Substance of Living

Are you scratching your head, searching the stores and online for Do-It-Yourself costume ideas that won't break the bank for you and your significant other? Here are a few to get your creative juices flowing. Ken and Barbie Halloween Costume Items needed for Ken and Barbie: Cardboard boxes (2) Scissors or Knife Paint Permanent Marker Be sure to add handles to the inside of the boxes so you can keep them in place Have fun with this one; Prince and Princess, Expecting Parents, Fantasy, Military Personnel, Farmer, or anything else. Dominoes Halloween Costume Items needed for Dominoes: Long Sleeve Black Shirt Black Pants Black Shoes White Belt White Felt Scissors Something to fasten the white dots to your clothes such as fabric glue, hook and loop tape, safety pins This is a perfect outfit for a single, couple, or the whole family / group.  It's also a costume that can be created with less than an hour once you have all the supplies. Soap an...

A Pinch 1/8 Teaspoon or Less 3 Teaspoon 1 Tablespoon 2 Tablespoon 1/8 Cup 4 Tablespoon 1/4 Cup 16 Tablespoon 1 Cup 5 Tablespoon + 1 Teaspoon 1/3 Cup 4 Ounces 1/2 Cup 8 Ounces 1 Cup 16 Ounces 1 Pound 1 Ounce 2 Tablespoon Fat or Liquid 1 Cup of Liquid 1/2 Pint 2 Cups 1 Pint 2 Pints 1 Quart 4 Cups of Liquid 1 Quart 1 Quart 4 Cups 4 Quarts 1 Gallon 8 quarts 1 Peck (such as apples) 1 Jigger 1 1/2 Fluid Ounces (3 Tablespoons)   Abbreviations tsp Teaspoon Tbsp or T Tablespoon oz Ounce C Cup pt Pint qt Quart Hope these charts come in handy for the upcoming holiday cooking and baking season. Tweet this Post Please share me with your friends! If you enjoyed this post, please do a friend and me a BIG favor and forward this email. If you received this email from a friend and you'd like to see more, please sign up today . Don't miss out on future articles. Have Substance of Living delivered directly to your inbox.  THANKS!

Likelii Summer is over.  The children are back in school.  The holidays are quickly approaching and that means gifts. Are you a wine drinker and stuck in a rut?  Don't drink wine and find yourself in a situation that you have to purchase wine?  What do you do? I've been holding out on you.  I found out about Likelii earlier this year.  In all fairness, I did have to try it out to see if it would give viable choices for different situations.  I'm now sharing with you because it does work. If you're familiar with Netflix or Pandora and how these two sites offer suggestions then I think you will appreciate Likelii 's wine recommendations.  You enter a particular wine you enjoy and then the site recommends other wines you might like. Apothic Red Last year I found a new wine at Costco that was smooth, relatively inexpensive, and readily available.  That wine was Apothic Red .  I typed in "Apothic Red" as my choice and the s...

What are Book Clubs? Do you remember back when you were in school and you were assigned a book to read?  During the process of reading individually, the class would also discuss the storyline and chapters. Now that you're all grown up, you might find that you still enjoy discussing books with friends but would like something a bit more structured with maybe some food, drinks, and socializing. The goal of a book club is to read, discuss, learn, and of course socialize.  Without socializing, what fun is the book club.  One might as well be back in school doing book reports. To help you get started with a list of books visit or join us on our Book Club page. What Kind of Book Club? Although there are many genres of book clubs there are only two types: Informal and Formal. An informal book club is usually about the entertainment value of a book.  The discussions typically are about the book itself.  To me, this group is more on the order of a couple ...

The following information came from one of our wonderful readers.  While reading the following information, please keep in mind that this is NOT medical advice and we are not doctors.  We like to pass along information that we receive for your viewing pleasure and hopefully answer some questions or dispel rumors. What we really want you to know is that after doing some research on this matter, we found that although water is good for us in many ways, the information below has some erroneous information.  Please check out Snopes , MayoClinic , LiveStrong , and Consumer Reports , for the truth about the statements made below. The information below in bold and quotes is what was sent in the email: "I am sending this to you because I found this extremely interesting It seems to be good information.                    ...

This month's selection is a bit eclectic.  We have some mysteries and a love story of sorts.  We also have a book that at first I wasn't too sure if I'd like since it has to do with government corruption.  Ahh, but I did keep an open mind for the first couple pages and found myself unable to put the book down. Whiskey Sour by Jack Kilborn and J.A. Konrath Are you a Whiskey Sour drinker?  Did you try "Jack" Daniel's drink of choice for this book? Just the Way You Are by Barbara Freethy Suggestions on where to find books other than a book store include, wholesale clubs, thrift stores , library, amazon , garage sales , family, friends, and flea markets. Murder on the Mind (A Jeff Resnick Mystery) by L. L. Bartlett Breach of Trust by DiAnn Mills If you're new to our book club and would like to get caught up, check out June , July , and August . What have you been or are currently reading?  What did you think about last month...