Inspired Living - November-December 2022

OC Camara leads a nationally ranked women’s soccer team

by Susan Thacker sthacker@gbtribune.com

Feature photo by Hugo Gonzalez hgonzalez@gbtribune.com

“In football, the worst things are excuses. Excuses mean you cannot grow or move forward.” Those words, spoken by professional soccer player Pep Guardiola, may well have inspired one of his biggest fans, Ousmane “OC” Camara, head coach of Barton Community College’s nationally ranked women’s soccer team.

Born in Conakry, Guinea, Camara’s parents were diplomats who moved to different countries every two or three years. Attending high school in Cuba and France, he played handball and basketball, as well as soccer – or football as it is known in most countries outside of the United States.

“Soccer-football was the sport everyone played – like a religion,” Camara said.

Pep Guardiola inspired Camara to be a better soccer player and a successful coach, patterning his style after the European legend. Like Guardiola, he focuses on recruiting the best players. He teaches his team members to play with a respect for the rules and each other, and always tries to be positive.

“He made me a better coach,” Camara said.

Camara was fortunate to receive an outstanding education and took advantage of the opportunity to learn five languages while being exposed to many cultures. He speaks English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and his native tongue, Susu.

He visited a friend at Barton Community College in 2008 and decided to try out for the team. He was accepted and began his collegiate career in 2009.

Camara played one season in the Barton Cougar uniform, then transferred to Fort Hays State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in May 2013.

He’s spent most of the last 14 years living in Kansas – the longest he’s stayed in one place. He is married

and has a 10-month-old daughter.

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Camara started coaching back in 2008, with youth recreational soccer and then a private team before going on to coach high school students. After college, he earned his coaching credentials: he holds a Level 6 Diploma, the National Diploma, and the Advanced National Diploma from the NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) coaching education system. He coached at Thomas More Prep High School and Hays Soccer Club before a brief stint at Western Texas College before returning to Barton in the fall of 2014.

“I was assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s soccer programs for two seasons and then we split the program. In 2016 I stayed with

coach.”

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They had a big year in 2018, winning the conference title for the first time in 10 years.

“Every year, I try to bring in better players,” he said. “I try to build from what I had in the past and add better players.” But rebuilding is a constant process at a community college. “You only have them for two years, unfortunately, and then they have to move on to the next school.”

The COVID-19 pandemic posed a set-back when players he recruited in 2020 ended up not coming. They played in the spring of 2021 and had a fair showing but lost in the finals. “I think if it wasn’t for COVID, probably we could have won because I had built a strong team.”

Looking for the best Camara often works as a referee at area high school soccer games, especially in the spring. From his vantage point on the field, he can scout potential recruits for Barton. “I’m in the middle, I can see more instead of staying outside; I can see how the girl does with or without the ball.”

He may travel to Kansas City, Colorado, or even to another country in search of talent.

“I went to Brazil in 2018,” he noted. But a trip to Japan in 2020 was canceled by the pandemic.

When he travels to watch a girl play, he wants to find out more than how skillful she is.

“I get to know them on a personal level. I like good people. I want you to be nice to people, so that’s what I look for first.

“I watch them and then introduce myself, and then I tell them about my team. I tell them, ‘This is what we do, this is why we’re successful. You’re the type of player I’m looking for to help

me build from there.’”

The team building continues once the roster is filled. One fun thing he’s done with his multi-cultural team is have each player teach the others a word from her native country.

The players have come from Brazil, France, Japan, Korea, Costa Rica, Mexico, Germany, the Dominican Republic and Spain.

And they also come from the USA, including Great Bend High School. That’s where he recruited freshman Julissa Valdez, having watched her improve over the years. “I knew she was going to be good in soccer,” he said.

Kindness and sportsmanship

Camara has been known to give his own gloves to a young player who was obviously struggling on a cold day. His friend Chuy Loera, now the boys soccer coach at Great Bend High School, says that’s

“I’ve had the privilege of getting to know OC since 2009,” Lorea said. “He has always been a person that you wanted to be around. His positive energy naturally draws you in and then you get to experience his caring personality.

