Author Archives: Chuck Gregory

Strega!

If you haven’t tried Strega, don’t wait any longer! You don’t know what you’re missing. A little bit of heaven, in a bottle.

Strega liqueur is one of the most famous Italian liqueurs; it is unique and unmistakable for its taste, thanks to the exclusive use of natural ingredients. Its processing starts with the grinding of about 70 herbs and spices, they are being selected from all over the world, and each one of them has unique properties. Among these herbs we find Ceylon cinnamon, Florentine iris, Italian Apennine juniper, Samnite mint, which grows along the riverbanks in the whole region. The liqueur gets its characteristic yellow color from the precious Saffron that is added to the herb distillate. Strega liqueur is aged in ash barrels over a long period of time to ensure a perfect blending of the different aromas. The resulting distillate is 40% proof and only after the ageing process is the liqueur bottled and distributed all over the world.

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Jacksonville Taco & Margarita Festival

Saturday, June 4 from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM
TIAA Bank Field and Daily’s Place

The Jacksonville Taco & Margarita Festival returns to TIAA Bank Field and Daily’s Place June 4th. Find over 20 of Jacksonville’s best restaurants, food trucks & carts serving up an amazing variety of mouthwatering tacos & related food items (sold separately). There will be bars and beverage stations serving margaritas, tequila shots, ice cold beer, water, soda & more. Fun for the whole family with live DJ and bands!

11:00 am – VIP doors
12:00 pm – General Admission door
6:00 pm – Event concludes

General Admission and VIP Tickets are available.

Have a restaurant or food truck? Click here for more information.
Want to be a retail vendor or sponsor? Email info@unitedfestivalproductions.com for more information.

For more information click here

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Teleperformance USA Press Conference

Amit Shankardass, Todd Muscari featured in press conference on Best Places To Work
EEOC Violation
Right to Sue Claims
To attend, accredited media, click here
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Sweeten Holidays 2021 with Chocolates by Delysia Chocolatier!

Thanksgiving gift box

Give great thanks

Our Thanksgiving gift box is a collection of inspired chocolates that is the perfect gift for any hostess during the holiday season.

The Autumn collection chocolate truffles includes 3 decadent flavors of balanced spices in apple cider, roasted local pecans in pecan pie, and pumpkin with mulling spices in pumpkin spice for perfect rendition of Fall. Enjoy the warmth of pumpkin and a blend of spices for the perfect Fall evening with our Pumpkin spice drinking chocolate. The aromatic notes of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg blended with pecans and dried apples are sure to awake your senses with our Apple pie chocolate bark. The tart pieces of dried cranberry and the crunch of the pistachio makes for the perfect sweet and salty bite in our Cranberry pistachio bark.

Give thanks this season with the following:

Autumn collection chocolate truffles
Pumpkin spice drinking chocolate
Apple pie chocolate bark, 3oz
Cranberry pistachio chocolate bark, 3oz

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Thanksgiving hostess collection chocolate truffles, 16pc

Gracious gifting

Thanksgiving is a time for reflecting upon all we’re grateful for in our lives. It’s also a time for giving to those we love. Just in time for the holidays, Delysia Chocolatier has made it possible to do both with the creation of its Thanksgiving hostess truffle collection, a selection of 16 original truffles inspired by the favorite flavors of a classic American Thanksgiving dinner.

Elegantly packaged, our Thanksgiving hostess truffles are a delicious way to express thanks for all the labor and love that go into the preparation of an elaborate holiday meal. Classic Thanksgiving dishes such as sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, caramelized stuffing and apple pie are all mouth wateringly delicious on their own – but just imagine savoring these traditional treats surrounded by an encasing of gourmet chocolate. Taking advantage of freshly harvested ingredients and rich flavors of autumn, these timely truffles are certain to earn the thanks of your hostess and her guests.

This Thanksgiving-inspired 16-piece truffle collection contains:

4 Sweet potato casserole chocolate truffles
4 Cranberry sauce chocolate truffles
4 Apple pie chocolate truffles
4 Caramelized stuffing chocolate truffles

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Autumn harvest collection, 9pc

From hayrides to pumpkin pies … Fall has arrived

Surround yourself with the intensely warm hue created by the breathtaking rust and golden colored leaves dancing along the ground while the sound of the brisk wind whistles in the distance. Hay-littered fields are speckled with earthy orange pumpkins, creating the perfect landscape for a family trip to the local farm. From endless pumpkin patches to immeasurable corn mazes to picturesque outdoor scapes brimming with abundant crops, Fall has finally arrived!

