are age appropriate and in colors or designs the kids would enjoy.

Kids luggage come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Children’s suitcase styles include backpacks, duffel bags, kids rolling luggage with wheels attached and are the right size as carry on bags when travel requires flying on an airplane. With a new grand baby on the way, we’ve of course looked for baby luggage as well. When our soon-to-be born granddaughter is coming to visit or spend the day/weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, the cute little baby girl will come supplied with everything she’ll want or need for a fun stay.

The toddler suitcases we found for sale are so cute, from popular luggage brands like Samsonite, and the Disney suitcases and polka dot luggage sets for kids or babies are not very expensive at all. To make it easy for young children to lug around their suitcases, luggage makers have fortunately made rolling luggage for kids, toddlers and even babies in the cutest styles.

Melissa and Doug Trunki Kids Suitcases

Since there is a new grand baby on the way, we were happy to find specially designed baby luggage by Child to Cherish in pink or blue colors that says Ready or Not, Here I Come Grandma on the outside of the suitcase. The very popular brand Melissa & Doug luggage called Trunki, part luggage and part riding toy, is prefect for little kids and toddlers who might otherwise grow tired pulling their suitcase or walking through the airport.

Older kids might be happy with solid color luggage or any number of character themes, patterns and styles of kids suitcases, but after seeing how cute the Melissa and Doug Trunki suitcase is for girls and boys, our grandchildren will have fun riding on their suitcase as a scoot toy and have the benefits of very own luggage all rolled into one.

While I’m sure there are many suitcase brands for kids of all ages available for sale to choose from, Melissa and Doug toys and wooden toys, puzzles, toy kitchen and play food, kids crafts, train sets, drawing easel, puppets and blocks for kids, and the extremely popular Melissa and Doug dollhouse for little girls are all high quality, trusted products. It only makes sense that Melissa & Doug’s luggage for kids on wheels, that little girls and boys can ride on and play with, would also be a high quality product parents and grandparents can fully trust.

Our toddler size granddaughter is almost two years old now and she has fun playing with all of the Melissa & Doug toys she has received so far and will continue to receive for Christmas, birthdays or as just because gifts, and the same goes for our yet-to-be born granddaughter when she makes her appearance into the world. Melissa and Doug’s Trunki comes in several colors for boys and girls, including Trixie pink, Sunny orange, Ruby red, Terrance blue, Jade green and Iris purple.

Disney Luggage Bags For Kids

Disney bags and Disney luggage sets and sleeping bags for kids are also very popular suitcases, with a variety of Disney character themes that toddlers and kids love. Some of the best known Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, Tinkerbell, Minnie Mouse, Little Mermaid, Disney Princess and the Frog, Winnie the Pooh and others are amongst the list of very popular kids rolling luggage, tags and backpacks.

With so many luggage options for little girls and boys, it’s sometimes hard to choose one over the other choices, especially when kids get a little older and become a tad picky. We’re nowhere near that kid stage with these little grandchildren being babies and toddlers, so until the children get old enough to voice their own preferences for a specific suitcase style or their parents choose their favorite, we’re going to go with Trunki by Melissa and Doug in pink and purple. Once the Trunki’s are received and tested out, maybe I’ll do a blog review about it.

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Handmade Christmas Decorations – Indoor Christmas Decorations to Make

Grandma — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 19:21:01 +0000

Making handmade Christmas decorations, Christmas tree ornaments, diningroom table and fireplace mantel xmas home decor is just one of the many reasons why I’m anxious to receive my new sewing machine for Christmas this year. Christmas is my all-time favorite holiday, not because of all the festive Christmas gift-giving or receiving gifts that goes with the holiday season, but because of what Christmas means to me personally.

To me, Christmas means spending time with those you love and who love you, remembering that Christmas is all about Jesus and all He did for us, not about Christmas presents. Christmas is a time of sharing and being with family and close friends, helping those in need who are less fortunate than ourselves, like people living in shelters or homeless people living on the street or those who don’t have enough food to eat. You don’t have to be a Church-going attendee to understand the true meaning of Christmas.

Decorating for Christmas, indoor and outdoor, can get very expensive. I’m not really interested in decorating every room in the house for Christmas, but I’ve gotten quite a few great ideas on ways to decorate for Christmas from online pictures and sewing patterns of things I can make myself, at a much cheaper price than simply buying decorations at retail or online stores. As a self-proclaimed sewing beginner, finding simple, quick and easy craft projects that I can make with my sewing machine or by hand, gives me so many Christmas decorating ideas that I don’t know where to begin.

I’ve made my own Christmas wreaths before and the wreaths turned out quite nicely, so much so that I’ve been asked a few times to make Christmas wreaths for others, and I was happy to oblige. A few years ago I was asked to make several wreaths of varying kinds and styles that would be sold at a church craft sale and the proceeds donated to charity, and I fully intend on making and selling other Christmas decorations and crafts where the profit proceeds are once again donated to charities.

