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- 1lb hot Italian sausage (casings removed)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 28 oz can of whole tomatoes
- 1 (14 oz) can of tomato sauce
- 1 900ml (32oz) container of low sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4 whole-wheat lasagna noodles, broken up
- 3-4 tablespoons dried basil
- Salt & pepper
- Grated parmesan cheese
- Mozzarella cheese
Yummy looking! I'd have to modify the 'hot' to mild, but aside from that – I can see where there would be a lot of flavor to this soup. Don't even get me started on the cheese – OMGosh – Load it up!
wow that looks amazing, cant wait to try, i too would use mild or even maybe turkey sausage
That looks scrumptious. You have some really great recipes here and I love that I can pin it. I'm a new Google+ and GFC follower via Friendly Friday. Hope to see for a follow on my blog. Donna
This looks absolutely amazing! I am saving this one!
An interesting twist on regular Lasagna.
I'm a google + follower from the blog hop.
This just sounds divine! Thank you for sharing!
Sounds yummy! Thanks for sharing, have a great week, Joyous Wishes, Linda
Yum! I think I may have to make this soon! Thanks for linking up at the Super Sunday Stumble! I've +1ed this page, stumbled it, and put you in a G+ circle. -Christine at Why We Love Green
Thanks for linking up last week! I featured this recipe this week! I would love it if you would stop by and link something up again!!
Lasagna soup is one of our family favourites! I'll have to give your recipe a whirl. It sounds delish!
Nicole | Domesticated Momma recently posted…How Would you Celebrate a $50,000 Winning? #GoldenKitten
This looks great. I can omit the sausage to make it vegetarian. Thank you for sharing!
LaVonne recently posted…St. Patrick's Day for Kids With Lucky Charms Ideas
Before even reading the post, I saw the title and said "mmm lasagna soup. That sounds delicious!" And as I read the recipe, I immediately got hungry lol.
Amiyrah recently posted…Ask A Military Chick – Sexual Harassment, Makeup and Bling
That looks super yummy! I usually can't get my guys to eat soup but this looks like something they would like! I'll have to try it out!
Jeannette recently posted…How Teaching My Child Money Management Turned into a Lesson for Me! #SHGenworth
OOh yummy! That looks absolutely delicious! Thank you for sharing this, definitely will try it!
Dawn Lopez recently posted…How to Create an Inexpensive Pamper Day for Yourself
I love lasagna and never even thought to make lasagna soup. I can't wait to try your recipe! Thanks!
Lasagna soup?! I would of never thought of that. It looks so delicious and comforting on a wintery day.
Oh my goodness! I will definitely have to try this!
A nice Hardy meal. Perfect for after a day of .shoveling.
jenn recently posted…Celebrate Family Day with #Hasbro Boardgames!
I love collecting new soup recipes, thanks for the heads up on what looks like it could be tonights dinner in our house!
Shash recently posted…Family Day at Ontario Pioneer Camp = A BLAST!
This looks super yummy! I'll have to try this for sure.
Everything Mom and Baby recently posted…#SearsBabysRoom announces the launch of Carters and Osh Kosh!
Hey there fellow SITS-sister! This soup looks amazingly delicious and ultra-comforting. I must give it a go once the weather cools down here in L.A.
Rachael recently posted…My Valentines Day Mixtape
I love a good hearty homemade soup! this looks amazing! pinning it!
Jennifer (momvstheboys) recently posted…Skintimate® Signature Scents® Mandarin Burst shave gel
I have never made anything like this. It sounds great. You have some FAB recipes here. Thanks!
paula schuck recently posted…Hey Mom, What's a Bong?
That looks so good! So far tonight I've seen a spaghetti soup and a lasagna soup. Now… I want soup!
Heather, Mmm… is for Mommy recently posted…Jamaica's Jewel Runaway Bay Beach & Golf Resort
What a great idea! Best of both worlds…soup and lasagna!
Wendy [mapsgirl] recently posted…Birthday party fun! #vine { wordless wednesday }
Oh my gosh this looks so delicious. I have got to make some of this for my family.
[…] have been meaning to try a Lasagne Soup dish recipe, this one from The Bewitchin Kitchen should do the trick….looks really […]
[…] This Lil Piglet's newest recipe contributor and this week I decided to share my Lasagna Soup recipe. I will be contributing to This Lil Piglet on a weekly basis (Mondays/Tuesdays), so […]
[…] Chili Crockpot Classic Beef Stew Crockpot French Onion Soup Hearty Chicken Tortilla Soup Lasagna Soup Potato Leek Soup & Tea Biscuits Vegetable Chowder Zuppa Toscana […]


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SCARBOROUGH, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Some families in Scarborough braved Sunday's cold temperatures to take part in Autism Family Day at Camp Ketcha.
Camp Ketcha has been developing a wide range of programs for children with autism and organizers say today's event was designed for families to come out and see the kinds of resources available. Among the options: therapeutic horseback riding, art, and an outdoor ropes course.
Organizers say Autism Family Day is a great way for parents to get together and form a network of information.

subset: commoncrawl


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EE British Academy Film Awards - Press Room
Helen McCrory, Peter Carlton and Diarmid Scrimshaw, winners of the... News PhotoArts Culture and Entertainment,Award,BAFTA Awards,British Academy Film Awards,Burberry,Celebrities,England,Film,Film Industry,Givenchy,Helen McCrory,Horizontal,London - England,Opera House,Portrait,Press Room,Rafe Spall,Royal Opera House,Short Film,Swimming,UK,WinningPhotographer Dave M. BenettCollection: Getty Images Entertainment 2013 Dave M. BenettLONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 10: (EMBARGOED FOR PUBLICATION IN UK TABLOID NEWSPAPERS UNTIL 48 HOURS AFTER CREATE DATE AND TIME. MANDATORY CREDIT PHOTO BY DAVE M. BENETT/GETTY IMAGES REQUIRED) (L to R) Helen McCrory, Peter Carlton and Diarmid Scrimshaw, winners of the Short Film award for 'Swimmer, and Rafe Spall pose in the Press Room at the EE British Academy Film Awards at The Royal Opera House on February 10, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by Dave M. Benett/Getty Images)


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College/university students! Consider applying for an ROTC Scholarship with the Army National Guard. Here are some main points:
How to apply?
If interested, I strongly recommend that you contact your State OSM, so you can talk through your situation to ensure that you understand your obligations. Your local ARNG recruiter can put you in touch.
- Three-year and two-year awards available for undergrads. Graduate students may apply for a two-year award only.
- Recipients must serve as SMP cadets with a local National Guard unit while on scholarship. SMP cadets are not subject to federal mobilization.
- Scholarships pay full tuition (no limit) to any accredited college/university in America.
- You can use the ROTC scholarship to pay room & board on campus, instead of tuition.
- May not use Federal and/or State Tuition Assistance while on ROTC scholarship of any kind, unless you opt to direct the ROTC scholarship towards payment of room & board on campus (reference: EOIM 08-17). This is an excellent option for cadets at a State school, whose Tuition Assistance largely covers.
- After graduation and commissioning, serve eight years on drill status (one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer) with a National Guard unit (any state).
- Guard officers generally have far greater influence over their branch and duty assignment than USAR or active component officers.
- If you're in high school, you can apply now, and have a three-year scholarship waiting for you. The Guard has additional programs to pay for most (perhaps even all) of your first year of college.
- To use an ROTC scholarship, you must complete your degree and commission prior to your 30th birthday. This requirement is based in federal law, so no waiver or exception is possible. Non-scholarship cadets can commission older, however.
How to apply?
- Speak with your ROTC enrollment officer at your campus about enrolling in Army ROTC. You must meet ROTC eligibility standards in order to apply for the scholarship. Do not sign an ROTC contract, however, until you have the scholarship award!
- Apply through your ROTC program to your state's Army National Guard Officer Strength Manager.
If interested, I strongly recommend that you contact your State OSM, so you can talk through your situation to ensure that you understand your obligations. Your local ARNG recruiter can put you in touch.


