Meg Ryan

Meg Ryan

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  • Birthname: Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra
  • Date of birth: 1961-11-19
  • Birthplace: Fairfield, Connecticut, USA
  • Height: 5' 8"
  • Nationality: American
  • Profession: actress, producer 
   Meg Ryan (born Margaret Mary Emily Hyra on November 19, 1961 in Fairfield, Connecticut) is an American actress who specializes in romantic comedies, but has also worked in other film genres.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Biography

  Ryan was born in Fairfield, Connecticut and went by the name Peggy (also her grandmother's nickname) as a child. Her mother, Susan Ryan Jordan, who had done some professional acting in television commercials and had worked as an assistant casting director in New York, encouraged and supported Ryan's study of professional acting technique when Meg was still in grade school. By age 13, Ryan was studying Stanislavsky's Method Acting Technique. At age 14, through her mother's connections, she booked her first television commercial, doing chin-ups & giggling to promote "Tickle" Deodorant. After graduating from
  Bethel High School in 1979, she studied journalism at New York University. She acted in television commercials to earn extra money while in school. After her first role in a feature film, Rich and Famous (1981), Ryan (now using her screen name) played Betsy Stewart on the daytime drama As the World Turns from 1982 to 1984. Directors for this show especially liked working with her because she could cry on cue.
  After several TV film and smaller movie roles, her first full-blown hit in a leading role was the romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally... (1989). It was favorably received and typecast Ryan as a bubbly, charming, feisty, but incurable romantic. She made several attempts to break away from this stereotype, and garnered some critical acclaim for her work in When a Man Loves a Woman (in which she played an alcoholic) and Courage Under Fire (in which she played a military officer killed in combat). Many of her films of the 1990s were hits not only in North America, but also abroad. She had a very popular on-screen pairing with Tom Hanks: some compared their chemistry to Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. They starred in three films together, and their last, (1998's You've Got Mail), was Ryan's last major box office success for some years to come.
  Ryan married actor Dennis Quaid on Valentine's Day in 1991, after starring in two films with him. Ryan only agreed to marry him after he kicked his drug and alcohol addiction. Quaid and Ryan have one child together, Jack Henry, born April 24, 1992. The couple divorced on July 16, 2001. Although Ryan had a relationship with actor Russell Crowe, with whom she was working on a movie, both she and Quaid deny it was a factor in their divorce. In a 2006 interview with Allure,
  Ryan indicated that Quaid had not been faithful to her during their marriage.
  It was during Ryan's marriage to Quaid that she had a falling out with her mother, over Quaid's alleged drug abuse. In interviews the actress cast her mother in a negative light, saying that her mother had abandoned her children to pursue an acting career. In response her mother, Susan Ryan Jordan, published a book in 1999 entitled "The Immune Spirit" about Jordan's struggle with breast cancer and her difficult relationship with her daughter, Meg. Her mother has since given many interviews which paint Ryan in a negative light. The two are now very notably estranged from one another.
  In January 2006, Ryan brought her newly adopted daughter, one year old Daisy True, home from China. 
  
  

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  Parkinson appearance

  In 2003, she broke away from her usual roles and starred in In the Cut, an erotic crime thriller which was unpopular with both critics and the public. In October 2003, while promoting this film in the UK, Ryan created a stir after her notoriously terse interview with talk-show host Michael Parkinson on the long-running television talk show Parkinson. Her behaviour, which included short one-word answers and telling Parkinson to "wrap it up", was lambasted by the British press. Their icy exchange would, in a 2006 survey of British TV viewers, even be voted the third "most shocking" TV talk show moment ever. Parkinson later confessed that Ms. Ryan's interview was his "most difficult TV moment" ever, adding, "I should have closed it. But listen, it happens. She was an unhappy woman. I felt sorry for her. What I couldn't forgive her for was that she was rude to the other guests."
  
  In response, via an interview with Marie Claire magazine in 2006, Ryan blamed Parkinson's perceived paternal manner, saying:
  
  
  

  "I don't even know the man. That guy was like some disapproving father! It's crazy. I don't know what he is to you guys, but he's a nut. I felt like he was berating me for being naked in the movie. He said something like: 'You should go back to doing what you were doing'. And I thought, are you like a disapproving dad right now? I'm not even related to you. Back off, buddy. I was so offended by him."
  

