Can I Just Get a Good Bowl of Soup?

I don't know about you, but the thing I miss most when I'm traveling is home cooking. Specifically, I miss MY cooking. I'm no gourmet but I'm a pretty decent cook, and enjoy spending time looking for new recipes and trying them out.

When I eat out it's fun to try new cuisines and "foodie" places, but after a few days all I really want is home cooking. And when it comes to home cooking, I usually want soup. Good soup. A bowl full of love that was made from scratch and simmered on the stove for a couple of hours.

Alas, good soup was not to be found on our last roadtrip. The best soup I ate was at Olive Garden and say what you will, but this doesn't fall into the "made from scratch" category in my opinion. I ate vegetable soup that looked promising but was watery and tasted like a can. The tomato soup in Boone, NC was homemade but was vegan and seemed to have tempeh in it - not that tempeh is bad, but it wasn't what I craved. I could have opted for bisque or chowder in Charleston, SC, but those options seemed to heavy for 90-degree temps and oppressive humidity.

Now that we're home I'm going to tackle the situation head-on. Tomorrow is soup day. Chicken tortilla soup, made from scratch. It's going to be delicious - I can't wait!

Photo by R. Young

My family just returned from an eight-day roadtrip during which we drove nearly 2,000 miles. With that much driving, we visited plenty of restrooms at truck stops, gas stations and fast food joints, always hoping that a tidy appearance on the building exterior would mean similar results in the bathroom. Sadly, that was rarely the case.

Sanitation aside, my
biggest beef was the lack of hooks or shelves where I could place my purse. After all, God only knows what was on those floors, especially the really filthy ones.

Are men still designing all the restrooms in the US? Equal numbers of stalls for both genders, plus guys get urinals - how ridiculous is that? But nowhere to put your purse? That's plain thoughtless.

Perhaps it's too much to hope that business owners will clean their restrooms. I don't expect miracles. But could they at least provide a hook or clean shelf for purses? I'd be very grateful.

Photo by Lisandra Barros Mendonça

Getting Into the Halloween Spirit

Pumpkin Teeth!

That's right - some nice fangs that will easily add a bit of fright to your Jack O'Lantern. It's pretty difficult to carve spiky teeth in the pumpkin - the sharper and thinner the teeth, the more likely they are to break.

To use Pumpkin Teeth all you have to do is carve a wide smile into the pumpkin and insert the plastic "teeth," which are white and glow in the dark. They come in three sizes and can be re-used year after year. Best of all, a pack will only run you $2.50. What's not to love?

If fangs aren't your thing, you can opt for the buckteeth - in my opinion, those buckteeth are screaming for braces.

I discovered these yesterday and have already placed my order. It's the easiest way I can think of to add some fun to Halloween this year.

With the Rising Cost of Groceries, It's Cheaper to Eat Fast Food

I could save money if I fed my family nothing but fast food. How pathetic is that?

Over the past two or three months, it seems that the price of just about everything at the grocery store has risen. Things that have been the same price for years - scallions, for example - now cost more. Even the little bunches of flowers that I sometimes splurge on are pricier. And don't even get me started on the rest of the produce and dairy and meat products.

I'm not a buy-the-kit-and-make-it kind of cook. Experts say that to have a healthier diet you should shop the perimeter of the store for produce, meat and dairy, and skip the salt-laden, sugary, preservative-filled packaged food items in the center aisles. On average our family of three spends about $140 - $160 per week at the grocery store. Our groceries aren't organic or free-range, either. But when you can buy a value meal for less than $4 at times, fast food looks pretty affordable. If pressed to eat fast food, I'll often go for a kid's meal, which is even cheaper.

So, eating fast food looks good from an economic perspective, but it's terribly unhealthy. Morgan Spurlock discovered first-hand in his 2004 documentary Supersize Me, which chronicled his fast food-only diet for one month, that the impact on your health can be devastating. After 30 days - or 90 consecutive meals - of McDonald's food, here's what happened:

* Spurlock gained nearly 25 pounds (it took him more than a year to lose the weight)

* his cholesterol rose 65 points

* significantly increased his risk of heart disease

* experienced negative effects on his liver, blood pressure and libido

I suppose it's only cheaper to eat fast food if you have excellent, generous medical insurance because in the long run, you'll be paying doctors and hospitals that treat the myriad medical conditions caused by eating such lousy food.

