New York foreclosures, NY, properties are now affordable ? Real ...

Instantly recognized as the commercial and financial center of America, as well as the world economies by the New York State Exchange, the State of New York was high in the minds of home buyers as expensive. It was true also that property prices in the New York City were ranked among the costliest cities of world. Even now, after the roll over of US real estate markets upside down by the foreclosure tornado, more than the New York City, there are hundreds of thousands of properties listed in New York foreclosures, NY from the suburban areas.

In contrast to the urban atmosphere and commercial activities, New York State is vastly filled by farms; forests; rivers; mountains; and lakes, which give a different proposition for living styles of people altogether. New York State borders on two great lakes ? Erie and Ontario connected by the Niagara River; the provinces of Quebec and Ontario in Canada; Lake Champlain; and Rhode Island share a water border with New York State.

To distinguish New York City and its large Metropolitan Area from the rest of New York State, terms ?Upstate? and ?Downstate? are often used. So with the abundance of water resources including the Hudson River, the downstate is fertile for agricultural productions, which largely contribute to the State?s economy. Home buying and settling down in the suburbs of major towns and cities of New York State, other than New York City, is not that expensive, particularly so with the availability of innumerable properties listed under New York foreclosures, NY.

New York State is the 3rd largest in the United States by population ? 19.49 millions as per 2008 estimates ? and New York City is home to more than two-fifths of the State?s population. The top ten cities of New York State are ? New York City; Buffalo; Rochester; Yonkers; Syracuse; Albany (state capital); New Rochelle; Mount Vernon; Schenectady; and Utica. All the above cities and towns have excellent residential neighborhoods and the properties now listed under New York foreclosures, NY are from these neighborhoods.

The foreclosure fiasco has made these properties, which were priced very high and not affordable to home buyers, both by the scarcity in availability and increased demand, are now suddenly become affordable. In the last six months the foreclosure market report reveals that New York State has turned up 24,210 properties as foreclosure filings.

The foreclosure rate of New York State is one in every 328 housing units faced one or the other form of foreclosure problem. The increased foreclosure activity month after month has brought forth a selling pressure on the New York foreclosures, NY. As on date there are 57,913 properties available in New York foreclosures, NY with an average price of $243,796. So these properties are very much affordable, when compared to the median value of $369,778 for New York State homes for sale.

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Source: http://rawbusinesslaw.com/2012/12/28/new-york-foreclosures-ny-properties-are-now-affordable-real-estate-foreclosures/

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Health & Fitness: The Most Effective Eczema Natural Remedies

Many people are turning to eczema natural remedies due to their effectiveness in relieving the discomfort caused by this condition. In addition, the natural solutions are a better option when it comes to treating and preventing skin diseases and disorders from occurring in the future. Eczema is normally characterized by dryness of the skin, inflammation, a persistent itch, and reddening of the skin. If left untreated, the condition worsens rapidly.

Skin inflammation, accompanied by flaking, persistent itching and red patches is very common in patients suffering from eczema. For you to effectively deal with the condition, you must find a solution that will provide fast relief from the discomfort, as well as address the underlying causes. Corticosteroids have been in use for many years to treat these ailments. However, these drugs only offer temporary relief.

Many eczema sufferers usually visit dermatologists and other skin specialists with the hope that they will find simple, yet effective cures that they can use in the comfort of their homes. However, they may be surprised to discover that their efforts are in vain. Home treatments such as moisturizers, balanced diet, Blueberry leaf lotion, emollients, herbal baths, and Lactobacillus Acidophilus provide a simple solution for them.

Appropriate skincare is necessary if one wants to prevent this condition. For instance, ensuring that the skin is moist and supple prevents skin irritation and itching. To achieve this, one is required to use a variety of skin moisturizers such as creams and lotions on a regular basis. These products consist of high quality moisturizing regimens that will help to keep the skin healthy at all times.

A change of diet is a great way of dealing with this condition, owing to the fact that everything that one eats affects his/her overall well-being. According to recent research studies, a diet with high acidic content has a direct link to the occurrence of eczema in many patients. For this reason, health experts recommend the consumption of natural kelp supplements, whose alkaline content neutralizes the acidity.

Natural remedies containing Blueberry extracts are some of the best skincare products that you could use to treat your condition. The active ingredient in these products is the Chlorogenic acid that is found in Blueberry leaves. It contains antimicrobial agents, which are very beneficial in dealing with skin disorders. You can use the Blueberry leaf lotion to provide rapid relief from skin inflammation, swelling and itching.

Emollients are some of the best home treatments for this condition. These creams seal and moisturize the skin to prevent moisture from escaping from its layers. They have some of the greatest properties that prevent the skin from flaking and itching and in effect, make it supple and moist. Unfortunately, many people are not aware about these products, even though they can work wonders for them.

Skin conditions are known to cause low self-esteem and lower one's confidence. If left untreated, most of the skin diseases cause discomfort and discoloration, and become very hard to treat. Skincare specialists recommend the use of eczema natural remedies and products such as lavender, chamomile, oatmeal and herbal baths because they are easily accessible and can be administered in the comfort of one's home.

Source: http://health-and-fitness-way.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-most-effective-eczema-natural.html

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One in US, one in Russia: Young brothers divided

Courtesy Thomas family

John and Renee Thomas with their son, Jack, 7, who was adopted from Russia at the age of 3. Jack is hoping for his brother, Nikoly, now in a Russian orphanage, to join him in the United States.

By Kari Huus, NBC News

This Christmas, the best gift 7-year-old Jack Thomas could get would be the arrival of his little brother, Nikoly, who lives in an orphanage in Kursk, Russia.

"When Jack is asked about his family, he talks about his brother," said his father, John Thomas, speaking from the family?s home in Minnetonka, Minn. "He always asks, 'When is he coming home?' We just tell him we?re waiting for the call."

Jack has been waiting several years, a long time for a little boy. What he doesn?t know is that a feud between politicians in Moscow and Washington could destroy his chance to grow up with his brother.

On Friday, Russian lawmakers passed a bill that would prohibit Americans from adopting Russian children, and if that bill is signed into law by President Vladimir Putin, it would cast doubt on even those adoptions already in the pipeline.

For John Thomas and his wife, Renee ? and very likely hundreds of other expectant American families and Russian children ? the latest political shift could mean?a delay, a new hurdle or a brick wall.

---

The?U.S. State Department and some high-level officials in Moscow have lambasted the legislation as punishing Russian children?who need families in an effort to retaliate against Washington.

But the bill has gained ground amid a wave of nationalism, fueled by anger over a U.S. human rights bill singling out Russia and by several highly publicized?cases of U.S. adoptions that ended tragically.

Since the end of the Soviet era in 1991, Americans have adopted about 60,000 children from Russia, making it one of the main countries of origin for non-domestic adoptions in the United States, according to U.S.?government statistics.?At the?peak of the trend in 2004, Americans brought?5,862 children into their homes. In 2011, the number was down to 962 ? a product of well-intentioned policy shifts, bureaucracy, corruption and other difficulties.

See the US Action Plan on Children in Adversity

European Children Adoption Services

Jack Thomas, at the age of 3, just before he was adopted from Kursk, Russia, by Americans John and Renee Thomas. He is now 7 years old and growing up in an affluent suburb of Minneapolis.

Even with foreign adoptions, which are allowed after giving Russians priority, Russia has an estimated 700,000 children living in institutions, nearly 80,000 of them orphaned, and the rest abandoned or taken away by the state because the parents were judged unfit to take care of them.

The?Thomases have experienced the painful, stop-start nature of the Russian adoption process in their quest for Nikoly.

It was in December 2008, when they were finalizing their adoption of 3-year-old Eduard, whom they named Jack, that they learned he had a baby brother. They started the adoption application process for Nikoly as soon as they could, after a required waiting period.

Compliments of the Thomas family

Renee Thomas in December 2010 meeting Nikoly at an orphanage in Kursk, Russia. He was 18 months old at the time, and Thomas says she expected he would join the the family within a matter of months. Nikoly is now 4 and remains in institutional care in Russia.

A year later, John and Renee Thomas, who work as an attorney and a building contract negotiator, again flew to Moscow and then went by rail to Kursk to meet Nikoly, whom they call Theodore or Teddy. He was?18 months old. Renee Thomas says she thought it would take about the same amount of time to adopt him as it had with Jack, and expected to travel to Kursk sometime in the spring of 2010 to get him.

The Thomases?are?still waiting.

One of the reasons for delay, they say,?is the horror caused by a woman in Tennessee who put her 7-year-old son, whom she had adopted in Russia, on a one-way flight to Moscow in 2010, with the explanation that the child was "mentally unstable" and she could no longer take care of him.

In another delay that Renee Thomas believes cost their adoption another year, the Russian government shut down adoptions for review and re-accreditation of all adoption agencies that work in Russia.

European Children Adoption Services

Nikoly in an undated photo taken at an orphanage in Kursk, Russia. (The red splotches on his face are believed to be a type of antiseptic.)

In addition, the Thomas? dossier has gone before a series of judges in Russia, some of whom have rejected it without a stated reason, and others setting forth requirements that they are not able to meet under U.S. law. Even so, there are Russians trying to help them through the gantlet, and they figured the problems would get ironed out.

"We expected to be traveling soon" to get Nikolai, said John Thomas. ?

Just last month, when a newly negotiated bilateral adoptions agreement came into effect, designed to smooth out the process and help safeguards adopted children, things appeared to be looking up.

Watch the Top Videos on NBCNews.com

"These adoptive parents have really been through the ringer," said Johnson. "This was a bilateral treaty signed by our two governments. We really celebrated it. I thought we could turn our attention to other countries. But we?re really back to Russia again."

Kids pay in human rights spat
The ban that passed the Russian parliament grew out of a dispute over human rights.

On Nov. 16, the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act passed by a landslide in the U.S. House and Senate. Magnitsky was a 37-year-old lawyer who exposed massive fraud allegedly committed by a group of Russian officials. He was arrested and died in police custody 11 months later under suspicious circumstances. Among other things, the bill denies visas and freezes assets of the Russian officials implicated by Magnitsky.

