Welcome our new writer Dana Bach Johnson.

Wonderlust: The Great Gatsby

We are so excited about the ”The Great Gatsby” movie! This new lavish version by Baz Luhrmann is set to make the Jazz Age sparkle and prove F. Scott Fitzgerald still shines bright. The beloved novel showcases glamorous lifestyles amongst turmoiled relationships. Leonardo DiCaprio is so dapper as Jay Gatsby and the beautiful Carey Mulligan twinkles as Daisy Buchanan. The story is so timeless and the movie promises to be full of great drama, stylish clothes, and amazing parties. Get inspired and go see “The Great Gatsby”! Here are some of my favorites inspired by The Great Gatsby movie, what I really recommend though – read the book as well!

The quote

The style

Are you loving this style as much as we are? Luckily there are now many Great Gatsby and 20s’ inspired collections available and out hot tips to check out now include: Warby Parker’s  1922 limited edition eyewear collection, Modcloth’s 1920s inspired accessories and clothing,  Out of Print’s Great Gatsby Collection and that fabulous mens Great Gatsby Collection by Brooks Brothers. Once you seen the movie and stocked up on your own fabulous 20s ensembles it’s time to throw your own The Great Gatsby garden party!

The movie

Enter the world of glitz and glamour, parties and beautiful houses of The Great Gatsby:

Gifts for wine lovers

Is there someone on your holiday gift list who has a passion for Pinot? Is crazy for Chianti? Or has zest for Zinfandel?  Instead of tying a bow on a bottle of wine to give them as a gift, why not get creative and surprise your special wine-adoring someone with a unique, practical or indulgent gift! Here are my top choices, in a wide range of prices, for the wine lovers in your life.

1. Reidel Black Tie Bliss Decanter ($189.95)

This Reidel Black Tie Bliss Decanter will be a real conversation starter at your wine lover’s next dinner party. Mouth-blown and formed by hand, each piece is a unique work of art. What better way to say, “I heart wine” than with this functional decanter?

2. Corkcicle ($24.95)
One of the hottest gifts for wine lovers on the market right now is Corkcicle. Oprah named it as one of her “Favorite Things” this season, and since I own a Corkcicle myself, I have to agree with her! Made from food-grade gel and BPA-free plastic, Corkcicles keep your chilled white wine from going warm and quickly cools room temperature reds. Your wine lover will appreciate the convenience of no longer needing an ice bucket or making trips to the refrigerator. Corkcicles make a great stocking-stuffer.

3. Infused Gourmet Classic Gift Set from Round Pond Estate in Napa Valley ($95)

Give your wine-lover a flavorful piece of Napa Valley with this delectable gift set from Round Pond Estate. It includes Sangiovese Blend Red Wine Vinegar, the new Infused Basil Olive Oil, a sweet and vibrant Blood Orange Citrus Syrup, and a bottle of Round Pond Estate’s robust 2009 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (750ml). Located in Rutherford, in the heart of Napa Valley, Round Pond is family-owned and operated. Their oils, vinegars and syrups are meticulously made on the property. I recently had the pleasure of visiting their olive oil mill where I took a tour and had a sit-down tasting. You can read more about my visit on my blog, The Rich Life (on a budget).

4. Cuisinart 8-Bottle Wine Cellar ($159.00)

Wine lovers know that heat is the enemy of wine. If your wine lover doesn’t yet have her very own wine cave, give her this Cuisinart 8-Bottle Wine Cellar to store her precious bottles. Made to fit on a countertop, this sleek, modern wine refrigerator has a patented electronic touchpad thermostat that ranges from 38 to 68 F, is fingerprint-resistant, uses minimal energy and has soft-interior lighting.

