Thanksgiving

Champagne Turkey with a blend of spices and too easy Tres Leches cake  

November is a time to reflect and be thankful for all our blessings. Sending good wishes and sharing  these two easy recipes for Thanksgiving.

Champagne Turkey

Line a large turkey roaster with long sheets of aluminum foil long enough to wrap over the turkey. Rub the turkey with lemon and put it the roaster.

Stir parsley, rosemary, sage, garlic, thyme, lemon pepper and salt in a bowl and rub the herb mixture into the cavity of the turkey. Cut and orange in half and insert it into the cavity of the turkey. 

Pour a bottle of Champagne and chicken broth over the turkey, making sure some champagne gets into the cavity of the turkey. Bring the aluminum foil over the top of the turkey and seal it loosely.   

Bake at 350 in a preheated oven according to its weight. Uncover the turkey about 30 minutes to an hour before its done and continue baking another 30 minutes or until the skin turns golden brown.  A thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone should read 180 degrees F.

move over Pecan and Pumpkin pies

too easy Tres Leches cake

Cake

Blend two boxes of Duncan Hines white cake mix with two 12-ounce cans of flavored seltzer for about 2 minutes. Pour batter into pan and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, cake is done when toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool for about 1 hour.

Cream

Whisk two cups of heavy cream, one 12-ounce can evaporated milk and one teaspoon ground cinnamon in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. Set cream mixture aside. Whisk one 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk and one teaspoon vanilla into the cream mixture.

Using a fork, poke holes into the top of the cooled cake and pour the cream mixture over the cake.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours. 

Whip one cup of heavy cream with one cup of powdered sugar with a mixer for about 2 minutes until it becomes light and fluffy whipped cream. Spread the whipped cream over the cake and sprinkle cinnamon on top.

Be blessed, enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving

Sweater Weather

It’s been a minute 

Let’s give ourselves permission to cope with the stresses of the past few years. News about politics, vaccines, crime and the economy will never stop playing, but we can choose to tune into something else. 

These past few years I’ve learned to embrace self care through exercise, prayer and meditation. It’s been my release, given me life changing peace. I no longer let things that are beyond my control dictate my attitude.  

Tires on electric vehicles require replacement more frequently than tires on other cars

KBB advice on tires for EV

Fall and everything Pumpkin 

Here’s a Pumpkin Muffin recipe from Kathy, my car pool friend from my old GEICO days.

2 slightly beaten eggs

2 cups sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup solid pack pumpkin

2 ½ cups flour

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking soda

⅛ teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12- 18 muffin cups or use paper

liners.

2.Combine eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin in large bowl; mix well.

Combine flour, pie spice, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Add to

liquid ingredients and mix just until combined. (Do not overmix)

4. Stir in chocolate chips.

5. Spoon batter into muffin cups (about 2/3 full) and bake 20-25 min or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool

Teresa

Side Effects

So much has happened in one year.  I tried to be an independent broker, failed and got my old job back. Since then the whole world changed.  There was a worldwide pandemic, we went into isolation and held our breaths for a Vaccine. 

Once you fall hard you learn to fail harder. The concept that failure is learning, the more you fail the more you learn. It’s side effect is less fear.

The big “C” word

One of the many side effects of the pandemic is it has people thinking about their future. If you have anxiety about death in the time of the Covid crisis, now more than ever is the time to talk about LIFE.  Health exams may be waived and depending on the pandemic’s mortality rate life insurance prices might rise in the future. There’s  uncertainty about how the virus affects long-term health and life expectancy.  The best thing to do is to guarantee insurability before insurance application questions include covid exposure or diagnosis.

Tires and nails

Change a flat tire like a girl

You're in a remote area and emergency roadside can't reach you.  Trust me, you don't want to be in a situation stuck late at night having to wait for roadside assistance.  Here's tips that might make a stressful situation easier to handle.  And with a little bit of luck maybe you'll do it without chipping a nail.