  
  The episode also brought into sharp focus the difference between the UK's publicly funded BBC, which has no advertisements, and US commercial networks which, due to their frequent commercial breaks, often allow guests additional time to formulate their answers:
  
  
  

  "I realized it's not like an American talk show where it's seven minutes and then there's a commercial break. I had to do 20 minutes straight with this guy, and I could either walk off — which wouldn't be good — or try to disagree with him very respectfully."
  

  Trivia

  
  
  
• Asteroid 8353 Megryan was named after her.

• Performed back-up vocals on Melissa Etheridge's song Heal Me

• Ryan is an outspoken liberal and supported John Kerry during the 2004 presidential elections.

• Ryan recently talked with Oprah Winfrey (March 1, 2006, The Oprah Winfrey Show) about her work with CARE in India and empowering women in poor countries.

• Ryan turned down the role of Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct.

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Hilary Duff - actress

• Birthname: Hilary Erhard Duff
• Date of birth: 1987-09-28
• Birthplace: Houston, Texas, USA
• Height: 5' 4
• Nationality: American
• Profession: actress, musician 

Hilary Erhard DuffMiddle name reference can be found in Hilary Duff: All Access (2005) by Rettenmund, Matthew. U.S.: Berkley Trade. p. 2. ISBN 0-425-20519-3 (U.S.). (born September 28 1987) is an American actress and singer. After gaining fame for her starring role on the television show Lizzie McGuire, she went on to have a film career, and her most commercially successful pictures include Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), and A Cinderella Story (2004). The 19 year old has expanded her repertoire into pop music, with four successful studio albums and launched a clothing line and exclusive perfume with Elizabeth Arden, With Love... Hilary Duff.
Duff is currently shooting the 2007 action film with John Cusack and recording her fifth album, scheduled for release in April 2007.

Early life and career

Hilary Duff was born in Houston, Texas, the second child of Bob Erhard Duff, owner of a chain of convenience stores, and Susan Colleen Cobb, a homemaker. After Duff's mother encouraged her to take an acting class alongside her older sister, Haylie Katherine Duff, both girls won parts in various local theatre productions. At the age of six, the Duff sisters participated in the ballet The Nutcracker Suite with Columbus Ballet Met in San Antonio. The siblings became more enthusiastic about the idea of acting professionally, and eventually relocated to California with their mother. Bob Erhard Duff stayed at the family home in Houston to maintain their business. After several years of auditions and meetings, the Duff sisters were cast in several television commercials.Huff, Richard.. New York Daily News. December 1, 2002. Retrieved May 22, 2005.

 

Television and film career

Most of Duff's first few acting roles were small, starting off with an uncredited appearance in Hallmark Entertainment's western miniseries True Women (1997). She also served as an extra, again uncredited, in writer-director Willard Carroll's ensemble dramedy Playing by Heart (1998). Her first major part was as the star of the 1998 film Casper Meets Wendy, playing the young witch, Wendy, who encounters the animated character Casper. Like (1997), the second sequel to the successful Casper (1995), the film was released direct-to-video with generally unenthusiastic reviews.
Duff later appeared in a supporting role in the television film The Soul Collector (1999), which was based on a Kathleen Kane novel and starred Bruce Greenwood as an angel who helps out a female farmer (Melissa Gilbert) whose husband has recently died. Duff ended up winning a Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot (Supporting Young Actress)".
Duff's first serious shot at fame came when she was cast as one of the children in the pilot episode of the NBC sitcom Daddio (2000). Actor Michael Chiklis, co-star of Daddio stated, "After working with her the first day, I remember saying to my wife, 'This young girl is going to be a movie star'. She was completely at ease with herself and comfortable in her own skin". Later that year she starred in the film Raise Your Voice. Some critics praised Duff for appearing in a more dramatic role than previously, but the film was heavily panned, with the Las Vegas Weekly writing: "Effortlessly combining Duff's bad acting and bad singing with bad writing and bad direction, Raise Your Voice is an insulting waste of time that begs to be silenced". Reviews were, by and large, negative to Duff's vocals (several critics pointed out what appears to be her digitally enhanced voice
) and indifferent towards her acting performance. Duff received a Razzie Award nomination for "Worst Actress" (in addition to her work in A Cinderella Story). The film received a muted reception at the box office, where it became Duff's least commercially successful film at the time.
In The Perfect Man (2005) she played the oldest daughter of a divorced woman that was played by Heather Locklear, who later moves to New York City as she desperately searches for a man to settle down with. Reviews mostly negative, and the film disappointed at the box office, grossing a mere $16,535,005. That year, Duff was again nominated for a Razzie Award, for both The Perfect Man and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. The 2006 satirical comedy Material Girls was her least commercially successful film to date, earning $11,449,638; the Martha Coolidge-directed film, co-produced by Madonna's independent film production company Maverick Entertainment, starred Duff and her real-life sister Haylie Duff as wealthy siblings who must fight to reclaim their fortune following a scandal.
The Duff sisters are due to lend their voices to the computer animated comedy Foodfight!, which Lions Gate Films is to distribute in 2007. The film's director, Larry Kasanoff, said that he is "absolutely thrilled to have the Duff sisters as part of the cast." Duff is currently slated to star opposite John Cusack in Brand Hauser, due for release in late 2007. The film is set in a futuristic country and Duff and Cusack are currently filiming it in Bulgaria. Duff proved her commitment by pushing back her much anticipated fifth studio album so that she had ample time to work on the movie.