I enjoy handmade and commercial Christmas decorations and ornaments of all kinds just like everyone else does. Angels, gingerbread houses, snowmen, reindeer, Santa’s and elves, they’re all beautiful and unique in different ways. Indoor and outdoor animated Christmas decorations make us laugh and smile, but I have no lofty plans of making animated decorations or wooden outdoor Christmas yard art whatsoever. I’ll leave the animated stuff and lawn décor to the skilled and experienced professionals.

To make Christmas decorations that are homemade, made by hand or with my sewing machine, will be a long-term project of making a variety of crafts to display throughout the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season at home, to give as inexpensive gifts or to adorn Christmas presents with homemade Christmas tree ornaments rather than using typical cheap ribbons and bows sold in stores.

I become a kid-at-heart during the Christmas holiday season, especially during our annual visit to a relatively expensive Christmas decoration store where I get some great ideas for decorating at Christmastime without actually buying much of anything at the very high-priced store. Virtually everything sold at the local Christmas décor store is handmade, including artificial Christmas trees, ornaments, stockings, tree skirts, countdown calendars, garland, home decorations, tablecloths, wreaths etc, but buying unique handmade Christmas decorations there comes at a very high cost that will drain your wallet dry rather quickly.

With my adoration for reindeer and snowman Christmas decorations being at the top of my list of craft projects to start making, besides the usual Santa’s and elves and sleighs of course, decorating the front door, fireplace mantel, kitchen, bathroom, living room and dining room areas for the Christmas season is going to be a lot of fun. It will also give me plenty of time and opportunity to greatly improve my sewing and crafting skills in order to feel competent and good enough to sell (or give as gifts) the homemade Christmas decorations I decide to make.

I’ll of course be watching closely for after-Christmas sales, discounts and clearances on exterior Christmas decorations to save for next year’s lawn displays. Finding unique and inexpensive blow up outdoor decorations shouldn’t be too hard, except at retail stores that have already been picked over and the only yard art left is stuff no one else wants either. I have no intention of turning the inside or outside of our house into a Santa’s village or “winter wonderland” at all, but it will be a lot of fun to at least have a few rooms decorated nicely for Christmas parties and family gatherings and not look so primitive and bare.

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I’m Going To Be a Grandma Again! More Grandma Stories to Tell!

Grandma — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 00:28:27 +0000

Yep, I’m going to be a grandma again, and I’m so happy and excited since hearing the news, I can’t help but make an announcement on Grandma Stories! I still consider myself a new grandma, since my two grandchildren are still so young, but now we’re having grandchild number three! Grandpa and I are both beside ourselves with excitement at the upcoming birth of my third grandchild (his fourth), and I’m doing my best to control my desire to rush off to the baby stores and shop till I drop!

Even though I don’t have an official grandma name or nickname quite yet, it really does not matter if I chose a name for myself or not, because the grandchildren are going to ultimately decide on my/our nicknames. My grandchildren are so young, but starting to talk more at this point, so there is plenty of time for choosing grandma and grandpa nicknames. I can think of a whole variety of grandparent names to choose from for my/our grandchildren to call us that we would prefer, but when it’s all said and done, the grandkids will make the decision and I’m fine with that.

Calling me Grandma is just fine of course, but I’d prefer not to be called Nana because one of the other grandmothers is already called Nana and the baby’s are going to get confused figuring out who Nana 1 is and who Nana 2 is. One of my sons and his lady love are expecting our new grandchild sometime in May of next year, so there’s plenty of time to prepare and plan for the day of his or her birth. I’ve already seen sonogram pictures of the growing baby, but it’s still very early into the pregnancy, so more sonograms are sure to be taken.

Oh the fun we will have holding, loving, playing with, rocking in the rocking chair, singing lullabies and playing peek-a-boo, buying toys and gifts for this new little baby. Oh yeah, and spoiling him or her is on the top of my list, just like my other grandchildren, that’s for sure! Okay, spoiling within reason, but not over the top extravagant, where the parents might feel the need to tell me to pull back the reins a bit. Grandparenting is awesome!

Over the Christmas holiday this year, the pregnancy will most likely be far enough along where the happy parents will find out whether we’re having a healthy baby boy or girl. I already have a grandson and a granddaughter, so we have no particular wish for a boy vs. a girl baby, even though the parents are hoping to have a baby boy. Seeing my son holding and cradling my granddaughter when she was first born tells me it won’t matter at all if the baby is a girl or a boy, because he is going to be an excellent father either way.

