text:
Your relationships with your family and friends will change a lot in your teenage years. You will say things you wish you could take back and so will the people around you. Don't torture yourself holding grudges or needing to get back at everyone who was mean to you.
Is religion really just about being a nice person? Is the goal of Christianity to simply become more kind, compassionate, and just? Fr. Robert Barron answers this popular but misguided religious view in this video.
In a recent article published in the online journal "Salon," philosophy professor John Messerly claims that religion has a "smart-people problem." Is this the case? Fr. Robert Barron responds in this video.
Atheists, Agnostics, and believers alike appeal to philosophy to support their claims on the existence or non-existence of God. However, Thomas Aquinas' "Argument from Motion" offers a proof that cannot be easily refuted, as it appeals to the the concept of an "actus purus," or the unmoved mover that we call God.
Dr Alvaré was the keynote speaker at the recent John Paul II Australian Leaders Forum in Melbourne, and during a brief visit to Sydney following the conference, she sat down with Catholic Communications and Xt3.com to discuss the importance of religious liberty, the papacy of Pope Francis, as well as her personal experiences promoting Catholic values in public life.
Tic Long shares thoughts on how to lead well and what difference Christ makes in us as leaders.
Euthanasia Yes or No? A Debate with Dr. Philip Nitschke and (then) Bishop Elect Anthony Fisher. The moral question at the heart of this debate is the following: Is killing with the intention of preventing pain or other distress justifiable? This topic brought over 900 listeners in the Great Hall of the University of Sydney on 12 August 2003.
There have been a lot of news stories recently about students in middle school, high school, and even college,protesting dress codes that they say are sexist and discriminate against women. However, as I read the articles about these incidents I noticed three common fallacies, or errors in reasoning, when it comes to modesty and the need for dress codes. Either/Or Fallacy Also called "the fallacy of the false dilemma," it occurs when only two solutions for a problem are presented while other solutions are neglected or excluded.
What ever happened to letting "boys be boys?" Take these two cases: In one, a seven-year-old boy was sent home for nibbling a Pop Tart into a gun. In another, a teacher was so alarmed by a picture drawn by a student (of a sword fight), that the boy's parents were summoned in for a conference.
Radical atheists love to ridicule believers. They mock our "talking snake" in Genesis but really show their own lack of sophistication in understanding the nature of allegory or symbol in human language. And why do they think is it more rational to believe the universe created itself than to believe God created the universe?
You are viewing 1 - 10 of 155 items


