Celebrity Chef and Author Giada De Laurentiis: The Face of a New Italian Gourmet Line

I’m a huge fan of the Food Network. And one of my favorite shows on that network is Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis. Just like the title of her show indicates, Giada demonstrates how to makes simple Italian food that the home cook can easily replicate for their friends and family.

Giada and Academia Barilla, a branch of the Barilla pasta company, recently launched a line of co-branded, specialty food items for distribution in gourmet stores nationwide and in its online store.

This is Barilla’s first-ever gourmet celebrity product line. It offers food connoisseurs an authentic taste of Italy. Products include: Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, Sicilian Hand-Harvested Sea Salt with Fresh Lemon Zest, and Giada’s Tuscan Herb Mix. De Laurentiis personally selected all products.

Giada is a very inspiring and hard-working woman on the go. In addition to Giada’s two Food Network shows, she is a co-host of NBC’s Today Show, and author of three New York Times best-selling cookbooks. A fourth cookbook, Giada’s Kitchen, will be in bookstores nationwide in Fall 2008. She is the granddaughter of famed Italian movie producer Dino De Laurentiis and legendary actress Silvana Mangano.

The celebrity chef has also recently added the title of “mother” to her distinguished resume. Giada gave birth to a daughter, Jade Marie De Laurentiis Thompson born on March 29, 2008.

I might have to check out these new products by Barilla. I would love to try the Tuscan Herb Mix. Yum! Which product sounds good to you?

Elaine of Her Big Idea has an Internet Radio Show on BlogTalkRadio and writes for Posh Mama Online Magazine and Social Network every Tuesday.

Overwhelmed by Catalogs in Your Mailbox?

Just a few months ago I was completely overwhelmed by all the catalogs in my mailbox.  I felt terrible for recycling stacks and stacks of catalogs every month.  Then along came my friend and she suggested Catalog Choice

Catalog Choice is a free service that allows you to decide what gets in your mailbox. Use it to reduce your mailbox clutter, while helping save natural resources.

Their mission is: To reduce the number of repeat and unsolicited catalog mailings, and to promote the adoption of sustainable industry best practices. We aim to accomplish this by freely providing the Catalog Choice services to both consumers and businesses. Consumers can indicate which catalogs they no longer wish to receive, and businesses can receive a list of consumers no longer wanting to receive their catalogs.

If you’re completely overwhelmed by junk mail catalogs then give Catalog Choice a try.  I’ve seen a huge drop in unwelcome catalogs in my mailbox since I’ve joined!

Earth-Friendly Gardening for Everyone

From www.canadiangardening.comA few months ago I was looking for gardening tips online and I found out about SquareFootGardening.com (SFG). 

SFG is an Earth friendly way to garden using less time, water, work and money!!! 

SFG is a simple and unique gardening system that literally anyone can do!  Grow all you want (fruit, veggies, herbs and flowers) and need only 20% of the space of conventional row gardening.

Here are the basics of SFG:

  1. Layout: Arrange your garden in squares, not rows.  Lay it out in 4 ft. x 4 ft. areas.
  2. Boxes: Build boxes to hold a new soil mix above ground.
  3. Aisles: Space boxes 3 ft. apart to form walking aisles.
  4. Soil: Fill boxes with good soil.
  5. Grid: Make a square foot grid for the top of each box.  This is a must!
  6. Care: Never walk on your growing soil.
  7. Select: Plant a different flower, vegetable or herb crop in each square foot using 1, 4, 9, or 16 plants per square foot.
  8. Plant: Conserve seeds.  Plant only a pinch (2 or 3 seeds) per hole. 
  9. Water: Water by hand.
  10. Harvest: When you finish harvesting a square foot, add compost and re-plant it with a new and different crop.

Check out the SFG website to find out more information and to purchase Mel Bartholomew’s best selling book on gardening.

If you’ve tried Square Foot Gardening, please leave a comment and tell me your experiences!

Domestic Diva: Have you Ever Wondered How to Fold a Fitted Sheet?

While perusing the Internet yesterday I found a video of a man doing a little housework.  I loved it!  Plus, I learned a necessary skill…folding the dreaded fitted sheet.  If you’re like me you have a limited amount of space in your linen closet so that “ball o’sheet” doesn’t take up your entire closet.


Fold A Fitted Sheet With Perfectly Squared CornersAmazing videos are here