We'll stick to buying and eating more healthily. By purchasing produce that's in season, bulk purchases of staples and meat, and searching for budget-conscious recipes, I can save money. I do it now, but I can do more - and it will keep me out of the drive-thrus.

Photo by André Menegatti

The Countdown to College Has Begun

Exactly three weeks from today, my son - my firstborn - will move into his dorm and officially become a college student. Life as we know it will never be the same.

Break out the Kleenex.

It will be tough to cut the apron strings. Don't get me wrong - his senior year of high school and this summer have been a challenge. Getting him to do anything was extremely difficult, from applying to colleges to cleaning his room to getting a hair cut. I won't miss this stuff one bit. But I can't imagine our home without him. It's going to be an adjustment.

I'm facing the reality that I must, once again, redefine who I am. First and foremost I'm a mother, so the thought of an empty nest is hard to comprehend. Fortunately, my daughter is 16 and I have two more years to adjust to the concept.

But in a few weeks, if you hear crying and sniffling, it's just me and countless other parents sending our children off to college, just as so many parents before us have done. I'll be fine - and if you have a tissue to share, I'll gladly take it.

Photo by David Lat

Why Can't We All Be Green?

I have a secret to share. It's a bit embarrassing, but I must get this off my chest.

My husband isn't very "green." He doesn't recycle like the rest of our family - sometimes he'll throw cans or plastic bottles in the trash rather than walking 10 steps to put it in the recycle basket.

More than that, instead of taking a sports bottled of water to work he insists on a plastic bottle of water. I understand that it might look more sophisticated to take the plastic bottle, but isn't embracing the reusable bottle a finer choice, an "I'm for the better good" selection that overcomes the "I'm bringing a bag lunch from home" stigma?

Don't get me wrong - my husband is a wonderful man. We just have different priorities for recycling and conserving. So thanks for letting me share.

Photo by Svilen Milev
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=- 307482866218

Papa, Grandma and the Gulf Oil Spill

A huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico threatens states stretching from Louisiana to Florida, and perhaps others, with the potential to destroy wildlife, livelihoods, ecosystems and so much more.

I'm a native Floridian, born in Fort Walton Beach in the Panhandle. The memories of my grandparents who lived in Pensacola are among those I hold dearest: Playing red light/green light and "Mother May I?" on the front porch; eating Grandma's homemade biscuits or fried mullet that my grandfather caught the night before; skipping down to the old-even-then wooden corner store to buy bubble gum for a penny (or Lucky Strikes for my Grandma - those were different days).

Papa was a fisherman, who for many years was captain of a party boat (taking many people out to deep sea fish). Later he was an independent mullet fisherman, a hard-labor nighttime job of setting and pulling in nets and selling his catch to seafood resellers. It was back-breaking work that didn't generate a lot of income, but theirs was a happy life that I remember fondly.

So I think about the oil spill and the people, like my grandparents, who it will impact. What Katrina didn't obliterate along the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts - and points east, like Pensacola - this environmental disaster is sure to take down. My heart and prayers go out to each and every one of the people whose lives are forever changed.

Photo by John Boyer

So Many Lessons to Learn About Paying for College: One College's Financial Aid Web Pages are a Great Resource

Paying for college - Holy cow! I had heard a little about it but wasn't until I actually started the process a year ago, as part of my high school senior's college search, that I realized ALL that was involved (and just how crazy some of it seems).

Understanding FAFSA, EFC, merit-based aid vs. need-based aid, etc. is critical when it comes to navigating financial aid. Bethany University in California has a website that features, among other things, Financial Aid 101. There are many resources out there and this is one of my favorites. Definitions are clear and plenty of examples make the explanations more concrete.

I'll address some of the crazy parts of the financial aid process another time. For now, let me offer you a large bottle of caplets for the headache you're going to have, tissues to dry the tears you'll shed and all the good luck in the world.

Admiration for the Smart, Witty People Who Make Me Laugh

I saw something on TV a few nights ago that was so funny, I snorted when I laughed. Mind you, I'm not proud of the snorting - not very ladylike and all that, after all - but the bit by Stephen Colbert was clever, edgy and hilarious.

So funny, in fact, that I want to share it with you. This clip from the Colbert Report - "Affirmative Inaction" - won't take long to view and, hopefully, will tickle your funny bone, too. Just don't blame me if you start snorting.

