How's my neck?! I used RoC MULTI CORREXION 5-in-1 Chest, Neck & Face Cream...

After 2 weeks with Roc Multi Correxion 5-in-1

Thanks to being a member of Crowdtap, I was able to sample RoC® MULTI CORREXION® 5 in 1 Chest, Neckand Face Cream, and I have been using it for for two weeks now, with excellent results! Having done "before and after" photos, I can honestly and seriously say that my skin looks much better, ESPECIALLY on my neck- that is where I truly see a great, positive difference! My neck is smooth now (I'm 56 and definitely had a "wrinkly issue"), not dry, and much more even-toned, with none of the red, blotchy discolorations I had before, and I love it! I have no problem now wearing more "open" tops, which is a great feeling! I did "before and after" photos, so I could see if I had any real, visible results, and I have to say I'm really impressed- and will keep using it!  

Before starting to use Roc Multi Correxion 5-in-1

My one issue with the product is that I do NOT like using SPF chemicals on my skin and they are not needed in this cream. The cream actually has 4 of them: Avobenzone 2%, Homosalate 4%, Octisalate 4%, and Octocrylene 2%.  UCK! The skin is the largest organ of the body, and I prefer to use as few chemicals on it as possible, and as these four are truly NOT needed in this product, I am hoping Roc will come out with a version of this cream that doesn't have any of those chemicals. When I reviewed Roc Multi Correxion 5-in-1 Chest Neck & Face Cream online I gave it 4 stars for that reason- if not for that, I would have given it 5 stars.

RoC® MULTI CORREXION® 5 in 1 Chest, Neck and Face Cream is a smooth, rich, yet light cream, that goes on smoothly and is absorbed well; I use it after my RoC^® RETINOL CORREXION^® Deep Wrinkle Serum in the morning. (I also use it on the back of my hands, and they are much more even-toned as well- they were quite red and blotchy). Roc Multi Correxion 5 in 1 cream utilizes "HEXINOL^® Technology", to strive to improve a wide range of aging issues, including fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness and elasticity, loss of radiance, and evenness of skin tone.

I found the biggest benefits to me were with regards to lines and wrinkles on my neck and chest, and evenness of skin tone. Roc promises it will give visible improvement in as little as 4 weeks, and as I have seen results in only two weeks, I do want to stick with it! The other great thing is it's only $28.99, and readily available at places like Walmart, Walgreen's, CVS, and & Drugstore.com, and  not some $400 cream, so you can afford to give it a shot! For more info on the product, go to the Roc skincare website and the Roc Multi Correxion 5 in 1 Chest Neck and Face Cream page.

Let me know what you think of the product in the comments- have you had success with it, too? What other products do you use with it?

Elisse colors her hair- successfully!- with Garnier Color Sensation!

The gray roots are totally gone & my hair is actually shiny!

I haven't dared to color my hair myself in YEARS- basically because every time I did it was a disaster! The worst part was always the straw-like texture of my hair after I'd colored it- not to mention odd, brassy color, and poor gray coverage. So I usually have it colored at an Aveda Salon, where I know I will be happy with the results! But we live in the Extremely Rural West Virginia mountains, and I can't always get to a salon when I want... and I Hate when the gray starts showing! Thanks to being a "Crowdtapper" on www.crowdtap.com, I learned about Garnier Color Sensation hair color, and because of the "multi-dimensional pigments and precious oils" and 100% gray coverage, I really wanted to try it, as it seemed like it just might be The right home hair color... So when I had the opportunity to sample it, I jumped at the chance! And I have to say I am VERY pleased! I had had high hopes that because of the oils it would leave my hair silky and shiny, and it truly did- if anything my hair feels and looks BETTER now than before I colored it, and that is Truly a first! I am a total klutz when it comes to this kind of thing, but this is truly easy to apply, and there's no unpleasant chemical smell, it took all of 25 minutes, and it TOTALLY covered all my gray roots!

Garnier Color Sensations 3.26 Deep Burgundy

I used Color Sensation 3.26 Deep Burgundy, and I was quite pleased with the color, which looks quite natural, and is basically identical to the color I had done at Aveda 3 months ago. If anything I wish the color was even more intense! And, as I said above, the best thing was how shiny and soft my hair is- a total first for me with ANY home hair color! Now all I have to do is get another good cut & style- and I saved about $170! :-) Two thumbs up for Garnier!

As you can see, I have had Many different hair colors over the years!

Chef Dan Smokes- with a CaveTools Smoker Box!

Chef Dan does a lot of smoked meats at the Elkhorn Inn, both for us and our guests, and his smoked lamb chops, ribs, duck, pork loin, and salmon are pretty amazing, if I say so myself! He even does a smoked Cajun Beer Can Chicken! Although we do have two gas grills, he usually winds up using our trusty old charcoal grill as a smoker- even in the freezing cold of a West Virginia mountain winter!  (Yes, he is smokin' in the snow in that photo!) So we were Very pleased to be able to test the Smoker Box from CaveTools.com, and found it truly to be of great value!

The Cave Tools Smoker Box is simple enough to use: it’s a well-made, sturdy, stainless steel box (3” wide, 9” long, and 1 ½” deep) with a hinged lid that has holes for the smoke to escape, and it holds two cups of the wood chips that will turn your gas or charcoal grill into a real, live smoker! It holds plenty of chips, but its relatively small size means that it will fit perfectly between “flavorizer bars” and the grill grate, or directly on top of the charcoal, depending on what kind of a grill you have, and it’s sturdy enough that it won’t warp from the heat. You can easily lift the lid to add more wood chips, too. One of the best things about the Smoker Box is that it has no holes on the bottom, so the wood chips won’t catch fire- they’ll continue to smolder instead of burning, like good little wood chips should! No “instructions” come with it, but that’s not so terrible: you simply put the soaked wood chips in the box, and put it on the grill!

