We provide you with a huge selection of sports related gear and apparel available for your favorite team, whether it be NCAA, NFL, NBA, MLB, NBA, or NASCAR. Show your colors, support your team.

Use the drop-down boxes below to find gear and apparel for your favorite team, or simply…..Click Here To Access Our Full Line Of Team Gear & Apparel

We offer a large and complete selection of team apparel & accessories to allow you to support your favorite team.

Shop from the convenience of your home or office, and have your team merchandise and apparel shipped right to your front door.

Find what you want and great prices too!

Show Me College Gear And Apparel

 

Show Me NFL Gear And Apparel

Show Me NBA Gear And Apparel

Show Me MLB Gear And Apparel

Show Me NHL Gear And Apparel

Show Me NASCAR Gear And Apparel

Looking For Tee Shirts & Sports Apparel…..College Or Professional Team…..We Have You Covered!

Check Out Our Large Selection & Great Prices Right Here!

Related articles by Zemanta

• The 25 Highest Paid Sports Coaches in the World (businesspundit.com)
• Kelly arrives for work at Notre Dame (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Alabama wins $32M bet on coach Nick Saban, profits soar (sports.espn.go.com)

Making your website easy to navigate is essential if you want to have a professional looking and user friendly website.

For many years, working with menus in WordPress was very limited. It was a very basic menu system. What it actually amounted to was that the “menu” system just spit out the list of all your pages on your site. It was up to you to work overtime installing plugins or writing code that would either exclude or include certain pages so as to get your menu to look exactly how you wanted.

iThemes came along and introduced a much better and easier method of working with menus. They provided a listing of pages and categories and the WordPress user could simply “check” the box next to the page or category that they wanted included in the menu. This simple but effective feature provided users with little or no coding experience (or those who just wanted a simple solution) the ability to customize menus on their WordPress site quickly and easily.

Then came the release of the 3.0 version of WordPress. Version 3.0 provided a completely new menu management solution for WordPress that allowed users to create as many menus as they desired and (depending on the theme being used) allowed them to insert the different menus wherever desired.

The Builder Theme by iThemes then stepped up and gave users the best of all worlds when it comes to menus and navigation. Builder theme users can choose from three options (and even a combination of options) when building their sites. This really is very flexible if you understand the benefits of each type of menu / navigation construction.

Lets take a look at the different menu options the Builder theme offers users.

Builder And WordPress 3.0 Bring Everything Together…..

As is evident from looking at the above screenshot, the Builder Theme by iThemes allows for users to choose between all three options. Every time you create a custom menu, it auto-populates in the navigation drop-down menu giving unlimited flexibility to create as many menus and to display them wherever you want. That’s just one of the many advantages you gain when using Builder to build your WordPress websites.

Just when you thought a WordPress plugin that backs up your website couldn’t get any better, the guy’s at iThemes that developed BackupBuddy proves you’re wrong.

Of course, BackupBuddy isn’t your daddy’s old backup plugin either, so it really isn’t any surprise that it only gets better and better.

Here Is A BackupBuddy 2.0 Feature Peek, Presented By The Developers Themselves

In celebration of BackupBuddy’s successful year of backing up WordPress sites (over 16,000 to date!) we’ve been hard at work in once again setting the bar higher for WordPress backup solutions with BackupBuddy version 2.0. With well over 75 new features and enhancements this version is sure to further improve and strengthen the power that BackupBuddy puts in your hands. When can you get it? We’re aiming around late March.

While there are too many features to list one-by-one (and some just too secret to release right now), the list below helps give an idea of some of the many improvements coming. A great deal of focus has been put on improving reliability and usability with this major release as well.
This list is by no means comprehensive and leaves out some Top Secret features to be unveiled in the near future. We are saving the best for last — stay tuned for those.

New Features

• Enhanced built-in help with popup in-page video tutorials throughout
• More remote storage methods: Rackspace Cloud Storage, Dropbox.com, & Amazon S3
• High security mode backups (database & admin password stripped for security or making ready-to-deploy packaged sites — developers: sell pre-packaged ready-to-go configured sites!)
• Background manual backups (start a backup, close your browser, and walk away)
• Configure remote backup destination & notifications per schedule (developers: use this to set up scheduled backups of your clients’ sites to your servers & get notified, even if the customer adds their own schedules!)
• Server Information section: server diagnosis, basic security checks, server benchmarking (how slow is your server?), graphical space usage charting (easily see where your space is being used up on your server), CRON viewer, and much more
• Backup on creating or editing a post or page (never forget to backup again!)
• Detailed database table inclusion/exclusion options (make sure everything you want is backed up and nothing more)
• Directly pull backups to destination server via importbuddy (streamline migrations/restorations without having to download and re-upload files over your connection)

Improvements

• Better support for larger sites (especially those with large databases)
• Improved compatibility with slower servers
• Improved feedback during backup & restore processes
• Better error handling & recovery in case something goes wrong
• Improved backup integrity checking performance (be confident in your backups)
• Streamlined and simplified backup & restore process (easier to use but just as powerful)

And much much more…

Visit the developers website for Information & Pricing On BackupBuddy & Other Premium WordPress Plugins

You Can Get All Of The Plugins Now Available From PluginBuddy For One Price (developer licenses)

Due to popular request, PluginBuddy now offers a combo package, designed for developers, and it includes all of their recent (and upcoming) plugins at PluginBuddy …

