How many appetizers do I need?

People often ask me this question when planning food for a party or group.

The time of your party is important. For parties planned later in the evening after people have probably had dinner, you should plan for 6-8 appetizers per person per hour.

If your party is earlier in the evening and some people may just smooch off of you for their meal, you should estimate about 14 appetizers per guest per hour.

Pancake House

First, Mr. Ginger loves breakfast. We recently took a garden walk in a local neighborhood that was partially sponsored by The Original Pancake House. After going to the website, I discovered that there are lots of them all over the U.S. I guess I've just never heard of it. Anyway, there are 2 that are close to us so we'll have to check them out.

Clark and Armitage

State and Bellevue

Credit Card Info

Real Simple has some really good answers to common questions about credit cards like:

How many credit cards are too many? And is there such a thing as too few?

What should I consider when weighing a card with mileage points or other incentives against another card?

Is it better to keep a big balance on one card or spread the balances over several cards?

What should I do with cards that I don’t use? Should I leave them open or close them?

Check it out here.

Weigh-In's and Food Diaries

I always wondered about this...

I've never been a person that weighs on a regular basis, and definitely never daily. In fact, I don't have scales anymore. But research shows that women who weigh every day and then act accordingly, either increasing exercises or being stricter about their eating, are 82 percent less likely to regain lost weight than those who don't weigh in as often.

"They" also say that keeping a food diary can result similarly IF you're totally honest and record EVERY morsel you eat. I do that pretty regularly. Another suggestion was to wear or try on a pair of slim-fitting pants each week and gauge by that.