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It can be hard to keep track of all the features that Matomo (Piwik) has to offer. To find out if Matomo is the right web analytics tool for you, check out this ever-expanding list of features.
Web Analytics Features
All standard statistics reports: top keywords and search engines, websites, social media websites, top page URLs, page titles, user countries, providers, operating system, browser marketshare, screen resolution, desktop VS mobile, engagement (time on site, pages per visit, repeated visits), top campaigns, custom variables, top entry/exit pages, downloaded files, and many more, classified into four main analytics report categories – Visitors, Actions, Referrers, Goals/Ecommerce (30+ reports). See Tour of Matomo (Piwik).
- Real time data updates
Watch real time flow of visits to your website. Get a detailed view of your visitors, pages they have visited and goals they have triggered.
- Customizable Dashboard
Create new dashboards with widget configuration fit to your needs.
- All Websites Dashboard
Best way to get an overview of what is happening on all your websites at once.
- Row Evolution
Current & past metric data for any row in any report.
- Analytics for Ecommerce
Understand and improve your online business thanks to advanced Ecommerce analytics features.
- Goal conversion tracking
Track Goals and identify whether you are meeting your current business objectives.
- Event Tracking
Measure any interaction by users on your websites and apps.
- Content Tracking
Measure impressions and clicks and CTR for image banners, text banners and any element on your pages.
- Site Search Analytics
Track searches done on your internal search engine.
- Custom Dimensions
Assign any custom data to your visitors or actions (like pages, events, …) and then visualize the reports of how many visits, conversions, pageviews, etc. there were for each Custom Dimension.
- Custom Variables
similar to Custom Dimensions: custom name-value pair that you can assign to your visitors (or page views) using the JavaScript Tracking API, and then visualize the reports of how many visits, conversions, etc. for each custom variable.
- Geolocation
Locate your visitors for accurate detection of Country, Region, City, Organization. View the visitors statistics on a World Map by Country, Region, City. View your latest visitors in real time.
- Pages Transitions
View what visitors did before, and after viewing specific page.
- Page Overlay
Display statistics directly on top of your website with our smart overlay.
- Site speed & pages speed reports
Keeps track of how fast your website delivers content to your visitors.
- Track different user interactions
Automatic tracking of file downloads, clicks on external website links, optional tracking of 404 pages
- Analytics campaign tracking
Automatically detects Google Analytics campaign parameters in your URLs.
- Track traffic from search engines
More than 800 different search engines tracked!
- Accurately measure the time spent by visitors on your website (provides a more accurate bounce rate metric).
- Scheduled email reports (PDF and HTML reports)
Embed reports in your app or website (40+ Widgets available) or embed PNG Graphs in any custom page, email, or app.
- Annotations
Create text notes in your graphs, to remember about particular events.
- With Custom Alerts you can monitor your business and receive alerts on your phone or by email when any of your Key Performance Indicator increases or decreases.
- Visitor Log
- Visitor Profile helps you understand each visitors' individual behavior by summarizing and listing all their visits.
- No data limit
You can keep all your data, without any storage limits, forever!
See our limits analytics data fact sheet.
Premium Features
- Heatmap Analytics: Heatmaps, Scroll maps and Clicks of your users displayed in beautiful overlay heatmap reports.
- Session Recording: record all activities on a page of a real visitor such as clicks, mouse movements, scrolls, window resizes, page changes, and form interactions. You can then replay these interactions in a video to see exactly how a visitor interacted with your website.
- A/B Testing Platform: experiment and optimise your websites, apps and marketing campaigns by running A/B tests running increase your conversions.
- Custom Reports: pull out the information you need in order to be successful and gain new insights. Save heaps of time, money, and reduce the risk of human error by creating new reports in just seconds.
- Form Analytics: make your forms better at converting your users! See where and when do visitors leave your forms.
- Media Analytics: powerful insights into how your audience watches your videos and listens to your audio (website).
- Visualise your Conversion Funnels and understand where your visitors drop off to increase your conversions, sales and revenue with your existing traffic.
- User Flow is a awesome visual representation of the most popular paths your users took through your website or app. Get more insights by analyzing those paths and where along in the path they exited your site.
- Detailed Search Engine Keywords Performance: all keywords searched by your users on search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo are now visible into your Referrers reports! The ultimate solution to 'Keyword not defined' and 'keyword not provided'.
- Multi Channel Conversion Attribution: get a clear understanding of how much credit each of your marketing channel (referrer) is actually responsible for to shift your marketing efforts wisely.
- Roll-Up Reporting lets you aggregate data from multiple websites, mobile apps and shops into one (or more) Roll-Up site to gain new insights and save time.
- Login SAML plugin lets your users log in Matomo (Piwik) using SAML. Compatible with any SSO Identity Provider such as OneLogin, Okta, Ping Identity, ADFS, Google, Salesforce, SharePoint.
- Detailed Audit log of user activities happening in your analytics platform for better security and problem diagnostic.
- White Label plugin lets you resell Matomo (Piwik) to your customers and giving them access to their analytics reports where all Matomo-branded widgets are removed.
Administration Options
- Manage unlimited users
- Set user access to multiple websites
- Manage unlimited websites
- Exclude IPs and IP ranges
- Exclude URL parameters
- Timezone support, for each website
- Supports 100+ currencies
- Powerful options to White Label Matomo (Piwik) are available, ideal for large agencies or when you need a clean, branded Matomo interface
- Upload your custom logo for UI and email reports
- Automatically delete old logs and old data reports to keep you database size small
- Integrate with several SSO solutions such as LDAP or SAML to let your users login Matomo (Piwik) using your existing users directory.
- Integrates with more than 90 CMS, web frameworks or Ecommerce shops
More Goodness!
- Official Matomo Mobile app for Android and iOs smartphones
- Free community support forums
- Professional consultation services
- 50+ languages available
- Let your customers and clients sign up to your Matomo (Piwik)
- 100% FREE Software (Open Source, GPL license), yet compatible with commercial uses
Tracking API
- By default, we recommend the Javascript Tracking API
- Mobile App Analytics with the Matomo (Piwik) iOS SDK, the Android SDK and the Titanium Module.
- Asynchronous code for faster page loads
- Track & record any data using the REST Tracking API, via the PHP Tracking API Client or the Java Tracking API client, C# DotNet Tracker
- Track custom page URLs and page titles
- Track subdomains
- User ID lets you accurately measure your unique users across multiple devices.
- Cross domain linking for accurate visitor tracking across several domain names.
- Supports both 1st party cookies (default) and 3rd party cookie (optional)
- Import your Apache, Nginx, IIS server logs for processing in Matomo (Piwik)!
- Track server speed generation time for each Page view
- Track Single-page websites and web applications
- Supports pages encoded in unicode (for example, UTF-8) but also supports all other charsets
Data Export & APIs
- Data Export in Excel, XML, Json and more!
- Fully-featured analytics API
- Administration API (REST) to create/update/delete pragmatically: users API, websites API, goals API, etc.
- Segmentation support in the API
Log Analytics: Import and Analyze your Server Logs
- Reprocess historical data from your server logfiles
- Report server errors and other http status codes
- Track and identify search engine and other bots
- Powerful Custom Data Platform and Data Management Platform
- Keep your data private on your server
- Compatible with Windows, MacOs, Linux, Solaris, IIS, Apache, Nginx, and more
- Long Term Supported: Matomo (Piwik) is the analytics platform for your mission critical projects
- 5 Minute installation
- Other one click Installation options: Softaculous, Installatron, Microsoft Web Platform Installer, and our official Matomo (Piwik) Debian package.
- Easy One Click Update
- Strong focus on software security & excellent track record
- Strong focus on software Quality Assurance & testing
- Compatible with high traffic websites
- Supports servers behind proxies, works in a load balanced architecture, and supports IPv4 and IPv6 addresses
- Works for Intranet websites
- SharePoint Analytics: integrate Matomo (Piwik) with your SharePoint service to learn more about the productivity of your employees and overall user engagement.
- Using JavaScript by default, Matomo (Piwik) can also import server logs or track your Mobile Apps analytics.
- Search Bots Crawl Overview reports
User Privacy
- Privacy compliant web analytics including powerful GDPR tools for exercising data subjects rights.
- Setting to anonymise your visitors' IPs
- Iframe included to let your visitor opt-out of Matomo (Piwik) tracking
- DoNotTrack support by default
- Asking for consent
- Use 1st party cookies by default, with an option to enable third party cookies
- Replace User ID with a pseudonym
Community Contributions
- Open Marketplace with more than 60 plugins Enhance your Matomo (Piwik) analytics with valuable additional features.
- Themes for Matomo (Piwik) Feel like a change of colors? Try our community submitted themes, or create your own!
- Plugins for CMS: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, and more than 100 other softwares! With one of our Matomo (Piwik) Integration plugins.
- Libraries for programming languages: Python, Ruby, and more!
Matomo (Piwik) is an Award winning platform used by more than 1 million websites worldwide. We regularly release new versions.