 

Music career

Duff recorded a cover of Brooke McClymont's "I Can't Wait" for the original television soundtrack for Lizzie McGuire in 2002 (see Lizzie McGuire (soundtrack)), and "The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room" for the first Disneymania compilation album. Her first album was Santa Claus Lane (2002), a collection of Christmas songs which included duets with Lil' Romeo, Christina Milian, and her sister Haylie. Accompanied by the Disney Channel-only single "Tell Me a Story", it peaked well outside of the top 100 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart, but eventually received a gold certification. The album's title track was included on the soundtrack to The Santa Clause 2 and another song (What Christmas Should Be) was used in Cheaper by the Dozen.
Duff sang several tracks for the soundtrack to The Lizzie McGuire Movie (see The Lizzie McGuire Movie (soundtrack)), including "Why Not", which became a modest top twenty hit in Australia. Duff's second studio album, Metamorphosis (2003), included contributions by songwriter-producers such as The Matrix and reached number one on the U.S. and Canadian charts. It became one of the biggest selling albums of the year in the U.S. and has since gone to sell over 3.7 million copies.http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1502662/20050520/duff_hilary.jhtml?headlines=true The lead single, "So Yesterday", was a top ten hit in several countries and its music video received heavy airplay on MTV, while "Come Clean" became Duff's first top forty U.S. hit and reached the top twenty elsewhere. The third single, "Little Voice", was not released in the U.S. and was a minor hit in Canada and Australia. In late 2003 Duff embarked on her first concert tour, the Metamorphosis Club Tour and later the Most Wanted tour.
The second Disneymania disc was released in January 2004 and contained a duet with her sister, "The Siamese Cat Song". Another song, "Circle of Life", featured Duff and other Disney Channel Stars. Duff and her sister recorded a cover of The Go-Gos' "Our Lips Are Sealed" for the soundtrack to A Cinderella Story, which included two other songs by Duff. The video for "Our Lips Are Sealed" was popular on MTV's TRL but the song itself failed to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
Duff co-wrote several of the tracks on her third album, the self-titled Hilary Duff, which she had an edgier, rock feel than Metamorphosis. It was released on her seventeenth birthday (in September 2004) and debuted at number two in the U.S. and number one in Canada. The album has sold over 1.5 million copies in the U.S. to date,http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=33921 An Italy-only compilation, 4Ever, was released in 2006.
Duff recorded new songs for her film Material Girls, including a Timbaland-produced cover version of Madonna's "Material Girl" with her sister. According to Total Request Live, Duff's fourth studio album was to be released in the United States in February 2007 because of her commitment to the film Brand Hauser; it was later pushed back to April.http://hollywoodrecords.go.com/girlnext/index.html It is preceded by the single "Play with Fire", which was released to U.S. radio stations in August 2006. Duff has co-written material for the album with Kara DioGuardi, and she also worked with producer-songwriter Rhett Lawrence in Toronto, Canada. She said that compared to her previous music it would be "more dancey" and make use of more real instruments. "I don't know exactly how to explain what we're doing, but it's fun and funky and different, something new for me. It's really cool", she said. She has also described the album's sound as "a little less pop-rock and more electronic-sounding". A commercial for Duff's fragrance, With Love... Hilary Duff, features the song "With Love".