Be prepared - have a jack and a wrench

1. TURN ON YOUR HAZARD LIGHTS 
2. APPLY THE PARKING BRAKE 
3. LOOSEN THE LUG NUTS USING A WRENCH
4. PLACE THE JACK UNDER THE VEHICLE 
5. RAISE THE VEHICLE WITH THE JACK 
6. UNSCREW THE LUG NUTS 
7. REMOVE THE FLAT TIRE 
8. MOUNT THE SPARE TIRE 
9. TIGHTEN THE LUG NUTS 
10. LOWER THE VEHICLE

Look for the jack under the car

Usually, the jack goes under the vehicle. Most car frames have a particular indented area that’s designed to accommodate the jack. Feel for it and make sure the placement is sturdy. Your owner’s manual may specify exactly where to put the jack, double check.

Sources: Bridgestone

Changing a car for dummies

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Going Places

Press a button 

Imagine having to read a map or even worse having to ask somebody for directions.  Today we ask siri, type into our phones, or just press a button and ask the car for directions.  What would happen if GPS stopped working?  Drivers would be slowing down traffic, looking at street signs or stopping to read road maps.  And how on earth would Uber ever know where to pick us up?

Everything is based on GPS, from emergency services to containers in ports, to factories, power grids and more.  It is estimated the cost of GPS crashing to be a loss of about 1 Billion per day.

The Global Positioning System consists of 24 satellites synchronizing with time in such an exact degree of precision that when we ask our phones for directions, it picks up signals from some of those satellites based on the time the signal was sent and where the satellite was.  If the clocks on those satellites are not exact,our route will be off by miles.  

Re-fold it back to the way it was

Not so long ago, before GPS, reading a road map was the only way to get around.  You can still find  maps at some gas stations and rest areas.  Maps are huge but fold down small enough to keep in the glove box. 

Reading a Road Map 

The index on the map lists the names of all of the cities listed on the map in alphabetical order and the corresponding location of each listing. Across the bottom of a map there may be sections that are labeled A, B, C and on the left side of the map, the grids may be labeled numerically. If a town’s location is described as B4 in the index, you would look in the grid where column B and row 4 meet to find the town. When using a map to navigate, locate your current location and your destination first.

Source: BBC 50 things that made the modern economy- GPS  and Driving-test.org

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Let's Talk about it

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Everybody says it's ok to talk about it, but nobody wants to talk about it.  We all know somebody that suffers from anxiety or depression, or we know somebody that knows somebody that has a drug or alcohol addiction.  Almost all of us know somebody that is affected by mental illness.

Your health should be the most important thing in your life 


Finding time for mental health is important. Meditating, working out or talking to somebody should be a priority and now there's apps that can help.  Here's a link for the total wellness site. Total Wellness

Let's use this Open Enrollment period as reminder for mental health

The Enrollment period for Health coverage lasts only a few weeks and coverage sold during Open Enrollment starts January 1, 2020.

If you don't enroll during open enrollment you might not be able to get coverage for next year unless you qualify for the Special Enrollment Period which includes a life event like getting married or having a baby.

Enrollment is open all year for Medicaid and Child Health Plus.  It depends on which programs you are eligible for,  it's based on your age, income and other factors. 

New York State of Health has health options available through the Health Plan Marketplace where people can shop and enroll in Health Coverage.  It is also the place to get help from the government for low cost or free coverage from Medicaid if you qualify.

visit NY State of Health or call 1-855-355-5777

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Superhuman Powers

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Save a Life

According to DMV's website there's a huge need for organ donations in New York.  Nearly 10,000 New Yorkers are currently waiting for an organ transplant, and every 13 hours someone dies waiting for an organ transplant.  Did you know just one organ donor can save up to eight lives? Yet only 29% of New Yorkers are enrolled in the Donate Life Registry compared to the national average of 51%.

At the DMV website you can create an account, update your address, view the status  of your license and register to become an organ donor.   

NY DMV

DMV offices play a huge role in promoting Donate Life℠, a program to motivate the public to register as organ, eye or tissue donors.  Next time you register a vehicle or renew your license sign up to be an organ, eye or tissue donor.  And now you can make an appointment online before you visit DMV.

Please register as an organ donor and you might be someone's superhero.

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