(ARA) - Many families will be gathering this summer to share traditions and make new memories. More than seven out of 10 people agree that the best way to continue their family’s traditions is through gatherings and celebrations, according to a new survey by Kelton Research. With each passing year, however, 68 percent of Americans admit reuniting with family is becoming harder. To ensure that your family continues to build lasting memories, a little early planning goes a long way.

Whether you’re preparing for a large reunion for family members around the world, or an intimate gathering for those nearby, follow these helpful tips to ensure your next gathering creates memories that last a lifetime:

* Put together an invite and address list. Determine if you want a small gathering or want to include distant relatives. Identify one person from each family branch and begin assembling contact information for each person on your invite list.

* Gauge interest and availability. Reach out to a few relatives and get feedback on dates, locations and possible reunion theme. Keep in mind travel distance for all family members and consider extending the reunion festivities to span a few days.

* Create a budget. Determine how much money is needed for food and travel, and if other family members will share the cost.

* Find a location. Is there a place with special significance to your family or is a family member willing to open up their home?

* Plan the menu. Gather favorite family recipes and ask family members to be responsible for bringing those dishes. And, don’t forget that cooking together during the reunion can conjure fun family memories and help make new ones as well!

* Organize activities. Plan activities that will allow distant family members to get reacquainted. Download the Smucker family tree and re-discover your family’s origins.

* Arrange for seating and rainy day accommodations. If you’re hosting the reunion at a family member’s home, consider chair and table rentals, as well as a tent for outdoor activities.

* Capture the day. Identify one to two family members to serve as the official reunion photographers/videographers.

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(NC)—Your will-power is usually put to the test when eating out. With so many menu options, making a healthy choice is no easy feat. Canadians have become more health-conscious about what they eat when they are at home and eating out should be no different.

Here are some tips when eating out:

1. Watch your portion size. Order an appetizer as your entrée or take the leftovers home.

2. Start off with a mixed salad in a balsamic vinaigrette. Or head to the salad counter and fill your plate with veggie sticks and fresh fruit.

3. Load up your sandwich with veggie toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.

4. Choose lower-fat milk or fruit juice instead of pop.

5. Order a side dish of vegetables if they’re not included with the main entrée.

6. At the deli counter choose whole grain breads or buns instead of white bread or croissants.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Health Check program can also help you make healthy choices when eating out. The program ensures that each menu item identified with the Health Check symbol has been evaluated by the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s registered dietitians and meets nutrient standards based on Canada’s Food Guide. To view participating restaurants, visit healthcheck.org.

- News Canada

Tags: restaurants, healthy eating, eating out, tips

Old-fashioned lemonade. Photo credit: newleaf01

Real old-fashioned lemonade
Makes 12 servings

14 Sunkist® lemons
2 cups sugar, or to taste
8 cups cold water
Ice cubes

1. Using a hand or electric juicer, squeeze the juice from 12 of the lemons.
2. In a large pitcher, combine lemon juice and sugar; stir to dissolve the sugar.
3. Cut remaining lemons into cartwheel slices.
4. Add lemon slices and cold water and blend well.
5. Pour over ice and serve.

More recipes and tips are available online at www.sunkist.com/takeastand.

-News Canada

Tags: lemonade, lemons, fruit recipes, beverage recipes, summer recipes

Eat This, Not That! Authors Grade 43 National Chains; 6 Receive an ‘F’

NEW YORK, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ — Which kids’ menus are most likely to make your children fat? A year-long study of children’s meals has revealed vast dietary differences among America’s favorite fast-food and sit-down chain restaurants, according to the authors of the new book EAT THIS, NOT THAT! For Kids. Co-authors David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding calculated calories, fat (trans- and saturated), and sodium, as well as the average number of calories per children’s entree, and discovered that many of America’s most popular chain restaurants are nutritional nightmares for America’s children.

The authors compared children’s entrees; credited restaurants for having healthy adult options that would appeal to the young palate; evaluated healthy vegetable and fruit sides and drink options that go beyond sugar-laden soda; and docked points for restaurants still dishing out unhealthy trans fats or for refusing to release any nutrition information to their customers.

The result is a Restaurant Report Card that holds each food chain accountable for the fare they’re serving up — to moms, dads, kids, teens, and everybody else — along with a survival strategy for making it through any meal unscathed.

Did your favorite restaurant make the grade?

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(ARA) - Grilling isn’t just for summer celebrations anymore. No matter what your culinary preferences — from traditional mega-cookouts at the park to health-conscious quick meals — grilling has something delicious to offer for everyone.

