The 5min Blog

OK, so we all know that season 8 of 24 is fast approaching on the horizon and with it being the last season I have some predictions. The thing being that for the series to end, Jack must either die and be theoretically replaced or there are no more terrorists… Well we all know from previous seasons (season 4) Jack can’t die, people try but he comes back to life. So we are left with the latter option no more terrorists! Now obviously Jack can’t kill everyone because that would take more than 24 hours. So somehow Jack has to broker peace with all the terrorists…. How will this happen; It’s easy with I.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E. and Chloe on the job. OK here’s the scenario; President Allison Taylor, gets a call from the terrorists something bad is possibly going to happen in 20 minutes. Jack must race across LA to get there in time, but he has something laying heavy on his heart, he wants to retire but how, when every season he has “Middle Easterns”, Russians or Chinese to fight!? He enlists Chloe to find a way for peace. She in turn hacks into I.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E.

the stats are 99% of American’s love Pumpkin  and 100% of “Middle Easterns” love Hummus.

Chloe runs the check through her computer and discovers that making an amalgamation of the two would have a chance. She calls Jack but he’s all already at the destination with his gun pulled on the latest female terrorist (in season 8 all terrorists are female). Chloe tells him if he has any chance of brokering peace he must make pumpkin hummus. Jack replies in his raspy, half broken voice “how will I make pumpkin hummus!?” Then this sweet voice speaks up….. ‘I can make pumpkin hummus’. Jack has a new ally. Together they ride back to the kitchens of CTU to make the dish to bring peace…… Well then the rest is history; as it is the last season Jack and his new partner obviously become close during the hummus making, make peace for the world and ride off into the sunset together. If you also want to make peace like Jack this Thanksgiving here’s your simple recipe to follow.

Tags: 24, cooking with pumpkin, Everyday Dish, holiday food, how to make hummus, hummus, hummus recipe, jack bauer, peace food, pumpkin hummus, team america, Thanksgiving, thanksgiving food

For many Thanksgiving is yummy food, people you love and for the editors at  www.SocialButterflySalon.com that includes Fabulous hair too! This year they have come up with a Thanksgiving Hair Recipe that is sure to be a big hit at the table!Whether your hair is short or long, virgin or color treated we all want shiny, healthy hair! Try this easy hair recipe with ingredients you already have in your kitchen and you are sure to be thankful!

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons to 1/4 cup of Olive Oil – will make your hair strong and nourished and provides elasticity. It also helps to reduce stress, which can affect your hair, it’s true…a happy person has happy hair!

1/4 cup Philosophy- Old Fashioned Eggnog 3 in 1 Shampoo, Bubble Bath and Shower Gel (Sephora $16) – smell as yummy (or festive) as you look

Directions:

Use Olive Oil, depending on the length of your hair to massage your scalp. Make sure to massage in circular motions. The stimulation of the scalp will feel good and increase hair growth. Run the rest of the olive oil through your hair to the tip. This will be an amazing conditioning treatment. Put on a shower cap and leave in for at least 20 minutes. Then shampoo your hair very well using Philosophy’s – Old Fashioned Eggnog (your welcome to use your own shampoo) and condition as you normally do. You can apply the olive oil once a month for shiny, healthy hair (especially if you would like to grow your hair).

Styling:

After conditioning your hair with our Thanksgiving Hair Recipe let your hair air dry and then style. For a modern take on a festive Pocahontas style this year our Thanksgiving have-to-have look is the braid! This look has been seen all year round on Lauren Conrad…its both effortless and sexy. You can do one braid on the side, or 2 braids for a fun and playful look. Check out this fun and easy video and enjoy your Thanksgiving.

This post was written by Tammy Massa and Millie Massa, Blog Editors of www.SocialButterflySalon.com, Making Every Day a Good Hair Day

SocialButterflySalon.com was created to help women find Hair & Beauty solutions that work for them! Drawing on several years experience in the design, health and beauty industries, we focus on getting our readers helpful hair tips & tricks, finding fabulous salons, getting salon discounts for our readers and most of all encouraging all women to heart their hair!

