A premium WordPress theme can be one of the best ways to really improve the looks of your WordPress web site.

Because WordPress is free you don’t have to spend money purchasing it,so with the money you’ll save you can afford to get a great looking premium theme—and it’ll still be cheaper than a custom-designed site.

When you purchase a premium theme you can avoid the somewhat shoddy work that sometimes shows up in free themes. That’s not to say free themes aren’t any good, because many of them are great themes, but often a lot of the detail work that really makes a theme special is missing.

Anyone can put together a free theme and offer it to the public, but it takes a lot more skill, care, and dedication to build themes people are actually willing to pay money for.

One the other side of the coin, just because you pay for a theme doesn’t mean it’s worth what you paid for it. There are bad premium themes, good premium themes, and great premium themes. And even the good and great ones may not work to exactly fill your needs.

This article is all about helping you make intelligent decisions when choosing premium themes.

Some things we will discuss:

1. Things to consider and plan for before you even start looking at themes.

2. How can you best assess a theme’s quality?

3. What you should be getting when you purchase a premium WordPress theme.

Item 1: Needs, Wants, and Expectations

The very first step to selecting a premium theme is to gauge your own needs, wants, and expectations. You surely can’t pick the right theme if you don’t even know what’s right for you and what you really need.

So, first step, before you start looking at all of the really cool themes and get excited about all of the really fancy designs, you need to sort out what it is that you really need and want. What do you really want your site to look like, and what do you want it to do?

And before you even do that first step, you should probably understand what you’re getting in a premium theme.

What, exactly, makes a theme a Premium Theme?

No discussion on premium themes would be complete if it didn’t answer one question: What is a premium theme?

There are a lot of different opinions on what a premium theme should include, including but not limited to:
customization, documentation, support, higher quality code, better “design” work, etc.

What it comes down to though is that a premium theme is a theme you pay for, it’s as simple as that. All the other potential extras and goodies depend on what the creator of the theme actually delivers to you.

You can see some demo sites featuring premium themes at iTheme and Revolution.

For sure, not all premium theme creators are equal, and not all premium themes are equal. Everyone has a different opinion on what makes a theme great. Where one premium theme creator may have a lot of professional experience, another may only produce themes as a hobby. Both themes may be equally good but you’ll get a different experience from each.

If you choose to buy a theme from a hobbyist you can’t expect the levels of support a pro-theme creator can offer. If you buy a theme from a company that offers premium themes as a second thought, you might get terrible or non-existant service. These are things you need to consider.

Bottom line, do your research, don’t let slick marketing fool you, and make your decision based on facts.

What Do You Need in a Website, what do you need it to do?

Before you start picking themes you need to make some decisions. If you don’t do your homework now, you may end up regretting it later. The most important thing to figure out is what you need your website to do.

• What type of content do you need to manage?
• Do you need blog capabilities (news, portfolio, press releases, catalog, etc.)?
• Does your site need a specific call to action (like an e-commerce component)?
• How many pages will your site need?
• Will those pages need a hierarchy?
• What do you want to show or feature on the homepage?

These are the sort of questions you need to answer. You’re trying to figure out what you need
from your website. Once you have that sorted out, it’s easier to find a theme that offers what you need.

What Kind of Theme Should You Buy?

One of the most common mistakes in choosing a theme is assuming it will fit your needs. Premium themes
come in all shapes and sizes and colors. Some focus on a specific need while others focus on generic blogging.

Some themes are designed to put the focus on the content. At the other extreme are the corporate themes. These tend to focus on static pages and relegate the blog content to a small news section. The key is to not make assumptions about what the theme will or won’t do.

Shown here is the iTheme eCommerce premium WordPress theme that can be used to sell your products through an internet storefront created with WordPress. This is a good example of a specialized premium WordPress theme, in this case the theme was designed to showcase an ecommerce web site.

Just because WordPress is a blogging platform doesn’t mean that any theme will be great for blogging. WordPress is extremely flexible and more and more themes are focusing on sites that don’t focus on blogging at all.