Help & Support
With Matomo (Piwik) you are never alone or lost. We offer several powerful resources:
- User guides: discover all features of Matomo (Piwik) and learn how to use them.
- Glossary: all commonly used terms in Matomo Analytics (formerly Piwik Analytics).
- FAQs: most frequently asked questions and answers.
- Developer Zone: Code, Design & Innovate with the Matomo Analytics (formerly Piwik Analytics) platform.
- Book a training workshop for you and your colleagues and help your organisation implement and use Matomo (Piwik) effectively.
- Matomo (Piwik) community forums: free support by the community.
- Business and Enterprise plans: paid support for medium to large businesses and corporate users of Matomo Analytics (formerly Piwik Analytics) who need to leverage the full power of the Matomo (Piwik) platform. (SLAs, Phone support, Account manager, by the creators of Matomo)
Our Roadmap is public and driven by the large community of users.


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SOWETO, South Africa — It was fitting that on the national day of prayer Sunday for the late Nelson Mandela, the pews and every available standing space at Regina Mundi Catholic Church were filled to capacity with congregants, tourists and members of the press.
The church, built in 1964, is woven into the history of the township that was the epicenter of the uprising against apartheid and its congregants gathered here and in thousands of churches nationwide as foreign dignitaries arrived to honor the man who led the fight for democracy and an end to white rule. A public memorial service is planned at a soccer stadium Tuesday, and an invite-only funeral will be held Sunday in his hometown.
Regina Mundi was the church that offered anti-apartheid activists shelter from police bullets and tear gas during the now famous 1976 uprising in which thousands of students protested and more than 100 died.
So it was fitting as well that Doris Malinga sat on the wooden pews Sunday in the church that has been at the center of the pivotal moments of her life.
It was in the brick building with stain glassed windows and marble altar where she sought refuge from the police in 1976. It was in the church's courtyard where, she says, supporters of the minority white rule killed her 20-year-old son 17 years later.
And it was in those very pews where she sat the following year and began to let go of her anger against white oppressors. That was when she heard Mandela's call for peace, forgiveness and reconciliation after he himself was released from 27 years in prison for trying to overthrow the government.
As she heard the priest praise Mandela's virtue and call on the congregation to follow the late president's example, Malinga is flooded with memories.
"I feel choked up," she says in her native Zulu, holding her hand against her chest. Malinga is 70 and the travails of her life are etched in deep lines on her face. But she is fiercely proud of her family's activism.
She's dressed head-to-toe in yellow, green and black, the colors of the African National Congress, the governing political party that Mandela headed and which is known for its push to dismantle apartheid.
Malinga says she has been a committed member of the ANC since her older sister, who raised her after their mother died, introduced her to the party. At church, she wears an ANC flag wrapped around her neck like a scarf.
"I won't wear black," she says. "I must say farewell to him because he was the ANC.
President Jacob Zuma had called on all South Africans to visit church, synagogues or any house of worship on Sunday to reflect on Mandela's legacy.
The government said Sunday that 53 heads of state and government had confirmed that they would be attending a national memorial service and state funeral for the country's first black and democratically elected president. President Obama will be among them, and Prince Charles of England.
Sitting in Regina Mundi after the service, Tozi Mthokazisi, 36, Lucky Cecilia, 49, and Patience Polite, 44, marvel at how much their country has changed since apartheid was dismantled and Mandela became president in 1994.
"He was a hero," says Cecilia. She says blacks could not walk about freely or visit friends in other places because the government kept track of their every move. They didn't have electricity or plumbing.
The trio, all mothers, say the ability to finish high school and go to college is the single biggest change that has been afforded blacks since the end of apartheid.
"Before black people could only be teachers, police or nurses or be domestic workers," Polite says. Today, she says, more people can go to college with scholarships and choose their own career path.
The ladies, however, say the country's leaders have not fulfilled the promise laid out by Mandela's victories. They say corruption is rampant and the gap between the very rich and the very poor grows wider.
Mthokazisi says she was too young to remember the daily struggles and humiliation of blacks during apartheid. But, she says, her country — and the world — will never see another leader like Mandela.
"He was chosen," she says. "It was his actions and behavior. It was the way he approached people. Mandela was the father to us all."
Source: usatoday.com

subset: commoncrawl


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PEN June 30, 2013 (pdf)
We are excited to share with you how the Governor's "Rebalancing" initiative is increasing community care options for former state-operated developmental center residents such as Ron, Michael, and Dennie, while reducing the number of outdated, expensive institutions. In fact, Governor Pat Quinn reemphasized his commitment to improving the lives of people with developmental disabilities and mental challenges in Illinois during a "Going Home" rally in April, hosted by several disability advocacy groups.
We would also like to tell you why Illinois is on its way to becoming the most immigrant-friendly state and how Illinois is among several states that have found common ground in their commitment to improving access to work support programs for eligible low-income families.
Additionally in this issue, the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) unveiled a new human services digital record system that saves time and resources while reducing customer response time from days to seconds; IDHS Secretary Michelle R. B. Saddler received the Adlai E. Stevenson Public Service Award; and several IDHS staff were honored for doing an exceptional job of supporting persons with disabilities in the workplace.
And find out why Acting Assistant Secretary Nélida Smyser-De Léon traveled to Woodstock, IL; where LINK card customers can receive twice the dollar value when purchasing food; and how the IDHS was able to provide assistance to thousands of Illinois residents affected by the recent flooding.
As always, we are committed to partnering with you to serve the individuals, families, and communities who need us now more than ever. Enjoy!
Governor Pat Quinn addressed the ARC "Going Home" rally in April, hosted by several disability advocacy groups, to emphasize his commitment to improving the lives of people with developmental disabilities and mental challenges in Illinois.
As part of his agenda to ensure all people have the opportunity to follow their dreams and reach their full potential, Governor Quinn launched his Rebalancing Initiative in 2011 to increase community care and reduce the number of outdated, expensive institutions.
In the last several years, the Governor and the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) have closed two State-Operated Developmental Centers (SODCs), and increased community care options in Illinois, which are proven to provide a higher quality, more independent life, according to numerous studies.
"This is a historic time for Illinois as we continue our commitment to change the status quo and improve life for people with disabilities and mental health challenges in Illinois," Governor Quinn said. "Moving from outdated institutions to community care is improving Illinois' quality of care and allowing people to lead more independent and fulfilling lives."
Hundreds of supporters and advocates gathered in support of the governor's Rebalancing Initiative. Numerous studies show that individuals living in the community have a better quality of life than those living in large institutions. Community settings allow individuals to receive the care they need, including 24-hour care. In addition, community care is also significantly less costly than institution-based care. The average cost for Murray Center is $239,000 per year per resident, while the average cost for a Murray resident living in the community while receiving the supports they need is estimated at $120,000 per year.
The governor's proposed fiscal year 2014 budget will move 1,150 individuals into community living, home-based services including 500 individuals off of the waiting list. The Quinn Administration has developed a comprehensive, person-centered plan to transition residents safely into the community, ensuring that each individual's new home meets their specific needs. The plan is being implemented carefully and responsibly over the next several months to ensure a smooth transition for residents.
"We are working closely with families and guardians using a person-centered planning process to ensure safe transitions for residents," said Kevin Casey, Director of the IDHS Division of Developmental Disabilities. "We developed a comprehensive, well thought out plan to transition residents safely into the community and ensure that each individual's new home will meet their specific needs."
The Governor's rebalancing initiative is enabling hundreds of people with disabilities to move out of large institutions and move into their own homes in the community. The Illinois Department of Human Services recently visited one of those homes in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood and found three men, all former state-operated developmental center residents, thriving and living a new life of choices and dignity.
They make their meals, do their laundry, go out for walks or play basketball at a local park. One resident works part-time earning a paycheck he uses for shopping with his girlfriend or going to concerts.
"I am enjoying a lot more freedom. I like the freedom. I like going for walks. I like spending one-on-one time. I like watching basketball on TV and playing basketball," said Michael, former Jacksonville Developmental Center resident. "We just got a membership going to the Y. We go to the Y once a month and walk around the track and I play basketball and then lift weights."
Robin Lank, director of the Individual Advocacy Group, oversees the management of individuals with developmental disabilities.
"We provide the staff to support them in their own home environment and part of our agency's mission is to integrate the individuals in the community. They're living in their own home. Giving them opportunities for choices and provide them the staff to support them in that role, not only integrate them in their own home, but their own bedroom, their own bath, and have an ownership of their own home," Lank said.
The Individual Advocacy Group also encourages residents to engage in community events and take part in daily activities such as grocery shopping, banking, concerts, fairs, events or things people enjoy doing in the community.
Governor Pat Quinn released an inter-agency report detailing the efforts of his New Americans Initiative to welcome everyone in Illinois. The report comes in advance of the Governor's upcoming trade mission to Mexico, which is part of his agenda to create jobs in Illinois and drive the state's economy forward.