Here Are Some Of The Great Benefits Included:

* Saves you money – You get all PluginBuddy premium plugins for one price
* You get one year of support and upgrades
* You get Developer Plans for all plugins – includes automatic upgrades on unlimited sites
* You get any new PluginBuddy plugins that are released during your membership year

Here Are The Current Plugins Included In The Developer Suite:

* BackupBuddy ($150 value)
* EmailBuddy (Available only in the Developer Suite!)
* Mobile ($150 value)
* DisplayBuddy ($150 value)
Includes: SlideShow, Video Showcase, Carousel, Featured Posts, Rotating Text, Billboard, Rotating Images, and Copious Comments
* VidEmbed ($20 value)
* Any other of their plugins listed on their site.
* And more plugins coming in the future!

Get the Developer Suite Today!

This Developer Suite is ideal for WordPress developers and designers.

The Vidembed Plugin by PluginBuddy is a powerful yet simple to use solution for adding videos inline within your WordPress posts, pages, and widget areas.

VidEmbed offers support for both self-hosted videos as well as YouTube and Vimeo. With VidEmbed, you can quickly and easily add videos from many sources.

We all know about the explosion of media on the web, and how important it is to be able to easily and quickly provide video content to your site visitors. VidEmbed makes it easy.

Some Of The Key Benefits of VidEmbed:

• * Allows you to imbed videos directly in your posts at the click of a button.
• * Ability to imbed stand-alone videos (flv, mp4, and mov formats).
• * Easily imbed YouTube & Vimeo videos.
• * Includes support for Amazon S3 hosted videos.
• * Uses an open source video player.
• * Includes widget support.
• * Handy shortcode button.
• * Allows for site-wide player customizations & styling.
• * Classes available for advanced CSS customization.

Here is a video giving a quick overview of the VidEmbed plugin…..

Here’s How Easy It Is To Install A PluginBuddy Plugin…..

• * Unzip the downloaded plugin file.
• * Use your favorite FTP client, FileZilla for example, to put the folder in your plugins directory (wp-content/plugins)
• * Login and go to the plugins page in your WordPress Dashboard
• * Activate the plugin

Want detailed video instructions showing how to get started using WordPress and installing your plugins? Check out our Quick Steps to Getting Started video tutorials here.

Here are some videos showing you how to get started using WordPress and your plugins.

STEP ONE…..How To Get Your Domain Name And Web Hosting

You need Linux hosting with Fantastico to make installing WordPress a very fast and easy task.

We use and recommend HostGator Web Hosting.

Here’s Why…..

• They have outstanding support
• They have extremely competitive prices
• They have several hosting plans to choose from
• They have outstanding uptime

STEP TWO…..Install WordPress

[flowplayer src=install-wp.mp4 splash=install-wp.png width=500 height=308 autoplay=false popup='

PluginBuddy Info/Prices

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Watch a detailed explanation on Installing WordPress Using cPanel and Fantastico

STEP THREE…..Purchase your plugin

Look through the plugins available at PluginBuddy Store to purchase the plugin of your choice. The best deal is the PluginBuddy Developer Suite, because you get all of the plugins now available, and you also get all plugins released in your membership year. The choice is yours, buy only one, or buy them all.

Watch the video below for detailed instructions.

[flowplayer src=buy-plugin.mp4 splash=buy-plugin.png width=500 height=308 autoplay=false popup='

PluginBuddy Info/Pricing

']

STEP FOUR…..Upload your plugin and activate it

[flowplayer src=activate-plugin.mp4 splash=activate-plugin.png width=500 height=308 autoplay=false popup='

PluginBuddy Info/Pricing

']

STEP FIVE…..Manage your plugin licenses and auto-upgrades.

[flowplayer src=license.mp4 splash=license.png width=578 height=361 autoplay=false popup='

PluginBuddy Info/Pricing

']

You can find more information on plugin use and settings on the sales page of most plugins.

And as you would expect from PluginBuddy, they provide full instructions on all of their plugins.

Below are screenshots of some of the Child Themes you will receive with your Builder Theme purchase. On the date of this post, there was a total of 24 Child Themes available, and more are being added all of the time.

This post is meant to give you a lot of information on iThemes in general and the Builder Theme in particular.

I started using iThemes themes when they were just getting started in the business of providing custom themes for WordPress. I had previously used a lot of free themes, some good and some bad, and a few custom themes by other companies. I had such good luck with iThemes themes, and the support they provided, that I now use them exclusively for all of my WordPress websites.

I should point out that all of my websites now are built using WordPress because I haven’t found anything that I want to do in the way of building a website that can’t be accomplished using WordPress. I also should point out that all of my websites use iThemes themes with the exception of my ecommerce site at TutorDaddy.com, where I sell video tutorials, and this site you are on now, which uses a plugin and included theme provided by AuthorityPro for building authority sites.

The premier theme that iThemes has developed is the Builder theme, and the videos and information below will give you the real lowdown on just how powerful and versatile this theme really is.

In case you’re wondering why they named it “Builder”, just watch the videos below and it will become evident that “Builder” is the perfect name for this theme.

Here are a few reasons…..