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|Institution Type:
|Private not-for-profit
|Campus Setting:
|New England Small city
|Highest Degree Offered:
|Doctor's degree - professional practice
|Level of Institution:
|Four or more years
I enjoy the university life, with a small commuity feel of Husson. Instructors are knowledgeable about their subjects, and involved with helping their students achieve success. …
Husson University has a very well rounded Accounting and Business Administration program, in which I believe will have very successful students. The living at Husson is also nice and Husson…
It's a small, beautiful campus surrounded by woods in the suburbs of Bangor, Maine. There is renovations going on, but it'll just make the school better. The small amount of…
It is a challenging university, and because of this, you receive a very good education. The teachers truly care about the students. The school is in a good location.…
Husson University is a private institution of post secondary education offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in business, health, education, and professional studies. Husson seeks to serve motivated, career-oriented students through a curriculum, which integrates liberal arts and sciences, professional and technical studies, and experiential learning outside the classroom. Husson dedicates itself to excellence in teaching, to a personalized collegiate experience, to the development of individual self worth, to a curriculum which promotes clear thinking and communication skills, and to an environment which values the search for ethical truths in a changing world.
Everyone is very friendly, and the atmosphere is helpful and inviting.Read More
In addition to classes, Husson also offers several clubs and organizations. They have everything from sororities and fraternities to a theatre group, an outdoors club, criminal justice and psychology clubs (as well as other clubs for each respective major), a pep band, and sports teams, including basketball, golf, football, lacrosse, softball, and baseball.Read More
Husson is a wonderful place. Considering its small size, campus feels like a mini community. Also, you never have to worry about finding something to do. The student activities coordinator at Husson works very hard to put on fun and exciting events, you always have the option of joining a fraternity or sorority, sports teams, a variety of clubs, intramurals, etc.Read More
They have a wide variety of clubs that you can join and they have awesome sports teams. The teachers and students are great and the food is delicious.Read More


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New product series SnapN
IMS Connector Systems has extended its product range of Quick Lock Systems and introduces the new connector family SnapN. SnapN connectors are quick-lock-connectors which are backwards compatible with N connectors. This means that SnapN jacks (f) can be mated with N plugs (m).
SnapN connectors are suitable for all applications up to 11 GHz and guarantee a minimum of 200 mating cycles.
Because of the quick-lock mechanism, no mounting tool is required which makes the mounting of SnapN connectors very easy. Due to the quick-lock coupling mechanism, the engagement force of SnapN is smaller than of N connectors with standard interface. Therefore a mating process which is 10 times faster in comparison with N connectors can be achieved. SnapN cable mount angle plugs are 360? rotatable which makes the positioning of the cables very flexible. The SnapN connector brochure can be requested by phone: (+49) 7654 901 401 or at our website.
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The Michigan State University College of Law Financial Aid Office recognizes that our students choose to enroll at the Law College with the expectation that their investment of effort, time, and money will provide the foundation for meaningful and rewarding employment for decades to come. We are aware that loan assistance is an integral source of financing law school for many law students and that the decision to borrow funds for law school is a highly individualized one based on each borrower's personal and professional goals and circumstances, future earnings potential, debt from other educational programs or consumer debt, and comfort level with debt.
Recognizing that law school students and graduates nationally experience significant pressures as the result of high indebtedness,* and that many borrowers may not be well versed in financial planning, the MSU College of Law Financial Aid Office has established the following goals for the delivery of financial aid services and programming:
In conclusion, the Law College Financial Aid Office expects and encourages each prospective borrower to carefully and to thoughtfully determine the amount of debt with which he or she is comfortable and to do so based on a full examination of the costs of borrowing, a realistic assessment of potential earnings, and with consideration given to other personal and professional goals that the student may have for the repayment period.
* Significant debt can have a wide range of consequences, including distraction from one's studies; the necessity to accept (or remain in) employment that is financially rewarding but otherwise not fulfilling; high levels of stress during repayment; and the delayed ability or inability of borrowers to achieve other personal and professional goals such as home ownership and the establishment of a solid retirement fund.
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text: News Pop band OK Go's already known for its intricate, delightful music videos, but their latest musical stunt has an Oregon link. The video for "White Knuckles," which premieres today, features a dozen Beaver State dogs, who perform routines with the band members and pretty much steal the spotlight. Turns out that all the animals are part of Lauren Henry's Corvallis-based agency Talented Animals, ... More