Personal life

Duff began dating singer Aaron Carter in 2002. They met on the set of Lizzie McGuire, when Carter had a cameo role on a Christmas episode. The relationship lasted a year and a half. It was reported that Carter left actress Lindsay Lohan for Duff. Carter said he also cheated on Duff with her best friend, that Duff "got her heart broken" and that he is "sorry" for his actions.

Duff dated Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden for 2 years but the couple split mid November 2006 due to the difference in age between the couple (8 years). Madden claimed that Duff dumped him. However, the breakup has yet to be confirmed by Duff's publicists. Duff's mother Susan announced their relationship in the June 2005 interview for Seventeen magazine, after a long period of tabloid speculation. In a June 2006 interview with ELLE magazine, Duff was quoted as saying "(virginity) is definitely something I like about myself. It doesn't mean I haven't thought about sex, because everyone I know has had it and you want to fit in." Duff later told MuchMusic that she didn't say the quotes attributed to her in the article and that the subject was "definitely not something that I would talk about..."
In late 2006 Duff took legal action against an alleged stalker and the stalker's roommate. The police are currently investigating. On November 3, 2006, Duff's stalker, Maksim Miakovsky, was arrested for threatening to kill her that weekend. He was booked on charges of making criminal threats and stalking. He came to the U.S. "for the sole purpose of meeting and becoming romantically involved with Ms. Duff." Miakovsky is currently being held on $200,000 bail at the Manhattan Beach jail. He was arraigned on November 7, 2006.
Duff is involved with several charities, is an animal rights enthusiast, a member of "Kids with a Cause,"
In August 2005 Duff said she received veneers because she chipped off one of her front teeth on a microphone during a concert. In late 2005 Duff took a month off from work as a belated eighteenth birthday present. She said that she wanted to take a short break after releasing Most Wanted and writing three new songs for it, shooting three films, and embarking on her U.S. "Still Most Wanted Tour". By 2005 Duff appeared to have lost weight, leading the media to speculate that she had developed an eating disorder, although Duff has denied this claim. Duff was interviewed on the Australian current affair show Today Tonight and stated that she lost weight by living a more active lifestyle.
In late August 2006 Duff traveled to a New Orleans elementary school and worked with USA Harvest to distribute meals. In 2005, she donated more than 2.5 million meals to Hurricane Katrina victims in the south. In September 2006 Duff released her perfume, With Love... Hilary Duff, which she premiered on The View.
Duff and her pet dog Lola made an appearance in the Electronic Arts game , which was released on October 2006. In console versions of the game Duff's character will visit public areas and players will be able to let their sims socialise with her and Lola, the dog. However, in the PC expansion pack, players must download the Duff sim from the Maxis website before December 31 she and her dog will be fully playable characters, rather than a non-player character.The Sims Online

10 Vainest Celebrities

Celebrities are a narcissistic breed who tend to value themselves above most. Obsessed with their bodies and worldly assets and terrified that they one day will loose them, many take out quite interesting insurance policies*. We have concluded a list of ten celebs that have done just that.

10. Tom Jones’s chest hair - $7,000,000

Let’s use the 10th place in this top list to clarify one thing: The rumor that music artist and granny-lover Tom Jones had his chest hair insured for $7 million is false. The story has gotten immense attention and space online and even got picked up by larger news sites such as AOL, Fox News and New York Daily News. It is time to put an end to this urban legend.
Special insurance agency Lloyd’s of London confirms being approached with such a request but declines it ever coming from Mr. Jones. However, a little uninsured chest hair definitely deserves a spot in this top list.

9. Rod Stewart’s rusty voice - $6,000,000

What if Stewart’s throat finally healed and his voice changed from rusty to silky smooth? Music artist Rod Stewart must have dreaded this scenario as he has had his voice insured to a total value of $6 million. In the unfortunate event that something actually does happen to Stuey’s voice, at least he no longer has to eat chalk. And with his insurance money he can always buy Bob Dylan.