• Want to have a site with a different layout for every single post on your site? No problem, you can do it with Builder!
• Want to have a site with a different layout for every single page on your site? No problem again, you can do it with Builder!
• Want to have custom menus, as many as you want, where you want, with the links you want? No problem again!
• Want to be able to change things like font, colors, backgrounds, etc, without knowing code?You guessed it, Builder can do it!

Guess that’s why they named it “Builder”.

[flowplayer src=Builder2.mp4 splash=builder2.png width=640 height=360 autoplay=false popup='

Purchase iThemes Builder Theme

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Another big advantage that you get when using Builder as your theme is the huge (and growing) selection of child themes that you get, free of charge, with Builder. Child themes give you the ability to instantly change the whole look and feel of your website. And, once again no coding skills required, you do it with a simple click of your mouse.

Click Here to see images of some of the Builder Child Themes available at this time.

[flowplayer src=builder3.mp4 splash=builder3.png width=640 height=360 autoplay=false popup='

Purchase iThemes Builder Theme

']

Style Manager makes it “click-of-the-mouse” easy to change individual features like background color or image, font, and more without knowing any code at all. Tweak your website and get it to looking exactly like you want, and it’s no problem with Builder.

[flowplayer src=builder4.mp4 splash=builder4.png width=640 height=360 autoplay=false popup='

Purchase iThemes Builder Theme

']

As would be expected from a premium theme like Builder, SEO options are built right in to the theme.

[flowplayer src=builder5.mp4 splash=builder5.png width=640 height=360 autoplay=false popup='

Purchase iThemes Builder Theme

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And of course, as you would expect from the people at iThemes, they have outstanding training available covering everything from WordPress basics right on up to advanced theme configuration and styling, backing up your WordPress sites, and much much more. Check out the events schedule to see what they have in store for you. It’s great training, and it’s free.

Have Questions About Builder Theme?…..

What kind of training is provided when I buy Builder?

What about other themes and child themes that are not Builder child themes? Will they be compatible to use with Builder?

Can people with very little experience work with Builder, or is it really just for developers?

Why do I have to renew in a year?

Appearance >>> Menus

The Appearance >>> Menus SubPanel became available beginning with WordPress Version 3.0. In order for you to use a Custom Navigation Menu in place of your theme’s default menu, you must have support for this feature registered in the theme’s functions.php file.

Menu Panel

Using The Screen Options Tab

The Screen Options tab, located near top right corner of page, allows you to choose which modules you want displayed, and which ones you want to not be displayed, in the underlying SubPanel. When you click on the Screen Options tab, it shows a list of the possible modules and options for that page, with a check-box next to each one. Simply check the box for each module or option you want to see displayed, and uncheck the box for any you choose not to display. When finished, click the Screen Options tab again to close the Screen Options.

How To Expand, Collapse, and Rearrange Modules

The modules, Posts for instance, can be expanded, or collapsed, by clicking on the module title bar.

How To Create a Menu

It’s very simple to create a new custom menu. All it takes is to click on the + tab, enter in a name for your menu, and click the Create Menu button.

It is necessary to point out that if the theme you are currently using does not support menus, the following message will be displayed:

“The current theme does not natively support menus, but you can use the “Custom Menu” widget to add any menus you create here to the theme’s sidebar.”

The message will display to let you know that widgets can be used to put custom menus in your themes sidebar.

My personal favorite theme to use on my websites that can take full advantage of the custom menu feature is the Builder Theme by iThemes. This theme is a highly advanced theme that allows you to create unlimited page and post layouts, and you can put menus anywhere you want, and as many as you want.

You can create as many menus as you wish, whatever suits your purposes. In the event that your theme includes support for more than one custom menu, you can use the drop down box to choose which custom menu to associate with each. As pointed out above you are also able to use custom menus in conjunction with the Custom Menus widget.

After creating a custom menu, these options are available:

Delete Menu

—Click this link if you wish to delete the menu. Be aware that deleting also deletes the menu items.

Automatically add new top-level pages

—Check this box so that anytime you create a new top-level Page, that Page will automatically be added to the menu

Save Menu

—Click this button to save your menu and any changes you have made.

How To Add Menu Items

Once a menu is created, it is possible to add detail items to the menu. You can add items like custom links, pages, and categories using the available options in the left column. You can add any custom post types or custom taxonomies that you may have created. In case you don’t see your custom post types or taxonomies, don’t forget to check the Screen Options tab to make sure they are checked to be “Show on Screen”.

After adding your items to a menu, you can then drag and drop them to put them in the order you want. Once you have the menu items arranged correctly, you can click each item to reveal additional configuration options. Another neat feature, you can also drag a menu item a little to the right to make it a submenu. This feature allows you to create menus with hierarchy. As you drag an item to the right you’ll see when the position of the drop target (the dotted lines box) shifts over to portray the nested placement. IMPORTANT, once you have finished creating and configuring your custom menu, be sure and click the Save Menu button.

So, with the Custom Menu feature in WordPress, you can specify a different navigation label for a menu item as well as other attributes. You can create multiple menus, as many as needed to suit your purpose. If your theme allows the use of more than one menu, you can choose which custom menu to associate with each. You can also display your custom menus using the Custom Menus widget.

The screenshot below shows an example of two Sub-Menu Items displayed in a hierarchy under the Home Menu Item.