"This report shows the major progress we have made in welcoming new Americans to Illinois," Governor Quinn said. "I invite every newcomer to visit one of our innovative 'one-stop' Welcoming Centers for health screening, job training, legal assistance or help in applying to college or for a mortgage. We are committed to making Illinois the most immigrant-friendly state in the nation."
Governor Quinn made the announcement during a recent visit to the Illinois Welcoming Center in Melrose Park, which provides a wide range of services to newcomers under the Governor's Office of New Americans. He was joined by cabinet members, immigrant rights activists, and several consuls general to highlight the services, partnerships and legislation spearheaded by the Office of New Americans in 2012 to improve the integration of Illinois' two million immigrants.
In 2012, the Office of New Americans grew the number of Welcoming Centers from two to five (North Riverside, Melrose Park, Chicago's Northwest Side, Chicago's Southwest Side and Aurora), and another will open soon in Chicago's Southeast Side. Since 2010, the Office of New Americans boosted the number of service providers from 11 to 25 state agencies, and made more information available online and in multiple languages. To aid the growing numbers of immigrants who live outside of the Chicago area, the Governor's Office used a Welcoming Center "Mobile Unit."
According to the report, this major progress meant that at least 11,000 new Americans utilized the services and programs offered by the Welcoming Centers in 2012.
In the upcoming year, Governor Quinn plans to open a new Illinois Welcoming Center in Chicago's Southeast Side, and implement a statewide "Language Access Policy" to ensure meaningful access to newcomers with limited English language proficiency. To read the complete report about Governor Quinn's Office of New Americans or learn about available services, visit immigrants.illinois.gov.
Illinois is among several states that have found common ground in a commitment to improving access to work support programs for eligible low-income families. A new Urban Institute report demonstrates that state agencies participating in the Work Support Strategies (WSS) project, funded largely by the Ford Foundation, reported numerous early gains in its debut year. The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) served as the lead agency on this project in Illinois.
During the planning period (spring 2011 to spring 2012) devoted to examining their delivery of work supports and piloting ways to modernize services, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, and Rhode Island generally took initial steps to:
WSS seeks to improve public programs that address a major national challenge: many parents work yet earn too little to make ends meet. When parents cannot pay for necessities or emergencies arise, they risk derailing their stability on the job and their families' well-being. WSS builds on research underscoring the value to work and child development when families get the full package of help available, including health insurance, nutrition assistance, and child care subsidies.
At the same time, overloaded state staff, outdated computer systems, and inflexible practices pose significant barriers for smooth, effective agency operations and for working families who want to sign up for benefits. Participation in individual programs has grown in recent years, but there has been far less progress in ensuring that families receive and keep the full package of benefits.
"Almost all the states shared one overriding reason for their interest: They believed their pre-reform systems weren't working," said Olivia Golden, a fellow at the Urban Institute and WSS principal investigator. "New approaches promised to reduce burden and administrative costs while improving timeliness and reducing errors. States also thought reforms could lead to more responsive and less bureaucratic government - valued across party lines - and to benefits for families, such as healthier children or parents more able to sustain employment."
From the planning year, six states -- Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Rhode Island - are now in the midst of the three-year implementation phase of WSS. States had many successes during the planning year.
In three IDHS pilot offices, the goal was to move from crisis management to process management by realigning workers' tasks. Early signs show much quicker service delivery. Illinois' report outlines how the state approached transforming local office practices in the face of overwhelming caseloads.
"We knew that re-envisioning our local office operations was a critical first step to ensuring that technology and policy changes were successful," said Jennifer Wagner, Associate Director of the IDHS Division of Family & Community Services. "Our work with the pilot offices and their leaders was critical to identifying a longer-term vision for how we want to serve customers."
With passage of the ACA, a key question was whether states could maintain their commitment to integrating health and human services programs while meeting timelines for ACA implementation. In fact, most WSS states have redoubled their commitment to integration. New federal money to modernize computer systems allows them to improve technology for multiple programs at once, and policy and data assessments conducted for WSS showed that jointly streamlining programs is more efficient than changing rules one program at a time.
States also learned about what it takes to carry out reform. Despite multi-billion-dollar programs under their leadership, state agency executives generally faced great barriers to data-informed management at the outset. Making progress required not just better technology to produce better data but also improvements to staff capacity and culture, such as facilitating data-sharing among technical and policy experts, state executives, and managers in county or local offices.
Governor Pat Quinn announced a new digital record system at the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) that will eliminate more than seven million documents per year is already reducing response times for client service from days to seconds. The announcement is part of Governor Quinn's commitment to reduce government waste and save taxpayer money.
"Our human services caseworkers can best serve their customers by spending time with them, not battling wasteful paperwork," Governor Quinn said. "This system will allow us to increase accountability while eliminating millions of pieces of paper from the process, helping our caseworkers focus on the needs of their clients."
The IDHS is using IBM software to digitize three forms critical to the benefit eligibility determination process: calculation sheets, the combined application form and the chronological record of case processing. Digitizing these forms will eliminate more than seven million pieces of paper annually. With the new system, these forms are electronically filed, which produces an immediate paper savings. It also eliminates the need to wade through more than 100 million pieces of paper stored in case files at local offices and warehouses throughout the state when caseworkers need to retrieve and update information.
"This solution is an excellent example of state government and private industry working together to develop strategies for maximizing our limited resources," IDHS Secretary Michelle R. B. Saddler said. "Just as important, it helps us streamline our local offices and improve efficiency, which in turn enhances the workplace, employee morale and service to our customers."
The IBM system cost $325,000 but paid for itself in just three months with the savings that were realized from its use by more than 2,000 IDHS caseworkers. Caseworkers input information into the system and the system automatically determines program eligibility and stores the electronic forms in a central repository for later retrieval. Caseworker time spent retrieving information has gone from days to just seconds, which has been a big boost to customer service.
The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) was invited to the Arab-American Family Services Organization to speak about employment opportunities with state government.
Mario Perales, from the IDHS Office of Latino Affairs, explained the employment application process and encouraged bilingual individuals, especially Arab speaking, to apply for state employment within the IDHS and state government in general.
The workshop was divided into two segments, "How to Apply for State Employment" and "Understanding the Application and Grading Process." All participants walked away with applications, brochures detailing the employment process, and a list of underutilized job titles.
President of the Greater Chicago Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration Greg Jackson presents Illinois Department of Human Services Secretary Michelle R. B. Saddler with the Adlai E. Stevenson Public Services Award in Chicago, IL. The award honors individuals who have made substantial contributions to good government and public administration in the Chicago area.
Several Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) staff members were among those honored for doing an exceptional job of supporting persons with disabilities in the workplace. The awards were presented by the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) Director Rocco J. Claps and the Illinois Department of Human Services Secretary (IDHS) Michelle R. B. Saddler
during a ceremony of the state's Interagency Committee on Employees with Disabilities (ICED). Others receiving awards were the Illinois Tollway, State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), and Schnucks grocery store.
The ICED represents the interests of more than 3,000 employees with disabilities in state government. The Awards Program promotes independence, access, and opportunities for employees with disabilities.
"On behalf of the administration of Governor Quinn it is a privilege to be here today to shine a light on the truly exceptional performance of these organizations and individuals who have all worked so hard to create opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in the workforce," said IDHR Director Claps. "Rep. Harris has worked tirelessly as an advocate for persons with disabilities. And the Illinois Tollway was deservedly singled out for recognition for its outstanding affirmative action record in employing people with disabilities, including recruitment, hiring and accommodation practices."
"IDHS is proud that four of our employees - among so many who work hard every day to serve and empower persons with disabilities around the state - were singled out for special recognition today," said Secretary Saddler. "We also salute the Tollway, Rep. Harris and all the other honorees for their dedication to creating a workplace
environment that gives every worker an opportunity to fulfill their potential."
Certificates of Award were also presented to the following state agencies for hiring employees through the successful Disability Opportunities Program: The Departments of Military Affairs, Children and Family Services, Public Health, Natural Resources, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, and Human Services as well as the Gaming Board and the State Retirement System.
The ICED award for Employee of the Year went to Richard Jonathans, a ten-year employee of IDHS' Division of Rehabilitatition Services in Waukegan. Jonathas is described as a knowledgeable and dependable worker who empowers customers on a daily basis with his caring, positive approach. IDHS employees Elisabeth Mann of Rockford and Benro Ogunyipe of Chicago received certificates as well.
The ICED Advocate of the Year award went to Wanda Bethel Satkas, an IDHS employee at the Ludeman Developmental Center in Park Forest. Satkas advocates on behalf of her son and others with autism. She started an autism organization 16 years ago that has made a real difference in the lives of countless parents and persons with disabilities.
The Illinois Department of Human Services Acting Assistant Secretary Nélida Smyser-De Léon joined local elected officials during a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the new McHenry County Family Community Resource Center in Woodstock, IL. The new resource center will give local residents greater access to human services offered by the department such as cash, medical, and SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps).