5. BottleWise Duo – Wine Travel Bag ($68.95)

Whenever I travel, I always bring home a couple bottles of wine from my trip. Unfortunately, carrying wine on the plane is no longer allowed. Shipping it separately, which can be pricey and take weeks, or storing it in your baggage, which can be disastrous to your belongings and your luggage, are the only other options. The BottleWise Duo Wine Travel Bag is a soft-sided, two-bottle carrying case with an adjustable shoulder strap and an integrated liquid tight liner. You’ll enjoy your flight knowing your wine is protected from breaks and leaks. BottleWise Duo will also fit most bottles of oils, vinegars, sauces, and perfumes.

6. Oster Inspire Wine Opener and Wine Chiller ($37.99)

The wine lover on your list will like opening wine bottles skillfully and quickly with this Oster Inspire Wine Opener. Cordless and rechargeable, this wine  opener has an ergonomically designed hand-grip, foil cutter and it comes with a thermal stainless-steel wine chiller. No more fumbling with stubborn corks!

7. Harvest Inn’s ‘Tastes and Sips’ Package in Napa Valley (starting at $389 per night)

Your wine lover will be overjoyed with a gift that will indulge and delight his senses. Give him/her a two-night Napa Valley getaway with Harvest Inn’s ‘Tastes and Sips’ Package. Stay in a luxurious room in gorgeous California wine country surroundings, eat irresistible foods, drink spectacular wine and take in all that Napa Valley has to offer. Available starting January, 2013, this generous package includes two nights in a spacious room with a fireplace, a $100 gift certificate to the renown Tra Vigne restaurant, a bottle of wine, a box of handcrafted chocolates, breakfast for two delivered to your room, complimentary tastings at two wineries, and more. Read more about my recent visit to Harvest Inn and Tra Vigne .

Check out all the Holiday Gift Guide posts and stay tuned for more from our writers!

Tune in to The Talk

Lifestyle expert Sara Leibowitz will be showcasing the hottest new kitchen gadgets from Emmy-nominated talk show The Talk this Tuesday, July 24 on CBS.

Skimbaco Lifestyle would like to give YOU a chance to WIN a package of the featured kitchen items worth more than $720.00.

Tune in to THE TALK this Tuesday July 24 2:00–3:00 PM ET, 1:00–2:00 PM PT to see the cool kitchen gadgets you have the chance to win RIGHT HERE.

The Emmy-nominated talk show THE TALK (airs Weekdays 2:00–3:00 PM ET /1:00–2:00 PM PT on CBS) features a panel of well-known news and entertainment personalities discussing current events, pop culture, contemporary issues, family, celebrity and the trending topics of the day. The daily one-hour series is co-hosted by Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood and Aisha Tyler. The hosts swap stories, challenge each other on issues and engage the studio audience and viewers at home about events in the headlines and their own homes. Show segments include guest interviews with entertainers and newsmakers, musical performances, appearances from extraordinary people with stories that engage and inform as well as how-to demos and real-world advice and tips from the leading experts in fitness, diet, health, home, relationships, finance and fashion. The show was developed by Gilbert, who also serves as executive producer. For More Information on THE TALK go to: thetalk.com.

I personally love how engaging the show and its hostesses are online, especially on Twitter. They often also include real tweets in the show, and I was thrilled once to have my tweet appear on the show, and Sharon Osbourne to read it aloud (and agree with me!). I absolutely love this engagement!

GIVEAWAY FOR KITCHEN GOODIES AS SEEN ON THE TALK
Follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget and answer the question about The Talk to enter to win the kitchen goodies package in the comments section below (keep scrolling). Tune in to watch The Talk on Tuesday and come back on Thursday when we reveal the winner!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One of the top Holiday gifts for foodies this year is the Macy’s Culinary Council Thanksgiving and Holiday Cookbook ($24.99) and it is a top pick in the Skimbaco Christmas Home Shopping and Gift Guides.

The Macy’s Culinary Council Thanksgiving and Holiday Cookbook is filled with amazing recipes to create everything you will need for your Holiday table. The recipes have been created by the thirteen famous master chefs of Macy’s Culinary Council. On the top of the recipes being created by some of the most respected chefs in the country, my favorite bloggers put the recipes in the taste test to make sure that they are also doable for any home chef to master.