Sub-menus

Choosing A Theme Location For A Menu

Theme locations allows you to select the desired placement of your menu. The WordPress default TwentyTen theme only supports one menu location, so you will see the message ‘Your theme supports 1 menu. Select which menu you would like to use‘. (If you have added the code to allow more navigation menus in your theme, you will see those in the pull-down location options)

Location

—From the pull down box, make your selection for the menu that will be presented in the location, for example, Primary Location

Save

—Click to save the location that you selected.

Adding A Custom Link

Custom links allows you to create links to any desired URL and give them any desired display name.

URL

—Enter the URL for your custom link.

Label

—Enter the label (display name) describing the custom link URL.

Add to Menu

—Click this button to add your custom link to the menu.

The link is now added to the menu, it will be displayed to the right with the label, the word ‘Custom’, and a configuration arrow allowing you to change the URL or Label and to remove the custom link from the menu if desired.

Adding Links To Posts

Use this option to add links to specific posts. Three tabs, ‘Most Recent’, ‘View All’, and ‘Search’, allow you to choose what posts are displayed for selection as a menu item.

Checkbox

—Check the box next to the item that you want to add to the menu.

Select All

—Checking this box will cause the checkbox to be checked on all items. Clicking this again will cause all items to be unchecked.

Add to Menu

—Click this button to add your selected items to the menu on the right.

Adding Links To Pages

Here is where you add links to specific pages. Three tabs, ‘Most Recent’, ‘View All’, and ‘Search’, are shown.They allow you to choose what pages are displayed for selection as a menu item. When the ‘View All’ tab is displayed, a Home link choice, while not necessarily an actual page, also becomes available to add to the menu. The ‘Checkbox’, ‘Select All’, and ‘Add to Menu’ options, described in the Posts section above, are also displayed in this module.

Adding Links To Categories

Your categories can also be added to the menu. Three tabs, ‘Most Recent’, ‘View All’, and ‘Search’ allow you to determine what categories are displayed for selection as a menu item. The list does not display in any particular hierarchy. The ‘Checkbox’, ‘Select All’, and ‘Add to Menu’ options are also displayed in this module.

Adding Links To Post Tags

You can also add Post Tags to menus. Again, three tabs, ‘Most Recent’, ‘View All’, and ‘Search’ determine what categories are displayed for you to select as a menu item. The ‘Checkbox’, ‘Select All’, and ‘Add to Menu’ options are also displayed in this module.

Adding Links To Custom Post Types and Taxonomies

Custom post types and taxonomies will also be available to add as menu items. In the event that you don’t see your custom post types or taxonomies, be sure and check the ‘Screen Options’ tab to make sure those modules are set to display. As expected, the options available under each of the custom post type and taxonomy modules correspond to those used for Posts, Pages, Categories, and Post Tags.

How To Rearrange, Configure, and Delete Menu Items

After you add your items to a menu, those menu items can be rearranged in whatever order you wish. Place your mouse cursor over the menu item title and then when the mouse cursor changes to 4-arrows, hold the left-mouse button down and drag the module to where you want to place it. Then release the mouse button and continue rearranging the items to achieve the desired order. Also, remember that by dragging a menu item slightly to the right of the menu item above it you can create a hierarchy (parent/child) relationship in the menu.

Every Menu Item will have a configuration arrow on the right side of the Menu Item title. Clicking there opens the configuration box for that item. If you click the arrow a second time it will close the configuration box. Again, if you don’t see Link Target, CSS Classes, Link Relationship (XFN), and Description, then check the Screen Options tab to make sure those boxes are checked to make the options available.

The configuration choices are:

Navigation Label

—The label you want to show for this particular menu item

Title Attribute

—The attribute you want to use when displaying the label

Link Target

—Here you can select “Same window or tab” or “New window or tab” from the pulldown.

CSS Classes

—Optional CSS Classes for this menu item

Link Relationship

—Allows for the generation of XFN attributes automatically. Allows you to show how you are related to the authors/owners of site to which you are linking.

Description

—Enter a description for this link. The description will be displayed in the menu assuming that the current theme supports it.

Original

—A link to the original source of the menu item. For example, a link to view the post or page).

Remove

—Remove this menu item from the menu.

Cancel

—Cancel the configuration of the menu item.

How To Add Menu Support to Themes

The default WordPress TwentyTen theme supports navigation menus. If your theme does not support the custom menu feature, you can do it yourself by adding the appropriate code to your theme’s function.php file. For further information on implementing custom menus for a theme, see The WordPress Codex

If you want to avoid the hassle of trying to add code to your current theme to get it to fully support custom menus, then once again I recommend you take a look at the Builder Theme by iThemes. Builder allows you to create unlimited page and post layouts, and you can put menus anywhere you want, and as many as you want. No coding needed, ready to use your custom menus to full advantage.

That concludes this tutorial on using the Custom Menu feature in WordPress.

To access some advanced, and FREE, training on WordPress and other related subjects, sign up for some of the free training available from WebDesign.com

.

This Video Shows How To Create And Use
Custom Menus For Your WordPress Website

The Appearance Menus SubPanel is available beginning with Version 3.0. This is where you create Custom Menus to use in your WordPress website. To use a Custom Navigation Menu in place of your theme’s default menu, support for this feature must be registered in the theme’s functions.php file.
You can become an expert WordPress website developer when you take advantage of the advanced training available at WebDesign.com.  You get access to a full years worth of training, taught by experts, covering not only WordPress but many other subjects as well.  You can keep on stumbling around trying to figure things out on your own, or you can learn it the easy way.  Choice is yours!