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- Northern New York Newspapers
- Watertown
- Ogdensburg
- Massena-Potsdam
- Lowville
- Carthage
- Malone
- NNY Business
- NNY Living
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STAR LAKE The state Department of Environmental Conservation has issued a record of decision on 18 acres of the contaminated 54-acre Jones & Laughlin Steel Co. property, another piece completed toward eventual re-use of the property.
Its certainly a nice accomplishment, said town of Fine Supervisor Mark C. Hall, a member of the county Industrial Development Agency. Its one segment done and lets keep moving ahead. Were attacking the site in manageable steps.
At a public session in March on the agencys environmental management plan for the site, DEC environmental engineer James E. Candiloro suggested the record of decision would come quickly unless there were objections.
Measures selected by the DEC include maintaining a site cover, such as pavement or grass, development for commercial or industrial uses only, periodic certification of institutional and engineering requirements, and a site management plan that identifies all restrictions and controls.
The 18 acres was found minimally contaminated compared to the remainder of the property which is destined to become a Superfund site. The DEC and St. Lawrence County decided to carve out the 18 acres as an easier path to a release of liability for any contamination on that section.
That remains in the works, county attorney Michael C. Crowe said.
Were waiting to hear back from two agencies on whether a release will be made, he said.
The state Comptrollers Office, which controls an oil spill fund, and the DEC, which is responsible for hazardous waste other than oil, must give their stamp of approval on a release before the county is willing to take title. The county once briefly had title to the property so it could transfer it to its last known owner, a Canadian developer now deceased, so it is part of the chain that could technically be held responsible for cleanup even though it had nothing to do with contaminating the property.
Thats why we want a release, Mr. Crowe said.
The state may be wary about a release of liability to avoid setting a precedent, but Mr. Hall argues it is the only way to make the site one of only a handful zoned industrial in the Adirondack Park viable again.
To me, this is a pretty unique situation, he said.
Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.
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Salary Cap – Myths, Misconceptions, FAQs (Part One)
Programming note: Due to illness, I haven't been able to complete the analysis for BGA: Jets v Colts yet, but this will follow in a day or two. My apologies for the hold-up.
There seems to be rather a long list of misconceptions about the salary cap (and specifically the uncapped year / final eight rules) floating around, so I'm going to do my best to try and highlight some of them here. No doubt this will give rise to more questions than answers, so I will be doing a follow up in a few days. Leave your questions in the comments or e-mail them to email@example.com and I will do my best to answer everything to the best of my knowledge.
I'll cover as much as I can, after the jump…
Note: A big thanks to Jason from the unofficial Jets cap site for helping me to verify much of the information in this post.
Uncapped Year
This is now looking inevitable. There will be no salary cap in 2010 and if a new CBA is not signed in time, there will be a lockout in 2011. Negotiations have been called off until later in the year.
The uncapped year isn't as simple as "there is no cap" though. There are still some restrictions on spending. Also, teams have to account for the fact that, in all likelihood, the salary cap will return, so they can't commit to too many long term deals. In the current economic climate, not many teams are expected to spend a great deal more than they would in any normal year. One underrated aspect of the uncapped year is that there is no lower limit on team spending, so some small market teams will spend less than in the past. For example, this season's cap was at $123m, but teams were obliged to have a total cap figure of at least $107m. This could be a good opportunity for some teams to save cash, either because they need to, or so that they can compete financially when the cap returns. For this reason, I anticipate plenty of good players will be cut.
Many people are reporting that a lot of teams will cut players, because the dead money cap hit will not matter when there is no salary cap limit to stay under. That is certainly true to an extent, but it isn't necessarily the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity some have made it out to be. What they are not reporting is the fact that (a) signing bonuses are not accelerated in an uncapped year, so some of that dead money could count against the cap in 2011 (b) sometimes the cap hit if you just waited until the following year to cut them isn't very high anyway and (c) the team may still owe the player money which will be payable sooner if the player is cut.
Case Study: Vernon Gholston
Most of the media has been reporting the Vernon Gholston situation like this:
They can make use of the uncapped year by cutting him and therefore the big cap hit (over $10m) will arise in the uncapped year and this will help them get his salary off the books
What they are missing is that:
– The Jets are on the hook for $5.9m anyway and cutting him will not prevent them from having to pay it. Surely, if they're paying him anyway, the Jets would prefer to get some contribution from him, even if he doesn't advance past reserve lineman/special teamer status.
– Cutting him at the end of 2010 will still enable them to have the dead money fall into the uncapped year, so they could at least retain him for the year and see if he shows signs of improvement and they will have lost nothing. This also allows them to be more certain about the salary cap situation in 2011.
– The cap hit is about $4m lower if he never exceeds more than 45% of snaps in any of his first four years. If he doesn't do this, the extra cost associated with cutting him in 2011 will only be about $3.5m, so it's not like by cutting him sooner they are saving themselves that much cap space in the future.
– They are not taking into account the fact that a small part of his cap hit will carry over to 2011, so the saving is even less than they think. However, in Gholston's case, most of his money was in the form of guaranteed salaries, not bonuses, so the cap hit in 2011 will be minimal.
The Final Eight Rules
As most of you are aware, there are restrictions in place to prevent the top teams from the previous season from signing all of the top unrestricted free agents (UFAs). However, there has been a lot of misinformation floating about on this subject as well.
– It's really only the final four teams that are in any way restricted. There are exceptions available so that the Divisional Round losers can sign one big UFA and as many smaller UFAs as they like. When the media started making a big deal about this, it was a week too early and only really became an issue for the Jets when they advanced to the AFC Title Game.
– How much of an effect this will have is debatable, especially when (1) it only applies to UFAs whose contracts have expired, not those who have been cut or waived, of which I think there will be plenty for the reasons stated earlier (2) it does not apply to signing restricted free agents (RFAs), who can be signed with no restrictions as long as you give up the requisite draft pick compensation (3) we believe (although this is uncertain) that they can sign UFAs from the other final four teams (Vikings, Saints, Colts) with no restrictions (4) they can still sign a UFA for each of their own UFAs that is signed by another team, which – although the cap numbers in year one must match – may not be as restricting as you would think (5) there are fewer UFAs and more RFAs than in a capped year, because anyone with less than six years service whose contract expires is an RFA, rather than four years service in a capped year and (6) you can re-sign your own free agents without any restrictions, which might be the smartest way a team like the Jets can spend its money, especially since the uncapped year affords teams an opportunity to lock up talent into the future, but minimize cap hits in future years.
– In the increasingly unlikely event that there is a cap in 2010, the final eight rules won't even apply.
Case Study: Julius Peppers
I have selected Peppers because he is the biggest UFA on the market this year. Many of the other guys that may or may not be on the Jets radar don't even come under these rules (examples: Adalius Thomas is under contract and therefore will be freely available if cut or offered up for trade and Elvis Dumervil is a restricted free agent). Some of the media is reporting that the Jets cannot sign Peppers because of their final four status, whereas others are saying that he is on their radar. So – leaving aside the pros and cons of whether they should target him – is it possible?
Let's revisit the rules. The Jets can only sign a UFA to replace a UFA of their own that has been signed by another team and the cap number in the first year of the new signing's contract must not exceed the cap number in the first year of the outgoing player's contract.
Step one: The outgoing player. This must be an unrestricted free agent, so they can't release someone like Rhodes or Gholston and match the new signing's contract with theirs. The Jets currently have several unrestricted free agents, including guys like Marques Douglas, Tony Richardson, Jay Feely and Wayne Hunter, some (if not all) of whom they may prefer to bring back (remember, this is NOT subject to restrictions) and guys like Larry Izzo and Ryan Fowler, who may not even get signed. However, they can also renounce the rights to Lito Sheppard and not offer an RFA tender to any of their RFAs (including Braylon, Leon, Brad and Eric Smith, Clowney, Clemens). If that happens, the player concerned will also become a UFA and they can be replaced with a UFA signing.
Step two: The contract of the departing player. Since the Jets cannot sign a UFA until one of their own has been signed by another team, this may cause a delay. However, there is nothing to stop them from negotiating in the meantime. It should be noted that you cannot accumulate the cap numbers of outgoing UFAs to make a bigger number for matching with a UFA signing – it is a one-for-one calculation. Let's say, for arguments sake, the Jets renounce their rights to Lito Sheppard and he signs a contract with a team with a cap number in year one of $3m. The contract of the UFA that the Jets use to replace Sheppard (note: does not have to play the same position) cannot have a cap number of more than $3m. Bear in mind though, that 2010 is an uncapped year, so a lot of teams will (a) overpay and (b) frontload, which might mean that the cap number in year one is bigger than you'd expect.
Step three: Matching. Okay, so the Jets want to sign Peppers to a long term deal with a cap number of less than $3m in the first year. Is it possible? The first thing we can rule out is a long term deal which is backloaded so that the cap number in the first year is low. In 2010, salaries cannot increase by more than 30% a year and this specifically includes option bonuses, so they couldn't just put a huge bonus into year two to circumvent the rule. If Peppers was willing to accept a more reasonable deal the Jets could, theoretically, make a long contract with a modest signing bonus. For example, a six year deal with a $6m signing bonus and maximum salary increases each year would see him receiving $8m in the first year and $10m in the last year, but an average of approximately $5m per year over the middle four years. I don't think that will be nearly enough to get Peppers, who will probably end up with a contract twice as big, but it does illustrate how the Jets still could be in a position to sign a pretty big UFA, if one became available.
So, on the face of it, it looks impossible for the Jets to sign Peppers as a UFA. However, Jason from nyjetscap.com told me the other day that he believes it may be possible get around the 30% rule by having a Completion Bonus instead of an option bonus. If this is a possibility, you can bet than Mike Tannenbaum is aware of it – which might explain the stories about the Jets being interested in Peppers (rather than it being a smokescreen or just in case the CBA was signed after all, as some have speculated).
One last question remains: If they can't sign him, then can the Jets trade for him (or any other free agent)? Unfortunately, it appears that the answer is no. The final four teams are not permitted to trade for a player that they would otherwise be unable to sign as a free agent. This does not apply to players under contract (example: Asomugha), where trades are not restricted, but it does prevent them from being able to avoid the matching rules by trading for a guy that gets an RFA or Franchise Tag. Of course, if those guys are tagged, the Jets can sign them to an offer sheet and surrender the requisite picks if the other team decides not to match (which makes it a lot like a trade from the Jets perspective, but removes the option of them including players in the deal). In Peppers' case, he would have to be franchised and the Jets would lose two first round picks if they signed him. Considering his age, I'd imagine this to be unlikely, although two late round picks are worth less than one early pick, so while the Jets are contenders, they might have a different mindset about value.
I don't pretend to know all of the rules inside out, so there may be some inaccuracies above. However, I have tried to be as thorough as possible in an effort to highlight issues nobody seems to be discussing and if anyone spots any errors, I will correct the entry accordingly and I will also mention any corrections in part two.


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Lifelong Sniffaholic
Super Member
Basenotes Junkie
Super Member
When I first came to BN, I really didn't care for them. The Chypres. The mossiness was sort of a dealbreaker for me. Just too old lady. But as I collected vintage bottles, interspersed with occasional trips to retail establishments, I began to notice when the restricted ingredients weren't there, and I missed moss and clove and everything else. In spite of myself, I started appreciating and even liking the retro chypres. Vintage Chantilly, vintage 1000, Arpege, and
The end of the summer drenches me with longing and nostalgia every year. The saying goodbye to a summer crush when you both have to go back to different schools in September. Packing up the summer clothes, and pulling out the warm ones. The days growing shorter with school pressures and anxieties mounting. The first cold breeze in late August.
My summer scents for this time of year, are, this year:
Maybe it's just me but those green springy florals are calling to me. Notes like hyacinth, lily of the valley, lilac, box greens and many more...from the back of my closet out comes>>>
(Untitled) Martin Margiela
Vintage Vent Vert (Balmain)
No. 19 (Chanel)
Laura Ashley No. 1
Vintage Muguet de Bois (Coty)
Lily of the Valley (Penhaligon's)
Lily of the Valley
What is it about a woman on a train that makes a perfume so attractive?
Here's the new Angel ad...simply stunning, on a futuristic high speed train.
And Chanel No. 5, on an incredible retro sleeper train, of course.
Any thoughts?
Very nostalgic this week. Another high school memory.
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A fast-paced, challenging environment and interesting work are just some of the reasons for joining the Crown Attorney's Office as a Legal Administrative Secretary.What can I expect to do in this role?You will:• provide a full range of administrative secretarial services • utilize a personal computer to transcribe a variety of documents in proper legal style• accept service on various documents• maintain Ontario and Superior Court files• type Ontario and Superior Court subpoenas • provide reception duties by answering the telephone and dealing with inquiries at the counter • provide a variety of clerical servicesHow do I qualify?Mandatory:• you can type 50 words per minute with dicta skills at 70% using a personal computer with standard softwareLegal Secretarial Knowledge:• you have demonstrated secretarial and administrative experience including knowledge of office procedures• you have working knowledge of legal terminology and the practices and procedures of the criminal justice systemGeneral Administrative Skills:• you have the ability to use computer equipment with related software such as Windows, Word, Outlook and related database applications• you have excellent oral and written communication skills• you have demonstrated initiative, good judgement and excellent organizational skills• you have interpersonal skills and experience working effectively as a team member with minimal supervision
Additional information:
Job advertisements for positions that have been designated bilingual will be provided in both English and French on the website. Positions that are not designated bilingual are not translated and are displayed in English only on both the English and French versions of the website.
Les annonces d'emploi pour les postes désignés bilingues sont publiées en anglais et en français sur le site Web. Les annonces pour les postes qui ne sont pas désignés bilingues ne sont pas traduites et elles figurent en anglais seulement, tant dans la version française que dans la version anglaise du site.
The Ontario Public Service is an inclusive employer.
Accommodation is available under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
Note: The only website where you can apply on-line for positions with the Ontario Public Service is http://www.gojobs.gov.on.ca
This site is maintained by the Government of Ontario
Terms of Use
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(NBCNC) -The quality of the air we breathe has improved over the past 15 years, yet there are still over 100-million Americans breathing smog or pollution every day.
Overall, the state of our air is much cleaner than it was a decade ago according to the American Lung Association's annual report, even in cities like busy Los Angeles.
"Even though they're at the top of the list for most pollution for ozone, they've still reduced about two months worth of unhealthy days every year over the past 15 years. And that's a great accomplishment," says the American Lung Association's Janice Nolen.
The Lung Association's analysis of air quality reports shows the most polluted cities are in California, Utah, Texas and Pennsylvania.
But Americans across the country are affected. The report shows four out of ten people live in counties with unhealthy levels of smog and soot.
"These particles and these ozone molecules go into our lungs and our lungs spread them throughout the body," Nolen explains.
Infants, the elderly and people with breathing disorders like asthma are most at risk for complications. People who work or exercise outdoors can also be affected.
The risks of exposure to too much pollution can range from difficulty breathing to heart disease.
A proposed EPA standard may reduce the amount of sulfur in gasoline used by cars and some trucks, effectively removing the pollution from 33 million vehicles on the road.