The new U.S. law sparked an angry reaction from Moscow and fueled popular anti-American sentiment.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claims the U.S. is "poisoning ties" between the two countries with a law that bans Russians who abuse human rights and is backing a Russian draft law banning adoption by Americans. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

Vladimir Putin said that the law singling out Russia "contaminates our relations."

Russian legislators then drafted a bill to counter the U.S. law, with provisions restricting organizations and individuals linked to the United States.

Just before the first vote in the Duma, the proposed ban on American adoptions of Russian children was tacked on as an amendment. The legislation was named after 21-month-old Dima Yakovlev, a Russian boy who died in Virginia after his adoptive father left him alone in a hot SUV for nine hours.

Americans may lose right to adopt Russian kids

After the Duma approved the legislation on Friday, the U.S. State Department registered its disapproval.

"If Russian officials have concerns about the implementation of (the adoption) agreement, we stand ready to work with them to improve it and remain committed to supporting inter-country adoptions between our two countries," said acting State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell. "The welfare of children is simply too important to be linked to political aspects of our relationship."

The bill is now heading for Putin?s desk for his signature.

Compliments of the Thomas family

John Thomas and his son, Jack, who was adopted from Russia at the age of 3, in an undated picture taken at their home in Minnetonka, Minn.

Opponents of the ban are still hoping that the president will veto the bill, despite his comments while campaigning for re-election that?U.S. adoptions should no longer be allowed. More recently he has remained silent on the issue.

Over the past week, Russian opponents of the ban have launched petitions and small protests at the parliament building, and several high-level officials have registered strong opposition to it, including Russia?s foreign minister and education minister.

Johnson of the National Council for Adoption says he?s hoping the domestic opposition will dissuade Putin from signing the adoption ban into law.

"One good thing that?s happening ? is a movement brought on by Russian citizens and the foreign minister who has spoken out against this legislation ? saying it?s not the right way to stick it to America,? he said. "Hopefully more politicians will feel comfortable speaking out."

Watch World News videos on NBCNews.com

Barring that, he said, he hopes Russia will at least make provisions to finalize the adoptions that are already in process.

"There is a precedent ? to negotiate pipeline cases," he said, citing examples in Guatemala and Kyrgystan. "But given the animosity that Russians feel towards this, I hope that?s not a conversation we have to have."

For the Thomases,?despite politics, the adoption effort is now in overdrive. They understand that Nikoly, who turned 4 in June, could be moved at any time ?? and in fact may have been moved already to a Russian institution for children as old as 18.

"That's major," said John Thomas. "That's where bad things start to happen."

For Renee Thomas, her greatest fear is that the boys will not be allowed to grow up together.?But she tries to stay positive for Jack.

"????This morning as I was making him breakfast, he said 'Mom, wouldn't it be great if we woke up Christmas morning and Santa left presents and Teddy under the tree?' My response was 'Let's hope for next year.'"

Follow Kari Huus on Facebook

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/24/16077076-boys-christmas-wish-adoption-of-little-brother-caught-in-us-russia-spat?lite

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Little J J Watt Jersey Business Loans: Qualification and Advantages ...

If you are starting a brand new organization, a small organization loan can help you get started out by delivering working capital to build a store, buy inventory, or promote your business. But how does a little organization loan benefit you in actual terms, and do you even qualify for any loan

What exactly is a Modest Business Loan

By definition, a little enterprise loan is actually a specific amount of money which is borrowed by someone who wants to begin or operate his or her own organization. It really is essentially a kind of individual loan offered by lenders to tiny company owners.

There are a number of varieties of small J J Watt Jersey company loans. Unsecured company loans are issued by a lender according to your credit alone with out any kind of collateral. Usually, you?ll need a high credit score as well as an extremely great credit background also as have a stable private finance predicament.

There is also enterprise financing that may be based on collateral for example true estate collateral, an automobile or home that is totally free and clear of debt, and so forth. Then, there is a commercial genuine estate finance loan for which income is granted for a commercial home that?s to become employed for business. There?s also a business line of credit, which can be a fixed, predetermined quantity of credit that a company can borrow against as requirements arise. The borrower will only be necessary to pay interest on the quantity utilised.

Advantages of Little Organization Loans

Getting a tiny organization loan for your new business can bring relief in many techniques. It might offer you operating capital to assist develop your business, promote it, and preserve inventory. It can also assist using the fees of hiring personnel if necessary in the start. A little company loan allows you to develop your new enterprise without the monetary stresses of a brand new organization. Also, the interest on a modest enterprise loan is tax deductible.

Modest Company Loan Qualifications

As soon as you recognize how business financing works, you should consider no matter whether or not you?ll qualify. It is good to understand this ahead of you apply in order that your credit history is not going to show various credit checks and inquiries from lenders, which can lower your credit score for the future.

Very first, be sure your personal credit history is in order. Find out your credit score by requesting a copy of one?s credit report. There are various online resources available to check your own personal credit background. Also, be sure your personal bill and loan payment histories happen to be J J Watt Jersey consistent and on time more than the past two years or far more. Modest organization lenders are probably to base your approval in your individual credit background, specially if you usually do not supply collateral.

Next, ask the lender straight about their organization loan qualifications. This can remove any questions within your mind prior to applying.

Obtaining a Lender

Do some analysis to find a modest organization lender that?s right for you personally. Examine about on the internet for interest rates, little enterprise loan plans and qualifications, and for flexibility. Some lenders will offer inventive small enterprise loan possibilities to work along with your distinct predicament. Some lenders make it easy to get approved while other people make it nearly impossible. Look Andre Johnson Jersey for any lender that is certainly simple to function with from the commence. Ask about early pay-offs, lines of credit, flexible financing, assured interest rates, and any charges you will incur by utilizing their services.

Preserve these guidelines in thoughts as you search for little business finance solutions. You?ll be on the road to success in no time!

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2. Small Business Administration Loans
3. SBA: Small Business Administration Loans
4. Business loans for women- Business loans for women for a successful entrepreneurship
5. Fast Unsecured Small Business Loans

Source: http://www.hugohosting.com/little-j-j-watt-jersey-business-loans-qualification-and-advantages.html

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Iraq: Bombs strike disputed northern area, kill 8

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Bombings rattled two cities in disputed areas in Iraq's north on Sunday, killing at least eight people and raising concerns that extremists are trying to exploit ethnic tensions in the country.

The deadliest series of blasts struck Shiite Muslim targets in the disputed northern city of Kirkuk. Police Major Imad Qadir, who is responsible for the Kirkuk city hospital's security, said those attacks killed six people and wounded 36.

Kirkuk Police Brig. Turhan Khalil said the evening blasts happened within minutes of each other. The targets included two Shiite mosques and a television station identified with the Muslim sect, he said.

Kirkuk is 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad and is home to a mix of Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen. All have competing claims to the oil-rich area. The Kurds want to incorporate it into their self-ruled region in Iraq's north, but Arabs and Turkomen are opposed.

The city is at the center of a broader dispute between Iraq's central government and the Kurdish minority over contested areas where both seek influence.

Tension between Kurds and the central government has flared in recent months.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Bombings targeting Shiite sites are typically the work of Sunni Arab extremists.

Earlier in the day, an explosion near the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan political party office in Jalula killed two and wounded five, police officials said. Jalula is also in the disputed territories and is some 125 kilometers (80 miles) northeast of Baghdad.

Both Arabs and Kurds claim Jalula, and a local policeman said the violence resulted from ongoing tensions between the two ethnic groups. He did not elaborate.

Medics in nearby hospital confirmed the Jalula casualties. All officials in the two spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details to journalists.

The PUK is headed by the Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, who announced a plan last week aimed at easing the military standoff between the central government and Kurdish authorities.

___

Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed reporting.

___

Follow Adam Schreck on Twitter at http://twitter.com/adamschreck

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-16-Iraq/id-b898185ecc1f4420921e7746f0176877

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Big East's non-FBS schools to talk strategy

Officials from the seven schools planning to break off from the Big East will hold a conference call Saturday to discuss leaving the league.

Big East's members that don't have FBS football programs have decided to split from the conference, a person familiar with the decision told the AP on Thursday.

No formal announcement has been made and the group of schools, which includes Georgetown, St. John's and Villanova, was still working on how best to go their own way. They have yet to officially inform the Big East leadership of their intentions.

Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco isn't expected to be involved in the conference call Saturday.

The other non-football members of the Big East are DePaul, Marquette, Seton Hall and Providence.

When the basketball schools do depart the ever-changing conference, there will be plenty of issues that need to be settled, including who owns the name Big East and how NCAA basketball tournament dollars and recent exit fees collected by the league will be distributed.

The Big East is still lined up to have a 12-team football conference next season with six new members joining, including Boise State and San Diego State for football only. Rutgers and Louisville, which have both announced their intentions to leave the Big East, are still expected to compete in the conference next year, as well.

The Big East currently holds an automatic bid to the Bowl Championship Series, which is headed toward its final season in 2013. All the changes have caused speculation about whether the conference will retain that status next year.

BCS executive director Bill Hancock said in an email to the AP: "It is inappropriate to comment about a hypothetical matter. The Big East has an automatic berth by contract for next season."

___

Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.twitter.com/ralphdrussoap

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/big-easts-non-fbs-schools-talk-strategy-231924574--spt.html

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Police, world wonder about Conn. shooting motive

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) ? The massacre of 26 children and adults at a Connecticut elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, a 20-year-old described as brilliant but remote, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims.

Investigators were trying to learn more about the gunman, Adam Lanza, and questioned his older brother, who is not believed to have been involved in the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary. Police shed no light on the motive for the nation's second-deadliest school shooting.

In tight-knit Newtown on Friday night, hundreds of people packed St. Rose of Lima church and stood outside in a vigil for the 28 dead ? 20 children and six adults at the school, the gunman's mother at home, and the gunman himself, who committed suicide. People held hands, lit candles and sang "Silent Night."

"These 20 children were just beautiful, beautiful children," Monsignor Robert Weiss said. "These 20 children lit up this community better than all these Christmas lights we have. ... There are a lot brighter stars up there tonight because of these kids."

Lanza is believed to have suffered from a personality disorder and lived with his mother, said a law enforcement official who was briefed on the investigation.