You can also sign up for some excellent FREE training at WebDesign.com Events.

We provide you with a huge selection of sports related gear and apparel available for your favorite team, whether it be NCAA, NFL, NBA, MLB, NBA, or NASCAR. Show your colors, support your team.

Use the drop-down boxes below to find gear and apparel for your favorite team, or simply…..Click Here To Access Our Full Line Of Team Gear & Apparel

We offer a large and complete selection of team apparel & accessories to allow you to support your favorite team.

Shop from the convenience of your home or office, and have your team merchandise and apparel shipped right to your front door.

Find what you want and great prices too!

Show Me College Gear And Apparel

 

Show Me NFL Gear And Apparel

Show Me NBA Gear And Apparel

Show Me MLB Gear And Apparel

Show Me NHL Gear And Apparel

Show Me NASCAR Gear And Apparel

Looking For Tee Shirts & Sports Apparel…..College Or Professional Team…..We Have You Covered!

Check Out Our Large Selection & Great Prices Right Here!

Related articles by Zemanta

• The 25 Highest Paid Sports Coaches in the World (businesspundit.com)
• Kelly arrives for work at Notre Dame (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Alabama wins $32M bet on coach Nick Saban, profits soar (sports.espn.go.com)

Baseball Equipment & Supplies

They stock a full line of brand name baseball gear from Easton, Wilson, Louisville Slugger, Mizuno, Rawlings, Nike, and more. At Baseball Rampage, you can get the same baseball gear the pros use, so you can be sure that you will find what you need to perform your best.

About Baseball Rampage

Baseball Rampage is the best place to shop to find performance baseball equipment. They are an authorized retailer for all of the major product manufacturer’s including Wilson, Rawlings, Easton, Louisville Slugger, Nokona, Franklin, Mizuno, and more. They have the best in performance baseball equipment at the lowest prices that you will find online. You can shop confidently at Baseball Rampage because they have been in business selling products online since 1996. Just look at some of the benefits of shopping Baseball Rampage:

* Specialized Customer Service – Their staff is specially trained and experienced in managing baseball equipment. This means if you have a question or need advice, they will have the answers that you need.
* Convenience – Place your order with a few clicks of your mouse. Re-orders can be completed with just 1 click!
* Speedy Service – Most orders ship from stock and orders received by 3:00 pm EST are often shipped within one business day.
* On-line Order Tracking – Follow the progress of your order from their state-of-the art fulfillment center all the way to your home or office

You can trust that you will be getting a high-quality product when you place your order with them. They have been selling products online since 1996, and they operate out of a custom-built warehouse/call center in Columbus, OH. They will do whatever it takes to get your order to you fast.

Why Shop at BaseballRampage.com

Why buy baseball equipment at the store down the street when Baseball Rampage has the latest, high-performance baseball gear at better prices? When you shop at Baseball Rampage you get The Rampage Advantage:

* Service – They have a professional staff of baseball experts to make sure that you get the baseball equipment you need and the customer service you deserve.
* Experience – They have been selling products online for over 10 years.
* Authorized – They are an authorized dealer for all of the major baseball manufacturers including Easton, Wilson, Mizuno, and more.
* Rewards – Their RampageBucks Rewards Program is the most generous rewards program online, and a great way for you to save money on baseball equipment.

You can be sure that the product you are ordering is the highest quality, performance equipment that you need to be the best baseball player you can be.


If your child is in little league or you play youth baseball, they know that you need to get the best deals on youth baseball gear. They stock a full line of youth baseball bats, baseball gloves, batting gloves, and more.


If you coach a baseball team, they know that you need to get the best deals on coach’s gear. They stock a full line of equipment bags, training aids, equipment, apparel, and more.


Visit Baseball Rampage and Receive Free Shipping Over $99

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Portable Surge Guard

Coleman RoadTrip Classic Grill – Blue

New Wireless Sleep Number Bed RV Edition Premier – Short Queen, 60″ x 75″

FloJet RV Waste Pump Kit

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Gen-turi Generator Exhaust System

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Honda EU2000iA Companion Portable Generator

Bread Recipes

Combining the best elements of Northern and Southern, this is a superb, just-barely-sweet version of one of the classic African-American cornbreads. Be sure to use stone-ground cornmeal for its full flavor and distinctive, delicious grittiness.

Ingredients
Vegetable cooking oil spray
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup corn or canola oil
2 tablespoons butter

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a 10-inch round baking pan or heavy oven-proof skillet with cooking oil.
2. Sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.
3. In a smaller bowl, stir baking soda into buttermilk. Whisk in sugar, egg and oil.
4. Place skillet over medium heat, add butter and heat until butter melts and starts to sizzle. Carefully tilt pan to coat sides and bottom.
5. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients; combine quickly, using as few strokes as possible. Scrape batter into pan; bake 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool a few moments, and slice into 8 wedges to serve. Serves 8.

This thick batter makes a dense bread that’s great toasted and served with butter. When cranberries are available, throw a few bags in your freezer to make this bread year-round. We like it prepared with dried cranberries too.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 egg, well beaten
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons hot water
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup grated orange rind
1 cup fresh or dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan or 3 mini loaf pans.
2. Combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add sugar, egg, butter, hot water, orange juice and grated orange rind; stir until moistened. Fold in berries and nuts. Spoon into pan and bake 50 minutes (or 35 minutes for mini loaves). Cool; wrap and refrigerate or freeze.