Governor Quinn reminded working families across Illinois to take advantage of the LINK Up Illinois Double Value Coupon Program during Illinois' farmers market season. The announcement is part of Governor Quinn's agenda to drive the economy forward and increase the accessibility and affordability of healthy food options in Illinois.
"The LINK Up Illinois Double Value Coupon Program helps to support Illinois children and our economy," Governor Quinn said. "By encouraging families to buy fresh, healthy foods from nearby farmers markets, the program invests back into local economies and makes sure nutritious needs are met."
Many underserved communities in Illinois have limited access to affordable fresh foods. Farmers markets have sprung up in a number of these communities, however healthy food options sold at these markets can be more expensive and difficult to afford.
A program of the organization Experimental Station in partnership with Wholesome Wave and the Illinois Farmers Market Association, LINK Up Illinois aims to connect low-income residents with nutritious food options by providing farmers markets throughout the state with Double Value Coupons. The Double Value Coupon Program allows Illinois LINK card users to receive twice the dollar value when purchasing LINK-approved foods at their local farmers market. In 2012, LINK Up Illinois helped farmers markets throughout the state serve more than 6,000 families and generate over $227,000 in combined LINK and Double Value Coupon Program purchases.
The Double Value Coupon Program also boosts local economies by driving LINK dollars (federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program dollars) to Illinois farmers selling their produce at one or more of the 38 farmers markets currently participating in LINK Up Illinois. According to a recent study by Moody's, every $1 of LINK money spent generates $1.73 for local economies, meaning that participating farmers markets generated over $392,700 in local economic benefit in 2012. A growing number of farmers have also increased their farm or market staff and diversified their product offerings as a direct result of the Double Value Coupon Program.
The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) offered food assistance in 33 counties, June 17 to 21, to individuals impacted by the April flooding. The USDA's Food and Nutrition Services and Governor Pat Quinn authorized IDHS to offer special Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to residents in those counties declared federal disaster areas as a result of flooding in April.
The Disaster SNAP benefits were offered to individuals and families of specific areas of Cook County and 32 other Illinois counties. Over the course of seven days of taking applications, the IDHS had served as many as 50,000 households and 160,000 people. The department distributed more than $21 million in SNAP benefits. Some applicants camped out overnight and stood in line for hours to receive assistance. Many IDHS staff worked diligently to ensure that the program was a success. The department was aided by several other state, county, and local organizations. The IDHS used a ticket system to help control the long lines. Applicants were given tickets enabling them to return at a later time so they wouldn't have to wait in line for long periods of time.
"With this special program, we were able to provide those affected by the flooding with extra money to buy groceries and take care of their families. We are appreciative to program applicants, as well as our local and state partners for helping ensure order despite the large number of people being served," said IDHS Secretary Michelle R. B. Saddler.
We hope you enjoyed reading this edition of our Public Engagement Newsletter. As always, please feel free to forward and share our newsletter with your networks, partners, colleagues, customers, and friends.
Don't forget to register online to continue receiving future issues of the Illinois Department of Human Services Public Engagement Newsletter!
Aurelio Huertas Fabrizio
Editor-in-Chief | Public Engagement Newsletter
Illinois Department of Human Services
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Home » Cloud Security » Solution Guide - Cloud Security Solutions for MSSP
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Learn about upcoming opportunities in Public Interest Matters. This newsletter, published twice a month, contains information about current volunteer opportunities and upcoming public interest events at the law school. Paper copies are also available throughout the building, such as on the table outside the Spak and in the student lounge.
.: Main Chicago-Kent event calendar
.: Academic calendar
.: CLE calendar
.: Alumnae/i event calendar
.: Admissions calendar


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As you may know, for the next 6-7 weeks, I will be in New York City to attend the Summer Publishing Institute (SPI) at New York University: School of Professional Studies. This is supposed to be a very intense program, so I've decided to put this blog on hiatus while I'm attending.
Don't worry: I plan on continuing to post on Twitter (@gegallas) and Facebook (facebook.com/gegallas) throughout the coming weeks. Also, once the hiatus is over, I have a number of exciting posts I'll be able to share with you, including:
Photos of my adventures in New York City!
New behind-the-scenes images from my graphic novel The Poet and the Flea!
Never before seen illustrations from various projects!
…and much, much more!!!
Many thanks to my followers for all your support! I'll be back soon! 🙂
Please visit my store: thepoetandtheflea.storenvy.com!
For more updates, follow me on facebook, tumblr and twitter.
Copyright 2015 by G. E. Gallas


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The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 8 to 23 February 1992 in Albertville, France. They were the last Winter Olympics to be held the same year as the Summer Olympics, and the first where the Winter Paralympics were held at the same site.
See AlsoEdit
|Preceded by
Seoul 1988
| Succeeded by
Barcelona 1992
|Preceded by
Calgary 1988
|Winter Olympics
| Succeeded by
Lillehammer 1994
|This article is a stub. Please help Olympics Wiki by expanding it, adding pictures, and improving existing text.


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Fel-Pro Valve Cover Gasket - VS50298R-1
Engine Valve Cover Gasket Set
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Hey players,
LeagueTennis Fall flex leagues are FREE for new players in your area this Fall with promo code LTFORFREE. A great opportunity to play fun, competitive tennis and meet other players! 6 regular season matches followed by playoffs to determine city champs at all levels. Beginner to advanced levels! No set date/time, schedule when convenient by each match deadline.
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Fall Registration Deadlines:
Singles - 9/10 (schedules published 9/18)
Doubles - 10/1 (schedules published 10/9)
Mixed - 10/1 (schedules published 10/9)
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Teresa Bathon on Nov 15, 20165 out of 5 stars
I wasn't really sure if this oil was going to do anything, but I LOVE it! It's seriously the best facial oil i've ever tested, it really helps with my blemishes. It reduces redness and let dimples heal way better. I use it every night before i go to sleep and sometimes under my make-up. I sound like a salesman but I would buy it again everytime, even for that price.
Truly Natural Skincare
We bring you products that are safe, non-toxic, and highly effective. We believe in tangible results you can see and feel, and we believe in the power of nature to bring these results.
Every ingredient that we include in our products is there for a specific therapeutic reason. We do not use fillers of any kind, meaning that almost every ingredient in our products is an "active" ingredient. This results in pure, highly concentrated, and effective formulas that are a rarity in the skincare and cosmetics world today. All of our formulas are original, created and tested by us, on real people — never on animals and always from scratch. All of our products have an emphasis on organic, high quality, and food-grade ingredients.
Knowing that everything we put on our skin quickly absorbs into our bodies, we ethically source the finest raw natural materials the earth has to offer. With ingredients ranging from French pink clay to Brazilian gemstones, we formulate treatments that combine essential vitamins, minerals, and botanicals to restore skin to its optimum health and vitality.
In addition to creating products that give you noticeable results, we also create our products with personal rejuvenation and a little indulgence in mind. We believe that daily bathing and skincare rituals should be enjoyable — a way to carve out some much-needed downtime in your hectic routine. From thoughtfully designed packaging and labels that really allow our ingredients to shine through, to intoxicating scents and luxurious textures, we truly want you to love your skincare and bathing routines.
Founded by Julia Wills and Alexander Kummerow in 2011 in their Seattle kitchen.
Natural ingredients, plant-based food-grade cold-pressed oils, steam distilled therapeutic-grade essential oils, GMO free soy wax, recyclable and reusable packaging, many certified organic ingredients.
Synthetic ingredients, parabens, sodium laurel sulfate, phthalates, chemicals, fillers, animal testing, mineral oils, petroleum.
Around the web
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Owner, Maker, Designer, Curator
Owner, Maker, Designer, Curator
Shop policies
Herbivore Botanicals products are all freshly handcrafted with natural ingredients, no synthetics, no parabens, no SLS, no sodium laurel anythings.
All soaps are made using the cold process method and cure for a minimum of 4 weeks before selling.
I started making soaps because I am a lifelong bath lover and believe in natural products. Soap is an essential and the skin is our biggest organ. Everything we put on our skin is directly absorbed into our bodies and I believe that making a gentle, natural product that will benefit our skin and bodies will increase our overall health and well-being.
Accepted payment methods
- Accepts Etsy Gift Cards and Etsy Credits
Returns and exchanges
Your satisfaction is our top priority and we will do what we can to ensure your happiness with every purchase.
INTERNATIONAL BUYERS: If Customs charges occur please note that you, they buyer are 100% responsible for the fees. We, the seller, are not responsible for customs charges. Please note that International orders can take up to 4 weeks to arrive after they are shipped since all orders must pass through customs and the time frame that this takes is totally out of our hands. Thank you.
If you pay with an "e-check" please note that we do not ship your order until the e-check has cleared.
If you have any problems with your order (not received, not what you were expecting, etc. etc. ) PLEASE contact us so that we can make it right. We truly want to please our customers and will always try our hardest to resolve any situations that come up.
