Come to Christkindlmarkt!

A wonderful annual event for families will kick off the holiday season this weekend.

Sheila here. I'll be at the Germania Society's Christkindlmarkt this Saturday to lead the lantern parade. Children will parade through Germania Park, in a tradition which dates back to the 300's A.D. The children carry lanterns as they sing and walk to the bon fire where each child will receive a Sankt Martin's Weck (a pastry honoring St. Martin).

Catholics who live in Europe celebrate the feast day of St. Martin, who lived from 317 to 397 A.D. He was always very generous and even gave away some of his military earnings (while he was still a Roman soldier) to needy farm families. He is most famous for one special deed: When he was returning to his home on his military horse and a beggar stepped into his path and asked him for alms. Martin had just given away his last coins, but he did not think it was right to just ride past the beggar. He decided, to share his warm wool coat (in German it is called a Mantel). He took his sword and cut the coat in half, gave the beggar one half and kept the other half. He felt if both had half a coat, they had a better chance not to die in the cold winter weather.

Martin later became a monk, and all of his good deeds and his generosity resulted in him being chosen as a Bishop of Tours. The lantern parade starting Saturday at 6:30 is a wonderful opportunity to learn about and celebrate German childhood traditions.

St. Nikolaus and Santa Claus will also be at Germania Park this weekend to visit with children, and live Christmas trees will be for sale. You can also find lot of German goodies like pastries, Christmas ornaments, Advent calendars, and toys and puzzles. Of course, Germania Society is well known for its wonderful cooks, so lots of German food will be on the menu along with Gluhwein (Hot Mulled Wine). Live entertainment is planned all weekend long.

Germania Society's Christkindlmarkt runs this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Germania Park. Kids younger than 14 get in free, and admission is only $3.00 for everyone else. A heated pavilion will help you get in out of the cold. I hope to see you there! Learn more at http://www.germaniasociety.com/christkindlmarkt10/christkindlmarkt10.html

Greek Yogurt

Greek yogurt is a great way to clean up your diet.

Hey everyone. Rob here.

Its been just over a month since the Columbus marathon and I took most of that time off. Time off running, working out and eating well. Now it's time to pay for nearly 4 weeks of fun and get back on course. I start with Greek yogurt. It is how I start most of my days. It's higher in protein. It typically has double the protein compared to standard yogurt. The brand I eat has 17 grams of protein and only 130 calories. Its also relatively low in carbohydrates. Greek yogurt averages 9 grams of carbohydrates.

The one I buy at Kroger has 8 grams.

It's healthy, but also tasty. I don't feel like I'm sacrificing. Regular yogurt is strained twice. Greek yogurt is strained 3 times, so it's thicker and creamier. Give it a try. Either today or may be after the holidays.

Rump Roast and Church

Good Morning Everyone, How was the weekend? Frank Marzullo here and on Saturday evening my FOX19 News Morning Xtra co-host and I spent the night with some new friends at St. Catherine's over on the west side. It was there annual school fundraiser and auction evening. The theme was Dancing With The Stars and there was some serious dancing going on. Tracey and I did not cut a rug, but we did run the auction and let me tell you I think Tracey missed her calling, she is a great auctioneer. The parents of St. Catherines opened up there hearts and wallets for the kids and there school. We had a great night and thank everyone for coming out. Then on Sunday morning I woke up nice and early, and I made my first crock pot meal. I had purchased a crock pot on Saturday and then on Sunday I slow roasted a rump roast for 7 hours. I layered onions and taters on the bottom of the crock pot, then rubbed kosher salt and lemon pepper on the roast. I also rubbed it with rosemary and thyme. I then sliced slits in the beef and inserted garlic cloves. I placed roast in the pot and added beef stock and cooked on low heat for 7 hours. The last hour I added baby carrots and let them cook with the roast. Then I sliced it and used the juice for gravy and it was sooooo good!!!

Want To Go Camping ?