Creative and Affordable Gift Ideas for the Shopping-challenged

It's time to post some gift ideas, which is my contribution to Christmas shopping karma (I think I just created a paradox). You see, I have sought out other gift idea lists and it's only fair that I share some of my own. Keeps it all in balance and I need that, considering that I've mixed Christmas with karma.

So here are some of my favorite things. Are they gifts I purchased? Maybe - or maybe I needed a little present for myself. Nonetheless, I'll try to ID the items I've seen first-hand versus the ones I only saw online (the ol' reality vs. concept approach).

First, here's the Gorillapod from Photojojo. As stated on the website, the Gorillapod is a "...fun and pocketable tripod supports a Point & Shoot camera just like a mini version of a traditional tripod. But bend its tentacle-like arms it'll stand on uneven surfaces, wrap around poles, tree branches, or railings, and grab onto nearly any object in sight." Only $23! For SLR camera owners they also offer a Gorillapod SLR Zoom for $50. Photojojo is an amazing website for photography lovers, so check it out and sign up for the email newsletter.

Fred Flare has some great bargains right now, with free shipping if you spend $75 and great bargains. It's one of my favorite go-to spots for stocking stuffers... for example, the Breakfast Floss, which they call "the most important floss of the day." Three different flavors come in the $12 set - waffle, bacon and coffee. Yum. (I even got one for my stocking)

A newcomer to my list of online shopping sites is Click! Design that Fits, a great little shop in Seattle. I found this awesome Night Carafe (made in Japan by Tampopo) for people like me who always take a glass of water to bed. Just $15 (yeah, I got one of these for me, too).

I have more gifts and shops to suggest, so check back. Happy shopping!

Waiting in the Dark to Shop on Black Friday

I can't believe I'm going to do it. Head out before 5 a.m. to purchase a laptop at Best Buy, planning to arrive as the door opens at 5 for me and the other crazy people hoping to snag a great deal. My shame is great.

You see, I AVOID stores the day after Thanksgiving. I'm not blessed with much patience and mobs of frantic shoppers - well, that and a stick in my eye will make my day, you know what I mean? I've nearly completed my holiday shopping, most of it done online. (I'm a huge fan of free shipping!)

But my son, who will soon graduate from high school and leave for college, needs a laptop. He and I've done our homework and found a good, smart, Consumer Reports-endorsed computer that is just what he needs. We either buy it direct from Toshiba or save some money and go to Best Buy. With the crazy shoppers. And so we join the crazy people.

At least I have some dignity. After all, we didn't camp out. We stayed home and enjoyed a nice family day and a delicious turkey dinner. Plus, I'm getting a massage later in the morning. I should return to a zen-like state by the end of that hour. But if they don't have that computer...

Photo by Dmitry Mayatskyy

Do You Know Which Colleges Outside Florida Accept Florida Pre-paid Tuition?

Were you aware that Florida pre-paid college tuition funds could be spent at hundreds of colleges throughout the US, not just in the state of Florida? Who knew? Certainly, not me.

A list of approved colleges and universities is available on the Florida Pre-paid Plans website. As long as a school meets designated parameters, your pre-paid funds can be used to pay for tuition nearly anywhere.

Prepaid college plans are also known as 529 plans. Here's how 529.com describes the plans and their tax benefits:

Two Types of Plans

There are two types of 529 plans: traditional college savings plans and pre-paid tuition plans. College savings plans are the most common. Essentially, you contribute funds to the plan over time and can withdraw them tax free to pay for your college education (or other qualified education expense) wherever you decide to attend. Pre-paid tuition plans allow you to "lock-in" the price of education at today's prices. Many of these plans are flexible and allow you to attend whatever college you want. After all, it's hard to predict which college your child will go to in 18 years.

Tax Advantages

...Earnings from 529 investments aren't subject to federal income tax. If you invest in your state's 529 plan you often don't have to pay state income tax on your 529 earnings too. Some states even offer upfront tax benefits for investing in the plan.

If you live in a state that levies an income tax, it may make sense to invest in your state's plan. However, most 529 plans are open to all United States residents. You should shop around to find the best plan for you.

Unlike many retirement savings plans, there are no "income phase outs" to prevent high net worth families from investing in 529s and reaping the tax benefits.

Having plenty of options is important when it comes to college selection: The more choices you have, the more likely you are to identify an ideal fit. It's good to know that prepaid doesn't mean "Florida only."