Tags: Beauty Tips, Hair Care, Lauren Conrad, Lauren Conrad hairstyle, Millie Massa, Philosophy’s - Old Fashioned Eggnog, SocialButterflySalon, Tammy Massa, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Hair Recipe, www.SocialButterflySalon.com

Some people say that you can only call yourself an adult once you have wine glasses. Others think that the limit isn’t set by the glass, but by the bottle: if the wine comes in a box, that means that you still have a lot to learn about classy drinking. Because the fact is that yes, fancy wines don’t come in boxes.

But apparently, all drink  taboos are meant to be broken. After all, absinthe isn’t illegal anymore and some boxes do contain decent wine. Also, being a grown-up means that you’re not here to impress anyone, so if you’re hosting a Thanksgiving party, some box wines are good enough to keep your guests happy and entertained.

DadLabs guide us through the world of Box Wines (a world that I had forgotten long time ago, thanks to Gary Vaynerchuck) and show some options that will provide some decent alcohol for a decent price.

Now, if you still don’t feel comfortable drinking this wine, you can also consider the option of making mulled wine, (or the classic  Glögg if you have the mix), which is perfect for the colder season and will make any wine taste good.

Tags: box wine reviews, Box wines, DadLabs, Food Network, Gary Vaynerchuk, Glögg, holiday wines, mulled wine, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner, Thanksgiving drinks, Thanksgiving wines

What’s better than chocolate cake? Chocolate cheesecake. Better than ice-cream? Cheesecake ice- cream. Better than yogurt? Yogurt cheesecake. So yes, if I had been with Hansel and Gretel, I wouldn’t have fallen for the candy house. Now, if this house had been the Cheesecake Factory, I would have been a very easy prey.

So for Thanksgiving, what’s better than pumpkin pie? Well, the answer is obvious: Pumpkin Cheesecake. In order to make the perfect pumpkin cheesecake, you need to master the art of baking a cheesecake before, with all the important tips that you should always consider: preheating the oven, adding the ingredients slowly and one by one, and mixing everything in the right speed.

Just look how they do it at LeGourmet.tv:

And what you need:

INGREDIENTS:

* 4 6-ounce packages of cream cheese (room temperature)
* 2 cups sugar
* 1 15-ounce can of pumpkin
* 5 large eggs
* 3 tbl all purpose flour
* 1 tsp ground cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp ground ginger
* 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
* 1/2 tsp ground allspice
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 2 tbl vanilla

Enjoy!

Tags: cheesecake recipe, Hansel and Gretel, LeGourmet.tv, Marie Antoinette, pumpkin cheesecake, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving desserts, thanksgiving food, The Cheesecake Factory

The worst thing about living in an apartment is that I don’t have a garden. Gardens have always been a big part of my life and my family’s: my grandparents built a beautiful dollhouse for us, made of concrete and wood (so it looked like a real house, only that smaller) where you could spend hours playing and having tea-parties. On my father’s side, my grandparent’s garden was also beautiful: the famous Magnolia tree, that we decided to move to our own garden, and the cascade that fed the mosaic fountain. Not to mention the apple orchard, where you could spend hours walking and grabbing fruit from the trees.

So yes, it’s hard to live in an apartment. But as I already tasted how a garden feels like, there’s no way I’ll settle for anything less than  a small piece of land that I can call mine. That’s what I tell myself: “Land is the only thing that matters, Katie Scarlett O’Hara“. So I’m already thinking in my house in the suburbs, where I’ll finally have a garden, and hopefully, even grow my own vegetables.

Now, call me a garden-freak, but since I’ll probably won’t have the chance to have a secret garden  (and someone who’ll secretly take care of it) I’m thinking of alternatives to have a place where I can sit and relax – have some tea, read a book, and watch my children play with Moosy.