Although it’s tempting to try to arrange the balls of dough neatly in the pan, once they’re coated in butter, they are slippery and practically slide into place by themselves. At first the pan will seem too big for the dough, but it rises nearly to the top. When the bread is baked, it fills the pan.

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk, heated
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
1. Combine 1 1?2 cups flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add milk and egg; beat until blended. Gradually add remaining flour and beat until mixture forms a soft dough. If necessary, add more flour.
2. Turn out onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in an oiled bowl, turning to oil top of dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about 50 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 375F.
4. Punch dough down; shape into 16 balls. Roll each in melted butter and arrange in a greased 9-inch tube pan. If there is extra butter, pour over top. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 50 minutes or until dough nearly fills pan.
5. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan onto wire rack; serve warm. Serves 8.

Salad Recipes

Use a good strong blue cheese, such as Roquefort, in this slaw. Mexican sour cream is richer and thicker than regular sour cream, but either will work fine.

Ingredients
1 head of green cabbage, sliced thinly
½ cup finely shredded carrot
¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
¾ cup crumbled Roquefort cheese, divided
½ cup Mexican sour cream or regular sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
Dash of hot sauce

Instructions
1. Place cabbage, carrot and parsley in a large bowl and set aside.
2. In another bowl, whisk together 1?2 cup Roquefort cheese and remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour over cabbage and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour before serving.
3. Sprinkle with remaining Roquefort cheese before serving. Serves 10.

Ingredients
Dressing:
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 small garlic clove, pressed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Coarsely ground black pepper

Salad:
10 cups coarsely chopped lettuce (romaine and Boston)
2 medium tomatoes, cored and chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped, cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 9 ounces)
6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
3 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Roquefort or blue cheese
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and chopped

Instructions
1. To prepare the dressing, combine all ingredients in a jar, cover tightly and
shake vigorously.
2. To prepare the salad, arrange lettuces on a large serving platter, big enough to toss the salad. Arrange tomatoes in a strip down the center and arrange chicken, bacon, eggs, and cheese in strips on either side of tomatoes. Scatter avocado around edge.
3. Before serving, slide the salad into a large bowl; pour dressing over top and toss gently to combine. Serves 6.

Two old standbys, deviled eggs and potato salad, join forces to make a potato salad that’s a real crowd pleaser.

Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds (about 5 large) russet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2-inch
chunks
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
3 celery stalks, diced
3 hard-cooked eggs, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus additional for garnish
Instructions
1. Place potatoes in large saucepan; add cold water to cover. Cover and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, 10 minutes or until tender. Drain, transfer to a large bowl and cool 5 minutes.
2. Whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Combine potatoes, celery, eggs, parsley and mayonnaise mixture. Mix gently with a large rubber spatula. Garnish with additional parsley. Serves 10.

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons grainy Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 large Portobello mushroom caps
4 ounces goat cheese, room temperature
1 small bunch baby arugula, stems trimmed
16 grape tomatoes, halved
Instructions
1. Whisk together oil, vinegar, mustard and salt.
2. Place mushroom caps on a plate, and drizzle them with half of the vinaigrette. Broil mushrooms in a shallow ovenproof pan or grill on a rack for about 5 minutes (rounded side up).
3. Turn caps over and top with goat cheese. Return to the oven or grill to slightly melt cheese.
4. In a medium bowl, toss arugula with remaining vinaigrette and tomatoes. Spoon arugula mixture into four plates; top each with a warm, cheese-topped mushroom. Serves 4.

Sweet and juicy Bartlett pears are perfect for this salad. Ripen them on the counter until they have a delicious “pear” aroma, and then refrigerate until it’s time to make the salad.

Ingredients
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
1?4 teaspoon salt
1?4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
3 firm-ripe pears, such as Bartlett, cored and cut in bite-size chunks
2 cups shredded or thinly sliced cabbage
1?3 cup thinly sliced celery
1?3 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
1?3 cup dried cranberries

Instructions
1. Whisk oil and 3 tablespoons lemon juice together in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper.
2. Combine pears and remaining lemon juice in a large bowl. Add cabbage, celery, pecans, cranberries and oil mixture and mix gently. Serve on lettuce leaves. Serves 8.

The arugula, with its mustardy quality, is a piquant, leafy complement to the potatoes. If arugula is not available, spinach is a good alternative.

Ingredients
2 pounds potatoes, red-skin or fingerling
1 pound mixed baby summer squash
4 large shallots, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
5 ounces arugula

Instructions
1. Wash potatoes and baby squash and cut into bite-sized chunks.
2. Cook potatoes in boiling salted water 6 to 8 minutes or until tender. Drain.
3. Blanch baby squash in a large pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop cooking.
4. Whisk together shallots, garlic, mustard, salt, black pepper and vinegar. Whisk in olive oil.
5. Toss potatoes and squash with vinaigrette. Chill.
6. Fold the arugula into chilled potato mixture. Adjust seasonings and vinegar to taste before serving.

A small serrated knife works well for sectioning the fruit. Do this over a large bowl to catch the juices, and save some for the dressing.

