See video of the International festival on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/user/MedinaGazette#play/all/uploads-all/0/wX3OB9KdIMo MEDINA — There’s walking, and then there’s waulking. The Gaelic method of fulling wool to the tempo of folk songs slow and fast was just one of the cultural demonstrations at the inaugural Medina International Fest on Saturday. The event on the Square in Medina was combined with [...]

Title: Jazz and Wine Over the Valley Location: Mapleside Farms in Brunswick Link: Click here Description: Join The WAVE for an evening of free music from Joe McBride.  Wine tasting from Debonne Vineyards starts at 5pm, music from 6-9. No coolers. View pictures from Jazz and Wine Over the Valley.  Map and Directions. Start Time: 17:00 Date: 2009-09-04

 

Tucker has Knee Surgery

 

Scott Petrak of the Chronicle-Telegram reported today that Ryan Tucker had arthroscopic knee surgery this passed Wednesday.  For the first time in a few years, this isn’t all that disappointing to me.  Tucker isn’t starting on the OL this season so it won’t kill the Browns for him to miss a few weeks.  It does hurt though because when Tucker is on his game, he is a good lineman.  The problem is that he hasn’t been on his game for a couple of years.  He was considering retirement before this season started and maybe he should have stuck with that instinct.  Regardless, I’m happy to have him on the team as quality depth, but not as a starter.  He should have plenty of time to let his knee heal up and come back when we might need him.

 

Also, the Browns must cut the roster down to 75 players by Tuesday.  In preparation for this, today they released cornerback Rod Hood, linebacker Robert McCune, tight end Nate Jackson, and offensive lineman Branndon Braxton.  No big deal here really.  Rod Hood is the only name worth mentioning and he just wasn’t playing very well.  If he could have played safety he might have had a chance, but oh well.  Robert McCune was looking pretty good on special teams, but he wasn’t significant enough to warrant a coveted spot on the 53 man roster.  I have a feeling he may be eligible for the practice squad, despite his old age. 

 

This coming Saturday is the deadline for Mangini to chop the roster down to the final 53.  We might even see some surprising cuts this year… guys who in other years would have been starters.  We’ll see.

We just got back from a road trip with our three kids. A very long road trip. I’m talking 40-plus hours together in a vehicle.

The reaction that we get from other parents when we tell them about this road trip amuses me. Most people look, if only for just a moment, as if they just threw up in their mouth. And I get that, I do. I’m not saying that there weren’t times during the drive that I didn’t stare longingly out the window at passing airplanes. In fact, at several points during the journey, I seriously contemplated whether I would be critically injured if I jumped from the moving truck and made a break for it. And on the way home the interior of our truck started to smell suspiciously like goats had been breeding. So, yeah, there were low points.

However, if we had flown to our destination on an airplane we would have missed some pretty cool stuff. My daughter wouldn’t have been able to keep track of how many windmills she saw as we drove through four provinces. We wouldn’t have stopped to take cheesy pictures at The Big Apple in Colborne. My son probably wouldn’t have taught us the words to the I Love My Lips song. We would have missed walking on the ocean floor at the Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick during low tide. In short, we would have missed seeing a lot of cool stuff across Canada.

Maybe it’s because they have never been on an airplane. Perhaps they are genetically predisposed to behaving well in the car. Maybe my husband bribed them without my knowledge. Whatever the reason, my kids really do well on long car trips. Now that we’re home and have cleaned the layer of crushed fishy crackers and dropped sandwich meat (so that’s what that smell was!) we have already forgotten the moments of lost tempers and sore bottoms. We only remember the good things that our trip to Eastern Canada had to offer.

And we’re already thinking about where our next road trip will take us.

—By Janet, CANADA MOMS BLOG

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This is an original post from the Canada Moms Blog, http://www.canadamomsblog.com.

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From MealsMatter.org

By the end of August, fall feels like it’s right around the corner. This week’s recipes help you gear up for the change in seasons with lots of oranges and browns thanks to carrots, pumpkin and mushrooms. Besides being colorful, these ingredients offer important nutrients like vitamin A, potassium and selenium.