It is very important to me as a Grandmother to be careful to respect boundaries and give the parents their rightful space to make their personal decisions together, and not over-step. That is not to say that as grandparents we won’t offer suggestions, recommendations and guidance when desired, but the ideas we share are just that, ideas and suggestions. The fact that I am a mother of six children myself, and Grandpa is a father of two, we both know a few things about pregnancy, childbirth, babies, two o’clock in the morning feedings, parenting etc, so any advice or suggestions we may give is always with the purest intentions.

I understand all too well the sometimes overwhelming thoughts, fears, concerns, feelings and emotions that run through the minds and hearts of new parents. First-time parents often experience a flood of self-doubt, as to whether they will be good mothers and fathers, and that is one area that Grandpa and I can be of help. As a matter of fact, I’ve already ordered my son Armin Brott’s book The Expectant Father, as it provides a lot of great information for brand new fathers to help answer all of the questions new dad’s ask and wonder about.

Of course, the baby’s mother also receives the very popular What to Expect When You’re Expecting book by Heidi Murkoff, with excellent information and pictures of each stage of pregnancy and more. Quick, someone hold me back from rushing off to Babies R Us and Toys R Us and buying up a bunch of baby stuff already! Oh my gosh! I’m going to be a Grandma again! I couldn’t be more excited and neither could Grandpa.

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Vincent’s Restaurant in Plano TX – Vincent’s Seafood Restaurant – Review

Grandma — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:53:48 +0000

We’ve been planning on going to Vincent’s Restaurant to enjoy the seafood menu items for some time now, and finally did. Vincent’s Seafood Restaurant is located in the Towne Crossing Shopping Center on Preston Road in Plano, just north of West Park Blvd.

Officially called “Vincent’s Restaurant Seafood & Steaks” since 1898, the first Vincent’s restaurant opened in downtown Dallas between Commerce and Main Street. That original location closed after seventy years in 1968, when the “One Main Place” project was developed, but Vincent’s restaurant opened its second home on Mockingbird Lane in Dallas, across from the old Dr. Pepper Company.

Now Vincent’s Seafood is serving seafood lovers from their Plano location, and Vincent’s longevity speaks for itself. Return customers love Vincent’s menu of delicious seafood and steaks! Cuisine at Vincent’s Restaurant is a combination of American and Seafood, and based on customer reviews and fellow diners, Vincent’s is sure to stick around for a long time.

Vincent’s full lunch and dinner menu of fresh seafood and steaks could make Vincent’s restaurant a favorite place to go for seafood lovers, but we’ll have to go back again to try the steaks for the first time before I can review or recommend the steaks or Prime Rib at Vincent’s restaurant.

Vincent’s Restaurant – Menu

Vincent’s seafood restaurant offers a wide variety of choices, starting with the appetizers, which include: Stuffed Mushrooms ($7.00); Oysters Rockefeller ($7); Calamari ($6); Crab Cake ($7) or Crab Claws ($15); Stuffed Shrimp or Shrimp Cocktail ($7); Oysters on the Half Shell (half a dozen $6, or $10 for a dozen).

The soups and salads at Vincent’s are a little expensive in our opinion, but we both chose to order a small Greek salad for $5.00 each. The chicken entrees were also a bit pricey, and considering the fact that entrees do not come with even a small dinner salad like other local seafood restaurants, paying $15-17 for a chicken entrée plus the price of a salad simply costs too much. Entrees do come with one vegetable side dish, and diners are provided Vincent’s “cheese bread”, which are so hard and crusty you might be afraid of breaking a tooth.

Our calamari appetizer was very good and priced right, for the amount of calamari and sauce included. The fresh grilled salmon and rice entrée was tender, flaky and delicious. Grandpa, the family food critic expert, thoroughly enjoyed the grilled halibut dinner entrée and broccoli he ordered, although he felt the prices were too high. The “Vincent’s Specialties” menu items, like the Alaskan King Crab Legs and Australian Lobster Tails, were among the most expensive things on the menu, so we chose from the “cheaper” areas on the menu.

Angelo, owner of Vincent’s Restaurant, obviously takes great interest and pride in his seafood place, as he was regularly seen visually checking on his seated customers from afar. Vincent’s restaurant is a small place, with a “family owned” atmosphere, and is nicely decorated throughout for ambiance.

White linen tablecloths and linen napkins for a “casual” attire restaurant seemed a tad strange, especially since virtually every customer was wearing at least business casual, if not suits and ties or dresses. Jeans, T-shirts and tennis shoes are okay to wear at Vincent’s, but be prepared to feel under-dressed and out of place amongst a restaurant full of nicely dressed patrons.

Our Italian-looking waiter was very knowledgeable about the menu, always pleasant and courteous, while never hovering around our table too much. Overall, we like Vincent’s restaurant and will most likely return again, sometime. As nice a place Vincent’s Seafood Restaurant is, we were surprised the restaurant was not completely full of customers, even during the busiest time of day for restaurants – the dinner hour.