Ingredients
3 seedless oranges
6 cups baby arugula
1 red apple, cored and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1?4 teaspoon kosher salt
1?8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1?2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta or blue cheese
Instructions
1. Grate rind from 1 orange into a small bowl and set aside.
2. Peel all oranges and section. Reserve juice, squeezing more for the dressing if needed. Combine arugula, orange sections and apple in a large bowl.
3. Whisk 3 tablespoons orange juice, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper with orange rind. Pour over salad and toss gently. Spoon onto serving plates and sprinkle with feta. Serves 8.

Beef Recipes

For the leanest brisket, ask for the “first” or “flat” cut, without an overly fatty flap lying on top. Trim off any surface fat; there’s plenty left in the fibers to keep the meat moist. Pure chile powder is made with just ground chiles—no oregano or cumin in the mix. Look for it in the spice aisle or near the Southwestern foods.

Ingredients

1 cup beer
2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 chipotle canned in adobo sauce, seeded and minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon pure ancho
chile powder
1 (4-pound) beef brisket, trimmed of surface fat
3½ pounds sweet potatoes,
peeled and cut into 3-inch pieces

Instructions
1. Mix beer, cornmeal, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, salt, chipotle and garlic in a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker.
2. Rub chile powder into brisket; place in slow cooker and turn to coat. Cover and cook on high 6 hours.
3. Add potatoes; cook 3 hours, or until meat is fork-tender.
4. Remove meat and potatoes; skim fat from sauce. Slice meat and return with potatoes to the sauce; cover and keep warm up to 2 hours. Serves 10.

We love veggie burgers, but they unfortunately don’t love the grill—proving to be too tender for it. So, we found a happy medium by adding canned black beans to lean ground beef, for a healthier burger. Serve with guacamole salsa.

Ingredients
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 pound lean ground beef
¼ cup diced red onion
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
½ teaspoon salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
4 hamburger buns
Instructions
1. Place drained beans in a large bowl and mash beans with a potato masher. Add beef, onion, chili powder, cumin oregano, salt and pepper; mix to combine. Shape into 4 burgers and grill, broil or pan-fry until cooked through. Place burgers on buns and serve. Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 (5-pound) beef brisket
12 ounces tomato paste
1 tablespoon olive oil
Coarsely ground black pepper
1 pound chopped onion (about 4 medium onions)
¼ cup diced garlic (about 12 cloves)
1 (750ml) bottle burgundy wine
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
½ cup low-sodium soy sauce (optional)
2/3 cup water
4 slices crustless rye bread, cubed (optional)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet until hot. Add meat and sear over high heat until lightly browned.
3. Rub brisket with tomato paste, salt and pepper.
4. Place onions in a large roasting pan. Place meat, fat side up, on top of onions.
5. Combine garlic, wine, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, soy sauce (if using) and water. Whisk. Pour over brisket
6. Cover and bake 2½ to 3 hours, basting often with pan juices. Uncover add rye bread, if using, and bake 30 minutes, until brisket is fork tender. Serves 12.

New York State’s big claim to food fame is buffalo sauce, a mixture of melted butter and hot sauce normally found on fried chicken wings. Watch your tailgating guests gather around the grill to taste a burger variation on the buffalo theme.

Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter, cut in small pieces
1?3 cup mild hot sauce (such as Durkee Red Hot)
½ cup finely crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 pounds ground buffalo or beef chuck, 85 percent lean
½ teaspoon celery seed
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
6 hamburger buns, split

Instructions
1. Before You Go: Melt butter in a small microwaveable bowl or stovetop. Whisk in hot sauce.
2. Mix blue cheese and garlic in small bowl.
3. Using your hands, gently mix buffalo or beef, celery seed, onion and ¼ cup hot sauce mixture in a medium bowl until blended. Using a light touch, form into 12 patties about 4 ½ inches in diameter and no more than ½ inch thick. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of cheese-garlic mixture in center of 6 patties. Top with remaining patties and press together, sealing edges. Refrigerate burgers until ready to grill.
4. When You Get There: Heat grill to medium. Brush and oil grill grate. Grill burgers, covered, 7 to 9 minutes, turning after about 4 minutes, for medium-done (150F, slightly pink). Add 1 minute per side for well-done (160F). Brush with remaining hot sauce mixture during last 2 minutes of cooking. Toast buns if you like. Serves 6.

This recipe uses a slow cooker to cook brisket, so place brisket in cooker.
Sprinkle soup mix on meat and spread chili sauce over top.
Season as desired with garlic powder and black pepper.
Sprinkle diced onions over meat and add water.
Cook 4 hours or until meat is tender.
Allow to cool a few minutes before slicing.

Preheat oven to 325F.
Place brisket in roasting pan.
Add celery, onion, chili sauce, salt and pepper.
Roast uncovered 1 to 1 1/2 hours and bast frequently.
Cover and roast brisket 3 to 3 ½ hours.
Add beer in final hour of cooking.

Preheat oven to 300F.
Trim excess fat from brisket.
Season with garlic powder.
Place brisket on heavy duty foil and place on a rimmed baking sheet or glass dish.
Mix remaining ingredients together and pour the mixture over brisket.
Pull foil over brisket and cover loosely, creating a tent.
Bake 1 hour per pound.
Place meat on cutting board and allow to cool.
Slice into thin slices and place back in baking dish without foil.
Pour juices over meat.
Serve immediately or refrigerate to serve later.
To reheat, place dish in 350F oven 30 to 45 minutes.