With all of this mind, please keep in mind that the products you are buying are handmade and natural so they tend to have variations from batch to batch (slight changes in color for example).
Additional policies and FAQs
At this time we are unable to make custom items (a totally different type of soap or flavor of lip balm than what is listed in our shop for example). Thanks for understanding.


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You'll have to wait a little bit longer for information on Final Fantasy Versus XIII, according to Tetsuya Nomura.
Joining in on the inaugural episode of Square Enix Merchandise Radio, the game director and character designer was on-hand as a special guest. Naturally, the other staff present couldn't help but ask about when the next details will be revealed for his elusive project.
"It's a delicate situation within the company," explains Nomura. "The date for our next reveal is set and we are working toward preparing information for that."
The date for the next reveal has been set...
Thinking E3 anyone? Either that or the TGS.
JUST GIVE ME A DAMN RELEASE DATE ALREADY!!!!!!!!!I was 17 when this was announced gonna be 24 in July come da fark on.
(ノಥ益ಥ)ノ ┻━┻
Can't help but feel that the game has been a lasting victim of internal company politics. That with Wada leaving, its still not going have much of a chance of being good because Square's head has been up its @$$ for all this time.
OMFG. Every few months you guys come out and say "you'll have to wait a bit longer", or "please be patient". It's almost like we haven't been waiting for 7 YEARS. It's really pathetic at this point that SE can't even show a single screenshot or talk about even a single gameplay feature.
If this isn't the PS4 game that's being shown off at E3 then I give up. Out of all the games they have in development, they have 1 game that looks absolutely awesome. The rest are a pile of shit that few people even care about. You'd think that they would put all their focus on the 1 game that everyone wants. But nope, instead we get Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Strikes Thrice Edition!
There seems to be some sort of gag order on Nomura from the higher ups that deny him to say anything about the game HE is making.
I still believe sometime half way through development the game was moved to the PS4 which makes me think since it was the producer of FF vs.13 Shinji Hashimoto doing that awkward announcement that the FF game he was talking about is indeed E3. With Nomumra saying that they have a date set also say that an E3 announcement for the re-reveal of the game will happen.


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BookPushers.com, Sketchoholic, and Mad Artist Publishing are giving Filipa a chance to turn Filipa's portfolio into an awesome published book for free. The book will be beautiful, a perfect bound specimen in full color stock bright matte (not photographic) paper and a shiny gloss cover. Just as all the Trade Edition Paperback books at MadArtistPublishing bookstore.
Before the book is made, you need to help PUSH TO SHELF and as a thank you Filipa will add your full name in the acknowledgement section of the printed book. Make sure you pre-order the book when you PUSH IT as we will have a limited number of copies available. You can also nominate which images should make it into the book, giving you that extra input.
If you don't see PUSH TO SHELF button and believe Filipa images are good enough for a book, Send Filipa message to tell them to MAKE THE BOOK.
You also can have your own book made by us, add minimum of 15 images and get your friends to start pushing your portfolio. If you can get your friends to push your book, we will make and publis it for you. So Share away and let's spread great art around the world.


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Welcome to your one stop shop for PAT testing, this is a service we have offered since 2006. PAT testing will help you identify any electrical faults or potentially dangerous electrical items before they cause problems. We work around customers with both evening and weekend work possible.
Many clients ask if PAT testing is mandatory, the simple answer to this question is 'NO'. Rest assured this is the same answer every time; we would never pass on incorrect information to clients. For more information on why it is a good idea to get PAT testing done please see our resources for both FAQ's and legislation.
We offer portable appliance testing in Winchester, St Cross, Harestock, Easton, Littleton and surrounding areas. If you are unsure about the number of items located at your company then you can:
We pride ourselves on our communication throughout the whole process. From your initial enquiry through to receiving our quote, booking an appointment, confirmation of the booking and finally our technicians coming in to carry out the service you will find our staff informed and able to deal with all business types.
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Since we started in 2006 we have used Seaward and found that they have been at the forefront of innovation for the industry. The testers they produce are of the best quality and help us to provide a 1st class service to our wide ranging client base.
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Calling is the easiest way to find out a cost and if we can fit you in.
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Kings Canyon, Watarrka National Park, NT
Kings Canyon is part of the Watarrka National Park in Australia's Northern Territory. Sitting at the western end of the George Gill Range, Kings Canyon is approximately midway between Alice Springs and Uluru.
This ancient formation of tall red rock faces that soar above dense palm forests of palms is an important conservation area and refuge for more than 600 species of native plants and animals, many unique to the area.
The soaring sandstone walls of Kings Canyon were formed when small cracks eroded over millions of years. Derived from an Aboriginal word referring to the umbrella bush that thrives here, the Luritja Aboriginal people have called the Watarrka National Park area home for more than 20,000 years.


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Who else loves to spend time before Christmas up to your elbows in flour? If so, this one's for you! It's my collection of practical Christmas cookie-baking tips, packed with ideas for new and experienced bakers both.
PS Facebook & Pinterest users, if you love Kitchen Parade, be sure to "like" and "pin" this page! More and more, search engines and even real-live human beings rely on social media indicators to identify the best sources of trusted information.
ALANNA aka CERTIFIABLE COOKIE FIEND
So will it surprise you to learn that I am crazy-stupid for Christmas cookies?! One year, my sister's then-young sons stacked all the cookie tins they could squeeze between their chins and outstretched arms – and then started to count, not cookies, not dozens of cookies, but different "kinds" (yes, kinds) of cookies. Five. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty. Thirty. Laughing so hard at their crazy aunt, somewhere in the 30s the boys lost count and loaded cookies onto a plate for a cookie party. (Cookie party? Yep, they're a family tradition! More below.)
Any way you count, thirty-five kinds of cookies is a lot – more cookie recipes than I've shared on Kitchen Parade in nine whole years. That year, some cookies came from my annual cookie swap but the rest I'd made myself, one small batch at a time, a mix of old favorites and new inspirations. It's been a few years since I've baked much for Christmas, thanks to somehow losing my stack of favorite Christmas cookie recipes. :-( But this year, I've got the baking itch again. If butter and flour go into short supply, you'll know why. :-)
[cartoon credit ichef.com, sorry, that site no longer live to link to]
HOLIDAY BAKING TIPS~ Know Your Rhythm ~
~ Cookie Choices ~
~ "Paint" a Cookie Plate ~
~ Make Soup ~
~ Ingredient Shopping ~
~ Kitchen Tools ~
~ Tips for Cut-Out Cookies ~
~ Decorating Cookies ~
~ Make It a Family Tradition ~
~ How to Package Christmas Cookies ~
~ Now, Gulp, Throw Them Away ~
MORE CHRISTMAS COOKIE RESOURCES~ How to Host a Cookie Swap ~
(we'll do my 19th annual cookie exchange in 2011!)
~ Holiday Baking Recipes ~
~ Homemade Food Gifts ~
~ more Christmas recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade
What's your style? Some prefer a flurry of baking, all in one day. Me, I'm slow and steady, one batch a day for a week or more.
SLOW & STEADY – The first night, I mix two batches of cookies but bake only one. The next night, I mix a third batch but bake the second batch. This way, I spend maybe one to two hours a night, no cookie-baking marathons for me.
BAKING BONANZA – For anyone who wants to do all the holiday baking all in a single day, consider mixing the cookie doughs ahead of time (at least those that need chilling, so many do) but then baking and packaging on a single day.
OLD FAVORITES – Fancy cookies are one thing. But what people really love are the old favorites. One year, my friend Ann brought rice krispy bars to my cookie swap. They were so festive with a little red and green food coloring, also a few M&Ms slipped in. I thought the kids would love them – but the grown-ups did too! My favorite old-time cookie recipes are Molasses Cookies, Cinnamon Sugar Cookies and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.
ONE STICK PER BATCH – To go for variety, versus quantity, choose recipes based on a single stick of butter. If the recipe calls for more, cut it in half. The one exception is shortbread – shortbread has such a high proportion of butter, use a recipe that calls for a cup of butter, that's two sticks.
HEALTHY COOKIES – Forget 'healthy' cookies! 100% whole wheat flour hardly matters when paired with butter and sugar. Unless you've got a recipe that you know people love, just go for it.
BITE-SIZE COOKIES – But do consider making small cookies. I make cookies that are only two or three bites big. That lets my favorite cookie monsters eat two or three or even five at a time, the equivalent of one or two large cookies.
MIX IT UP – Mix flavors, colors, shapes and textures when choosing the cookie recipes. You don't want all chocolate cookies any more than all round shapes, all nut-based cookies any more than all iced cookies, all butter cookies more than all meringue cookies.
INSTANT COLOR – One way to easily add instant color to a cookie plate? Dip moist dried apricots into melted bittersweet chocolate, let cool on waxed paper.