text:
Thursday, March 26, 2015
0 Respiratory Remedies (& a Medicinal Tea Recipe to Follow)
Last week, I started to feel a bit of a scratchy throat coming on. Shortly thereafter, that was followed by a cough and a cold, then fatigue, headaches, and all-over body aches. And of course, with flu season in full effect here, my first thought was, "Uh-oh, here it comes." I was bracing myself for what was probably the start of a respiratory infection. All the typical signs were there.
Also, due to the crazy back-and-forth weather we've been having here lately (Mother Nature can't make up her mind whether it's winter or spring!), it's no surprise that lots of people in this area have been getting sick. The weather here has just been insane. We got SNOW on the first day of spring. Yes, that's right. You heard me correctly. I said, "Snow." Mother Nature clearly has an ironic sense of humor. ;) As I joked earlier on Facebook, "This year, it's been more like, 'March comes in like a lion who then changes into a lamb costume, successfully infiltrates enemy lines, and then proceeds to eat the entire flock.' Hahaha."
And before that we had what felt like endless snow, and, not surprisingly, after a while, lots of people started cracking jokes about it, myself included. I posted: "If this snow doesn't start melting soon, I'm going to start putting up wanted posters that say, '$1000 reward for any information leading to the apprehension and arrest of Punxsutawney Phil. Wanted for criminal conspiracy with Mother Nature, in connection with the petty robbery of spring weather.' ;) First day of spring, my @$$!!!! Hmmmm. I wonder what groundhog meat tastes like?! ;) JUST kidding." :-D Yeah, we'd all pretty much had it, so when spring briefly peeked its head out from underneath the melting snow piles and finally gave us some lovely sunny 65 degree weather, many of us were so ecstatic about it that we went straight outside to celebrate. I know I certainly wasn't the only one who went outside to exercise that day. :-D
And then it got cold again. And it snowed. And then people got sick. And then, well, you know the rest. :)
Since several of my friends were feeling absolutely miserable from flu, sinusitis, bronchitis, etc. (and the luckier ones escaped with only a slight cough &/or cold), I gave them some recommendations for things they could do or take to help them fight their respiratory illnesses, including fish oil pills and other supplements, medicinal teas, etc., and also sent one of my friends a TLC package filled with several of these flu-fighting 'goodies.' We both followed similar regimens (and so did her husband, who'd also gotten sick), and after a few days, we were all gradually starting to feel better (knock on wood!). I've also put together different variations of this regimen in the past, but this most recent combination of remedies seemed to work the best thus far. So, in order to help others who are trying to beat respiratory infections, I'm going to post that regimen here very shortly. As a legal disclaimer, please note that I am not suggesting that you following the below regimen, only that this is what I do because it works for me and some of my friends, and that, in any event, you should always consult a physician before following any new health regimen.
Since I'm in the business of helping people get (and stay!) healthy, not surprisingly, I spend a LOT of time reading about nutrition, exercise, and general health related topics in general, immersing myself in medical science journals, white papers, clinical study reports, and other source materials. My job, as I see it, is not only to distill this information so that it's of optimal use to others, but also to show people how to apply it to their daily lives in the most realistic, effective way possible. And likewise, that was one of my primary goals in writing The Athlete's Cookbook, to write a practical, succinct, action-oriented book that shows people how to use food in very specific, scientifically sound ways to improve their athletic performance. Simply put, I applied my knowledge of the biochemistry of food to help people achieve three different goals -- endurance, strength, and fat-burning. Each goal has its own distinct program, complete with corresponding nutritional overviews, meal plans, recommended food lists (Top 10 Healthiest Fats/Carbs/Proteins/Fat-Burning Foods, etc.), eating and workout schedules, and recipes. The book provides a straightforward framework that's uncomplicated and easy to follow, one that doesn't require any prior knowledge of cooking or food. Every recommended nutritious food I list in the book has a matching recipe that seamlessly plugs into the appropriate corresponding nutritional program(s). And since I created the nutritional programs and the recipes with busy athletes in mind, the book contains quick and easy, delicious recipes with easy-to-find common ingredients. Everyone's so busy these days, and athletes still need to train for multiple hours on top of that, so it was essential to keep things simple and quick.
With regard to the above approach to nutrition, exercise, and general wellness issues, I employ similar methods when it comes to helping loved ones who are feeling under the weather: I read all of the source material from the scientific and medical establishment that I can get my hands on, and if I read general articles on these topics, I do my fact-checking to make sure that this information is up-to-date and comes from reputable sources. Then, I base my "plan of attack" on the most useful and relevant information I've gathered. And if new scientific evidence from reputable sources comes along, I'll research it thoroughly and then, after evaluating its usefulness and applicability as a solution to a specific issue, will consider altering my plan to incorporate these new findings. Since scientists are constantly making new and exciting discoveries, prevailing scientific wisdom can change a lot in light of new evidence gleaned from these discoveries, and so it's important to stay current with all of these scientific breakthroughs and remain flexible and open to new evidence from reputable sources.
So, given the above, what I offer below is an overview of the respiratory infection regimen that has worked for me and others, a compilation of remedies based on current scientific findings:
- 3000 mg (3 g) fish oil pills. Look for burpless, purified fish oil capsules that contain at least 1 g of EPA and DHA combined (per serving). (It's very important to take the purified kind, since unpurified fish oil can contain undesirable, i.e., toxic, levels of mercury.) Please be aware that, in general, recommended daily dosages can range anywhere from 500 mg to 3000 mg (3 g), depending upon a variety of factors (individual's age/weight/body chemistry, whether it's for a specific use, i.e., treatment for a condition, vs. general usage, and the recommending body, i.e., specific medical organization/professional, etc.), so it's always a good idea to consult a doctor first to determine the exact dosage that is appropriate for you. Case in point: I take 4000 mg but again, this dosage has been specifically prescribed for me by a licensed, board-certified physician. In fact, you should consult a doctor if you are thinking about taking any more than 3000 mg. Too much fish oil, like almost anything else, can be harmful (i.e., it can actually increase the risk of stroke, etc.). So, in other words, 3000 mg is generally considered safe for most individuals, so that's why I'm not listing any more than that here. This is what I would recommend to a friend who's trying to fight a respiratory infection, but again, to protect my hide, I'm going to advise you to first consult a physician, regardless of what I list here. :)
The Omega 3s in fish oil pills (and other Omega-3 rich foods) really help to ramp up your immune system. According to a study conducted by Britain's Institute of Human Nutrition and School of Medicine, Omega 3s increase the activity of phagocytes, i.e., cells that protect the body from infection by eating harmful foreign particles, bacteria, and dead or dying cells. There's also research showing that Omega 3s increase airflow and protect lungs from colds and respiratory infections. [Sources: Cell (research journal) (7/3/13), Cell (3/28/13), Nature (scientific journal) (3/7/13. Prevention (12/12/13); Daily Mail (3/8/13), Everyday Health (3/8/13).]
(If you can't take fish oil for some reason, microalgae oil supplements are a decent vegetarian alternative, since their Omega-3 fatty acid composition is very similar to that of fish oil and it's also got a low risk of pollutant exposure.)
- Protein. Protein keeps your immune system strong, so make sure you are eating enough protein, especially when your immunity is compromised. And while you're at it, you can get both Omega-3s and protein by eating oily high-protein fishes such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring, tuna, etc. Try to eat fish twice a week. [Sources: PubMed, ScienceDaily. Further reading: SFGate.]
- Multivitamins. Multivitamins cover a lot of bases. Preferably choose one that meets the RDA for the specific vitamins and minerals that play a key role in immune system function (i.e., vitamin A, B-complex vitamins, vitamin D, vitamin E, selenium, etc.) There's still some debate as to whether or not zinc and vitamin C actually boost immunity. As for herbal supplements, there's a lot of disagreement on efficacy. For example, the verdict's still out on echinacea as to whether or not it has any effect upon colds. Some in the medical science community say it works, while other say it's hype. Same goes for astragalus, ginseng, etc.
It's great if you can get a lot of these vitamins and minerals from fresh healthy foods, but taking a multivitamin will ensure that you cover all your bases. It's also a practical choice, i.e., so won't have to eat 500 lbs. of kale just to meet multiple RDA requirements for various vitamins and minerals (Lol!). For example, while one cup of kale meets and exceeds the RDA for vitamin A (133%) and vitamin C (134%), you'd have to eat an awful lot of kale to meet the RDA for calcium (1 cup = 10% RDA), vitamin B-6 (1 cup = 10% RDA), magnesium (1 cup = 7% RDA), and iron (1 cup = 5% RDA). Of course, you could eat different types of foods to cover those other bases, but then you'd have to map out your daily food intake by nutrient, and then calculate how much you'd have to eat to meet each RDA. And on top of that, there are other considerations like portion sizes, daily fluid intake as well as daily RDA (and ratio) of the different kinds of essential proteins, carbs, and fats. Even if you spend the time to calculate everything and create your own meal plans -- or hire a nutritionist to figure everything out for you, there will obviously be times when you're going to veer off course from your menu plan, due to personal whims or unforeseen circumstances. So, that's yet another reason to hedge your bets with a multivitamin. It's just extra insurance. :)
- Make lifestyle improvements to boost immunity. For example, take steps to reduce stress, eat healthy food, try to get 8 hours of sleep, drink lots of liquids (even more than usual when you are sick), frequently wash your hands with antibacterial soap (&/or use hand sanitizer), take the necessary time to rest so you can recover more quickly and regain your energy while you are coping with the fatigue associated with flu, exercise regularly but be careful not to overtrain, etc. If you're not feeling overly rundown, provided the infection hasn't already traveled to your chest, even a short 30-minute walk can boost your immunity. However, if you're already in the thick of a serious respiratory illness (chest cold, productive chest cough, body aches, etc.), it's best to take a break from exercise and get adequate rest so you don't weaken your already compromised immune system. In that scenario, exercise usually does more harm than good. The body needs rest at this stage. As a running coach, I advocate the "neck rule": So if you have symptoms occurring above the neck (stuffiness, cold, sneezing, etc.), it's typically fine to exercise, but if it's anything below the neck (bronchitis, chest cold/cough, body aches, etc.), then you definitely need to take some time off from exercise and rest. Anything more than a minor cold and it can quickly escalate into a more serious situation impacting your lower respiratory tract and lungs. As the saying goes, "If it's in the chest, rest."
- Medicinal teas. For starters, if you go to the tag cloud on the right sidebar of this blog and click on the herbal tea tag, you'll find several homemade medicinal teas that I use in conjunction with some of the above-described remedies to beat various respiratory ailments. On a related note, up next is my newest medicinal tea recipe, "TLC" Tea, which I'll post in a bit.
The above regimen is by no means an exhaustive list. In any case, my first course of action is to try to beat respiratory illness symptoms early on, by natural means whenever possible, as the over-reliance on antibiotics and other drugs can lower your resistance to them, not to mention that the repeat usage of antibiotics contributes to national/global antibiotic resistance, which is a serious public health concern. That being said, of course, if one's condition doesn't improve, it's best not to wait too much longer to see a doctor and get a prescription for the appropriate medication (like a Z-pack or other medicine). Typically, the earlier you hop on a respiratory issue and throw your entire arsenal at it (including what's in your cupboards and fridge!), the easier it is to get rid of it.
Hope these tips will help you stay well, so you can enjoy the lovely spring weather we're having today. It's 70 degrees here!! Time to go outside and enjoy it. :-D
|Tried this yet?
Friday, February 13, 2015
0 Recipe #373: Easy Cheesy 3-Layer Mashed Cauliflower Bake (with Kale-Spinach Tomato Sauce)