“OC cares about the people around him and the students that he gets to make a difference with. His passion for soccer has given him the ability to make great connections with his athletes by not only caring about the sport, but demonstrating that he cares about them as an individual,” Lorea continued. “The Barton women’s soccer program has been nationally ranked for the last few years and in my opinion it is mostly due to OC being able to get his athletes to perform at their very best and to compete with passion. Again, Coach Camara is a very passionate person and through his passion he exemplifies what it is like to give everything to something you want to achieve – whether it is your grade-point average, growing as an athlete, or as a person. He is there to help his players grow in every way that he can. We are extremely lucky to have Ousmane Camara here in Great Bend, Kansas.”

Don’t retaliate

Whether coaching or serving as a referee, Camara holds players accountable and expects good sportsmanship. Trash talk and retaliation aren’t acceptable.

“Sometimes, when I’m on the soccer field and I’m refereeing the game and they talk like that, I say, ‘Hey, you know this is bad. You’re not supposed to do this. Don’t do it again.’ Sometimes they want to retaliate. For example, say a player

the people around

gets fouled, they’re not happy about the call and they want to retaliate. I’ll say, ‘Don’t do it. I understand, I saw it, I get it.’ I try to tell the same thing to my girls as well. ‘Don’t foul, don’t retaliate physically.’”

His teams win more games than they lose, but learning to lose gracefully is also part of the game.

Losing a game against Hutchinson this fall, Camara urged his girls not to lose heart.

“We’re a better team. We’ll never give up, until the clock is down to zero,” he said. “We didn’t give up so that showed that they wanted to win. Every year that I recruit a team I say, ‘You know last year we were second. I recruited you guys and I believe we’re going to win conference.’ I always push them to be better than last year’s team.”

Still a believer

Soccer may not be Camara’s religion, but it plays a central role in his life. When asked what he does in his time off, he answered, “I’m a big soccer fan. I just watch soccer.” His favorite team is Barcelona – where Pep Guardiola spent the majority of his career.

“I love watching them. Basically, my day off is just watching soccer, soccer, soccer – and talking to family members and friends.” He has a brother in this country and lifetime friends from everywhere, not to mention former students who sometimes share their success stories with him.

Guardiola once said, “I try to be positive. I speak to my players about how we have to play, respect the rules. What I have done is always positive.”

Camara seems to have taken that to heart. He says, “I’m a simple guy, a funny guy, and I’m always positive – always laughing despite any negativity that has gone on. The world would be in a better place if everybody did the right things, instead of playing the blame game.”

OCcaresaboutthepeoplearoundhimand Ca

— Chuy Lorea, GBHS boys soccer coach.

Decorate A Be a u t i f ulDecorate A Beautiful

T h a n k s g i v i n g T a b l eThanksgiving Table

Bring the beauty of the autumn season inside for your Thanksgiving table decorations. Use fall colors, autumn foliage and colorful fruits of the season to arrange a dramatic Thanksgiving dinner table.

Construct or purchase a Thanksgiving or autumn-themed centerpiece. Use a conventional cornucopia centerpiece or a fall floral arrangement because Thanksgiving is all about tradition. Spread autumn nuts and leaves around your centerpiece.

Adorn your table with fall-colored candles set in rustic metal or wooden candleholders. Arrange autumn foliage, nuts, berry assortments, wheat sprigs, mini squash and other seasonal vegetables about the base of your centerpiece.

Use a large, hollowed pumpkin in place of a vase to exhibit an autumn floral centerpiece. Spread sprigs of wheat, nuts, berry clusters and fall leaves around the base of your pumpkin.

Set your dining table with a tablecloth, place mats and napkins done in fallthemed prints and ordinating solids. Use Thanksgiving prints sparingly to prevent your table from looking busy and attracting attention away from your fall centerpiece.

Step

Use napkin rings that reflect the autumn season. Hand-paint leaf patterns onto ordinary wooden napkin rings or utilize purchased rings with a similar motif.

Use your best china or select dishes done in fall motifs or colors that coordinate well with the other elements of your table.

Utilize clean autumn leaves as makeshift place cards. Rinse the leaves and gently pat them dry. Write your guest’s names on each leaf with a gold or black felt-tip pen. Place one colorful leaf in the center of every plate.

Considerations:

— Keep nuts in their shells when using them as part of your centerpiece.

— Be sure foliage is clean before placing them near food items.

— If your table space is limited, create a small centerpiece. Leave room for dishes, serving platters and condiments.

— Keep the centerpiece at a low height that will allow guests an unobstructed view of one another.

