A Love Affair with Food

   

    Crispy, crunchy, smooth and delicious are descriptions that food lovers speak daily. A love affair of food can be both educating and toxic. Watch the film "The Reader" and find the relationship just as intoxicating and depressing. The obsession diseases you for life.

    When those cookies come out of the oven perfectly baked its as exciting as the first time it happened. The timing is perfect and the taste is everything you expected.

   From a young age food connoisseurs will try a new taste at least once. Cheetos dipped in mustard, ketchup on eggs and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches stuffed with any kind of potato chips are personal favorites.

     With technology and the fool-proof timing cooking is something that just comes natural. Practices for cooking chicken, beef and other wild game has been around since people had fire. These practices are being used now because they still hold the taste power that they did back then.

    Surrounding a whole chicken in salt and cooking it over wood for several hours will produce the juiciest chicken ever imaginable. Try finding that at your local grocer or cafe.

    Lovers of food appreciate these patient tasks because they truly can taste all the different spices perfectly blended to compliment the food. With technology ideas have grown and cooks are mixing opposites to create beautiful marriages in food.

    From Thai Tea cupcakes to chocolate covered bacon the options are endless. Next time you enter the deli, try the new concoction and find a new favorite. 

From Boo to Whoo

                                                                      

OG Scary Witch

  

                           

                                                                     

    Over the years Halloween costumes have gone from the scariest to the skankiest. Vampires glitter, witches are pretty and ghosts bring another meaning to invisible.

Political Witch

       Costumes range from bumble bees to nurses to the Flintstones. In what case are any of these characters scary? Maybe if we play a zombie Fred it would be more appropriate for the holiday.

Skanky Witch or just Skank?

      Halloween dates back over 2000 years ago and began as a pagan holiday honoring the dead. They would celebrate on the October 31 to recognize Samhain.  Samhain means “summers end” and the Celts would have a harvest festival with sacred bonfires.

   Some of the practices involved were fed on superstition and the Celts believed that the dead roamed the villages at night. Therefore they left treats and gifts outside their doors to pacify the evil and ensure next year’s crops.

  We have all been guilty of wearing that adult Fairy outfit just because we could but it would be so much more fun to bring the scary back in All Hallows Eve.  The idea of crafting together our costumes at home has disappeared and been replaced by specialty stores charging anywhere from $40 to $100 for a costume.

   It would be much more exciting to make a spooky costume at home that no one will have.  There’s nothing worse than showing up as Cleopatra only to realize that there are four other versions of the Egyptian queen at the party.

  Put that spine-chilling Dracula face on and get the bloodcurdling screams that we have all been waiting for.

                                          

Up, Up and Away

          

           The bullet went right through the head and the blood began to spill.

Wake up with our hearts racing, realizing we had only been dreaming. Whether were trying to escape or visualizing old friends, dreams have a wider range of the random.

      We find ourselves trying to understand what they mean and what they are trying to tell us. Dreams are just a random play of our subconcious, and they don't really mean anything. 

       The internet is full of physics and dream interpretation websites that can lead us on a wild dream goose chase.

    Sigmund Freud believed that we use images to express our internal lives. He said that dreams are the poems we tell ourselves at night in order to experience our unconscious wishes as real. He also said "life is not easy".

   Sometimes we just have to face reality and stop living in the fantasy world in our heads.

     There are five major theories about why we dream.

1. The Evolutionary Theory: Dream to practice responses to threatening situations. The dreams tap into the fight or flight part of our brains.

2. Dreams Create Wisdom: They sort through memories to determine which ones to lose and which ones to retain.

3. Dream to Forget: A reordering of connections to streamline the system, think of your brain as a hard drive.

4. Psychotherapy: Dealing with emotional content in a safe place.

5: No meaning at all.

    Before you type in that credit card number to receive that pyschic reading, remember we make our own destinies. These people are cons and prey on your emotions to make money.  Don't get wrapped up in deciphering dreams that you forget about living.