What Features Do You Need?

Before you start shopping for themes you should decide what features you need. Some features may appeal to you when you read about the theme and view the demo, but if you don’t really need them then you may be paying for something you’ll never use.

In some cases those fancy features could actually interfere with what you do actually need. Finding the right theme for your needs is much more practical than finding a cool looking theme and bending and sacrificing your needs to make it work.

Here are just a few examples of some features that are available on premium themes:

• Featured post on the home page instead of the latest post
• Featured photographs from Flickr
• Featured video(s) from YouTube
• Advertising integration (Adsense, etc)
• Advertising management features
• Optional color themes to choose from
• Control panels for easily adding tracking code or feed URLs
• Header image replacement, resizing, and cropping capabilities
• Contact form (so you don’t publicize your email address to spammers)
• Tabbed sidebars
• Tabbed featured posts
• Multiple positions for sidebars and widget capable sidebars
• Multiple page layouts
• Menus auto generated from WordPress pages
• Menus auto generated from categories
• Menus generated from the blogroll
• Manual menu control
• Drop down menus
• Built in asides / sideblog
• Advanced search functionality
• Niche specific templates; e.g. real estate, auto sales, photography, etc
• E-commerce integration if desired
• Image / banner rotation if desired
• Reordering the home page
• Alternative graphics packs
• And more…

There are so many choices that you have your work cut out for you in choosing that “just right” theme.

How Much Customization Are You Really Capable Of And Comfortable With?

If the thought of writing or changing code or installing plugins makes you nervous, you better pick a theme that has everything you need out of the box. On the other hand, if you’re fine with tweaking code, installing plugins or adjusting the CSS, then you can be a lot more flexible when you pick a theme.

A lot of the features shown above are built right into some premium themes, and many of them can
easily be added to themes with plugins. If you’re OK making some of those changes yourself, it might give you a little more leeway in choosing a theme you like for other reasons.

Next up in Choosing A WordPress Theme-Part 2, we’ll cover specific details on what to look for when choosing a premium theme.

Google loathes duplicate content!

Google is trying to index and categorize the billions of pages on the web and calculate each page’s relevance to specific search queries. Therefore, to have any chance of attaining appearance in Top 30 SERPs (search engine results pages), pages must be accurately described…

Keep in mind that Google is an entirely automated text indexing system doing its absolute best to deliver the most relevant content to its core users. Those core users are NOT website owners! Google’s main focus is on its search customers.

If you want your website to get noticed, you’ve got to assist Google et al in every way possible, by accurately describing your own content. Make it clear and unequivocal what each page is about. Ensure it is original content, properly described, and easily accessible.

Apparently, there are over 200 elements that Google assesses as it’s trying to calculate a page’s relevance to a specific search query. Individually, some of them are almost insignificant. Collectively they add up to prominence or obscurity! The thinking man understands that the more elements you get right, the higher the probability of appearance in Top 30 SERPs.

Here’s a dozen of the primary indicators of unique content to an SE spider;

1. URLs: precise control of every page URL, carefully using primary keywords / phrase. Use Permalinks wisely!

2. Title Tag – 70 characters limit: Accurate, carefully using primary keywords / phrase. The single most important element for every page!

3. Meta Description – 150 chars limit: Accurate, carefully using primary keywords / phrase. By default, its used verbatim in Google SERP’s. Its very important to write a catchy phrase incorporating primary keyword phrase, one that impels viewers to click on it! I always use All In One SEO because I’m a “content control freak” and want to make sure every word is in the right place. Dynamic meta-tags are better than no meta-tags – but the ability to manually input as many elements as is possible is what makes the overall difference to SE Rankings.

4. Meta Keywords: Accurate, carefully using primary / relevant keywords and phrases. This should NOT be vaguely related words! It should be a set of long-tailed keyword phrases specifically relevant to the page content. I’d never use more than 8-10 phrases separated by commas.