Vincent’s Restaurant

There were plenty of available tables waiting for customers to drop in, and we couldn’t help but wonder if part of the problem might be that Vincent’s restaurant hasn’t yet gotten involved with modern social media like Facebook and Twitter. Given the tremendous popularity of businesses creating Facebook Fan Pages and Business Twitter accounts to create buzz and attention, Vincent’s should give serious consideration to updating its website (www.vincentsseafoodplano.com) with a more appealing look, along with restaurant photos and menu/food pictures (currently on yelp.com), more detailed information about the restaurant.

Plus Vincent’s restaurant really needs to get involved with social media networks, build a fan base of Facebook fans and Twitter followers who have eaten at Vincent‘s and enjoy the food, who will then pass on to friends and family and online acquaintances information about Vincent‘s Seafood Restaurant. Plano residents, Dallas and/or Collin and Denton county area residents will be lined out the door waiting to get in to Vincent’s. Standing room only sounds just about right for this quaint little seafood restaurant called Vincent’s.

Vincent’s has a full bar and extensive wine list. Full menu, including their famous coleslaw, is available for Takeout to-go orders. Reservations are allowed but not required. All major credit cards are accepted. Gift certificates are also available. Vincent’s Seafood restaurant is open Monday – Thursday (11:00 am to 10:00 pm), Friday (11:00 am to 10:30 pm), Saturday (5:00 pm to 10:30 pm) and Sunday (11:00 am to 12:00 am). Vincent’s Restaurant’s address is 2432 Preston Road (at Park Blvd), Plano TX, 75093. 972-612-0969. Enjoy!

[img credit: yelp.com]

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Jiffy Mix Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits Recipe for 50th Birthday Cake

Grandma — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 22:53:54 +0000

Since I’m turning 50, for my 50th Birthday cake I decided to have homemade Strawberry Shortcake, made from the recipe off of the Jiffy Mix biscuit box instead of having a more traditional birthday cake. We’ll still have a traditional, homemade birthday cake for my birthday party too, for putting all the candles on, but I‘m more interested in the strawberry shortcake myself.

In many families, every year for someone’s birthday, whoever’s birthday it is gets to choose the kind of cake they want to celebrate the occasion and I am no exception. This weekend, we are celebrating my birthday with what is often referred to as old-fashioned strawberry shortcake, an American classic dessert loved and adored by young and old. While strawberry shortcake is typically considered a summer dessert, we enjoy this moist and delicious strawberry dessert all year round.

Using the Jiffy Mix shortcake biscuits recipe makes for an easy, inexpensive, delicious, homemade strawberry treat. Some stores don’t carry Jiffy Mix for some unknown reason, and people sometimes choose to substitute Bisquick for the Jiffy Mix biscuit recipe, but the taste and texture is not the same. We actually had to search online to find what stores carry Jiffy Mix all purpose baking mix in the blue box by going to the Jiffy Mix website at www.jiffymix.com for store locations near us, since the three or four most well-known grocery stores nearby don‘t carry the product.

While mixed berry or raspberry shortcake are a popular recipe for some, strawberry shortcake is by far my favorite thing dessert-wise, and brings back wonderful childhood memories of when mom made it and topped it off with homemade whipped topping or Cool Whip. After so many years of enjoying the Jiffy mix version of strawberry shortcake and its sugary sweet biscuits, the store-bought, ready-made sponge cakes or pound cake slices just don’t do justice for my favorite strawberry dessert.

How to Make Jiffy Mix Strawberry Shortcake

Deciding on how many fresh strawberries to use for the shortcake recipe depends on each individual’s likes and preferences. For my 50th birthday party, we bought two 32 oz containers (two pounds) of strawberries, and an additional one pound container for a total of three pounds of fresh strawberries. That’s a lot of strawberry shortcake, for something tells me there won’t be any left over, not after the guests taste the delicious Jiffy Mix shortcakes that go with the strawberries and whipped topping.

Wash the strawberries, remove the stem, and cut the strawberries into slices into a bowl until you have as many strawberry slices as you want for the recipe. Sprinkle sugar on top of the strawberries and gently mix with a large spoon until well coated. Put the strawberry mix in a covered, airtight container, or wrap the bowl of strawberries with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and leave in the refrigerator a few hours or overnight (if possible). This allows the strawberries and sugar to mix thoroughly, creating delicious strawberry juices that soak into the warm biscuits when ready.

Jiffy Mix Shortcake Recipe for Strawberry Shortcake

The list of ingredients and directions on the Jiffy Mix box on how to make Jiffy Mix shortcakes makes this recipe incredibly easy. The basic shortcake recipe says it makes 6 shortcakes per these instructions, so we will definitely be tripling or quadrupling the recipe, if not more so. Even doubling the recipe wouldn’t make enough shortcakes for this birthday party group of family and friends.

