Kiefer Sutherland received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Tuesday!
The '24' star's famous father, Donald Sutherland, was also on hand for the ceremony.
The '24' star's famous father, Donald Sutherland, was also on hand for the ceremony.
The journey of a certified Marathoner and her goal is to inspire her readers to be fit.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Drummer Boy Cake
Looking for an impressive finale to your holiday dinner? This spectacular dessert, drummed up by our test kitchen, features a sweet-tart cranberry topping paired with a tangy orange cake and filling.
You Will Need
Topping
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup red currant jelly
Cake/Filling
1 medium navel orange, unpeeled and quartered
1 package (18 1/4 ounces) yellow cake mix
1 1/2 cups water, divided
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
5 teaspoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, cubed
Yellow liquid food coloring
Frosting
1 cup shortening
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
4 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
Yellow and red liquid food coloring
28 fresh or frozen cranberries
What to Do
For topping:
1. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in a microwave-safe bowl; let stand for 1 minute. Microwave on high for 40 seconds; stir. Let stand until gelatin is completely dissolved, about 1 minute; set aside.
2. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, cook cranberries and sugar, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 7 minutes. Cool slightly. Stir in jelly and gelatin mixture. Cover and chill for 5 hours or overnight.
For cake:
1. Process orange in a blender or food processor until finely chopped; set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat cake mix, 1 cup water, oil, and eggs on low speed until moistened. Add 1/3 cup chopped orange; beat for 2 minutes on medium. Set remaining orange aside for filling.
2. Pour batter into two greased and floured 9-inch round baking pans. Bake at 350°F until a toothpick comes out clean, 28-31 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks.
For filling:
1. Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt and remaining water in a saucepan until smooth. Add butter and 1/3 cup chopped orange (discard any remaining orange or save for another use). Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in a few drops yellow food coloring; cool.
2. Split each cooled cake into two horizontal layers. Place bottom layer on serving plate; spread with a third of the filling. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread the cranberry topping over top to within 1/2 inch of edges.
For frosting:
1. In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and extracts. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, alternately with milk, beating until frosting is light and fluffy.
2. Using 2/3 cup of frosting, frost cake sides. Tint remaining frosting gold with yellow and red food coloring. Cut a hole in a pastry or plastic bag; insert round tip #8. Fill with gold frosting. Pipe connecting diagonal stripes around side of cake; add cranberries at end points. With star tip #21, pipe a shell border around top and bottom of cake.
Serves: 12-15
You Will Need
Topping
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup red currant jelly
Cake/Filling
1 medium navel orange, unpeeled and quartered
1 package (18 1/4 ounces) yellow cake mix
1 1/2 cups water, divided
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
5 teaspoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, cubed
Yellow liquid food coloring
Frosting
1 cup shortening
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
4 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
Yellow and red liquid food coloring
28 fresh or frozen cranberries
What to Do
For topping:
1. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in a microwave-safe bowl; let stand for 1 minute. Microwave on high for 40 seconds; stir. Let stand until gelatin is completely dissolved, about 1 minute; set aside.
2. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, cook cranberries and sugar, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 7 minutes. Cool slightly. Stir in jelly and gelatin mixture. Cover and chill for 5 hours or overnight.
For cake:
1. Process orange in a blender or food processor until finely chopped; set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat cake mix, 1 cup water, oil, and eggs on low speed until moistened. Add 1/3 cup chopped orange; beat for 2 minutes on medium. Set remaining orange aside for filling.
2. Pour batter into two greased and floured 9-inch round baking pans. Bake at 350°F until a toothpick comes out clean, 28-31 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks.
For filling:
1. Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt and remaining water in a saucepan until smooth. Add butter and 1/3 cup chopped orange (discard any remaining orange or save for another use). Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in a few drops yellow food coloring; cool.
2. Split each cooled cake into two horizontal layers. Place bottom layer on serving plate; spread with a third of the filling. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread the cranberry topping over top to within 1/2 inch of edges.
For frosting:
1. In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and extracts. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, alternately with milk, beating until frosting is light and fluffy.
2. Using 2/3 cup of frosting, frost cake sides. Tint remaining frosting gold with yellow and red food coloring. Cut a hole in a pastry or plastic bag; insert round tip #8. Fill with gold frosting. Pipe connecting diagonal stripes around side of cake; add cranberries at end points. With star tip #21, pipe a shell border around top and bottom of cake.
