The event kicked off at Maya Del Sol for some tasty appetizers. Guests then dined on delicious dishes from Winberie’s Restaurant & Bar, and the festivities ended with dessert and coffee from Cucina Paradiso and Caribou Coffee. All the food was donated in support of West Suburban PADS.

The sausages you buy at the grocery stores may contain ingredients you weren’t expecting: fillers, artificial preservatives, and tons of extra salt. Skip those store-bought mystery ingredients and make your own Sweet Italian Sausage.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind before making your sausages:

1. Keep meat cold, for safety and easier grinding.

2. Cut meat into small enough pieces to fit easily into your grinder.

3. Add 75% or your spice blend, taste for seasoning (by cooking a small portion) then add the remaining spice to taste.

4. Try making patties or “sausage-burgers” before investing in a sausage stuffer.

5. If possible, get a sausage making buddy for the day – especially when stuffing and linking.

Now use these new tips with Jeff’s Sweet Italian Sausage recipe:

1. The group created a controlled release of information via the most popular social media websites, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.

-          They cultivated “Hunger Games” fan blogs and drafted a chronology of the online effort on a day-to-day basis to keep track of what information they were sharing in order to slowly gain momentum and interest in the movie.

-          Providing sweepstakes and giveaway offers to blogs (posters, movie tickets, even bringing five fans to the movie’s set)

2. Making the movie a spectacle was important, but again, the kids killing kids theme had to be handled delicately. Wording became important. Instead of saying “23 kids get killed,” they focused on “Only one wins.” Focusing on the positive protected them from negative reactions and added to the mystery of the games. The most radical idea that changed their campaign was never showing the actual games. This protected them from dealing with the sensitive subject matter, but also treated the audience to the same anticipation found within the audience in the books. “In order to see the games, you have to buy a ticket,” explains Palen.

3. Keeping the audience’s attention by involving them in the campaign – making audience involvement important in the campaign made the audience feel important and invested in the story.

-          The creation of “TheCapitol.pn” allowed visitors to become Panem (the movie’s futuristic society) citizens with digital ID cards and its own social media world.

• Saturate a cotton ball in vanilla and drop it in the vacuum or vacuum bag to release a sweet scent. A vanilla drenched cotton ball can also deodorize the refrigerator or freezer.
• Place vanilla beans in drawers, under car seats and in laundry rooms to act as an air freshener.

After cleaning the house, it is time for a little pampering.

• Make a homemade Vanilla Body Scrub. Take one cup of Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Sugar, ¼ of a cup of extra virgin olive oil, and one or two drops of essential oil (Lavender, Eucalyptus, etc.) and mix in a bowl for a soothing scrub with a relaxing vanilla scent.
• Nielsen-Massey Rose Water can be poured into a spritzer bottle and stored in the fridge to create a cool rosewater spray.
• Use the leftover Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Sugar to rim the glass of an Orange Blossom Martini

Nielsen-Massey Orange Blossom Martini
Serves 1
1 tablespoon Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Sugar
4 ounces orange juice, pulp free
2 ounces pomegranate juice
2 ounces vodka
1 teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Orange Blossom Water
1 fresh orange slice for garnish

Rub the rim of an empty, chilled martini glass with an orange wedge. Invert glass into bowl of Pure

Sandra Morais spent her first 8 years in Angola and describes the access to food and clean water as “a battle for survival.” She walked 3-10 miles every day in search of water and remembers sometimes only being able to crawl because she was so thirsty and dehydrated. When she heard about Team World Vision, she had never run more than 2 miles, but knew she wanted to do something to help children in Africa.

WMAQ TV, Chicago NBC affiliate, interviewed Sandra a few days before the marathon. Click the photo below and scroll halfway down the page to listen to her story:

Four of the 1,000 runners on Team World Vison, Michael Chitwood (national director for Team World Vision), Rusty Funk, Hannah Covert and Paul Jansen VanRensburg, ran 74 miles through the night along the Chicago Lakefront prior to the marathon. Then they joined teammates to complete the last 26.2 miles of the marathon. Each ran 100 miles to raise 400 child sponsorships through World Vision.

WLS TV reporter, John Garcia, spoke with four of them on Friday evening during a team dinner.