COLORED COOKIES – For color, I swear by red and green M&Ms in my friend Kathy's Perfect M&M Cookies (pictured below in the back). The dough itself is dyed for Colored Roll-Out Sugar Cookies (pictured below in the center as "Christmas Stars" with silver dragées). Fresh Cranberry Drop Cookies are made with fresh cranberries, very pretty, and Cranberry-Mac Morsels are made with macadamia-nut butter and colorful dried cranberries.
Okay, okaaaay. You've heard it before here, I know. But "make soup" is the first step before a big baking or cooking project. That way, there'll be something to eat when you're done and the last thing you can imagine is cooking dinner. That way, if you sample the cookie dough along the way, you'll have a healthy dinner waiting as antidote. This week I remade this Turkey Sweet Potato Soup: what a winner!
GET ORGANIZED – Make your baking list, noting names and cookbook page numbers. If you're baking recipes from online sources, print out the recipes. Read through each recipe, noting special equipment, whether the dough needs chilling, baking temperatures, etc. Make a grocery list; I make my list by cookie so that if I decide later to skip an entire batch, it's easy to skip the groceries, too.
BUTTER – Look for butter on sale throughout the holiday season, there's just no reason to pay full price. Watch for great value in unusual places. One year, the best price for my favorite Land O' Lakes butter was at Target. If you end up not using it all for cookies, butter freezes beautifully. So many recipes call for unsalted flour so that the baker can control the amount of salt to add – but to my taste, we bakers never add enough salt. So especially for old-fashioned classic recipes, I
nearly always always-always start with salted butter.
BUTTER vs MARGARINE – I'm an all-butter all-the-time kinda girl but this year learned the fascinating tip that 50:50 butter:margarine makes for those thick almost-square edges we see in many bakery cookies.
FLOUR – If your flour is more than a couple of months old, invest in fresh flour. It makes a tremendous difference. My number one tip for excellent cookies? Fluff the flour to aerate it before measuring – you'll use up to 25% less flour in weight and your cookies will be ever so much more tender and light. The exception here is if your recipe always lists flour by weight.
SHORTENING – If any cookie recipes call for Crisco and you've got an old tub hanging around, smell it – you'll likely want to get fresh shortening. I used to buy the big tub, now, never.
SPICES – Look for great sale prices on spices before the holidays. Take inventory and refresh all the herbs and spices that are running low.
VANILLA – Some people swear by the highest-quality vanilla, every time, every cookie. My own take is that high-quality vanilla is important when vanilla is the most significant flavor – vanilla ice cream, say, or homemade custard. But once it's mixed with spices and fruit and chocolate, it matters less.
CHOCOLATE – I like to use the mini chocolate chips, you can use fewer because they distribute more widely.
NUTS & DRIED FRUITS – Trader Joe's has by far the best price on nuts and dried fruit, including pre-toasted pecans, walnuts and almonds, a time-saver at no additional cost. Even if a recipe doesn't call for it, do toast your nuts ahead of time (except black walnuts), the nutty flavors just really deepen.
NEW LEAVENING – Baking powder and baking soda lose their oomph. Unless you're a regular baker or happen to have new containers, invest in new ones.
PAPER SUPPLIES – Check to see what's on hand, parchment paper (for baking), paper towels (for cooling cookies on open counters), waxed paper (for separating layers of cookies in storage containers), aluminum foil and plastic wrap (for wrapping doughs and gift plates). I especially love the Christmas-y plastic wraps sold this time of year.
MIXERS – If a standing mixer is on your Christmas wish list, maybe Santa would offer early delivery? But a hand mixer works just fine – I used a $9.99 model for 20 years before inheriting my mother's vintage-gold Kitchen Aid. I still turn to it more often than not.
COOKIE SHEETS – Cookie sheets, who knew they performed so differently? I wish I could recommend my very favorite cookie sheet – because I wish I knew how to buy several more for myself. Since losing one a few years back, I've bought a half dozen cookie sheets, some inexpensive, some expensive. None perform as well and worse, they all perform differently. So I've taken to testing cookies on my one remaining 'good' cookie sheet plus on parchment and on silicone mats.
PARCHMENT vs SILICONE – I've learned to prefer parchment, for the bottoms of the cookies turn slightly crispy and golden. With silicone mats, the cookies bake fine but the texture just seems off to me.
TIPS for CUT-OUT COOKIES
A good cut-out cookie recipe is worth hanging onto! I have yet to find my own perfect recipe for cut-out sugar cookies, in part because I so love my year-round recipe for Cut-Out Spice Cookies adapted from my very first cut-out cookie, Frosty Christmas Trees. But – later this month, I'm going to share a no-roll, no-fuss butter cookie that tastes like the very best sugar cookie you've ever eaten but without all the work! It's pretty, too!
POWDERED SUGAR, NOT FLOUR – Before rolling out the dough, sprinkle your work surface with powdered sugar, not flour. The sugar will melt into the surface.
CHILL OUT – Roll-out cookie dough is usually easiest to handle after it's chilled all the way through so allow an overnight of chilling. If you're short on time, break the dough into three or four disks about an inch thick, these will chill faster.
BUMP UP THE FLAVOR – Make sure your cookies taste like more than sugar, flour and butter by adding vanilla than usually called for. But vanilla may be too subtle, I almost always substitute lemon extract for vanilla, at Christmas some times I choose peppermint extract.
ONE TRAY AT A TIME – Don't get ahead of yourself. A tray of cut-out cookies should sit out for only a few minutes before going into the oven. Otherwise the dough gets too soft and the cookies lose their shape. You can put them into the fridge to chill but that changes the temperature too.
GENTLE, GENTLE – Roll out the dough as few times as possible. The more the dough is rolled and handled, the tougher those cookies will get. So roll out all the dough once, collecting the scraps on the side. Then gather together the scraps into a dense ball, form into a flat disk and refrigerate until ready to roll out again.
At Christmas, it just seems right to "dress up" cookies just a little. One favorite pecan cookie has a smear of icing that holds a pecan half; a mocha square has a zigzag of icing with a chocolate-covered coffee bean. Need inspiration? Just search for "Christmas cookie" on Pinterest or "Christmas cookie" on Tastespotting!
DECORATING SUGARS – Too often, these just fade into the cookies so these days, I only use red and green colored sugars.
SPRINKLES – So vibrant, so pretty! I love sprinkles!
COLORED ICING – If you are going to use different colored icings, count on lots of waste. Double or triple the icing recipe so there will be enough. My favorite icing comes from Cut-Out Spice Cookies. For a small batch, mix 3/4 cup powdered sugar with 1/2 teaspoon extract (see below) and 2 tablespoons water. A few drops at a time, add more water to thin a little but be careful, it should be pretty thick so that it doesn't just wash all over the cookies.
FLAVOR! – Don't forget to put an extract or something into the icing, otherwise it's just sugar. Vanilla, almond, lemon, peppermint, anise, coffee, they all work!
FOOD COLORING – Gel dyes create more vibrant frosting, liquid dyes are less expensive, however. Add just a little dye at a time, start with light green, then add more for medium green, still more for dark green. I like to dye two or three shades of the same color. For contrast, make a full batch of white icing.
REALLY REALLY WHITE ICING For extra-white icing, pick up a bottle of this Wilton product called Icing Color White-White. It works on icing that has been dulled by vanilla, say. It also works in buttercream that is tinted yellow from the butter. It also works beautifully to make a lighter tint of an brightly colored icing, very pretty!
FREEZER BAGS – Freezer bags make great frosting dispensers, just snip a corner; start small and make it bigger as needed. When working with several colors at once, put small plates in the middle of the work surface, one bag per plate.
Baking's no fun when it's done alone so gather up aprons for the kids or a friend or two. Laughs shall ensue. My recipe card for krumkaka includes the note that was made by the mother of my own mother's dear friend Dian "1952 - Grandma Borg made for Xmas Day at our house. Di was home from school from Chicago. We used Grandma's iron, wish I had one." (Who else misses the old 3x5 recipe cards?)
PICK ONE COOKIE, BAKE IT WITH DAD – Here's the Judd family tradition: each child (there are six!) picks a cookie and then bakes it with their dad. I was so taken with this tradition when I was interviewing Pat Judd from The Daily Bread Bakery & Cafe in Des Peres for my own column in the Post-Dispatch that I shared it with my editor. She loved it too – and the Judds are this week's very fun cover story! Here's the story, recipes too, eight of them, one for each kid and mom and dad too! Don't forget Pat's great list of cookie-baking tips, I've learned several new things from this long-time baker!
FLOUR YOUR NOSE! aka HAVE FUN! – If you look really closely at the family photo of the Judds below, you'll see flour on everyone's noses! Pat told me that this tradition started with his mother and daughter Annie. Love it!
COOKIE PARTY! – In my family, anyone is allowed, at any time during the day to call out, "Cookie Party!" That's the signal to set the table with pretty paper Christmas plates and napkins and to put together a plate of cookies. And then we sit down and eat – cookies, just cookies. Well, and drink milk or tea.
