Tips for Preventing H1N1 or Swine Flu....

After a recent visit to the allergist who gave us some tips on avoiding the swine flu and having received this great e-mail with additional suggestions I thought I would pass this information along to my readers.... I learned a few new tips & I hope these will help you all stay healthy too!

Prevent Swine Flu - Good Advice

By Dr. Vinay Goyal ~ Presently, he is heading the Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W).

The only portals of entry for the H1N1 virus (or any virus for that
matter) are the nostrils and mouth/throat.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1
infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms
and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not
fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced:

1. Frequent hand-washing



2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any
part of face (unless you want to eat or bathe).

3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't
trust salt). H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/
nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple
gargling prevents proliferation. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.



4. Clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt
water. Blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with
cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down
viral population. Sinus rinse kits are available at the drug store and
relatively inexpensive. (neti pots)



5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C
(citrus fruits). If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make
sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.



6. Drink as much warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. Drinking
warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse
direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the
stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.



Please feel free to share this information on your blogs, facebook, twitter etc...

Yummy Goodness....

Oven Roasted Plum Tomatoes.... run, don't walk to your nearest farmers market... scoop up the biggest basket you can find (I bought a 1/2 bushel) and pop a few trays of these tomatoes in your oven Pronto! You can come back here and thank me later... after you tempt your tastebuds with the rich, salty sweet taste of the roasted tomatoes... so good!



so... here is what you need to do:

rinse off your tomatoes & slice in half lengthwise

place on baking sheet - cut side up - drizzle with olive oil, sea salt, add a few cloves of garlic and I used fresh thyme leaves too


place in oven at 225 degrees farenheit (sorry celsius blog readers) and roast for 9-10 HOURS! yes... HOURS! we ate them on baguette, homemade pizzas, plain, eggs, you name it... diced like a dip or popped straight into your mouth the taste can not be beat! I have even frozen some and the taste is great even out of the freezer... so as I said earlier... RUN don't walk to your local farmers market and scoop up a bushel to make these beauties!!

If you are in the area....

stop in and see me the next 3 days as the annual twigs fundraiser for Rochester General Hospital


The Twigs of Rochester General Hospital Association present their Autumn Promenade

Wednesday, October 14th 6 – 9 pm
Thursday, October 15th 10 am – 2 pm and 5 pm – 9 pm
Friday, October 16th from 10 am – 3 pm

Admission: $5 at the door

Monroe Golf Club
155 Golf Avenue in Pittsford

A unique collection of upscale vendors from Rochester and beyond!

I have lots of new goodies I will be debuting at the show.... hope to see you there!

What's for Dinner tonight??

with fall in the air it is time for roasting vegetables! My sister and I headed to the local public market yesterday to scoop up some of falls best bounty...



I picked out some yummy delicata squash and sweet potatoes for roasted veggies for dinner.... this is how I prepared it!



cut off ends of squash, slice in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds and slice into 1/2" thick slices





slice the sweet potato into thick sticks ... keep skin on for added nutritional value!



toss in a bowl with onion slices and season to taste with olive oil, salt, ground cumin and curry powder



place in pan - try to keep it to 1-2 layers high... roast at 350 degrees until tender - about 45 minutes



enjoy!!!

Happy First (Week) Anniversary!!!

... to my brother & new sister-in-law! Last saturday was their wedding in Buffalo NY ... held in a vacant lot owned by the non-profit PUSH Buffalo that my brother works for. The day was rainy & gray which added to the fun & excitement in the air.

Very non-traditional ... no wedding dress, or organ music, no minister or priest ... but the most magical wedding I have ever been to - I was so glad my children had a chance to experience a wedding outside the box!

presenting Clarke & Melissa Gocker Kondrak



the nieces & nephews



with great grandma gocker



getting ready for the rain



the look of love





*insert squeal* ... I think they are about to kiss!



of course I had to make something for Eily to wear



our advice to the bride & groom... remember to always have fun!

How about a Sneak Peek??? .... and a little giveaway????

Last week on my birthday an extra special package arrived on my doorstep....



a box of goodies from Patty Young of ModKid Designs! Patty's new line of fabric, Flora & Fauna is set to debut in a couple of weeks at the Fall Quilt Market in Houston and she was looking for a but of help getting her samples ready for the show....so I was lucky enough to get to see this gorgeous fabric up close and make a new Frida for her booth!






These fabrics are simply gorgeous... wonderful prints and rich colors.... 44 new designs in all!

I'd love for you to post your favorite colorway and prints from her new collection.... give me some inspiration for prints to order for Betty's Closet on etsy

I will pick one lucky winner from the comments received to win a stack of 8 fat quarters from Patty's Mezzanine line... you get to pick your favorite 8!

Eily in the size 4/5.... not too happy to model!

We've got a winner!!!!!!!



this was the winning comment.....

CurlyGirlD said...

OK, ther are just too many sweet choices on etsy! But I think my favorite "Fall `09" piece is the "Isobel" yoga-waist skirt. It's so pretty, yet looks so comfy. It would be just darling on my DD!

Thanks for the great giveaway! Fingers crossed...

so.....CurlyGirlD...leave me your your email or contact information so I can get your prize sent out! Thanks all for joining the fun .....

What's Cooking??

I asked this question yesterday as I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner...I posted it to Twitter and Facebook and got some great ideas! Lynn a fellow teammate from etsy posted vegetarian stuffed pepper casserole!