Experience the flavors of autumn with a unique assortment of chocolate flavors capturing the feeling of crisp days and bountiful harvests. From the warm scent of baking spices wafting from a pumpkin pie to the joy of making beloved savory dishes like fried chicken, this collection features the classic elements of an autumn spent with friends and family.

Discover the satisfying fusion of savory and sweet in our Caramelized stuffing chocolate truffle, blending rich semisweet chocolate with thyme and sage providing strong herbal notes at the forefront and a hint of earthiness lingering on the finish. Delicate hints of rosemary caramel linger throughout each creamy bite. Savor the zesty flavor of our Orange cranberry sauce chocolate truffle permeated with orange zest, nutmeg and Tawny port blended into rich bittersweet chocolate. A pop of tartness reveals itself in the form of a piece of dried cranberry balanced in the center. Bring a bite of nostalgia to your day with our Apple pie chocolate truffle, with silky milk chocolate enhanced with mulling spices for a tender spiced tickle in the back of your throat. A piece of apple in the center will bring you back to memories of warm pie baking in the kitchen before the big family meal.

A limited number of our Autumn Harvest collections have been curated for the season – only 50 boxes have been handcrafted for the 2021 fall season.

This exclusive autumn inspired 9-piece chocolate truffle collection contains:

1 Spiced chai chocolate truffle
1 Caramelized toffee cheesecake chocolate truffle
1 Apple pie chocolate truffle
1 Butterscotch mocha chocolate truffle
1 Candied pumpkin chocolate truffle
1 Fried chicken chocolate truffle
1 Cranberry sauce chocolate truffle
1 Pomegranate mint chocolate truffle
1 Caramelized stuffing chocolate truffle

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NEW! (Gold chocolate version)

Turkey molded chocolates

Flavorful addition to your Thanksgiving feast

Give your guests another reason to be thankful. Add Delysia Chocolatier’s Turkey molded chocolates to your menu and share the rich bounty of the season with loved ones and dinner guests.

Three ounces of our creamy, sweet chocolate are carefully handcrafted into this classic symbol of the autumn season. Our freestanding, solid Turkey molded chocolates make a unique gift for your Thanksgiving host, the perfect seating placeholder, or an interesting element to an elegant fall table display. Your guests may be too stuffed to enjoy them by the end of the meal, so send them home with our Turkey molded chocolate to enjoy another day.

This special treat from our Molded Chocolate collection is available in the purest white, dark, or milk chocolate – but only for a limited time during the Thanksgiving season.

This adorable and festive place setting is available in the following flavors:

Gold chocolate
White chocolate
Milk chocolate
Dark chocolate

For more information click here

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Life and Other Shortcomings by Corie Adams

Life and Other Shortcomings is a collection of linked short stories that takes the reader from New Orleans to New York City to Madrid, and from 1970 to the present day. The women in these twelve stories make a number of different choices: some work, others don’t; some stay married, some get divorced; others never marry at all. Through each character’s intimate journey, specific truths are revealed about what it means to be a woman―in a relationship with another person, in a particular culture and era―and how these conditions ultimately affect her relationship with herself. The stories as a whole depict patriarchy, showing what still might be, but certainly what was, for some women in this country before the #MeToo movement. Both a cautionary tale and a captivating window into women’s lives, Life and Other Shortcomings is required reading for anyone interested in an honest, incisive, and compelling portrayal of the female experience.

For more information click here

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BBQ Blends from Sugar Plum

Wow. I got a sample of these to try at home and they are fantastic.

Pour some of these on your ribs (I used the boneless ones) and rub it in. Don’t worry about it getting on your hands, that just means you’ll be smelling the aroma even closer! 😉

Cook them nice and slow, on the grill or in the oven, and you will be amazed at the marvelous flavor that’s released. What an improvement over my old method based on just the barbecue sauce.

Don’t wait. Try these today.

– reviewed by Chuck Gregory, Party Digest webmaster, Fort Lauderdale

For more information click here

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Italian plant-based milk – Koita

The Wall Street Journal recently called out Koita (www.koita.com) as one of the best plant-based milks after rigorous testing, naming them the plant-based milk line “For the Gourmand” and saying its “organic almond milk tastes uncannily like marzipan.”

The Soy for Coffee was developed by 4 Italian Baristas so when I say it froths, it really froths!

Koita’s mission is to bring you premium Italian, healthy, clean tasting, 100% pure, plant-based milks. And guess what, their milks are all shelf stable! Which means they can be stored in your pantry for a very long time!

Their vision is to make sure everyone can “Eat Good” because when you eat good, you feel good, which makes you want to do good. We have a great passion for this – some say they can even taste it!

Launched in 2013 in Dubai by American Mustafa Koita, and introduced to the US market in 2020, the Koita team has been working hard to bring their customers happiness with every sip.

