Review These Movies:

Kid Kitchen Bento Box Lunch

Follow the leftovers, and use your imagination from fridge to pantry to create fun meals for kids' lunches.

Ingredients...

• Double sided wheat, white bread heart cut out sandwich w/peanut butter and jam
• Luncheon meat rolled up with parsley like a tree
• Snack Trail Mix
• Motts Strawberry Banana Applesauce
• Small Hot Dogs cut like flowers topped with olive bud

Eden Prairie Loves its Kids: Sweets for the Sweeties 

Turn cupcakes into sculptural art or cupcake scapes. Kids love to make these treats as much as they enjoy eating them.

We used dark chocolate cake mix and milk chocolate frosting with hearts and confetti sprinkles.

Winery in the Making

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Painted Prairie Vineyard is located in rural southwestern Minnesota.  Currie, Minnesota. Ben and Kim Hause started the vineyard in 2006  after purchasing 18 acres of land when Ben and his family left the Twin Cities and city life for the country-life and their new wine making venture. Since then the Hause's have planted an acre and a half of grapes (half acre each of LaCrescents (white), Frontenac and  Marquette (both red)). Read More....

Tis the Season for Giving

Meals on Wheels
Meals on Wheels prepares and delivers hot, healthy lunches for homebound residents or those unable to prepare their own meals. This program is run entirely by volunteers. To participate or volunteer, call Meals on Wheels.
952-937-1478


An emergency food shelf is operated by PROP (People Reaching Out to Other People).  The program provides food and clothing to residents of Eden Prairie and Chanhassen who are in need. The children’s clothing closet has clothes through size 16. PROP also provides transportation, emergency financial assistance, information and referrals to other agencies.  Volunteer opportunities always exist. Please contact PROP directly for more information.

PROP (People Reaching Out to Other People)
http://www.propfood.org/

Eden Prairie City Center
14700 Martin Drive
Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344
Phone (952) 937-9120

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Best Fast Food Drive Thru

Good Old Fashioned Horse Drawn

Bob Sleigh Rides

Unique Marriage Proposal

Start a Family Tradition -Groups are Welcome
Holiday Gathering-Unbeatable Rates

read more...

Panache Spa at Madden's

Situated on the shores of Gull Lake in the heart of Madden's Resort, The Panache Spa (an Aveda Concept Spa) features skin care, massage, manicures and pedicures.  Spa Getaway packages include breakfasts, a welcome gift and a $100 Gift Card to be used at The Spa.  Affordably priced as low as $179.25/pppn.  Visit www.maddens.com or call 800/642-5363 for complete information.

read more...

Vocalessence Witness: Sweet Honey in the Rock  

Grammy-nominated a cappella vocal ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock joins the VocalEssence Chorus and conductor Philip Brunelle for an uplifting celebration of hope, love, and justice. Inspired by African American legacy and traditions, Sweet Honey In The Rock mixes blues, spirituals, gospel, African chants, Hip Hop, ancient lullabies, and improvisation to create the soulful harmonies and intricate rhythms that have made them famous.  

Ordway Theater

Sun February 14, 2010, 4:00PM

Ordway Main Hall 

www.vocalessence.org

www.ordway.org 

Image of VocalEssence ¡Cantare! Program at Eden Prarie High School A choir member learns to make sounds with a conch shell while performing visiting composer Jorge Cozatl's music at Eden Prairie High School. 

read more...

Making a Cloud in a Glass: Winter Cloudy Days Ahead

Clouds form in the sky when warm moist air is cooled by colder air. The warm moist air cools and condenses into tiny water droplets which appear as clouds.
Notice the bottom of the glass is clear, while the top of the glass is blurry and more translucent till it appears almost opaque.

Use metal container
Glass container
Ice cubes
Water

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8QjZlar7Ek

Read More...

http://www3.mda.state.mn.us/mngrown/

Pride of the Prairie Seasonal Food Guide Seasonal Food Database

Know Your Local Farmer

Everyone needs a farmer according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture...
Get to know your local farmer, Marshalls Farm Fresh Foods, Pioneer and Eden Prairie Road

Read more...

Storing veggies in the winter: how to

How can a suburban homeowner store produce during the winter without a root cellar? A refrigerator, unheated attic, spare room or basement (cellar) will do.

Read More...

What color was your dinner?

