Personally speaking I am the one who over comits and honestly believes I can “do it all”.  I try to cram  14 hours of work into 8 hours.

Have I been successful?  Well… I think you know the answer to that question!  My poor family has paid the price of my great intentions.

In speaking my friend and colleague about this issue he came out with a great article about project management procedures.  Here’s the article he wrote: http://sixsigmaresource.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-many-projects-can-you-fit-into-your.html

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Recent news is highlighting stories on a new report from Kaiser Family Foundation which sates kids ages 8 to 18 spend more than 7.5 hours a day using electronic media.

This is the third wave of the study (1999, 2004 & 2009) which indicates a growth of media usage within the youth by about an hour since the study in 2004.

Also interesting to note that most kids are multi-tasking within the mediums, which equals 10:45 hours worth of media usage, compared to 2004’s study which was 8:33 hours worth of media content.

Well, this is really no surprise to most parents today, we know are children are consuming more media today than they did in 2004. I believe we are more aware of the usage during winter months when sports season is over and it’s a little chilly outside.

As a mom of a teenager and tween, I see it and live it. After all, I work in the digital media space, I run my life, and our family events, using technology and digital media.

I found it interesting the report states: “Youth who spend more time with media report lower grades and lower levels of personal contentment.” The participants in the study were grouped into three categories based on number of hours they consumed media content in a typical day:

• Heavy users: +16 hours (21%)
• Moderate users: 3-16 hours (62%) << betty’s notes: seems like a really broad range
• Light users: – 3 hours (17%)

Study states that nearly half (47%) of all heavy users say they usually get fair to poor grades (C’s & lower), compared to 23% of light media users.

The study goes on to say it “cannot establish whether there is a cause and effect relationship between media use and grades, or between media use and personal contentment.”

So what does this report mean to parents & how do we use it?

Should we be concerned that our youth is spending their time in front of electronic devices? I don’t believe the answer lies in shutting down all digital media away from our kids.

I do believe we can use this study to remind us of some fundamental parenting skills:

• Know what your kids are being exposed to
• Greet your kids with a hug and kiss each time they go off to school and when they come back home (that’s a tip from the Cuban mom in me)
• Know who they are “hanging out with” online and offline
• Have open communication and understanding that is it your right as a parent to look through text messages, emails & computer history files. Hopefully, this isn’t necessary if you have an open communication with your kids, but they should know you have that right.
• Attend teacher parent conferences even if your kids are doing well in school, it’s amazing   what learn about your child with only 10 – 15 min’s with their teacher. (and I was told by a teacher, they actually appreciate the face time with the parents.)
• Find ways to openly communicate with your children. Suggestions are:
• Turn off music during drive time and talk to your kids
• Schedule regular family dinners and turn off ALL media (i.e. don’t answer phone, cell phones put away, TV off, etc.)
• Schedule family game time, board games and outside activities (additional note: they might fight you on this, but will usually end up having fun. Plus we also include their friends in games, great way to get to know everyone.)
• Do chores together

I’m sure you all can add a few more to the list … please do & comment them below.

What does this study mean for marketers?

It’s a goldmine my marketing peeps! Study shows us stats like video game playing is more popular among 11 to 14 year old’s and music becomes increasingly popular as teens get older. There’s all sorts of demographics and statistical goodies for marketers marketing to our youth.   You can read the entire study at: http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/8010.pdf

One last tip from this mom of 2: Don’t be afraid of technology, embrace it, learn it and engage. If you don’t engage into what your kids are doing, they’re less likely to engage into what you’re doing.
xoxo

Had an interesting conversation today about which elements of six sigma or process improvement can be applied to cooking. Here’s are some of my thoughts, would love to hear yours.

1. Using the LEAN principles streamline the prep work. Plan ahead and cut out unnecessary steps (when it doesn’t compromise quality)

2. Map out your plan before starting to cook.

3. If a recipe doesn’t come out as planned analyze the steps to get to the root cause of the problem.

4. Reduce waste by grouping meals with similar ingrediants within same week so you can save on money and prep time.

5. Understand what your customer wants (their expectations) and make meals to meet those expectations.

Although meals are subjective and I find cooking to be creative. You can apply some basic principles to make it easier to make family meals and bring your family back around the dinner table.

As marketers we love to plan and create campaigns that drive action and make a difference for our customers.

But how do you we know what’s making a difference? We must monitor and measure the data.

Web Analytics Wednesday’s Cincinnati chapter is holding its next meeting today, January 6th at BlackFin in downtown Cincinnati.