Lanza shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, drove to the school in her car with at least three guns, including a high-powered rifle that he apparently left in the back of the vehicle, and shot up two classrooms around 9:30 a.m. Friday, law enforcement officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A custodian ran through the halls, warning of a gunman, and someone switched on the intercom, perhaps saving many lives by letting them hear the chaos in the school office, a teacher said. Teachers locked their doors and ordered children to huddle in a corner or hide in closets as shots echoed through the building.

The well-liked principal, Dawn Hochsprung, was believed to be among the dead. A woman who worked at the school was wounded.

A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said investigators believe Lanza attended the school several years ago but appeared to have no recent connection to it.

At least one parent said Lanza's mother was a substitute teacher there. But her name did not appear on a staff list. And the official said investigators were unable to establish any connection so far between her and the school.

Lanza's older brother, 24-year-old Ryan Lanza, of Hoboken, N.J., was questioned, but a law enforcement official said he was not believed to have had a role in the rampage. Investigators were searching his computers and phone records, but he told law enforcement he had not been in touch with his brother since about 2010.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation.

At one point, a law enforcement official mistakenly identified the gunman as Ryan Lanza. Brett Wilshe, a friend of Ryan Lanza's, said Lanza told him the gunman may have had his identification. Ryan Lanza apparently posted Facebook page updates Friday afternoon that read, "It wasn't me" and "I was at work."

For about two hours late Friday and early Saturday, clergy members and emergency vehicles moved steadily to and from the school. The state medical examiner's office said bodies of the victims would be taken there eventually for autopsies.

At least three guns were found ? a Glock and a Sig Sauer, both pistols, inside the school, and a .223-caliber rifle in the back of a car, authorities said. A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said some of the guns used in the attack may have belonged to Lanza's family. His mother had legally registered four weapons, his father two.

Authorities also recovered three other guns ? a Henry repeating rifle, an Enfield rifle and a shotgun. It was not clear exactly where those weapons were found.

Adam Lanza and his mother lived in a well-to-do part of prosperous Newtown, about 60 miles northeast of New York City, where neighbors are doctors or hold white-collar positions at companies such as General Electric, Pepsi and IBM.

Lanza's parents filed for divorce in 2008, according to court records. His father, Peter Lanza, lives in Stamford, Conn., and works as a tax director for General Electric.

The gunman's aunt Marsha Lanza, of Crystal Lake, Ill., said her nephew was raised by kind, nurturing parents who would not have hesitated to seek mental help for him if he needed it.

"Nancy wasn't one to deny reality," Marsha Lanza said, adding her husband had seen Adam as recently as June and recalled nothing out of the ordinary.

Catherine Urso, of Newtown, said her college-age son knew the killer and remembered him for his alternative style. "He just said he was very thin, very remote and was one of the goths," she said.

Adam Lanza attended Newtown High School, and several news clippings from recent years mention his name among the honor roll students.

Joshua Milas, who graduated from Newtown High in 2009 and belonged to the school technology club with him, said Adam Lanza was generally a happy person but that he hadn't seen him in a few years.

"We would hang out, and he was a good kid. He was smart," Joshua Milas said. "He was probably one of the smartest kids I know. He was probably a genius."

An official who spoke on condition of anonymity said it was not clear that Adam Lanza had a job, and there was no indication of law enforcement interviews or search warrants at a place of business.

The mass shooting is one of the deadliest in U.S. history, and among school attacks is second in victims only to the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, which left 33 people dead, including the gunman. Reaction was swift and emotional in Newtown, a picturesque New England community of 27,000 people, as well as across the country and around the world.

"It has to stop, these senseless deaths," said Frank DeAngelis, principal of Colorado's Columbine High School, where a massacre in 1999 killed 15 people.

In Washington, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence organized a vigil at the White House, with some protesters chanting, "Today IS the day" to take steps to curb gun violence. In New York's Times Square, a few dozen people held tea lights in plastic cups, with one woman holding a sign that read: "Take a moment and candle to remember the victims of the Newtown shooting."

President Barack Obama's comments on the tragedy amounted to one of the most outwardly emotional moments of his presidency.

"The majority of those who died were children ? beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old," Obama said at a White House news briefing. He paused for several seconds to keep his composure as he teared up and wiped an eye. Nearby, two aides cried and held hands.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard described the attack as a "senseless and incomprehensible act of evil."

"Like President Obama and his fellow Americans, our hearts too are broken," Gillard said in a statement.

In Japan, where guns are severely restricted and there are extremely few gun-related crimes, the attack led the news two days before nationwide parliamentary elections. In China, which has seen several knife rampages at schools in recent years, the attack quickly consumed public discussion.

At the Newtown vigil, Anthony Bloss, whose three daughters survived, said they are doing better than he. "I'm numb. I'm completely numb," he said.

Panicked parents looking for their children had raced earlier in the day to Sandy Hook, a kindergarten-through-fourth-grade school where police told youngsters to close their eyes as they were led from the building so that they wouldn't see the blood and broken glass.

Schoolchildren ? some crying, many looking frightened ? were escorted through a parking lot in a line, hands on one another's shoulders.

Robert Licata said his 6-year-old son was in class when the gunman burst in and shot the teacher. "That's when my son grabbed a bunch of his friends and ran out the door," he said. "He was very brave. He waited for his friends."

He said the shooter didn't utter a word.

Kaitlin Roig, a teacher at the school, said she implored her students to be quiet.

"I told them we had to be absolutely quiet. Because I was just so afraid if he did come in, then he would hear us and just start shooting the door. I said we have to be absolutely quiet. And I said there are bad guys out there now and we need to wait for the good guys to come get us out," Roig told ABC News.

"If they started crying, I would take their face and say it's going to be OK. Show me your smile," she said. "They said, we want to go home for Christmas. Yes, yeah. I just want to hug my mom, things like that, that were just heartbreaking."

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Pat Eaton-Robb and Matt Apuzzo and videographer Robert Ray in Newtown; Bridget Murphy in Boston; Samantha Henry in Newark, N.J.; Pete Yost in Washington; Michael Melia in Hartford; and the AP News Research Center in New York.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-world-wonder-conn-shooting-motive-080207412.html

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U.S. imposes sanctions on Iran's nuclear energy chief

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States stepped up pressure on Iran on Thursday over its nuclear program, imposing sanctions on seven companies and five individuals, including Iran's atomic energy chief.

The U.S. Treasury Department said the action would bar those companies and individuals from doing business with U.S. firms or citizens, and freeze any assets they have in the United States.

Among those sanctioned is Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization and a survivor of an assassination attempt that Iranian officials have blamed on Israel. At least four scientists associated with Iran's nuclear program have been killed since 2010; Abbasi-Davani was wounded.

Iran has accused Israel and the United States of plotting the killings to set back its nuclear program. Washington has denied any U.S. role and Israel has declined to comment.

Foreign banks that handle transactions for the companies and individuals listed by the Treasury could also lose their access to the U.S. banking system under the U.S. sanctions regime.

"The U.S. will target those involved in Iran's illicit enrichment activities. The entire world has made it clear that these activities are unacceptable," Treasury Undersecretary David Cohen said in a statement.

The United States has said Tehran's nuclear program is aimed at acquiring atomic weapons, a charge Iran has repeatedly denied.

The Treasury said the newly announced sanctions were aimed at targeting the international procurement operations of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the Iran Centrifuge Technology Company and Iran's uranium enrichment program.

Besides Abbasi-Davani, the individuals targeted by the sanctions were Seyed Jaber Safdari, Morteza Ahmadali Behzad, Amir Hossein Rahimyar and Mohammad Reza Rezvanianzadeh.

The companies placed under sanctions were Pouya Control, Iran Pooya, Aria Nikan Marine Industry, Faratech, Neda Industrial Group, Tarh O Palayesh and Towlid Abzar Boreshi Iran.

(Reporting by Margaret Chadbourn and Deborah Zabarenko; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-slaps-sanctions-companies-tied-irans-nuclear-program-210725738--sector.html

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South Africa deputy president in race to lead ANC

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? South Africa's soft-spoken Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe will compete next week against President Jacob Zuma to lead the country's ruling party, the African National Congress.

Motlanthe accepted nominations from several provinces and the party's youth league to enter the race to be the ANC's next president, his spokesman Thabo Masebe told The Associated Press Thursday.

The announcement ends weeks of uncertainty as Motlanthe previously told foreign journalists he was "agonizing" over whether to accept the call to challenge Zuma, whose popularity has faded over corruption allegations and questions about his personal life.

Motlanthe also accepted nominations to hold onto his current position as the ANC's deputy president, as well as to hold another leadership position in the party, Masebe said. That could put Motlanthe in position to hold onto his deputy president post even if he loses out to Zuma for the top spot. However, others have been discussed as possible replacements for the deputy position in a bid to push out Motlanthe, 63.

Becoming leader of the ANC means a nearly automatic ticket to becoming the president in post-apartheid South Africa. Opposition parties don't garner the widespread support given to the ANC, the party of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela. The party's president will become the state president, if the ANC wins national elections in 2014, and its deputy president will serve in the same national office.

In many ways, Motlanthe appears to offer almost the opposite qualities of Zuma, 70. Motlanthe is largely reserved, while Zuma knows how to whip up a crowd. Motlanthe also appears untainted by the recent corruption allegations that have plagued Zuma and other high-level and local ANC officials in recent years. Motlanthe previously served as a caretaker leader for South Africa, serving as the nation's president from September 2008 to May 2009 after then-President Thabo Mbeki resigned after being ousted as the head of the ANC by Zuma in a tight election.

However, Motlanthe held back as long as possible before confirming he'd challenge Zuma. While the ANC largely doesn't have a history of candidates publicly campaigning, some analysts say Motlanthe was hesitant because he was not sure of adequate support from rank-and-file party members to unseat Zuma.

Zuma faces growing disenchantment from South Africa's public, as news spread of the millions of dollars of government-paid improvements to his private homestead. Local newspapers repeatedly raise claims about Zuma being unable to manage his personal finances and relying on friends to bail him out ? including one who was convicted of trying to elicit a bribe for Zuma to deflect investigations into a national arms deal.