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Nuclear winter. Worldwide economic collapse. Zombie takeover. We all have a favorite apocalyptic situation that we occasionally find ourselves pondering. One very important question: What vehicle do you want as your trusty steed?
Popular Merchanics
Sure, the Hummer-dwarfing Marauder starts at around half a million dollars. But for your megabucks you get a fully functional roving fortress. With room for a crew of two up front, plus eight in the back (in standard configuration), the Marauder is designed to withstand impact from mines or IEDs. It even took a C4 charge to its undercarriage in an infamous TV segment, so it's tough enough to survive the end of days. The Marauder is the perfect choice for those who fear coming under attack by the armies of the undead, as it can be fitted with a turret up top and has options for extra armor or provision capacity. The thing drinks gasoline, but if you can afford the Marauder, you can afford to keep it in gas in a dystopian wasteland.


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Press Release 2013, Other
NEW YORK - July 18th, 2013
NEW YORK - July 18th, 2013 - Star Alliance, the way the Earth connects, has been named Best Airline Alliance for the second year running by the readers of Frequent Business Traveller, an online magazine designed for the affluent frequent business traveller.
"The readers of Frequent Business Traveler are among the most discerning patrons of travel in the world," said Jonathan Spira, editorial director of Frequent Business Traveler. "Star Alliance was voted the top alliance for 2013 by an overwhelming majority, and that speaks volumes about what they think when it comes to airline loyalty."
Star Alliance member airlines were also distinguished in four out of seven individual airline award categories. Lufthansa took two awards – for Best First Class Lounges and Best Frequent Flyer Programme for its Miles and More. In addition, SWISS was chosen in the category Best Business Class Lounges while Singapore Airlines was voted Best Airline in Asia/Pacific.
The Frequent Business Traveler GlobeRunner Awards recognise the world's best airlines, hotels chains, automobile manufacturers, car rental agencies, luggage manufacturers, and travel websites. The winners were selected in an online vote that took place from January 9th to March 15th, 2013 and over 110,000 votes were cast by its readers. The Globerunner awards were launched in 2012.
The awards were presented at a ceremony at The Penn Club in New York City. Coverage of the award ceremony, with photos, is available online at:www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2012/07/globerunner-2013.
About Star Alliance:
The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers more than 21,900 daily flights to 1,328 airports in 195 countries.
About Frequent Business Traveler:
Frequent Business Traveler (http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com) is an online publication that brings must-read travel tips and insights, news, reviews, and local knowledge to globetrotting executives in order to ensure seamless, productive, and successful travel. It is published by Accura Media Group, a publisher of online content for the new class of consumers who prefer luxury, eco-friendliness, and smart design.


text:
So now that we have gotten most of our anger out over the New
York Ranger's terrible effort in game 6 against the Philadelphia Flyer there
are a couple of positives to hold out hope for in game 7. For starts the
Rangers are 5-0 in game sevens played at Madison Square Garden and Henrik
Lundqvist was the winning goalie in 2 of those wins.
The Rangers have won every odd numbered game is the only
other real positive.
The Ranger's Jekyll/Hyde act in the playoffs has to go if
this team ever hopes to get to one day play for the Stanley Cup. That nobody on
the Rangers can figure out why these efforts happen (they can but it is
doubtful they would ever admit it to the public) is sad because it does boil
down to one thing which is the lack of a real team leader.
Forget the nonsense about a captain as Ryan Callahan wasn't
all that great a leader either. We have been down this road before regarding
who should be the next captain and honestly I would give it to Derek Stepan
before anyone else.
What else angered me about the game? Wayne Simmonds running
Mats Zuccarello showed what kind of real "tough guy" he is. Really running a
guy 5'6 just after he scored a goal in a game that was long decided was as low
class as one can get.
A stick tap to Brian Boyle for dropping the gloves and
standing up for himself as Boyle has not played badly but man he has to improve
his skating and learn how to finish plays. If Boyle had finished even 1/3rd of the chances he has had in this series then this would be a piece on how much
a cheater Crosby is.
And I have to join the chorus of those begging to see Benoit
Pouliot sent to the press box as how many bad penalties does he get to take?
Yes Pouliot is trying to hit everything in sight and he did lead the Rangers
with 6 hits but the Rangers need him to score goals not play like a nutcase.
Should the Rangers fail to win game 7 then it will be time
for Glen Sather to step aside as Ranger's GM and just be Team President. 14
years and we keep finding ourselves watching this team snatch defeat from
The Flyers should have been dispatched in 5 games, 6 at the
most but the Rangers for whatever reason have now blown 12 straight games in
playoff series that they have led.
Excuse me I need to go beg my wife to bake one of her Ranger
magic pizzas as I do not want to have the Ranger season end hours before my
birthday begins. Every year people ask me what I would like for my birthday and
my answer is "to see the Rangers still playing hockey."
Lose Wednesday and my birthday wish won't happen. And then I will be really grumpy.


text:
- Northern New York Newspapers
- Watertown
- Ogdensburg
- Massena-Potsdam
- Lowville
- Carthage
- Malone
- NNY Business
- NNY Living
- NNY Ads
CANTON A 19-year-old Rochester man who faces several charges in the alleged drug-related stabbing and robbing of an Ogdensburg man in April was released from jail Thursday.
Olajuwon J. Holt, also known as Fraido, had been incarcerated since April 16 on charges of first-degree assault, first-degree robbery and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, all class B felonies; fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a class A misdemeanor; and fifth-degree criminal possession of marijuana, a class B misdemeanor.
He was released as a result of a 45-day motion, his attorney, Mary E. Rain, said.
The district attorneys office has 45 days from the time of a felony arrest to bring an indictment.
Ms. Rain said that on Friday she made a motion to which the DAs office did not respond. In St. Lawrence County Court on Thursday, Judge Jerome J. Richards released Mr. Holt.
Assistant District Attorney Joshua A. HaberkornHalm said his office was in the midst of pre-negotiations in Mr. Holts case and wanted to make sure he approached the grand jury for an indictment with all the proper evidence.
Ms. Rain made the proper motion; I recognize that, Mr. HaberkornHalm said. Charges are still pending, and I still intend to move forward and prosecute. Im not going to put a person under indictment without the proper evidence. I just want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row.
Mr. Holt will be arraigned at the time an indictment occurs.
Mr. Holt is accused of going to the home of Michael J. Wells, 1130 Ford St., on April 15 to buy marijuana, and while there, he grabbed the drugs and approximately $500, according to police. When confronted by Mr. Wells, Mr. Holt produced a large, fixed-blade knife and stabbed Mr. Wells in the chest and in his side, before fleeing on foot, according to police.
Mr. Wells was treated at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center for two stab wounds and released.
Police located Mr. Holt at 11 p.m. the same day in the upstairs bedroom of a Mill Street home. He was found in possession of several capsules of oxycodone and more than 25 grams of marijuana stored in four sandwich bags, according to police.
Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.
You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:


