Showing posts with label celebration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label celebration. Show all posts
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Take-Along Festive Treats for Fall Gatherings
Between gift exchanges, holiday parties and family gatherings, this time of year is full of opportunities for delicious sweet treats.
Add extra cheer to this year's celebrations with these festive desserts featuring Lucky Leaf Premium Fruit Filling. These quick and simple treats allow you to impress your guests and still have time to enjoy all the activities the season has to offer. A gooey chocolate-cherry cake, a classic cheesecake with a seasonal twist, a bubbly cobbler or traditional, go-to cookies are sure to become guest favorites, costing you minimal prep time. No matter if your favorite flavor is cherry, apple or blueberry, these recipes can be customized to complement any holiday menu or be a great addition to a cookie exchange. With more fruit and many flavors to choose from, Lucky Leaf can help you tackle the hustle and bustle of the season.
Find more flavor-filled recipes to brighten your holiday at www.luckyleaf.com.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix until combined. Add flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Mix until combined.
Roll dough into two-inch balls. Place on greased baking sheet or baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Press thumb into center of cookie to make well. Place cherries into each cookie.
Bake for 12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool.
Melt chocolate according to package directions. Drizzle over cookies. Let chocolate set and serve immediately or store in airtight container.
Melt butter and pour into 2.5-quart casserole or baking pan. Mix sugar, flour and milk. Pour mixture over butter but do not mix. Pour fruit filling on top but do not mix. Bake 1 hour.
Combine cake mix ingredients as listed on box. Beat on medium speed until well combined.
Bake cake in 9-by-13-inch pan for 20-22 minutes. Check doneness by inserting toothpick into center of cake. If toothpick is clean, cake is done. Allow to cool 10 minutes.
While cake is still warm, use end of wooden spoon or another round object and poke holes all over top of cake.
Heat jar of hot fudge sauce in microwave for about 30 seconds, or until you can stir and thin it out. You may need an additional 30 seconds. Pour sauce on top of cake and allow it to absorb. Let set until completely cooled.
Open can of fruit filling and pour over top of cake; spread evenly.
To prepare whipped cream, put bowl and whisk attachment in freezer for 5-10 minutes to get them really cold. In cold mixing bowl, pour in heavy whipping cream and beat on medium speed about 3 minutes. Add powdered sugar and increase speed to medium high. Beat until stiff peaks form. Spread whipped cream over top of cake.
Chop chocolate bar into small pieces and sprinkle over top of cake. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Reserve 3/4 cup of fruit filling; set aside. Spoon remaining filling into crust.
Beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth; add eggs and mix well. Pour over fruit filling. Bake for 35 minutes, or until center of cake is set.
Cool cake to room temperature. In small saucepan, heat reserved fruit filling and caramel topping for about 1 minute, or until spreadable. Spoon apple-caramel mixture over top of cheesecake and spread evenly.
Decorate edge of cake with pecan halves and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Friday, October 30, 2015
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Frisco No. 5 Best Place in the Nation to Collect Halloween Treats!
As the nation gears up for the most neighborly of holidays, Halloween, Nextdoor has released the Top Ten U.S. Cities for Treats. For the first time, Nextdoor analyzed data from the tens of thousands of neighborhoods that use the platform's annual Treat Map feature to create this list. Trick-or-treaters in these top cities will hit the candy jackpot this Halloween.
Top Ten U.S. Cities for Treats:
- Cary, NC
- Ann Arbor, MI
- Omaha, NE
- Columbus, OH
- Frisco, TX
- Orlando, FL
- Downers Grove, IL
- Greenville, SC
- Baton Rouge, LA
- Boise, ID
List methodology: This list is based on the ratio of Nextdoor members who indicated they were passing out candy on their neighborhood's Treat Map to the total number of Nextdoor members in a city. Data was analyzed in U.S. cities where more than 5,000 neighbors are using Nextdoor.
Each day neighbors across the country rely on Nextdoor to connect about the things that matter most in their communities. Every October, neighbors use Nextdoor's Treat Map to let each other know they will be passing out candy by marking their home on their neighborhood's Treat Map with the ultimate Halloween icon, a candy corn. Parents and trick-or-treaters can use the map to plan their routes ahead of time.