— Don’t use scented candles in your centerpiece, as they will interfere with food aromas.

Homes need extra care to withstand the bitter cold of winter, and now is the time to prepare for it.

Many people will leave winterization until the winter is almost upon them, but this isn’t a good idea. Adverse weather can make some of the things you need to achieve almost impossible.

It’s important to start early so that you have enough time to do minor repairs while you can see the structure of the building in good weather.

It also leaves time to contact and engage any contractors that you may need before the winter weather sets in.

Gutters

Most people will feel comfortable taking on some of the simpler tasks themselves. Look carefully at the rain gutters in your home and ensure they are clean and free from leaf debris and sludge.

Guttering can become blocked, and when the water cannot flow freely off your roof, you risk having water find its way back into your home through any imperfections that exist in the roof.

When the really cold weather sets in, blocked guttering and rainwater pipes can encourage the growth of icicles, the weight of which can seriously damage your property and become a safety hazard to people outside your home.

This is one of the simplest and cheapest things you

can do to protect your home during the winter months.

Touch-up Painting

If your home has a painted finish on the exterior walls, use the time available in the fall to inspect the damage caused by the previous winters.

Cracked or flaking paintwork will generally need to be addressed before the next winter weather hits. During wet and cold weather, moisture seeps into cracks in paintwork and masonry and can freeze. As the moisture freezes, it expands and damages the wall or finish further.

Make sure you address any cracks in dry weather. Fill them with a suitable filler and reapply any paint finishes.

Energy Efficiency

Inside the home, winterization can be summed up in one word: insulation.

Insulating your home against the cold will offer protection against the unwanted effects of freezing temperatures, such as frozen pipes and excessive condensation.

Not only do you save money from decreased heating bills, but the heat you do build up in the house will go to heating and keeping the fabric of the building dry rather than being lost to the outside.

Take a look in your attic and measure how thick your insulation is. If it’s only a few

inches, it might be an idea to add another layer on top.

Fiberglass wool insulation is generally cheap nowadays and can be found at most hardware stores.

If you would prefer something a little more sustainable, look for one of the many products made from recycled materials. These are also becoming

more easily available and are coming down in price.

Laying out more attic insulation is an easy task that many people could take on themselves, provided they have ready access to their attic spaces and know how to do it safely.

If not, now is the perfect time to call an insulation contractor.

Thanksgiving Dinner Age 50+ come and enjoy this feast. Call 620-792-3906 to make your reservation at the Senior Center, 2005 Kansas.

Life Size Clue Play as one of the characters from the board game and make your way through the library, following the clues. 6:00-7:30 p.m. Lower Level Meeting Room. Great Bend Public Library, 1409 Williams.

Great Bend Alive Fridays on Forest

Get together with your friends for an evening of socializing downtown on Forest Avenue. This group is part of Great Bend Economic Development. 5:00-9:00 p.m. www.gbedinc.com/gbalive

Ice Skating

Free ice skating. Ope Thursday and Friday p.m. and Saturday a 1:00-6:00 p.m. The ice rink isn’ but ice skates will work. Skates open hours. At the courthous

Christmas Movie Ma Enjoy watching The P treats provided. 2:00 p.m. Lower Level Meeting Ro Children’s ages. Great Bend Public Library, 1409 Williams.

Matinee Club

Kick back with popc the Senior Center. Re Age 50+ Register at the Sen

Santa’s Worksho Join Santa for a Bring your letter Auditorium, Admission is preschool age thru 6th 1214 Stone St.

Great Bend High School Vespers Concer t A holiday tradition! 2:00 p.m. Free Great Bend High School Auditorium, 2027 Mor ton.

There’s lots of events going on at the Great Bend Public LIbrary every month. Find more information by going to: https://libcal.greatbendpl.info/calendar/ or check with the library at 1409 Williams

ECEMBER

reat Bend Tribune for more holiday events!

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Santa Storytime

Join Santa and Mrs. Claus to sing Christmas carols, enjoy treats and hear a story from Santa! 6:30-7:30 p.m. Lower Level Meeting Room. Children’s ages. Great Bend Public Library, 1409 Williams.

ng. Open d Friday 4:00-8:00 urday and Sunday rink isn’t real ice k. Skates are available to borrow during urthouse square.