text:
5/26/2015 - Extended due to dry conditions. A date to cancel the fire ban has not yet been determined.
Maricopa County's regional parks will initiate the annual fire ban. This includes banning the use of all
campfire, fire pits and charcoal grills; however, it is still acceptable to use gas/propane grills in designated areas such as the ramada areas, semi-developed and developed camping sites, and along the shoreline at Lake Pleasant Regional Park.
If the parks do not receive ample rain during the monsoon season, the Maricopa County Parks and Recreation Department may extend the fire ban to protect the parks resources and ensure visitor safety. To learn more, click here.
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Open 24hrs
- 365 days a year
Nature Center Hours
The nature center is currently closed for renovations. We apologize for the inconvenience, and look forward to assisting you in the upgraded facility in the Fall of 2015.
Pleasant Regional Park
41835 N. Castle Hot Springs Rd.
Morristown, AZ 85342
Entry Station 1-928-501-1710
Fax 602-372-8596
For GPS entry: Lake Pleasant Visitor Center
Overlook Road
Peoria, AZ


text:
Pascal's Wager is an old tomato that philosophers have been sautéing around the pan for centuries. It states that, although the chance that hell exists is very small, the result of ending up there is infinitely bad (lake of fire FOREVER), so when you compute the product of the probability times badness, you should be a believer. However, Pascal doesn't go on to look at the probability that even if you do all you can, you still might screw up and find yourself in hell anyway. Suppose you are a Jew or Moslem and the cook at the Mexican restaurant slips some carnitas in your burrito? Straight to hell, and boy, would you be surprised.
This is one more reason why it is better to be a Pastafarian. The
True Prophet Bobby has hedged this bet. In our religion, if you screw up and go to hell, well, it's not so bad. Sure you will be washing dirty pasta bowls for very long time, but there will be stale beer, and that beats the heck ( ) out of body surfing brimstone for all eternity.