Join me in attending as we listen to Greg Smith, assistant professor of the MIS department of the Williams College of Business at Xavier University. He will be presenting his thoughts on the role and impact of web analytics on business intelligence practices and thinking.

Additional details can be found at: Web Analytics Wednesday meeting website.

Here’s a couple of ideas for tonight’s party:

Maple Pecan Tartlet

* Pecan Pie  (I used this recipe but purchased ready made pie crust, plus made them into tartlets)
* Pressed & Grilled Cuban Style Sandwich
* Panini
* Hummus (I know this is out for ‘09 — so might as well finish the year off right)
* White Bean Puree (this is the new year’s replacement for hummus)
* Tomato and Avocado canapes* Baked Brie (always a classic)
* Chocolate Covered Apple Bites with crushed Pretzels

Hope this helps!

Happy New  Year!  May 2010 Bring you all the Love, Peace and Joy in the world.

xoxox
Betty

Are we losing the art of writing a letter to someone?

I know we email, twitter, and update our status today to communicate with friends and loved ones. We talk, text and send pictures that help us communicate. But about a good old fashion letter?

Why am I — ms. geek the social media/microblogger herself — is even bringing this to light? Well, my nephew who’s in bootcamp can only receive letters. So I ask my son to make sure he writes to him and I realize our kids may learn how to write letters in school, but they really don’t put that into practice.

Remember the days of ‘writing notes’ to your friends and passing them in school, or shoving a note into someone’s locker? LOL. You’re much younger than I am if you’re rolling your eyes! If not, you understand exactly what I’m saying and hear me loud and clear.

So…. for those of us who need a little reminder here’s a little cheat sheet on how you can write a personal letter/note to someone:

1. Start with “Dear John,” or “Hello Susan”

2. Body: Don’t forget to indent 5 spaces and you can usually start with “How are you?”, then mention how you doing what your doing lately. Other topics of discussion can include:

• what you’ve done this week (big test or project at work you’re working on?)
• how you are feeling about the recipient of the letter
• updates on your family members
• funny story about the dog
• the fact that you went on vacation
• anything else of interest

3. Closing: include your closing (i.e. Love, Peace, Sincerely) and your signature.  (A letter with a signature is extremely rude)

It doesn’t need to be a book, or some heart wrenching story. Just write and share your life, feelings and wishes towards the another person. Especially if they are in the military where they don’t have other forms of communications.

My nephew is working hard, tired and I’m sure missing his loved ones. Do you have someone that can use a little love via a letter?

If you really need help in setting this up I found this cute little site that helps you set up a letter in proper format: http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/letter_generator/

Have other suggestions or comments?  Post them here!

As most of you may know I’ve been maintaining two blogs, one for gourmetbetty and one for bettyhakes.  Time has come to merge the two… after all, I am both!

So, we’ve merged all the articles into this bettyhakes.com blog.

Let me know what you think of the new look and feel.

Peace,

Betty

I love to research recipes. Part of the fun of cooking is to see what everyone else had done, marry or pull it apart and make it my own. My sister does this as well – so perhaps you do too! I have some friends who follow recipes and directions to the letter, so I’m going to include my plans for those of you.

My goal for this blog post is to give you a little history of my research, and give you my step-by-step process for my Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner. You decide if you want to marry, pull it apart or follow along.

According to Cook’s Illustrated the core brining formula is 1 gallon of water and 1 cup of table salt for a 4 to 6 hour brine. For a 12- to 14-hour brine you would reduce the salt by half.

Most chefs’ today use kosher salt because it dissolves easier. This would change your 4 – 6 hour core brining formula to 1 ½ cups of Morton’s Kosher Salt with 1 gallon of water.

Researching other chef’s brining recipes, such as Alton Brown and Martha Stewart, I notice that they use a slightly different formula but they usually brine longer than 4 to 6 hours. They also add in several ingredients in order add flavor to the turkey. Add-in I’ve seen are: regular sugar, brown sugar, allspice berries, ginger, peppercorn, maple sugar, soy sauce, herbs and even bourbon! Alton uses vegetable broth and water in his brine.

So why brine? According to Rita Heikenfeld, “brining makes the bird more moist, seasoned and better able to withstand heat in the oven. Without getting too technical, brining allows a greater concentration of water, salt and flavorings to flow into the cells. It also cleans the bird of any residue. Once exposed to heat, much of the water is prevented from leaking out, giving you a better bird.”

