Here is my next cooking adventure in the genre of Star Fruit. I love Pineapple Unside Down Cake and want to give this recipe I try. Substituting Star Fruitsounds yummy.

3 to 4 star fruit, sliced
1/4 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
juice of 2 passion fruit
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon each of vanilla and almond extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Arrange sliced star fruit in bottom of a greased 9 inch cake pan as close together as possible.

Mix together 1/4 cup butter, brown sugar and passion fruit juice and pour into pan, turning so mixture covers bottom. Set aside.

Cream together 1/2 cup of butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beat well. Mix together dry ingredients. Add flour mixture, alternately with milk, to butter mixture. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts. Pour into prepared cake pan.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until cake pulls away form sides of pan. Let cool for five minutes before inverting onto serving plate. 8 servings.

Somehow you just don’t feel so alone in the world when you stop and realize that the United States isn’t the only nation with crappy real estate problems. We have a glut of properties on the market here in the U.S. due to plummeting home prices. The market is re-adjusting itself after a massive mushroom of falsely inflating pricing. We bought our last home at the height of the real estate bubble and now that we need to sell, we will not even be able to ask close to what we paid. And, there are unreasonable taxes and skyrocketing home owner’s insurances rates to consider.

Alas, over in the U.K. there are woes in the real estate market as well. Their housing market is also oversaturated, with the buy-to-let market seeing the biggest glut. Part of this is due to the fact that so many sellers put their proprieties on the market this summer to try and beat the June 1 HIPs deadline.

Currently, it still stands to see if HIPs (Home Information Packs) will be introduced at all. The packs would include title deeds, copies of planning approvals, local searches, guarantees for any work done and an energy performance certificate. They were going to be required for all homes sold after June 1 and cost sellers between 300 and 500.

Oddly, delays in the process have caused a situation where HIPs are now only required for homes with 4 or more bedrooms. There has been a trend in property owners listing 4-bedroom homes as 3-bedrooms plus stuffy, to avoid the fee. Silly, since a fee of 500 is far less than the additional income a 4th bedroom could potentially bring.

Seems to me that even if HIPs are a bane for sellers, they are a boon for buyers. The additional information required in the packets protects the buyer in many ways, much like an inspection does here in the U.S.

Real estate market woes: they seem to be universal. Perhaps going back to a time where we all lived in caves and log dwellings wouldn’t be so bad.

You like to think that something good will come from every tragedy. USF is still reeling from the death of Rachel Futterman. The 19-year-old sophomore contracted bacterial meningitis and died within days.

Her death triggered changed in the immunization policy at USF, though. By next fall, the university will require meningitis vaccinations for all students living in their residence halls. Currently, this is an optional vaccination.

Today, student health directors from Florida’s 11 public universities are meeting with state education leaders in Tallahassee about protecting students from deadly illnesses. It is likely statewide vaccinations will be the answer

I was listening to some old CDs a friend made me years ago and came across a couple of zydeco tunes. Zydeco music is the Creole sound of New Orleans and the surrounding areas of Louisiana. That got me thinking about when I worked for a market research company in Frederick, MD and one of the VPs there talked a lot about how he had become very involved in zydeco dance. Zydeco dance is syncopated version of two-step that is done in place. It was always very hard for me to imagine this guy dancing at all, little less a super fact two-step. He was a nice guy and super intelligent, but not the sort you imagine involved in coordinated activities like dance, of any kind. Nonetheless, I regret not taking him up on going to see him perform. I may have been pleasantly surprised. Maybe he was gifted at dance.

To this day, when I hear anything about zydeco, I think of that guy. I hope he is doing well. I think I’ll go download some new zydeco tunes now. They will pep me up so I can get more work down this morning.

The weather is cooling off here and it makes my mind turn to thoughts of autumn. I read an article online detailing all the best places to go in the nation to see the fall foliage and it made me do a mental double-take. Is it really almost that time of year again? When I lived in Virginia, mid-October was the height of the color season. So, I suppose that means that the leaves are beginning to show their brilliance further north even now. Wow.

You get a little off track living in the tropics. If you are observant, though, you do see the seasons shift here. We might not have the typical four seasons, but right about this time of year we see the humidity begin to go away and that marks the beginning of a glorious fall for us.

The evening light is less direct and has a lovely yellow cast. Unlike northern states, you will still need sunglasses here in the fall and winter, but the light is filtered now and less harsh. Mornings bring the heat slowly in the fall. There is no more waking up to 90+ degrees at 8 a.m.