For more information click here

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NEW TOP-RATED KOSHER WINES FOR THE FALL HIGH HOLIDAYS

Welcome the Jewish New Year with Royal Wine’s Award-Winning and Innovative Releases from the World’s Premier Wine Regions

(Bayonne, NJ, AUGUST 17, 2021) – There’s little time to catch your breath between summer and the High Holiday season this year. With Labor Day and Rosh Hashana sharing the same date on the calendar, it’s not too soon to start thinking about festive meals, gatherings with loved ones, and other traditions that go hand-in-hand with the fall Jewish holidays.

Fortunately, we’ve had another exceptional year for kosher wine production. That means there’s an excellent selection of exciting releases to choose from – and one less thing to worry about. They’re ready to serve now, so whether you’re planning to host a crowd or be a guest, you’re sure to find something deliciously suitable for the holiday table.

Wine expert Gabriel Geller, Director of PR and Manager of Wine Education for Kedem/Royal Wine, has recommendations for wines that offer quality and value across all price points.

Herzog Wine Cellars celebrates the new Jewish year with its first release of the Herzog Limited Edition Chalk Hill Chardonnay 2020 (MSRP: $60). This rich and complex white wine is the result of careful harvest planning and skillful winemaking, led by Head Winemaker Joe Hurliman. The 2020 harvest in California was marked by some of the worst wildfires the Golden State has ever known. However, thanks to Divine Providence the harvest for the Chalk Hill Chardonnay took place before the fires, and yielded fruit of the highest quality.

Geller is also enthusiastic about Herzog Special Reserve Méthode Champenoise Russian River NV (MSRP $60), Herzog’s first-ever high-end Champagne method sparkling wine, is made from 100% Chardonnay grapes grown in Sonoma’s Russian River area.

He also points to Château Malartic Lagravière Blanc 2019 (MSRP $100), the first kosher cuvée release by the Bordeaux estate. Malartic received elite Grand Cru Classé status for both its red and white wines in the 1959 Classification of Vins de Graves. Now owned by the Bonnie family, Malartic has produced several kosher cuvées of its red Grand Vin in collaboration with Royal Wine since 2003. Its sister property, Château Gazin Rocquencourt, started making kosher runs in 2015.

Another exciting release is Razi’el Syrah-Carignan 2018 (MSRP $65), says Geller. Razi’el wines scored 97 points by acclaimed wine critic James Suckling – the highest rating ever for Israeli wines. Meanwhile, Europe’s first fully kosher winery, Terra di Seta in Italy, received an unprecedented 97 points and a platinum medal from Decanter magazine for the Terra di Seta Chianti Classico Riserva 2016 (MSRP $35).

While many of this year’s newcomers are produced by classic, old-world methods, some intriguing surprises are in the mix. They include Nana Estate wines (MSRP $30-$50), grown and produced in Israel’s scorching, nutrient-poor Negev Desert. Nana earned widespread buzz even before their wines were available in the U.S.; with their innovative viticulture techniques, they’ve not only beaten the odds, but they’ve crafted a collection of distinctive and popular kosher wines.

Baron Herzog, the entry-level line of value wines from Herzog Wine Cellars retailing between $10-13, are now available with fresh, new labels. Baron Herzog wines were first launched in 1986, following the winery’s establishment in California in 1985. The elegant and classy packaging further emphasizes the care and attention the Herzog family crafts each and every wine they produce from top to bottom. The Baron Herzog line includes an award-winning Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, a Rosé, White Zinfandel, Pinot Grigio, Old Vines Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a red blend called Aleph. Several of the wines are grown in the Herzog’s estate Prince Vineyard in Clarksburg CA, as well as from Paso Robles AVA.

Then there’s Bartenura Froscato cocktail pops (MSRP $25 per package of 12). Bartenura is no stranger to bending the rules. After introducing the wildly popular Moscato in blue cans last year, the Italian kosher producer has now released refreshing Moscato frozen wine cocktail pops. Perfect for the warmer high holiday season.

About Royal Wine/Kedem

Founded in 1848, Royal Wine Corp. is owned and operated in the United States by the Herzog family, whose winemaking roots go back eight generations to its origin in Czechoslovakia.

Today, Royal Wine’s portfolio of domestic and international wines range from traditional wine producing regions of France, Italy and Spain, as well as Israel, New Zealand and Argentina.

Additionally, Royal Wine Corp.’s spirit and liqueur portfolio offers some of the most sought-after scotches, bourbons, tequilas and vodkas as well as hard to find specialty items such as flavored brandies and liqueurs.