Serves: 12-15
Monday, December 8, 2008
Simple Till Six: An Eating Plan for Busy People
My route to saner eating was more or less accidental. Two years ago, I was 57 and weighed more than I ever had. When I graduated from college, I weighed 165 pounds; when I stopped smoking, about five years after that, I weighed 180. Then, when my first daughter was born and I had started writing about food and doing some serious eating and drinking, I hit 190. Over the next 20 years, I managed to gain more weight, reaching 214.
I'm not a small person, so I didn't look that heavy (I thought), but I was overweight and developed health problems. My cholesterol was up, as was my blood sugar (there's diabetes as well as serious obesity in my family). I had a hernia, my knees were giving out, and I'd developed sleep apnea.
As a reporter and researcher for many years, I was writing a food column called "The Minimalist" for the New York Times and a book called How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I had (and still have) no intention of becoming a vegetarian, but I could see the writing on the wall: Industrial meat production had gone beyond distasteful and alienating to become disgusting and dangerous (its link to global warming didn't help); traditional, natural ingredients were becoming rare; and respectable scientific studies pointed toward the health benefits of eating more plant-based foods and fewer meat-based foods.
For me, the combination of cholesterol, blood sugar, and apnea was the real trigger. My problems were scary -- and, according to my doctor, all easily remedied. For the cholesterol, I could take cholesterol-lowering drugs or eat less meat; for the blood sugar, I could eat fewer sweets; for the apnea, I could lose 15 percent of my body weight.
Everything pointed to a simpler style of eating. I started following a diet that was nearly "vegan until six." Until dinner, I ate almost no animal products and no simple carbs (no white-flour products, junk food, or sugar-heavy snacks). At dinner, I ate as I always had, sometimes a sizable meal including animal products, bread, dessert, wine -- you name it -- or sometimes a salad and a bowl of soup. I also took several long walks each week (my bad knees couldn't handle more).
Though few nutritionists would disapprove, this eating plan may seem counter intuitive. The opposite schedule (eating the day's heaviest meal for lunch or breakfast) may make more sense for many people. But this suited me. I detest overly prescriptive diets that are impossible to follow, and the point was to eat more vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains and less meat, sugar, junk food, and overrefined carbs, without giving up foods I loved.
My results were striking. I had little trouble eating this way, I began feeling and sleeping better, and I didn't think much about it for a month or two. It just made sense. A month later, I'd lost 15 pounds. A month after that, both my cholesterol and my blood sugar were down, well into the normal range (my cholesterol went from 240 to 180). My apnea was gone, and I was sleeping through the night.
I'm not a small person, so I didn't look that heavy (I thought), but I was overweight and developed health problems. My cholesterol was up, as was my blood sugar (there's diabetes as well as serious obesity in my family). I had a hernia, my knees were giving out, and I'd developed sleep apnea.
As a reporter and researcher for many years, I was writing a food column called "The Minimalist" for the New York Times and a book called How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I had (and still have) no intention of becoming a vegetarian, but I could see the writing on the wall: Industrial meat production had gone beyond distasteful and alienating to become disgusting and dangerous (its link to global warming didn't help); traditional, natural ingredients were becoming rare; and respectable scientific studies pointed toward the health benefits of eating more plant-based foods and fewer meat-based foods.
For me, the combination of cholesterol, blood sugar, and apnea was the real trigger. My problems were scary -- and, according to my doctor, all easily remedied. For the cholesterol, I could take cholesterol-lowering drugs or eat less meat; for the blood sugar, I could eat fewer sweets; for the apnea, I could lose 15 percent of my body weight.
Everything pointed to a simpler style of eating. I started following a diet that was nearly "vegan until six." Until dinner, I ate almost no animal products and no simple carbs (no white-flour products, junk food, or sugar-heavy snacks). At dinner, I ate as I always had, sometimes a sizable meal including animal products, bread, dessert, wine -- you name it -- or sometimes a salad and a bowl of soup. I also took several long walks each week (my bad knees couldn't handle more).