And the snow birds, how they begin to roost. Of course, I do not mean literal birds, but rather those who spend their summers up north and come to live in Florida in the fall and winter. Right after school starts around here, the traffic begins to double. We seem to have twice as many cars on the roads these days, many from Canada and New York. You need to figure in an additional 10 minutes for drive times.

Tourism in general picks back up. Summers have lots of tourists, but fall and winter are even more hospitable down here. People make their way here for business conferences, stints at addiction treatment facilities, and the type of leisurely family vacation where you pull the kids out of school.

Most Floridians would agree that we suffer June through mid-September here simply because the other 9 months are bliss, a veritable Heaven on earth.

I just got around to watching both Chuck and The Journeyman tonight and I can tell you right now that both are making the cut. I will continue to watch both shows this season.

Chuck is sharp and funny and hits all the marks the first time around. I’m not entirely sold on Yvonne Strzechowski’s Sarah Walker character. She is pretty and you can see why Chuck is drawn to her, but the pace of the show seems to drag when she is in scenes. Zachary Levi’s Chuck is endearing and appealing Good call, casting people. Adam Baldwin? Always a pleasure. I’ve been following his career ever since 1980’s My Bodyguard. I’ll watch anything he is in, even if it’s not good. Fortunately for me, Chuck rocks.

The Journeyman plays to my most favorite of genres: time travel. There is mystery and intrigue, fun little soundtrack flashbacks, and very solid acting. Kevin McKidd has an impressive roster of work behind him: Rome, Trainspotting, and Hannibal Rising just to name a few. Time travel sucked me in, the storyline will have me coming back.

The shows both give us actors doing more than passable American accents. Kevin McKidd is Scottish and Yvonne Strzechowski is an Aussie.

I sometimes think about going back into graphic design, as a career, I know I got my teaching certification, but I look back and miss the sheer creativity of working in design as a career. I had a good job with lots of freedom before I stopped working to focus on being a wife and mother. I headed up the art department for a large manufacturing company.

I designed a lot of product packaging as well as the identity pieces and promotional items for various sister companies. I worked with our customers to develop product campaigns. I also had absolute free reign over the design of our trade show setup.

If you’ve ever attended a trade show, you know just how much competition there is for your attention. In order to stand out in a huge convention center full of exhibits for thousands of companies, you need to stand out and catch people as they walk by. The first year I worked for the company, their trade show display had been designed by someone else at the business. It was lackluster and dimple. I reworked the entire concept and ordered new display items. We rocked it at our next trade show. It was worth fighting for the additional budgeting.

Maybe I should just find a company that designs trade show displays. I might enjoy doing that on a regular basis.

So, you want to be in pictures?

HBO is having an open casting call in Jacksonville, FL for extras to appear in their film “Recount,” about the 2000 presidential election in Florida. The casting call will happen Sunday, September 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Jacksonville Jewish Center, 3662 Crown Point Road. As long as you are 18 to 80, you can attend.

Filming for the movie is planned in Jacksonville and Tallahassee, from Oct. 8 to Dec. 4.

Interested extras are asked to bring a photo of themselves as well as of their car, if it was made in 2000 or earlier. Applicant forms can be downloaded and filled out ahead of time from: www.MartiniShotCasting.com.

Most of my muscle pulls and bendy issues can be corrected with exercise and stretching. Back around 1995 though, I was having increasingly frequent migraine headaches. I decided to get an x-ray of my neck to see if something odd was happening. It turns out I had what some refer to as “military neck”. In other words, my neck did not have the curve most people have. My neck bones were straight up and down.

The chiropractor started a series of manipulations. I also had a few sessions with their physical therapist to go over exercises and stretches that would help the results of the manipulations stay in place longer. I remember the guy telling me that by the end of a few weeks, I would be able to lay my ear on my shoulder. This seemed impossible to me at the time. Looking back, it is hard to believe my neck was ever so bad that I couldn’t do that.

Needless to say, I am in much better shape these days.

The only issue I had with my particular chiropractor is that his practice was urging him to continue therapy for longer than I actually needed. Treatment should be discontinued when symptoms disappear. He knew this. I knew this. Since he was young and ethical and I think we kind of had crushes on one another, he quietly coached me to go ahead and cancel my next appointment and just come back if the pain reappeared. It was a good lesson and to this day I only go as long as I need to go.

Listen to your own body and it will tell you exactly what you need to do.

It’s funny what makes me think of topics like this. I net surfed my way to an Airdrie Chiropractor webpage and it started a flow of memories.