I thought as my thanks for the delicious suggestions yesterday I would share a family favorite from our house...

Tempeh Fajitas with Cucumber Salsa
from Jeanne Lemlin's Main Course Vegetarian Pleasures



Ingredients
FOR THE MARINADE

* 3 tb Tamari soy sauce
* Juice of 1/2 lime
* 1 ts Brown sugar
* 2 tb Vegetable oil
* 3 cl Garlic; minced
* 1/4 ts Crushed red pepper flakes

FOR THE FILLING

* 3 Bell peppers; cut into 1/2"
* 1 md Red onion; halved vertically

FOR THE SAUCE

* 2/3 c Low-fat yogurt
* 1/2 sm Cucumber; peeled, seeded,
* And finely diced (1/3c)
* 1/4 ts Ground cumin
* 1 tb Minced fresh parsley

TO SERVE

* 8 8" flour tortillas


Preparation

Combine the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in the tempeh, bell peppers and onion. Marinate at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. Preheat oven to 450 F.

In a small bowl combine the salsa ingredients. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Sprinkle a little water on each tortilla and rub it into each tortilla with your fingers. Stack the tortillas, then wrap in foil. Set aside.

Spread the marinated tempeh and vegetables on a baking sheet in one layer. Bake 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and tempeh begins to brown. Do not toss while cooking.

Place the tortilla packet in the oven for about 7 minutes. This will heat the tortillas with a little steam to soften them.

To serve, place a tortilla on each plate. Spoon some of the tempeh mixture along the center, cover with a little cucumber salsa, then fold and roll to enclose the filling.

DIY desk Organizers....

With back to school in full swing I thought I would share one of our ideas for organizing the kids desk drawers. We have older, second hand desks that sport deep drawers...easy to fill up with junk and hard to find anything in! After seeing what was available to buy in the stores I decided we could fashion our own that would be just as nice & personalized to match each kid.

for this project you will need:

1. empty boxes such as cereal, tissue, cracker boxes
2. tape (we used duct tape but packing or scotch would work too)
3. decorative paper - or if you want to be really eco-friendly, use the sunday funnies when you are done with them
4. pencil
5. scissors



Step One: select a height that you would like the organizer to be - probably a couple of inches...but if it is going into a shallow drawer you might want to measure the height of the drawer to be sure it will fit.



2. we taped our box together along the upper edges as it came open after we cut it...adds a little strength too....

3. trace the outline of the bottom of the box on a piece of decorative paper - cut slightly inside the lines and place paper in bottom of box



4. trace each side of box on decorative paper and tape to each side of box - we wrapped tape over the top edge to reinforce it





5. place in drawer and fill with goodies!



there are lots of ways to personalize these boxes...add your child's name, label the box with what will be put in it, for younger children they could cut photos out of magazines of what they will place inside....the options are endless!

Hope you have fun with this idea...if you make some yourself I would love to see your photos!

Halloween Giveaway from gock's frocks!

I thought it would be fun to do a little giveaway on my blog for halloween....

"Why Not ? " replied my daughter eily....so...this is what I am giving away...your choice of one of the following...

1. Halloween Skirt from my etsy shop
2. applique halloween tee to match a skirt in my shop
3. surprise handmade Halloween home decor item - I realize that not all of my followers have kids so I thought I would offer something for everyone!



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So...how can you win???? Easy...there are lots of ways to get an entry - for each leave a comment below letting me know that you have done this as I will use the random # generator to pick the winner :)
1. become a fan of gock's frocks on facebook
2. subscribe to my blog
3. join my mailing list (on my blog)
4. follow me on twitter
5. blog or tweet about the giveaway (leave me a link here to check it out!)
6. check out my etsy shop and let me know your favorite from my new fall '09 collection

whew....lots of chances to win some Halloween goodies from gock's frocks! remember to leave a comment for each entry !





Have fun!

Back to School...
.......or more aptly titled "Mama's got the baby blues!"....the kids headed back this week and to my surprise I found myself feeling very sad to see summer end.

Granted we had our fair share of squabbles and spats but as Monday drew to a close I realized the carefree days of summer were behind us ... our adventures at an end.

I met the buses with mixed emotions as I waved my kids off to another year at school... time marches on and each day they gain a bit more knowledge, independence, and stretch their wings away from me.

I only hope I can continue to influence them to be the best that they can be, treat others as they want to be treated and be a great citizen of this world....




my 7th grader...where has time gone?



4th grade...peace!



2nd grade...not so sure he wanted to go! mama's baby! look what he asked for in his lunch!



salami, mustard, and nicoise olives on a baguette! gotta love it...my little gourmet!

Fall Fun!

This summer I had the good fortune of being contacted by the talented Suymey Benson of Blossom Portraiture Art asking if I would be interested in working with her... I loved her photographs and jumped at the chance to send her some of my designs...Eily wasn't too sure she liked someone else modeling gock's frocks but she has gotten over it!

I am thrilled with the photos I received from Suymey and promptly got all of the pieces listed in my etsy shop yesterday...

I hope you like them as much as I do - and if you are in the Dallas area be sure to contact Suymey if you are looking for a fantastic photographer!

Introducing my new 3 way dress....features a removeable, reversible apron












a couple of new skirts.... and a new crazy daisy tee









and a fun new peasant style bubble top!




check them out now in my etsy shop!