Yes, I'm baaaack, BABY! So hello there. :) Or perhaps, rather, I should say, "Hello, are you still there after all this time?" Hahaha. Hey, I needed a break, a super-duper long break so that I'd come back to this blog feeling renewed and ready to blog and write recipes again. I don't care what the blogging experts say, if you're feeling super burned out, it's better to just take a break for as long as you need and then come back to it when you're ready. I don't believe in half-hearted blogging or worse, that resentful "Ugh-I-I'm blogging-because-I-feel-obligated-and-don't-want-to-lose-my-audience" type of blogging, blogging under the gun, or blogging just for blogging's sake, especially if you've got nothing interesting or useful to say. So there! I'm here because I want to be here, not out of some life-force-sucking obligation to anyone, whether imagined, perceived, or real. ;-P And likewise, readers come here because they want to and not because they have to do so. So, hopefully any readers who've stuck around in hopes that I'll one day post recipes again (Hahaha!) will be able to have some compassion and understand that, while I'm very happy and grateful that you've stuck around as readers, especially after all of this time (of me not blogging!), a writer's first obligation has to be to the preservation of their own health and sanity. :-D We're all only human, after all.
Anyhow, back to what you probably came here for -- the recipes: As promised yesterday evening on Twitter, here (below) is the recipe for the mashed cauliflower bake. It's super-easy, healthy, and best of all, quick. And there's almost zero cleanup to do, aside from putting a few things in the dishwasher after you're done. :) It took me 60 minutes to make from start to finish: Only 10 minutes to do the kitchen prep (thanks to a food processor and a blender :) ) and 50 minutes to bake it. And since it'll keep in the fridge and also freezes well, there's no reason why you can't make it on a weekend and eat it during the week.
Right now, I'm into super-easy but healthy, no-brainer style cooking. This is mostly because, after 2 solid years of doing nothing but writing nutritional lifestyle books/cookbooks and all that goes with that territory -- regular social media promotion efforts via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc., writing articles, and of course also cooking (i.e., recipe testing freaking everything :-D ), food staging, snapping and editing photos, etc. -- I was burnt to a crisp and decided to take a year off from all of it. So I got off the hamster wheel. :) Bluntly put, after we'd submitted the finalized manuscript to the publishers sometime in December 2013, I didn't want to cook, not even so much as boil an egg. Nor did I want to blog. And really, can you blame me?!
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 c. chopped kale leaves, spines/stems removed
1 Tbsp. fresh garlic, peeled and finely minced
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram leaves
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. salt
Cauliflower Layer Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower, broken into small (bite-sized) pieces (including florets and center stalk, but with leaves and stems removed)
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
4 oz. block cheddar cheese, cubed
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
Cheese Layer Ingredients:
1 c. shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Kitchen Tools & Supplies:
food processor, fitted with the default blade
11" x 17" glass baking dish
aluminium foil
Directions: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Add all tomato sauce layer ingredients into the blender, cover, and thoroughly combine until kale has been completely pulverized. Pour into glass baking dish. Add all cauliflower layer ingredients to a food processor and combine until a smooth paste-like consistency has been achieved. (Depending upon how sturdy your food processor is, you may have to add florets gradually as you process them, instead of dumping them all into the food processor at once.) Pour the mashed cauliflower and cheese mixture on top of the sauce layer and spread it out evenly with a spatula, so that you cover as much of the sauce as possible. Don't be too concerned if you miss some spots at the edges; those will be covered by the next layer. :) Sprinkle the shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese over the cauliflower layer, making sure to entirely cover it with cheese. Cover the dish with aluminium foil and bake (at 400°F) for 35 minutes. Uncover and then bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until top of layer of cheese has turned golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes on a cooling rack. Serve and enjoy!
Yield: Makes approximately 15 square portions, a little over 3" square inches each (3 2/3" x 3 2/5" to be exact). If you've got a hearty appetite, like I do, you can easily eat 3 squares (i.e., a "row") for dinner, which makes about one small bowlful. (The mash will solidify somewhat during baking, but even so, it's much easier to eat this dish in bowls.) With all of the fiber in this dish, it's actually quite filling but won't leave you feeling overly stuffed. We managed to squeeze in some blackberries and red raspberries afterward for dessert. :)
|Tried this yet?
Thursday, April 17, 2014
0 Freezer Bags: An Effective & Compact Way to Store & Organize Frozen Food
While it's certainly preferable to eat homemade meals that've been freshly made, we all have those days when we'd rather just defrost something than cook. :) Basically this translates into, "Food, please magically appear. NOW." Hahaha. After all, defrosting food is not exactly labor-intensive. :)
If you're like me, and like to freeze homemade meals you've pre-prepared for a future date, you'll probably need to make the most of every inch of valuable real estate in your freezer. I don't know about you, but until I found a better system for frozen food storage, my freezer would frequently run out of space. I'd try to squeeze in the very last container, which would never quite fit. Of course, this would drive me nuts, because then I'd have to remove everything and rearrange stuff just so that ONE item could fit. :)
Or, here's the other scenario: After beaming with pride and self-satisfaction that I'd manage to fit every single item into the freezer without an iota of wasted space, I was faced with the following realization: "What if I needed to actually remove something from the freezer?" Hahaha. Yes, it appeared that my little inner "happy dance" was a bit premature. :) I'd pack the items into the freezer so perfectly, like a tightly fitting 3D jigsaw puzzle, that any future attempts to extract the single precarious, load-bearing container that was propping up everything else -- you know, the one and only container I needed to defrost for dinner that night -- was just asking for it. :) The next time I needed to remove something, I'd probably need to call in for backup. ;) One wrong move and "BAM!" At any moment, that little game of "food Jenga" could turn into a rushing avalanche of heavy frozen plastic food containers that'd come crashing down on my head, or worse, my toes. And let me tell you, nothing hurts more than a frozen food crash landing onto your toes or other delicate body part (OW!), not that I'd know anything about that. :)
Even if you have uniform-sized containers, it can sometimes be tricky to fit items into your fridge. After all, chances are pretty good that whoever designed the freezer section of your fridge hadn't taken the exact dimensions of your frozen food containers into consideration. :) There's always going to be that one last container that won't perfectly into the end of a row. Then, what are you going to do? :) If you're packing a lot of food in there, you need to make the most of that space, and those awkward shaped holes aren't helping any.
OK, I know there are those heat-activated, vacuum-sealed contraptions that require custom bags specifically designed to fit the thing, but since the seal is permanent, they're a pain-in the neck anytime you want to easily reseal your food, which, if you're like most people, can be fairly often. As a testament to how convenient they are to use, I think my mother probably still has hers tucked away in the back of a cupboard somewhere, but I don't think it's seen the light of day in a LONG time. :) (Seriously, that thing is ancient! Hahaha.) Plus, if you run out of those specialty bags when you're in a pinch, good luck trying to find a place where you can quickly get some replacement bags. No thank you. :) I'd rather use something a bit more commonplace and easier to find and use.
The other issue is freezer burn. I've even used those supposedly air-tight, lock-top containers and then bagged them in plastic freezer bags on top of that and it doesn't seem to make much of a difference; they STILL get freezer burn. Even if you remove all of the air from the plastic bag, there's still the container itself, which you have to fill to the rim to get rid of the air, and even then, there are no guarantees. Of course, no one likes having to throw away items covered in freezer burn. Not only is it wasteful, but it's not exactly pleasant when you're handling the affected food, which smells (and tastes!) rather nasty. Yes, I've tried to salvage freezer burned food before because I can't stand wasting food, and the results were almost always disastrous. It can be a very frustrating experience, because even if you think you've gotten rid of all those pesky air pockets, the freezer burn beastie can still attack your frozen food. The fact remains -- those plastic containers just don't cut it when it comes to freezing food.
Do the above experiences sound familiar to you? If so, fear not. I have the perfect solution. :) For those of you who are trying to figure out a way to maximize and better organize the space in your freezer, here's a simple but effective idea: Instead of using plastic containers to store leftovers, which are bulky and leave food more susceptible to freezer burn, use freezer bags. They take up far less space, are easier to fit into your fridge, and can be used for storing almost any kind of food -- fruits and veg, soups, sauces, chilis, etc.
(1) For the best results, wait until cooked food cools completely (you don't want toxic chemicals from
melted/heated plastic bags to seep into your food), then pour the food into a plastic freezer bag. Press out as much of the air as possible (make sure you squeeze out every last air bubble!) and then double bag your items, both of which will help prevent freezer burn. If you do this, your frozen items will remain usable for a pretty long time. Take it from me: Some of the items in my freezer just might've been left over from the Ice Age, but nonetheless, I've managed to pull them out intact and unscathed. :)
(2) To save the most space, first stack them horizontally like pallets in your freezer and uniformly flatten each one with your hands (or a metal tray) before stacking the next one on top. Once they are frozen, they're much easier to "re-file" vertically, which I've found to be the easiest way to access them, unless you're storing them on freezer shelves that consist of wire racks. In that case, horizontal storage works best, especially for some of the thinner items, since this way, the bags won't accidentally slip through the slats. :)
(3) Also, it's a good idea to mark the outer bag first with a description and date of your food BEFORE you fill the bags with food. ;) Even if you use permanent marker, like I do, it's harder to write on them once the food's inside, not to mention that the marker tends to rub off that way, due to the inevitable condensation that occurs after you transfer the food to the bags.
(4) Make sure the bags you use are actually freezer bags and not plastic sandwich bags, which don't protect against freezer burn. Also, I've found that the double zipper kind -- and not the kind with the "sliding" zips (!) -- are the best for preventing freezer burn, because they provide the tightest seal possible.
(5) Even though some items already come wrapped in plastic (like poultry, hamburger meat, etc.), it's still a good idea to put them in freezer bags, because they'll keep better that way in the freezer. With only the plastic wrapping, they're still susceptible to freezer burn, because the plastic packaging is way too thin and wasn't intended to be freezer burn proof.
|Ziploc® brand Double Guard®
Freezer Bags
There's nothing like a bit of organizing to cleanse the soul and put your mind at ease. If nothing else in your life is under control, then at least there will be order in this one small space of the universe. :) And if a sense of calm doesn't wash over you, then maybe you need to organize the rest of your kitchen. Hahaha.
|Tried this yet?
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
0 Recipe #372: Avocado-Pesto Dip
This effortless, flavorful dip recipe combines two of my favorite ingredients -- avocado and pesto. I came up with the idea yesterday afternoon when putting together dishes for our weekly menu. I'd just finished prepping the vegetable side dish for that night's dinner, i.e., Pesto Pattypan Squash and Baby Zucchini (recipe forthcoming), and so the pesto was still lying out on the countertop. Just as I was about to put the pesto away, I swiveled around to grab it and my eyes happened to land on a lonely avocado not but a few feet away in the opposite corner of the kitchen. Of course, that's when the idea dawned on me to combine the two ingredients. :) Since we'd just had the squash last night, we'll be saving the dip for later this afternoon. No one in my family's complaining though; right after we'd finished last night's dinner, my sister found out about the avocado-pesto dip and said, "How soon can we eat THAT?" Hahaha. Too much pesto? Apparently, in our family, there's no such thing. ;)
Avocado-Pesto Dip
1/2 ripe Haas avocado, peeled and pitted (makes about 1/2 c. mashed)
1/4 c. pesto (see recipe)
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 Tbsp. Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely minced and tightly packed
1/2 Tbsp. garlic, peeled and finely minced
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