Cinderella: The Liar

           There is no fairy godmother. We are not special. Now, get up, turn off the television, and make a change. That change is to spice up your love life , don't become the slightly overweight football-mom watching soap operas to get your kicks.

    That soap opera love scene is probably impossible, but wouldn't we like to give it a try. Romance doesn't happen the way it does in the movies, we have been fed fantasy our entire lives. Growing up watching Beauty and the Beast only to realize that the beast doesn't transform into prince charming.

     It's not all their fault, we let them. As women it doesn't take much to get your mans motor running so why add a little STP to their engine. Saying "I love you" while buttoning their shirt before work could be a pre warmer  to an evening of unbuttoning.

    Romance does not have to be complicated or scary, practice makes perfect right? In any case, the more time we spend with our partners the stronger our relationship becomes.

      We don't need to spend hours reading magazines and love sites for advice, just do what comes natural. Even animals gives their mates flowers.

     If the romance in the relationship has sunk like the Titanic, start adding in these few tips every day and feel the ice melt.
    1. Cook their favorite dinner and dress up or down . It's okay to skip to the chocolate covered strawberries first, no rules .

   2.Send them a sweet message or leave a note in their briefcase or on the nightstand. Its a wonderful way to start the day and they can't wait to talk to and see us later.

   3. Be confident in your body. Only our partners get to see us naked, they don't notice our self-obsessed flaws so don't drab the mood by complaining about them. Lingerie can help us be more confident and can be shipped privately to our homes.

   4. Romance is not just about sex, its about making them feel special. As we all know, no one else is going to make us feel this way. The best way to show we care is a long hug, or just brushing your hands through their hair.

    5. In all cases, back scratches and massages always win.

Remember no one is perfect and romance doesn't come in a well written script for us. Just put ourselves out there and our partners will follow.

Captain Planet needs your phone

       The public’s demand for smaller, faster and internet ready is growing. Holiday wish lists are sure to be full of requests for IPads, Kindles, and smart phones. As these devices become more accessible, the home desktop becomes another piece of dusty furniture.

       What is to become of these outdated pc’s as more people replace them with newer technology. Most people are tossing their old electronics, and the waste is starting to add up.  According to GreenPeace, 20 to 50 million tons of e-waste is discarded globally every year.

      These electronics contain hazardous materials such as mercury and lead that can pollute our air, soil and water. Instead of trashing our old computers and cell phones, electronic companies and retailers are encouraging the public to recycle them.

   Computers can be refurbished or picked at for parts. The parts that are recyclable obviously include the glass and plastic, but more importantly the cathode ray tube or (CRT), batteries, and cables. These parts contain toxic materials.

       Refurbished computers can be resold at lower prices for homes that cannot afford new ones or donated to schools and other charitable organizations. Many retailers such as Best Buy, Staples and Office Depot accept your old computers and charge a small disposal fee.

    Mobile phones are quickly replacing the pc and over 130 million phones are tossed each year. The phone had a lifeline of 18-24 months with one owner and becomes replaced when they have the option to upgrade. Verizon, AT&T and Sprint want customers to recycle their old phones so that they can be donated as well.

    Mobile phones contain toxic materials that can harm the environment and nearly every piece of the device is recyclable. Recycling one phone saves enough energy to power one laptop for 44 hours. Motorola, Nokia, LG, and Sony have set up websites that include information on how to recycle your old electronics. 

      If recycling is not on your agenda, then organizations that pay for your old electronics may be the winning ticket.  Cell for cash.com tells you what they will pay for your phone and Gazelle. Com will offer you a bid for your old electronics. 

      Recycling your old electronics is easy and the information is out there. You can visit   mygreenelectronics.com to locate local recycling drop off points by zip code and category.  Let’s build tech savvy generations, not mountains of Zach Morris reminders in landfills.