Hallmark Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins

Posted on October 30, 2019 by

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Hallmark Channel is jampacked with all the best movies, and of course, you can’t forget about the hunks of Hallmark. While Hallmark Channel Christmas movies are classic favorites, I am definitely a fan of the Hallmark Channel year-round. Most recently I have been addicted to watching Hallmark Channel fall harvest movies. While I was in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan hanging with my friend Jen we made sure to make time to watch the Hallmark Channel. In one of the shows they made Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins, and from that moment we knew that we would need to mix up our own recipe for pumpkin zucchini muffins. With the cool breeze in the air, and pumpkin everything taking over I thought it was the perfect chance to create the Hallmark Channel pumpkin zucchini muffins. This pumpkin zucchini muffin recipe is quick and easy to make and is sure to be a hit. These pumpkin zucchini muffins are moist and absolutely delicious.

Hallmark Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
3 cups flour
1.5 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking soda
1.5 teaspoons salt
3 cups granulated sugar
1 can (15 ounces) 100% Pure Pumpkin
4 large eggs
½ cup canola oil
½ cup water
1 cup shredded zucchini

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place muffin cups into tin.
3. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, salt and sugar in a large bowl.
4. Combine pumpkin, eggs, oil and water in a bowl.
5. Mix to combine.
6. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture.
7. Stir to combine.
8. Add zucchini.
9. Stir to combine.
10. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling ¾ full.
11. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean.
12. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes.

Restaurant Review: Donckers – Moose Pancakes

Posted on October 28, 2019 by

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Looking for a great place to grab breakfast in Marquette, Michigan? Why not give Donckers a try? At Donckers you will not only find their signatures caramels and chocolates, including the Signature Sea Salt Carmel that has been hand-dipped in dark or milk chocolate, but you will also find a restaurant. That’s right, Donckers is more than just a candy shop it’s a restaurant too. Located in the heart of downtown Marquette Donckers is serving up candy, ice cream, breakfast and lunch/dinner. One of the coolest things Donckers offers can be found on the kid’s menu and is called the Micky Moose Pancakes. The Micky Moose Pancakes at Donckers use a from-scratch recipe and are made to look like a moose. Seriously cutest pancakes ever! They might even be too cute to eat.

Coming to Detroit: The Joffrey Ballet

Posted on October 25, 2019 by

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I am one of those romantic comedy, chickflick types of girls. I\’ve watched plenty of movies that take place around The Joffrey Ballet and have always dreamed about what it would be like to watch a live performance. Well, if you\’re like me and live in the Metro Detroit area now is your chance to see The Joffrey Ballet at the Michigan Opera Theatre from November 2 through 3 at the Detroit Opera House.

Michigan Opera Theatre (MOT) will present Chicago’s renowned Joffrey Ballet company Nov. 2-3 at the Detroit Opera House. The program, “Beyond the Shore,” features works by three of Europe’s most in-demand choreographers: Liam Scarlett, Nicolás Blanc and Alexander Ekman. It features diverse pieces performed to classical and electronic music that explore new worlds and emotions.

MOT Artistic Advisor for Dance Jon Teeuwissen, the former Executive Director for The Joffrey, said the program features works representative of the Company’s style.
“The mixed-repertoire program is a testament to The Joffrey’s commitment to diverse dance styles, reflective of both the expected and the unexpected,” he said. “It features three dynamic young choreographers from Europe with works that pay homage to the lavish classical productions of the past while also exploring the unchartered territory of the future.”
The program opens with Scarlett’s “Vespertine,” a sumptuous ode to the Baroque period. Dancers dressed in flowy maroon costumes move under a sky of chandeliers, dancing with the lights themselves to intricate violin compositions.
Blanc’s “Beyond the Shore,” from which the program is named, takes audiences through different worlds. Composed to the music of electronic music composer Mason Bates, dancers travel through six distinct landscapes that range from under the sea to a mysterious desert to outer space, featuring original Houston recordings of the astronauts during the first moon landing in 1969.
The program concludes with Ekman’s self-descriptive “Joy.” Dancers clad in flesh-toned costumes explore what it means to be joyful with playful, quirky movements that spread the feeling to the audience.
This is the company’s first performance at the Detroit Opera House since 2014.
Ticket prices for the performance start at $35. Tickets may be purchased online at www.MichiganOpera.org, by calling (313) 237-7464 or in person at the Detroit Opera House (1526 Broadway, Detroit).
MOT’s 2019-20 dance season is generously supported by Richard and Joanne Brodie.
For more information visit https://michiganopera.org/season-schedule/joffrey-ballet/.
The Joffrey Ballet’s “Beyond the Shore”
Saturday, Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 3, 2:30 p.m.
Performed at the Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway, Detroit