Directions: Mash avocado in a medium-sized bowl but leave it a little bit chunky to give it some texture. Add all remaining ingredients to the bowl and mash everything together until just combined. (Or, if you'd like to take the ultimate shortcut, then don't bother chopping up any of the produce; just peel the garlic and peel and pit the avocado, then toss everything into the food processor and pulse until just combined.) Serve with crudités or other accompaniments and enjoy!
Yield: 1 c.
|Tried this yet?
Thursday, November 21, 2013
0 Don't Know What to Serve with the Bird? Here are Some Thanksgiving Dinner Menu Ideas....
Yes, it's that time of year again, when many of us start thinking about what we're going to serve for our
Thanksgiving Day dinners. Some will take the traditional route, while others will toss in some unexpected choices. Whether you're still scratching your heads or just need a few dishes to round out your meal, I'm here to help you with your menu planning by providing you with suggestions to suit a wide variety of needs. Plus, if you're serving an army, it's typically a good idea to offer several different appetizers, sides, and desserts to keep everyone happy and well fed. Below, you'll find a comprehensive array of choices from all of these different dish categories. The only thing that's missing is the bird. :) However, it's usually the other stuff (i.e., everything else!) that people have more of a challenge figuring out, so this extensive list should give you more than enough meal ideas to get you started with your menu planning.
As a chef and frequent host, I've planned lots (and I do mean LOTS!) of menus for dinner parties and large gatherings in the past, and have also helped family and friends with this as well. In fact, for one of our previous Thanksgiving Day gatherings (from a year or two ago), I helped my aunt draw up a menu and calculate food amounts for her guests. If memory serves, they had over 20 people at their house that year, along with three very large hungry poodles, one of whom suddenly decided to jump up on the table after dinner to help clean up the scraps. :)
We really went all out that year: One family friend made a sweet potato dish, my aunt made the turkey, some salads, and vegetable side dishes while I "filled in the blanks" with pumpkin soup, cranberry sauce, two pumpkin pies, and a fruit tart. Everyone's dishes were homemade, so although it was a lot of work (and several days worth of kitchen prep and cooking!), it was lots of fun to make everything. Despite the chaos that sometimes surrounds the process, the end result is usually well worth it, because Thanksgiving is a time when the food and conversation will (hopefully!) bring everyone together and provide a happy background for friends and family to relax and more fully appreciate each other's company.
Anyhow, enough verbiage. I hope you'll find the below meal ideas useful to keep your menu fresh and exciting. Have fun cooking (and eating!), and I wish you all a Happy, Healthy Thanksgiving!
Traditional Selections (Updated & Revamped):
- Pumpkin-Potato Soup with Fresh Sage, Rosemary, & Basil: This one was a huge hit at one of my aunt's previous Thanksgiving dinners. Even Erik ate it, and he doesn't typically even like pumpkin soup. :) My friend Charlie's also made it and told me his family liked it a lot as well.
- Antipasto: Well, it's considered to be a traditional fall holiday appetizer if you've got Italian relatives. :) Erik's family will typically serve this at their Christmas dinner, so since these two fall holiday meals are often very similar in nature, it'll surely work for Thanksgiving dinner as well. My version, Italian-Style Marinated Vegetable Salad (Antipasto), still contains all of the traditional elements but, unlike the plated variety, combines them into an easy-to-eat form that fits onto crackers. Just provide a serving spoon and some crackers or bread for your guests, and you're all set. Or, if you'd rather stay away from (or limit) the starch component, cut up crudités for your guests, like cucumber rounds, etc., which can serve a similar purpose.
- Hors d'Oeuvres: It's a good idea to give your guests something to munch on before the meal starts: This is done just as much to stave off hunger as it is to keep curious guests from wandering into the kitchen before meal time and nibbling on dishes for an "advance preview." We all know people who like to break off bits of our unfinished dishes to sample things before they before they are really supposed to be doing that. ;) So, keep them at bay by offering them finger food like Mushrooms Canapés Stuffed With Goat Cheese, Kalamata Olives, & Fresh Herbs or various types of dips served with crudités, chips, &/or crackers. On that note, check out the wide selection of dips on this site as well -- from freshly made guac, hummus, and pinto bean dip to Caponata Siciliana, Creamy Red Hot Pepper Dip, and Tuna à La Tapenade.
- Cranberry Sauce: To liven things up a bit, try my Cranberry Sauce Spiked with Cointreau. Think of this as "cranberry sauce for adults." Actually, most of the alcohol evaporates during the cooking process, leaving behind just a hint of Cointreau flavor for an extra special kick to the taste buds. So, really, it's perfectly suitable to serve to the kiddies as well. I assure you, unless you just pour in the Cointreau at the end instead of cooking it, or drink it while you're making it, absolutely no one will get inebriated from consuming this dish. :)
- Mashed Potatoes: Typically a popular choice at holiday gatherings, this side is sure to please and always goes well with the bird. If you'd like to stay traditional, go with Mashed Red-Skinned Potatoes with Roasted Garlic & Fresh Herbs or for the Irish(wo)man in you, try my Colcannon instead. :)
- Au Gratin Casseroles: Try Cauliflower & Orange Bell Peppers Au Gratin or Potatoes & Butternut Squash Au Gratin. These dishes are real people pleasers. I've served both in the past, and dinner guests frequently request the recipes, both during and after the meal. :)
- Pasta & Potato Salads: Marinated salads are yet another holiday staple, and there are so many different offerings from which to choose! For example, you could try Tomato & Goat Cheese Pasta Salad with Fresh Dill & Tarragon, Greco-Roman Pasta Salad, or even a cold pesto pasta salad using a recipe for fresh basil pesto with walnuts and almonds, or go with something like Fennel-Potato Salad instead, which is a nice change from the plain version. This potato salad is very light and will allow you to leave room for all of the other selections on the Thanksgiving table that you'd like to try. :)
- Green Vegetable Side Dishes: Broccoli, in particular, is a good selection because it works with almost any traditional holiday entrée, including poultry. Try a simple and versatile version of this dish like Italian-Style Sautéed Broccoli with Fresh Herbs. Or go with Wilted Spinach or Quick & Easy Italian-Style Beet Greens instead.
- Carrot Dishes: These seem to be pretty stock and trade for Thanksgiving at many people's homes. Try my Grilled Carrots or Ginger-Garlic Baby Carrots.
- Sweet Potatoes: Sweet potatoes are another traditional holiday selection. Instead of making sweet potato mash the sweet way (i.e., with marshmallows, etc.), shake things up a bit and offer a savory (and much healthier!) preparation in another form, like Swoon-worthy Sweet Potatoes. This dish is super-easy to make, and best of all, you don't need to spend all that extra time stirring and mashing. :)
- Rosemary Potatoes: Another holiday standard, or at least it is in our family. :) Need a recipe? Try my Rockin' Rosemary Potatoes.
- Rice Pilaf: You can either do a fairly plain and neutral tasting pilaf like Herbed Bulghur Pilaf or a standard mushroom pilaf like Mushroom Rice Pilaf with Fresh Herbs.
- Pumpkin Pie: For Thanksgiving dinner, it doesn't get much more traditional than good ole' pumpkin pie. This is a non-dairy version for people who are Paleo, vegan, or kosher. It's also gluten-free. For the Paleo version, substitute almond flour for the oat flour and if you're strict Paleo, look for another viscous binding agent (perhaps maple syrup?) to replace the honey. This recipe is one of my most requested holiday dishes. :)
- Tiramisù: Again, if you've got Italian relatives, this one is pretty standard fall holiday fare as well. My own version, Tantalizingly Transcendent Tiramisù, uses both ricotta and mascarpone for a lighter (and far less fattening) flavor, while still remaining incredibly rich and indulgent tasting. This way your taste buds can revel in dessert-esque ecstasy without you having to loosen a few notches on your belt buckle after the meal. ;)
Novelty Dishes:
- Elegant But Simple Salads: For example, try Cucumber, Tomato, & Artichoke Salad: So easy (only three basic ingredients!), it can be made in a snap! Or, for an elegant touch, make Baby Rocket, Chickpea, & Hearts of Palm Salad with Shaved Manchego Cheese, Tossed in a Lemon-Mint Vinaigrette -- You could probably finish making that salad by the time it takes to read the recipe name. Lol. When you've already got enough labor-intensive (and time-consuming) tasks like turkey prep and cleaning your house before the arrival of your guests, simple salads like these (and other no-brainer selections!) can be a huge timesaver, not to mention a lifesaver too. :)
- Hearty Soups: These are the types of wintry/fall soups that would nicely complement a Thanksgiving Day meal. Particular suggestions that come to mind include Mushroom Barley Soup, Kale-Potato-Leek Soup, Potage Provençal aux Légumes Verts (Provençal Greens Soup), Corey's Cream of Broccoli, or "Potatoes in Paradise" Potato Soup. Or try a bean-based soup like Italian-Style Two-Bean Soup or Tomato-Zucchini Soup with Kale, Yellow Squash, & Cannellini Beans (Topped with Parmesan Cheese & Pesto Drizzle).
- Celeriac Remoulade: This dish is very similar to coleslaw, but with a sophisticated twist. It's a neat idea if you're looking for a menu update to keep things interesting. :)
- Cauliflower Mash with Rosemary & Roasted Garlic: This dish is a nice (and much healthier!) alternative to mashed potatoes. Plus, it's really tasty too! It also makes a great selection for guests with particular dietary restrictions -- it's Paleo, vegan, and gluten-free. :) Whoopeeeeee! Hahaha.
- Pumpkin Risotto: Still in keeping with the pumpkin holiday theme and yet, it adds an element of surprise. This could also be served as a vegetarian (or vegan) main course as well.
- Mushroom-Olive Quinoa Pilaf with Fresh Herbs: Instead of the usual rice pilaf accompaniment, try this dish to add some interest and round out your menu.
- Lavender-Infused Potatoes with Garlic & Fennel: Highly aromatic and unexpected, this dish is a bit more creative and sophisticated than your average potato dish.
- Cherry, Apple, & Pear Tart (Made with Asian & Bosc Pears): This one's another big Thanksgiving dinner hit. It's also a nice alternative to pumpkin pie.
- Poached Persimmons: Delicious and appropriately seasonal, this dish has a taste that's both tart and sweet. Be sure to allow these fall fruits enough time to blet in order to reach the full peak of their flavor.
- Baked Figs (or Pears): Another seasonal selection, this dish is soaked in Marsala wine, which makes them taste even better. :)
- Apple Tart: Simple but decorative, this version of apple tart is healthy and delicious!
|Tried this yet?
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
3 Recipe #371: Tomato-Zucchini Soup with Kale, Yellow Squash, & Cannellini Beans (Topped with Parmesan Cheese & Pesto Drizzle)
First of all, congratulations to the two very knowledgable winners of the Fall Fun Contest! Your pumpkin and squash expertise is truly impressive! Hope everyone had fun with the contest. It seems that a lot of you did, since you gave me lots of positive feedback about it. So, because it was such a smashing success, I might hold another one next year, with new and different types of squash and pumpkins for you to identify, but of course. And who knows, maybe I'll even toss in a few edible gourds or two to make it even more challenging. :)
But really, it was about time to climb back onto the horse again. So here I am again, back in action after 2 1/2 months, in case you were wondering if I was ever going to post another recipe here ever again. ;)
Tomato-Zucchini Soup with Kale, Yellow Squash, & Cannellini Beans (Topped with Parmesan Cheese & Pesto Drizzle)
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c. shallots, peeled and finely minced
1 Tbsp. garlic, peeled and finely minced
4 c. vegetable stock, divided
2 c. fresh kale leaves, stems and ribs removed
2 c. zucchini, diced (about 1 large or 2 medium zucchini)
2 c. yellow squash (about 1 large or 2 medium yellow squash)
2 c. vine-ripened tomato, diced
15.5 oz. can cannellini beans
4 c. water
8 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
shredded Parmesan cheese, about 1 Tbsp. per serving
pesto, about 1 tsp. (or more) per serving
Yield: 6-8 servings.
|Tried this yet?
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
1 Fall Fun Contest!
Time to have some fun! How well do you know your squash and pumpkins? Name that squash or pumpkin, from left to right. And no cheating by googling. :) Please post your answers (or guesses!) in the comments section of this post for all 6 types shown below.
The first two (2) people to correctly identify all (or the greatest possible number) of the above produce by this Friday, November 8 will get a private preview of special, unreleased recipes that can ONLY be found in either the Cooking with Corey cookbook or The Athlete's Cookbook. The winner will have their choice of 2 of the following, "top-secret" recipes:
(To whet your appetite and help you choose which recipes you'd like to win, click on the below links to view the corresponding photos.)
(1) Oven-Baked Rosemary-Parmesan Sweet Potato Fries
(2) Crème de Cassis Hazelnut Chocolate Fudge Brownies
(3) Guilt-Free Peanut Butter Fudge
(4) White Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies
(5) Gourmet Halva/Halwa Bonbons
(6) Pear & Pecan Clafouti
(7) Toasted Chili-Lime Pumpkin Seeds
(8) Olive Hummus
(9) Parmesan-Crusted Asparagus in White Truffle Oil
(10) Greek-Style Eggplant Gratin with Feta & Tomato Sauce
Good luck and have fun!
|Tried this yet?