More than 75 percent of Americans say they own at least one grill, with an increasing number of households boasting two, according to Joanne Hayes, a nationally recognized magazine food editor, TV recipe developer and food historian. Enthusiasm for the traditional warm-weather cookout has carried over into booming popularity for indoor built-in and portable-countertop grilling units, as well as simple in-oven grilling and rotisserie techniques. Grilling has become a popular option even for those who cook one-person meals or have living arrangements that don’t lend themselves to outdoor grilling.

Grilled Vegetables

In response to this trend, new varieties of seasonings, rubs and marinades have arrived on store shelves, adding convenience, versatility, no-mess food preparation and robust flavors to grilled dishes. Many seasonings can be rubbed on prior to cooking or shaken on over the grill — adding succulent flavor in mere minutes, or even seconds, of preparation time.

For cooks who like the deep, locked-in flavor of marinades, Grilling Seasons marinade mixes from Simply Organic require just 30 minutes of “flavor-absorption” time while the rest of the meal preparation is under way. Organic flavor selections include Lemon Pepper, Zesty Herb, Steak, Mesquite Barbeque, and Garlic Herb.

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Would you like to master one technique that would allow you to produce an incredible variety of lovely French cakes right in your own kitchen? The good news for those of you who love elegant cake,s but are perhaps not the most talented of cooks, is that making French choux pastry is dead easy. And it truly is the basis for so many desserts - you could even invent your own.

What is choux pastry anyway? If you’ve ever had a cream puff, you have had choux pastry. It is a very simple concoction made from water, butter, flour, and eggs. The pastry dough itself is sticky and looks hopeless, but when you put it the oven it puffs up spectacularly.

Cream puffs. Photo credit: rusvaplauke

The secret to the puffiness of the cream puff is in the mixing. All you need is a strong arm. Or I guess you could use your mixer if you’ve already been to the gym today. And be sure to follow your choux pastry recipe to the letter, carefully measuring all ingredients, adding them in the right order, and following cooking instructions.

I’m making this sound harder than it is! Don’t be intimidated. Like I said, it’s easy! Once you have choux pastry down, you can make all the cream puffs you could ever want in a matter of minutes.

But don’t stop there. You could try any one of these elegant French cakes now that you know how to make a choux pastry. (As you go down the list, the cakes get more complicated.)

Chouquettes: These are small puffs without the cream, topped with big grains of sugar for a little sweetness. French kids love these for snacks, and they’d make a quick-to-fix treat anytime. I even let my kids have them for breakfast.

Cream Puffs: OK these you know. Fill your cream puffs with custard, chocolate pudding, whipped cream, or whatever else you might want. You can sprinkle them with powdered sugar or drizzle them with chocolate sauce or caramel. Get imaginative, there are no rules.

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(NC)—Smoothies and summer go hand in hand and are a refreshing relief from the long, hot days that mark the season. Making a smoothie is simple, and they are a great way to improve your diet by ensuring you get your daily intake of fruit.

To get started, the first thing you need is a blender. With so many models to choose from an important feature to look for is the amount of watts a blender has. The more watts, the stronger the motor and easier it is to blend thicker substances or crush ice, which is great for smoothies.

A common complaint among blender users is that thicker blends tend to stick to the sides of the jar. “When we designed the Cyclone Blender we focused on this issue,” said Barry Squire, Product Manager at Black & Decker Home Products. “The jar’s unique shape draws food into the blades, creating a vortex that prevents thicker beverages from sticking to the sides, saving you time and effort.”

Now that you have a blender … get fruit and lots of it! The reason smoothies are so popular isn’t just because of their great taste, they are also very healthy (high in fibre and vitamins). Here are a few recipes that will get you started. Feel free to experiment with fruit pairings and discover your own blender-sensations.

The Breakfast Smoothie:

Trying to eat a good breakfast and get out the door in the morning is tough, so finding a delicious smoothie combination can help. Start with a healthy cereal, perhaps low-fat granola or muesli, mix in yogurt, bananas, blueberries or whatever fruit you like, add some juice, blend and start the day with energy.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cereal (low-fat granola, muesli, etc.)
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (low-fat)
1 cup ice
1 banana
2 cups juice (orange, apple or whatever you like)

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(NC)—Deep frying. The words alone send shivers down the spine of anyone trying to live a healthy lifestyle. But an oven just doesn’t compete with the golden, crisp and tasty fries from a fryer. The same holds true for chicken, fish, and a variety of fritters and breads where the fryer rules supreme. But don’t sacrifice taste that quickly; there are ways to have both good taste and a healthy meal all in one.

Battering and frying unquestionably adds fat and calories, but most of this happens through absorption as food is sitting in the oil. Making sure the oil is at the optimum temperature before adding your food helps reduce absorption. A temperature indicator is a great feature that ensures the fryer is ready. If your deep fryer doesn’t have a temperature indicator, you can test its readiness by dropping a cube of crustless white bread in the oil. It should be golden brown in about 60 seconds.

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