product review

Hookitty-Tookitty-Tah

imageLike to tell you about a children’s book that had my grand kids total attention.

It’s a story about a town, who had a king, and a menacing yellow dragon.  The king did not want to have any problems with this dragon.

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So a pack they made.

Until something goes wrong with the yellow dragon.

Who becomes  yellow no more.

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Now the town turns for help and who do they seek?  The one and only Hookitty-Tookitty-Tah.    HTT comes to save the town from the not so yellow, anymore, dragon.

This book kept my grand children’s attention and they enjoyed  hearing how Hookitty-Tookitty-Tah saved the town.

But what they mostly enjoyed was the rhyming of the words in the story.

Miss Sophie  would try to guess the last word of the sentence, that would rhyme with the end of the last sentence. Got it?

 She enjoyed this book so much she made me read it again, and again.

Yes, Hookitty-Tookitty-Tah was a hero in this story, but the rhyming got all the glory.

Get this book and I can guarantee your grand kids will be HOOKITTY-TOOKITTY-TAHing

product review

Hail Merry Grab and Go Treats

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I got to Mercis’ house early on Friday. The plan was to go for dinner with our sisters for Mercis’ birthday.  I had a cup of tea and then I got hungry. Dinner was not until 7:30 and it was 4:30. What do you have for me to munch on?  Merci came back with these Hail Merry grab and go  treat bags.

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I finally picked the Grawnola orange-cranberry bag.  Love this stuff!! Hail Merry is a gluten-free, kosher, and non-GMO verified kitchen. This tasty little package saved the day.  Merci told me her grandchildren go for  the strawberry Macaroons.  Love macaroons 🙂  Lots of variety to choose from Hail Merry. Have you tried them?

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Dining, Family

Keep Those Birthdays Coming

soleLast night we went out to celebrate Mercis’ birthday. Her sister Marlene picked the restaurant Sole, a lovely Italian place  in Oceanside NY.  She got a great coupon from Groupon, love that site.  We waited a few minutes at Marlenes’ house for my sister Maryanne, who works late on Friday and then we hopped into Marlenes car and we were off.

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We each ordered a glass of wine and then we split 2 starters between us. Our ever-patient waiter suggested the Bruleed Pear, baby greens, goat cheese, candied cashews, prosciutto, grape tomato salad and also Gorgonzola spread on a bacon jam crostini. Plates clean 🙂

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Merci, the birthday girl ordered the Mediterranean Rockfish and I got the Spicy Capellini Shrimp. I like it hot!!

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Marianne got the Eggplant Parm and Marlene ordered the Mezza Rigatoni with Prosciutto in a cream sauce.

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Merci was the only one who finished her dinner the rest of us took home a  doggy bag. Everything at Sole was delish!!  For dessert we shared  the Tiramisu Candied Banana Split with Gelato and Biscotti. Do I have to tell you the ride home was quiet. We were full!!

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We have been celebrating our birthdays this way for over 20 years now. I hope we will continue for 20 more. Birthdays are filled with yesterday memories, today joy and tomorrow dreams. That is why we love them.  Oh, and the cake too 🙂

 

 

recipe

Kale

Have you heard about KALE.  Kale, it seems, is the new super power food.  Now when I heard about Kale I did snub my nose at it.  I just knew I would never like it, it just looked like it would be bitter in taste and just YUCK!   I am a veggie eater but a kale eater, just did not think that I would appreciate it.

I just kept hearing, from others,  how kale was packed with all this good stuff.  More packed then spinach.  Really?

So I decided to do a little Google check on this Kale.

I found 10 reasons why I should give kale a try.

1. Kale is low in calories, one cup has 36 calories, is high in fiber, 5 grams of fiber , and no fat, that’s  ZERO FAT!

2. Kale is high in iron- more iron than beef, iron is essential for good health.

3. Kale is high in vitamin K- increased level of vitamin K can help people suffering from Alzheimer disease.

4. Kale is filled with powerful antioxidants – antioxidants help prevent various cancers

5. Kale is a great anti-inflammatory – one cup of kale has 10% of the RDA of the omega 3 fatty acid

6. Kale is great for cardiovascular support – eating kale helps lower cholesterol.

7. Kale is high in vitamin A – A is a great for skin and helps prevent lung and oral  cavity cancers.

8. Kale is high in vitamin C – helps your hydration, immune system and your metabolism

9. Kale is high in calcium – per calorie, kale has more calcium than milk, which helps prevent bone loss preventing osteoporosis.

10. Kale is a great detox food.- kale is filled with fiber and sulfur, both great for detoxifying your body, which is great for your liver.

After reading the above  it was an easy decision to head out to the super market and buy some Kale.  I was so happy to find that Kale Greens came in a ready to eat bag.

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That made me smile, no cleaning necessary.  Then the question I asked myself was,  how am I going to cook this kale?  Happy to announce that on the back of the bag was a simple recipe of how to cook kale.  All I needed was oil, garlic, chicken broth, wine vinegar and some salt to taste.

photo_1 (14)I  placed  2 tablespoons of  olive oil in a pan, along with 2-3 thinly sliced garlic cloves, sauted garlic till tender.  Opened the bag of kale and emptied in to the pan,  then added  1/2 cup of chicken broth.  I turn up the heat and boiled away the liquid.  When all liquid was boiled away,  I sprinkled about 2 tablespoons of the wine vinegar, and some salt.

 

 

 

 

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I cannot say that Kale is delicious, but it is not so terrible.   I will be buying another bag of kale but next time I will add a little extra garlic, broth, and wine vinegar.  I figured that a little extra won’t take away any of the 10 reasons why I now eat kale.