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Gospel According to Peanuts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Gospel According to Peanuts is a best-selling 1965 book written by Presbyterian minister Robert L. Short about Charles M. Schulz's popular comic strip, Peanuts. The book is based on Short's use of the Peanuts characters to illustrate his lectures about the Christian Gospel.
The book was a best seller and sold over 10 million copies.[1] Summary:
|While Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, and the rest of the Peanuts gang have enjoyed the kind of success most cartoon characters can only dream about –– becoming pop culture icons of the highest order and entering the global consciousness practically as family members –– Robert Short's The Gospel According to Peanuts also has found a place in the hearts of many readers....[2]
A 35th anniversary edition of 130 pages was released by Westminster John Knox Press in 2000, with a "new cover, a new interior design, and a new foreword by Martin E. Marty."[3]
A sequel, The Parables of Peanuts, was written by Short in 1968. This sequel was reissued in 2002 by HarperCollins Publishers. Summary:
|...[T]his contemporary case for vigorous Christian faith –– profusely illustrated by Charles Schulz's delightful Peanuts cartoon strips –– sheds more light on the Christian faith and how it is to be lived than many more "serious" theological works, with hundreds of cartoons featuring your favorite Peanuts characters Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, And of course, Snoopy (including the earliest Red Baron strips). This book's wise observations are as timeless as they are timely. "Short . . . succeeds in making theology enjoyable." –– Christian Century ". . . a real delight from beginning to end. I could not possibly be more pleased." –– Charles Schulz, creator of Peanuts."[4]
- ^ "The Gospel according to? Try Jesus" The Northwest Florida Daily News Buddy Duncan - October 9, 2009
- ^ The Gospel According to Peanuts, 2000
- ^ The Gospel According to Peanuts, 2000
- ^ The Parables of Peanuts, 2002
|This article about a book related to Christianity is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.