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Travel Diaries: Tillson Street – Romeo, Michigan

Posted on October 25, 2019 by

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With Halloween being just under a week away, I had to make my annual trip to Tillson Street, in Romeo Michigan. Tillson Street also is known as Terror on Tillson, is a street that is famous for its elaborate Halloween decorations during the month of October. Typically I visit Tillson Street at night, but this year I took a day off of work to go on an adventure with Jack, and one of the places we ended up was Tillson Street. I haven\’t seen Tillson Street during the daylight in years, it\’s definitely a different experience, and isn\’t crawling with people. See my Tillson Street adventure at night here.

Coming to Detroit: The New Colossus

Posted on October 24, 2019 by

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Looking for the perfect Valentine\’s date with your significant other or girlfriends? Don\’t worry, I have the perfect idea for you. The New Colossus will be at The Music Hall in Detroit February 14-16, 2020 and is one show you do not want to miss. This new play is written The Actors’ Gang ensemble and The Actors’ Gang Artistic Director Tim Robbins who also directed the piece.  
Tickets for The New Colossus start at $35 and go on sale Sunday, Oct. 27. Tickets can be purchased online at www.broadwayindetroit.com or www.ticketmaster.com, and by phone at 800-982-2787. Starting Monday, Oct. 28, tickets may also be purchased at The Music Hall and Fisher Theatre box offices.
In The New Colossus, The Actors’ Gang members tell their ancestors’ stories, their struggles and their journeys from oppression to freedom. The play celebrates the courage and great character of the refugees who came to this country throughout the last 300 years. The ensemble of twelve reflects the great diversity that has defined who we are as a nation; The New Colossus is a celebration of our diversity.
Set somewhere between the 19th century and now, the play tells the story of forced migration and the constant struggle for survival and dignity in an uncertain and hostile environment. The members of the acting company are from different parts of the world; they tell their stories, each in a different language, and each in different dress.  Actors from Iran, Turkey, Malaysia, Germany, Vietnam, Louisiana, Mexico, Finland, Hungary, Soviet Union and Austria will be in the Detroit company.
Director Tim Robbins said, “I live in Los Angeles, where one can only be struck by the contributions made to our city by immigrants and people who came here as refugees. The Actors’ Gang felt compelled to respond to the government’s anti-refugee and anti-immigration policies –- and to tell a story that draws attention to the true nature of people that live in this country. Save for the Indigenous, all of our families came here as refugees, immigrants or were brought here against their will.”
“The characters in the piece all seem different, from different parts of the world, travelling at different times – but the stories are remarkably the same: the common experience of all refugees is that they are fleeing some kind of oppression and moving toward safety and hopefully, freedom. Our hope is that we will be able to illuminate the courage, fortitude and humor of the refugees that have defined this land and, in doing so, discover the similarities that exist between our ancestors and those who are currently struggling for dignity and freedom today.”
The New Colossus shares a title with the sonnet written by poet Emma Lazarus in 1883 for an exhibit to raise funds for the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty, which opened in 1886. Even though the Statue of Liberty was not conceived as a symbol of immigration, Lazarus’ “The New Colossus” reinvented the statue\’s purpose, turning Liberty into a welcoming mother, a symbol of hope to the outcasts and oppressed of the world.
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
At the end of each performance the actors will engage the audience and ask them to share either their experience of immigration or their family’s experience.
The New Colossus has its beginnings in The Actors’ Gang 2017 Refugee Project Workshop Production, in which actors told true, personal stories about their ancestors –- where they came from, why they had to leave, and where they arrived and settled. 
About The Actors’ Gang
Over the past 36 years, The Actors’ Gang has produced over 200 plays in Los Angeles, in forty-five US states, and on five continents. The company was founded in 1981 by a group of young artists looking to build a theatre that would present relevant and vibrantly entertaining plays. Guided by Founding Artistic Director, Tim Robbins, the company provides a supportive environment for a diverse ensemble of artists and the development of their groundbreaking work.