5. 1st On-page Title/Heading: Headings offer limited space, but ALWAYS try and get at least one primary keyword into the title, and the tag must be H1 or H2, not an ‘imitation’ with large/bold text.

6. First Paragraph: Very important to get the primary keyword phrase into the beginning of the first sentence!

7. Last Heading: If you use one, reiterate a primary or secondary keyword phrase.

8. Last Paragraph: Quite important to get the primary or secondary keyword phrase into the beginning of the first sentence!

9. Images: Use keyword-rich image file names! Provide a descriptive and accurate image ALT text that uses a primary keyword phrase. Don’t overdo it – just lightly reinforce the page content descriptions.

10. Anchor Text: Provide links to other Internal Pages from primary/secondary keyword phrases within page content. Don’t waste the opportunity available to give clues to content on other pages! Using “Click Here For More” is not productive.

11. Menus: CSS drop-down menus are good. Text menus are good because they (usually) describe briefly the content of the page at the end of the link, providing an additional clue/reinforcement for the SE spiders. JavaScript menus are a disaster because they are completely invisible to Google et al.

12. Latent Semantic Indexing: Within the overall content, don’t use excessive primary/secondary keyword repetition. Instead, employ a sprinkle of similar words having the same meaning… and variations of the primary words; e.g. mortgage, mortgaged, mortgagee, mortgagor, lend, lending, lender, financing, funding, loan, loans, loaned etc… Reinforce the primary / secondary keyword phrases with supporting content. LSI is based on a mathematical probability that if a page says its about something, AND general content also contains related words / phrases, then it IS accurately described and IS specifically relevant to related search queries.

13. USE Google! They’ve got two absolutely essential items designed to help you! The first is the Google sitemap, and there are plugins available which totally automate generation of the sitemap.xml file every time you add or edit page or post content. The 2nd is Feedburner… Create a Feedburner account, and add your RSS Feed to it. That gives you an intravenous pipeline directly into the belly of the beast! I’ve regularly got blog posts and page content appearing in “Google Alert” distributions within 2 – 3 hours of publishing the post or page! Feedburner also offers you a managed email subscription service which routes your new content directly to interested users…

The above SEO tips provided courtesy of iThemes Premium WordPress Themes ]]> http://easywordpresssite.com/seo-tips/feed/ 0 http://SportsFanSupply.com/2010/03/16/team-gear-apparel-for-sports-fanatics/ http://SportsFanSupply.com/2010/03/16/team-gear-apparel-for-sports-fanatics/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:10:29 +0000 admin http://sportsfansupply.com/wordpress/?p=11
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Bread Recipes

Combining the best elements of Northern and Southern, this is a superb, just-barely-sweet version of one of the classic African-American cornbreads. Be sure to use stone-ground cornmeal for its full flavor and distinctive, delicious grittiness.

Ingredients
Vegetable cooking oil spray
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup corn or canola oil
2 tablespoons butter

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a 10-inch round baking pan or heavy oven-proof skillet with cooking oil.
2. Sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.
3. In a smaller bowl, stir baking soda into buttermilk. Whisk in sugar, egg and oil.
4. Place skillet over medium heat, add butter and heat until butter melts and starts to sizzle. Carefully tilt pan to coat sides and bottom.
5. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients; combine quickly, using as few strokes as possible. Scrape batter into pan; bake 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool a few moments, and slice into 8 wedges to serve. Serves 8.

This thick batter makes a dense bread that’s great toasted and served with butter. When cranberries are available, throw a few bags in your freezer to make this bread year-round. We like it prepared with dried cranberries too.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 egg, well beaten
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons hot water
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup grated orange rind
1 cup fresh or dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan or 3 mini loaf pans.
2. Combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add sugar, egg, butter, hot water, orange juice and grated orange rind; stir until moistened. Fold in berries and nuts. Spoon into pan and bake 50 minutes (or 35 minutes for mini loaves). Cool; wrap and refrigerate or freeze.