The best idea so far? A pergola. Not only it’s a romantic spot (yes, I mean Liesl and Rolf’s dance in the glass gazebo) but it’s also a perfect way to enjoy your garden in comfort. Good news:  with Lowe’s advice, you can find some recyclable materials for your pergola, making it both eco-friendly and affordable.

Tags: Garden Girl, gazebo, Gone with the Wind, Growing Wisdom, Home Improvement, home improvement tips, Lowe's, Lowe's Creative Ideas, pergola, Scarlett O'Hara, Suburban Light, The Clientele, The Sound of Music

If any of you keep up with any of my other blog posts you will see that I have recently been apartment hunting. Well the apartment is found and the oven is bought, now all I need to do it to figure out how to use it. Now if it’s not enough about learning how to use it, I know I went on in my last blog (in a slightly romantic way) my love of ovens and maybe even made it sound like I was an expert, well I’m not. I’m great at experimenting and making wonderfully weird cakes, but not real food. So as I said not only do I have to figure out how to use the oven to make real food and not just use it for a toy; but I have to figure out how to carve a turkey also!! Why do I have to learn to this stuff, well I’m a vegetarian Brit that’s never carved anything more than a brussel sprout at Christmas let alone ever celebrated a Thanksgiving! Now this poor veggie (me) seems to find herself involved in a carnivorous, thanks giving celebrating family! What will I do!?
There are a few options open for me.
1) Run and hide
2) Suck it up and learn to cook propa food
3) Order take out before the guests arrive
4)Get drunk and be able to laugh off the disaster
But as it is a new family I’m involved with, and I am still trying to impress I think I will have to go for option 2!
All I can say is thank God for GreenHouse studio at least they’ve covered me for the carving part of the turkey….

Tags: american holidays, carving a turkey, celebration food, cooking a turkey, GreenHouse, holiday food, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner, thanksgiving food, thanksgiving turkey

I’m all for healthy lifestyle: choosing organic, low calories, and keeping a balanced diet . But when it comes to butter, cream and crunchy bread, there’s nothing I can do. They  make me forget about the healthy lifestyle and make me want to book a  flight to Paris right away. We have a lot to learn from the French when it comes to food (and movies too). Julia Child knew what she was doing when she decided to introduce French Cuisine into American homes.

Chef Jason Hill follows Child’s steps with a Thanksgiving classic: pumpkin soup. But he shows us how to do it the French way: creamy, with a good amount of “fromage”, and a perfect Gourmet appearance. Now, don’t worry about the sophisticated looks of this pumpkin soup: it’s done in a few simple steps.

So if you want to make this  Thankgiving Dinner “chic”, you should definetely try this recipe. Just remember to choose the right pumpkin (no blemishes, please!), a good quality cheese, and there you go…

Bon appétit!

Tags: Chef Jason Hill, Chef Tips, French Soup recipe, Julia Child, Pumpkin soup recipe, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner, Thanksgiving dinner ideas

Amy Salinger of Sass N Style is a fashion and style expert who’s appeared on Oprah, The Today Show, MTV, and the classic What Not to Wear, now dishing her advice to the masses right here on 5min. Lucky for us all, Amy is here to bring your fashion out of the closet and whip it into stylish shape. In this video, Amy tackles a common style conundrum – how to achieve office chic. Sure, there’s Casual Friday, but do you really need to bore your colleagues to death with a squarer-than-thou wardrobe the rest of the week?! Absolutely no, ladies of the working world!

I say, be bold, not bland. Bravely venture into new and exciting fashion choices, even when on the job. Why? Because you should dress to impress, not to depress, dear readers. Not sure how to proceed? Check out these stellar style tips from Amy, and morph Casual Friday into Fashionable Friday!

* Choose pieces that while appropriate for the office environment, still allow you to express your individualism.
* Mix up suit separates to keep things interesting and versatile.
* Even if your work requires a fairly conservative look, don’t be afraid to play it up with layers and colors.
* Wearing a suit does not mean you have to look boring – mix it up with different hues or a sophisticated vest.