text:
Call Now:1-800-435-4074
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Days 6-10; April 8-12:
Posted 17 April 2002 - 10:57 AM
Being acquainted with one of the judges is the best of all possible worlds, it turns out, because you can come and go as you please (judges are sequestered all day with the contestants, conducting repetitive preliminary interviews) and you have access to all the inside information about the pageant without being subject to the same personal physical risks as the real judges. To wit, on account of the seriousness with which the contestants' mothers take the results, the judges are provided with police escorts as they leave the grounds -- and still Michelle was accosted by the angry mother of a runner-up.
The area around Lake Charles, Sulphur, and DeQuincy, in Western Louisiana, arguably marks the left edge of the area often called the Redneck Riviera. The Eastern border of the region lies somewhere in Northwest Florida, between Tallahassee and Pensacola. Needless to say, those in the area -- especially those who make their living promoting tourism -- are none too keen on the Redneck Riviera appellation and as a result they've come up with various marketing concepts to change the name and therefore (they hope) the image of the area.
At first blush, Gulf Coast seems like the most accurate and non-insulting designation, but of course the United States Gulf Coast reaches from the Tex-Mex border to the Florida Keys and therefore includes areas that have nothing to do with the more culturally and culinarily coherent region under discussion here. Some of the individual states within the region have come up with clever names for their slices of the Gulf Coast, such as Florida's Great Northwest, but the reality is that as you drive along the coast through Northwest Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and parts of Louisiana, you get a strong sense of a unified cultural and economic region that spans all four states. Indeed, the Alabama Gulf Coast probably has more in common with Northwest Florida and the Mississippi Gulf Coast than it does with the rest of Alabama -- it is quite unexpected, especially if you're a Northerner with a certain expectation of backwardness and ruralness when you think of Alabama.
Thus, the current frontrunner, supported by most of the regional tourism associations down there, is South Coast a/k/a SouthCoastUSA. I'm not sure I go for the words-strung-together gimmick, but South Coast is the designation that makes the most sense to me. Or you can just say Redneck Riviera with a smile, and nobody will get all that mad at you. I attempted to convince some folks that the best move was to take Redneck Riviera and run with it, making it into a term of pride, but my ideas are rarely embraced and this was no exception.
My unattainable goal was, in just few days, to get a taste of the South Coast and its seafood-centered cuisine. What I learned was, primarily, that I have to go back. The South Coast is the most exciting emerging culinary region I've visited in the United States, and in North America is rivaled in my opinion only by British Columbia for the sense of rapid gastronomic progress you feel everywhere. In just a few years, the South Coast has transitioned from an area dominated by rundown seafood shacks (a few of which are, thankfully, still around) and overcooked okra (which is slowly being driven out) to an environment of inventiveness and effective utilization of unique local ingredients. It's everything I look for when I leave the urban dining scene: Local stuff I can't easily get in New York, a strong regional sensibility in the preparations, and a lack of pretense or the sad and misguided attempt to be terribly fancy.
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola, Florida, is ten times nicer than I had imagined it would be, and the food is ten times better. I expected to find a company town, with the company being the United States Navy, and to me that means a bunch of sleazy bars punctuated by generic housing developments and perhaps a dog-racing track. In general I'm a fan of the armed forces -- several family members have served and one still does, and they do after all on occasion protect us from the bad guys -- yet distaste has been my unfortunate reaction to some towns that are dominated by major bases. But driving into town from the East, it rapidly becomes clear that Pensacola is not only a nice place but also a destination I'd recommend for an economical, unusual, and delicious short vacation.
You cross into Pensacola over the new Bay Bridge, which runs alongside the old Bay Bridge. The old bridge has been converted into one of the world's longest fishing piers (as in most of Florida, the bridge is really a causeway with a bridge-like bump in the middle, under which boats can cross). From the new bridge, you can see the same world-class white-sand beaches that run along the whole Northwest Florida coast. Even our unassuming motel, the dog-friendly Bay Beach Inn, which is a few feet from the East end of the bridge, has copious beachfront property. The downtown area, serviced by cute trolley buses, is active and quaint, full of coffee shops, museums, and art galleries -- many housed in historic buildings (Pensacola dates to 1559, though the original settlement is not the current downtown). There's evidence of the Navy all around, including overhead (the Blue Angels are a popular area attraction), but you have to hit the outskirts of town before you find the pawn shops and, yes, the dog-racing track.
Right near downtown are several parks as well as the Seville historic district, which contains Florida's oldest church (dating to 1832) and St. Michael's Cemetery (deeded to Pensacola by the King of Spain in 1822). There's also an active antiquing and flea-market scene around town.
And there's plenty to eat.
The moment I laid eyes on the Hopkins Boarding House I thought of Holly Moore, and how his life will never be complete until he dines at this, the mother of all family-style Southern restaurants. We were lucky enough to hit the restaurant -- which is in a regular house on a residential street -- on fried chicken day, and by 11:30am every seat was full. Customers are placed first-come-first-served at large communal tables alongside strangers. Your dessert (one of them, at least; coconut pudding on this day) is already in a bowl in the middle of your plate, along with utensils and napkins. Iced tea sits on the table in pitchers, and the food arrives -- fast and furious -- in bowls, on platters, and in baskets, always refilled before it's even a quarter gone. You help yourself and pass it along, which you must do continuously as new stuff is coming at you and anyway there mightn't be room on the table to accommodate all the food if everybody stopped passing it at once.
The food is hearty, honest, and excellent. I tried everything, and I assure you that trying just a spoonful of each item is an accomplishment. The fried chicken is true homestyle Southern fried chicken, with a dark golden crunchy exterior (in my opinion real fried chicken is supposed to be crunchy, not crispy, and a couple of shades darker than the fast food norm) and very moist meat that actually tastes like chicken (Betty, the cook who makes the chicken, has been on the job for something like 30 years). Macaroni and cheese comes in a steel trough with a layer of baked cheese entirely covering the surface. It's the real thing. And all the various vegetable sides possess the commingled flavor profile of old-style stewed veggies but aren't overcooked in the typical Southern manner -- they maintain shape and coherence.
Pensacola isn't a touristy town, and Hopkins House is nowhere near any street on which a visitor might happen to be walking, so I got the feeling we were the only tourists in the whole restaurant -- most customers appeared to be local businesspeople. No doubt noticing my accent (I never think of myself as having one, but in the South they immediately peg me for Northeastern if not specifically New York), one of my tablemates asked what I was doing in town. I gave probably a lengthier explanation than he wanted, and he replied, "Well I bet you don't get a lot of restaurants like this in New York." I of course said, "Every restaurant in New York is like this," but he wasn't buying.
In almost any well developed coastal town, you'll find at least one large fish house overlooking the water. These restaurants are usually awful, and often don't even serve any fish from the nearby waters. But once in awhile I stumble across one that implements the concept -- the seafood equivalent of a steakhouse -- with panache, such as Joe Fortes in Vancouver. The Pensacola Fish House turns out to be another of those rare exceptions to the rule: A large, bustling fish house that serves top quality local fish prepared well. The chef, Jim Shirley, is a seafood fanatic and a fisherman himself, and he's utterly dedicated to getting the best Gulf seafood (which, as the largest purchaser in the area and the only restaurant with a wholesale license, he has the power to do) and handling it with care. Between purchasing fish and cooking it, there is a little-examined but critically important intermediate step during which a restaurant butchers and otherwise handles its fish -- it is in this regard that I found Mr. Shirley to be particularly outspoken and knowledgeable.
The restaurant's slogan, "If our fish were any fresher, we'd have to slap 'em," is not to be taken lightly.
The core of the menu is a rotating selection (based on seasonality and availability) of half a dozen or so fish that might include snapper, grouper, wahoo, triggerfish, scamp, mackerel, cobia, amberjack, pompano, and mahi mahi, cooked in a variety of styles ranging from minimalist to blackened to Pacific Rim-influenced. There are also available, pretty much always, shrimp, oysters, and crab. The way to begin is with tiny candy-like local crab claws sautéed in white wine, butter, and garlic (they are also available fried or marinated), although you certainly can't go wrong with any of the raw-bar-type items. There is a sushi bar producing -- in addition to the expected rolls and such -- locally influenced sushi and sashimi with a sense of humor, such as the Florida roll, with grilled shrimp, green onion, and roasted red pepper. I had some superb yellowfin tuna sashimi, served in thin slices fanned out on a platter and accompanied by a Nobu-esque dipping sauce.
Two of the restaurant's signatures are smoked gouda cheese grits (self explanatory) and "Flattop Shrimp Potato Cakes" (a flattop in this context is basically a griddle, and these are seared cakes of shrimp, potatoes, red peppers, and onions, served with a roasted pepper remoulade), both well worth sampling if you have the strength (all portions are large).
The restaurant offers a 300-selection wine list, well priced. Curiously -- because I don't consider these wines particularly well suited to seafood -- the list contains one of the better selections of Australian Shiraz I've seen, and Mr. Shirley says they sell a ton of Shiraz to local wine enthusiasts.
We followed the seafood trail to the largest retail fish market in the area: Joe Patti's. It is one of the nicest I've seen, and certainly rivals the fish stalls at Pike's Place in Seattle, albeit with almost completely different offerings. I think the owner may be in some sort of trouble with the law, but it doesn't seem to have affected the fish.
We were also able to attend a meeting of the Pensacola Bulldog Club, which presently consists of Petey, the one bulldog in Pensacola. Momo was happily accepted as a guest member, though.
As with all our stops along the Gulf Coast, I wished we had more time in Pensacola. As it stands, I've got a list of a dozen or so restaurants I'd very much like to try upon a return visit, chief among them a place downtown called Jackson's (named for the plaza outside, where Andrew Jackson accepted the transfer of Florida from Spain in 1821), where chef Irv Miller -- considered to be one of the foremost chefs in the region (you will occasionally see him pop up in national media) -- is running what appears to be Pensacola's most serious restaurant. I spoke briefly with chef Miller, and found him to live up to his reputation as an engaging spokesman for Gulf Coast cuisine as well as a leader in developing local ingredients and gourmet supply lines. Also highly recommended by the Northwest Florida locals I have come to trust are the restaurants Jamie's and Lou Michael's.