2 cups JIFFY Baking Mix
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. shortening, melted
½ cup milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine ingredients to soft dough. Turn onto surface dusted with Jiffy baking mix and knead 20 times. Pat or roll dough ½ inch thick. Cut with 3 inch floured round cutter to make three-inch, circle-shaped biscuits. Bake on ungreased baking sheet for 8-10 minutes.

Split warm shortcakes in half (if desired), and place into serving bowls or cereal bowls. Spoon sugary strawberry mix with juice on top of warm, just out of the oven, baked shortcakes. Top with homemade whipped topping or Cool Whip, if desired. I have made homemade whipped topping many times before, but for my birthday party this year, I prefer to just use Cool Whip to make things easier on myself.

Homemade Whipped Topping

If you prefer to make your own whipped topping, here is a good homemade sweetened whipped topping recipe I’ve had for years.

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Using an ice cold whisk in an ice cold bowl (for best results), whip cream until almost stiff. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until cream holds peaks. Spread or dollop whipped cream/whipped topping on top of strawberry shortcake, cooled pies, bread pudding, pound cake, gingerbread, peach cobbler, or other favorite desserts. Enjoy!

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Turning 50 – 50th Birthday Gift Ideas for Mom or Grandma

Grandma — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 19:20:26 +0000

I will be turning 50 years old on July 5th of this year, a half a century old. Some seem to feel that turning 50 means you’re officially entering “old age”, a major milestone year in the life of men and women. For me, turning 50 is a blessing, one that I readily accept with joy and anticipation about the opportunities and possibilities laid out before me with nary a thought of what others feel or think about me.

Turning 50 years old offers many benefits, including the pleasure of watching my grown children reach their goals, get married if they choose to, and raise children of their own. The joy of being a Grandma and watching my grandchildren grow up to become happy, productive members of society is just one benefit amongst many that I take great pleasure in each and every day.

Turning 50 is a wonderful time to celebrate with friends and family and reflect back on one’s experiences and accomplishments in life, and that is exactly what we‘re going to do. Turning fifty years old and planning a 50th birthday party celebration for those near and dear includes being asked, What do you get someone who is turning 50?, What is an appropriate 50th birthday gift for a mom or grandma?, and, How do you plan a 50th birthday party for someone?

A 50th birthday party for someone like me is one that is a small, informal, casual, relaxed, low-key affair, not a loud and boisterous party filled to the gills with black roses and other black birthday party decorations or supplies, coffin cakes and the like. That is not my style, so when planning a 50th birthday party for someone as a surprise or not, it’s best to consider the individual person’s personality and style when deciding on the birthday theme, colors used, gag gifts, music, etc.

50th Birthday Party Gift Ideas

50th birthday gag gifts are of course funny and fun, for those that enjoy silly gag gifts. To me, they’re just a waste of money and more often than not, thrown away in the trash shortly after the party is over and the guests have left and gone home. Thoughtful, practical birthday gifts for a 50th birthday are more appealing than those that are just “silly”, for the sake of laughter. Birthday gift ideas for someone turning 50 aren’t much different than gifts for any other birthday, whether it’s a 30th, 40th or 60th birthday.

Choosing a 50th birthday party gift, or any other age, is just a matter of carefully considering the likes, dislikes, personal interests, hobbies etc of the gift recipient. I always try to make a mental note anytime someone near and dear mentions something they need or would like to have, that could be given as a kind and thoughtful gift for a birthday, holiday or some other special occasion.

Since I spend so much time reading books and magazines of interest to me, I’ve been carefully watching for the price of the Kindle wireless e-reader to go down to a more reasonable amount, as something I might get for myself sometime. I haven’t bought any kind of wireless e-reader device as of yet, but the price of the Kindle has dropped dramatically, so that may be a great 50th birthday gift idea for someone who reads a lot.

I especially like the Kindle for reading while traveling or on vacation, but it’s so small and light that it just may be a great reading device for anytime of year or while relaxing at home. I’ve been told that there is a Kindle application for smart phones, like the iPhone and Blackberry, but I just don’t see reading downloaded books on such a small screen as being very comfortable.

There are some other 50th Birthday Gifts I’ve passed along to those who have inquired as to what I might like as a gift that I won’t mention here. Suffice it to say that there are very few things on my “want” or “need” list as far as gifts are concerned, so enjoying the fun, food, laughter and good times during my upcoming 50th birthday party with friends and family is all that really matters to me. Turning 50 is great, and I’m going to enjoy every minute of being in my 50’s and beyond.

