| Eva Longoria Gets Second Bridal Shower
Typically, a woman gets to have one bridal bash before her wedding. But for Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, two bridal showers should do the trick. On Sunday, April 15, Housewives co-star Felicity Huffman gave Longoria an outdoor bridal bash at her Los Angeles home. The small co-ed gathering consisted of a sit-down lunch wherein guests feasted on a salad bar with chicken salmon, shrimp, gourmet cheeses with various wines and martinis. For desert, they gorged on chocolate chip cookies, brownies and white-chocolate pastries. Of course, guests also showered Longoria with gifts. Longoria told People, "It was such a special day! Felicity and my maid of honor, Brittany Olson, went above and beyond to make the whole afternoon beautiful and memorable. I can't thank them enough. I'm extremely blessed to be surrounded by my family, friends and co-workers and to have had them all together to celebrate this special moment in my life." Apart from Huffman’s bridal bash, Longoria aslo got an additional bridal party.shower This time, it was a girls-only party thrown by Desperate Housewives co-star Teri Hatcher.
Fiddler on the Roof at Toby’s: Traditional and Terrific
While some shows like Cabaret, Chicago and the like are ripe for re-imagining, other classics, like A Chorus Line and Sweet Charity are best left alone, so wonderful were they in their original state (someone really should have told the Charity folk to let it be). And leave it to Toby and her staff to recognize when to putter with a classic and when not to her Fiddler on the Roof, which opened last Saturday for a 3 month run at the Baltimore location, is Fiddler as we all know and love it. The Jerome Robbins inspired choreography yes, they do "The Bottle Dance" - is intact, those little gem moments the mop swap in "Matchmaker, Matchmaker", Tevye wiggling his tummy as he "daidel deedle dums" his way through "If I Were a Rich Man" are there. And yet, the show, guided by Toby and her ace director/choreographers Tina DeSimone and David James, is as fresh and vibrant as if it were a brand new show.
Different mushroom flavors call for different cooking styles
Mushrooms get a bad rap. They're more than just lawn nuisances. Most don't bring on psychedelic hallucinations. And they're definitely more than mere pizza toppers. Specialty varieties of fungi delicacies are becoming more popular -- and it's not just the now commonplace shiitake and portobellas. Some of the different ones include oyster, beech, enoki, maitake and morel. According to Bart Minor, president of the Mushroom Council, exotic varieties are growing the fastest in popularity, but they only represent a small volume, based on a poll conducted by the National Restaurant Association in 2006. "Oyster mushrooms, beech mushrooms, enokis and maitakes are becoming increasingly popular," he said. Steve Farrar, operations manager for Golden Gourmet Mushrooms in San Marcos, which produces maitake, king trumpet and white and brown beech mushrooms said the fungi work well in the place of meat.
Make Herbes de Provence
Herbes de Provence is a blend of several flavorful herbs. It originated in Provence, a region in the southeast of France bordering the Mediterranean that is rich in a vast variety of herbs and boasts a sophisticated culinary tradition. As in many such blends, there are a number of versions, with thyme, savory, rosemary and lavender common to most. The blend may not be readily available in the chain supermarkets; seek it out in some gourmet markets or on the Internet. Just more than an ounce costs around $6, plus shipping, on the Web. To make your own blend, you can get several recipes online. Here is one: Mix 1 teaspoon each dried thyme, ground rosemary, summer savory, marjoram and dried basil; ½ teaspoon each lavender (optional but traditional), dried sage and dried oregano; pinch fennel seeds; and 1 bay leaf, crumbled.
Banking and Marketing Trust is key to good marketing, Wynn says
And to get consumers to trust your commercial speech you must accurately represent your product and have a big idea upon which to fall back should your marketing fail. The public will "discount everything you say and then they'll ask a cabdriver and believe everything he says," Wynn told a group of industry professionals at THE Conference on Marketing at the Venetian last week. That's why every property he's run has special bathrooms and other amenities for cabbies. "It's hard to get people to trust us, but if they trust us, they'll buy our product," he said. "There are six versions of everything you can buy in the world. Why buy one of them? Trust. "I want to have the truth on my side. If I say I have an elegant hotel, damn it, I better have an elegant hotel." But how does a anyone, from a public relations flak to a hotel magnate, gain the trust of consumers? First, he must believe completely in what he is creating.
Travel plans uncork wine flights of fancy
Heed your Herder early warning: the new Pinot Gris is here. And don't say later that you weren't informed. Sometimes I get flak from readers: "Why do you write about wines that aren't available, that we can't seem to find?" It's usually because they've sold out in a flash, and by the time you get around to looking for them, there's nothing left, especially in the case of wineries with minuscule output. Wines are always available at the time I first talk about them, unless specifically stated. Sometimes I list them for the fact that they are outstanding and should have been recognized earlier. So hear this alarm and get it now, because the wine will all be gone in a few weeks: Herder Pinot Gris 2006, from Herder Winery & Vineyards near Keremeos, has just hit town in the customary limited amounts.
Valley Vibrations
My electric bass teacher, Art Rodriguez, said something one night in class that I thought was inspirational. We were listening to different versions of songs performed by various groups over the years and he said, "That's what's fun about music - you can always take it and make it your own."
Bet he didn't realize I was writing it down. That's what you get when there's a reporter in the group.
We can all benefit from taking classes and lessons, but if they're not available or too difficult for us to do at certain times in our lives, it's not the end of the world. I had a nice conversation with two Tai Chi instructors this week, one who had 12 years of instruction from the same teacher and the other who had eight months of instruction, moved and found his only way of learning was through books, until he finally found a new mentor years later.
What not to buy at supermarket
It goes without saying that I prefer shopping for my groceries at the supermarket more than any other type of store, particularly since I enjoy the game of grabbing the best bargains with store promotions, coupons and even the occasional rebate thrown in. You can't beat getting some items absolutely free when you know how to use supermarket promotions together!However, a TV reporter recently asked me to give her a list of items that you should not buy at the supermarket, assuming you are focused on getting the lowest prices for your groceries. I haven't been asked that question before, so I had fun giving it some thought and doing a little research. Some of the price comparisons surprised me, and have changed my mind about where I will buy some items in the future.To clarify, when I compared prices for these common supermarket items to other store alternatives, I assumed that the items were selling for their full price to compare apples to apples.
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