The company owns and operates the Kedem Winery in upstate New York, as well as Herzog Wine Cellars in Oxnard, California, a state-of-the-art-facility featuring guided wine tours, a fully staffed modern tasting room, gift shop and catering facilities. Additionally, the winery houses the award-winning restaurant Tierra Sur, serving the finest, Mediterranean-inspired, contemporary Californian Cuisine.

For more information click here

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One Hour Comfort by America’s Test Kitchen

Is there anything as satisfying as taking a seat and digging into your favorite comfort food? After all, Americans hold such a special place for feel-good foods and nostalgic childhood dishes that they would even name their kid after their favorite for a lifetime supply of it according to a Farm Rich survey. Thirty-five percent would name their kid “Pizza” for a lifetime supply of it, 28% would name their kid “Mozz Stick” and 27% “Ice Cream.”

While preference of dish might vary, comfort food as a whole encompasses what makes cooking so wonderful. Like a portal to your happy place, it can evoke fond memories of childhood, bring friends and family together around a table, or serve as the perfect addition to a relaxing night in. The downside of cooking when comfort-food cravings strike? Sometimes we don’t have time for the project of cooking our favorite comfort-food meals, causing us to cut corners, settle for less, or avoid the meal entirely.

Our new cookbook One-Hour Comfort offers up 170 favorite feel-good recipes that we’ve reengineered to be done in an hour (or less). There are a few recipes with cooling or chilling times that push them slightly over an hour–but we promise they’re worth it (chocolate cream pies in a jar . . . DEFINITELY worth it!). The book includes helpful hacks that break down how to complete traditionally time-intensive recipes in under an hour. An example of our test cook’s quick (cooking) thinking? Our Hoisin Glazed Meatloaf. Traditional meatloaf takes a long time to bake because of its sheer size. The solution to getting meatloaf on the table in less than an hour is simple: shrink it down to individual-size portions.

For more information click here

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JACKSONVILLE’S 1st EVER LOVE ON DEMAND LIVE EVENT!

Saturday, August 28
Surfer [The Bar], 200 1st St N, Jacksonville Beach, FL

If You Want to Find Love Without Wasting Time Using Online Dating Apps, You Need To Show Up To This Mixer.

Valerie Rando will host an exclusive Speed Dating & Singles Mixer for her clients and those looking to meet someone special to share their life with. You’re going to easily meet accomplished single people plus mix & mingle with singles in your city who are also looking for love. I Invite you to join me in person…

  • Effortlessly Meet Multiple Potential Matches in One Night
  • Reach The Most Exclusive Legacy Matchmaking Clients
  • Quick & Easy Speed Dating
  • ​Private Singles Mixer
  • ​Vibrant Environment
  • Accomplished Singles in Attendance
  • ​Best Mixer of the Year
  • ​Get Rid of Being Lonely Once & For All
  • ​What Have You Got to Lose?
  • ​P.S. If You Dont Attend This Mixer, You’ll Hate Yourself Later!

Watch this video to see more!

Sign up here.

Valerie

MEET YOUR HOST VALERIE RANDO

Valerie is the owner & CEO of Legacy Matchmaking, is a Certified Professional Matchmaker, Certified Dating & Relationship Coach, Army Veteran, wife, and mother of twins (+blended family) who founded Legacy Matchmaking to lead an impactful purpose, share her gifts with the world, have fun doing interesting and important work, and build her legacy in the process.

It’s Valerie’s mission to help her clients find and keep a long-term, happy healthy relationship.

Valerie is a 10X female entrepreneur and business woman with a gift of being a visionary and executing her mission by disrupting the matchmaking and online dating industry as we know it. Valerie’s passion is working with busy successful professionals and retirees who are serious about meeting someone special to share their life with.

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Rings are great gifts – Starlette Galleria

Starlette Galleria has a great selection of rings at affordable prices. Since my wife turned 65 today, the ring made a perfect gift for her. The picture shows her with the ring on her finger, next to the green emerald she’s had for years. She was surprised and very happy! Don’t let the expression fool you – it’s pretty hard to get her to smile for a camera 😉

This review prepared by Chuck Gregory and that’s Lorraine, my wife, in the picture.

For more information click here

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EnviroKidz Waffle Pops Recipes

Waffles are a treasured breakfast choice for children around the world, giving them a boost in energy and a delicious start to the day. EnviroKidz introduced two new flavors of waffles that provide a guilt-free addition to any parent’s pantry. These flavors include Penguin Party and Polar Berry that are both gluten-free and contain 5 grams of plant-based protein per serving from navy bean, peas and beans.

EnviroKidz has created a fun, creative way to get your children to create their own healthy snacks. If you are a fan of cake pop then look no further, attached is a recipe card with step by step instructions to make waffle pops! These breakfast staples can also double as a delectable dessert.

For more information click here

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