Zuma also previously faced intense criticism over his sexual activity, including being acquitted of raping a family friend. He also outraged AIDS activists by testifying that he had unprotected, consensual sex with the HIV-positive woman and then took a shower in the belief that it would protect him from AIDS.

Yet Zuma has garnered support from many provincial ANC meetings heading into next week's ANC convention, making him for now the front runner.

___

Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP .

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-africa-deputy-president-race-lead-anc-110334018.html

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Verizon pushing Android 4.1 update to Samsung Galaxy S III tomorrow

Verizon seems to be late to the update party, but Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will be pushed out to its version of the Samsung Galaxy S III "in phases" as an OTA update beginning December 14th. We knew it was coming in the very near future, but it's nice to have a specific date to look forward to. Don't be alarmed if the update doesn't show up right away; as we've seen with plenty of other OTA rollouts, it may take a while for it to reach every GS3 user on the network. Along with Jelly Bean, you can also expect to see support for global data roaming, mobile payments through Isis, some extra preloaded applications and miscellaneous enhancements across the board. Here's the interesting tidbit: Verizon's support page claims that the new upgrade is only 62MB in total size. This seems to be quite hard to believe, given the fact that Jelly Bean on other Galaxy S III variants has ranged in size from 275MB (Sprint) to 740MB (AT&T), but perhaps Big Red cooked up a little extra magic to make the long wait even more worthwhile.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Samsung, Verizon

Comments

Source: Verizon

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/13/verizon-samsung-galaxy-s3-jelly-bean/

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Best of food and drink this week | canada.com

?A round-up of some of our favourite recipes and food-related features this week including two seasonally-inspired classic cocktails, pork and veal tourti?re, cookies and more cookies.

Variations on a tradition: tourti?re and pheasant

Roast Pheasant with Orange Sauce (Photo: Adrian Lam, Times Colonist)

Eric Akis shares two savoury holiday recipes: a variation on the classic French-Canadian meat pie, which typically ?stars in Christmas Eve feasts? ? Pork and Veal Tourti?re with Peppercorns and Herbes de Provence; and Roast Pheasant with Orange Sauce.

12 Days of Holiday Cookies

Photos: Matthew Mead, AP

Our 12 Days of Holiday Cookies series is now complete with a dozen cookie recipes, each inspired by a common spice ? allspice, cardamom, Chinese five-spice, cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, ginger, mace, nutmeg, paprika, black peppercorns and saffron.

Seasonal Sips: holiday twist on classic cocktails

UNION?s Manhattan and Old Fashioned cocktails (Photo: Laura Brehaut, canada.com)

Cold weather cocktails, at their best, are spicy, robust and warming. In this special, holiday edition of Seasonal Sips, Luke Correia-Damude ? General Manager of UNION restaurant in Toronto ? puts a wintery spin on two classic cocktails.

Ingredient of the week: eggs

Photo: auremar, Fotolia.com

We?ve put together a collection of sweet, savoury and boozy recipes featuring this basic ingredient, including the ?perfect? Chocolate Souffl?, Chinese Tea Eggs, and an Advocaat.

And to finish, some tasty inspiration from the blog world:

- Swedish Saffron Buns from Green Kitchen Stories
- No Bake Date Coconut Snowballs from Honest Cooking
- Brown Sugar Meringues with Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt from Bits of Yum
- Snowflake Cake from Leite?s Culinaria
- How-to Holiday from Sous Style and an Entertaining Guide from Gastromista

Source: http://o.canada.com/2012/12/14/best-of-food-and-drink-this-week-30/

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Live And Let Dine

NARRATIVE.LY:

Sitting in the basement of his temple--a makeshift cafeteria lit by soft fluorescent tubes and populated by plastic furniture--Thich Thien Chi struggles to explain the meaning of "Chieu Kien," the temple's name. After 38 years of practice as a Buddhist monk, half of them spent here in the Bronx, he doesn't make a particularly forceful evangelist.

The monk, whose spoken English is halting at best, has been answering my questions--all five pages of them--in writing. After several pauses and a minute of fumbled speech about the importance of "see[ing] clearly" and "wisdom," he grabs another sheet of paper and writes out the words "practice" and "meditation."

Read the whole story: NARRATIVE.LY

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/12/live-and-let-dine-_n_2288227.html

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McAfee released in Guatemala, flies off to Miami

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) ? Anti-virus software founder John McAfee was released from a detention center Wednesday and was escorted by immigration officials and police trucks to the Guatemala City airport, where he was put on a commercial flight bound for Miami.

McAfee sat in a coach-class seat on the flight, which took off at midafternoon.

The escort to the airport, accompanied by a throng of journalists and two police trucks with sirens blaring, marked the last chapter for McAfee's strange, monthlong odyssey to avoid police questioning about the killing of an American expatriate in neighboring Belize.

"McAfee entered the country illegally," immigration service spokesman Fernando Lucero said. "Guatemala is expelling him. Since his country of origin is the United States, Guatemala is expelling him to the United States."

In one of the most highly publicized flights from police questioning since O.J. Simpson led police on televised low-speed car chase, McAfee constantly blogged and spoke with reporters about his life on the lam.

Bystanders in Guatemala City stopped to stare at the passing police convoy, and people at the airport crowded around the immigration truck carrying McAfee, straining to take pictures of him with their cellphones.

Dressed in a black suit and white shirt, McAfee said: "I'm free. I'm going to America."

He suggested his weeklong detention in Guatemala for entering the country clandestinely had taken its toll on him.

"All I can tell you is I'm 10 years older, and I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just going to Miami," he said.

McAfee was detained last week for immigration violations after he sneaked into Guatemala from Belize, where authorities sought to question him about the murder of a neighbor. He apparently crossed at a rural, unguarded spot along the border, but a judge this week ruled his detention illegal and ordered him freed.

His 20-year-old Belizean girlfriend, Samantha Vanegas, who has accompanied him since he went on the run, was not with him on the ride to the airport, though she later showed up at the terminal. Known as "Sam," she was seen earlier Wednesday leaving the detention facility crying, after taking breakfast to McAfee.

On the blog he has been posting on for the last two weeks, McAfee wrote that "I have been forcibly separated from Sam," but claimed she would be coming to the United States later.

McAfee said Sunday that he wanted to return to the United States and "settle down to whatever normal life" he can. The 67-year-old said "I simply would like to live comfortably day by day, fish, swim, enjoy my declining years."

Police in Belize want to question McAfee in the fatal shooting of a U.S. expatriate who lived near McAfee's home on a Belizean island in November.

The creator of the McAfee antivirus program has denied involvement in the killing. Belizean authorities have urged him to show up for questioning, but have not lodged any formal charges against him.

McAfee is an acknowledged practical joker who has dabbled in yoga, ultra-light aircraft and the production of herbal medications. He has said he feared he would be killed if he turned himself in to Belizean authorities.

Belize's prime minister, Dean Barrow, has expressed doubts about McAfee's mental state, saying: "I don't want to be unkind to the gentleman, but I believe he is extremely paranoid, even bonkers."

The British-born McAfee said Sunday that returning to the United States "is my only hope now." But he later added: "I would be happy to go to England. I have dual citizenship."

He was in hiding in Belize for weeks after police pronounced him a person of interest in the killing of Gregory Viant Faull. McAfee acknowledges that his dogs were bothersome and that Faull had complained about them days before some of the dogs were poisoned, but denies killing Faull. Faull's home was a couple of houses down from McAfee's compound on Ambergris Caye, off Belize's Caribbean coast.

McAfee has led an eccentric life since he sold his stake in the software company named after him in the early 1990s and moved to Belize about three years ago to lower his taxes.

He told The New York Times in 2009 that he had lost all but $4 million of his $100 million fortune in the U.S. financial crisis. However, a story on the Gizmodo website quoted him as describing that claim as "not very accurate at all."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mcafee-released-guatemala-flies-off-miami-222608072.html

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The last march of the emperor penguins

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ABC sets date for S.A.'s Christmasy 'Makeover' | Jakle's Jacuzzi | a ...

Mark your calendars for Dec. 17!

That?s when ABC will present a feel-good, locally filmed, holiday TV experience that?s bound to put smiles on the faces of viewers not only here but around the nation. A Christmas-themed episode of ?Extreme Makeover: Home Edition? not only will show Ty Pennington and his gang ? in partnership with ?Morgan?s Wonderland ? presenting a wounded warrior and his family with a smashing new home, but also will showcase San Antonio and its River Walk in all their glittery, holiday glory.

Well. . .staged holiday glory.

The two-hour special, airing from 7 to 9 that Monday night (locally on KSAT), actually was shot in late January. But to give it an all-out Christmas feel, a fictional parade was produced ? complete with carols, Santa, holly and those famous yuletide lights that fill the trees of our extremely popular downtown tourist attraction. ?Called ?The San Antonio Red, White and Blue Christmas Parade,? it likely was drawn up to mimic our real ?Holiday River Parade and Lighting Ceremony? that actually happens the Friday after Thanksgiving. ?For more on this filming, read Roy Bragg?s story here.

This cheery footage likely will be interspersed with the main event of the special: the presentation of a stucco-and-stone, temperature-controlled home and picturesque grounds ? located between Floresville land Stockdale. It?s complete with a ?Toy Story?-themed kid?s bedroom, a putting green, horse barn and a model Old West town ? to the Harris family of Smithville. Read?Jessica Belasco?s more extensive account here.

The family of four?s patriarch, you see, is Shilo Harris, a retired Army staff sergeant who, while on patrol in Iraq, was severely burned by a massive IED blast.? He now fights for other wounded warriors to find jobs and emotional support upon their return to civilian life.

Talk about TV comfort and joy! Not only will it be heartening to watch these deserving folks get their dream home but also to see the sea of radiant faces from San Antonio and surrounding areas who volunteered their time and energy to help make it happen.

And?so what if the River Walk Christmas celebration was staged? The national exposure may help draw even more visitors to our unique city to enjoy its very real holiday delights.

Top two photos: Robin Jerstad/For the San Antonio?Express-News. Bottom photo of Harris family: Tom Reel/Express-News

Jeanne Jakle writes an entertainment column for the Express-News and delivers TV, radio and film news from San Antonio and beyond.