text:
April 24, 2013
Jagemann Stamping Co., a manufacturer of deep-drawn and progressive metal stampings and fineblanking, has announced plans to add up to 50,000 sq. ft. and 100 jobs at its Manitowoc, Wis., location by 2014.
The addition, a result of growth in the company's key business segments, is expected to be on-line by September 2013.
Todd Bridigum, welding instructor at Minneapolis Community and Technical College and author of, "How to Weld," provides an overview of the various principles behind welding aluminum successfully.
Watch Tube & Pipe Videos by TPJ TV


text:
Parental input key to prioritize school funding
This is a critical year for K-12 education in California. A new funding formula begins to take effect this year, and it is essential for parents to get involved early. The new plan, called Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), allows the public to be involved in deciding school funding priorities. In fact, it is a requirement that school districts reach out to the public for help in creating a plan to fund programs important to their communities.
A recent study by EdSource shows that a majority of parents are not aware of how LCFF will change their children's education, but that an overwhelming majority desire to be engaged in the process. While it is school districts' responsibility to reach out, they need to be encouraged to go above and beyond in their efforts, especially in the first year.
Nothing in LCFF directs schools as to how many meetings should be held or how parents and advocates should be informed. LCFF requires that school districts show they have made efforts to seek parents' input and that they promote parental involvement. Most school districts are experimenting with different outreach efforts to get a better idea of what works to reach parents. Many are leaning on Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and existing groups that have been useful in the past to reach parents. In some districts, these efforts might not be enough to reach all members of the public who desire to be a part of the process.
LCFF gives parents influence over what policies will be put in place and funded, but this new right comes with the responsibility of making sure goals are established and met. Goals have been established for the 2013-14 school year, including ensuring that families feel connected, informed, and are valued partners in the educational process. To meet these goals, schools will need to know how to apply outreach efforts to the community.
A good place to start getting involved is by meeting with the parents of your children's friends and discussing what you know about the new formula. Social media websites, like Facebook, can be a big help in reaching as many parents as possible and arranging times and places to talk.
Many school districts have published information online about LCFF that can be helpful to parents who need to know more about the specifics. The California Department of Education website is an excellent place to start learning more. Public school financing is complex, and one of the goals of LCFF is to simplify the process.
An essential component of LCFF is known as the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP). The LCAP describes how administrators intend to meet annual goals of LCFF, including how they plan to address state and local priorities. LCFF requires school administrators to adopt an LCAP by July 1, 2014.
On January 21, 2014, the State Board of Education adopted spending regulations and a template for developing LCAPs. The Office of Administrative Law approved the rules for LCFF and the LCAP template on January 27. The California Board of Education has 180 days to publish the rules, after which a 45 day public comment window will open.


text:
Al Feldstein - "Weird Fantasy #8 Revisited" Painting Original Art (2005)....
2008 February Vintage Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction #827
|Sold for:
|Sign-in or Join (free & quick)
|Claim Item:
|Sign-in or Join (free & quick)
|Auction Ended On:
|Feb 29, 2008
|Item Activity:
13 Internet/mail/phone bidders
2,289 page views
Heritage Auctions
3500 Maple Avenue
1st Floor Auction Room
Dallas, TX 75219
|Printable auction results for all items in the 2008 February Vintage Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction.
Al Feldstein:(American, b. 1925) is a comic book editor, writer, and artist, and was one of the key talents at EC. After attending the High School of Music and Art, he began his career in the comic book field at the Iger shop in 1941. Feldstein joined EC in 1947, and worked there until his retirement in 1985. He drew for EC's love, crime, and western features, before the company started its more famous line of horror, science-fiction and suspense comics, known to EC fans as the New Trend. Feldstein cut back on most of his drawing activities during the mid-fifties, and became one of the New Trend's most prolific and innovative writers. When Harvey Kurtzman left EC after a dispute with Publisher William Gaines over creative control of Mad, Feldstein was made the title's new editor. Under his editorship, many of the magazine's now classic features came to life, such as Dave Berg's Lighter Side, Al Jaffee's fold-ins, Mort Drucker's movie parodies, and Antonio Prohias' Spy vs. Spy. After his retirement in 1984, Feldstein became a fine artist, and has also re-created many of his classic covers as large paintings.
View large image(s) of this item
Service and Handling Description: Requires 3rd Party Shipping (view shipping information)
Sales Tax information | Terms and Conditions
Jerry Weist's Comic Art Price Guide 2011
Want to know more about this artist? Dates, history, background, and value ranges are covered in the comprehensive new guide. Order Now!
Previous Prices from Heritage Auctions
|Sign-in or Join (free & quick)


text:
'); } -->
CKC registered small Shih Tzu puppies, 1 male red and white, 1 male chocolate and white, 1 female black and white, $450.00 and AKC registered toy poodle puppies black male and female and cream male and female $600.00 each, tails are docked and dew claws...More info Email a friend
***CHAMPION SIRED PUPS**** CIRCLE D FARMS 864-490-6354 CINDY DONAHUE Sire and Dam have health checks .If you're looking for a beautiful AKC REG Rhodesian Ridgeback that is smart, healthy and that has been well socialized we have a litter BORN MAY 14TH 2015...More info Email a friend
Stunning Chocolate & White***PARTI***Standard Poodle puppies! Also one black & one cream pick of the litter!Males & females available, nice large size, with beautiful fine bone structure, and regal gait, bred for wonderful laid back, gentle temperament...More info Email a friend
Gorgeous F1B, second generation Goldendoodle puppies! Male & female,Black, Cream and BEAUTIFUL SHADES OF RED!! NON-SHEDDING, large boned and sturdy! Sweet,gentle, laid back temperaments! Up to date on shots & wormings. One year health guarantee. ***...More info Email a friend
We have beautiful AKC registered mini dachshund puppies available in many colors and all coat types, they are UTD on vacines and wormings, and all puppies have had their dew claws removed, males and females available, $350.00 to $700.00, they will come ...More info Email a friend
8 weeks old July 3rd. Had 6 weeks shots and wormings. Parents on site. Blonde to light blonde in color.More info Email a friend
Full Blooded American Cocker Spaniel Puppies. Tails Docked/Dew-Claws Removed/Shots UTD and De-wormed by the Vet. Parti-Colors, 4 Males and 1 Female. Serious Inquires only..864-735-7428. God Bless You All.More info Email a friend
First generation cream and chocolate labradoodle puppies, both parents are AKC registered and have OFA certified good hips, puppies are CKC registered, they are current on vaccines and wormings, they have had their dew claws removed, $700.00 each, call...More info Email a friend
We have some beautiful standard poodle puppies available, AKC registered, they have had their dew claws removed and tails are docked, puppies are current on vaccines and wormings, there are black males and females, chocolate males and females, chocolate...More info Email a friend
Cockapoo puppies, true first generation, both parents are AKC registered, puppies are CKC registered, 1 buff male available $600.00, 1 sable female, $800.00, puppies have had their dew claws removed and tails are docked, they are current on vaccines and...More info Email a friend


text:
December 9, 2003 3:50 PM PST
Microsoft: No patches this month
- Related Stories
New flaws reported in IE 6November 28, 2003
Microsoft releases Windows, Office fixesNovember 11, 2003
Microsoft details new security planOctober 9, 2003
While several new flaws have been announced by researchers, Microsoft said that it is still investigating the issues and doesn't have a patch prepared for December.
"It is not that we are not doing anything, it's just that we don't have a patch ready in the pipeline," said Iain Mulholland, security program manager for Microsoft. He said that the company is putting heavy emphasis on increasing the quality of its patches, and that has had an effect on the release timing.
Get Up to Speed on...
Enterprise security
Get the latest headlines and
company-specific news in our
expanded GUTS section.
In October, Microsoft committed to making its patch-release schedule more regular, by only publishing patches on the second Tuesday in each month. The software giant said it will be skipping that release this month.
However, several vulnerabilities have been reported to Microsoft, including seven Internet Explorer flaws found in late November that Mulholland said are still being investigated.


text:
Learn to use Photoshop brushes, patterns, and special effects to create professional-looking fashion croquis and costume illustrations.
Follow Erik Natzke, generative artist and principle designer at Adobe, as he draws on his experience as an artist to build applications that improve people's ability to be creative.
Learn how to set up and master your Wacom tablet in ways that streamline your work, expand your creative options, and lighten the load on your wrists.
Gives an inside look at how Ron Crabb recreated a seaport town that vanished long ago.
"It is like taking college classes without leaving home. Great for total beginners and long-time veterans." —Trevor C.
more from our members »


text:
Excursions pour la Journee avec Gaston
View Single Post
Gaston Gagne
Past Easy
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: Western Piedmont, NC
Oddometer: 2,086
Take care, little buddy. I'll be back in a few days.
Sunday we rolled out to Staunton, VA for some dual sport adventure. The drive in the cars was adventurous. The storm on Friday-Saturday had every stream in major flood on the way up. En route we decided to camp at Sherando Lake. I recall that you can get there by a dirt road and not have to drive so far north. We got all the way across the dirt road only to find the last 100 yards of the road destroyed by a flood. This involved unhooking Lucky's trailer and late night map navigation, but we made it.
Sherando Lake is a good place to base camp. The campground hosts and forest service workers that staff the place take their job seriously. It's a safe place to leave your stuff.
This scene made me wonder about the stream crossings that we would encounter later in the day. Everything was still in flood Monday morning. The campground host said they got 6.5 inches of rain at the campground.
Let's get started:
We warmed up by running across Big Levels. Super fun road, and the puddles were not as bad as I expected.
After Big Levels, we did a transfer section across the valley to Staunton, where we gassed up for our objective for the day-- Shenandoah Mountain.
FR 85 is one of the great motoring roads anywhere.
It takes you to Radish Knob.
These guys really had it going on with the European languages and lycra.
Back on 85.
This time I did not miss the Skidmore turn. Time to find out about the water crossings.
US 33 over Shenandoah Mountain is also one of the great motoring routes out there.
The weather was starting to look a little iffy. We gassed up in Brandywine and headed up Swedlin Valley.
What can you say about the VEPCO road?
Our intent was to run down Dictum Ridge to 33 and back over 85, but Dictum Ridge is now gated! I like a run of this road as much as the next guy, but doubling back was not that fun at that point of the day.
In addition to the doubling back, Long Run is just that, so no final run up 85.
Finally, we made it back to the start of the transfer section across the valley. How would you describe your feelings after a day on Shenandoah?
Getting closer to the cooler....
We did about 260 for the day. No trouble sleeping tonight.
Cela est comment nous roulons.
Gaston Gagne
View Public Profile
Find More Posts by Gaston Gagne


text:
Half-off deals ALL over Pittsburgh!
Makeup and Skincare
A listing of affordable makeup and skincare in Pittsburgh
Sephora Makeovers
Sephora now offers Beauty Express Services. Get a fast, free makeover and application lesson.
Cosmetic Freebies
It's advertised all the time – FREE product with xx purchase. In the case of cosmetics, you often get freebies with an average priced department store purchase.
Sally's Beauty
Sally Beauty Supply offers reasonable prices on several beauty products.
BuyMeBeauty.com Discounts
Website BuyMeBeauty.com offers a full range of cosmetics and hair products for up to 80% off everyday.
Sephora Deals
Sephora offers weekly specials and discounts.