Check out these recipe posts:
Breakfast Casserole with Broccoli, Ham and Cheese at eat.live.travel.write.
Sicilian Waldorf Turkey Salad Sandwich at Savoring The Thyme.
Maple Whipped Sweet Potatoes at Housewife Bliss.
White Chocolate Pecan Pie at Very Culinary.

Meet Macy’s Culinary Council’s Nancy Silverton at Macy’s in New York

Join Macy’s in New York City for a cooking demonstration by Chef Nancy Silverton featuring some of her favorite recipes from The Macy’s Culinary Council Thanksgiving & Holiday Cookbook today!

Nancy Silverton is an award-winning pastry chef and the founder of La Brea Bakery and co-owner of Mozza in Los Angeles and Singapore. Her cookbooks, Nancy Silvertons Pastries from the La Brea Bakery and Nancy Silvertons Breads from the la Brea Bakery, were nominated for awards from the Julia Child and the James Beard Foundation, respectiveley. Silverton’s eigth book, The Mozza Cookbook, was released in August 2011.

After the presentation, meet Chef Nancy and have her sign your copy of The Macy’s Culinary Council Thanksgiving & Holiday Cookbook when you purchase it at the event.

When: November 30, 2011 at 6:00pm
Where: Macy’s Herald Square
Cellar Kitchen
151 West 34th Street
New York, NY

Disclosure: I have a working relationship with Macy’s via Everywhere Society.

This Calphalon Contemporary Nonstick Roaster is one of my favorite kitchen tools the entire fall and winter. I’ve had it for years, and it’s still in a great shape and I use it at least once a week during winter. I originally bought it for roasting the turkey for Thanksgiving, and even if you only buy it to cook Holiday food, it’s worth the money. It takes half of the cooking stress off because it is so easy to cook a perfect turkey when the turkey is on the rack and it won’t stick to the bottom.

In addition to Holiday cooking I make pot and pork roasts in the roaster all the time. It’s so easy to use and cooks roasts fast. I start by browning the meat in the roaster when it’s on a stove top (not in the oven) and add a little bit of water and keep the roaster on the stove top as I chop vegetables like potatoes, carrots, rutabega, onions and sweet potatoes etc. to accompany the meat and add them easily to the roaster while it’s simmering in the stove top. When I have everything chopped, off to the oven it goes. Super easy!

So when I saw my Calphalon Roaster on sale at Williams Sonoma for $79.96, I knew I had to share it with you. This baby typically runs for $170, and I think it’s so worth the money even for that price making this deal extra special!

See this and other must have products for Thanksgiving in the Skimbaco Thanksgiving Home Shopping Guide.

HauteLook has an awesome Halloween home & entertaining sale going on! So many great decorative items for Halloween parties and to set up your table with fun Halloween decor or spice up your kitchen. All under $15, ends on Tuesday, so shop now. HauteLook is an invitation only shopping site where you enjoy discounted prices on fashion, shoes, beauty and home decorating items, click the link to join.

Ben & Jerry’s definitely got some balls.
More precisely Scheweddy Balls.

Everyone’s favorite ice cream company just released “Schweddy Balls” flavor of ice cream goodness. Schweddy Balls is Fair Trade vanilla ice cream with a hint of rum and is loaded with fudge covered rum and milk chocolate malt balls.

The ice cream is of course based on “Delicious Dish” skit from Saturday Night Live and inspired by Alec Baldwin’s character Pete Schweddy, the owner of a confections shop with famous culinary delight Schweddy Balls.

“For a long time, I thought that ‘Here Lies Pete Schweddy’ would end up on my tombstone. Now, thanks to Ben & Jerry’s, the goodness of the Schweddy family recipe won’t go with me to the great beyond… It is immortalized here, right now, and it’s an ice cream. Ben & Jerry’s and Schweddy. Two great names in American dessert, together at last.”

says Alec Baldwin about the ice cream.