Source: http://blog.mysanantonio.com/jakle06/2012/10/abc-sets-date-for-s-a-s-christmasy-makeover/

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Food Network Magazine Cover-To-Cover: All the Recipes in the ...

?

APPETIZERS AND SNACKS

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Pumpkin Queso Fundido
Pam?

"I assembled the dip according to instructions except for placing mixture in the hollowed out pumpkin. I couldn't find one in small town USA!?It came out very greasy! I used a paper towel to soak up excess. My son was home so he gladly sampled the dip for me ( I don't eat meat). He said it was a little salty, due to the dried meat and seemed like it was missing something.?So there you have it!?I probably will never make this again. It gets a thumbs down."

Pumpkin Questo Fundido recipe

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Roasted Garlic Crostini
Amy?

"The garlic crostini recipe was pretty straightforward - roast garlic and serve with thyme and tomatoes. Since I had done things like this before, I was anticipating I'd know exactly what the food would taste like. And though that was true, it still didn't manage to take away from the deliciousness of the combination.

I used less oil in roasting my garlic because 1/2 cup seemed like overkill (just a couple tbsp will do).? A green tomato garnished mine as it was begging to be used in my withering garden.? The combination of creamy garlic with fresh tomatoes and crisp bread was tasty, easy, and surprisingly healthy. Overall, not an especially innovative recipe but delicious nonetheless."

?

Roasted Garlic Crostini recipe not available online

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SOUPS AND STEWS

Butternut Squash Soup with Chicken Sausage
John?

"Butternut squash soup with chicken apple sausage was an?unapologetic?savory soup; a great dish to warm you up on a cool autumn evening.?Since the sausage is added after blending, be sure to cut it up into small pieces that you would expect to find in a bowl of pureed soup.?I thought the fried sage leaf garnish was unnecessary and added very little to the soup.?I tried a second version of the soup with buttercup squash that I had on hand; I added fresh chopped?granny smith apples and it was?a better tasting soup, as the additional apple flavor really added some interest."

Butternut Squash Soup with Chicken Sausage recipe

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Easy Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese Croutons?
Judi?

"Ina's Easy Tomato Soup & Grilled Chicken Croutons was as simple and crowd-pleasing as advertised but tasted even better during the week when I brought it to work for lunch. I substituted the orzo with farro (because orzo gives me the creeps. It's the texture. Whatever, we all have our issues, okay?) and I loved the bite of the farro in this- it made it feel more like a chowder than a soup."

Easy Tomato Soup & Grilled Chicken Croutons recipe

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Seafood Gumbo
Brian

"This was good fun. ?I appreciated my luck in getting assigned this recipe because it let me abuse the 'You're-not-allowed-to-judge-my-vice' agreement that my partner and I have. ?I'm the foodie and he's the techie; peace exists in our house because we have an agreement where I don't question what he spends at Best Buy and he doesn't question my purchasing yet another kitchen accoutrement. ?So needless to say, he just rolled his eyes when the box showed up w/ our new 12 quart stockpot. :)

All of that aside, the recipe itself was good, but I wouldn't call it great. ?I made several modifications on the fly. ?The seafood quotient is definitely there, as the recipe calls for a blue crab, a lobster tail, 4 lbs of shrimp and 1 lb of crab meat. ?The seafood counter didn't have any whole crabs the day I went shopping, so I used 4 small lobster tails instead. ?That still only came to about a cup of cooked lobster meat, which ended up being a background note at best in the final dish. ?Usually when you see lobster in a recipe, folks are gonna get excited by that and expect it to be the star of the dish, so it was a bit disappointing that it was so insignificant in the end. ?I also added a few bay leaves along with the 1/4 cup of Creole seasoning. ?Other than that, I followed the recipe as is. ?The flavors were good; the crab meat takes center stage in the taste of the final dish, while the 4 lbs of shrimp provide the bulk. ?The recipe calls for so much water that the final dish is more of a soup than what I think of as a thicker gumbo. But that is also likely because I chose to serve this with grilled, crusty french bread and okra rather than over white rice as the recipe suggests. ?If I were to make this again, I would probably up the veggie quotient (maybe some diced carrots, tomatoes and okra) to add some more heft. ?

Final verdict: Good recipe - solid flavors, but quite an effort given the nearly 5 hour cooking time. ?Because of how time-intensive it was, I probably wouldn't make this again at home. ?But I got a new 12 quart stockpot out of it, so I can't complain!?I gave some Gumbo to two families on my street (it did make A LOT) and both reported it was delicious - after they added more stuff (one added corn, spinach and shrimp, one added more chicken) and cooked it longer to thicken it."?

Seafood Gumbo recipe

Melange Gumbo
Ceri ?

"I was really looking forward to trying this. ?Right off the bat I had the following issue:

• The order the recipe was written in. ?Make the roux first, then let it sit for an hour while you are cooking the chicken made no sense to me. Cook the chicken sausage and slice it when you have to boil the gumbo for an hour with other ingredients first before you add the chicken sausage made no sense to me either.
• Other issues: the roux was not cake batter like, barely even pancake patter like and I am not familiar enough with Cajun cooking to know if I could have just added more flour. My gumbo ended up more like broth with lots of meat than the richer looking gumbo seen in the picture on the Food Network site.

How I went about it: ?Thursday I cooked the whole chicken and let it cool off in the broth to keep it juicy. Friday I cooked the rest of the gumbo, in a more logical order. ?Saturday all I had to do was heat and serve. The recipe does say to skim the fat, and there was a lot!

Overall it was good, but a little disappointing. ?Considering the time and cost I was expecting something that would knock my socks off, which it did not do. Will not make again!"?

Melange Gumbo recipe

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Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Jenny

"This made a very large pot of pretty good, but not great,?gumbo. The roux got quite dark, and although I was afraid I'd scorched it, the flavor smoothed out nicely and it was a lovely rich color. It wasn't very spicy, which was fine, as everyone at our table could season it to their liking.

I confess I cut a few corners and didn't cook this for the prescribed two hours -plus. The recipe called for 21 cups of liquid. I was dubious, and started smaller, eventually stopping at about half that. I also added okra, which wasn't called for, because I like okra in my?gumbo. Many of the online reviews said the amount of salt given was too much, so I just salted to taste. I debated adding some tomato paste or other acid; it could have used a little tanginess.

This won't replace my tried and true?gumbo?recipe, but if you have all afternoon and a hungry crowd to feed, you could do worse."?

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo recipe

?

Spanish Turkey Meatball Stew
Laurie?

"This Food Network magazine recipe was every bit as easy and convenient as advertised.? I made this weeknight recipe with well intentioned ideas of altering it right from the start.? Didn't think it had enough spices (should add cumin and maybe a sherry vinegar drizzle), could use some rice and possibly hot pepper flakes.? But I dilligently followed the directions and was pleasantly surprised at the taste of the finished product.? Only a teaspoon of smoked paprika turned out to be excellent with the fire roasted tomatoes and other ingredients.

Thought it should simmer a bit longer but that ended up making the meat to stew ratio too high.? Did add some rice to stretch it for four people but will definitely make it again.? (PS? Loved that the 20 oz pkg of ground?turkey?is exactly how it is sold in the store)."

Spanish Turkey Meatball Stew recipe

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SANDWICHES

?

Grilled Mortadella and Muenster Monster Sub
Rosemary?

"I'd never had mortadella and it's kind've like fancier bologna with pistachios. ?Considering I love bologna (you read that right), I thought this might be a fun recipe. ?Bottom line, it was a really good sandwich that had the after effect of eating half a country ham. ?This meat is A LOT saltier than bologna. ?The aioli was amazing, however, and I think it would be great (and much less salty) paired with sliced turkey. ?A couple of quick notes--I more than doubled the amount of dijon mustard in my aioli, basically because I'm a mustard fan. ?It was still creamy and delicious. ?Second, I didn't grill my bread. ?It's a baguette--how crusty does your bread really need to be? ? Finally, let's talk briefly about the two pounds of mortadella. ?I included a picture that shows how much mortadella I put on the sandwich and another to show you how much mortadella is now sitting in my refrigerator. ?I'm kind've convinced that the Chicago Bears fans from Saturday Night Live wrote this recipe. ?If you are able to withstand two pounds of mortadella on this sandwich you should chase it with a diuretic and some heart medicine. ? I know it's supposed to yield eight servings, but I still can't imagine eating that much meat spread over eight three-inch servings of sandwich. ?I doubt I'll come close to finishing all that left over mortadella--but I see this aioli in my immediate sandwich future!"

Grilled Mortadella and Muenster Monster Sub recipe

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Breakfast Bomber Sub
Erin

"Despite being incredibly rich, this sandwich was tasty.? It's eggs, sausage, and toast, people.? You cannot go wrong with that.? The eggs are a bit heavy with both half-and-half and swiss cheese (a whole cup!) and the amount of cream cheese a little overwhelming.? However, the simple basics are ones we can get behind."

Read more at Erin's blog. ?

The?Breakfast?Bomber?Sub recipe

?

?

PASTAS AND GRAINS

Quinoa and Bean Pilaf
Chef Heidi?

"Quinoa and Bean Pilaf was surprisingly tasty for a dish made with such simple ingredients. The recipe was easy to source and to make, and my kids each ate a whole bowl! BUT the texture was mushy, rather than fluffy. To fix this, I would have cooked it like a rice pilaf (less water, cover with a tight-fitting lid, definitely NO stirring).?And, it tasted even better with some spicy sausages and cilantro thrown in. :)

My verdict:?Tasty and easy for a weeknight meal, but the flavours didn't wow me enough to make this recipe a keeper. But I will probably take the basic idea and tweak it to suit my taste."

Quinoa and Bean Pilaf recipe

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Ravioli Alfredo with Peas
Karen

"Pros- It's reasonably good. ?(But really? With cream and butter, cardboard can taste good).? This would be a great meatless main dish for people who still can't get comfortable with meatless meals.? Also, labeling it as easy overstates how hard this recipe is.