text:
Latest News
Seizing the Moments Is Essential to Mobile Dominance
Platforms like Google and Facebook, not apps, will control mobile minutes and, in turn, the mobile universe, says a Forrester report.
Social Media Day Celebrations Sweep the Web
What better way to celebrate social media than with copious amounts of tweets and posts?
Facebook: Pay Only After 10 Seconds of Video Viewing
The social network adds it as an option along with the current three-second standard.
Postal Service to Debut Digital Mail in New York This Fall
Real Mail Notification delivers folks a morning preview of their daily mail and allows them to interact digitally with direct mail pieces.
Personalized Email Is Ideal for Commerce-Centric Conversation
Multi-brand apparel licensing company La Jolla Group is dressing up its omnichannel marketing strategy by adding personalization to its email campaigns.
Millennials Willing to Pay Loyalty Fees
More than three quarters of millennials are willing to pay to join fee-based loyalty programs.
Direct Mail Has a Greater Effect on Purchase Than Digital Ads
A Temple University neuromarketing study finds that direct mail tops digital media for engagement time, recall, and ultimate purchase.
The Top 10 DMN Infographics in 2015
Our most-read infographics so far this year illustrate the continued ascent of email, the nagging difficulties of CX, and the wonderland called digital marketing.
App Marketing Costs Decline
The cost to maintain loyal users dropped 10% to $2.47 in May, as app developers turn up the volume on targeting.
Cooking Up a Way to Reach Millennials
31% of millennials say the decision of what to cook is the least enjoyable part of the cooking process.
It Takes Three Types of Customer Data to Tell a Marketing Story [Infographic]
Deciding between first-, second-, and third-party data can be more than some marketers can bear.
Nielsen Launches Digital Partner Platform
Marching ever further away from its diary days, the ratings king widens its digital footprint with BrightRoll, DoubleClick, Rocket Fuel, Viant, among others.
Mobile Video Views Show Alarming Growth
Smartphone and tablet views have quadrupled in two years, leading mobile to claim 50% of video viewership by year's end, says a study.
To Scrape or Not to Scrape?
Web scraping is on the rise and its legality is being debated. The future of big data could hang in the balance.
Time Warner Cable's 5 Tips for Keeping Up With the Always-On Customer
The marketing industry is constantly changing. Here are some suggestions on how marketers can keep up.
A Slam Dunk for Email Marketing? Perfect Timing.
The Sacramento Kings score with a new approach to their email strategy that's more than doubled the NBA team's season-ticket base.
Same-Day Deliverer Expands in Chicago
Deliv buys WeDeliver in quest to become the largest same-day delivery company in the nation.
Keeping Brand Assets in a Brand's Hands
NAPC introduces a service designed to allow marketers avoid agency delays by giving them control of their own content and graphics.
Clarabridge Joins the Burn-Down-the-Silos Movement
Its new release features role-based dashboards that translate data for specific managers and departments.
Verizon Buys AOL for $4.4 Billion
AOL's Tim Armstrong says the goal is to become the world's biggest media provider.


text:
Pronunciation: Slí na Sláinte
Added on: 2013-04-04 Listened: 227 timesin: Add categories to Slí na Sláinte
Pronunciation in Irish [ga]
- Pronunciation by BridEilis (Female from Ireland)
0 votes
Could you do it better? different accent? Pronounce Slí na Sláinte in Irish
Accents & languages on maps
- Random word: dreap
Not satisfied?
Modify word:
· Add languages
· Add categories
Report word:
Is there anything wrong with this word?
Please report it here.


text:
Jays Fill Offseason Need by Trading for Esmil Rogers
by Jon Reid
This year, the Toronto Blue Jays ' wishlist included things like another left-handed power bat, an arm or two for their starting rotation and another reliever for the bullpen... Read More »
Why the Esmil Rogers Trade Was a Good Move for the Blue Jays
by Matthew Sookram
The Toronto Blue Jays have been making a lot of minor moves lately. If you have been watching their activity on the waiver wire, you would have seen multiple names come and go through the Jays' syste... Read More »
Middlebrooks Latest Sox Rookie to Fall to Curse
by Saul Wisnia
Will Middlebrooks saw his terrific rookie season come to a grinding halt on Friday night, but he can take solace in knowing he's in very good company... Read More »
Tribe Make a Bizarre Roster Move
by Professor Bush
The Cleveland Indians have added relief pitcher Esmil Rogers to their roster, and I can't understand why. Take a look at Rogers' ERA from the last three years: Year ERA 2... Read More »
Colorado Rockies' Pitching Rotation is Rocky Mountain High
by Ben Warwick
What panic button? The Colorado Rockies spoiled the home opener for the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-1 on Thursday afternoon to increase their lead in the NL West to a full game over the San Diego Padres... Read More »


text:
The contemporary-style home, on four acres on Fernwood Road in Brookline, is being offered for $18 million, representing one of the highest-priced residential properties currently available for sale in Greater Boston.
The sellers, Doug Sharon and his wife Nanci, spent nearly $10 million building the home in Brookline, which sits on four acres. The home features walls of windows that provide views of the landscape.
Sharon, a managing director at Morgan Stanley, saw an opportunity to move his business to Miami, and the couple decided to relocate, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The 9,094-square-foot home includes four bedrooms and six fireplaces.
The home has six full bathrooms and two half baths.
There is an outdoor heated pool and a heated four-car garage
The kitchen, featuring oak cabinets by Poggenpohl and quartz countertops, has two Miele ovens, a 42-inch gas Miele Master Chef cook top, a 30-inch full size Sub-Zero refrigerator and large kitchen island with refrigerator and freezer drawers.
The home is listed by Coldwell Banker. Taxes are $89,359/year
No email address was supplied by
To complete your registration on this site, please supply an address.
Please confirm or modify the email address to which you will have subscription offers sent.
For a more personalized experience, please supply the following optional information.


text:
Sunset Pizzeria(702) 778-4444
9730 W. Tropicana Avenue
Las Vegas, NV 89147 | MAP
Las Vegas, NV 89147 | MAP
| Share |
Italian, Pizzeria, Kids Friendly, Take Out/Carry Out, Dinner, Lunch (Italian Food & Culture History)
Italian, Pizzeria, Kids Friendly, Take Out/Carry Out, Dinner, Lunch (Italian Food & Culture History)
Restaurant DescriptionWhile the choices are many for pizza in Las Vegas, customers agree that Sunset Pizzeria is an affordable and delicious place to have an authentic pizza experience. With three convenient locations around the Las Vegas area, Sunset Pizzeria offers both dine-in or take-out. While their menu is limited to only a few items other than pizza, everything is affordable and always fresh. Dinner specials change frequently on their menu as Sunset Pizzeria is dedicated to scoring you a good deal. They are also open for lunch and provide guests with affordable combinations, like two slices of pizza and a drink for around $5.
Siena Bistro
American, Californian, Italian, Bistro
American, Californian, Italian, Bistro
Mark Rich's New York Pizza & Pasta
American, Italian
American, Italian
Sorrento Pizza
Reviews of Similar Restaurants
Pizzeria, Gluten Free Menu
This location had a horrible server. She was VERY SLOW. She kept putting all of the food in front of the baby. We are talking HOT plates and also drinks. Getting her to refill a glass was difficult and getting the check was impossiable. My mother, d ...
Pizzeria, Gluten Free Menu
Went here looking for a good cheap treat for me and my wife for our anniversary lunch. Not cheap!! 12.50 for a 8in pizza. The waiter said 1 pizza would fill the both of us. It did not. After two pizza's and 2 beers paid almost $40.00. Pizza was not g ...
Pizzeria, Gluten Free Menu
My family goes to Sammy's at least once a week. The appetizers are delicious; the service is always excellent. The managers are always on hand to answer questions or assist in any way. To me each time is an enjoyable experience.
Pizzeria, Gluten Free Menu
Great pizza that's definitely worth a taste There is certainly no shortage of good food in Las Vegas and there are dozens of great Italian restaurants that offer delicious pizzas, nice atmospheres, and excellent service. I haven't tasted enough Las ...
» Read More: Las Vegas Restaurant Reviews


text:
|Loving Hut - Westfield Mall Food Em...
|San Francisco
|My rating -
|Ding How
|My rating -
|Andy Nguyen's
|My rating -
|Farmer's Kitchen Cafe
|My rating -
|Natural Food Works
|My rating -
None yet. Ask me to upload some.
|Farmer's Kitchen Cafe
|Farmer's Market
|Farmers' Market
|Whole Foods Market
|Health Food Store
|Whole Foods Market
|Health Food Store
Reasons why I prefer to eat vegetarian or vegan:
For the animals, the environment, and health!
I joined HappyCow Members Community because:
A friend and coworker of mine wrote a great powerpoint on vegetarianism and happycow was listed in the reference section. Of all the things listed in that section, it is the one I still visit on a daily basis. I love the resources here and the warm reception we are greeted with by Eric and Diana.
Here are some places I've been that I liked... and places that I would like to visit one day:
I love Japan, I haven't been back in many many years and would love to go back sometime. Also Hawaii as that is "home". I want to visit: Hong Kong, Vancouver/Toronto (okay a lot of Canada), Australia, New Zealand, Europe (mostly Germany and England), Seattle, and Portland (yes, I know, I've been to over half the US but I've never been to those 2 cities even though I live in California).
Some of my favorite veg*n foods include:
Pickled vegetables, just about any kind (pickled garlic is my favorite). I love shiso and anything it flavors. Natto! Okay let's just list stuff: nori, roasted chestnuts, roasted vegetables (beets, turnips, parsnips, etc, etc), avocado, tofu, boiled peanuts, all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables, raw almond toasts, beans, rice, miso soup, especially with daikon, okay, this list will go on forever, let's just stop now.
Here are some books, movies, magazines, and my favorites that I would recommend to other HappyCow members:
Fast Food Nation, Veg News, Vegetarian Times, will think up more ^_~