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KWEC Holiday Open House

ovie Matinee

ng The Polar Express. Special ed. 2:00-4:30 eting Room. ibrary,

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Party with the Grinch. Help make the Grinch’s heart grow and grow! Chidren of all ages. 10:30 a.m.-Noon. Lower Level Meeting Room. Great Bend Public Library, 1409 Williams.

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592 NE K156 Hwy.

Cheyenne Bottoms Christmas Bird Count

Small groups will meet to identify and count birds within the Cheyenne Bottoms count circle. Free and open to the public regardless of birding expertise. 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Call the KWEC to register 877-243-9268. Kansas Wetlands Education Center. 592 NE K156 Hwy.

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592 NE K156 Hwy.

Drop-in STEM

Christmas Dinner and d Open House Age 50+ come and enjoy this dinner and party. Call 620-792-3906 to make your reser vation at the Senior Center, 2005 Kansas. e

Through hands-on, interactive activities; experience the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math of Winter Water. These FREE, family friendly stations will be comeand-go. At 3:00 p.m., a Rube Goldberg device will release a balloon drop for an early New Year countdown and dance party, complete with sparkling cider! Free event. 1:00-4:30 p.m. Kansas Wetlands Education Center. 592 NE K156 Hwy.

JANUARY

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Fire and Safety Hazards

It’s the time of year when people break out boxes of holiday decorations and spread cheer inside and out. It’s also the time of year of rising home fires and accidents.

People fall off ladders, frayed holiday light cords catch fire, and people trip on cords or decorations. Sometimes pets knock over a tree and send glass flying everywhere.

Fire Safety

The American Red Cross suggests many ways to keep your home safe from holiday fires.

• Candles cause an average of 20 home fires a day in the United States and the highest number of those happen in December. Use batteryoperated candles. If you do use open flames, keep them away from anything flammable and out of the reach of pets and children. Don’t leave candles unattended.

• Check holiday light cords to make

sure they aren’t frayed or broken.

• Limit strands of lights to no more than three per extension cord.

• Turn off all the holiday lights when you go to bed or leave the house. Consider using a timer.

• Only use lights designed for outdoor use outside and fasten them securely to your home or trees. If you are using hooks or nails outside, make sure they are insulated.

• Look for fire-resistant labels on artificial trees. Don’t put them up near fireplaces, radiators or other sources of heat.

• Don’t use electric lights on metallic trees.

• Keep a live tree fresh and watered.

• Don’t light the fireplace when you’ve hung stockings or other decorations on the mantel.

• Test your smoke alarms and practice a home fire escape plan to make sure everyone can get out of the house in less than two minutes.

• Make sure there is a bulb in each socket of a light cord. Get rid of any damaged strands.

• Keep your ladders and outdoor decorations away from power lines.

• Make sure all lights have Underwriters Laboratory (UL) on the tag. A red UL means the lights are safe

for both indoors and outdoors. A green UL means they are only safe for indoor use.

• Don’t hammer tacks or nails into the electrical cord. Use clips instead.

• Use heavy-duty extension cords and make sure they are designated for outdoor use if you use them outdoors.

• Plug outdoor lights and decorations into circuits that are protected by ground fault circuit interrupters.

Other Holiday Safety Tips

What else can you do to prevent accidents or holiday mishaps?

Practice good ladder safety. Make sure the ladder is stable, use shoes with good traction, and have a partner who spots you while on the ladder.

Don’t put out fake food, especially candies or fruits that pets or children might be tempted to eat. Be careful where you put those beautiful, festive poinsettias. They are poisonous if eaten. So are mistletoe berries, holly berry and Jerusalem cherry.

After everyone has opened their presents, remove all bags, paper, ribbons, bows, and wrapping paper from the tree and fireplace areas to avoid suffocation, choking and fire hazards.

Hemlines, Bolder sleeves Longer

Fabrics

Knitwear combines the best of both worlds: It’s warm but also invitingly soft to the touch. Think sweater dresses of brushed mohair, fluffy angora, and classic wool from the likes of Hermes, Loewe or Kiki Kostadinov. Fringes, trains and paillettes also add a cool fashion touch while moving with you. Armani’s latest fringe look debuted with no music, to underscore how motion defines this exciting trend.