Cons- With half a cup of cream and four tablespoons of butter, it's not as healthy for you as that chicken breast you passed over.?And in general, I'll save my calorie splurges on something other than a so-so pasta dish."?

Ravioli Alfredo with Peas recipe

?

Lobster Mac & Cheese
Chelsea ?

"This was delicious and my guests loved it.?Ina assumed you know your way around a lobster when she wrote this recipe, but as long as you can handle that, it is definitely a classy, crowd-pleaser. ?This recipe is decadent in all the right ways. ?It?s rich, creamy, cheesy and full of sweet lobster chunks.?I put up a post about the recipe on my own blog with a little extra info on how I cooked the lobster and made the breadcrumbs. ?Here's a link in case you guys are including things like that." More at Chelsea's blog.?

Lobster Mac & Cheese recipe?

?

Mushroom and Squash Risotto
Diana?

"I didn't have time to hunt for the porcinis and oyster mushrooms-life just seems to get in the way of the best intentions-so I just went with the crimini and button mushrooms for the enitre recipe. Because of size differences I used only 1.5lbs of mushrooms. I also substituted some vegetable base (demi-glace type bullion ) when making the "mushroom broth" but did use the stems of the crimini's as well, but didn't add them back later. Now that the changes are out of the way on to the recipe.?

Great things: Tasty! I don't really care for cinnamon in general, but I stuck it out and it was totally worth it! A good balance of veggies to rice and a great layered flavor with the cheese and broth in addition to the basic ingredients' flavors.?Not so good: An 8oz butternut would be a midget!! Be sure to dice it pretty small as well-not specified in the recipe- and plan on another use for the other half ?of even a small squash. The timing given in the recipe didn't get the rice cooked through. I would suggest adding the broth in three rounds and cooking on VERY low heat to give the rice time to cook.?Overally very tasty-I would make it again, but take a whole bunch more shortcuts!"

Mushroom and Squash Risotto recipe

?

Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce
Kathie?

"So easy to make and let's face it, anything with a sauce of shallots and cream would be delicious. ?The small amount of pumpkin in this recipe did not enhance the flavor much and now what do I do with most of a can of pumpkin??Bottom line: ?We loved it! ? Rich and creamy and we felt guilty eating it."

Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce recipe

?

Beefy Mac and Cheese
Hadley

"Just like Hamburger Helper, except more time in the kitchen! That is to say: the recipe is perfectly fine, reheats well, and is open to near endless permutations - we used ground turkey in place of beef and fresh herbs in lieu of chili powder."?

Beefy Mac and Cheese recipe

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Spaghetti with Spicy Scallop Marinara Sauce
Lauren

"While I wasn't that excited by this recipe at first, it actually ended?up much more flavorful than I expected from the simple list of?ingredients. ?I was a little skeptical that it would be?spicy?enough,?but it had a pleasant kick, and was very easy to prepare. ?It ended up?being a little soupier than most pastas, so we added some garlic?croutons made from stale bread. ?Delicious!"

Spaghetti with Spicy Scallop Marinara Sauce recipe

?

MEAT, POULTRY AND EGGS

Pork Burgers with Bacon Marmalade
Hannah

"I went to two stores looking for ground pork but couldn't find it. So, I ended up using ground turkey (and otherwise followed the recipe exactly). The burger and the marmalade on their own were rather lackluster, but together, they made a tasty burger. Definitely not knock-your-socks-off cuisine, but my husband and mother-in-law agreed that it made a tasty (and relatively quick) dinner."?

Pork Burgers with Bacon Marmalade recipe

Almost-Famous Steak Taco Salad
Sarah

"I don't normally buy this magazine so otherwise would not have discovered how to make these great tortilla bowls!!!!?I made this recipe for my husband and 2 daughters, aged 5 and 8, for a pretty normal week night meal. The only thing I omitted from this recipe were the black olives, and I added some sour cream as a garnish, otherwise I followed the recipe precisely. I was a tad nervous about making the bowls but they were surprisingly simple and I will definitely make them again. Here are the high- and low-lights:-

* the tortilla bowls were a real hit with the whole family (use a 28oz can if you have one but the 14oz was ok)

* it was quite straightforward to prepare?

* the directions for cooking the steak were just right and as my husband will say, I'm a very crappy steak chef

* overall a good combination of ingredients for texture and flavor

^ there was too much chipotle in this for the girls, and even for us who love spicy food, I thought the heat of the chipotle chile powder overpowered the rest of the dish so I will halve it next time

^ it makes a ton of salad dressing for the amount of romaine so if you still like to taste the lettuce don't use the whole lot.

^ next time I will add some avocado and cilantro to tweak it up.

And yes, there will be a next time!!!"?

Almost-Famous Steak Taco Salad recipe

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Tomato-Yogurt Chicken Curry
Sean

"This well-balanced curry was a perfect meal as the season begins to cool off. ?The potatoes and chicken were fork tender and the yogurt served to really smooth out the texture of the sauce. ?Unable to find chiles de arbol and recognizing just a couple would not be nearly enough heat, I substituted 6 ancho chiles and 4 dried habanero chiles, which would have a very similar flavor profile but dramatically increase the heat (I did a double batch). ?When I make this again, I will be sure to use a more interesting protein though. ?I like chicken fine enough, but the gaminess of lamb or goat would match this dish perfectly."

Tomato-Yogurt Chicken Curry recipe

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Classic Pot Roast
Christine

"Tender beef with a rich gravy all enhanced by the comforting and hearty vegetables made for a wonderful Sunday dinner. The addition of the bacon and cloves was what turned this pot roast from a traditional pot roast into something to impress friends and family. I usually go for red wine in my beef dishes but the white was a welcoming bright note! Highly recommend, not a ton of hands on time and the payoff is huge."?

Classic Pot Roast recipe

Pork and Wild Rice Salad
Gustavo

"As I needed ingredients, I took my friends Saturday morning to the Municipal Market, which is THE gourmet market in the city. As we are trying to live a healthier lifestyle, we walked there (about 5km). It was all fun and games, until we realized, literally, the weight on our shoulders. About 10kg of it (I tend to get too enthusiastic when I see good ingredients, so I bought more than I needed, as eggs, a whole kg of pecans, wine...) and we still had 5km back, under scalding Sun (which is a rare commodity in my town - so we are not that used to it, and I got sunburnt).

I got the greens, the yogurt, the pecan nuts, the apple vinegar, the carrots, the edible flowers, the dried fruits (cranberries and strawberries) and the meat. As I live in Brazil, and we don't speak English, I translated literally "tenderloins" to the butcher. So he explained to me that I might be talking about two different parts of pigs, one leaner, and one fatter, that come from different parts of their backs. As I'm currently not concerned about the fat content (only the sugar content), I bought the tastier one (guess which)!

Anyway, Sunday afternoon, when I was getting ready for the big dinner, I realized that I ran out of cooking gas!

I panicked, tried every delivery number I could reach and no luck, for it was Sunday, but in the end, my friends volunteered to bring a canister. Too bad I had already cooked the multigrain rice on the microwave (hey, I was allowed to make some changes to the recipe!)

From that moment on, we had so much fun! We had a bottle of good wine and the recipe was a success! My friends and my boyfriend went bananas about the yogurt sauce (I highly recommend making three to four times the quantity suggested on the recipe)."

Pork and Wild Rice Salad recipe

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1770 House Meatloaf
Amanda

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"I feel obliged to admit that when we first saw our recipe assignment I was not particularly excited. Meatloaf? Is that even a thing anymore? But I assure you one thing - MEATLOAF IS VERY MUCH A THING. A very very delicious thing if you make it Ina Garten's way.

This isn't your standard ketchupy beef brick?of a meatloaf. No, this is a juicy, complex, crowd pleaser of a loaf. We served it on brioche with some caramelized onions, fresh spinach and a friend's homemade black pepper?mayonnaise?- it was spectacular and easily served 12 people. (It even made watching the first Romney-Obama debate?manageable.) The comments section was aflame with people insisting that on the show the Contessa used half the salt than is called for in this online recipe (1T instead of 2T) so we split the difference and went with 1.5T which was spot on. The only thing I might change next time is the sauce - it was delicious but could have used even more roasted garlic (I'm admittedly a garlic fiend) and more simmering to further thicken.?America - meatloaf is back! (but I still refuse to eat chicken pot pie)."

1770 House Meatloaf recipe

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Chicken Stroganoff
Laura?

"I have to say, while the recipe itself didn't seem very exciting or inventive, it was delicious and very easy to make.? I followed the recipe as directed, with the exception of using regular chicken broth instead of fat-free and the omission of parsley.?I served it to my husband, my picky mother and my two year old daughter.? All were in agreement that it was delicious."

Chicken Stroganoff recipe

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Food Network Kung Pao Chicken
Will & Amy

"Amy and I are in the Peace Corps in a village in Indonesia, so we had to make a few adjustments based on what wasn't available at the local market. For example, rice wine was out of the question since we live in the most conservative area of Muslim Java, so we substituted a mixture of apple juice and apple vinegar. We also substituted flour for cornstarch and used canola oil instead of peanut and chili oil. We had to butcher the chicken breast ourselves, removing the heart and innards?that was a first. Total cost of ingredients here was under $3. The outcome was great and the only thing we would change would be to add a little more spice. We loved it, our host family loved it and the village stray cats all showed up, too. Although in full disclosure, we consider McDonald's a luxury at this point, so take our recommendation with a grain of salt."

Food Network Kung Pao Chicken recipe

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Honey-Glazed Pork Chops With Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Taline?

"Love pork chops and was happy to try this?recipe. Made it for dinner while my parents are visiting. It's a super easy recipe. I substituted the cajun spice with piment d'Espelette (French red chili pepper). Next time, I'll marinate the pork overnight so?the chops end up?more juicy and the flavors are more pronounced."?

Honey-Glazed Pork Chops With Mashed Sweet Potatoes recipe

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Bratwurst with Potato Cakes
Meghan?

"I thought that it was a great idea, but they maybe backed down from making it too flavorful? ?I wanted my potato cakes to be more?sauerkraut-y, but because you rinse the sauerkraut and squeeze it out it loses it's yummy flavor. ?I also thought the "sauce" could pack more punch--maybe using broth instead of water? ?I also wasn't sure whether to pour the sauce on or dip things in it? ?I give this a solid B."

