Thanksgiving with Sandra Lee and Joshua Bell**CLOSED**

“Thanksgiving is the perfect time to bring everyone together to celebrate a year of blessings. Serve savory and decadent dishes such as Savory Bread Pudding and Praline Sweet Potato Casserole on an inviting table, filled with rich colors and seasonal textures. Simple, time-saving shortcuts to create a meaningful feast can be found in my new book Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cocktail Time. Give your gracious gathering a heartwarming start with my personal favorite, Joshua Bell’s album, At Home With Friends and greet guests at your door with a vibrant cocktail, such as a Peach and Apricot Cider or Pumpkin Pie Martini . The main attraction is food, so try turning your Turkey or Pork Roast into a colorful centerpiece, served with a side of cornbread stuffing or cranberry sauce. For a quick and easy dessert try Semi-Homemade Glazed Spice Donuts with Pecans or a Sweet Potato Cake with Citrus Glaze, so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time celebrating with your family and friends.” Sandra Lee

A Few Tips from Sandra,

COCKTAILS:
“Re-name your cocktails for a signature touch and serve them in an array of glasses in different shapes and sizes for a glamorous effect. If you have a special album playing, review your song list and allow the song titles to inspire your cocktails, ie. Peach Cider can be turned into “Cinema Paradiso” to match the beautiful duet of the same name on Joshua Bell’s new album At Home With Friends. Brilliant!”

APETIZERS:
“If you’re facing a time crunch—pick party foods that are delicious and impressive, without being fussy. I recommend, Savory Bread Pudding and Fig and Port Tartlets—both of these tasty treats can be prepared before your guests arrive and served at room temperature.”

SIDE:
“Sometimes you need the culinary equivalent of a big warm hug. Praline Sweet Potato Casserole is a classic, comfort food creation that is baked to perfection."


Pop Up Audio www.joshuabell.com

Mission #3 Talent-Independentmami does Magic

Independentmami will now be doing Magic.
Let me tell how I found and discovered, I could do magic. Going back, magic comes from a long line of great mothers, housekeepers, and caretakers in my family passed down from generation to generation. I think all men, or maybe just my men, think that the house is a magic kingdom for them. I have sprinkled my picksy dust on it, and things just happen by magic. My featured magic tricks today will be doing the dishes and doing the laundry. I have not mastered my talents, and am no expert. No precious animals were hurt in any of these tricks. Warning this video may not be suitable for all eyes to see. It was 5 am in the morning, and we know how we look and feel at that time. Again magic happens at all hours of the day, especially when my guys are sleeping. When my sleeping beauties awake in the morning, their clothes is hanging in their closets, ready for them. The dishes are back in the cupboard ready for them to be used. These are not all the magic tricks I can do, I have more up my sleeve.
Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I really appreciate the support I have out in the blogging world. For those that are just tuning in I entered a contest, Bloggers & Tiaras over at MomDot. This is the 3rd entry into the competition. I hope you get a kick out of the things i do during this time. Thank you for stopping by.

Jolly Mom is giving away a HP Touchsmart 600

Microsoft and HP collaborated to create best-in-class touch technology that melds the power of Windows 7 with HP’s revolutionary TouchSmart PCs. The HP TouchSmart 600 showcases this technology within its sleek design, HD widescreen, BluRay, adjustable webcam and more. It offers limitless potential for enhancing life at home.
Retail value of $1,497!

Starting on Nov 23, Jolly Mom will be doing a give away where you could win this. She is one of 9 blogs. I want to WIN!
Learn more here

November is National Adoption Month

AdoptUsKids.org
The mission of AdoptUsKids is to recruit and connect foster and adoptive families with waiting children throughout the United States.

You can make a difference is our future by adopting today. There are many children just waiting to be adopted. If you know someone looking for information on being a foster parent or adopting, please encourage them to visit AdoptUsKids.org.

This campaign is brought to you by Global Influence, the former Momfluence network.

PBS to Air Special on Grandparents Raising Kids - November 16, 2009

I know from experience how a grandparent can play an important role in kids lives. My mom has helped me raise my son. I became a single parent when my son was 6 months old. And my mom was there for me. And now that I am on my own and no longer under her roof, she is still there like she was before for support. I know many people in this situation for many reasons know to them that this has happened to.

I love PBS. They are so full of information for our kids and us as parents. It is not just about entertainment, and they understand that.

"A Place of Our Own" is the English-language ("Week in Review") companion to the Spanish-language ("Recuento Seminal") series "Los Niños en su Casa." Both series are designed for parents and anyone else who takes care of young children: grandparents, nannies, babysitters and home daycare providers. The series covers subjects such as tantrums, literacy, preventing obesity, as well as speech and language delays. These Peabody Award-winning programs combine an entertainment format. The daytime talk/demonstration show features solid educational information on how young children learn, and what adults need to know to help them be prepared for kindergarten and beyond. This show will be airing today. Check you local listing for times. And if you are looking to see it in Spanish it will be coming out on Thursday, Nov 19.

Las series premiadas de PBS, A Place of Our Own y Los Niños En Su Casa, presentarán un programa titulado “Grandparents Raising Kids” (Abuelos que Crían a sus Nietos) el lunes 16 de noviembre y el jueves 19 de noviembre. El programa muestra cómo los abuelos pueden manejar esta situación, que suele ser abrumadora, y ofrece ideas para ayudar a los abuelos a brindar un futuro prometedor para su familia.

A Place of Our Own y Los Niños en Su Casa son series informativas en inglés y español que se transmiten por televisión todos los días, y están dirigidas a padres, abuelos y proveedores de cuidado de niños pequeños. Este episodio aborda el tema de la responsabilidad de criar nietos que los abuelos deben asumir en forma permanente, muchas veces de una manera inesperada, y trata sobre cómo ellos pueden obtener la ayuda que necesitan para su bienestar mental, físico y emocional.

“A veces se producen circunstancias muy duras en las familias que pueden cambiar para siempre el rol de los abuelos, pasando a ser guardianes permanentes de sus nietos. En todo el país, más de seis millones de niños menores de 18 años viven con sus abuelos”, comentó Joyce Campbell, Productora Ejecutiva de KCET-TV, Los Angeles. “Si bien la situación a veces puede resultar abrumadora, estos abuelos no deberían sentirse solos en esta experiencia tan desafiante para ellos”, agregó Campbell.

El programa titulado “Grandparents Raising Kids” (Abuelos que crían a sus nietos) se transmitirá a través de las estaciones PBS de todo el país los días 16 de noviembre (A Place of Our Own) y 19 de noviembre (Los Niños en Su Casa). Consulte la guía de programación local.

La información sobre los programas está disponible en www.aplaceofourown.org y www.losninosensucasa.org, e incluye videos, vínculos a recursos y tableros de mensajes.