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Napa Valley Spinach Salad with Pinot Noir Vinaigrette and Goat Cheese

Grandma — Sun, 16 May 2010 15:23:25 +0000

If you have never tried any of the variations of Napa Valley Spinach Salad, you are really missing out on a delicious salad option. We eat a lot of salad, with a meal or as the main dinner meal all by itself. Typical “dinner salad” that consists of the basics many people include in their salads can get boring real fast, so we always try to come up with healthy recipes that offer different ideas of fruits and/or vegetables to add to our salads for variety and taste.

I recently enjoyed a version of the Napa Valley Spinach Salad with chicken at one of my favorite lunch spots, and couldn’t wait to make the salad at home for my family and visiting friends. To say that the Spinach Salad was a hit for everyone would be an understatement. There are many different ways of making the Napa Valley Spinach Salad, but the differences only amount to what fruits and/or vegetables you like or don’t like, as most of the ingredients are optional according to your tastes and likes.

I use Feta cheese as a topping on some of my own salads, while others may like goat cheese in one of its variations. The goat cheese or feta cheese topping is of course optional as well, so it doesn’t “ruin” the salad if you choose not to use either of the cheeses. Making the Napa Valley Spinach Salad is fast and easy, and most of the ingredients are those we usually buy at the grocery store anyway and almost always have on hand.

Grandpa sometimes makes a fresh spinach salad with just spinach, strawberry slices and balsamic dressing lightly tossed, and it’s been a family favorite ever since. The Napa Valley Spinach salad has a lot more ingredients added to the fresh spinach, and now our salads are as if we’re enjoying our own salad bar at home.

Napa Valley Spinach Salad with Pinot Noir Shallot Vinaigrette Dressing

Even though the spinach salad I enjoyed so much at my favorite lunch restaurant included finely diced shallots, I opted not to use shallots when I made this recipe at home. Given the fact that most salads make very healthy meals, I wasn’t the least bit concerned about the specific “nutritional value” amounts, and just added each vegetable or fruit ingredient to taste rather than following some rule about “a cup of this, or cup of that”.

To make the Napa Valley Spinach Salad with vinaigrette dressing, purchase the following ingredients (those you like) and toss them all together in a large bowl. For the vinaigrette dressing, I bought the Red Wine and Vinegar dressing by Marie, which I found in the refrigerated produce section of the grocery store. There are recipes online on how to make Pinot Noir Vinaigrette dressing, with or without shallots, but I was thrilled to find what I believe to be the perfect dressing for this salad to buy rather than making it myself.

Fresh spinach (I purchased two 9 oz. bags of fresh spinach) and the salad was enough for four people, as the main meal.
Grilled chicken – thin slices or chunks
Crisp bacon – “Real Bacon” bits in a jar is fine too
Fresh mushrooms – thinly sliced
Fresh strawberries – sliced or chopped
Sun-dried cranberries (or sun-dried raisins)
Julienne red onions
Granny Smith apples – thinly sliced or chopped
Candied pecans – (I used cinnamon pecans found in small bags in the produce section)
Fresh tomato – wedges, slices or chopped
Goat cheese – lightly crumbled as a topping, or Feta cheese
Pinot Noir Vinaigrette dressing – or Red Wine Vinegar dressing (Marie’s version is great for this salad!)

The restaurant where I often go for lunch had the thinly sliced granny smith apples and sliced tomato around the edges of the plate, to add color and visual appeal, rather than everything within the salad itself. Keep in mind that these ingredients are optional, so if there are ingredients listed that you don’t particularly like, leave it out of the salad. If there are other “salad bar” type ingredients you or your family like, such as chick peas, go ahead and add them to your Napa Valley Spinach salad.

Eating salads is of course a healthy meal option, whether the salad is the main meal or as a side dish, but having a variety of healthy salad options to change things up at the dinner table sure helps in keeping salad from becoming boring and dull. No one wants to feel as though they “have” to eat salads that are boring and monotonous week after week, so finding a variety of healthy salad recipes that are fun and enjoyable for the whole family has been a priority that tastes great.

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Key Lime Bundt Cake – Oprah’s Favorite Things Recipe

Grandma — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:12:21 +0000

Oprah’s 2004 favorite Gourmet Florida Key Lime Bundt Cake recipe is incredibly delicious and has become a family favorite in Grandma’s kitchen. The Oprah Winfrey Show had an annual segment called Oprah’s Favorite Things, or “The O List”, as it is sometimes referred.

Typically aired during the Thanksgiving holiday season, Oprah shared with her audience a list of things she believes are great gift ideas and products, and audience members participating in the taping of the segment receive free gifts to take home from her favorite things on that year’s list.

If you like key lime pie, you will love this key lime pound cake with the cream cheese glaze. Just be sure to use Nellie & Joe’s Key Lime Juice to make this tangy, lime, gourmet cake in a bundt pan.