Although it’s tempting to try to arrange the balls of dough neatly in the pan, once they’re coated in butter, they are slippery and practically slide into place by themselves. At first the pan will seem too big for the dough, but it rises nearly to the top. When the bread is baked, it fills the pan.

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk, heated
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
1. Combine 1 1?2 cups flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add milk and egg; beat until blended. Gradually add remaining flour and beat until mixture forms a soft dough. If necessary, add more flour.
2. Turn out onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in an oiled bowl, turning to oil top of dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about 50 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 375F.
4. Punch dough down; shape into 16 balls. Roll each in melted butter and arrange in a greased 9-inch tube pan. If there is extra butter, pour over top. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 50 minutes or until dough nearly fills pan.
5. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan onto wire rack; serve warm. Serves 8.

Salad Recipes

Use a good strong blue cheese, such as Roquefort, in this slaw. Mexican sour cream is richer and thicker than regular sour cream, but either will work fine.

Ingredients
1 head of green cabbage, sliced thinly
½ cup finely shredded carrot
¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
¾ cup crumbled Roquefort cheese, divided
½ cup Mexican sour cream or regular sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
Dash of hot sauce

Instructions
1. Place cabbage, carrot and parsley in a large bowl and set aside.
2. In another bowl, whisk together 1?2 cup Roquefort cheese and remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour over cabbage and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour before serving.
3. Sprinkle with remaining Roquefort cheese before serving. Serves 10.

Ingredients
Dressing:
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 small garlic clove, pressed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Coarsely ground black pepper

Salad:
10 cups coarsely chopped lettuce (romaine and Boston)
2 medium tomatoes, cored and chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped, cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 9 ounces)
6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
3 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Roquefort or blue cheese
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and chopped

Instructions
1. To prepare the dressing, combine all ingredients in a jar, cover tightly and
shake vigorously.
2. To prepare the salad, arrange lettuces on a large serving platter, big enough to toss the salad. Arrange tomatoes in a strip down the center and arrange chicken, bacon, eggs, and cheese in strips on either side of tomatoes. Scatter avocado around edge.
3. Before serving, slide the salad into a large bowl; pour dressing over top and toss gently to combine. Serves 6.

Two old standbys, deviled eggs and potato salad, join forces to make a potato salad that’s a real crowd pleaser.

Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds (about 5 large) russet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2-inch
chunks
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
3 celery stalks, diced
3 hard-cooked eggs, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus additional for garnish
Instructions
1. Place potatoes in large saucepan; add cold water to cover. Cover and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, 10 minutes or until tender. Drain, transfer to a large bowl and cool 5 minutes.
2. Whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Combine potatoes, celery, eggs, parsley and mayonnaise mixture. Mix gently with a large rubber spatula. Garnish with additional parsley. Serves 10.

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons grainy Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 large Portobello mushroom caps
4 ounces goat cheese, room temperature
1 small bunch baby arugula, stems trimmed
16 grape tomatoes, halved
Instructions
1. Whisk together oil, vinegar, mustard and salt.
2. Place mushroom caps on a plate, and drizzle them with half of the vinaigrette. Broil mushrooms in a shallow ovenproof pan or grill on a rack for about 5 minutes (rounded side up).
3. Turn caps over and top with goat cheese. Return to the oven or grill to slightly melt cheese.
4. In a medium bowl, toss arugula with remaining vinaigrette and tomatoes. Spoon arugula mixture into four plates; top each with a warm, cheese-topped mushroom. Serves 4.

Sweet and juicy Bartlett pears are perfect for this salad. Ripen them on the counter until they have a delicious “pear” aroma, and then refrigerate until it’s time to make the salad.

Ingredients
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
1?4 teaspoon salt
1?4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
3 firm-ripe pears, such as Bartlett, cored and cut in bite-size chunks
2 cups shredded or thinly sliced cabbage
1?3 cup thinly sliced celery
1?3 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
1?3 cup dried cranberries

Instructions
1. Whisk oil and 3 tablespoons lemon juice together in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper.
2. Combine pears and remaining lemon juice in a large bowl. Add cabbage, celery, pecans, cranberries and oil mixture and mix gently. Serve on lettuce leaves. Serves 8.