Try this recipe to meet your yellow need for Bioflavonoids, Vitamin B6, Phyto-chemicals..

Yellow Peppers and Tomatoes are mild tasting..

Baked Stuffed Yellow Peppers with Braised Brussel Sprouts and Yellow Tomatoes

This is an excellent dish to go with any main course sidestepping a starch only side-dish. This recipe used a half of a sweet potato. Take a look at the Food Groups Color Coded Nutrition, Red Food, Mauve Food, Orange Food, Yellow Food, Green Food, Brown Food, Black Food and White Food at Color Coded Nutrition at Time Magazine http://www.time.com/

Fruits and Veggie Matter at CDC is an interactive site which allows you to enter your age, sex, and how much physical activity you do daily to determine your vegetable and fruit intake. There is also a colors of health chart. They recommend eating a variety of colors daily.

http://www.fruitsandveggies

Recipe Inside...

Panini

It's a great time of year to use Holiday left-overs, like the cocktail olives and cheese you still have in the fridge or pantry. There's virtually no clean up with a Panini maker. You wipe the griddle, clean out the drip tray and you are done. We used spray butter on wheat bread, small heirloom tomatoes, red onion, green olives with pimentos and low fat swiss cheese to finish off these light and healthy grilled sandwiches.

Turn this...

...into this: 

read more...

Go Red: February is American Heart Month 

Why eat red? Medical News Today says science suggests the pigments that make up the red color in many fruits and vegetables like tart cherries and tomatoes, are powerful disease-fighting antioxidants that may help reduce inflammation associated with atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries and reduce certain risk factors for heart disease.

Red Delicious Apples and Red Grapes shown

http://goredwithcampbells.com/

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/

Red Pepper Baked Chicken 

This boneless skinless chicken breast is breaded in seasoned bread crumbs with olive oil, seasoned to taste and baked in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes with baby red potatoes brushed with olive oil and garlic. We made a homemade red pepper sauce, containing roasted red peppers, red onions, olive oil and and a small amount of margarine, seasoned to taste as a condiment. Put roasted pepper and red onion and other ingredients into a blender and serve hot over chicken and potatoes.

Peppers have amazing health benefits: How Stuff Works says all peppers are rich in vitamins A, C, and K, but red peppers are simply bursting with them. Antioxidant vitamins A and C help to prevent cell damage, cancer, and diseases related to aging, and they support immune function. They also reduce inflammation like that found in arthritis and asthma. Vitamin K promotes proper blood clotting, strengthens bones, and helps protect cells from oxidative damage.

http://home.howstuffworks.com/

Keep warm in Annie Fink's fun leggings, headbands and gloves...

Available at the following stores locally...

• • Larue’s (Minneapolis)
• • Time Out Studio (Minneapolis)
• • Design Collective (Minneapolis)
• • I Like You (NE Minneapolis)
• • Picky Girl (St. Paul)
• • Sanctuary Spas (Eden Prairie, Minneapolis, Prairie Center Village, and Tonka Bay)
• • Omorphia (Excelsior)
• • University of Minnesota Duluth Bookstore (Duluth)

http://www.anniefink.com/

Report from Senate Distirict DFL42 Caucus Night

Note: The GOP District42 has not sent us their report

The DFL Caucus was attended by about 400+ people.  370 people cast votes in the gov straw vote.  

• Bakk - 11
• Entenza - 18
• Gaertner - 6
• Kelley - 52
• Anderson Kelliher - 48
• Marty - 29
• Montez - 2
• Rukavina - 8
• Rybak - 108
• Savior - 1
• Thissen - 33
• Uncommitted - 54

There were many resolutions, but we haven't sorted through them yet. 

Everything else went well.  No long lines. We had sufficient volunteers to give directions and help people find the proper room. 

We had $1720 in donations. 

Candidates Mefert, Hacket, Chase and Maria Ruud were present and made their way round the caucus rooms. Many other Gov candidates had people and literature there. 

It was a good night. 

Norbert Gernes, Chair

Mark Dayton and

Norm Coleman, 

who has not announced

that he's even running yet,

are polling way ahead of

other GOV contenders-

Mark Dayton has officially registered his campaign for MN GOV. 1-19-10

http://blogs.citypages.com/

UPDATE-Coleman will not run for MN Gov.

http://www.minnpost.com/stories/

Eden Prairie's Senator David Hann is said to be among the many possible Republican candidates to replace Goveernor Pawlenty-

Voting Record...