I love to camp, and think it is so much fun when you do it in a big group. So I'm planning a trip to Winton Woods...sometime soon, and I thought you guys might want to see what I found.
First off, it seems like a great camping area within reasonable distances for most people that live all around the Tri-state. Winton Woods campgrounds are 25 per night, plus 2-5 dollars for your car permit (http://www.greatparks.org/). Included in site rental is use of bathhouses and restrooms, 30amp electrical outlets for each site (I normally plug in a lamp and radio). You can also use the fishing lake and the playground too. Next issue is firewood. Most places offer wood for $10.00 per stack and a stack will normally last 4 hours or so. Depending on how many fires you build (1 on each site, one really big one for everyone to sit around together ect) I'm told most groups will need at least 2 stacks with no morning fire, and 3 if you want a morning fire. Just some quick info if a fall camping trip is in your future! I am looking forward to some s'mores, and hanging out with everyone around a good camp fire! Happy Camping Dan

Landor Project

I have never claimed to be an artist. Hi, it’s Meghan. :)

Okay, that may be a bit of an understatement. I really can’t draw at all. So when I was approached about being part of the Landor project, I was a hesitant at first. Especially because the assignment was kind of abstract and artsy. But after Micah Paldino from PB&J explained it as a unique way to journal for a week, I decided to give it a try.

Landor is a consulting and design firm. A little while back they decided to try an experiment.  They asked their employees to stop whatever they were doing every day at 1:10 PM and document exactly what they were thinking and feeling at that very moment. Workers used this experiment to inspire and get creative. A window display at Landor was created to show off the creativity of the finished projects. It was such a success that the company wanted to share the idea and let the people of Cincinnati express themselves. That's where I come in.

Last Friday I got my journal book. That's picture of it. I'm kind of embarrassed to show off the sketches, but it's kind of funny to see how bad I am at drawing. I was also instructed to choose a word, pick a color, and take a picture. This all had to be at 1:10 every day for a week. I have to admit I was sometimes napping at that time, so I had to wait to "get creative."

My work and that of the other participants will be made into one big window display.  If you want to see it, just head to the corner of 7th and Race at the Shillito Building.

Now that it's done, it was interesting to flip through and remember where I was at that moment throughout the past week. Another thought I had was maybe I should take an Learn to Draw class, you know for any future pictionary games. :)

I Found A New Place To Shop!

Hard to believe it's at the library!

Sheila here, and Saturday I headed downtown with Katie to help her complete an assignment for English class. She and her classmates had to get library cards for the Hamilton County Public Library. On our way out, I noticed the Friends of the Library Shop, and we stopped in to get a birthday card for a friend. There was a big selection, and I picked a cute one with a Mark Twain quote about getting older.

Then I couldn't help looking around at the books. The Friends shop has a ton of used library books, and I ended up getting a couple of novels by Maeve Binchy and Nora Roberts. They were hard cover copies, and you could hardly tell they'd been read! The best part was the price! I only spent eight dollars on both of them!

The shop also has children's books and toys, stationary, games, puzzles, and DVD's with a historical look at birth years. Might be a fun birthday present for someone. I can't wait to go back! The Friends shop is having a holiday open house the Sunday after Thanksgiving from 1:30 to 4:30. Here's a link, and if you mention their ad, you'll get a 25% discount. http://friends.cincinnatilibrary.org/shop.html

If you're looking for a bigger selection of books or DVD's, you might want to check out the Friends of the Library sale in Blue Ash Friday and Saturday or the ongoing warehouse sale in Hartwell. Here's a link for more information: http://friends.cincinnatilibrary.org/booksales.html

Monday Night Football

My first time ever. Hey everyone. Rob here.

I'm a little tired today. Even though the Bengals lost, it was worth it.

I made the smart decision to wait before heading down to Paul Brown Stadium. Didn't want to drag too badly today. Paul Brown Stadium was packed. There were a ton of Steelers fans, EVERYWHERE. I thought they would be annoying. Around me in Section132, they weren't. That was a nice surprise. Before kick off, I decided to walk all the way around to the other side of PBS. Wanted to actually see the story, I talked about all morning long. The new necklace of lights on the Roebling Suspension Bridge. After a 10 minute crowded walk, it was a little disappointing. I may have expected too much though. I was expecting something to remind me of the holidays. It didn't.

Back to the game. The seats were good. We could clearly see Bernard Scott fumble then turn over the ball in the opening kick off return. That was ugly.

After Bengals fans would cheer for the very modest victories. Like a 3 yard gain without fumble. Understandably low expectations after 5 straight losses. I admit I left in the middle of the 3rd. One of my producers said the Bengals tried to mount an impressive comeback in the 4th. In the end they fall short. Final score Bengals: 21 Steelers 27. I'm glad I went. It was the Bengals first MNF appearance in 3 years. After yesterday's performance who knows when they will be back.