Shirts

Bold tailoring for the shoulder continues to be all the rage, as Valentino and Louis Vuitton pumped them up on blazers. Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Off-White and Vetements have followed in true retro ‘80s fashion. At the same time, some are opting for an older-fashioned sloping sleeve from Dries Van Noten, Tory Burch or Courreges for a more elegant shape. Singlets and tank tops have also returned to runways — they look

great under a coat on a cool autumn night.

Skirts

Miniskirts seemed to keep getting shorter and shorter for years, but a new year and a new season seem to have reversed the trend. Suddenly, hemlines are hitting the floor — reversing the Miu Miu miniskirt revolution. Floor-sweeping looks are back from the likes of Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent and Sacai. Pair them with platform boots to complete the fall look.

Accessories

As if ballooning ‘80s-style shoulder styles weren’t enough, bows are also hip again — but this throwback goes much further back. Look for a flattened approach, with totally vintage material. If that feels a bit too retro, consider graphic styles or knotted trim. The corset, another standby from another age, is also

apparently here to stay. Metal bustiers take the look to one extreme, while Gucci went super sporty with an Adidas collaboration.

Classics

Wearing blue jeans with something white will always be a fall fashion hit, whether it’s an understated shirt — or a denim mini layered under a flowing white dress. Simple slip dresses are giving way to blinged up fall looks, with crystals and sequins galore. Transparent layers will also add shimmer on a cool night.

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The hottest fall trends start with a cozier feel, just in time for cooler temperatures. But then they start getting more creative.

FLU Avoiding the Seasonal

There’s a reason Dec. 6-12 is designated National Influenza Vaccination Week. With all the holidays and people getting together, respiratory illnesses — seasonal cold and flu or COVID-19 — tend to rise.

When you get a flu vaccine, you stay healthy and avoid passing the flu to others, especially your older or younger relatives. Once you’ve had the flu vaccine, it takes about two weeks to build up antibodies, so you don’t want to wait until just before your holiday gatherings.

What is the Flu?

The flu is a respiratory illness caused by viruses in the nose, throat and lungs that is highly contagious. There are two main types, A and B, that are responsible for seasonal flu epidemics every year.

Who Should get the Flu Vaccine?

The CDC and Prevention recommends that everyone who is six months and older get a flu vaccine every year. It is especially important for children 5 and under; pregnant women; people 65 and older; people with medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes or lung diseases; and people who live with or care for infants and people older than 65. You should not get the flu vaccine without talking to your doctor first, if you have had a bad reaction in the past, are allergic to chicken eggs or have a fever on the day you are scheduled to get your vaccine. There are vaccines without

The flu vaccine prevents illnesses, medical visits, hospitalizations and death, according to the CDC.

The flu vaccine has also been associated with lower rates of cardiac events for people who have heart disease, the CDC says, and pregnant women who get vaccinated are protected from flu illnesses and their baby is protected for several months after birth.

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It is important to get a vaccine every year because the flu viruses are constantly changing. The vaccines get updated every year. Also, protection from a flu vaccine declines over time.

Are There Side Effects?

There can be, but first know that the flu vaccine cannot cause flu. Flu shots are made with inactivated (or dead) flu vaccine viruses that are not infectious or from proteins from a flu virus. Nasal spray vaccines are made with weakened live flu viruses that cannot, according to the

include swelling or redness where the shot was given, low-grade headaches, fever, muscle aches, nausea or fatigue. Nasal sprays can cause runny noses, wheezing, headaches, low-grade fevers, a sore throat or coughs. In some children, it can cause vomiting or muscle aches.

Give yourself and everyone who encounters you this season the gift of good health by getting your flu vaccine.

In the past three years, we’ve become more aware than ever of the need to prevent infectious diseases from spreading.

This is especially important during the holidays when you are getting together with relatives, friends and co-workers. If you are traveling, it’s easy to pick up a virus at airports, in airplanes, on trains, in taxis or rideshare cars.

One of the simplest — yet highly effective ways — to avoid the flu, cold, COVID or other viruses is to wash your hands often and well. It also helps prevent those nasty gastrointestinal distress episodes.

Making a Difference

Before you turn your nose up at being told how to do something you’ve done all your life, you might find it fascinating to know that teaching people about handwashing has made a measurable difference in community health.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shares these details on what handwashing education has done:

• Reduce the number of people who get sick with diarrhea by 23-50%.

• Reduce diarrheal illness in people with weakened immune systems by 58%.

• Reduce respiratory illnesses, like colds, in the general population by 15-21%.