This week’s featured family meal is perfect for a fall picnic because each dish can be made ahead of time and served cold. Bring along Chilled Carrot Ginger Soup, Salade Nicoise and Baked Pumpkin Bread for the first football game of the year.

During the rest of the week, try Asparagus Salad with Carrots and Shitake Mushrooms or Pollo Relleno for lunch or dinner. Crustless Tomato-Pepper Quiche and Strawberry- Vanilla Yogurt Waffles both offer a final taste of summer that can be served for breakfast, brunch or even dinner.

“Family Meals Matter” features recipes selected by registered dietitians from the thousands of user-contributed recipes available at the free online nutrition and meal planning website Meals Matter (www.mealsmatter.org), sponsored by Dairy Council of California.

Featured Meal

Chilled Carrot Ginger Soup

2 cups water

1 ½ lb peeled baby carrots

4 tsp minced fresh ginger

1 ½ cups buttermilk

¼ tsp salt

1. Bring water to boil in medium saucepan. Add carrots and ginger; cook, covered, over medium-low heat 25 minutes or until tender; chill in covered saucepan.

2. Puree carrots and liquid in food processor or blender until smooth. Pour into a bowl; stir in buttermilk and salt. Swirl in a little extra to decorate.

Total time does not include chilling

Salade Nicoise

½ lb green beans

2 eggs, hard boiled

6 c mixed greens

2 cans tuna (use 8-12 oz fresh grilled if possible)

3 tomatoes, cut into wedges

6 anchovies

1 t capers

¾ c pitted olives

2 c red wine vinegar

½ c olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1 shallot, minced

1 t Dijon mustard

Steam green beans for 4 minutes, drain and shock in ice water to set color.

Refrigerate until time to use. Boil eggs, cool and refrigerate until ready to use.

Arrange greens on platter, top with tuna, green beans, eggs, tomatoes, anchovies, capers and olives. Mix in small bowl or food processor the red wine vinegar, olive oil, shallot, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Drizzle over salad and serve.

Cook’s notes: A number of these ingredients can be prepared in advance and stored in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble the salad. Improvise with ingredients if you don’t have certain things on hand, or find you don’t like them.

Baked Pumpkin Bread

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ginger

1 1/3 cup solid pack pumpkin puree

1 cup packed brown sugar

½ cup reduced-fat buttermilk OR ½ cup milk and ½ tsp lemon juice

1 egg

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large bowl. Mix in pumpkin, brown sugar, buttermilk, egg and butter until well blended. Pour into a greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and smooth the top.

3. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

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Entrees (lunch, dinner), sides, beverage

Asparagus Salad with Carrots and Shitake Mushrooms

http://www.mealsmatter.org/recipes-meals/recipe/7954

Pollo Relleno

http://www.mealsmatter.org/recipes-meals/recipe/48872

Crustless Tomato-Pepper Quiche

http://www.mealsmatter.org/recipes-meals/recipe/49660

Strawberry-Vanilla Yogurt Waffles

http://www.mealsmatter.org/recipes-meals/recipe/42592

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SHOPPING LIST (Includes ingredients to make at least four servings of each recipe.)

BAKING NEEDS

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup packed brown sugar

3 teaspoons sugar

Vegetable cooking spray

2 to 5 teaspoons vegetable oil

2/3 cup yellow cornmeal

CANNED MEATS AND BEANS

6 anchovies

2 cans tuna

CANNED VEGETABLES

1 teaspoon capers

1 can (4 ounces) chili peppers, green, whole

¾ cup olives, pitted

1 1-3 cups pumpkin puree

CONDIMENTS

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

A few drops hot sauce, optional

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 cups red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