The arugula, with its mustardy quality, is a piquant, leafy complement to the potatoes. If arugula is not available, spinach is a good alternative.

Ingredients
2 pounds potatoes, red-skin or fingerling
1 pound mixed baby summer squash
4 large shallots, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
5 ounces arugula

Instructions
1. Wash potatoes and baby squash and cut into bite-sized chunks.
2. Cook potatoes in boiling salted water 6 to 8 minutes or until tender. Drain.
3. Blanch baby squash in a large pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop cooking.
4. Whisk together shallots, garlic, mustard, salt, black pepper and vinegar. Whisk in olive oil.
5. Toss potatoes and squash with vinaigrette. Chill.
6. Fold the arugula into chilled potato mixture. Adjust seasonings and vinegar to taste before serving.

A small serrated knife works well for sectioning the fruit. Do this over a large bowl to catch the juices, and save some for the dressing.

Ingredients
3 seedless oranges
6 cups baby arugula
1 red apple, cored and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1?4 teaspoon kosher salt
1?8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1?2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta or blue cheese
Instructions
1. Grate rind from 1 orange into a small bowl and set aside.
2. Peel all oranges and section. Reserve juice, squeezing more for the dressing if needed. Combine arugula, orange sections and apple in a large bowl.
3. Whisk 3 tablespoons orange juice, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper with orange rind. Pour over salad and toss gently. Spoon onto serving plates and sprinkle with feta. Serves 8.

Beef Recipes

For the leanest brisket, ask for the “first” or “flat” cut, without an overly fatty flap lying on top. Trim off any surface fat; there’s plenty left in the fibers to keep the meat moist. Pure chile powder is made with just ground chiles—no oregano or cumin in the mix. Look for it in the spice aisle or near the Southwestern foods.

Ingredients

1 cup beer
2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 chipotle canned in adobo sauce, seeded and minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon pure ancho
chile powder
1 (4-pound) beef brisket, trimmed of surface fat
3½ pounds sweet potatoes,
peeled and cut into 3-inch pieces

Instructions
1. Mix beer, cornmeal, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, salt, chipotle and garlic in a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker.
2. Rub chile powder into brisket; place in slow cooker and turn to coat. Cover and cook on high 6 hours.
3. Add potatoes; cook 3 hours, or until meat is fork-tender.
4. Remove meat and potatoes; skim fat from sauce. Slice meat and return with potatoes to the sauce; cover and keep warm up to 2 hours. Serves 10.

We love veggie burgers, but they unfortunately don’t love the grill—proving to be too tender for it. So, we found a happy medium by adding canned black beans to lean ground beef, for a healthier burger. Serve with guacamole salsa.

Ingredients
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 pound lean ground beef
¼ cup diced red onion
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
½ teaspoon salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
4 hamburger buns
Instructions
1. Place drained beans in a large bowl and mash beans with a potato masher. Add beef, onion, chili powder, cumin oregano, salt and pepper; mix to combine. Shape into 4 burgers and grill, broil or pan-fry until cooked through. Place burgers on buns and serve. Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 (5-pound) beef brisket
12 ounces tomato paste
1 tablespoon olive oil
Coarsely ground black pepper
1 pound chopped onion (about 4 medium onions)
¼ cup diced garlic (about 12 cloves)
1 (750ml) bottle burgundy wine
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
½ cup low-sodium soy sauce (optional)
2/3 cup water
4 slices crustless rye bread, cubed (optional)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet until hot. Add meat and sear over high heat until lightly browned.
3. Rub brisket with tomato paste, salt and pepper.
4. Place onions in a large roasting pan. Place meat, fat side up, on top of onions.
5. Combine garlic, wine, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, soy sauce (if using) and water. Whisk. Pour over brisket
6. Cover and bake 2½ to 3 hours, basting often with pan juices. Uncover add rye bread, if using, and bake 30 minutes, until brisket is fork tender. Serves 12.