• Reduce absenteeism due to gastrointestinal illness in schoolchildren by 29-57%.

• After going to the bathroom.

• After coughing, sneezing or caring for someone who is ill.

• After taking out the garbage.

• After petting animals.

Medical Park Pharmacy

Finger F o o ds Foods

•Parsnip pig-in-the-blankets. A variation on the hot dog or sausage options, this uses a finger of parsnips wrapped up in crescent roll dough.

•Gorgonzola polenta bites. Cut a tube of polenta into slices and heat in a skillet. Then top it with gorgonzola cheese and your choice of marmalade or preserves and dried currants or dried cranberries.

Appetizers are easy to adapt to any size party and allow you as the host to accommodate many different types of diets.

Vegetarian Appetizers

Whether your guests are diehard vegetarians or just wanting to limit the meat in their diet, there are plenty of festive vegetarian options for finger foods:

•Cranberry brie tarts. Use frozen pre-made mini pastry cups and add a small square of brie topped off with cranberry sauce. Heat and serve.

Meat Appetizers

Gift the meat-lovers among your guests with any of these savory appetizers:

•Sausage pinwheels. This appetizer has been around for decades but never loses its popularity. Roll out some biscuit dough, spread the ground sausage, roll up and bake. For variety, you can sprinkle different kinds of shredded cheese on the sausage before rolling it up.

•Ham and pickle roll-ups. Another perennial favorite, perhaps because it is so easy to make and so very tasty, all you have to do is spread cream cheese (try a salmon or veggie flavored cream cheese for some extra flair) on a rectangle of thinly sliced ham and wrap it around a gherkins pickle and cut into bite-size pieces.

•Bacon-date almond bites. Buy pitted whole dates and stuff each one with an almond. Fry up your bacon and then wrap them around the date and secure with a toothpick.

Gluten-Free Appetizers

Whether any of your guests have an extreme gluten sensitivity or it just causes them discomfort, there are plenty of tasty options that will keep them feeling good and the rest of your guests will snap up as well:

•Bacon-wrapped pineapple. Drain some pineapple chunks and then sprinkle gluten-free soy sauce on them. Wrap them up in bacon and broil until the bacon is cooked.

•Bacon-wrapped sweet potato bites. Cut sweet potatoes into cubes and sprinkle them with ginger and caraway. Wrap the cubes in bacon and bake in the oven until the potato is tender and the bacon is crisp.

•Goat-cheese dipped grapes. Mix a soft goat cheese of your choice with heavy cream and honey. Heat and stir until smooth. Toast the finely chopped nuts of your choice (hazelnuts and pecans both work well). Put a toothpick in a grape, twirl half of it in the cheese mixture and then roll it in the nuts.

Kid-Friendly Appetizers

Will there be kids at your party?

Try such finger foods as mac and cheese donuts, ham and pineapple spears (with a maraschino cherry to add color), peanut butter and jelly roll-ups, cream cheese penguins or strawberry Santas.

Holiday parties are a great time to spread out festive finger foods that will impress your guests as they mingle.

CRANBERRY BRIE TARTS

BACON-WRAPPED PINEAPPLE

HotCocoa Hits

Rich’n Creamy Hot Coca

Serves 4. A hot chocolate recipe that is heartwarming, creamy, and an all-time favorite during the holiday season.

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup ...............white sugar

1/3 cup ...............unsweetened cocoa powder

Pinch salt

1/3 cup ...............boiling water

3 1/2 cups ..........milk

3/4 teaspoon .....vanilla extract

1/2 cup ...............half and half

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a saucepan. Add boiling water and whisk until smooth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Stir constantly to prevent scorching.

2. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and heat until very hot, but do not allow to boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Divide between four mugs and add cream to cool to drinking temperature.

Unicorn Hot Chocolate

Serves 4. This Unicorn Hot Chocolate Recipe will make your childhood dreams come true. Recipe is from The Spruce Eats.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups ....................whole milk

2 Tablespoons .......sugar

2 teaspoons ..........pure vanilla extract

8 oz. ........................white chocolate, chopped

Red or pink food coloring, Blue frosting, sprinkles, marshmallows and whipped cream, for garnish.

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine whole milk, sugar and vanilla in a small saucepan. Cook on low heat until simmering. Do not allow to boil.