DROP IN & DECORATE – My friend Lydia has the biggest heart. Any surprise that she founded the great non-profit, Drop In & Decorate? It helps people host cookie-decorating parties for charity. It's a fun afternoon's project, one year my cookie swap guests decorated cookies for a church in downtown St. Louis which makes lunch for homeless people. It's not too late to host your own party, Lydia has all the tools and tips to make it easy as
apple pie, I mean, cookies!
[photo credit St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
Trust me, after baking so many cookies, you really do want to give them away! I'm no expert on packaging, I arrange them on a metal Christmas plate, the ones you get for $.50 at the grocery store in after-Christmas sales. Fancy, eh? So I'm going to refer you to My Kitchen Addiction, who's really good at this stuff. Me, I'm learning!
FESTIVE PACKAGING FOR GIFTS – This post has many ideas for dressing up your holiday goodies. It's fabulous. I took Jen's advice and ordered a die-cut punch in the tag shape to use for labeling cookies and other food gifts. (FYI a trip to Michael's yielded some great card stock for this punch but not the punch itself.)
STORING COOKIES FOR HOME – I have a collection of cookie tins collected over the years, some small, some large. But use what you have, even heavy clean boxes (smaller and shallower work best) from an office supply store. It's best to store just one kind per container. To protect the cookies, put a layer of waxed paper between every layer. Label the container!
MAILING CHRISTMAS COOKIES – One year, my sister mailed a huge box of homemade Christmas cookies to our dad via the post office. What a mistake – they arrived some time in April. You just don't know how disappointed he was. It pays to be able to track the cookies, whether via the post office or UPS or FedEx.
Yes, this one's going to be hard but when Christmas is over, throw any leftover cookies away. Away. AWAY! I tell you. Yes, they'll freeze. Yes, you can keep them if you have the willpower of a dog on the hunt. But I don't. I can freeze cookies for weeks and have no interest in them and then all of a sudden, bam, it hits me and they're calling to me from the basement, "Hey Alanna, we're down here and so yummy!" My sister tried to tell me this, unfortunately, I learned the hard way. So my advice, yes, is to throw them away.
[cartoon credit Lola]
Cookbook Giveaway!
Sorry, the giveaway is now closed. But if you'd still like to share your favorite baking tradition, just complete this sentence, "My favorite Christmas/holiday cookie tradition is ... ." I'd love to hear your story! ~ Alanna
You know how some of us like chewy cookies and others of us like crispy cookies? Well those are just two of the textures that Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies author Alice Medrich organized her book around. Last year, it won several awards, including Best Book for Baking from IACP and Best of the Best from Food and Wine.
I've been pouring through her cookbook and at least two recipes will reach my own cookie plate this year. I think you'll like it!
Here's how to win.
THREE WAYS TO ENTER – Comment here, sign up for free e-mail subscriptions, tweet on Twitter or share on Facebook.
IMPORTANT! For a valid entry, you must leave your e-mail address too, so that I can notify you if, I mean when! you win. You are welcome to disguise your e-mail address so that I can read it but the automated address collectors cannot, something like, cookie hyphen baker at lovechristmas dot dot com.
FIRST ENTRY, COMMENT ON THIS PAGE Complete this sentence, "My favorite Christmas/holiday cookie tradition is ... ." Readers, feel free to leave a recipe in your comment. Bloggers, feel free to include a link to your favorite cookie recipe. (And don't forget to leave your e-mail address!)
SECOND ENTRY, SIGN UP FOR A FREE E-MAIL SUBSCRIPTION Sign up for either Kitchen Parade or A Veggie Venture, here's the subscription information. Then come back and leave an additional comment saying you did that. (And don't forget to leave your e-mail address.)
THIRD ENTRY, TWEET or SHARE on Facebook something like, "Great Christmas cookie-baking tips & cookbook giveaway @kitchenparade http://alturl.com/8xscs". Then come back and leave an additional comment saying you did that. (And don't forget to leave that e-mail address!)
THE FINE PRINT This giveaway is open to all U.S., Canadian (hello, Canadian readers!) and worldwide readers. All entries must be received by midnight CST on Thursday, December 8, 2011. Winners will be chosen by Random.org and notified via valid email address. If I don't hear back from the winner within 48 hours, I will select another and try again. My copy of the cookbook was given to me by the publisher Artisan Books but the giveaway idea and the shipping costs are my own.
© Copyright 2011 Kitchen Parade
IMPORTANT! For a valid entry, you must leave your e-mail address too, so that I can notify you if, I mean when! you win. You are welcome to disguise your e-mail address so that I can read it but the automated address collectors cannot, something like, cookie hyphen baker at lovechristmas dot dot com.
FIRST ENTRY, COMMENT ON THIS PAGE Complete this sentence, "My favorite Christmas/holiday cookie tradition is ... ." Readers, feel free to leave a recipe in your comment. Bloggers, feel free to include a link to your favorite cookie recipe. (And don't forget to leave your e-mail address!)
SECOND ENTRY, SIGN UP FOR A FREE E-MAIL SUBSCRIPTION Sign up for either Kitchen Parade or A Veggie Venture, here's the subscription information. Then come back and leave an additional comment saying you did that. (And don't forget to leave your e-mail address.)
THIRD ENTRY, TWEET or SHARE on Facebook something like, "Great Christmas cookie-baking tips & cookbook giveaway @kitchenparade http://alturl.com/8xscs". Then come back and leave an additional comment saying you did that. (And don't forget to leave that e-mail address!)
FYI .. I also shared this on FB
The old favorite was making cookies with my mom a few weeks in advance of Christmas. We made so many, we had to have the extra time. Then we stored them in huge glass jars in the cold of the garage. My favorite was the Hungarian Horns...rolled crisp pastry crescents filled with a chewy nut meringue. I was going to renew that tradition this year with my sister, but can't find the recipe anywhere. But I'm going to keep looking and will share it with you when it reappears.
My newest tradition (although this one is years in the making too) is that ever popular cookie exchange with my girlfriends. In the last two years we've upgraded it to a cocktail dinner/cookie exchange and it gets better every year. Now not only do we get a plate of cookies to take home, but also new dishes to try that we each bring to the dinner.
Now I'm going to search through your cookie recipes to see if I'd like to change my cookie exchange choice for this year.
Wishing you Beautiful Holidays!
karen dot KVL at verizon dot net
Thanks! Baking enthusiast at firstname.lastname@example.com. happy holidays.
kathyerbesmrsny at gmail.com
kathyerbesmrsny at gmail dot com
buchhma at live dot com
- firstname.lastname@example.com
I do follow you on email.
And I did share it on facebook. :)
pmaul at iprimus dot com dot au
laurendscalf AT gmail DOT com
yadinoe at gmail dot com
(Poppy Seed) Cookies
6 eggs
2c sugar
1 ½ c oil
½ c OJ
2t orange peels
8c flour
½ c poppy seeds (optional)
1T baking powder
1/8t salt
1. Beat together first list then
2. Mix in the last list
3. Roll dough out thin (appx ¼"), cut into shapes
4. Decorate with sprinkle or cook and use royal frosting
4. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown on top
myemailaddress is crazy pieces, but all one word. Then after the @ sign is the address of the host which is gmail.com
Emily380 at insightbb dot com
reaching5678 at (yahoo) dot com
Smiles from Colorado, Heather
martyljc at yahoo dot com
Thanks for the entry...could really use that cookbook.
mmmillen at macnet DOT com
they were cooling on the kitchen table,we were busy making more cookies. We heard a loud noise. Our dog Candy ate the first batch that year.
• 1 cup all-purpose flour or unbleached white whole wheat
• 1/4 cup wheat germ or wheat bran
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 large egg plus 1/8 to 1/3 c egg white, as needed to moisten all ingredients
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup oats, quick-cooking or old-fashioned (not instant)
• 2 ounces white or dark chocolate, chopped
• 1/3 cup dried blueberries, cranberries or cherries
• 1/4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped
Preparation: makes 24 silver dollar size cookies.
1. Position racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 375°F.
2. Whisk flour, wheat germ, baking soda, salt and ground ginger in a small bowl. Whisk egg, brown sugar, oil and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients; stir to combine. Add oats, chocolate, blueberries and crystallized ginger; stir just to combine and add egg whites if needed to moisten everything, but do not make it too wet to handle. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto 2 un-greased baking sheets, 1 1/2 inches apart.
3. Bake the cookies until puffed and barely golden around the edges, switching the pans back to front and top to bottom halfway through, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on the pans for 2 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
My e-mail is firstname.lastname@example.com, and I would love to receive the cook book. :)
martint at hwcdsb dot ca
Enjoy your newsletters and recipes, especially your originality and creativity.
Thank you.
my e-mail address is vemvaan at gmail dot com
email address is lpbfield at yahoo dot com
Happy holidays!!
Thanks again!
elizabeth dot iaukea at gmail dot com
cutekipepeo (at) gmail (dot ) com
Gingerbread cookie dough is usually made by traditional recipe.
Would love to win the cook book :)
Thank you for your tips on cookies and also veggie tips.