Though few nutritionists would disapprove, this eating plan may seem counter intuitive. The opposite schedule (eating the day's heaviest meal for lunch or breakfast) may make more sense for many people. But this suited me. I detest overly prescriptive diets that are impossible to follow, and the point was to eat more vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains and less meat, sugar, junk food, and overrefined carbs, without giving up foods I loved.
My results were striking. I had little trouble eating this way, I began feeling and sleeping better, and I didn't think much about it for a month or two. It just made sense. A month later, I'd lost 15 pounds. A month after that, both my cholesterol and my blood sugar were down, well into the normal range (my cholesterol went from 240 to 180). My apnea was gone, and I was sleeping through the night.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Kevin Costner Partners with NASCAR
Veteran actor Kevin Costner and his band, Modern West, are taking a spin with NASCAR -- and ET has the story!
The Academy Award-winning actor and NASCAR are partnering up for a year-long deal that will include an appearance by Costner at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards banquet on Dec. 5; the narration of "The Ride of Their Lives," the newest NASCAR film; and the premiere of Modern West's new video, "Backyard," on NASCAR.com on Monday, Dec. 8
"As a long time NASCAR fan, I'm very excited about this partnership," said Costner. "They have tremendous fans, which are truly the most passionate in all of sports."
"Backyard" is from the band's debut album, Untold Truths, which was released on Nov. 11, and was performed in the motion picture, "Swing Vote.' It was also performed during a pre-race concert before the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway earlier this year.
The Academy Award-winning actor and NASCAR are partnering up for a year-long deal that will include an appearance by Costner at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards banquet on Dec. 5; the narration of "The Ride of Their Lives," the newest NASCAR film; and the premiere of Modern West's new video, "Backyard," on NASCAR.com on Monday, Dec. 8
"As a long time NASCAR fan, I'm very excited about this partnership," said Costner. "They have tremendous fans, which are truly the most passionate in all of sports."
"Backyard" is from the band's debut album, Untold Truths, which was released on Nov. 11, and was performed in the motion picture, "Swing Vote.' It was also performed during a pre-race concert before the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway earlier this year.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
13 Things Your Hairstylist Won't Tell You
1. I'm a beautician, not a magician. I can give you Gisele Bündchen's haircut, but I can't give you her face.
2. Come at least five minutes early. If you're running late, please call ahead. Show me some basic respect. This is a business, not fun and games.
3. Don't ask me to "squeeze" you in when I'm already booked. I'd be taking time and effort away from other clients. You wouldn't like being treated that way.
4. Hairdresser school does not teach about counter transference, projection, negative reinforcement, or personality disorders. If you're looking for a therapist, all I have is a tail comb and an opinion.
5. Some women think that if they keep their hair all one length the way it was in high school, everyone will think they're still in high school. Guess what? You're not. As you get older, you need to soften the lines around your face. Layers are the magic remedy.
6. Bodies and hair change as hormones change. If your hair is dry, listless, or brittle, or if it's not holding your color or style the way it used to, see a doctor. If your hair isn't overprocessed, you could be pregnant (surprise!) or menopausal (yes, I can tell).
7. A trim is not "just" a trim. It requires my expertise, skill, knowledge, and time. Would you say to your dentist, "It's just a tooth," or to your doctor, "It's just a leg"?
8. That single bill you stuff into the shampoo person's hands isn't doing her any favors. A dollar bill doesn't buy anything anymore. You should tip her at least $3—more if your hair is long.
9. If you want to buy a bottle of color and do your own hair to save a buck, you can live with the consequences.
10. Some clients will say, "Cut my hair just like you did last time." That always baffles me. The average time between appointments is six to eight weeks. I have hundreds of clients. How am I supposed to remember exactly how I did your hair the last time? If you want a carbon copy of a cut and style you loved, take a picture and show me.
11. Why do you think a child's haircut should cost less than yours? Kids don't sit still. Kids kick. It's an intense experience.
12. Standing all day and using scissors and a blow-dryer takes its toll—I have arthritis in my fingers, calcium deposits in my wrist, and 10 percent less hearing than I used to. I am a physical wreck.
13. We see women at their worst. Their hair is wet, they have foils on their hair, they have no makeup on. There's nothing for them to hide behind. So they tell us everything. The truth is, I really don't care what they do sexually. I'm only interested in their hair.
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