Bratwurst with Potato Cakes recipe

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Carne Asada Tacos with Carrot-Pepper Slaw
Megan

"This was close to a hit, but not quite.? I loved using steak instead of typical hamburger, the onions and carrot-pepper slaw were yummy, and the yogurt-garlic saucewas perfect (my favorite part of the recipe), but it simply didn't taste good enough to be worth the effort.? Namely, the effort to grate peppers and shred carrots was not rewarded with a slaw that was any better?than simply slicing and grilling the veggies.? Next time, I'll steal the yogurt sauce and use steak, but just make a standard fajita."

Carne Asada Tacos with Carrot-Pepper Slaw recipe

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Broccoli Omelet with Tomato Salad
Alison

"1. I did not have a stove top to oven ready non-stick skillet (who does?!), so I warmed up the hash browns in my "stick oven ready skillet". I pressed them in a pie dish (sprayed w/ PAM-like product) to make a crust and baked the hash browns for about 15 minutes. I think I should have ?kept them in longer to brown, or better yet, to have a crispy crust.

2. After the 15 mins, I added the?broccoli?& egg mixture into the pie pan and returned it to the oven. It cooked for approximately 30 minutes.

3. Because I do as much organic as possible, I subbed the small tomatoes for grape tomatoes.

4. Taste: The quiche was good, however I thought is was a little bland. The next time I would add scallions or ?a few drops of hot sauce (or pepper flakes). The salad was delicious and complimented the quiche.
The quiche & the salad were very good! I think you could add a little crushed pepper to it too, if you wanted to have a bit of zip to it."

Broccoli Omelet with Tomato Salad recipe

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Cornish Game Hens with Pumpkin Seed Pesto
Larry

"This was certainly a challenge, but?NOT?due to any difficulty with the recipe itself. Suffice it to say that it took an entire week before I could prepare this.?Some of it was selfishness on my part,?and the rest was an equipment malfunction, along with an unavoidable?accident?by my wife the previous day.?The first snag I ran into was attempting to locate suitable "game?hens". Unfortunately, after?scouring the local supermarkets and individual?specialty meat markets in the Daytona area, which consumed all of a week, the only?game?hens I could locate were from a specific mass producer that I am boycotting,?for reasons I won't go into here.?What to do? Having spent 32 years in the U.S. Army, I decided to adapt to the circumstances and overcome,?and settled on a 4?lb. "fryer" chicken...yep...you heard right...a FRYER! No big deal, as the size was?perfect?for two people, allowing for leftovers for soup, tacos or whatever.?It was day before yesterday, when I finally found my "victim" bird. Upon returning home?with the prized specimen, my wife decided to rearrange the kitchen, whereupon, she managed to drop the main food processor on the?tile floor, shattering it?into several pieces. OK...no big deal. I still had a small one?(picture included)?that I seldom used, but should do well for the pumpkin seed pesto. I also need to explain, at this point, that a few days before, my wife returned home from the?supermarket with whole, un-hulled pumpkin seeds. Now, I believe in fiber in the diet, but this?necessitated another trip to the grocer to find hulled pumpkin seeds.?That trip consumed over an hour, as the local supermarket has nuts of all types (not including the customers) scattered in 5 different sections of the store.?I finally located them where the?sesame?seed,?Cajun?spice mix, trail mix and chocolate covered peanuts and?raisins?were displayed...on the far end of aisle 7, near thelunch meat! SILLY ME for thinking it could be found in the Nut, Baking, Snack or "Ethnic" aisle! ! The following day, I prepped all the ingredients, and had everything ready?to go. I used?the juice of 1 lemon (not a very juicy one) which yielded slightly over 2 T. juice after squeezing the hell out of?it, sliced?4?cloves of garlic (I like garlic...A LOT!), toasted the pumpkin seeds with olive oil and paprika (they were already salted), roughly chopped the parsley and green onions (I added an extra green onion...(I like onions...A LOT!), and allowed the pumpkin seeds, olive oil and paprika mixture to cool. Did I mention that I like?garlic and onions A LOT?

OK...ready to go. ..oven pre-heated to 400...juice squeezed...garlic and onions prepped (did I mention that I liked garlic and onions...A LOT?)...parsley roughly chopped...EVOO?at the ready...salt measured...pumpkin seed mixture cooled...smaller food processor set up...chicken looking poised and ready for pictures...this is going to be gooooood! After reading over the recipe again (for the fifth time), I concluded that it would be better to just include ALL the ingredients in the processor, rather than having a separate rub of just garlic, salt, EVOO and paprika;?a?decision that I will never regret! I loaded everything into smaller processor and started to pulse. OOPS!!! It seems there is a chute that comes off the top of the processor that commenced to sling all sorts of juice, partially chopped pumpkin seeds and parsley, and big chunks of green onion and garlic onto the counter and floor (did I mention that I like onions and garlic?)! Now...I was certain that at some point, I had an insert that blocked that chute off, but, alas, it was nowhere to be found. After I spent 10 minutes cleaning up, I?placed the rest of the rudimentary pumpkin seed pesto mixture into a bowl and changed gears again. Two days in a row and two food processors in the trash! When facing adversity and overwhelming odds...who do you call? NINJA, of course! I pulled out my trusty Ninja Warrior and used the immersion blender attachment to emulsify the pesto?which?resulted in?aperfect consistency! OK...so far. Feeling like the idiot who refuses to believe the "Wet Paint" sign, however, I HAD to take a finger swipe over the end of the immersion blender and taste the goodness of the pesto. My-O-My!!! It was pure heaven! Like all kids, I remembered licking the batter from the beaters and bowl when my mother would make a cake, but this was on an entirely different level. Obviously not sweet, but a savory sensation with a heavy "umami" flavor. I finished up by completely?licking?up everything from the end of the blender, the beaker...and the spoon I used to?coax?it from the beaker!?I?then sampled an entire tablespoon of the pesto, and set aside 4 more tablespoons in reserve?as a?finish after the bird came out of the oven.

I?separated?the skin from both the breast and the back and stuffed the remaining pesto into, around and over the chicken, and placed it into the preheated oven. Allowing for extra baking time, since it was a larger bird, I rotated it after about 45 minutes, and baked for a total of 1 1/2 hours?on a rack in a sheet pan. It came out perfect. In the meantime, I boiled some Yukon Gold potatoes and?Italian?green beans as anaccompaniment, and mashed the potatoes with butter and milk with a little garlic (did I mention I liked garlic...A LOT?). I used the reserved pesto to coat the chicken, and the entire meal was absolutely?Nirvana! The chicken was moist, juicy and flavorful. Even the skin, which I normally remove, was?irresistible.?

With all the trials and?tribulations, was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY! Would I make it again? I plan on it! In fact, this will probably be one of my "go to" recipes. As far as the pesto goes, I?intend?on trying it with pork, pasta, seafood,?Latin American dishes,?etc. It just tastes like it would go with?almost?anything and could substitute easily for a?Chimichuri?sauce. Next time, I may try adding some?cilantro to the mix as well."

Cornish Game Hens with Pumpkin Seed Pesto recipe

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FISH AND SEAFOOD

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Banana Leaf Mahi Mahi with Citrus and Chiles
Laura

"I had to make some modifications based on availability of ingredients, but overall I found this a lot easier to cook than I anticipated. I never would have been inspired by this recipe on my own but ended up really liking it, so bonus. My only suggestion would be that I found the fish a little overcooked." More on Laura's blog.?

Banana Leaf Mahi Mahi with Citrus and Chiles recipe

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Coconut Fish Sticks
Marilena?

"The recipe was easy to follow and the result was delicious. Seafood with coconut is a natural combination and the few extra steps the recipe required were very much worth it. Soaking the fish in milk was not something I considered doing before, but it made the fish tender and very moist. The combination of panko bread crumbs and coconut helped form a nice crust to the fish even without toasting the coconut flakes. The chutney, lemon, scallion dipping sauce was divine and easy to put together. The only thing I did differently was to dress the steamed broccoli with some olive oil and lemon. Over all, this was one of the tastiest fish dishes I have ever prepared."?

Coconut Fish Sticks recipe

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VEGETABLES AND SIDES

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Super Stuffed Baked Potatoes
Cameron

"I'd never made twice baked potatoes before, so this was fun and new. ?The potato skins get nice and crispy in the roasting, and the potato flesh combined with the pureed cauliflower, makes a filling thats plush and velvety, with a great buttermilk tang. ?I do taste my food as I go and ended up seasoning my filling a little more aggressively than the recipe called for. ?These are homey and comforting, perfect for a grey day. ?One of these twice baked babies and a great salad makes a satisfying and casual lunch or dinner."?

Super Stuffed Baked Potatoes recipe

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Quick Spicy Pickled Beets
Wendy

"I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by how these beets turned out. The intense vinegary smell was a little off-putting when I first uncovered them tonight.? However, they were really quite tasty, if not a little too sweet.? I?d probably cut down on the sugar next time.? Their was a pleasant amount of heat (I took most of the seeds out of the serrano) and I could actually taste the grapefruit.? I?m not going to say I?d make these again, but I?m looking forward to finding ways to use up this batch.? The recipe note says they?d be good on burgers and such, which I don?t doubt, but I think they stand alone very well.? They?d be a great addition to a salad, cheese plate, or a nice foil for a rich holiday spread.? Alas, I?ll probably just end up snacking on them by themselves, straight out of the fridge.? They?ll be good for that too."

More at Wendy's blog.

Quick Spicy Pickled Beets recipe

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Herbed Spaetzle
Andrew

"The good part is that it's made with ingredients we already have at home. It takes time, though, and there are many steps. After making the batter, you're instructed to press it through a colander into simmering water. Lots of work, so I reached for the food which was easier. The little dumplings float to the top, then you plunge them into ice water, then drain them. THEN you fry them. Served with roast chicken and veg, the spaetzle were tasty and reminded us both of matzo falafel, which is essentially broken matzo pieces sold at Passover and served in soup."

Herbed Spaetzle recipe

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Pickled Red Onions
Rich

"WOW. ?These are little bursts of sweet tart and crunchy! ?Very quick and easy to make."