Take a look at Senator Hann's voting record...

http://www.votesmart.org/

Franken on the Issues

Franken on Health Care

KAALTV - Franken's been in the state talking about Health Care Reform

Franken's Senate Page

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Health Care Reform

Details of what's currently on the table

What health reform means for you

Statements from Amy Klobuchar and Erik Paulsen's web sites

Read more...

How are they voting?

Erik Paulsen (R)

Amy Klobuchar (D)

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Affordable Health Care For America, H.R.3962 Passes:

Erik Paulsen Votes No on The House Bill-

In an emailed newsletter to his constituents, Erik Paulsen (R) Eden Prairie explained why he voted against the Health Care Bill that represents a 100 year quest for universal health coverage voted on and passed in the House Saturday night.

The Affordable Health Care for America Act, or H.R. 3962, does some things everyone should be happy about: it restricts insurance companies from denying coverage to anyone with a pre-existing condition or charging higher premiums based on gender or medical history. It also provides federal subsidies to those who cannot afford it and guarantees coverage for 96 percent of Americans, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The bill has yet to pass the final test in the Senate when it will meet opposition particularly if the public option is in the bill. Joseph Lieberman's position is critical to the Democratic caucus which has the minimum 60 votes to overcome a Republican filibuster. Senate Republicans unanimously oppose the public option, but Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine thinks there’s a possible compromise involving a trigger mechanism that would mandate a public option if future thresholds for expanded coverage and lower costs go unmet.



http://online.wsj.com/article/
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/

Here's what the EP real estate market looks like as of 1/07/09:

Read More....

Q & A with Scott Neal, Eden Prairie City Manager   

1. PHL The current tax bill for 2010 does not reflect the devaluation in real estate incurred in 2009. Is that correct?Our understanding is that the devaluation in value will show up in the next bill, 2011? 

Scott:  Our property tax system in Minnesota is designed to lag what is happening in the real estate market.  For example, the property taxes paid in 2010 are based on the value of that property on January 2, 2009, which was calculated based on the sales and market data from 2008.  Taxes payable in 2011 will be based on the value of property on January 1, 2010, which is based on sales and market data from 2009.  

2. PHL- According to the state budget, property taxes will rise in the coming years because of cuts to cities. Will this off-set the lower valuation causing home owners to pay higher prop taxes though their homes are of less value? 

Scott:  Property taxes will rise or fall depending on spending decisions made by local governments.  If a City, County or School District receives a cut to financial assistance it receives from the state, but still wishes to continue spending at the same level, it will need to increase its locally generated revenue somehow, most likely by increasing its property taxes or fees.  We’ve been fortunate in Eden Prairie that we’ve been able to keep our spending and taxing for 2010 at or below what is was in 2009, and very close to what it was in 2008.  Not very many cities can make that claim. 

3 PHL-. The largest part of the tax bill comes from county, city and school taxes. It is likely there will continue to be state funding cuts to cities and schools? Is there an established ceiling,  formula or cap the city uses to keep property taxes from going beyond what it costs to keep up with growth and inflation? 

Scott:  While it is true that the bulk of the property tax bill of a residential property is imposed by the City, County and School District, this is not true for commercial and industrial properties.  It is not widely understood that more than half of the typical property tax payment from an Eden Prairie commercial/industrial taxpayer goes to recipients outside our city borders:  the State of Minnesota and the Metropolitan Fiscal Disparities Program.  For example, there is a prominent Minnesota retail business here in Eden Prairie with an annual property tax bill in 2009 of $352,414.  Of that total, 11% of it goes to the City, 15.7% to the County and 14.1% to the School District.  28.3% goes to the State of Minnesota and 27.4% goes to the Fiscal Disparities Pool.  Regarding tax ceilings, floors, caps and formulas, there are spending floors called “maintenance of effort” requirements that you will find at the County government level, but there isn’t anything like that for cities.  The State imposes and relaxes from year to year what it calls “levy limits” to limit the annual increase in municipal property taxes.  Many cities tax up to the state imposed levy limit, but Eden Prairie does not.  We did not increase our total tax levy from 2009 to 2010 and currently have a tax at 92% of our state levy limit.  