The Actors’ Gang has presented the work of innovative theater artists including Georges Bigot, Simon Abkarian, Charles Mee, David Schweizer, Bill Rauch and the Cornerstone Theatre Company, Tracy Young, Roger Guenver Smith, Eric Bogosian, Oskar Eustis, Danny Hoch, Beth Milles, Brian Kulick, Stefan Haves, Namaste Theater Company, Culture Clash, Jason Reed, Michael Schlitt, and Tenacious D.
The Actors’ Gang ensemble has included accomplished actors such as Jack Black, John Cusack, John C. Reilly, Helen Hunt, Kate Walsh, Fisher Stevens, Jeremy Piven, Ebbe Roe Smith, Jon Favreau, Brent Hinkley, Kate Mulligan, Lee Arenberg, Kyle Gass and Tim Robbins.
Guest artists that have appeared on The Actors’ Gang stage include: Jackson Browne, Sarah Silverman, Ben Gibbard, John Doe, Tom Morello, Jenny Lewis, Wayne Kramer, Paul Provenza, Zooey Deschanel, Serj Tankian, David Crosby, Pink, Felicity Huffman, Jill Sobule, William H. Macy, Phillip Baker Hall, Jeanne Tripplehorn, T.C. Boyle. and the late, beloved, Gore Vidal.
Over the last thirty years The Actors’ Gang has toured the U.S. in forty-five states and on five continents, performing across the world from London to Milan, Bucharest, Athens, Madrid, Barcelona, Bogota, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Melbourne and Buenos Aires.
With their productions, education and outreach programs and tours they strive to strengthen communities in a way that only the medium of theater can. They produce plays that contribute to the ongoing dialogue about our society and culture, while never forgetting that theaters primary purpose is to entertain.
“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
\”Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!\” cries she
With silent lips. \”Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!\”
Tim Robbins (Director)
For the past 36 years, Tim Robbins has served as Artistic Director for The Actors’ Gang, a theater company formed in 1982 that has over 150 productions and more than 100 awards to their credit. Past productions with The Actors’ Gang include: As Writer/Director – Harlequino On to Freedom (2017), Break the Whip (2010-11), Embedded (2003-4), Mayhem, the Invasion (1992), Carnage, A Comedy (1988-89), Violence, The Misadventures of Spike Spangle Farmer (1987) and Alagazam (1986). As Director –A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2012-16), Orwells’ 1984 (2006-16), Mephisto (2001), The Good Woman of Setzuan (1991), Methusalem, the Eternal Bourgeois (1985), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1984), Ubu the King (1982); In addition to producing live theater throughout the year, The Actors’ Gang provides arts education to thousands of Elementary, Middle and High School students working in 12 LA USD schools and in underserved communities in the L.A. area. Since 2006, The Actors’ Gang’s groundbreaking Prison Project provides theatrical workshops to incarcerated men and women in 11 California prisons. In 2014, Robbins and Prison Project director Sabra Williams were instrumental in reinstating 6 million dollars into the California State budget for Arts in Corrections. 
As Actor, credits include the current HBO series Here and Now, Marjorie Prime, The Brink, Mystic River, The Shawshank Redemption, The Player, Bull Durham and Jacob’s Ladder and as a Writer/Director, Dead Man Walking, Cradle Will Rock and Bob Roberts. Robbins has won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, Sag Award + Prix d\’Interprétation masculine at Cannes and French Legion.
Ticket information
Performance times for The New Colossus appearing February 14-16, 2020 at The Music Hall, located at 350 Madison Ave. in Detroit are:
·         Friday & Saturday evening performances at 8:00 p.m.
·         Saturday matinee at 2:00 p.m.
·         Sunday performance at 3:00 p.m.
Tickets for The New Colossus start at $35 (includes facility fee) and will go on sale Sunday, Oct. 27.  Tickets can be purchased online at www.broadwayindetroit.com or www.ticketmaster.com, and by phone at 800-982-2787.  Starting Monday, Oct. 28 tickets may also be purchased at The Music Hall and Fisher Theatre box offices. For group sales (10 or more) please call 313-871-1132 or email groups@broadwayindetroit.com.  Performance schedule, prices and cast are subject to change without notice.
Broadway In Detroit uses Ticketmaster as its sole, authorized ticketing agent. Individual tickets purchased from a ticket broker or “third party” ticket reseller involves risk and may not be authentic, sold at box office prices, or with correct performance and venue information. Broadway In Detroit box offices cannot reprint or replace lost or stolen tickets sold through a third party or ticket reseller. Broadway In Detroit is also unable to contact third party purchasers with pertinent updates or changes regarding performances.
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