New York State’s big claim to food fame is buffalo sauce, a mixture of melted butter and hot sauce normally found on fried chicken wings. Watch your tailgating guests gather around the grill to taste a burger variation on the buffalo theme.

Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter, cut in small pieces
1?3 cup mild hot sauce (such as Durkee Red Hot)
½ cup finely crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 pounds ground buffalo or beef chuck, 85 percent lean
½ teaspoon celery seed
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
6 hamburger buns, split

Instructions
1. Before You Go: Melt butter in a small microwaveable bowl or stovetop. Whisk in hot sauce.
2. Mix blue cheese and garlic in small bowl.
3. Using your hands, gently mix buffalo or beef, celery seed, onion and ¼ cup hot sauce mixture in a medium bowl until blended. Using a light touch, form into 12 patties about 4 ½ inches in diameter and no more than ½ inch thick. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of cheese-garlic mixture in center of 6 patties. Top with remaining patties and press together, sealing edges. Refrigerate burgers until ready to grill.
4. When You Get There: Heat grill to medium. Brush and oil grill grate. Grill burgers, covered, 7 to 9 minutes, turning after about 4 minutes, for medium-done (150F, slightly pink). Add 1 minute per side for well-done (160F). Brush with remaining hot sauce mixture during last 2 minutes of cooking. Toast buns if you like. Serves 6.

This recipe uses a slow cooker to cook brisket, so place brisket in cooker.
Sprinkle soup mix on meat and spread chili sauce over top.
Season as desired with garlic powder and black pepper.
Sprinkle diced onions over meat and add water.
Cook 4 hours or until meat is tender.
Allow to cool a few minutes before slicing.

Preheat oven to 325F.
Place brisket in roasting pan.
Add celery, onion, chili sauce, salt and pepper.
Roast uncovered 1 to 1 1/2 hours and bast frequently.
Cover and roast brisket 3 to 3 ½ hours.
Add beer in final hour of cooking.

Preheat oven to 300F.
Trim excess fat from brisket.
Season with garlic powder.
Place brisket on heavy duty foil and place on a rimmed baking sheet or glass dish.
Mix remaining ingredients together and pour the mixture over brisket.
Pull foil over brisket and cover loosely, creating a tent.
Bake 1 hour per pound.
Place meat on cutting board and allow to cool.
Slice into thin slices and place back in baking dish without foil.
Pour juices over meat.
Serve immediately or refrigerate to serve later.
To reheat, place dish in 350F oven 30 to 45 minutes.

Place brisket in roasting pan with fat-side up.
Pour Italian dressing over meat.
Cover and cook at 250F to 300F for 7 to 8 hours.

In a dutch oven heat the vegetable or canola oil over medium to medium-high heat.
Brown the onions in the oil and remove them from the pan.
Place the brisket in the pan and brown on all sides.
Return the onions to the pan and season to taste with salt, pepper, and paprika. Put garlic in pan and cover.
Reduce heat and simmer for 3 to 4 hours, turning brisket occasionally.
Place potatoes in pan during the last 20-30 minutes of cooking.
Remove brisket from pan and slice across the grain.
Thicken gravy in pan with flour, if desired.

It also is a place where hopefully other caregivers that are coping with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and caring for wives, husbands, parents, patients, or others can share their experiences, feelings, and knowledge with each other.

Alzheimer’s disease is a much worse disease than I ever imagined until I found myself having to care for a 72 year old wife and a 95 year old mom, both of whom are afflicted with this terrible disease. Stressed and frustrated to say the least.

I thought Alzheimer’s disease was just forgetting where your car keys were, or where you put the TV remote control. I never dreamed that it has such a debilitating effect on persons afflicted with the disease, and I surely never realized just how difficult and stressful it can be for caregivers.

Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder and it was named for German physician Alois Alzheimer, who first described the disease in 1906. Scientists have learned a great deal about Alzheimer’s disease since that time.

Here are some facts about Alzheimer’s:

• Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive and fatal brain disease. It is estimated that as many as 5.3 million Americans are afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease destroys brain cells. It causes memory loss and creates problems with thinking and behavior. These problems can be severe enough to affect work, hobbies and social life.
• Alzheimer’s normally gets worse over time, and it is fatal. You may be surprised to know that it is the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States.
• Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia. Dementia is a general term describing memory loss and other intellectual abilities that are serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for a whopping 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases.
• Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. However, there are treatments for symptoms and these treatments combined with the right services and support can help make life a little better for the millions of Americans living with Alzheimer’s. There are worldwide efforts under way to find more and better ways to treat the disease, or to delay its onset, or prevent it from developing altogether.

What Causes Alzheimer’s?

Doctors and scientists are still trying to answer that question. They are pretty much in agreement that plaques and tangles are a major factor. They also agree that there are risk factors that affect a person’s likelihood of developing the disease.

What Are Plaques and Tangles?

Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by a build-up of proteins in the brain. While this can’t be measured in a living person, autopsies have revealed this to be true, and the build-up manifests itself in two different ways.

One Of These Is Plaques, which are deposits of the protein beta-amyloid that accumulate in the spaces between nerve cells.

The Other Is Tangles,which are deposits of the protein tau that accumulate inside of nerve cells.

Doctors and scientists still don’t know exactly how plaques and tangles are related to Alzheimer’s disease, but they do have some solid theories. One such theory is that they block the nerve cells’ ability to communicate with each other, and this in turn makes it difficult for the cells to survive.

Autopsies have shown that nearly everyone will develop some plaques and tangles as they age, but those with Alzheimer’s disease will develop far more than those who do not develop the disease. Scientists still don’t know why some people develop more than others, but they know it is true.

Known Risk Factors For Alzheimer’s

Factor One–Age

Simply getting older is the number one risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s.
Fact– One out of eight people over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s.
Fact–One out of every two people over the age of 85 has Alzheimer’s.
Fact–The odds that you will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s nearly doubles every five years after age 65.

Factor Two–Family History

Those people who have a parent or sibling that had Alzheimer’s disease are two to three times more likely to develop the disease than those with no family history of Alzheimer’s. And, if more than one close relative has the disease, the risk increases even more.

Scientists have identified two kinds of genes that are associated with this family risk factor. The first, known as ApoE 4, is thought to be a “risk gene” that increases the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s, but does not necessarily guarantee it. In addition to ApoE 4, scientists note that there may be up to a dozen more risk genes that are yet to be discovered.

The second kind of gene is a “deterministic gene”. These are much rarer than risk genes. Deterministic genes are only found in a few hundred extended families around the world. If a deterministic gene is inherited, the person will almost surely develop Alzheimer’s, and most likely at a much earlier age.

Factor Three–Lifestyle Factors

Age and family history are something we can’t control, but scientists have also identified several lifestyle factors that can possibly influence a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. A connection has been shown to exist between serious head injury and future development of Alzheimer’s. In view of that finding, persons who practice safety measures such as wearing seat belts and not engaging in activities where there is a high risk of falling are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s.

It is also likely that exercise and a healthy diet lead to a reduced Alzheimer’s risk. Also, avoiding tobacco, limiting alcohol consumption, and staying socially and mentally active have been shown to have a protective effect against Alzheimer’s disease.

Finally, there appears to be a strong link between heart health and brain health. Persons who are free of heart disease or related conditions are at a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or another kind of dementia than persons who have cardiovascular problems.

Stay tuned for more information…..

I will be making regular posts giving information on possible causes, treatments, and cures for Alzheimer’s disease. I will also be outlining my experiences coping with Alzheimer’s as a caregiver, and I invite readers to make comments and share experiences that may help all of us provide care for loved ones while at the same time maintaining our own health and well being.

Lewis S Poteet