O, The Oprah Magazine includes a similar feature that some refer to as Oprah’s Favorite Things, but the term for that feature in the magazine is actually called “The O List”. Oprah’s magazine is one my favorite things to browse through, check out the recipes and decorating ideas, as well as the stories.

It’s no wonder why Oprah’s favorite things was the most watched episode in the history of the show, that is, until Oprah canceled her popular favorite things show in 2009.

Gourmet Florida Key Lime Bundt Cake

Key Lime Bundt cake directions and ingredients:

*Nellie & Joe’s Famous Key Lime Juice

Cake:
2 Cups extra fine sugar (C&H Baking Sugar)
Zest of three key limes, (2 if using limes) finely minced
1 Cup unsalted butter, room temperature
4 eggs
2 yolks
2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons key lime juice
1/2 Teaspoon lime oil or lemon extract
1-1/3 Cups heavy cream
3-3/4 Cups all purpose flour
4 Teaspoons baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon baking soda
1/4 Teaspoon salt

Key Lime Syrup:
3/4 Cup water
1/2 Cup key lime juice
1-1/2 Cups sugar
1/2 Teaspoon lime oil or lemon extract

Cream Cheese Glaze:
8 ounces cream cheese
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon key lime juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon each, lemon and lime zest, finely minced
1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Mix together sugar and zest for 2 minutes to help release the oils. Add butter to the sugar and zest and cream mixture. Blend in eggs, yolks, and extracts on low to blend, scraping bowl. Add in remaining ingredients and blend into a smooth batter.

Pour batter into cake pan and bake for 1 hour or until cake tests done. Cake will be lightly golden brown and firm to the touch when you press your fingers on it.

While cake is baking, make Key Lime Syrup:
In a small sauce pan, bring all syrup ingredients to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.

When cake is done, remove from oven and pour all but approximately 1/3 cup of the syrup over cake while still in the Bundt pan. Pour so syrup goes down sides and around the center tube. Set reserved 1/3 cup syrup, set aside. Let cake cool for 15 minutes and invert onto serving dish. With pastry brush, coat the top of the cake where glaze didn’t reach, with the remaining syrup.

Let cake cool completely and glaze with Cream Cheese Glaze.

Cream Cheese Glaze directions:

Soften cream cheese and cream with butter. Stir in lime juice, vanilla, and lime zest. Fold in confectioner’s sugar to make a soft, drippy glaze. If glaze is not the right consistency to drizzle, thin by adding 1 teaspoon at a time of hot water and stirring to mix well until glaze reaches the desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cake. Allow to set. Yield Serves 12-16. Enjoy!

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Valentine’s Day For Grandparents

Grandma — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:12:24 +0000

Valentine’s Day is a special holiday for sweethearts, friends, lovers, spouses etc and that includes grandparents, on February 14 of each year. Valentine’s Day for us this year will be spent visiting with our grandchildren and grown children, out of town. There will likely be the Valentine’s Day cards and small gift-giving, even if the gifts are very cheap from stores like Walmart or Target.

Valentine’s Day gifts for lovers or wives typically mean sending flowers of one kind or another, but considering how overpriced flowers are during the Valentine’s holiday, flowers just never cross our minds to give as a gift to each other. I don’t mind at all either because there is really no good reason I can think of to spend so much money on Valentine’s Day flower bouquets that are just going to die in a few days.

We’ll wait until we arrive at our destination, where the kids and grandkids live, before we embark on buying any cards or inexpensive gift of some kind. The most we will do gift-wise is probably just buy a small toy for the grandchildren and just give cards to the adult kids. Since the grandkids are still very young, any Valentine’s Day gift for him and her may end up being a little toy they can play with to their heart’s content.

Maybe, and it’s a big maybe, we might also give the grown kids a small box of Valentine’s Day heart candy or something similar, if they’re not already sold out at the local stores near our hotel. Valentine’s Day is at the very beginning of our Chicago vacation trip for a week’s visit with the grown children and grandchildren, so planning anything special to do on Valentine’s Day may be a little difficult depending on their work schedules and other family responsibilities.

There is of course the weather to consider as well, so we’re expecting to plan mostly indoor things to do while we’re in Chicago, and spend some time checking out some of the new businesses, fun venues and restaurants that have opened up since we were there last. If it weren’t for the fact that we’re spending Valentine’s Day out of town, playing and having fun with the kids and grandkids, I’d almost say that Valentine’s Day for grandparents is overrated. Why?

Because neither of us are interested in the over-commercialism (materialism) of many of the holidays, especially Valentines Day and Christmas, and just because we’re grandparents doesn’t mean we will make a big deal out of one more holiday pushed on consumers to spend, spend, spend. We’ll just go with inexpensive, cheap, cheaper and cheapest.