So what is this queen of quick & easy going to do? I like the taste of turkey and don’t want to mask the taste with too many flavorings so I’m going to use some basics. My objective to brine this years’ turkey is to produce is a moist and succulent bird (and experiment on my family…). My turkeys in the past have been great without the brine – but I’m taking it up a notch and taking advantage of a rare occurrence of being in my own kitchen for Thanksgiving. Not to mention I am super excited about my mom, sister and her family joining us this year for Thanksgiving. (Wishing my brother and his family could join us as well… but I’m maybe next year.)

So here’s the basic plan:

Wednesday: Pick up my fresh pre-ordered 15 lb Turkey

Wednesday night before dinner (approx 5ish): prepare the brine and refrigerate. This is also a good time to make your cranberry sauce and refrigerate for the next day.

Wednesday after dinner (approx 8ish) submerge the turkey in the brine and put in the fridge overnight.

Thursday morning (8 – 10 AM): remove turkey from brine, wash and pat dry. Allow to air dry in the fridge until you are ready to prep.

Thursday 1:30 PM: Spread turkey with butter, place on roasting rack, add veggies to pan and cook for about 3 – 4 hours until thick part of breast reaches 165 F. ** note a leave in temperature probe with alarm is a great investment!

Thursday 4ish: prepare and bake the stuffing, prep the potatoes and veggies.

Right before dinner: make the gravy

Dinner time (5Pish): Serve turkey along with mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, green beans, carrots, salad, and dinner rolls. Leave room for dessert

So that’s the basic plan for our Thanksgiving dinner. I have provided some basic recipes below, as always, feel free to reach out to me with any questions or post any comments here.

For those seeking some safety guidelines and cooking time table from the USDA you can click here: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/Lets_Talk_Turkey/index.asp.

I pray you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving with your family and friends.

Peace to you,

Betty

————————– RECIPES ————————————-

Betty’s 12 – 14 hour (overnight) Brine:

2 gallons water

1 ½ cup Kosher Salt (Morton’s)

¾ cup light brown sugar

1 Tablespoon of whole peppercorns

3 bay leaves

Directions: add all ingredients over medium-high heat and cook until sugar and salt dissolve.

Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature and refrigerate.

When bring is completely cooled: submerge the turkey in a container/bag large enough to hold your turkey. Refrigerate overnight 12 – 14 hours.

Roasting your Turkey:

1 stick of butter

2 onions, cut in quarters

2 carrots

2 celery stalks

3 cloves of garlic

Fresh rosemary and thyme

Directions: soften butter at room temperature. Slab turkey with butter. Insert 1 quartered onion and a couple of springs of herbs into the cavity of the bird.

Place the rest of the vegetables on the bottom of the roasting pan. Make sure you use a roasting pan with a rack.

Place in the oven for 45 min’s at 425 F. Lower the temperature to 325 F, baste the turkey and allow to cook until the thick part of the breast reaches 165 F.

Allow to sit, covered with foil, for 15 – 20 minutes. In the meantime, make the make the gravy and finish up the vegetables.

Gravy:

Turkey Drippings

2 cups Chicken broth

¼ cup Cornstarch

Directions: after you have removed the turkey to allow to rest. Remove all the vegetables from the pan and pour the gravy into a gravy separator and allow to sit for a few minutes until the oil has separated. Discard the vegetables (or if you want a thicker & add to the flavor of the gravy you can mash them in a food mill or processor).

Deglaze the bottom of the pan with about ¼ cup of white wine and allow to boil for about a minute. Mix the cold chicken broth and cornstarch until dissolved, add into the pan and allow to cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until thick. Taste, add salt and pepper to taste and pour into gravy bowl.

note: add more cornstarch or liquid to create the desired consistency of the gravy.

Received a question from a reader today:

“I was just wondering if you have ever had any experience freezing potato soup. Maybe some helpful hints if you have?”

Thanks Christy for this great question!

In general cream based and potato soups do not freeze well, “the potato’s cellular structure breaks down in the freezer” says my good friend and mentor, Rita Heikenfeld from abouteating.com. Although it’s better to freeze than to pitch it — so Rita just reheats is slowly and stirs in a bit of cheddar right before serving. Click here to view Rita’ recipe for Potato Soup.

Bean soups and broth based soups freeze perfectly! So double-batch those when you can.

Good luck and enjoy!

Just had lunch from Bangkok Thai Cuisine again in Milford, OH — oh my gosh! delicious!! I had the cashew chicken with brown rice. The vegetables are fresh and the sauce is perfectly balanced.

Service: service on the phone seems good. Will need to update this review once I actually eat in.

If you’re in Milford, and like Thai food — you’re going to love Bangkok Thai Cuisine in Milford, OH. You can find them at 1055 Main St, Milford, OH – 513.248.2999

Tell me what you think.