¾ cup strawberry syrup

DAIRY

3 tablespoons butter

2 1-2 cups milk, low-fat (1 percent) or fat-free

¾ cup Monterey Jack cheese

¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

6 ½ cups reduced-fat buttermilk

6 ounces (2/3 cup) vanilla fat-free yogurt

EGGS

1 dozen eggs

ETHNIC FOODS

2 teaspoons hoisin sauce, or more to taste

2 jars (8 ounces each) salsa

½ teaspoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons soy sauce

POULTRY

6 (about 1 ½ pounds) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

PRODUCE

¾ pound asparagus spears

6 ½ pounds carrots, baby

1 small bunch cilantro or fresh parsley

One large root ginger, enough to mince for about 2 tablespoons

½ pound green beans

1 medium green bell pepper

1 to 2 tablespoons green onions, optional

8 large dried shiitake mushrooms

6 cups mixed greens

1 onion, medium

2 medium red bell peppers

1 shallot

1 ½ cups strawberries, sliced

4 or 5 tomatoes

SEASONINGS

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

One package taco seasoning mix (2 tablespoons)

Dash salt and pepper

1 teaspoon vanilla

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For more healthy meal planning made simple, go to www.mealsmatter.org

Title: ReflectionsLocation: Mediterranean Party CenterDescription: Glitz and Glamour Entertainment and the Mediterranean Party Center in Bedford Heights present REFLECTIONS, Saturday, September 26th. 6PM. Featuring “Shout” and Freddie James. After-five evening attire. $65 per person includes unlimited dinner buffet & drink tickets. For information, call 216-256-2335Date: 2009-09-26

Title: Barbara Dennerlein Germany’s Queen of Jazz Location: Various Locations Description: Freewill offering. For more information call 216-321-5800. Friday, September 11th 7:30pm Fairmount Presbyterian Church, Cleveland Heights Freewill offering 216-321-5800 Saturday, September 12th 8:00pm The Cleveland Bob Stop, Cleveland Call 216-771-6557 Sunday, September 13th 5pm Westminster Presbyterian Church, Akron Freewill offering 330-836-2226 Start Date: 2009-09-11 End Date: 2009-09-13

This summer The J.M. Smucker Company, a family-owned-and-operated company right here in Ohio, invites you to share your special family memories and recipes in the second annual “Spreading Smucker’s Traditions” contest.

One grand prize winner will win a five-day, four-night family trip for eight to Walt Disney World Resort.

To enter, families are asked to share an original family recipe that incorporates at least ¼ cup of Smucker’s jams, jellies, preserves, or fruit butter, and the story behind how their recipe.

The recipe must have been passed down for at least two generations or is currently being passed on to a second generation, and needs to include names of all family members involved. Entries will be accepted from Aug. 26 through Oct. 12.

Contest finalists will be selected and scored on taste, creativity, ease of preparation, appearance and nutritional balance, while the essays will be scored on relevance to theme, creative expression, and clarity. An online vote will determine which of five finalist recipes will win the grand prize.

The winner of last year’s contest, Karen Mangual, won America over with her mouth-watering “Nana’s Apple Butter Cake,” which has been passed down in her family for three generations.

For official rules and entry forms, visit www.smuckers.com.

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Sunday, September 13th

2:00 - 7:00 pm

in Downtown Willard, OH (along Dale Ave.)

This a FREE event open to the public!

Activities include:

Contest with Prizes! Craziest Sombrero, Best & Hottest Salsa, Sidewalk Chalkdrawing

Children games & crafts

Pintas

Dancing Demonstration by “Ballet Folklorico Imagenes Mexicanas”

Music by “Mariachi Mexico 2000″

Authentic Food will include chapulas, tamales, beans & rice.

Rainy Kaplan ran her fingers over rows of brightly colored school supplies, stopping at a bulletin-board border that caught her eyes. Red habanero, green jalapeno and yellow banana peppers dotted the strip, a perfect detail for her Spanish classroom at Westmont High School.

By the time she checked out at Let’s Learn in Hoffman Estates, she had racked up an $80 tab.

“I got off easy this time,” she said, eyeing the receipt.