If I had the time and inclination to actually make some homemade gifts for Valentine’s Day, like winter scarves or gloves etc, making gifts could almost count as a free Valentine’s Day gift since yarn is so dirt cheap. Since I don’t know how to knit or crochet, nor do I care to learn how, we’ll just make a point of stopping in one of the local stores and pick up something appropriate for the holiday.

From what all the grown kids have said so far while planning this vacation trip, all they care about is having us there for the week and spending time together “hanging out” and doing a bunch of fun activities around town that are soft on the wallet. Theirs and ours, since they pay their own way to each of the places we go while we’re in town.

Our not being expected to pay their way for everything we do and places we go is a great bonus, and we greatly appreciate their pre-planning of their budget to leave some room for spending Valentine’s Day with the grandparents, with their own money. The hugs, kisses, tickles and laughter are all free gifts to each other, and those last a lot longer than some stupid bouquet of flowers anyway.

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GE Side By Side Refrigerator Freezer Problems and Recall

Grandma — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:47:36 +0000

We have a large General Electric (GE) side-by-side refrigerator freezer that suddenly and without warning broke down and quit working. At first Grandpa thought that maybe the problems were only with the freezer motor or blown fuse, since it appeared that the frig was still cooling. The lights inside still worked and the water line for the ice maker and water dispenser on the door still worked. It turns out that the refrigerator circuit board was giving us the problems and in need of repair or replacement, and both the refrigerator and freezer had died.

It figures that the refrigerator would break down on a weekend and we would have problems trying to reach a local service provider or repairman to come and fix the refrigerator for us. Then again, having refrigerator or freezer problems happen on a weekend is much better than if it happened during the work week or while on vacation. Fortunately, we still have a very old stand-up freezer in the garage so we were able to save all the frozen food, and didn’t have any problem keeping the food in the refrigerator cold and nothing was spoiled.

I started searching the net for information about GE refrigerator and freezer problems to try and narrow down the possibilities and reasons why the circuit board would die after just six years, and I found out that there was a circuit board recall in 2006 for several models including our exact model number! A recall of the main circuit board for several GE refrigerator/freezer models and we never got the memo. No letter. No phone call. Thanks GE, for nothing.

GE Refrigerator Master Control Circuit Board Recall

An official letter addressed to GE Customer Care Servicers, written and signed by GE’s National Service Manager Richard Zutterman, dated November 7, 2006 says:

“GE Consumer & Industrial places a very high priority on product quality and customer satisfaction and thus continuously assesses our product reliability. Recent analysis has discovered a potential problem with the main circuit board on a limited number of refrigerator models, which could lead to lower than anticipated life expectancy on that component. Therefore, if the main circuit board fails, GE Consumer & Industrial will replace this part free of charge to the consumer until further notice.”

Zutterman’s letter adds that the affected refrigerator/freezer models are side-by-side plastic liner, side-by-side metal liner, bottom freezer two door and bottom freezer French door styles. These models were produced between May 2005 and August 2006, with the HH-FL serial number range, and all are included in the recall program.

Interesting how this letter was provided to servicers directly, but I still want to know why we as a consumer and customer of GE never received any notice regarding a recall of the main circuit board. I have a pretty darn good guess as to why, but I’ll keep that to myself.

I found the General Electric appliance website to find local providers who could service the refrigerator free of charge because of the recall, wrote down the listed phone numbers in hopes that we’d be able to find someone on a Saturday to come and fix the refrigerator. That didn’t happen. I called the first GE phone number listed to register our complaint and was surprised to reach a human rather than a recorded message machine, and I can imagine the company rep wished she had taken the day off or called in sick.

I gave the lady rep the model number of our refrigerator and freezer (GSS25), also explaining what I had found about there being a circuit board recall on several models, so she put me on hold to check on that. She finally comes back and explains that IF there were a recall, we would have received a phone call, letter or email. Umm, yeah, right.

She then gives me a phone number to call for information on appliance recalls, but calling the number was a complete waste of time because the voice-recorded message was strictly about dishwashers – not refrigerators and/or freezers. There was no option given to “push zero for an operator” or anything like that. Thanks again GE, for nothing.

I printed off the recall information I found online so we can either fax or mail in copies of the invoice and receipt to get our money back from the stupid GE company, since they were oh-so-kind enough to inform us that our circuit board had been recalled several years ago. Not.

Luckily, Grandpa found a local GE parts store that had our circuit board in stock, at a cost of about $150.00 plus tax. We’ll be sending GE a bill this week for a full refund of our money, especially since the recall info said the “units may be in or out of the standard 1-year product warranty and both instances are covered under this concession program”. If you are having motherboard problems with your GE refrigerator/freezer, the link above will provide you the complete list of models and model numbers said to be included in the circuit board recall, phone and fax numbers etc.

Grandpa has to be one of the best do-it-yourself handyman geniuses on the planet and he had the refrigerator/freezer working perfectly in no time at all.

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