Pickled Red Onions recipe?

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Sweet and Sour Cabbage
Anna?

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"[This dish] was well worth the effort because it is a great side. I made chicken roast to go with it with some stock I had frozen before, garlic and onions.?The side dish seemed pretty easy and to my amazement it was indeed super easy. I got the ingredients from the farmer's market and also used my homegrown parsley which gave it a very nice touch. I wanted to try some alternative versions of it because it is perfect for playing around but due to my time issues at the moment I was happy with my sweet and sour cabbage the 'traditional' way. I took the leftovers to work and even my colleagues liked it."

Sweet and Sour Cabbage Recipe

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Cilantro Rice with Sweet Plantains?
Joy?

"Sweet fried plantains, direct from the grocers? freezer, add an easy and tasty Latino accent to cilantro flecked and flavored fluffy rice.??Directions were clear and results were enjoyed.??Bottom line: would make it again, but note to add more chopped cilantro in the final mix.

Also, who knew sweet fried plantains were available at the grocery store? (Ok, easy - I live near a Fairway.)??I thought for sure I had the other ingredients on hand, especially the rice.??After all my well stocked pantry has basmati, long grain white, Arborio, brown, converted and even sticky sushi rice.??However, I had to Google ?medium-grain? to find out it is common to paella. Thank you Goya.??Oh, boy-a, I now own a lifetime supply."

Cilantro Rice with Sweet Plantains recipe

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Two Potato Home Fries
Sarah

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"This a perfectly fine home fries recipe. The use of garlic, ginger, and curry powder are a nice departure from the more typical home fry seasonings, plus the mixture of potatoes makes for a visually pretty plate. (I hadn't used sweet potatoes in a breakfast dish before but I definitely will in the future) I served these home fries with a fried egg on top and toast on the side. It wasn't life altering but it was quite tasty.?Small tweaks I would recommend when making this dish- Boil the potatoes for less time, they got a little too mushy in the pan. Mince the garlic and ginger instead of grating it, both got clumped up in the pan. Oh and I didn't have any cilantro on hand so I skipped it and I don't think it made much of difference."?

Two Potato Home Fries recipe

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Roasted Beets with Lemon
Marlene?

"I made the Roasted Beets with?Lemon recipe from Foodnetwork mag.? I purchased two pounds of golded beets with greens attached.? This made barely enough for two people as a side dish.? I loved the recipe.? My husband's comment was, "It sure looks pretty but still tastes like beets."

Roasted Beets with Lemon recipe

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Roasted?Squash?&?Tomatoes
Dave & Brian

"When we were assigned "Roasted?Squash?&?Tomatoes," we thought "ugh, kinda boring," ?but we decided to triple the recipe and make it as part of our ?(Canadian) Thanksgiving feast. ?Turns out this recipe is a keeper: simple, quick to prepare, and exceptionally yummy. ?We forgot the cheese in the heat of the carving-the-turkey-seating-sixteen-people-finishing-all-the-side-dishes preparation, and it was still a gorgeous mix of sweet, acidic and savoury. ?Makes great leftovers, too."

Roasted?Squash?&?Tomatoes recipe

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Corn Fried Rice
Laura?

"The corn fried rice was as advertised: an easy weeknight side dish made even easier if you have leftover rice. The flavor, built with quick fried garlic, scallions, and corn, is pleasing and distinctive, but not so strong that it will overwhelm the main component of your dinner. The rice would be a fine companion to grilled or stir-fried shrimp or chicken."

Corn Fried Rice recipe

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No-cook Beet-Orange Salad
Niki

"Luckily, I?m a fan of beets, so this salad was right up my alley.? The original calls for chioga or golden beets, but I was only able to find golden and red when I went to the store the other day.? The only downside to this is that red beets stain EVERYTHING, so it?s best to add them at the very end to avoid turning your whole salad pink.? I also used toasted pumpkin seeds in place of the Marcona almonds because we?re a mostly tree-nut-free household.?Having a mandolin is certainly beneficial here, but it?s by no means a requirement.? You want to slice your beets paper thin, so if you use a knife make sure it?s super sharp."

More at Niki's blog.

No-Cook Beet-Orange Salad recipe

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Antipasto?Chef's?Salad
Erin?

"I made the Food Network's Antipasto?Chef's?Salad?with a few tweaks based on what I had (mixed greens instead of kale, sweet potatoes instead of russet potatoes). ?It's a good lunch or light dinner with plenty of protein. However, the flavors are completely dominated by salt and vinegar due to the combination of?giardiniera, olives, and salami."

Antipasto?Chef's?Salad recipe

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Bell Pepper Salad
Heather

"This was a simple, fast side dish to make, and it's one that I would normally skim past in the magazine. ?The lemon juice added a great deal of brightness to the?peppers, and lightly toasting the caraway seeds at the beginning really brought out their flavor. ?I enjoyed it and will definitely be making it again!?Also...My tip: ?when slicing the?peppers, cut the top off, take out the?pepper's insides, then tap the?pepper?upside-(cut-surface)-down on a hard surface to easily get the rest of the seeds out."

Bell Pepper Salad recipe

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Portobello Gratin
Annie

"You can't go too far wrong with mushrooms and cheese (barring mushroom aversion or lactose intolerance), so this?Portobello?Gratin?is unsurprisingly a pretty tasty dish. ?Simple, too, as it doesn't contain much other than mushrooms and cheese. ?Pretty? ?Not so much - not that the iPhone photo helped matters there. ?It came together easily, though the mushrooms released so much water while baking that the whole thing was pretty gray and soupy looking when I removed the foil. ?The cheese did brown a tiny bit in the final eight minutes of uncovered baking, but removing the foil earlier, and maybe skipping the water, would probably yield better browning. ?Double the garlic if you want to notice its flavor and enjoy."?

Portobello Gratin recipe

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Spicy Pumpkin and Collards
Megan?

"I have to say I was skeptical about this recipe in so many ways, but?it was absolutely delicious. I had to substitute a habanero pepper?because I couldn't find any scotch bonnets. The?pumpkin?brings the?spice level to just the right heat. I think the filling would also be?great for a year round dish ?- just prepare the filling and dial back?the hot pepper and bake it for 15 minutes with the bread crumb and?parmesan topping. The only negative I would say was finding all the?ingredients, I had to find the sugar?pumpkins?and the frozen?collard?greens?at different stores than my normal store"

Spicy Pumpkin and Collards recipe

DESSERTS

Candy Bucket Cake
Luke & Carolyn

"If you need to feed 30 and like to stack?cakes, this is the recipe for you! If you have multiple obscure Bundt pans, yet can only make a?cake?from a box, this is definitely the recipe for you! Those without easy access to premade orange fondant need not apply."

Read more at Luke and Carolyn's blog.?

Candy Bucket Cake recipe

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Apple Pumpkin Brown Betty
Natasha?

"Everyone enjoyed this dish quite a bit. The pumpkin flavor was a bit more muted than I wanted, but that will vary pumpkin to pumpkin. It made a LOT; four servings that night, three leftover servings, and maybe a cup of leftover pumpkin puree (almost uncontaminated). This was using a 3.5 lb pumpkin. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this dish shouldn't be made by the injury-prone."

Read more at Natasha's blog.

Apple Pumpkin Brown Betty recipe

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Haunted Forest Cupcakes
Sarah

"Although baking doesn't intimidate me, decorating does.? I had anticipated some frustration with making the chocolate tree, but it turned out to be so easy.? I printed out a tree silhouette image and used it to trace out the tree on the wax paper with the chocolate.? Melting the white chocolate in the microwave was the only part that didn't work for me - the chocolate started to seize up so I transferred it to a double boiler and melted it that way instead.? Other than that, this was an easy and fun decoration for a Halloween cupcake!" ?

Haunted Forest Cupcakes directions are available here

Wicked Witch Cupcakes
Lea?

"Unless you are a wiz with cake decorating, don't expect your homemade version to turn out nearly as cute as the one in the [magazine] photo. There was no way I was making fondant because I'm lazy (and live in a small town where I could not buy it) so I improvised by molding orange Starburst and black licorice. But without perfect-looking witch shoes, it's kinda hard to tell what I was going for. I think my version looks like a 3rd-grade art project!...I would not make these again...particularly because I'm not that into baking. But cute idea for those of you who are more perfectionist than I am!"

Wicked Witch Cupcakes

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Silver Frosting
Jamie

"This was a very basic frosting recipe, gussied up only by?food?coloring?and?a sparkly silver finish. Because I am too frugal to pay $10 a pound for sugar, I went with the silver sprinkles in the baking aisle at my supermarket. My children are obviously not vampires, since they were attracted rather than repelled."

Silver Frosting recipe not available online

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Orange Caramel Icebox Cake
Jill?

"Cookies in whipped cream! ?Orange caramel whipped cream! ?It was okay, for the amount of work we went to with the oranges...zesting, juicing, caramelizing...there wasn't that much orange flavor OR caramel flavor."

Read more at Jill's blog. ?

Orange Caramel Icebox Cake recipe

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Salted Caramel Brownies
Leslie ?

"They turned out very well.? Gooey and chocolatey.? Every one at work loved them.?I made homemade caramel sauce, using Ina's recipe.?The salt dissolved when it hit the hot caramel sauce, so my 10 dollar box of Malden sea salt was not really necessary.?The recipe calls for a 9 x 12 inch pan.? I think this is a typo.? You can't get a? 9 x 12 at?fantes.com, so it probably doesn't exist."

Salted Caramel Brownies recipe

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Baked Pumpkin Rice Pudding
Tammy

"It is a very easy recipe to follow. I selected a pumpkin from my father's farmette (6 acreas of garden) along with a bit of a shop at the local grocery shop I was on my way to make a delicious dessert. It is great warmed up service with some homemade vanilla ice cream."

Baked Pumpkin Rice Pudding recipe

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Chocolate?and?Olive?Oil?Fig?Cakes?
Rachel

"The?fig?cakes were delicious! The cakes were extremely mo

Source: http://www.thebittenword.com/thebittenword/2012/10/food-network-cover-to-cover.html

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