Moonika from Estonia, Europe
kuutydruk at gmail dot com
My address is danicloutier at hotmail dot com.
Keep up the good work, your blog is so interesting.
milliliter (underscore) 1 at yahoo dot com
Bunny128 at aol dot com
My email is in my google profile - frugal in ohio
My favorite holiday cookie tradition is the weekend before Christmas spent baking tons and tons of cookies for all of my family and friends!
~Kimberly (rhubarbandhoney at yahoo dot com)
Jennifer at contentnotcontentious at gmail dot com
Thank you for sharing all your great cookie-making tips :)
My favorite Christmas/holiday cookie tradition is...my mother's springerles (which I haven't attempted yet), her coffee bourbon balls, chocolate drop cookies, coconut candies (just like Mounds, but better), and her peanut brittle.
Recently I've been doing more candy than cookies for the holidays, but my mom's holiday goody assortment was always so much fun, and so yummy. I need to do more cookies!
Nicole (flaming_redd3000 at yahoo dot com
chf385 at hotmail dot com
Laurie Cassada
Your tips are great! I do alot of holiday baking - definately going to try the powder sugar this year vs the flour when I get to the cut out ones - especially with the ones where my 2 little granddaughters who are 7 and 5. They love baking with grandma! Thanks for a chance to win. I'm at 68 doz so far and not quite half way thru my list! Merry Christmas! My email is lreiterman at gmail dot com.
decklededgesblog at gmail dot com
My favorite cookie is probably World Peace Cookies by Dorie Greenspan- soooo good.
onehotstove AT gmail DOT com
My sister, her daughter and I continually re-email Mom's/grandma's almond crescent recipe to each other. It is a very fragile cookie that requires the baker to do a lot of taste testing.
Mom, who is gone now, would so appreciate the joy this little electronic tradition her recipe has created. firstname.lastname@example.com
joosbornenc at yahoo dot com
Post a Comment
Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. But I also love hearing your reactions, your curiosity, even your concerns! When you've made a recipe, I especially love to know how it turned out, what variations you made, what you'll do differently the next time. ~ Alanna


text:
David Ladrie followed the winding gravel roads for more than a mile off the main highway to build his retirement home in the woods. He expected peace and quiet.
OSTEEN — David Ladrie followed the winding gravel roads for more than a mile off the main highway to build his retirement home in the woods.
He expected peace and quiet.
Instead, he said, barking K-9 dogs at a law enforcement training site, an unlicensed gun range and a slow-moving code-enforcement case have put a rural Osteen neighborhood, Acorn Lakes Ranches, on edge.
"In my opinion," County Councilwoman Pat Northey said, "it seems to be pretty volatile, and I'm hoping we can calm the waters."
Ladrie and neighboring property owner, Derek George, have each made complaints to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. Ladrie's complaints have resulted in a code-enforcement case against George and an investigation of a correctional officer from Orange County. The police dog-training business, which leased land from George last summer, is considering a new home.
Vigilant Canine Training International is a California-based company that operates in 18 states and places like Afghanistan. Other dog-training operations used the space in previous years, George said.
Ladrie, a 67-year-old retired Daytona Beach firefighter, says barking dogs have caused him sleepless nights and disruptions.
"You couldn't sit and have a conversation at the table," he said.
For months, Ladrie directed his complaints to Vigilant's Florida manager, Frank Ball, sometimes waking him up in the middle of the night. At times, the barking would stop, only to start up again a few hours later, Ladrie said.
Finally, Ladrie started questioning the business's right to operate in the residentially zoned neighborhood and made contact with Volusia County Code Enforcement in September. He has circulated a petition that now has 17 signatures of neighbors, who say they are concerned about safety with the dogs and the guns. A code hearing is set for May 15.
One of those neighbors, Jim Goempel, said the neighborhood is not the proper place for a canine-training facility or gun range.
"The stray bullets from the gun range are in very close proximity to the Palm Bluff Game Preserve. You have automatic weapons being fired day and night, and dogs trained out there," Goempel said. "I have a 10-year-old daughter. Why should she be in fear of an attack from a canine?"
Vigilant's owner, Buck Dikes, said his staff has done everything possible to accommodate Ladrie and other neighbors, including moving the kennel, enclosing it and putting electronic anti-barking collars on the dogs. Ladrie and his wife Rosie say the efforts have greatly reduced the noise in recent weeks, but they say they shouldn't have had to gather signatures on a petition, call the Sheriff's Office repeatedly and file code complaints.
"If they had done that from the start, we probably wouldn't be here," Ladrie said.
George, a 40-year-old Ponce Inlet fire marshal and gun-shop owner who lives in Port Orange, said he inherited several Osteen properties in 2010 from a friend.
County records show 20 violations there, some involving the same violations on two separate parcels. George said he is aware of eight violations.
They include operating a business without a license, operating a shooting range without a license and constructing several buildings without permits, said Bryan Jiles, Volusia County zoning compliance coordinator.
Last year, the property was rezoned to Osteen cluster residential, which allows for the boarding of up to 12 adult dogs and cats "as a customary accessory use to a residence," according to a county email. But it does not provide for a business offering training for K-9 police dogs.
The county has no record of a business licensed at the 345 Black Lake Road address, according to an email by Scott Ashley, the county's planning manager. Also, he said several structures appear to have been built between 2009 and 2011, but records show no building permits had been issued for the property since 2005.
One option to correct the situation is rezoning the property to make the on-site activities legal, Ashley noted in the email.
George said he has removed a swimming deck and a large shipping container, and is planning to make a case that the businesses are legal.
The Code Enforcement Board hearing can't come fast enough for neighbors Ladrie and Goempel. "There has been little done to enforce these violations," Goempel said.
Last November, property owner George was given 10 days to resolve issues. Jiles with the county said it is not unusual for some cases to take six months before a hearing.
Jiles said the property will be re-inspected prior to the hearing.
George counters that he has a license to operate his Gun Fire Inc. store in Port Orange, and the Osteen property is ancillary to that. And Vigilant has a business license at an address in New Smyrna Beach, but leases the land. "No money changes hands there," George said of the Osteen property.
As for the shooting range, George said it's not a business, and shooting is allowed on a parcel as large as the 10-acre site.
The Florida Department of Corrections and Haines City police are among the law-enforcement agencies that have purchased dogs or used the facility for training, records show.
When looking for a location, Dikes with Vigilant said the Black Lake Road property was advertised as having a Florida law enforcement certification for a shooting range.
If the county finds the property owner is in violation, Dikes said he would simply find another location.
That would be fine with Ladrie, the neighbor who got into a verbal tiff outside Vigilant's gate with a state correctional officer last month.
Ladrie complained he was photographing activities outside the dog-training site on April 18 when a truck marked CFRC K-9 stopped and two officers got out, threatening to arrest him and "being bullies," according to a sheriff's report.
Ladrie took a photo of one of the officers leaning out of the truck window, making an obscene gesture at him. Ladrie's complaint — and the photo — have sparked an inspector general's investigation and the temporary removal of an officer from the K-9 team at the Central Florida Reception Center in Orlando, said Ann Howard, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections. She said she could not release his name until the investigation is completed.
George and Dikes claim Ladrie is "an obviously disgruntled individual."
"What we're experiencing on our end is Mr. Goempel and Mr. Ladrie coming and photographing and writing emails and making false accusations to the county," said George, who filed a complaint with the sheriff's office last week, alleging the neighbors of harassing Vigilant's customers.
Councilwoman Northey said she believes county staff has been working to keep the conflict from escalating. "We as a county government need to do all we can to diffuse the tension," she said.


text:
Led Zeppelin Reunion: Are They Really Working On New Material?
For the thousands of guitarists who worship Led Zeppelin and were inspired by Jimmy Page, this could be awesome news...
If this is the beginning of a new Led Zeppelin album, no one knows yet - Robert Plant is not involved so far, and according to Bonham, "lots of politics" need to get "ironed out" before an album is made. As long as Fiona Lewis is not invited to replace plant, we'll be happy.
"I've been working with Jimmy and John Paul and trying some new material," he said. "I don't know what it will be, but it will be something. At the moment, all I know is I have the great pleasure to go and jam with the two guys and start work on some material."
Read full article on NME.com
On another Led Zep note: the official Led Zeppelin website has announced the release of two special edition vinyl releases: the live album The Song Remains The Same (with extra tracks!) and the compilation Mothership. Really cool stuff…
A Led Zeppelin new album. Sounds promising? What do you think? Could we really expect a new Led Zeppelin album, and perhaps a tour, in the not-so-distant future? Post a comment here and have your say!


text:
Posted a little while back, Derick Rethans shares a wrapup of this year's Brasil PHP Conference on his blog.
In the beginning of this month I attended the PHP Conference Brasil. Besides speaking on Xdebug and the eZ Components I also spend a few extra days as holiday there.
You can get the contents of his talk here: XDebug and check out all of the other great speakers that presented on the main conference site.