Meanwhile, Vernon Hills mom Maria Gonzalez scoured a long school-supplies list that included typical learning tools like folders and pencils, along with five boxes of wet wipes for each of her two children, plus a pack of Lysol cleaning wipes.

“I’ve got the headache already,” she said, smiling ruefully as she browsed a Target store.

It takes a lot of supplies to run the average public school classroom, and one might assume that school’s budget to cover the costs. But in an era of cost-cutting and economizing, the ex pense is increasingly shouldered by parents and teachers, rather than just taxpayers. Teachers spend an average of $500 of their own money each year on school materials, according to a National Education Association survey, while the typical student-supplies list now includes everything from hand sanitizer to safety pins, sandwich bags to batteries.

“I’ve heard parents who were a bit resentful when they see that they have to bring or send Kleenex,” said Cinda Klickna, secretary treasurer of the Illinois Education Association and a teacher with 32 years’ experience. “But it’s just not happening that the school has the money to buy some of these things.”

The lists sometimes catch parents offguard.

Marjon Sahelijo, shopping in a Libertyville OfficeMax for her son Amon, was surprised to find headphones on the list of 7th-grade school supplies, along with what Amon called an “insane” number of pens — almost 30 in a variety of colors.

Sue Schroeder, on the hunt for supplies for her sons, 4th and 8th graders in Gurnee, said she understands parents’ frustration with long lists, but she hears from teacher friends how much they spend.

“A lot of people that don’t (know teachers) think this is ridiculous,” she said. “But it’s necessary.”

School administrators said they try to ease the financial strain for teachers and families alike.

Many schools allot from $150 to $300 per teacher for classroom expenses during the school year. Frankfort’s Summit Hill School District 161 gives each of its 250 teachers an average of $150, with an extra $100 set aside for first-year teachers, said Supt. Keith Pain. Still, parents in the south suburban elementary district contribute everything from erasers to paper towels.

“I’m not going to say our teachers don’t supplement, because they do. But we try to minimize that,” Pain said.

At Lake Louise School in Palatine, supplies lists for parents include paper plates, plastic utensils and AA size batteries.

“We provide the bare essentials,” said Mary Zarr, assistant superintendent for Palatine School District 15 Those basics — which virtually all districts give teachers — include textbooks, manuals and some office supplies. “Anything that would not be considered an extreme necessity comes out of (the teacher’s) pocket.”

Kaplan’s district will pay for such items as white notecards and manila folders, but she, like many teachers, likes to augment the classroom with creative touches that make for an inviting learning environment.

At some schools, though, teachers aren’t only ponying up for extras. When parents send their kids to class with few or no basic supplies, teachers shoulder the burden.

Celina Watts, a 4th-grade teacher at Ann Sullivan School in Prospect Heights, estimated that about five of her 23 students showed up last year empty-handed. “I don’t think most people know” that teachers often pay the rest, she said. “They think the school district just provides all that stuff.”

Despite the personal expense, most teachers don’ t their school districts, which they say are under constant pressure to cut costs.

“School districts are hurting,” Watts said. “The state of Illinois isn’t coming up with much money either.”

Sometimes, parent groups or private companies help bridge the gap. The Home and School group at Meadow Glens Elementary School in Naperville, for example, will give teachers a total of about $1,500 that it raised to help pay for supplies, said last year’s president, Christine Kilkenny.

Still, she said, “We know that doesn’t come close to what teachers actually spend.”

Naperville-based retailer OfficeMax holds an event each year to hand out supplies to teachers at 1,000 needy schools.

“As schools continue to cut on expenses, the teacher seems to be … affected the most,” said Bob Thacker, senior vice president of marketing and advertising with OfficeMax. Thacker said his wife, a teacher for 38 years, estimates she’s spent about $100,000 in her lifetime on school supplies.

“I don’t know of any other profession that expects people to provide all of their own materials,” Thacker said. “Firemen don’t provide the firetrucks.”

–By Georgia Garvey and Tara Malone, Chicago Tribune