"Passing out Halloween candy is one of the most neighborly things you can do," said Nirav Tolia, Co-Founder and CEO of Nextdoor. "We are excited to share this year's list of the Top Ten U.S. Cities for Treats and encourage neighbors everywhere to show theirHalloween spirit by adding their own homes to their neighborhood's Treat Map."
- Boise, ID
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Halloween: A Sweet Time for Family, Fun and Traditions
(Family
Features) Halloween is a fun time of year meant to be celebrated with friends
and family. While the holiday originated more than 2,000 years ago with Celtic
tribes, the traditions of dressing in disguises and celebrating with food and
drink endure to this day.
According
to a survey conducted by the National Confectioners
Association, more than three quarters of Americans will hand out candy to
trick-or-treaters this year and many others will participate in community sponsored
Halloween events, display a seasonal candy bowl or attend a Halloween party.
No
matter what age group, Halloween is a time to let loose and have some fun. Here
are some tips to help you and your family make the most of this sweet and
spooky holiday:
Make new traditions together. While
trick-or-treating is a perennial favorite Halloween activity, don’t be afraid
to expand your options. Many families already enjoy things like carving a jack-o-lantern
or attending a family oriented Halloween party. For some new ideas, try
transforming your home into a haunted house with spooky displays, decorating customized
trick-or-treat bags or even going on a hayride at a local farm. It doesn’t
matter what you are doing as long as you can spend time with loved ones.
Amp up the spook-factor with creepy treats.
Candy
is a special part of Halloween, and one of life’s little pleasures that is
meant to be enjoyed as a treat during the holiday. On Halloween, candy shaped like
eyeballs, brains or spiders can be a fun way to create a memorable celebration.
Parents are 24 percent more likely than non-parents to pick creepy candy over
other Halloween themes.
Enjoy candy in moderation. With lots of treats
being handed out on Halloween, it’s a good time to keep moderation in mind.
Nearly 80 percent of parents surveyed report that they have a plan in place to
help their children make smart decisions when it comes to the enjoyment of
treats. NCA’s moderation guides are a
handy way to make sure you treat right on Halloween or any day of the
year. Let your children enjoy some candy on Halloween and then portion out
two or three treats into small bags for enjoyment later. For school-age
children, consider slipping a small piece of candy into their lunch boxes as a
fun surprise.
Remember that safety comes first. There are a number
of easy ways to make the evening a safe and enjoyable one. Wear light-colored
clothing that’s short enough to prevent tripping and add reflective tape to the
sides, front and back of costumes. Trick-or-treat before the sun is completely set
and carry a flashlight in case of delay. Finally, try to stay within your neighborhood
and only visit homes you know.
Learn
more about Halloween traditions and how to enjoy sweets in moderation at CandyUSA.com/HalloweenCentral.
There you can also find great recipes, moderation tips and guides, craft ideas
and safety reminders to make sure you enjoy a spooktacular holiday.
Photo
courtesy of Getty Images
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Dream Homes Turn Into "Scream" Homes with New Interactive Haunted House Feature on Realtor.com®
Buyers and sellers can now create the home of their dreams and worst nightmares on realtor.com®. Just in time for Halloween, realtor.com®, a leading provider of online real estate services operated by News Corp subsidiary Move, Inc. today announced the launch of "Build Your Own Haunted House."
Consumers can build a spooky home complete with haunts and sounds and share it via email, Facebook or Twitter any time during the month of October. The haunted house option offers a menu of animated and customizable options such as lighting color to adorn the outside of the home as well as lawn features, including a customizable for-sale sign, tombstones, jack-o-lanterns and skeletons. Spooky homes also can be customized with flying features that include witches, ghosts, crows, or bats, and sounds from wailing ghosts, shrieking witches, thunder or wind to add even more fright.
Since no Halloween is complete without a creepy costume, users also have the option to place a headshot onto a zombie as part of their scary home scene. Once the house is complete, it comes alive with the sights and sounds of Halloween.