We’re pretty sure being dressed to kill increases workplace productivity. Just don’t take any fashion hints from Meredith of Dunder Mifflin…

Tags: Amy Salinger, apparel, clothing, Fashion, fashion advice, fashion tips, office chic, personal style, Sass N Style, SassNStyle, style tips, styling, what to wear to the office, what to wear to work, work wardrobe

I discovered music relatively late in my life: I was in my early twenties, doing things I didn’t really want to do, far away from home. A friend gave me his MiniDisc for safekeeping (those were the dark-ages, MiniDisk  was worth his weight in gold). Most of the music on it was Heavy Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, etc – but on one disk he had the best of Jimi Hendrix. Wow.

That day, I decided I wanted to be a guitar player, the best guitar player on the face of the earth.

I practiced for about 2 months with a cheap guitar, grew my nails and my hair and started hanging out with musicians. Didn’t help much. I’m officially one of the worst guitar players ever.

A month ago, I saw a beautiful guitar at the pawn shop, and  bought it on the spur of the moment – I don’t regret it. Maybe I’m not gonna be the next Jimi Hendrix or Captain Beefheart , but I love playing and that’s all that matters.

If you also want to learn how to play the guitar, take a look at LickLibrary studio on 5min, where you can find professional step-by-step guitar lessons,like this one:

Who knows? you might be the next Hendrix.

Tags: 5min, 5min.com, Captain Beefheart, guitar lessons, guitar tutorials, Jimi Hendrix, learning guitar, LickLibrary, The Jimi Hendrix Experience

As an aspiring filmmaker/technophile, I have fantasized about wonderful iPhone apps that could help me accomplish whatever wild-hair idea I dreamt up from week to week. There are plenty of movie slate apps available, useful during film production, but I’ve been searching for an app to facilitate the preproduction brain storming stages.

Enter the Hitchcock app, released by Cinemek.  It’s one of the priciest apps yet at $19.99, but it is certainly one of the most useful. It melds many of the existing iPhone assets to make one intuitive piece of software.

For people like me, drawing storyboards usually ends in snot bubbles, tears, and depression!  Most of my time is spent getting a single frame to look like it does in my head, a painstaking waste of time and resources.  Storyboarding is one of the most important steps to translating an idea into a vision, and the Hitchcock app spares LOTS of heartaches by allowing users to build storyboards shot by shot by using photos you’ve already snapped, or new ones taken through the iPhone.

Users can set the duration of any given shot.  Zooms, pans, and tilting are easily adjustable. Need actors? Add changeable stand-in male and female silhouettes with a few button presses!  Users can even add text as dialogue or to better explain the shot. If you would rather narrate the storyboard, the app allows for audio recording as well.  It’s a comprehensive app for sure with all these great tools to play with!

Users can also easily upload their developed storyboards as PDFs to the web and send links to friends for downloading.  One would figure this app loads and runs slowly, creating lots of big files.  It does neither.  It’s really an amazing piece of software.  For filmmakers, it’s a must-have.  For iPhone app aficionados, it’s a great buy.

Yubin Wadesworth
iApplicate

Yubin Wadesworth is iApplicate’s producer and his love for the iPhone is second to none!
iApplicate is the web’s premiere iPhone app video review program.
There are over 100,000 iPhone applications available today, wouldn’t you like to know which apps to avoid, which ones will fit your specific need, and which ones just flat out rock?  iApplicate reviews and evaluates iPhone app functionality to help you find the products you need.    Follow iApplicate posts and weekly episode uploads on Facebook, Twitter, the iApplicate website today!

Tags: Cinemek, Hitchcock app, Hitchcock iPhone app, iApplicate, iPhone app reviews, iPhone applications, iPhone apps, Mac, mobile storyboard composer, storyboarding, Yubin Wadesworth