8. Dolly Parton’s bust - $600,000

Country singer and all American sweet heart, Dolly Parton is not only known for her music career, but also for her recent insurance claims. Making sure her bust is safely insured, Parton has taken out a policy of no less than $300,000, per breast.

7. Jennifer Lopez’s rear - $27,000,000

Perhaps one of the most famous celebrity insurance cases is Jennifer Lopez’s behind. A staggering $27 million: That’s how much Mrs. Lopez butt cost to insure. For you math geeks that’s $100,000 per square inch.

6. America Ferrera’s teeth - $10,000,000

Who would have guessed? Ugly Betty actress America Ferrera turned out to be simply gorgeous. Finally free from those awful rails, Ferrera did not wait long to insure her teeth. $10,000,000 is a fair price for a million dollar smile, don’t you agree?

5. Mariah Carey’s legs - $1,000,000,000

Safe to say, the most expensive pair of legs on this planet. Winning Gillette Venus Vibrance Legs of a Goddess competition in 2005, Carey was quick to secure her two bearing assets for up to $1 billion.

4. Gene Simmons’s tongue – $1,000,000

When extending his tongue surgically Kiss vocalist and music genius Gene Simmons did the responsible thing: He insured it. Being both a trademark of the band and for Simmons himself, that tongue was probably well worth insuring. But I bet his insurance agent was surprised.

3. Keith Richards’s middle finger – $1,600,000

Fearing that his foes will break his middle finger he so often use to flip them off, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has had it insured. No really, Richards probably just figures that the finger making all that sweet music on the guitar deserves its own $ 2 million policy.

2. Shirley MacLaine’s fear of UFO Abduction - $25

 

Alien abduction insurance actually exists. It is offered by a handful of agencies around the country and currently include over 20,000 policy holders. Since the chance of being abducted by aliens is seemingly small and proving it almost impossible, these policies normally cost little and pay out a lot. American actress Shirley MacLaine reportedly has her own UFO abduction policy – just in case.

1. David Lee Roth’s semen - $1,000,000

Topping the list of unusual celebrity insurance claims is no other than Van Halen’s own David Lee Roth. As his music career took off, Roth did what any rock star would do. He got his semen insured. It is however unclear whether the $1 million insurance policy will act as a refund if Roth by mistake gets one of his groupies pregnant or if it is to work more like a giant million dollar condom.

One suggestion if Roth was looking for ways to prevent pregnancy would be to bring Tom Jones on tour and have him up there swinging his hips and snapping his finger to the rhythm. The average age on groupies would increase dramatically, and so decrease the chance of band members engaging in  intercourse and/or impregnation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sofia Vergara

• Birthname: Sofia Margarita Vergara
• Date of birth: 1972-07-10
• Birthplace: Barranquilla, Colombia
• Height: 5' 7"
• Nationality: Colombian
• Profession: actress, model

Sofía Margarita Vergara (born July 10, 1972, in Barranquilla, Colombia) is a Colombian model and actress.

 

Biography

Early life

"La Toti" was the nickname given to Vergara by her five brothers and sisters and many cousins, including television news anchor and reporter Carlos Vergara, who currently works for WTVJ in Miami, Florida. She grew up on her father's farm in Colombia, where for recreation and exercise, she liked to swim in a river and ride horses. She came from a moderately well-off family in Colombia and was sent to private bilingual (Spanish/English) schools there, including elementary school. She got married at the age of 18, and she gave birth to her son Manolo in 1992. The marriage did not last very long, and then she studied dentistry at a college in Colombia for three years.

