Seth Glier - Another Amazing Performance

Seth Glier never ceases to amaze me. Listening to him sing at last night's CD Release Party at the Tupelo in Londonderry, New Hampshire was as usual, absolutely amazing! This was my fifth time hearing Seth (and his ever-so-talented sidekick, Ryan Hommel) in person and it never gets old. He opened for Liz Longley, who has a beautiful voice and some wonderful, touching songs. Nothing against Liz, as I would love to see her again, but two of the people with me last night both said (as I always say) Seth should have been the headliner, not the opener. It is hard to believe this young man is only 22 years old. He has a voice that is a rare gift. You are in for a real treat if you can see him in person! If you can't see him in person, consider purchasing a CD. His newest CD, The Next Right Thing, is my personal favorite.



Have you ever heard a singers voice that was so amazing it made you emotional?

Breadmaker

I have a West Bend breadmaker that I've had for many years and love! During the holidays, it always gets lots of use. It bakes a traditional rectangular-shaped 1 1/2 or 2 pound loaf. It's very easy to use and came with an instruction book with great recipes (I've improved many of them and will be posting them on my recipe page). It will make traditional yeast breads and quick breads. The bad news is, it looks like West Bend doesn't make one like it anymore.

Most people I know who had a breadmaker that the loaf pan goes in vertically rather than horizontally, have since sent theirs to breadmaker heaven or disposed of in a yard sale. If you are looking for a breadmaker this holiday season, try to get a rectangular loaf that sits in the breadmaker horizontally, like the one below. They are more expensive, but worth it!

Try Accuchef - I Think You Will Like It!

AccuChef is a full-featured recipe organizer that starts you out with a collection of recipes and lets you add as many as you want (thousands available for free from our web site, millions available on the Internet). AccuChef can perform a nutritional analysis (including exchanges) of your recipes using the included USDA SR16-1 database and resize your recipes for up to 999 servings. Features include a spell checker (with support for over 20 languages); an e-mail utility that supports MAPI, SMTP exchanges and built-in PKZIP/WINZIP compatible compression. Search for recipes based on any element, even type in some ingredients you have on hand and let it suggest recipes you can make. A menu planner lets you add recipes for a day's meals and snacks then creates a shopping list of required ingredients in store aisle order (supports the Pocket PC shopping list program VOShoppingList too)! Before you head to the store, let it check the built in coupon database to see if you have any applicable coupons. AccuChef will import Meal-Master, MasterCook, regular text, or you can paste in recipes from any web site. Export Meal-Master, MasterCook, comma separated value or text. Export to individual text files using the recipe name as the file name, copy them to your PALM or POCKET PC and take them with you! You can sort recipes alphabetically by name, category, or main ingredient or jump to the area of interest using alphabetical tabs. Personalize your printouts by adding pictures of the recipe (BMP or JPG). You can print in formatted layout on plain paper, 3x5 and 4x6 index cards or any other sized paper your printer will support, print nutritional labels or completely design your own output! You can generate a web cookbook and upload it to the Internet to share your creations with the world! You can even print out double sided cookbooks of your recipes complete with a table of contents for sharing with the family, creating heirlooms or as a fund raiser for your Church or school!

An amazing buy at only $19.95

Accuchef.com

In 2004 I needed a surgery that would require a long recovery and restrict movement (not being able to lift heavy objects, etc.) I decided this would be a good time to gather up all the recipes that were floating around and enter them into a computer program. After doing a little research, I found Accuchef. It is an easy program to use and today I have over 100 recipes I've added to it. Okay, so it took me six years to do it, but it's worth it.

The reasonably priced Accuchef allows sorting of records by category, by recipe name or even by the main ingredient. Emailing a recipe to someone is a cinch and you can print one recipe or the entire cookbook on 8 1/2 x 11 paper or on recipe cards. I could go on and on as to what this program could do. When I purchased the software I also purchased the 145-page user manual. I'm not sure it was really necessary, as the program is pretty self-explanatory.

At only $19.95, it is a good investment. Order here:

Kohl's 600-Count Egyptian Cotton Sheets - Recommend

I've been using Kohl's Luxury 600-Count Egyptian Cotton Sheets sheets for three years and absolutely love them!! I always purchase them on sale with a discount coupon. My first set was purchased on Black Friday at an excellent price. I've purchased one set a year for three years. I rotate between two sets for my king size bed and will be purchasing these for all the beds in my home. I would never have tried them at the full price as I'm very particular about my sheets and would not have wanted to take a chance. I think it's hard to judge a sheet until they are washed. I'm glad I was able to try them at a bargain price. They are incredibly soft, wash nicely and are now the only sheets I will purchase!

BEWARE - There are some brands selling for a low price whose label makes it appear that the sheets inside the package are Egyptian cotton. One label I've seen is JS Sanders Collection. It says, in very small letters, "with the soft touch as ..." and in very large letters, "...820 Thread Count 100% Egyptian Cotton Sheet Set". I washed a set and it is obvious they are not even cotton; they are polyester. They feel more like satin (which I know most people love, but I hate the feel of). I think the label is very misleading. Although the fact that the label also says, "Do not bleach, dry clean, or iron" should be a dead giveaway that these are not cotton. What do you think?

Go with the Kohl's Egyptian Cotton!