If you need a reminder of the skit… you’re welcome:

Can’t wait to find this in a grocery store and give it a try and tweet “I’m enjoying some lip smacking Schweddy Balls tonite, my husband likes it too”.

I love white dishes because they are so easy to mix and match with colorful ones, but decided I needed to add some color to my table settings and decided to go bargain shopping for some inexpensive colorful dishes and headed to T.J.Maxx and HomeGoods.

And guess what? All I came home with was more white, and two scores of Lenox Kate Spade serving dishes that have nice modern red flower print. See my entire dish shopping haul at T.J.Maxx and tell me if you ever get the urge to shop for new dishes for your table.

I can’t believe how much I got and how little I spent. I spent approximately 112$ with tax for all of the dishes, and if I had gone to a different store, this stuff could have easily been 300-400 dollars. See the pictures and detailed list what I got!

The white salad plate is by Gibson, and I had to get for one dollar.

BIA 7oz Quiche/Brulee dish with handles, I paid $2 each. I didn’t find the exact same ones online, but I found BIA Cordon Bleu 5-Inch Porcelain Quiche Dish for $2.50 at Amazon, smaller & no handles, but almost as inexpensive.

BIA Cordon Bleu 10.5″ oval serving bowl, I scored it for $6.50 and would have bought more if they had had.

Gatherings branded square table cloth, $7.99 with nice organic linen look.

Cynthia Rowley Cake Stand, on sale $10 at T.J.Maxx. I didn’t find this online, but $10 for a cake stand, a steal! I found a bit similar looking, Square Cake Pedestal for 55 bucks.

Lenox Kate Spade Laurel Canyon Oval Platter originally $120, now on sale at Lenox $89.95, I paid $22 at T.J.Maxx.

Lenox Kate Spade Laurel Canyon Large Serving Bowl, originally $110, now on sale at Lenox $87.95, I paid $22 at T.J.Maxx.

On the tops of the dishes, I also decided to test T.J.Maxx’s exclusive cookware line Palm, and bought two pots for $15 each. I read some online reviews and they didn’t promise too much, but at least they look prettier than some of my old pots, and work while I’m saving money for better pots.

Disclosure: I received a T.J.Maxx gift card but it was not used to do this shopping haul and I purchased all of the items on my own. I have been a Maxxinista for years.

I am pretty excited about this new type of grilling product that just hit the market in the US. The Shinwa grill is part table, part grill and it is like your own Japanese steakhouse and hibachi happening right in your backyard. We all know how the BBQ parties go.. one person cooking at the grill, another working the kitchen, and guests waiting for the food to be done, and it’s not easy to be a great hostess when it is so scattered. But the Japanese have a different grilling tradition. They gather around beautiful grill tables to relax, socialize and cook food together.

The Shinwa Grill is a cast iron, flat surface charcoal grill surrounded by a bamboo table that seats four to six people. The company says that cooking on the Shinwa is easy and it can easily be very healthy; it is most convenient to do Asian-style cooking with small pieces of healthy meats, fruits and vegetables cooked plain or simply seasoned or marinated (scroll down to see the Chicken and Artichoke Stir Fry recipe). Of course you can grill your burgers on the Shinwa too, but since you are sitting around the table – why not cook visually colorful food too…?

“Shinwa means friendship. When people dine around The Shinwa they grill delicious food, but more importantly, they create memories that last a lifetime,” says Chuck Allen, President of Shinwa Grill. “The Shinwa Grill is more than a grill and more than a table, it is a special dining experience where the social and the sizzle all come together.”

WAYNE JOHNSON’S CHICKEN AND ARTICHOKE STIR FRY ON SHINWA

As seen on NBC Chicago, created for Shinwa grilling table.

