Happy Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day which is recognized to celebrate the planet we live on! Much applause to all those who continually make efforts to protect the environment! Thank you!

If you haven't yet participated, you can help too by doing activities such as purchasing locally grown produce in your community, use environmentally safe products, donate and recycling among others. Below are some great websites that you can get tips, find and attend local events, and other great ideas to help our environment.

The Nature Conservancy http://earthday.nature.org/
The Wilderness Society http://wilderness.org/
Everyday Activist http://www.everydayactivist.com/
Earth Day 2011 blog http://earthday2011.com/
Friends of the Earth http://www.foe.org/ 
Earth Day Network http://www.earthday.org/

The Green Guide by National Geographic

Green Living http://www.green-living.com/

The National Audubon Society http://www.audubon.org/
Green Living Tips http://www.greenlivingtips.com/

Gucci Spring/Summer 2011 Women's Collection

OMG! I absolutely love a lot of these pieces from Gucci's Spring Summer 11 Women's Collection! Also, don't forget to check out the company website at http://www.gucci.com/us/home. Enjoy!!

(All information below was retrieved April 14, 2011 from  http://mechanicaldummy.com/04/14/11/gucci-ss11-womenswear-collection)

Take the colorful flavor of Spring & turn it upside down on it's head, with a pinch of metallics while adding rich jewel tones & you get the Summer/Spring 2011 Gucci Womenswear collection. Styles that are complimentary to the female form by way of layering & contrast, the Gucci SS11 collection takes a twist for the best in Spring color blocking. Inspired by 70's images shot by Guy Bourdin, David Bailey & Chris Von Wangenheim, Gucci Creative Director, Frida Giannini, took a route of opposition for the Spring; as other labels presented flowing collections of immaculate whites & soft neutrals. From tasseled belts to metallic accented heels, Giannini is a master of accessories & spares no expense when considering defining details of Gucci's collections, every season. This season is no less stunning than the last, in fact, this is one of the most popular Gucci collections- already having been seen on Jennifer Hudson at Good Morning America, as well as on Christine Teigen at the Grammys. ~by Jeremy Danté

Delicious Slurpees!

For people who know me, posting a Slurpee recipe does not comes as a surprise! I enjoy these great slushy treats sold at 7-Eleven stores.They are perfect for hot summer days, so feel free to grab this recipe for this Summer season!

You can use any flavored Kool-Aid mix, cherry extract is optional. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know how it tastes! One other thing, do you eat Slurpee's or drink them? Curious question. Enjoy!

Grape Flavor

Ingredients
	2 cups cold club soda 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon flavored unsweetened Kool-Aid mix 1/2 teaspoon cherry extract 2 1/2 cups crushed ice
Directions
	1. Pour 1 cup of the club soda into a blender. Add the sugar, Kool-Aid mix, and cherry extract. Blend this until all of the sugar is dissolved. 2. Add the crushed ice and blend on high speed until the drink is a slushy, smooth consistency, with no remaining chunks of ice. 3. Add the remaining club soda and blend briefly until mixed. You may have to stop the blender and use a long spoon to stir up the contents. 4. If necessary, put the blender into your freezer for 1/2-hour. This will help thicken it up. After 1/2-hour remove blender from freezer and, again, blend briefly to mix. Makes one 32-ounce drink (or two 16-ounce drinks). Also, check out www.7-eleven.com  This recipe is from www.topsecretrecipes.com

Community Spotlight

Volunteer Profile – Margaret L. Waller

Personality: outgoing, friendly, hardworking, and honest.

Hobbies & Interests:  enjoys knitting, singing and hanging out with her 5 sisters.

Accomplishments & Aspirations:  has received a Medical Assistant diploma and is currently working to complete a degree in Registered Nursing. She would one day like the honor to sing at Carnegie Hall.

Volunteer Work: volunteered more than 200 hours at Mary Immaculate Hospital (1995, 1996). She is currently volunteering at Gloucester-Mathews Free Clinic as well as for Every Women’s Life assisting with clerical and clinical duties. She is also looking forward to volunteer opportunities in the future working with cancer patients, both children and adults.

Why Volunteer? : “I volunteer because I enjoy helping someone else”.

Favorite Quote: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not”. – Dr. Seuss.

Professional Work Experience: Since 2006, Ms. Waller has been working at Peninsula Cancer Institute, an affiliate of Riverside Health Systems. She has previously worked at Sentara Williamsburg Hospital, Women’s Imaging Center.

Recognition: recently featured in the Winter 2010 issue of The Beehive, a quarterly publication for Gloucester County. Ms. Waller was featured for her work as a volunteer at the Gloucester-Mathews Free Clinic.

Southern Homemade Potato Salad

Hello, Readers! Here is another great recipe from MissIceTee's Kitchen series! It's called Homemade Potato Salad - but I threw in the "southern" to convey how good it tastes! I remember my sister use to make it well - so yesterday, I decided to try my hand at it and was completely happy with the results! 

There are other Potato Salad recipes out there and I'm sure they probably taste good. But this is the one that I used. You can also alter the ingredients to your liking. Enjoy and Happy Eating!

Southern Homemade Potato Salad

Ingredients:

4 large baking potatoes.
1/4 white or yellow onion (optional)
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup mayonnaise
4 oz sweet relish
paprika

Peel the potatoes and then slice into chunks. If you aim for 1 inch by 1 inch chunk you will do well.
Boil the potatoes until they are done but not overcooked I use the test here where I stick the fork in and it meets a little resistance but not too much. How long you boil them depends upon how big they are. You do want the potatoes done though since no further cooking is involve. If you overcook them, they don't really hurt the recipe since the extra potato just mixes in with the creamy portion of the mixture.

Boil the eggs over medium high heat until hard boiled.

Allow the potatoes and eggs to cool. You can run cold water over them in a strainer to speed up the process.

Peel and slice the eggs into 1/2 inch pieces.

Chop the onion into very small pieces. I made this optional because you WILL be able to smell the onion on your breath. Therefore, if a little close contact is planned anytime soon you probably want to leave the onion out.

Stir all ingredients gently except for the paprika.

After all ingredients are well mixed, pour into a bowl. Add the parika across the top. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

This recipe was retrieved on April 10, 2011 from http://www.chitterlings.com/psalad.html