My headaches, by the way, are much less frequent. I still get sinus headaches and headaches caused by other issues, but I rarely (if ever) get headaches that are caused by posture of my neck anymore.

The news in the Tampa Bay is all abuzz with the details surrounding the death of a University of South Tampa sophomore who died yesterday from a bacterial meningitis infection. Understandably, students on campus are lining up for meningitis immunizations shops and those who had direct contact with the student were put on rounds of Cipro immediately.

Her funeral is today. She was just 19.

Although this is just more crisis for USF, the administrators must be relieved to have a break from further deflecting the bizarre story of the two USF students (Youssef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed) who are in all kinds of hot water for driving from Tampa to the area just around that military base in South Carolina with their car chock full of laptops and all the makings of pipe bombs. USF has a disturbing history of attracting both terrorists and terrorists sympathizers. Just do a web search on Sami Al Aryan if you want more information on the University’s unwilling position as a terrorist hotbed.

The latest on Megahed and Mohamed is that their defenders and families are insisting they are just nice boys who were out for a summer joyride. Riiight.

But, back to the meningitis scare at USF. The infection is often mistaken for the flu: high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, rash, nausea and vomiting. It is a contagious disease and can be spread by sharing a drinking cup or eating utensils and by kissing, coughing and sneezing.

Apparently, about 4% of the population actually carries the bacteria in their noses. We probably come in contact with it more than we even know. People with weakened immune systems are the ones who actually become ill after coming in contact. That’s not just people like cancer patients and children, but also those who have not had enough sleep, are stressed out, or have been drinking a lot of alcohol.

Rachel Futterman was a happy, active 19-year-old waiting tables Thursday afternoon. By Friday she was feeling ill, and by 7 a.m. Saturday morning her body had gone into seizures. She was taken to the hospital, placed on life support and died shortly thereafter.

As USF stops today to remember Rachel Futterman and honor her at funeral services, the rest of us can take a minute to appreciate the absolute frailty of life.

I’m starting to look around at contractors to remodel our kitchen, and quite possibly add another bed and bath to the house. I live on a very large lot and with our current real estate market; it seems a lot wiser to just improve the house I already inhabit. Plus, we live in a super convenient location with a relatively safe neighborhood. So, rather than move to another location, I’m much more open to expanding the kitchen and family room and adding that bedroom and bathroom I mentioned.

I like knowing that the contractor I choose to work with in the end will have performance bonds in place. Having them will guarantee the contractor will complete the project per the terms of the contract. A performance bond is usually issued along with a payment bond, which assures the sub-contractors and suppliers will be paid even if the contractor flakes out and defaults.

We have some contractors in the area with great reputations, but the industry is also built of a delicate web of dependence on the market. Things could go wrong at any turn. I want to know I’ll be getting exactly what I contract for – no more and no less.

A bigger kitchen is any cook’s dream, yes? We have two bathrooms, but one more would only add value to the house. One more bedroom? Ah, bliss! We’re a tad bit crowded now. Gigi would love to have her own “princess” room.

Hillsborough County libraries (Tampa and surrounding) are making what I think is a commendable move in the way they will allow internet access to children younger than 17. All children and teens will be required to take a free safety course called NetSmartz if they want to use the net inside the library system.

NetSmartz was developed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to teach children ages 5 and older to avoid the dangers of online sexual predators. On top of earning the right to use the internet at the library, every one who completes the course will also receive a free children’s admission to Lowry Park Zoo, The Florida Aquarium and the Museum of Science & Industry.

The course only takes about 20 minutes to complete. I think the Hillsborough libraries deserve massive kudos for instating this requirement for internet use. It is a responsible measure.

Here’s one for all my friends who are striking out and forming their own home-based businesses. I have a site that offers free instructions for hair bows and I mentor a lot of women in the building of their businesses. It is a huge feeling of satisfaction to know I am helping even one person find a way to stay home with their children.

Business networking is an important aspect of running a successful business, large or small. You probably already realize you need to get out and there and get the word out to potential customers, but don’t over look the value of having significant contact with other businesses. You can hook up with other local businesses that compliment your product so that you can cross-sell for one another, refer customers, and help each other further your business appeal. You can form alliances with business owners in other states or non-competitive regions that run the same kind of business that you do so that you can exchange best practices and give one another encouragement and support.

Direct Matches is an online business community with over 65,000 members. You can post a business profile for free, as well as take advantage of free advertising, free classifieds, free networking, and a host of other business-building features. It does seem to be especially aimed, though, at direct sales business opportunity situations – specifically multi-level ventures. Nonetheless, the free features are worth checking out. See if you can make the community work for you.