Public life and Career

Vergara was discovered by a photographer while walking a Colombian beach. Soon, she was presented with attractive offers in modeling and TV work, and followed that course. She made her first public appearance at the age of 17 in a Pepsi commercial that was widely telecast all over Latin America. Considering that she had a son, mother, and younger siblings who needed her financial support in the absence of her father, who had departed the family, gave her further impetus to drop out of college and go to work where she could earn good wages.
Vergara moved to Bogotá at the age of 20, where she worked as a model on the runway and on TV. From 1995 to 1999, she was co-host with Fernando Fiore on Fuera de Serie ("Out of the Ordinary" or "Over-the-Top"), a series which sent her to exotic places all over the world (this is similar to the U.S. Wild On! travel series). It was telecast on the international Univision Spanish-language network, and it made her a star in the Latin American market and gave her some USA TV exposure. She also co-hosted the Univision show A que no te atreves ("I Dare You").
Besides runway and catalog modeling work, Vergara also did independent projects. She was photographed for posters swimsuit calendars in 1998, 2000, and 2002. These were top sellers in Latin America, and also penetrated the North American market. She did South American television ads, and also posed in swimsuits for posters for beer advertising, especially for Miller Lite beer.
Vergara is 170 cm (5 ft, 7 in) tall, and she has naturally blonde/sunbleached hair (for films and TV, she is frequently required to dye it brunette to make her look more "Latina"). As for her figure, she says that she has been built this way since she was 13 years old, and it is all 100% natural.
Vergara was long under an exclusive TV contract with Univision, but that has now expired and she was open to accept a role with ABC in the United States. With ABC, she acted in the short-lived sitcom Hot Properties in 2005.
Vergara has been seen with Enrique Iglesias and Latin superstar Luis Miguel. Sofia has lived in the United States for a while now, mostly in Miami and Los Angeles, and she brought other family members including her mother, sister, and his son to live with her. Her older brother was killed in Colombia. His murder is still unsolved

Kim Smith model actress

Kim Smith model actress

Birthname: Kimberley Katherine Smith
Date of birth: 1983-03-03
Birthplace: Houston, Texas, USA
Height: 5' 9"
Nationality: American
Profession: actress, model

Kim Kay Smith (born March 3, 1983 in Odessa, Texas) is an American actress/fashion model. She has appeared in the film, Catwoman along side Halle Berry, and has modeled for Victoria's Secret and Guess?.
Smith, a graduate of Permian High School, got her big break into modeling when she accompanied a friend to a Model Search of America contest. She was changed from a spectator to a competitor by the head of the contest, and soon after signed with Clipse Management of Dallas. Her face and figure have been featured for Victoria's Secret, Mac and Jac, Abercrombie & Fitch, Harper's Bazaar, and Andrew Marc. Her big break came in the form of two of Paul Marciano's Guess? campaigns in 2000.
Smith has also appeared in several music videos, including *NSYNC's Bye Bye Bye and It's Gonna Be Me, and Aerosmith's Girls of Summer. She entered the movie business in 2002 with a cameo in Van Wilder as comely coed Casey, and followed with a small role in 2004's Catwoman as model Drina.
The July 2005 issue of Maxim Magazine, which Smith appeared in was dedicated to American troops serving overseas and featured Kim posing with militaria including dog tags and a camouflage hat; the article and pictures are featured in the Girls of Maxim Gallery. The publication named her #91 in its 2006 Hot 100 List.
It was announced that Kim will be the new face of the Italian swimsuit designer Parah and an official spokesperson for the Italian watchmaker Breil in 2006.
She currently resides in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida with boyfriend Tyson Ritter of four years, lead singer of the band The All-American Rejects.
According to a recent issue of YRB magazine (Kim Smith is on the cover), Kim has been filming a documentary TV series about her life as a model/actress which is set to air in early 2007.

 

 

Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Cookies

My dear friend Currié gave me this recipe and my kids and I were so excited to make these cookies together. They were extremely easy to make and tasted so delicious. I loved the peanut butter flavor with the chocolate chips. They were gobbled up quickly in my house and both my kids as well as my husband really, really liked them. Thanks for the great recipe Currié!

Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking.net
Adapted from original recipe by Currié Reese

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
• 1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal, uncooked
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Using an electric mixer, combine butter and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl until fluffy. Add peanut butter and brown sugar, beating well until thoroughly combined. Scrape sides of bowl with spatula. Add egg and vanilla then mix until smooth. In a small bowl stir together flour and baking soda, then add to cookie dough and mix just until blended. Using a mixing spoon, stir in oatmeal and chocolate chips.

Scoop balls of cookie dough and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheets. Enjoy.

car in the future

Simply Cars don’t look the same! With new designs and even newer technologies coming out, who’s to say that your car in the future will look like your car does now? One look at this Aptera 2e, or the new CR-Z, Mini or Smart cars, and you come to discover that with green technology comes green design – and it’s very different.