My primary regret after our short stay in Pensacola, however, is that I didn't get to visit the NEX (Naval Exchange, a discount store for military personnel that I've been told is like Costco only better and cheaper). Our local bulldog-owning contact, Megan, a former Navy Lieutennant, took us there, but only her properly stickered vehicle was allowed to enter the compound. So we split up and, while Mrs. Fat-Guy went with Lt. Megan, Momo and I parked the van behind a nearby pawn shop and watched the traffic go by. This was the crummy area of Pensacola, which was what I had expected all of Pensacola to be like: Businesses mostly catering to sailors looking for a good time. I even saw an actual real live hooker walk by, but she didn't so much as glance my way. Am I a bad person for feeling a little bit hurt?
Alabama's Gulf Coast
Florida's Northwestern Gulf Coast was a surprise, but the Alabama Gulf Coast was so totally unexpected I felt like an idiot the whole time I was there, first because I had lived my life without a clue that one of the coolest beach communities in the country was in Alabama, and second because I kept repeating myself: "I can't believe this place; why didn't I know about this?"
Eliminate any preconceived notions you may have regarding Alabama, save perhaps for the accents and slow pace of speech (don't get into a card game with these folks, though -- they're not as slow as they talk). The Alabama Gulf Coast offers the same wide Gulf beaches as neighboring Florida, with the same white quartz sand that squeaks when you walk on it, but the beaches are even less crowded. As you drive from Pensacola to Perdido Key you cross a bridge and you're in Alabama, but not much else changes: The beach is well developed, though not overly so, with every conceivable lodging arrangement (hotels, condos, cottages, etc.), Jersey Shore-style amusements, plenty of below-market-rate championship golf, all the watersports you can think of (including SCUBA), some wildlife-rich state parks (where you can also rent cabins), birding (we were in town during a bird banding, actually), factory outlet shopping (one of the best outlet malls I've ever seen, in nearby Foley, Alabama), fishing, and a generally nice family ambience. It would be no trouble at all to spend a couple of weeks in the area and have plenty to do, especially given the region's proximity to Pensacola (hardly an hour away).
Accommodations are for the most part highly economical yet clean and modern: This being the off-season, we found ourselves in a beach cottage that sleeps six (a/k/a three couples), which we got hooked up with through a local realty company (Meyer Realty) that rents condos and cottages, usually by the week (there are tens of thousands of available units all along the coast). It was huge, brand-new, with all the amenities (kitchen, washer-dryer, multiple TVs, footsteps from the beach in a secure gated development) and it goes for $545 a week for the whole house (a bit higher in peak summer season). If you divide that by three couples and seven days, I think it comes out to about a nickel per person per day.
The main areas are Orange Beach (the first place you hit when you cross over from Florida), Gulf Shores, and Fort Morgan (at the end of the beach, where you'll find the more secluded lodgings as well as the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge). As we were staying down towards the Fort Morgan end of things, and we got in on the late side, and we were wiped out, and we were not well provisioned to prepare our own meal, we reluctantly dined at the only restaurant that was within a couple of minutes of our cottage: The Restaurant at The Beach Club. This could have been a disaster in the making, and we had no expectations of our first meal in Alabama. But while the restaurant gave every indication of being country-club generic, right down to VH-1-style music, the kitchen turned out a totally agreeable meal. Which just goes to show you, if you have fresh fish from the Gulf and you don't overcook it, you're a good restaurant. We also happened to have a total character of a waiter, who I'm sure had a very enjoyable decade in the '60s. He recalled the early days of Alabama beachfront development, when you could "play nine innings of baseball in the middle of the highway without one time out."
But it was the following day's meal at King Neptune's Seafood that really opened my eyes to the possibilities of Alabama Gulf Coast dining. Finally, the restaurant I had been looking for since Florida: A place that takes shrimp and oysters and everything else from the Gulf, cooks them with minimal intervention, and piles them high on platters for consumption by hand.
In New York City, and in most places I've visited, there is a product known as shrimp. The only differences among shrimp pertain to size. Shrimp is shrimp. But if you're in shrimp country, there are differences among shrimp just as sure as the difference between Merlot and Zinfandel. There are Whites, there are Browns, and there are Pinks. We had the extreme good fortune to be present during the season for Royal Reds, which represent the pinnacle of the Gulf shrimp experience. They're immense -- several inches long when stretched out to their full head-on length. They're actually red in their raw state. They're somewhat difficult to peel, which makes them less desirable for the commercial trade, but it's worth the effort for their sweet lobster-like flesh. They're so good I may have to swear off shrimp until the next time I'm in Alabama.
Al Sawyer, the owner of King Neptune's, used to be a fish salesman for the nearby Bon Secour Seafood Company. His job was to sell crab up and down the East Coast, and in his travels he acquired a taste for the various regional seafood styles of the coast. His restaurant is traditionally Southern, but it is lightened up a bit by these external influences and his spice mixtures are more robust that you'd expect outside of Louisiana (he actually prefers the Maryland/Old-Bay style of seasoning for his Royal Red shrimp specifically). King Neptune's makes a rich, deep gumbo bursting with fresh seafood (I'd say something like half the volume of the bowl is solid shellfish), and the restaurant makes po' boys the way I like them: With large oysters and shrimp, not all clumped together and without too much in the way of garnishes. All the steamed (he prefers steaming to boiling) and fried shrimp are a joy to eat -- and cheap. The local oysters are half-dollar-sized and mellow, with a clean non-metallic taste. And Al Sawyer's kitchen makes a mean bread pudding with plenty of raisins and a strong whiskey sauce.
You'll be hearing more about Al Sawyer in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned.
Biloxi, Mississippi
Dear Food Network Executives: Drop what you're doing, get yourselves on the first plane to Biloxi, and go visit your next international mega-star before someone else snatches her up. Jennifer Diaz is her name, and she's hipper than Nigella, hotter than Padma, smarter than Martha, and worldlier than Merrilees. She's blonde, she's got a funky accent you can't identify (a mix of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where she's from, and Biloxi, where she's made her home), she's the mother of two but doesn't look as though she's old enough to drive, and she's the industrious businesswoman owner of the historic Green Oaks bed and breakfast in Biloxi -- Mississippi's oldest surviving beachfront residence, dating to the early 19th Century. Just set the cameras up right in there; no need even to build a set. Whether you're eight or eighty, male or female, you'll be smitten. She simultaneously radiates sensuality, motherliness, naughtiness, and sophistication. Plus she makes breakfasts almost as delicious as she is, and her afternoon mint-julep teas have a reputation for causing no end of mischief.
Those are serious crab cakes with poached eggs, one of several courses in a typical Green Oaks breakfast.
Get this: Jennifer Diaz's first career was as a traveling Disney character (I imagine Snow White, though I didn't ask), and while passing through Biloxi it seems she met her now-former husband and stayed. She acquired and renovated the Green Oaks property and the first thing she had to do was help the city draft a bed and breakfast ordinance, as there had been no legal provisions for bed and breakfasts in Biloxi previously. The property has gone from nothing to the most successful bed and breakfast in Biloxi in just five years. It continues to expand and improve, and frequently hosts weddings and events with up to 400 guests (Ms. Diaz has a part-time staff of 40, including a team of chefs, and can prepare just about any level of cuisine).
Even Momo fell in love, with Jennifer Diaz's white collie, Justice:
Biloxi is an offbeat town, the kind of place that's increasingly difficult to find in a homogenized America. I didn't much know what to expect of the city, as my only familiarity with the concept of Biloxi came from Neil Simon. I also knew to expect casinos, and there are indeed quite a few garish ones along the water in Biloxi. But they don't dominate the local culture, which is a gritty mix of Cajun/Creole (thanks to the strong influence of nearby New Orleans) and the Old South (as in the portrayal of Savannah, Georgia, in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil). I'd like to spend some more time there, though I could easily imagine myself drunk, arrested, penniless, and disgraced after a few weeks of high Biloxi living.
We only had the opportunity to enjoy one restaurant meal in Biloxi, and we took it at Mary Mahoney's Old French House.
Apparently everybody else in Biloxi did too -- or at least everyone who wasn't at one of the casinos. The streets of downtown Biloxi were deserted at night, but approaching Mary Mahoney's -- built in 1737, and with the original slave quarters still intact (now a dining room) -- we saw crowds spilling out onto the sidewalk. After fighting our way through the courtyard we were seated somewhere in a maze of dining rooms (I was afraid to leave the table for fear of not being able to find it again) and served by a waiter who may have been there since the restaurant's 1964 opening. The cuisine, as well, seems frozen in time: Big portions of shrimp and crabmeat, covered in cheese, with lots of garlic and maybe some pasta. Delicious, if you're in the right retro sort of mood.
As an example of the Biloxi outlook, here's how Mary Mahoney's describes its hours of operation:
Open 11 a.m.
We didn't have the opportunity to visit the several other towns along Mississippi's Gulf Coast, like Gulfport, Pass Christian, and Bay St. Louis, but driving through them along Highway 90, we vowed to return (also, good factory outlet shopping in Gulfport).
Lake Charles, Louisiana
I long ago quit going to street fairs in New York City. When I was a kid, living on West 69th Street (then, and still now, a street with one of the most active block associations anywhere), we had something every year called a block party. It was just that: The street was closed down for a day, and everybody on the block with a talent (and some without) set up a table and offered his or her services for a pittance. The money went to help buy trees for the block (you will notice that the two blocks of West 69th Street, running from Central Park West to Broadway, have more closely spaced trees than most other blocks). There was the calligrapher who would write your name on a piece of paper, there was the carpenter who set up a booth where you could bang nails into 2x4 lumber, and there was the great Jazz trumpet player, Howard McGhee (he lived across the hall from us in #106), who assembled a bandstand that would never satisfy code today and played all day long.
Sometime in the 1980s, however, block parties gave way to street fairs put together by professional organizers. A church or school or neighborhood association with the power to get a permit would contract the function out to professionals who would in turn make lots of money and give a cut to the sponsoring organization. It was a fine idea from the standpoint of fundraising, but it spelled homogenization and the death of the true neighborhood block party. Now, every street fair is pretty much the same, with the same professional full-time roving team of street-fair vendors, and the only thing they're good for is buying cheap socks.