R.I.P. Gourmet

A moment of silence please, for the passing of Gourmet, the 70-year-old Conde Nast foodie flagship publication. We'll miss you.

Today's announcement that Gourmet is falling victim to the miserable economy is a stunner. I know a tempest rages in print publishing these days (my husband is a journalist, so I'm very aware of the situation), but imagined that consumers' continued interest in food and cooking would allow Bon Apetit and Gourmet to weather the storm.

I'm astounded at how many magazines have closed shop in the past year - it's akin to a plague on our cultural landscape. And as for newspapers... don't get me started. While I was a "can't start the day without reading my paper" gal for decades, that's not the case today. The quality of our local paper has eroded faster than my memory!

I'm blue about the news. Let's all raise a toast to the demise of the foodie bible, may it rest in peace.

It's Liver Awareness Month!

October is National Liver Awareness Month and I say we should all join in the fun. We're all about liver awareness in our house, given that I have Hepatitis C and had a liver transplant three years ago. But in all honesty, I didn't know much about the liver and it's critical functions until mine broke. These days, I know some liver stuff, even a few doctor-y liver words, so let's mark this occasion with some Interesting Liver Facts:

The liver...
* Is the body's largest vital organ
* Filters toxins from blood - more than a liter every minute
* Performs over 500 different chemical functions
* Regulates glucose
* Is about the size of a football
* Weighs about three pounds in the average adult
* Can regenerate itself, in some cases

Livers do all this and much, much more, yet let's be honest - livers aren't sexy and don't nearly get the attention that other organs receive. But we can't live without a liver and need to take good care of them so they'll last a lifetime (mine didn't and getting a new one was a pain, literally and figuratively!).

Be good to your liver - no drugs, watch alcohol intake, eat a healthy diet and get vaccinated whenever hepatitis vaccines become available (Hep A and Hep B have vaccines now; they're working on one for Hep C and other letters of hepatitis).

Also, please be an organ donor and donate blood. The life you save could have been mine.

Photo by Chance Agrella

The College Search and Four Important Lessons for Parents

I was searching Google blogs this afternoon and ran across this gem, which I urge parents to read: Four Fatal Errors Parents of College-Bound Students Make.

The post on College Search GamePLAN - The Blog is short, sweet and oh-so-right-on-the-money. It's a quick read but in case you don't have time to click on the link, here's a quick overview of the key tips offered:

1. Make sure you have a sound financial strategy in place before beginning your college search.

2. Billions of scholarships DO NOT GO UNCLAIMED each year - furthermore, the way scholarship funds are allocated by colleges means that value of the scholarship could actually be deducted from the financial aid package, resulting in a zero net gain

3. It's a fallacy that only highly visible (top U.S. News ranked colleges) offer the best educational opportunities

4. College selection and admissions has become so complex that many families don’t start soon enough - start at the beginning of a student’s junior year

Please note: This article was written by Howard Verman, director of Strategies for College, and published in collaboration with Lauren Starkey of Examiner.com

Image by Cecile Graat

Student Loans: Borrower Beware!

Michelle Singletary, the personal finance (and nationally syndicated) columnist for The Washington Post, issued some dire warnings in her September 20, 2009 column, After College, Student-Loan Sinkhole Awaits. According to Singletary, the current financial crisis in mortgages, business lending and credit cards also extends to student loans, as follows:

The percentage of those loans in default grew to 6.7, up from 5.2 percent in 2006. The figures represent borrowers whose first loan repayments came due from Oct. 1, 2006, to Sept. 30, 2007, and who defaulted before Sept. 30, 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

In other words, the department reported, nearly a quarter-million student-loan borrowers went into default during that year.

Gulp. And there's more...

Go to StudentLoanJustice.org and read the stories of "victims" living under crushing student loans. Also go to http://www.defaultmovie.com and watch the poignant trailer from "Default: The Student Loan Documentary." The feature-length film chronicles the stories of borrowers who, years after leaving school, are trying to repay loan balances that have ballooned to two or three times the amount they borrowed.

For so many, the heavy borrowing is unsustainable... Until there is a sustainable solution, there has to be a sea change in the view by many parents and students that college at any cost -- no matter how unaffordable -- is worth the years of financial burden and perhaps ruin.