"At realtor.com, we want to make the home experience enjoyable, and what's more fun than having the opportunity to build your own haunted house and share it with friends and family," said Nate Johnson, chief marketing officer for realtor.com®. "This speaks to the brand experience we are trying to create at realtor.com."
Users are invited to "Share the Scare" with all their friends, an option which encourages them to show off their creepy creation by either sending a "Happy Halloween" email-o-gram with a personalized note or posting their haunted house to Twitter or Facebook.
Realtor.com®'s "Build Your Own Haunted House" will be available until midnight on Oct. 31.
About Move, Inc. and realtor.com®
Move, Inc. operates the realtor.com® website and mobile experiences, which provide buyers, sellers and renters of homes with the information, tools and professional expertise they need to discover and create their perfect home. News Corp [NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV] acquired Move in November 2014, and realtor.com® quickly established itself as the fastest growing online real estate service provider in the first half of 2015 as measured by comScore.
As the official website of the National Association of REALTORS®, consumers know they can look to realtor.com® for the most comprehensive and accurate information anytime, anywhere. With relationships with more than 800 multiple listing services (MLS), realtor.com® has more than 3 million for-sale listings, which account for more than 97 percent of all MLS-listed for-sale properties. More than 90 percent of the listings are updated every 15 minutes. Move's network of websites provides consumers a wealth of innovative tools, including Doorsteps®, Moving.com™, SeniorHousingNetSM and others. Move supports real estate professionals by providing many services to grow their businesses in an increasing digital, on-demand world, including ListHub™, the nation's leading listing syndicator and centralized intelligence platform for the real estate industry; TigerLead®; Top Producer® Systems; andFiveStreetSM and Reesio as well as many free services.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Halloween revelers prefer do-it-yourself costumes
Funny costumes were deemed the most popular type of costume this year, edging out iconic/classic and minimalist costumes, according to Goodwill's National Halloween Poll. Goodwill polled thousands of Americans by phone and in person to find out what's hot and what's not. The survey led to many surprising findings:- Survey respondents preferred do-it-yourself costumes (51 percent) over packaged costumes (27 percent). The trend shows people are more interested in creating original looks or being creative and unique by blending accessories.
- There's a surge in popularity for group, family and couples costumes this year, especially among millennials. Of those planning to wear costumes, 19 percent will look for group, couple or family costumes and 31 percent of millennials plan to participate in those costumes this year.
- Goodwill customers like the idea of merging two or more traditional costumes to create unique looks. For example, a zombie-princess, pirate-cat or another merged creation. This reflects the trend toward do-it-yourself, creative and original costume designs. To determine your unique costume creation using your initials, visit Goodwill's Halloween costume generator.
- Respondents revealed what not to wear: They will avoid risqué/overly sexy costumes (60 percent) and political costumes (35 percent).
For the second year in a row, respondents deemed zombie, pirate and vampire costumes as the most popular choices.
Goodwill has more than 3,000 stores in the United States and Canada that are full of the items needed to create unique costumes on a budget. Shoppers can take pride in knowing that their purchases help people in their communities. Store revenues help Goodwill agencies fund job training programs and services, such as résumé assistance, career counseling, computer classes, financial education, transportation and many more. These services help people find jobs, earn paychecks and care for their families.
"Goodwill has everything you need to create a unique costume on a budget," said Evette Rios, lifestyle expert, television host and Goodwill spokesperson. "Find pieces at Goodwill to wear again, and then look for the right accessories to put together a unique Halloween look. If you don't find what you're looking for, come back, because Goodwill stores get new items each day."
Goodwill's Halloween website is a one-stop shop, with a costume generator, makeup videos and a locator to find your nearest Goodwill store. Visit www.goodwill.org/halloween.
About the National Halloween Poll ORC International conducted a landline and cell phone survey of 1,012 respondents from September 24 – September 27, 2015. The margin of error was +/- 3.08 percent. Goodwill agencies conducted a separate in-store costume poll of more than 3,000 respondents at Goodwill stores in Washington, California, Nevada, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Florida from September 23 – October 1, 2015.
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