Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Got someone on your list who is hard to shop for? We've got Twin Cities style consultants on deck to help you find the perfect gift.
We all have at least one person in our lives that presents a perennial problem during the holidays: They're impossible to shop for. Maybe they're a vegan who can't countenance any animal products whatsoever, or a friend who is allergic to everything from angora to silk, or worse, the one who never wants anything. Enter Melissa Hardin, creator of Flaunt, a mobile boutique run by a group of fashion artists and style consultants out of a studio in Fridley. Also on deck are Jennifer Zafft, Marketing Director for The Shoppes at Arbor Lakes in Maple Grove, and Lisa Buck, a resident of the Lake Minnetonka area and veteran holiday shopper, and Kelly Bray of Zida Boutique in Burnsville. Stymied? Whipshawed by confusion? These ladies will help you …
Friday, November 30, 2012
Share your recommendations on which homes to check out, and upload photos of the best displays.
Touring local streets for brightly lit homes is a holiday tradition, and the west metro has no shortage of festive houses. Patch would like your help sharing the best displays with the community. To tell your neighbors where these are, please add a marker to the map above. Simply click the "Add" button, enter an address and share a little about what makes that display special. If you don't have an exact address, an intersection will do. Are you proud of your own display? After sharing its location on the map, enter Patch’s Deck the House Contest for a chance to win $100,000 for your local school district and and/or $500 to pay your electric bills. To enter, just visit the appropriate Patch contest site:
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Patch finds the best of the west metro.
It’s the day after Thanksgiving, and your house is bursting at the seams with visiting relatives. You’ve got to get them out and get some fresh air, but where would you go? Good thing the Twin Cities have a ton of great places to enjoy with your family. The Bakken Museum For the kid who loves to touch everything, there’s Minneapolis’ Bakken Museum. Tucked away in a mansion on Lake Calhoun, the Bakken offers fascinating, hands-on exhibits about electricity and how it impacts our daily lives. Afterwards, you can take a short walk or drive south to Lake Harriet and the Como-Harriet Streetcar line for the last jaunt of the year on authentic,100-year old streetcars. On Friday Nov. 23 through Friday Nov. 25, you can also catch Santa on the Holly…
Are you looking for an organization to help out this season?
As we gather together with family and friends this holiday season to give thanks, share memories and create priceless memories, it is also a great reminder of how much we have. And the perfect opportunity to give back. Whether you are looking to give back to an organization that has helped you or make a difference to someone who may have less than you, now is the time of the year to take a step back and reflect on the ways you can share your good fortune with others. Take a look around you at the organizations that are near and dear to your heart and help out. Give Blood According to the American Red Cross, the need for blood is constant. Every two seconds, someone in the United States need blood, and more than 44,000 blood donations are …
These holiday favorites can transform into next-week dishes.
After Thanksgiving, Americans will throw out $282 million of uneaten turkey, according to estimates from the Natural Resources Defense Council. If you find yourself with a bounty of turkey or ham left on the table after your Thanksgiving feast, don’t just toss it. Instead, freeze the leftovers in freezer-safe plastic bags to be used later in recipes. Mark the bags with the dates and contents and then rest easy that you are not contributing to an overabundance filling our county’s landfills after a day of giving thanks. If you aren’t quite sure how to use that turkey or ham, head to the Internet. Start with the Food Network and Martha Stewart, but realize that a quick search reveals an amazing number of mouth-watering recipes to get your …
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Target, Best Buy and Walmart are included in turkey day sales. Check out the deals here.
If you have a black belt in Black Friday shopping, listen up: Area big-box retailers are gearing up to dazzle bargain hunters even earlier this year—starting Thanksgiving Day. Walmart, Toys R' Us, Target and Best Buy are planning all-out holiday shopping assaults. Beginning at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22, Walmart will offer holiday doorbusters, while supplies last. These include deals on TVs, iPads, an electric scooter for $79 and a steam mop for $39. Toys R' Us also offers doorbusters beginning at 8 p.m. Deals include $80 off an Android tablet and 50 percent off on Power Wheels. Target's deals begin an hour later, at 9 p.m. According to an ad leaked online, the best deals will be for a Nook, TVs, a Nikon camera and an XBOX 360 …
Don’t forget to follow the Boy Scout’s motto: Be Prepared.
During this time of the year, many of us are climbing in the car or hopping on a plane to visit family and friends. These trips, whether just a few hours or several days, can be a time to create long-remembered family memories, but as you head out on the road or board that plane, don’t forget to follow the Boy Scout’s motto: Be Prepared. Pre-plan Before leaving home, make sure items such as mail or newspapers will be picked up by a neighbor or friend. If that won’t work for you, consider having your mail held and newspaper delivery stopped while you are out of town. A house with mail and newspapers piling up is a beacon for burglars. A house sitter is another option to consider. And don’t forget about the four-legged members of your family…
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Let our Patch Pro answer your cooking questions.
The holidays are almost upon us! With Thanksgiving next week and then a month of parties and celebrations to follow, many of us are about to spend some serious time in the kitchen. Whether you've made a turkey for the past 50 years or it's your first attempt at stuffing, there's always something that can turn a normal dish into an award-wining crowd pleaser. So, go ahead and ask away. What would make your cooking better? Here to help with our Thanksgiving preparations is a "Patch Pro"— a local chef who has agreed to answer your questions about cooking in the comments section below. Meet our expert: • Executive Chef Kevin Petroske has been with Redstone American Grill for eight years, specializing in upscale American fare. He takes …
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
If you need a new recipe for your Thanksgiving turkey, give one of these non-traditional twists a try.
There are many ways to cook everyone’s favorite holiday bird. Each family has its own special technique for cooking a turkey, whether it's using an old family recipe, adding a secret ingredient or shopping at a certain store in town that helps make the turkey taste all the better. When making your shopping list to fix that fabulous recipe, you have several stores in Minnetonka that can find the items you need such as Trader Joe's, Cub Foods, Whole Foods, Lakewinds Natural Foods and Target. If you're hosting Thanksgiving this year, you can try any of the recipes below to add a new kick to your feast. If you're attending someone else’s dinner, hopefully their turkey will taste as good as one of these! Just the name of this recipe makes my …
Monday, November 12, 2012
Sears and Walmart plan to open at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, while Target plans a 9 p.m. opening.
Retail workers and shoppers are once again pushing stores to stay closed on Thanksgiving Day instead of starting Black Friday on Thursday, as many plan to do. This year, Target will launch its Black Friday sale at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, while Sears and Walmart have announced plans to open at 8 p.m. Meanwhile, Best Buy is continuing the midnight openings it started last year. Critics say Thanksgiving Day openings prevent employees from spending the holiday with their families. Opposition is growing on online petition website Change.org. “C Renee,” a woman who says she’s been a Target employee for six years, started a petition asking the retailer to “give Thanksgiving back to families and not open on Thanksgiving evening.” “I have …
Martina Tresenriter
3:32 pm on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Our family was adopted by a large company through our childrens school, they gave us a $100 gift card to Wal-Mart... so I have to buy them something from there. I figured we would buy them a gift from "Santa" there and then plan an individual date night with mom and dad from us. I really like that idea :) more ›