HAPPY HALLOWEEN

It's Halloween this weekend...and Halloween would not Halloween without Candy/Caramel apples!!! Here is a very simple recipe...Hope you all have a fun and spooky time!!

CARAMEL APPLE RECIPE

Ingredients

5 medium-size tart apples (such as Granny Smith)

Assortment of twigs

Toppings such as Oreo cookie crumbs, chopped pecans and mini chocolate chips

11oz  Caramel Bits or other caramels

2 tablespoons water

Wax paper or parchment paper

Method

1. De-stem the apples, wash and drop into boiling water for 10 seconds. This removes any wax from the apples and helps the coating adhere

2. Remove and polish the apples dry with a soft cloth. You may also wish to let the apples air dry for an hour, to be sure all the moisture is gone. 

3. Rinse the twigs under water and set aside to dry.

4. Line a baking sheet with wax paper or parchment paper.

5. Crush the toppings and put them in separate bowls.

6. Use a sharp paring knife to cut a small "X" in the top of each apple where the stem was. Gently push the twig down into the center of the apple.

7. Place the Caramel Bits and the water in a medium glass bowl or other microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Remove the bowl from the microwave (be careful not to burn yourself—it will be hot).

8. Stir the caramel with a wooden spoon until all the bits are melted. If necessary, heat in additional 30-second increments until caramel is thoroughly melted and smooth. Let the caramel sit 1 to 2 minutes, until it is thick enough to coat an apple. If it is runny like water, the coating will drip off the apple.

9. Carefully swirl the apple in the caramel, making sure it is completely coated. Tilt the bowl as needed. You may need to spoon the caramel around the top rim. Let the caramel drip off the bottom of the apple onto wax paper.

10. Then, roll the apples in the desired topping(s). Once coated, place the apples on wax paper to set for a minimum of 30 minutes to one hour. Enjoy your twiggy treat or store it in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Marilyn x

 

Facebook for LPNeurs - How to organise your timeline content using photo albums

Dear parent-preneur with a Facebook business page,

The timeline format allows you to scroll back in time as you scroll down your Facebook page. If you have been using this format for some months now it means you probably have a lot of valuable content that you have created, curated or shared from others. Maybe it's time to look back and start sorting it into groups so that you can find it easily according to self explanatory categories. 

There is a tool on the Facebook platform that enables you to do this: the photo albums. Oretta Norris from SocialMediaHive has written an article that explains how to create albums and even includes a step by step video with a great example on how to take advantage of this feature to increase your Edgerank score.  

I can think of a couple of LPN mums with their Facebook pages linked to their blogs. For example Emma's Lunch has done a fantastic job sorting their photos on Facebook by the type of product: Wedding cakes, Biscuits, Gift Boxes and more. This is great because every time there is a new product it can be added to its corresponding album and the new photos will appear on fans' news feeds as clusters and with a higher Edgerank score (which basically means the photos will be seen by more people). This could be taken even further and the articles in her blog could also be included in a Facebook photo album. Would be great for the followers to be able to find the articles on certain areas from Facebook itself with the aid of a photo that links to each article. This can be done by choosing a photo for or from each article and adding a description of what the article is about as the photo description plus a link to the article for those who want to read more. I have personally used it to put together my blog articles for LPNeurs so that anyone interested can read what each article is about and can click on the link to the article that interests them then and there.

You might wonder why should you go through all this trouble if your blog is already organised by categories and by dates. Well, I am all for having all of this linked to your Facebook page. Remember the 1 billion users and the fact that people go on Facebook to unwind as opposed to going to a specific blog that they will probably visit only if they are specifically looking for what this blog or website offers. Chances are they are more likely to be unwinding than going directly to your blog, so you ought to take advantage of your Facebook presence and remind them about your products. It's diversification of your marketing strategy and increase of your online presence through social media. If you want to have a look as to how I organised my LPN blog articles in my Facebook Album click here. By clicking on any photo you can read a description as explained above. In this way I am using my Facebook photo album to promote my blog articles. After all there is time and effort put into all of what we do and this is a very easy way to retrieve that information through your Facebook page's photo albums.I am also planning to create an album for each category of the posts I have published and some will be: Inspirational quotes, Links to useful blog articles by others and Humour. I already have Albums, like most of us do but it would be a good idea to revise what else can be done to be able to refer our potential customers to our work in a more efficient way. Reposting is also a wide accepted practice and this a way to be able to find your most successful posts quicker, by category, rather than scrolling down your timeline. 

Image credit discountschoolsupply.com

If you want to check on your photo albums, just click on the photo tab at the top of your timeline and then click on the Albums option. There are 3 default albums that every page has: Wall photos, Cover photos and Profile pictures. If you only have these three and you have been an active poster, there is some sorting that can be done. 

Hope you've found this article interesting. It is great to be able to share the new tricks that I come across or think of with you. Would love to read your comments below.

Thanks for reading,

Veronica

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Cheddar cheese straws

Cheese straws are a favourite party snack, whether on their own or paired with a dip. This cheese straws recipe uses wonderful mature cheddar and smoked paprika for a lovely savoury flavour, but feel free to experiment with other spices for different tastes...

 

• 150g of Extra mature cheddar cheese, finely grated
• 200g of plain flour, plus more for dusting
• smoked paprika
• 100g of butter, chilled, plus more for greasing
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 free-range egg yolk
• poppy seeds, to coat the cheese straws

To make the cheese straws, preheat the oven to 220ºC/gas mark 7. Lightly grease a large baking sheet and cover it with grease proof paper.

Put the cheese into a mixing bowl. Sift in the flour and add a sprinkling of smoked paprika. Add some freshly ground black pepper and mix.

Cut the butter into little cubes and rub them into the flour mix with your fingertips. When the butter has almost disappeared into the flour and you have a crumbly mixture, stir in the egg yolk with a butter knife.

Gather the pastry into a ball of dough. Dust the work surface with plenty of flour. Carefully roll out the cheese dough into a rough square--it should be about 5mm thick. Neaten the edges with the side of your hand.

With a sharp knife, cut the square into strips, then each strip into fingers. Pour some poppy seeds in a shallow tray and dip one side of each strip in the seeds. Twist the straws so that the seeded side goes around the strip in a spiral pattern.

Gently lift the straws on to the lined baking sheet, leaving a little space between each one. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 8 minutes. The cheese straws should be a very pale golden brown.

They will be fragile once removed from the oven, so leave them to sit for 5 minutes before you try to move them. Carefully lift up the baking parchment and transfer everything to a wire rack to cool for a few more minutes.

Allow 30 minutes to prepare and cook

Makes 8

Enjoy!

Marilyn x

Colour Balls - October Events - Aradippou

Colour Balls in Aradippou have the following great offers for the month of October.

• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Half price play entrance from 4.50 Euro now 2.25 Euro
• Thursday - Friday Buy a waffle and get your coffee FREE
• Saturday - from 11.00-15.00 entrance 4.50 and get FREE kids meal Nuggets and Chips

Below Offer exclusively to Leisure & Lifestyle members:

Have your Children's Birthday Party at Colour Balls (30+ guests) and receive a free Birthday Cake either Mickey or Minnie Mouse.

For more great Leisure & Lifestyle offers click on the following link: http://www.leisurelifestyle.info

Halloween Party