In Louisiana, the equivalent of the New York City street fair is the festival. There are festivals for everything, more than 400 of them a year (there are another 100 per year in neighboring Mississippi, by the way). On the upcoming weekend when we were in the Lake Charles area, there were three festivals in that region alone, and many more across the state, as there are every weekend of the year even in the dead of winter (they call the long-standing fur trappers' festival in mid-winter "the oldest and coldest"). And while there are, as one would expect, some generic, professional vendors who appear at a different festival every weekend, the spirit of individuality and community is still very much intact. At the Louisiana Railroad Days Festival, in DeQuincy, there were plenty of local vendors, from the fire department selling baked potatoes to a local gentleman making freshly cut and fried potato chips with a rotating-slicing contraption cleverly powered by an electric drill. Good chips; yet another example of how the potato chip is an underrated food overshadowed by the inferior French fry.
I also approached the sausage-on-a-stick vendor with every intention of buying a sausage on a stick, but he asked me, "Are you sure you want that on a stick?" I pointed out that the name of his business is Sausage on a Stick, but he explained, "If you get a sandwich, you get the bread for free and you can put onions on it." But the true local character came out in the festival events such as the mock train robbery, the diaper derby, and live music courtesy of local bands (including a Christian rap performance).
At most every festival, however, the main event is the beauty pageant, as well it should be. I barely scratched the surface of the pageant culture, and I'm not sure it would be safe for me to do anything more than that. But everything about the pageant was so over-the-top and capricious, I couldn't have been more highly entertained. Just the part of the pageant where they introduce the contestants, listing hobbies, names of parents, and other essential information, is worth the trip to DeQuincy. The winner's hobbies, incidentally: "Driving the old truck around the farm, talkin' on the phone, and takin' care of her baby brother."
We pretty much skipped New Orleans, though we did stop for a quick lunch with some friends and their pug, Yo Yo (named for the cellist). Coffee and beignets at Café du Monde were quite unremarkable, but the fried chicken we ordered from Fiorella's, which our friends assured us is the best in the world, was legit. Still, we spent only a couple of hours in town so that we could examine the more off-the-beaten-track Lake Charles area to the West.
Our final meal in the Lake Charles area was in Sulphur, at Cajun Charlie's. Charlie is actually the last name of the owners. We indulged in a massive Cajun lunch buffet, where everything was well prepared and spicy as heck, but even more memorable than the cuisine is the restaurant's location: Directly behind a cemetery.
The area around Lake Charles is mostly industrial, with the dominant force being the petrochemical industry. But there has also been a serious effort made to develop regional tourism, and if you're a nature buff you won't want to miss the Creole Nature Trail -- one of our great national scenic byways. It takes a whole day to drive it, though you can do some shorter loops. We drove about 15 minutes, didn't see any alligators, and turned around so we could eat another restaurant meal, stopping along the way at Brown's Market to purchase four kinds of local sausage.
King Neptune's Gumbo
These are the quantities (and instructions) in use at the restaurant and will yield several gallons, but the recipe is totally scalable.
4 cups oil
4 cups flour
5 pounds andouille sausage cut into ¼ inch slices
4 bunches celery, rough chop
10 onions, rough chop
10 green peppers, rough chop
½ cup minced garlic
1 #10 can diced tomatoes
½ cup Creole seasoning mix (available in stores, or you can approximate it in this context by combining equal parts paprika, cayenne pepper, and dehydrated onion)
¼ cup ground black pepper
½ cup salt
½ cup dried oregano
½ cup dried thyme
½ cup Tabasco sauce
1 cup shrimp base (available in many Asian grocery stores and some Western gourmet markets)
1 cup Worcestershire sauce
3 pounds okra
10 pounds shrimp
1 gallon standard oysters
2 pounds crab claw meat
2 gallons water
1 cup sassafras
1 cup corn starch, combined with 2 cups water
Take and mix well in a large sauté pan your flour and oil. Place in convection oven at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until dark brown. When you take it out, rough chop onion and add it for flavor.
Cut your andouille sausage into ¼ inch rounds and render down well first. Once that is done, add celery, onions, bell peppers and garlic. Cook vegetables down until they are translucent. Now add your seasoning and tomatoes. Let your seasoning and tomatoes cook for a few minutes, then add water and bring to a slow boil. Add your seafood. Make sure your pot is a slow boil before you add your seafood. Once your gumbo starts to cook a little more, add okra. Let your okra cook, then add your gravy bouquet and sassafras, cornstarch and water. Once all ingredients are added, let your gumbo cook on low heat for another 10-20 minutes.
Addresses in Florida
Joe Patti Seafood Co.
South A St.
Pensacola, FL
(850) 432-3315
400 S. Palafox
Pensacola, FL
(850) 469-9898
Fish House
600 Barracks St.
Pensacola, FL
(850) 470-0003
Jamie's Restaurant
424 E. Zarragossa St.
Pensacola, FL
(850) 434-2911
Lou Michael's Downtown
25 S. Palafox
Pensacola, FL
(850) 470-9191
Hopkins Boarding House
900 N. Spring St.
Pensacola, FL
(850) 438-3979
Addresses in Alabama
The Restaurant At The Beach Club
453 Beach Club Trail
Gulf Shores, AL
(251) 540-2525
King Neptune's
1137 Gulf Shores Parkway
Gulf Shores, AL
(251) 968-5464
Addresses in Mississippi
Green Oaks Bed & Breakfast
580 Beach Boulevard
Biloxi, MS
(888) 436-6257
Mary Mahoney's Old French House
116 Rue Magnolia
Biloxi, MS
(228) 374-0163
Photos by Ellen R. Shapiro
Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, firstname.lastname@example.com
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)
Posted 17 April 2002 - 11:59 AM
Posted 17 April 2002 - 12:13 PM
Posted 17 April 2002 - 12:54 PM
Posted 17 April 2002 - 01:16 PM
Posted 17 April 2002 - 01:23 PM
Posted 17 April 2002 - 01:38 PM
Me "We gotta go to Charlestown in the fall!"
Wife "Ok!"
Me "No, make that the Florida panhandle!"
Wife "Allright!"
Me "No, make that Alabama!"
Wife "Too much time on the web must lead to mental illness"
Posted 17 April 2002 - 01:47 PM
Great post as usual but two pictures of Momo and none of Jennifer Diaz????
Your latest post a huge disappointment, Fat Guy. No picture of Jennifer Diaz.
Can we assume that you took the beauty pageant picture?
Posted 17 April 2002 - 04:57 PM
Author, Hungry Monkey, coming in May
Posted 18 April 2002 - 06:18 AM
I've noticed, along with others, the huge proportion of shellfish you're eating, F-G. Is that a regional thing, or is it just a general strong preference ?
Posted 18 April 2002 - 03:01 PM
Posted 18 April 2002 - 03:05 PM
I'm heading South tomorrow for a three day round trip trek to the World Grits Festival in St. George SC. Wish I had another day, could just about make it to Hopkins.
And to a few of the other places you mentioned too.
One of these days I've got to figure out how you manage to grab two plus months of driving and eating. My kind of existence.
"I eat, therefore I am."
Posted 19 April 2002 - 09:49 AM
Col Klink: I hope to have that up tomorrow or the next day, connection permitting.
Beachfan: I know the feeling. You wouldn't believe the number of e-mails I get that contribute to paranoia on this end. "You were in Alabama and didn't go to Mobile? You're a moron and I'm never reading anything you write again!"
Wilfrid/Macrosan: It's the South Coast, so seafood is the thing to eat. Where appropriate, I'll eat plenty of mammals.
Macrosan/Mamster/NewYorkTexan/Robert: I'm not sure which of us took that photo, because we both tried and failed to get a clear shot due to the lighting and distance issues. The photo of Jennifer, I'm keeping for myself.
Rachel: It's so cheap to stay there, it might not be worth wasting a time-share share that allows you to go someplace like Paris.
Holly: It's easy, you just sign up for multiple credit cards, charge everything and also get some cash advances, and then declare bankruptcy.
Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, firstname.lastname@example.com
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)
Posted 19 April 2002 - 07:02 PM
"I eat, therefore I am."
Posted 20 April 2002 - 08:30 AM
Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, email@example.com
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)
Posted 21 April 2002 - 04:45 PM
Posted 21 April 2002 - 06:42 PM
Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, firstname.lastname@example.com
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)
Posted 21 April 2002 - 06:44 PM
Posted 21 April 2002 - 07:04 PM
Grateful Palate is the one. I'll also respond to Col Klink's party post soon. Thanks.
Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, email@example.com
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)
Posted 22 April 2002 - 04:14 PM
And was that Betty in the photo, bravely trying to quell the bubbling furies atop that mammoth stove? [Great photos, Ellen!]
Posted 23 April 2002 - 02:36 AM
it seems to me that some Italians know their US vacation destinations better than most Americans!
The Italian food magazine Gambero Rosso (the original Italian version, not the bad version in English that you see in the US) has a feature this month on the stretch of coast that goes from Pensacola to western Louisiana, with reports on places to eat, to stay, etc. including places in Biloxi.
I forgot to bring the magazine to the office with me but if you're interested I can dig it up and report the places they recommend.
Anyway, great job on these reports, I can only ad my envy to that of everyone else
Posted 23 April 2002 - 07:58 AM
The Japanese in particular seem incredibly resourceful at digging up the coolest things to do anywhere. I've thought from time to time about finding a Japanese collaborator and doing a "secrets of the Japanese guidebooks" piece for an English-speaking audience. In general, travel is much more of a way of life in Europe and the wealthier parts of Asia than it is here in the United States. In Europe in particular, where people have two or three times as much vacation time per year as we do on average, there's simply more demand for reliable travel information.
Yes, that's Betty.
Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, email@example.com
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)
Posted 22 May 2002 - 08:33 AM
Posted 31 May 2002 - 07:39 AM
keep up the interesting commentary.
Posted 01 June 2002 - 12:32 AM
Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, firstname.lastname@example.com
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)
Posted 05 June 2002 - 11:17 AM
One of the best meals anywhere is a Biloxi-style shrimp po-boy, a cup of gumbo and a cold Barq's root beer.
The bread they use for po-boys in Biloxi is softer than the baguette-style bread found in New Orleans and other places, and many restaurants use a press to flatten the sandwiches.
Alas, there are few places where you can still get one of these unique delicacies. A few places where you can are Mary Mahoney's, McElroy's Harbor House and Mary's Drive-Inn.
Thanks for the memories!
Posted 22 June 2002 - 03:58 PM
that all restaurants were like Mrs. Hopkins. Dining at Jackson's is great.
Chef Miller, I have known him since he worked in Destin, has a wonderful
way with food. Another personal favorite restaurant in Pensacola is McGuires, they let you have fun with dinner. The beaches are the best. The museum at the Pensacola Navy base is fascinating. Just up the highway from Orange Beach, Al is the town of Fairhope. A very unexpected
artists colony. And between Foley and the Florida State line is a little dairy
called 'Sweet Home Farm'. They make their own cheeses, pretty good stuff. One of my favorite times to return home is in November for the
Greater Gulf Coast Arts Festival held every year in Seville Square historical
district of Pensacola. I will start planning my trip now. Thanks for bringing
back good memories of a special place.
Posted 16 July 2002 - 11:11 AM
Posted 03 April 2003 - 06:33 AM
From FG's travel's.
Practice. Do it over. Get it right.
Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.