The secret to creating a successful holiday party is organization.  Keep the guest list to a minimum. Holiday parties are much nicer when you keep them on the intimate side, that is unless you have a huge family in which case just do the best you can.
If the crowd is small you can do a sit down, but for a medium or large crowd it’s much better to do a buffet style meal. Set your table accordingly. Remember, you don’t have to invite everyone to a single party. You can plan several small get togethers as long as you keep …read more

There is a lot of buzz at this time of year regarding the preparation of Christmas, but how about Hanukkah. I thought I would do a short post to give Hanukkah equal time. Hanukkah is the Jewish celebration of the Festival of Lights. This holiday falls around the same time as Christmas.
During Hanukkah families gather together to celebrate with special food and games. Hanukkah commemorates the victory of a band of Jewish warriors, the Maccabees, over the Syrian king Antiochus almost 2,500 years ago.
Hanukkah will start this year at sundown on December 5th.  You should already have your menu in …read more

As a parent, I am concerned about the movies my children watch.  I don’t have the time to screen each movie before they watch it, but I want to make sure what they’re watching is clean.  I don’t want to be surprised by inappropriate language or sexual content. 
Thanks to free resources such as Plugged -In Online and Kids-in-Mind, you can quickly check out a movie’s sexual content, violence, language, drug use, and more.  Just this week a relative came over and wanted to know if my kids could watch Marley & Me.  I said, “No way!”  I pulled up Plugged In Online …read more

I’ve been on Twitter for a few months now and I am enjoying all the people and bloggers I’m meeting.  I’ve noticed that there are quite a few celebrities on there.  I thought you might be interested in looking at or following the tweets of some homemaking and chef celebrities.
Paula Deen
Martha Stewart
Everyday Food from Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart Radio
Marth Stewart News
Emeril
Emeril’s Eats
Serious Eats
Giada De Laurentiis
Gail Simmons
Better Homes & Gardens
Craft Magazine
Are you following any homemaking celebrities?  Let us know.
image from twitter

On February 17, 2009 all television stations in the US will stop broadcasting in analog and will switch to digital broadcasting. 
What does this mean for you?
If you’re like me and you’re cutting costs by using an antenna, then you’ll need to do something so that you’re not stuck without channels.  You can purchase a tv with a digital tuner, connect to a paid service such as cable or satellite, or you can purchase a TV converter box. 
The TV converter box costs about $50, but the government is issuing $40 coupons to help with this purchase.  You can get up to …read more