Remember waaaay back when your car came with 4 doors and an old noisy engine? Okay, so your car probably currently comes with those features, but don’t be surprised if you’re mockingly uttering these very words 30 years from this point (assuming you haven’t been killed by driving the above car into an F-350).

So will humanity embrace change from the old designs of oil, or will the electric car go the same way as the flying car? As always, you are free to leave a comment and discuss the topic.

City of the Future : Century City

City of the Future : Century City
What do you invision the city of the fture will offer residents??

The city of the future will look something like this....... (maybe)

Washington DC Monorail Washington DC, the eighth-largest metropolitan area in the country, center of all three branches of the US federal government and home of many national monuments, museums, banks, embassies, unions and professional associations. Yet for all it’s political prowess Washington DC suffers from severe traffic congestion. The Washington Metropolitan Area is often cited as having some of the nation's worst traffic and congestion. In 2007, Washington tied for having the worst traffic in the country after Los Angeles.

In an effort to ease traffic congestion, the Washington DC monorail will carry tens of thousands of tourists and commuters throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area. Cruising at a top speed of 40 mph the Washington DC monorail will whisk tourists and commuters into many areas of the District including Great Falls Park, Old Town Alexandria, Georgetown, Penn Quarter, the National Cathedral, DuPont Circle, Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens, Glen Echo Park, Adams Morgan, the National Zoo and the National Mall.

Along Memorial Route the Washington DC Monorail will transport tourists to many of Washington's most popular tourist locations such as the White House, Arlington National Cemetery, The National Mall, the Capitol Building, Union Station, National Archives, National Arboretum, National Museum of Natural History, National Air & Space Museum, the National Museum of American History, Bureau of Engraving & Printing, Discovery Theater, Washington Monument, and Wolf Trap Farm Park.

Spicy Peanut Asian Noodle Salad

I really enjoyed the spicy peanut vinaigrette I recently picked up from Trader Joe's. I had a bit of the dressing leftover to use up so I decided to make my Asian Noodle Salad with the spicy peanut vinaigrette instead of my usual dressing. It turned out excellent! It was spicy and so delicious with the crunchy nuts, veggies and the soft noodles. My entire family really, really loved this salad.

1. Spicy Peanut Asian Noodle Salad:
2. Recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking.net
3. 1 handful of cilantro leaves, chopped
4. 1 handful of basil leaves, chopped
5. 2 green onions, diced finely
6. 1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
7. 1/2 yellow bell pepper, julienned
8. 1 cup of shredded carrots
9. 1/2 cup of toasted peanuts
10. 1/2 lb spaghetti noodles, cooked per instructions
11. Spicy Asian Peanut Dressing

Prepare all the vegetables, set aside. Once the spaghetti has cooked per instructions, rinse with cold water and drain. Once the noodles are cool, toss with the spicy peanut dressing then add the vegetables and peanuts. Gently mix the salad until well combined and serve. Enjoy.

Extra Mushroom, Garlic and Fresh Tomato Pizza

We are huge pizza fans in our house and we make homemade pizza often. I try to change the flavors so we won't get bored plus it's a great way to use up extra ingredients we have in the refrigerator. I love the Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough as well as their pizza sauce, so they have become staples in our home. I had a huge container of mushrooms and a bunch of fresh tomatoes to use up so I decided to make a pizza using those ingredients. I added fresh minced garlic to the top of the mushrooms before baking. This pizza turned out terrific - we all LOVED it. Make sure you slice the mushrooms very thin so they don't make the pizza soggy.

 

• Extra Mushroom, Garlic and Fresh Tomato Pizza:
• Recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking.net
• Cooking spray
• Corn meal
• Whole wheat pizza dough
• Pizza sauce
• Mozzarella cheese
• 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced very thin
• Fresh garlic, minced
• Fresh tomatoes, sliced thickly

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spread dough on a pizza sheet that has been coated with cooking spray and a sprinkle of corn meal. Spoon the sauce on the dough and spread evenly. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese all over followed by the mushrooms. Next, carefully sprinkle the garlic all over the pizza being careful not to drop in large clumps.

 Place pizza into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is bubbling and the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven, add the fresh tomato slices on top. Slice and serve. Enjoy.