2. Add in the chopped white chocolate and whisk frequently until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

3. Add food coloring, one drop at a time, until you reach your desired color.

4. Dip the rim of your mugs into the blue frosting and then into sprinkles. Pour the hot chocolate until the mugs and top with whipped cream, marshmallows and sprinkles.

Coffee Cocktails

Sugar Cookie Hot Chocolate

Serves 4. Also known as Christmas in a mug!! Delicious sugar cookie hot chocolate to share with your love ones during the holidays. Recipe is from HalfBaked Harvest.

INGREDIENTS

4 1/2 cups ...cups whole milk

2/3 cup ........cup sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup ........cup cocoa powder

6 oz. ..............semi-sweet or dark chocolate, chopped

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Whipped cream, marshmallow, sugar cookies or coarse sugar, for toppings

DIRECTIONS

1. Add the milks, cocoa, chocolate, vanilla and almond extract to a large pot. Heat at medium-low to scalding but not boiling. Be sure to stir often.

2. Once the hot chocolate is steaming, ladle into mugs and top with whipped cream and garnishes.

Those long winter nights mean that sometimes you need a coffee kick to get you through. Here are some warm and cozy java brews to make sugarplums dance through your head.

Sweet Kahlua CoffeeNightcap

Makes one drink. Recipe is from Liquor.com.

INGREDIENTS

2 ounces rum

2 ounces cold-brew coffee

1/2 ounce maple syrup

Zest of 1 orange

1 dash Angostura bitters

San Pellegrino tonic water

Orange peel, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. Add the rum, cold brew, maple syrup, orange zest and bitters to a shaker with ice and shake until well chilled.

2. Strain into a highball glass over large ice cubs.

3. Top with tonic and stir gently.

4. Garnish with an orange peel

Makes eight servings. Recipe is from Taste of Home.

INGREDIENTS

2 quarts hot water 1/2 cup Kahlua 1/2 cup creme de cacao 3 tablespoons Instant coffee granules 2 cups heavy whipping cream 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 tablespoons grated semisweet chocolate

DIRECTIONS

1. In a 4-quart slow cooker, mix water, Kahlua, creme de cacao and coffee granules. Cook, covered, on low for 3-4 hours or until heated through.

2. In a large bowl, whip cream until it begins to thicken. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until soft peaks form. Serve coffee with whipped cream and grated chocolate sprinkled on top.

s c r ap s scraps with thosewith C a r e f u l Careful

Sharing table scraps isn’t the best way.

Many kinds of “people” food present serious dangers to pets, sometimes even putting them at risk of death. Here’s a look at what you should avoid.

The Three Cs

The American Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has pinpointed the Three Cs as presenting the most serious risk to your best friend: Chocolate, caffeine and coffee. All of them contain methylxanthines, a substance that when ingested can cause diarrhea and vomiting, excessive urination and thirst, panting, hyperactivity, tremors, abnormal heart rhythm, seizures and sometimes death, the ASPCA reports. Baking chocolate is particularly risky, as it contains the highest amounts of methylxanthines. Darker chocolates are more dangerous than milk chocolate.

Other Dangers

Uncooked yeast-based

doughs are harmful because they can rise inside your pet’s abdomen, causing gas to build up in their digestive system. The impacts can range from quite painful to deadly, if the stomach were to rupture. Even cooked yeast should be severely limited, according to the ASPCA, which recommends doughy treats constitute not more than 5-10% of your pet’s caloric intake each day. Raw eggs and meats can contain Salmonella and E. coli, both of which can be very harmful to your pet. Bones are a choking hazard, in particular those that splinter. That can lead to a life-threatening puncture in the digestive tract.

What’s OK

Some table scraps are usually fine to give your pets, but only in very small doses. Small, lean strips of cooked turkey, pork, beef or fish — but without bones, and without the skin.

Raw vegetables like carrots, lettuce, celery and cabbage hearts are fine — but not garlic or onions. Raw pumpkin makes for a fun fall treat. Peanut butter is fine too, in small portions. They shouldn’t be given anything with raisins, alcohol or macadamia nuts, either.

Obesity has become a primary nutritional issue with

our pets. When you give them a treat, you are adding to his daily caloric intake — and he probably doesn’t need them.

If you think your pet has

eaten something dangerous, immediately call your veterinarian — or contact the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.

Who doesn’t love spoiling pets?