Ingredients
1 med Yellow Onion, cut into 8 wedges
1 cu Brown Rice (uncooked)
1 tbl Butter
1 tbl Worchestershire Sauce
2 Cu Water
1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into 1″ pieces
2 Garlic Cloves, smashed and chopped
2 tsp Chicken Grilling Spice Mix*
1 tbl Olive Oil
1 lg Red Pepper, julienned
1/4 lb Medium Sized Mushrooms, halved
1 medium Jalapeño, thinly sliced
1 can Artichokes Hearts, 14oz size, drained and halved
1 Lemon, sliced into 8 wedges

Preparation
1. Roughly chop 4 of the onion sections and sauté them in the butter in a medium pot over medium high heat for about 4 minutes. Add brown rice and Worchestershire sauce and stir to coat. Add water. Reduce heat to a very low simmer. Cover pot and cook for 40 minutes until rice is tender. Remove from heat and store rice in an airtight container until ready to use.

2. Place chicken pieces in a sealable bag. Add olive oil, garlic and grilling spice mix. Seal bag and shake ingredients vigorously to thoroughly coat the chicken. Remove as much air as possible from the bag and reseal. Place in the refrigerator and marinate for two hours to overnight.

3. Divide remaining ingredients among four individual plates. Divide rice into four separate serving bowls. Divide the marinated chicken into four small bowls (don’t put on the same plate as the vegetables). Give each guest a plate of vegetables, rice and chicken (these steps are for using a community grill like the Shinwa Grill…I have stirfry instructions, for preparing this dish in a wok, below).

4. For preparation, place the chicken pieces on the prepared grill with a little oil. Sear each side for 2 minutes. Add the red peppers and mushrooms and sauté for an additional minute. Add the jalapeños and artichokes and continue to sauté until all the ingredients are tender, about 10-12 minutes total. Squeeze lemon on all the ingredients and then transfer them to the individual serving bowls on top of the brown rice. Give your guests salt and pepper to season to taste.

5. If you aren’t using a community grill like the Shinwa Grill, this dish can be stir fried in a wok. Heat the wok to a high temperature and add oil and the chicken. Follow the instructions above for the remainin ingredients and then serve the dish over brown rice as well.

* WAYNE’S POULTRY GRILLING SPICES MIX: LIL CHICK

Ingredients
3 1/2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
3 1/2 tsp Lemon Pepper
1 1/2 tsp Celery Seed
2 1/2 tsp Basil
2 1/2 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Ground Mustard

Preparation
1. Mix ingredients together and either grind in spice grinder or in a mortar and pestle. Store in an airtight container.

Recipe by Wayne Johnson, NBC Chicago

Pictures and source: Shinwagrill.com

20% Off Villeroy & Boch is elegant, classic and a high quality dinnerware and glassware company, and one of my absolute favorite brands for everyday luxury.

Villeroy & Boch’s new Farmhouse Touch collection just launched, and I love how there are so many different ways that you can go with it. Very classic farmhouse style with blue flowers, reminds me of Europe; old Swedish style homes in Finland, and Sunday dinners in German countryside.

Part of the Farmhouse Touch collection is very classic looking white collection of pieces that fit more modern tables or very traditional ones. I love how versatile the white dishes in this collection are. I always love collecting white because it’s so easy to mix and match with more colorful sets or table linens etc.

The Farmhouse Touch is absolutely stunning, but that’s not all what Villeroy & Boch has cooking this summer. In fact they are having a huge summer sale, and you can get 20% Off at Villeroy & Boch with coupon code: VILLEROYSUMMER. Sale is on now until July 4th, and unfortunately it does not include the Farmhouse Touch and a few other collections, but check it out they have so many beautiful collections.

Villeroy & Boch Father’s Day Giveaway

Make sure to check out the Villeroy & Boch Father’s Day Giveaway at our sister site Skimbaco Lifestyle. We are giving away a set of Villeroy & Boch whisky sets, perfect for Father’s day.