4. PHL- Where does Eden Prairie stack up  tax wise compared to our like suburbs? 

Scott:  We compare our financials and operations regularly to a group of 12 comparable suburban communities.  We recently completed a ten year analysis of the City property tax impact to a hypothetical $300,000 property in these twelve communities.  In 2001 of these twelve cities Eden Prairie ranked third highest in terms of its city tax impact on the $300,000 sample property.  Only Apple Valley and Burnsville were higher.  In 2003 we moved down one rank to #4.  In 2005 Eden Prairie moved down the chart three more spots to #7.  We were #7 again in 2007 again.  In 2009, we dropped one more spot to rank #8.  The City Council challenged City staff to change our property tax impact relative to our peer cities.  We have accomplished that challenge, but will continue to look for ways to improve our municipal value for our taxpayers.   

5. PHL- Is it important for homeowners who might be selling their homes to obtain a Certificate of Real Estate Value, particularly since it's a buyer's market? 

Scott:  A Certificate of Real Estate Value is the disclosure document that all real estate buyers have to complete when they close on a sale. That document is provided to the State, County and City Assessor as evidence of the "sale price" and terms of sale. A taxpayer can't request a Certificate of Real Estate Value be created - they or their closing agent create it.

Interview with Patrick Hogan

PHL- Is it true that the MAC’s LTCP does not include lengthening the runway at FCM past its current legal designation? 

Patrick Hogan- Yes, that is correct.  The updated long term-comprehensive plan for Flying Cloud Airport does not include extending any of the airport’s runway lengths past the 5,000’ limit for minor-use airports. 

PHL- What proposed changes does it contain other than relocating the control tower and lengthening or shortening a cross runway that is parallel to 212? 

Patrick Hogan- Actually, the plan does not recommend relocating the air traffic control tower.  Rather, it recommends that MAC discuss the matter with the FAA.  The FAA, not MAC, owns the control tower.  Any relocation of the tower is contingent on the cooperation and assistance of the FAA. The plan does recommend shifting north-south runway 18-36 to the north and extending it to a length of 2,800’ from its current length of 2,691’ in keeping with FAA runway length standards. 

PHL-  What impact would the changes in Runway 18-36 have, and which residential area would it impact?  

Patrick Hogan-The slight shift in the runway to the north would enhance safety by bringing the runway safety area on the southern end into compliance with federal guidelines.  Lengthening Runway 18-35 to 2,800’ also provides an added layer of safety, giving pilots more room when landing or taking off.  The updated plan indicates changes in the runway will not increase the 2025 noise contour.  Planes taking off on Runway 18 fly over a non-residential bottomland and those taking off on Runway 36 generally turn over airport property or over a lake before overflying residential areas.  Noise contours are based on a federal metric that averages noise impacts in a given area.  Runway 18/36 will continue to be used as a crosswind rather than a primary runway, and the addition of 109' of pavement is not expected to result in significant runway use changes or increased noise impacts in neighborhoods around the airport. 

Ford's Flex features wheat- straw reinforced plastic to reinforce plastic in the interior storage bins of its Ford Flex vehicles-

2010 Ford Flex Eco Boost Review

See these links for more information:

http://www.gizmag.com/ford-flex-2010-wheat-straw

http://www.fordvehicles.com/crossovers/flex/

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/

Forbes Most Endangered Destinations

http://www.forbes.com

Everglades National Park- Urban Development- Chosen by Unesco World Heritage Center

Leave no Trace: Center for Outdoor Ethics

Wilderness ethics dictate that visitors to the area try to leave no trace of their passage.  While not regulations, the seven Leave No Trace principles will help you get the most out of your wilderness experience, and help you to preserve the park’s unique values for other visitors, both today and in the future.

Plan Ahead and Prepare

Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces

Dispose of Waste Properly

Leave What You Find

Minimize Campfire Impacts

Respect Wildlife

Be Considerate of Other Visitors

http://www.nps.gov/ever/supportyourpark/leavenotrace.htm

more travel...

Imaginext by Fisher Price

Visit Fisher Prices web site and you'll see why kids love these real-to-life replicas of dinosaurs.  

The Lost Creatures Collection, the Dragon World Fortress and Island of the Lost Creatures allows kids to make their own pre-historic world of giant Dinos and lost species.

Then there's Spike,  the Dinosaur, who walks, blinks and growls  with the touch of a remote-controller.. Check it out at the URL below..

 http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2700&e=landing