The more I learn, the more discouraged I get. People at either end of the economic spectrum have access to money to pay for college, but if you're somewhere in between - even struggling to pay bills and keep your head above water financially - you'll be hard pressed to afford a college education for your child. Borrower beware, indeed.

How Does Your Child's College Search Differ From Yours?

Things change... and so it goes with the college search. Protocols that existed for generations have changed dramatically over the past 25 to 30 years and our children are conducting their college searches in very different ways than we did.

Take me and my son, for example. We didn't discuss colleges when I was growing up, outside of college football, that is (my parents didn't attend college). I chose my alma mater because it was convenient (in the city where I lived) and affordable (I put myself through school).

Conversely, we've discussed college with my son as long as he can remember. When it comes to the college search process, he and I are learning together because I never participated in any of the usual college planning activities. Furthermore, we are doing a great deal of research online and when I was in college, computers were still a novelty and NO ONE had a home computer.

Leave a comment and tell us about your college search. How "old school" was it? What aspects are more different today? What hasn't changed a bit?


Laptop photo by Simon Wong

Tuition-free Colleges are Real!

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus - and this time he's bringing a tuition-free college education. You don't necessarily have to be destitute to be eligible, either. It seems too good to be true, but it is.

In researching these colleges, a good place to start is the list of 8 Tuition-Free Colleges on mentalfloss.com. Be sure to note that tuition-free doesn't necessarily mean expense-free: "Free" may not extend to room and board, incidentals, travel, etc. Furthermore, "free" might require work-study. Some schools offer limited majors, such as the Curtis Institute of Music. Nonetheless, if paying for college is a concern then taking a look at these schools is a worthwhile investment of your time.

As I dug around looking for an up-to-date list of tuition-free colleges, I found that the list of eight schools is frequently cited but not exhaustive - by a far stretch. A far more extensive list is 100 Free College Rides You Don’t Need Daddy to Pay For on advantageedu.com. Be sure to review this list! Although it may be dated (it was posted in January 2008), much of the information is sure to still be valid. Besides colleges in the US the list also includes a handful of schools in other countries.

Please leave a comment if you know of other colleges and universities that have tuition-free programs or other programs to help offset college costs.

Photo by Thomas Campbell

What Resources Do I Use Most for Our College Search? "The Choice" is One of the Best

Today I'm going to introduce you to The Choice: Demystifying College Admissions and Aid, a New York Times blog whose lead writer is Times Education Writer Jacques Steinberg (pictured at left). He also authored The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College.

Since its inception in March 2009, dozens of posts have been added from an array of experts, including William R. Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard College, and Marty O'Connell, executive director of Colleges That Change Lives, as well as first-hand accounts of the college admissions/acceptance/aid process from six young adults who are now college freshmen.

I have spent hours on this blog, reading through posts, comments, Q and As, and more. I find a lot of merit in learning about others' first-hand accounts, which is why I highly value the information available inThe Choice.

What kinds of resources have you found to be helpful? Please leave a comment and tell us about them.

The Worst Sweet 16 Party Idea I've Found (So Far)

My daughter's birthday is next month and we're planning a Sweet 16 birthday party. Because I'm her parent, any suggestion I make is "bad," "stupid" or some other form of social suicide. So I turned to the Internet for non-lame ideas.

Wow! Some of the suggestions on the web, apparently posted by teens or their parents, aren't just awful, they're totally inappropriate. Let me start by telling you that I'm not a prude: We allow our daughter to watch Gossip Girl, albeit with much discussion about how the show is unrealistic and the behavior is out of line and shouldn't be emulated by any teen.

Now that we're all on the same page, get a load of the theme I found on one website: Cocktail Party. What?!! The mom who posted the idea noted that frozen drinks (non-alcoholic, of course, so "parents don't need to worry") would be served from plastic martini and margarita glasses. And mom and one of her friends would wear white button-down shirts with black slacks and vests and serve as bartenders for the evening.

Are you kidding me?! Allow me to suggest some games for that party. How about a round or two of "Can You Pass a Roadside Sobriety Test?" or "The Best Pick-up Line Ever?" Perhaps mom can give them a drink in a to-go cup, so they can enjoy it as they drive home. Good times.

Some people argue that a Shirley Temple sets a bad precedent for children. I think the sugar is the worst part of that concept. But a Cocktail Party theme is just flat-out wrong. Shame on mom!

Photo by Jasper Greek Golangco