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**1. COOKING: MAKE SEASONAL FRUIT PART OF YOUR THANKSGIVING FEAST. JOE COCHRAN, member of the culinary arts department at THE ART INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO, can offer intriguing ways to incorporate unexpected ingredients into your Thanksgiving spread: "We all know yams, sweet potatoes and squash are in peak season throughout the early months of winter. However, some favorite fruits such as pears, persimmons, guava and pineapple are also at the height of freshness this time of year. Start a new tradition by incorporating a delectable surprise, such as almond stuffed pears or holiday persimmon cake, into your festivities.� Cochran is on hand to demonstrate preparation of these and other unexpected holiday dishes.
**2. COOKING: CELEBRATE PEANUT BUTTER LOVERS MONTH WITH UNIQUE RECIPES. EYAD JOSEPH, instructor at THE ART INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO, can offer a selection of fun facts and recipes in light of Peanut Butter Lovers Month in November: "Peanut butter is one of America's favorite foods. Americans eat three pounds of peanut butter per person every year. That's about 700 million pounds, or enough to coat the floor of the Grand Canyon!� In addition to a multitude of peanut butter facts, Joseph will present a unique recipe incorporating peanut butter -- Southern Peanut Butter Soup with Pepper Jelly.
**3. HOME & GARDEN: HOW TO CUT HOME ENERGY COSTS. BETH PARKS, associate professor of physics and astronomy at COLGATE UNIVERSITY: "Managing utility bills and saving money this winter is not out of the question -- even as energy prices continue to fluctuate. It can be done." Parks teaches a course called Energy and the Home, in which she and her students perform energy audits and show homeowners in the community how to make their houses more energy-efficient. She can provide her own tried-and-true tips for controlling energy costs this winter.
**4. HOME & GARDEN: SPRUCING UP YOUR HOME WITH UNIQUE ART ARRANGEMENTS. JACK BEDUHN, interior design instructor at THE ART INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO, can discuss how to add a twist to a bland room by spicing up your wall decor: "Leave old paintings unframed to relax traditional art, or mat and frame prints or family photographs identically to arrange in a neat grid pattern. Center the largest object to anchor the easy arrangement. Then flank with a pair or balanced grouping of similar objects. Other creative ideas include painting unmatched frames linen white or a pale tint for a cottage or country look, or choosing black frames and white mats to pull together a contemporary wall grouping."
**5. HOME & GARDEN: COLOR YOUR SPACE WITH AN AUTUMN PALETTE. JESSICA NEWMAN, interior design instructor THE ART INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO, has ideas for every room of the house: "Autumn's inviting palette is deep and comforting. It's also the easiest group of colors to use for decorating your home because earthy tones are so familiar. The perfect place to display the bounty of the harvest is in the dining room. A gathering of glass canning jars filled to the brim with dried beans and peas from the grocery store makes a delightful centerpiece now and soul-warming soup later.� Newsman suggests choosing vibrant reds, yellow, greens and browns to create a dramatic effect for a cozy fall sanctuary.
**6. LEISURE: PROFESSIONAL TIPS FOR PERFECT HOLIDAY PHOTOS. ELLYN NORRIS, photography instructor at THE ART INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO: "We all take many pictures indoors, especially when it is cold outside. Today's handy on-camera flash equipment makes it easy to make good photographs inside. One guideline to remember is that too much clutter can be a distraction. The average interior, no matter how tasteful, usually has too many items in it to read well in a photograph. Get the wastebasket out of the shot and clear the writing items off the desk.� Norris offers a multitude of tricks, from camera settings to lighting suggestions, to ensure your holiday memories are captured with a professional flair.
**7. LEISURE: ROCK MEMORABILIA CONTINUES ATTRACT FANS YOUNG AND OLD. WILLIAM SAGAN, CEO of e-tailer WOLFGANG’S VAULT, an online rock memorabilia retailer: "Rock memorabilia from artists like Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley and The Who, continues to sell en masse. The ‘60s and ‘70s era music continues to attract fans, old and new, and it seems people view the memorabilia as much about American cultural history as about the music."
**8. RELATIONSHIPS: CODEPENDENT WOMEN CAN’T DISTINGUISH SEX FROM LOVE. MARY JO FAY, founder of OUT OF THE BOXX, a provider of seminars and one-on-one consulting via phone for those who seek individual plans for personal growth: “Many women who have been in difficult relationships and who may have been codependent for years also have a hard time distinguishing sex from love. The overlapping of these two issues can take the idea of love making from that of a 'bed of understanding' to one of a 'position of power.’ And of course, many codependents are stuck where they are as a result of some type of abuse from their past, whether physical, sexual and/or emotional.�
**9. RELIGION: DAY OF THE DEAD. FRANK GRAZIANO, professor of Hispanic studies at CONNECTICUT COLLEGE, is an expert on Latin American folk religion and can talk about various Day of the Dead topics, including the traditional and theological background, folk saints, and the religious uses of skulls and bones and black candles: “The theological purpose is to offer prayers and masses for the benefit of souls in purgatory. But traditional devotion is much richer. Latin Americans clean graves, leave flowers, light candles, make offerings of the food and drink that were preferred by the deceased and share a meal usually followed by a party -- with the dead in the cemetery.�
**10. SPORTS: HIGH-SCHOOL ATHLETES GOING STRAIGHT TO THE PROS. ROB BODENBURG, senior writer at SCHOOLSPORTS MAGAZINE, a sports and lifestyle magazine for teens: "A debate about whether high-school athletes can go straight to the pros is ridiculous. How can there be a debate on whether or not high-school players should be allowed to go directly to the NBA when the best players in the league right now came straight from high school, including Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady and a slew of others? This shouldn’t even be on the table for the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement.�
**11. TEENAGERS: TEEN GAMBLING IS A GROWING PROBLEM. SUSIE VANDERLIP, author of "52 Ways to Protect Your Teen": “We are seeing the teen gambling on the rise with things like family poker night and casino fundraisers with serious consequences. A recent study found that two out of three teenagers have gambled in the past year while 3.4 percent have serious gambling problems â€"- that is almost twice the rate for adults. Internet gambling and the proliferation of credit cards has made the habit more accessible for teens and college kids. Gambling is more likely than any other form of addiction to lead to suicide with more than 20 percent of compulsive gamblers considering it when they hit bottom."
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