Place brisket in roasting pan with fat-side up.
Pour Italian dressing over meat.
Cover and cook at 250F to 300F for 7 to 8 hours.

In a dutch oven heat the vegetable or canola oil over medium to medium-high heat.
Brown the onions in the oil and remove them from the pan.
Place the brisket in the pan and brown on all sides.
Return the onions to the pan and season to taste with salt, pepper, and paprika. Put garlic in pan and cover.
Reduce heat and simmer for 3 to 4 hours, turning brisket occasionally.
Place potatoes in pan during the last 20-30 minutes of cooking.
Remove brisket from pan and slice across the grain.
Thicken gravy in pan with flour, if desired.

It also is a place where hopefully other caregivers that are coping with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and caring for wives, husbands, parents, patients, or others can share their experiences, feelings, and knowledge with each other.

Alzheimer’s disease is a much worse disease than I ever imagined until I found myself having to care for a 72 year old wife and a 95 year old mom, both of whom are afflicted with this terrible disease. Stressed and frustrated to say the least.

I thought Alzheimer’s disease was just forgetting where your car keys were, or where you put the TV remote control. I never dreamed that it has such a debilitating effect on persons afflicted with the disease, and I surely never realized just how difficult and stressful it can be for caregivers.

Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder and it was named for German physician Alois Alzheimer, who first described the disease in 1906. Scientists have learned a great deal about Alzheimer’s disease since that time.

Here are some facts about Alzheimer’s:

• Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive and fatal brain disease. It is estimated that as many as 5.3 million Americans are afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease destroys brain cells. It causes memory loss and creates problems with thinking and behavior. These problems can be severe enough to affect work, hobbies and social life.
• Alzheimer’s normally gets worse over time, and it is fatal. You may be surprised to know that it is the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States.
• Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia. Dementia is a general term describing memory loss and other intellectual abilities that are serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for a whopping 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases.
• Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. However, there are treatments for symptoms and these treatments combined with the right services and support can help make life a little better for the millions of Americans living with Alzheimer’s. There are worldwide efforts under way to find more and better ways to treat the disease, or to delay its onset, or prevent it from developing altogether.

What Causes Alzheimer’s?

Doctors and scientists are still trying to answer that question. They are pretty much in agreement that plaques and tangles are a major factor. They also agree that there are risk factors that affect a person’s likelihood of developing the disease.

What Are Plaques and Tangles?

Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by a build-up of proteins in the brain. While this can’t be measured in a living person, autopsies have revealed this to be true, and the build-up manifests itself in two different ways.

One Of These Is Plaques, which are deposits of the protein beta-amyloid that accumulate in the spaces between nerve cells.

The Other Is Tangles,which are deposits of the protein tau that accumulate inside of nerve cells.

Doctors and scientists still don’t know exactly how plaques and tangles are related to Alzheimer’s disease, but they do have some solid theories. One such theory is that they block the nerve cells’ ability to communicate with each other, and this in turn makes it difficult for the cells to survive.

Autopsies have shown that nearly everyone will develop some plaques and tangles as they age, but those with Alzheimer’s disease will develop far more than those who do not develop the disease. Scientists still don’t know why some people develop more than others, but they know it is true.

Known Risk Factors For Alzheimer’s

Factor One–Age

Simply getting older is the number one risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s.
Fact– One out of eight people over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s.
Fact–One out of every two people over the age of 85 has Alzheimer’s.
Fact–The odds that you will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s nearly doubles every five years after age 65.

Factor Two–Family History

Those people who have a parent or sibling that had Alzheimer’s disease are two to three times more likely to develop the disease than those with no family history of Alzheimer’s. And, if more than one close relative has the disease, the risk increases even more.

Scientists have identified two kinds of genes that are associated with this family risk factor. The first, known as ApoE 4, is thought to be a “risk gene” that increases the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s, but does not necessarily guarantee it. In addition to ApoE 4, scientists note that there may be up to a dozen more risk genes that are yet to be discovered.

The second kind of gene is a “deterministic gene”. These are much rarer than risk genes. Deterministic genes are only found in a few hundred extended families around the world. If a deterministic gene is inherited, the person will almost surely develop Alzheimer’s, and most likely at a much earlier age.

Factor Three–Lifestyle Factors

Age and family history are something we can’t control, but scientists have also identified several lifestyle factors that can possibly influence a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. A connection has been shown to exist between serious head injury and future development of Alzheimer’s. In view of that finding, persons who practice safety measures such as wearing seat belts and not engaging in activities where there is a high risk of falling are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s.

It is also likely that exercise and a healthy diet lead to a reduced Alzheimer’s risk. Also, avoiding tobacco, limiting alcohol consumption, and staying socially and mentally active have been shown to have a protective effect against Alzheimer’s disease.

Finally, there appears to be a strong link between heart health and brain health. Persons who are free of heart disease or related conditions are at a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or another kind of dementia than persons who have cardiovascular problems.

Stay tuned for more information…..

I will be making regular posts giving information on possible causes, treatments, and cures for Alzheimer’s disease. I will also be outlining my experiences coping with Alzheimer’s as a caregiver, and I invite readers to make comments and share experiences that may help all of us provide care for loved ones while at the same time maintaining our own health and well being.

Lewis S Poteet