text:
My BrightTALK
Edit profile
Log in
Join now
Browse communities
All BrightTALK
Business Management
Human Resources
Information Technology
Research & Development
Content Marketing
Data and Analytics
Demand Generation
Email Marketing
Marketing Operations and Automation
Mobile Marketing
Online Advertising
Search Engine Optimization
Social Media Marketing
Webinar and Video Marketing
Demand Generation
Share this content
Share on LinkedIn
Share on Twitter
Share on Facebook
Share on Google+
Share by email
Case Study: Utilizing SEO for eCommerce
Hide details
Manage webcast
Adrienne Embery-Good, Business Development Manager and Laura Cameron, Inbound Marketing Director
A leading manufacturer of popular kitchenware brands was seeking to better diversify their referral traffic and increase overall traffic to their eCommerce website. To fulfill this initiative Metrics was enlisted to develop a customized Search Engine Optimization (SEO) program for their site. In this webinar, learn how our custom program helped improve search engine rankings and increased traffic utilizing code and content optimization, link building and structural recommendations.
May 2 2012
55 mins
Show tags
Join us for this summit:
B2B Content Marketing Summit
May 2015
View summit
More from this community:
Marketing Operations and Automation
Live and recorded (
Upcoming (
Panel on the Final 12 Months for IDMP (Identification of Medicinal Products)
Informatica and HighPoint Solutions
Jul 7 2015
54 mins
Informatica and HighPoint Solutions will be co-hosting a panel discussion with leading global Pharmaceutical companies where they will discuss the challenges, solutions and most importantly, how their companies can benefit from IDMP compliance.
Read more >
Getting Your House In Order During A CMS Migration
Lisa Welchman and David Hobbs
Jul 3 2015
58 mins
A content management system migration offers the perfect opportunity to set yourself up for long term content success.
In this webinar, Lisa Welchman is joined by Website Transformation Consultant, David Hobbs, to discuss how to leverage a CMS migration to establish enforceable standards for your website.
In this session they explore:
- Using rules to make content decisions during a migration (so you can continue to use these on an ongoing basis).
- Getting the bones right on your new site, rather than fixating on what your site looks like upon relaunch
- Leveraging the migration to create a shared website vision before migrating, rather than sweeping differences and problems under the carpet just to re-appear later.
Read more >
Email Marketing: How to navigate the email marketing landscape
Jon Cifuentes - Research Analyst; VB Insight
Jun 30 2015
60 mins
June 30, 2015, 10 am PST/ 1 pm EST
Analyst: Jon Cifuentes, Research Analyst, VB Insight
Expert Panel:
Bobby Uhlenbrock, CTO, Everything But The House
Danny Hsia, Head of Email and CRM, LivingSocial
Moderator: Wendy Schuchart, Analyst, VentureBeat
Sponsored by SparkPost by Message Systems
This webinar will be based on Jon Cifuentes' VB Insight report, published in May 2015.
Over 84% of marketers think email contact is important for building brand loyalty -- the thing about email? It works. It works well. It might even work so well that marketers are satisfied with the ROI and don't even know to mine the tools for more gold. In the latest VB Insight report, we learn that a third of marketers don't even know what kinds of devices are opening their emails. And that's leaving money on the table.
In this webinar, VB Insight analyst Jon Cifuentes will dig deep into email marketing, providing an overview for proven ROI, desired volume and velocity of email.
With this webinar, you'll:
Gain a greater understanding of email marketing ROI, volume and ideal velocity
Learn strategies and competencies for running a great email program
Develop new methods for email subscriber acquisition
Understand best practices for email validation and email hygiene
Check out VB Insight to access Jon's Email Marketing report, and to access the latest research on Marketing Technology: http://insight.venturebeat.com
Read more >
Case Study: Pure360 & Eventa Group
Cherry Younger, Account Manager at Pure360 & Lee Davies, Conversion Executive at Eventa Group
Jun 30 2015
24 mins
Learn how the Eventa Group increased conversions and ROI through email marketing. Originally presented at Pure360's customer event, Thursday 25th June 2015
Read more >
Rev Up Your Lead Engine With Predictive Scoring
Joanna Kwong (FireEye) and Dan Ahmadi (MuleSoft)
Jun 26 2015
52 mins
Are you ready to add fuel to your lead engine with predictive scoring, but aren't sure where to start? View this Marketo LaunchPoint session featuring Lattice customers Joanna Kwong of FireEye and Dan Ahmadi of MuleSoft. Joanna and Dan will walk you through their companies' thought processes for on-boarding predictive scoring and how they went about vendor selection, implementation, roll-out, and education.
Watch this on-demand webinar to obtain a road map for achieving predictive lead scoring at your own company! You'll discover:
* Considerations to make when planning your implementation
* The right metrics to track from beginning to end
* How to use it alongside your current lead scoring for easier adoption
Read more >
Internet of Everything: Is your company ready for machine intelligence?
Jim McGregor, Principal analyst, TIRIAS Research
Jun 25 2015
60 mins
June 25, 2015 at 10 am PST/ 1 pm EST
We are on the verge of a new era of smart connected things, where devices and machines are much more intuitive, simplifying and enriching our daily lives. As smart devices pack more powerful processors and sensors, they will become more aware of our preferences and surroundings, anticipate our needs, and provide us with relevant information at the right time. As machines of the future begin to see and hear in 3D through computer vision and perceive and understand through machine learning, new worlds of possibilities open. Cars, machines, robots, and other smart devices will become autonomous, anticipating outcomes far faster and more accurately.
In this webinar, we'll dig into how industry leaders are using cognitive technologies, such as machine learning, computer vision, and always-on sensing to reshape industries, including transportation, healthcare, banking and retail. Can your business keep up with the disruption that will be caused by these technologies? How can device intelligence add value to your organization? How can you balance the benefits of device intelligence with associated risks?
In this webinar, you'll:
-Find out how you can drive innovations and create new business opportunities through these technologies
- Discover ways cognitive technologies can help businesses drive revenue in unexpected -- and uncharted – ways
-Balance the benefits of device intelligence and user privacy
-Get the scoop on why on-device intelligence will be key in the new era of smart connected things
- Realize the role of cognitive technologies and biometrics on securing your organization's critical devices
Maged Zaki, Director of Technical Marketing, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
Jim McGregor, Principal analyst and founder, TIRIAS Research
Russ Fadel, President and General Manager; ThingWorx
Chris Clayton, Senior vice president, business development; ColdLight
Sponsored by Qualcomm
Read more >
How to Save Time and Money with Pardot
Phil Simpson, Regional Sales Manager - Pardot
Jun 24 2015
42 mins
B2B marketing and sales teams are on a constant quest to improve upon their revenue-generating efforts, and the tasks involved — seeking out new business, creating a seamless buyer experience, building and tracking campaign efforts — all require significant time and effort.
What if there was a way marketers and sales teams could save time and effort and increase revenue generation at the same time?
Enter, your technology toolbox. With Pardot marketing automation, marketing and sales teams can maximize campaign efforts, boost productivity, and shorten sales cycles — yielding consequential benefits both marketing and sales teams. Join us for a quick 40-minute look at how Pardot can:
- help generate new business
- identify quality leads for quick conversion
- create a faster, smoother buyer's journey
- prove real results
Also hear from an awesome Pardot client, Gina Spero, Marketing Automation Manager at Mimeo, as she describes how using Pardot has helped their business!
Read more >
Mobile Marketing Automation Part IV: Going beyond push notifications
John Koetsier: VP Research; VentureBeat
Jun 24 2015
61 mins
June 24, 10 am PST/1 pm EST
John Koetsier: VP Research; VentureBeat
Ian Woods: Chief Engagement Officer; IMM
Brian Witlin; COO and Mobile; Yummly
Moderator: Wendy Schuchart, analyst; VentureBeat
If you're only focusing on push notifications with your MMA solutions, you're leaving a lot of money on the table. We've got the inside story on the features used by the most successful mobile app teams ... and which vendors deliver those features. We'll also talk to industry insiders on how they're using MMA in ways you might not have thought of.
We surveyed 375 mobile developers with over 900 million monthly average users, analyzed 1.8 million apps in Google Play and the iOS app store, conducted 17 live interviews, and surveyed 19 MMA providers to find answers to these questions.
In this webinar, you'll learn:
* Which features the most successful mobile app companies focus upon
* Which MMA features you can't afford to ignore
* How successful apps are using MMA in creative and unique ways
Join us to learn how to successfully leverage mobile marketing automation to your advantage.
Sponsored by: Kahuna
Read more >
Customer Ready: 5 elementos que están impulsando las expectativas del consumidor
Rodrigo Velasco
Jun 24 2015
58 mins
En este webinar, Rodrigo Velasco, Arquitecto de Soluciones MDM, compartirá " 5 elementos que están impulsando las expectativas de los consumidores de hoy" para ayudar a que su organización sea "Customer Ready".
Read more >
6 Ways to Win Customers in B2B Online Marketing
Petr Passinger, Marketing Evangelist, Kentico
Jun 24 2015
48 mins
See six real-life examples of successfully winning a higher number of satisfied customers on the highly competitive and global market.
The webinar will be led by Kentico's Petr Passinger; who will offer the right mix of sales and marketing information from his first role in Customer Care, through Marketing Manager, and finally Sales Operation Leader with Kentico.
Read more >
Load more
Channel profile
Analytics-Driven Customer Engagement
Customer Journey Maps – Your Guide to Designing Holistic Customer Experiences
Nov 13 2013
58 mins
Cathleen Zapata, VP, Research & Customer Experience & Patrick Stroh, Ph.D., VP, Data Science & Consulting Solutions
A customer journey map can be the keystone to improving and analyzing any customer experience or channel. It will create a visual roadmap of the experience your customers have when they engage with your company. It is an important tool that can unify your team as well as entire groups within your organization around a customer's experience. It clearly depicts a customer's interactions, perceptions and feelings regarding your brand as they travel through their experience. This webinar will help you understand what customer journey maps are, why they're valuable, and Precision Dialogue's process for creating them.
Attribution Analytics: Understanding the Value of Each Customer Touch
Sep 18 2013
49 mins
Patrick Stroh, Ph.D. - VP, Data Science & Consulting Solutions
In this webinar, we will review the hot topic of Attribution Analytics, and how it compares to classic Marketing Mix and Lift-Over-Control approaches to measuring marketing ROI. All 3 approaches – Attribution, Marketing Mix and Lift-Over-Control – measure marketing ROI … but how does Attribution Analytics provide a more accurate and complete picture of how omni-channel marketing ("multiple channels and contacts all mixed together") impacts your customers and sales? We will also review different methods of doing Attribution Analytics, including last click (contact) and model-based methods. We then conclude with an overview of what you need in order to evolve your marketing ROI solutions to the next level of sophistication and performance.
How to Design and Code for the Mobile User
Aug 28 2013
37 mins
Marvin Cal, Graphics & Technical Developer
Did you know that there are different types of mobile design approaches for email? Join us as we review mobile aware and responsive design techniques for email. In this webinar, we will help you determine which mobile design approach best fits your needs and also show step-by-step how you can start coding your next responsive design email.
Precision Path: The Road to Customer Engagement
Aug 15 2013
37 mins
Greg Rentsch, VP, Strategic Consulting and Business Intelligence
Companies understand that improving customer engagement leads to more loyal and profitable relationships and more effective marketing. But many are unsure of how to make this omni-channel marketing strategy come to life. Learn more about Precision Dialogue's proprietary methodology to help companies successfully engage their customers.
Email Quality Testing Best Practices
Jul 24 2013
36 mins
Victoria Sullivan, eMarketing Consultant & Diana Bilic, eMarketing Consultant
Join us as we discuss the key items you should review in your email campaign before deploying to a live audience. We will share with you our email quality checklist that you can use to test your own email marketing campaigns and demonstrate how you can use Litmus rendering to test your campaigns in various email and mobile platforms. We will also discuss best practices in regards to A/B testing and performance. Hope you can join us!
Subscriber Reengagement & List Hygiene: A Dynamic Email Duo
Jun 25 2013
46 mins
Julie Marques, eMarketing Consultant
Marketers who manage email lists often struggle with two interconnected issues:
How do I continue to keep my subscribers interested and clicking through my emails?
What should I do when subscribers stop opening and clicking, but don't unsubscribe?
These issues are very common but certainly not insurmountable. With a well-planned reengagement campaign that includes compelling creative and clear business rules regarding who to target and when, it can be fairly simple to keep subscribers from defecting. (And with many email software platforms, such a campaign can be automated too!)
Register for this complimentary webinar to learn more about:
•Best practices for email reengagement programs
•How to garner interest through your value proposition and offers
•Which subscribers to consider unengaged – and when to purge them from your lists
•Why it's in your best interest to purge unengaged subscribers
•Getting started with automating your reengagement campaign
How to Empower Your Decisions with Data-Driven Forecasts
May 29 2013
59 mins
Andrew Harrison, Senior Data Analyst
If you have ever been called upon to forecast sales, revenue, demand, or other important business KPIs, it's important to understand the different forecasting approaches available. A typical approach is spreadsheet-based judgmental forecasting where you project revenue, volume, or profits for a business. However, these top-down forecasts wind up being inaccurate because they don't account for external economic factors, or they are driven by wishful thinking at the senior executive level.
In this webinar, we will empower you to develop data-driven forecasts that don't just project an outcome, but also a confidence interval around that outcome by leveraging the following techniques:
•Forecasting an outcome variable using only the historical data for that variable
•Diagnosing cyclicality and seasonality in your outcome variable
•Identifying, gathering and preparing exogenous variables for your forecast (e.g., economic circumstances, search volume/popular interest in a given topic, weather-related data)
•An introduction to ARIMAX forecasting models that incorporate exogenous variables
The Power of Targeted and Integrated Direct Mail
May 8 2013
45 mins
Robert Ellis, Business Alliances Team Leader, USPS
Robert Ellis, Business Alliances Team Leader and 27-year USPS veteran, will be presenting valuable insights and tips for maximizing the impact of direct mail. Learn how to cut through the media clutter to connect with target consumers and convert them into loyal customers.
Using current case studies and statistics, the session demonstrates how to effectively integrate direct mail with other media campaigns to amplify your message and increase ROI.
Writing for the Web: How to Achieve a "Precise Dialogue"
Apr 25 2013
53 mins
Jocelyn Huelsman, Research & Customer Experience Senior Analyst
Your website may be cutting edge, but is it cutting the mustard? A site's design, usability and functionality are important, but so is the most overlooked component - content! In this webinar, we will provide insight on how to write content that is informational and can "talk" to users. Also, how to leverage best practices to develop useful content intended for the web.
Marketing to the Right People at the Right Time with Retargeting
Feb 28 2013
47 mins
Matt Aster, Inbound Marketing and Adrienne Embery-Good, Business Development Manager
If you could call every unconverted website visitor, ask them why and give them an incentive to purchase, would you? Retargeting (oftentimes referred to as behavioral marketing or remarketing) is a highly effective and economical marketing approach to target website visitors based upon previous online actions. With the right principles and best practices you can shorten your time to convert and turn bounces into prospects. It's more than just strategically placed ads appearing on websites hoping to attract your customers. Retargeting is the sniper rifle in your online marketing arsenal:
• Explore different retargeting models and how to execute them correctly
• Share examples of businesses doing it right and wrong
• Provide a case study of a client who saw positive ROI with retargeting
• Reinforce best practices of retargeting
Top 10 Interactive Marketing Trends for 2013
Jan 16 2013
57 mins
Kelly Canfield, Marketing Manager & Adrienne Embery-Good, Business Development Manager
2012 was a big year for relevancy marketing, photo-sharing social platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram, mobile/tablet adaptation and more. Will these trends continue in 2013? Or, will new trends emerge? In this webinar, we share our predictions for 2013 and tips on how to align your marketing goals to meet the industry's trajectory.
Social Media Engagement: Getting Past Likes
Nov 14 2012
31 mins
Matt Aster, Manager, Inbound Marketing
Social media marketing has evolved, yesterday's success measurement of likes and retweets has died and engagement metrics have shifted. In this webinar, we'll look at a few recent examples of engaging social media campaigns and how they might have changed the mindset of "success." You'll leave this webinar with some ideas that will help you measure your social media channels and help tie ROI back to social.
A Guide to Social Media Dashboards
Sep 3 2012
42 mins
Metrics Marketing Group
Monitoring your online presence can be time consuming, but with the right tools it doesn't have to be. In this webinar, learn how to use R, a statistical programming language, and Tableau, a Business Intelligence tool, to create marketing dashboards for monitoring social media conversations and customer sentiment. Join us for a live demo showing how marketing dashboards can help you monitor your online presence.
Email Deliverability 101: Achieving Inbox Success
Jul 26 2012
51 mins
Jennifer Timmerman, Email Marketing Strategist and Liz Lewis, Email Implementation Consultant
Do you know the difference between CAN-SPAM and CASL? What about blacklist vs. whitelist? Do you know the dangers of buying an email append list and why it's important to establish a good sender reputation? In this webinar, learn the answers to these questions and the basics of email deliverability so your email marketing campaigns achieve inbox success. Our experts will cover the basics of email deliverability, provide tips on how to establish and maintain a good sender reputation, give insights on repair and reengagement strategies and more.
Mastering the Art of Welcome Emails
Jun 28 2012
39 mins
Tiffany Olson, Interactive Business Development Manager
Learn how to make a memorable impression with your email campaigns by optimizing your welcome emails. In this webinar, learn how to take full advantage of your welcome email opportunities through examples and actionable best practices. Also, learn more about leveraging the welcome email to increase ongoing engagement and sales.
Case Study: Utilizing SEO for eCommerce
May 2 2012
55 mins
Adrienne Embery-Good, Business Development Manager and Laura Cameron, Inbound Marketing Director
A leading manufacturer of popular kitchenware brands was seeking to better diversify their referral traffic and increase overall traffic to their eCommerce website. To fulfill this initiative Metrics was enlisted to develop a customized Search Engine Optimization (SEO) program for their site. In this webinar, learn how our custom program helped improve search engine rankings and increased traffic utilizing code and content optimization, link building and structural recommendations.
The Collaboration of UX and SEO in Website Redesign
Mar 28 2012
53 mins
Laura Cameron, Director of Inbound Marketing, and Cathleen Zapata, VP Research & Customer Experience
Both user experience (UX) and search engine optimization (SEO) are important to gain and convert website visitors, but often one or both are overlooked during a site redesign. In this presentation, learn how SEO & UX can truly complement each other, and work seamlessly together to accomplish both goals of driving traffic and converting users through your site.
Magento eCommerce Elevation: A Checklist to Take Your Site to the Next Level
Feb 15 2012
62 mins
Steve Kidwell, eCommerce Practice Director
Is optimizing your Magento eCommerce website a goal for 2012? Metrics has developed an optimization checklist to help take your Magento site to the next level. During this webinar, our expert will discuss redesign and enhancement do's and don'ts and reveal untapped opportunities, in areas such as SEO/SEM strategy tactics, third-party solutions integration, and mobile and tablet strategies.
Top 10 Interactive Marketing Trends for 2012
Jan 31 2012
56 mins
Adrienne Embery-Good, Business Development Manager and Tiffany Olson, Interactive Business Development Manager
A new year calls for a new marketing plan. Are your 2012 interactive marketing goals aligned with the industry's 2012 trajectory? In this webinar, we will specifically look at the top ten trends in interactive marketing such as eCommerce, search engine marketing, email and more.
Utilize Your Customers' Online and Email Data to Increase Sales
Dec 7 2011
41 mins
Tiffany Olson, Interactive Business Development Manager & Adrienne Embery-Good, Business Development Manager
Are you interested in increasing overall customer engagement with your email campaigns and decreasing abandoned shopping carts? Metrics Marketing has created a solution by combining the power of the ExactTarget email platform with the strength of Magentoâs eCommerce solution. In this webinar, learn how to better leverage your customersâ data to increase engagement and sales.
For business professionals looking for measurable marketing success
Precision Dialogue is an analytics-driven, multi-channel, Customer Engagement Firm. We leverage customer insights to drive relevant communications (a precision dialogue) leading to improved Marketing ROI.
Upcoming webinars (0)
Recorded webinars (47)
Subscribers (2,458)
Channel RSS feed
Are you a marketer?
Learn more
about how BrightTALK can help you.
About us
User agreement
Privacy policy
Presenter access
© 2015 BrightTALK
Embed in website or blog
Copy and paste this embed code to your website or blog:
Your colleagues' emails:
Successfully added emails:
Remove all
Your message:
Hi, I thought this webinar was interesting and I wanted to share it with you.
Title: Case Study: Utilizing SEO for eCommerce
Live at:
May 2 2012 4:00 pm
Presented by: Adrienne Embery-Good, Business Development Manager and Laura Cameron, Inbound Marketing Director
Your email has been sent.
Invite more colleagues
You must be logged in to email this