There is a very misleading story running on CNN’s website today with a headline that reads: “Town accepts role as Scientology’s mecca.” The town of which the article speaks is Clearwater, Florida. And, the story is dead wrong.

The mayor, Frank Hibbard, and few other city officials are quoted, making wishy-washy statements that imply that people in the Clearwater area have slowly begun to build a trust and tolerance when it comes to the church of Scientology and their virtual overtaking of Clearwater.

The most telling phrase in the story, though, is: “some sources approached for this story declined to talk on the record, citing fear of harassment by Scientologists.”

That’s the most truthful statement in the article. This is a group of people known for sifting through people’s trash, going to great lengths to get individuals fired from jobs and making frightening threats. I hear local instances all of the time and if you look online, you can find literally thousands of accounts to back this claim. That is, if the church members have not already done their magic and found ways to have the websites pulled offline.

Taxpayers in the area resent that the church does not pay taxes, yet they are eating up the downtown area of Clearwater faster than a flesh-eating bacteria. Just try strolling the streets during the daylight hours and you will more than likely be shoved aside by the throngs of uniformed Sea Org members all but racing from one task to the next. The Sea Organization members, by the way, are those who sign a contract that reads, in part “I Contract Myself to the Sea Organization For The Next Billion Years.” They also sign over their entire net worth.

Yeah, we find them creepy around these parts.

Picket the church and you will find yourself denied service in more than a handful of retail shops and eateries.

It’s not the church’s teachings that most people feel uncomfortable about. In all actuality, you will find that downtown Clearwater is probably one of the only places in the world the Scientologists do not aggressively recruit. They quietly go about paying thousands of dollars for their e-meter sessions, supposedly ridding their minds of bad vibes and seeking the enlightenment that will allow them to rid their minds and bodies of the thetans, or disembodied souls of a long-ago alien race that was conquered by Xenu, the ruler of a Galactic Confederacy.

Whatever helps you get out of bed in the morning, I say. If it takes living out L. Ron Hubbard’s SciFi stories, so be it.

That’s creepy, but it’s not why people hiss internally when think about the Scientologists around here. The church’s own polling in 2003 showed that a majority of local people who had no previous contact with the church had negative opinions about it.

Maybe that is because Hubbard taught his followers to “attack” the church’s enemies.

There are downtown building purchased by the Scientologists under assumed names, convictions in Washington for a plot to steal federal government documents, the sad and mysterious death of Scientologist Lisa McPherson, and the fact that if you speak against them you can expect them to lash out at you. In fact, let’s see now what kind of response I get about this blog article. It might be interesting.

When I first moved to the area, I went on a job interview at a small publishing company in the downtown area. The job and its duties were perfect for me, but I knew something was amiss when I was waiting in the lobby and saw all the fawning posters of L. Ron Hubbard. The interview went very well until the gal interviewing me gestured to a series of books on a shelf behind her and explained that they ran the business based on the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard. Then she proceeded to ask me how I felt about Scientology. I remember thinking that asking me about religion was illegal. She remained silent until I finally replied. I couldn’t lie. And in the end, that job was not the one for me. To this day, though, I resent that the interviewer felt she had the right to talk about religion in that setting.

The reporter of the Associated Press (AP) story interviewed a couple of politicians who were trying to keep the peace. If they had actually taken the time to really find out what people thought, it would have been another story altogether.

I’ve been having a problem the past couple of weeks with my contact lenses. All of the sudden, my eyes will begin to itch and water. I end up removing my lenses to let my eyes rest. The other night I realized I am nearly always out in the family room when this happens. This morning I walked out there and the eye itchiness immediately began.

The probable culprit? Curtains. I’m going to take them all down today and wash them, because it’s been long enough that are probably dusty. I am allergic to dust and curtains are one thing I often forget to clean as often as I should.

Think about it. How often do you take down all of your curtains, wash them, hang them to dry to avoid shrinkage, iron them, and put them back on the curtain rods? I am willing to bet most of us don’t do it as often as we should.

So, I stood out in the family room to try and figure out if it is time to just replace the curtains with Faux Wood Blinds. I am leaning toward the faux wood, because I get a lot of hot sun in the windows in that room and I feel like real wood may not hold up as well. The blinds would look nice and wiping them clean with a damp sponge would be so much easier than taking down and laundering curtains.

I’m looking online and the Select Blinds website has several different varieties of faux wood blinds, plus a current coupon for 25% off everything on their site. Since I am unsure what the textures and colors really look like from the online pictures, I am going to take advantage of their free samples and then go from there.