One of the coolest things about the CaveTools Smoker Box is that it comes with a special website link that has a 30-page Barbecue Recipe Book, as well as a Meat Smoking Guide, that lists the times and temperatures for different meats, as well as the flavor profiles for different kinds of wood chips, so you can decide what you want to use, depending on what meat or fowl or fish you are preparing. We’ve collected a lot of recipe info over the years that Dan has been a chef, but this Guide was new to us and of Great value!  The list of wood chips alone made us long to try ones we haven’t yet used!

Cave Tools also has a GREAT YouTube page, with 100s of excellent BBQ video tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/user/GrillBrush  I spent Hours pouring over their videos, which cover basically everything you’ve Ever wanted to know about grilling, smoking and BBQing!

Chef Dan likes to use Hickory (“Sweet to Strong with Heavy Bacon Flavor”) and Mesquite (“Earthy Smoke Flavor”) wood chips, as well as Jack Daniel's Whiskey Barrel Oak chips and for smoking chicken breasts and riblets, he used the Jack Daniels chips. He first soaked the chips in water for ½ hour, and then placed them in the Smoker Box, and put the smoker box on the grill- he used our Weber Gas Grill.

Chef Dan also likes to use a variety of Rubs and Mops, which he makes up himself, depending on what he’s smoking. For his smoked lamb chop racks, for example, he’ll coat them with olive oil and a mixture of Italian herbs, wrap them in Saran Wrap, and let them marinate in the fridge overnight. He’ll then “mop” them periodically, as they smoke, with a mix of coffee and wine and spices. Rubs and mops are where you can really get creative!

For the smoked chicken breasts he mopped them with Korean BBQ Sauce, and the riblets he coated with olive oil and mixed Italian herbs before placing them on the grill. Then he tucked the Smoker Box under the grill rack, shut the grill and let 'em smoke! Easy-Peasy!

Chef Dan, smokin' in the snow- at night, no less!

Our Weber Grill, with the Smoker Box on the left, under the grill rack

 The Smoker Box is quite inexpensive, and with all the cool stuff you get to go along with it, it’s quite the bargain! AND, for my loyal readers, I have a special coupon that will get you an ADDITIONAL 15% off when you purchase it on Amazon! 15% Off Amazon.com Coupon Code: TJ4VTYCS

It also comes with a LIFETIME SATISFACTION GUARANTEE, so if, at any point, you are unhappy with your Smoker Box, you can return it for a full money back refund! They REALLY take Customer Service seriously- which we love!

Smoking, BTW, is for WAY more than ribs and burgers! There are tons of really delicious "foodie" things you can do with a Smoking Box:  

Herb-Rubbed Smoked Ribs

Smoked "Lacquered" Duck

Smoked Pork Tenderloin with a Chilean Quince-Merken Glaze

Herb-Rubbed Smoked Cornish Game Hens

Chef Dan with his Smoked "Cajun Beer Can Chicken"

Herb-Rubbed Smoked Lamb Chops

Salmon, smoked on a wood plank, and Smoked Corn on the Cob

For more information on the Smoker Box, you can see it on Amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011VJ51J8/ref=sr_1_23?ie=UTF8&sr=8-32&me=A3IEEDMWTA8OSP&keywords=smoker+box&linkCode=as2&tag=hyacinth18-20  

and on the CaveTools.com website here: http://cavetools.com/products/smoker-box-wood-chips/?utm_source=Blogger&utm_medium=Review&utm_campaign=SmokerBox   

They have a lot of other cool BBQ tools, too, so this really Is the place you want to go for your BBQ needs- and for great gifts for the Grill Master in your life!  

Let me know in the comments what YOU like to smoke- and how you do it!

Cooking with DELICIOUS #foodie Sahale Snacks!

As a member of Crowdtap, I was recently given the opportunity to try a number of yummy products made by Sahale Snacks, and although I have enjoyed pretty much every sampling I've ever done, this was by far the best!
My husband is a chef at our historic Inn, the Elkhorn Inn, and thus I am his Official Foodie (LOL), and Sahale Snacks are delicious and unique enough that we were delighted to learn about and try them, so we could start buying them and incorporating them into Dan's dishes at the Inn!
In addition to "classics" like Herb-Stuffed Roast Cornish Game Hen, we love "exotic" and international dishes, and have many of them on our Inn's menu, including entrees from Vietnam, Israel, Chile, and the Caribbean. And the Sahale Snacks Nut Blends are really excellent for adding some gourmet "foodie" excitement to your dishes, as well as for simply snacking on!

  The products we were got to try were their Honey Almond Glazed Mix and Pomegranate Vanilla Flavored Cashews Glazed Mix, and the Almond Vanilla Latte and Salted Caramel Apple Pecan Layered Nut Bars- and hubs started snacking on the bars before I could even get a photo!

I (fortunately! LOL) do not have a "sweet tooth", and I don't like overly sweet snack bars, and usually avoid buying them, and so I was VERY pleasantly surprised at how delicious the Layered Nut Bars were- and the unique flavors each one had. Each one has a variety of flavors and textures which make them Very tasty, and they're truly yummy with a cup of coffee or an ice-cold glass of milk!
But my favorite products, so far, are the Nut Blends, as they are great for tons of different recipes, as well as for topping salads, yogurt, or just snacking!

The first place I went to for recipe inspiration was the Sahale Snacks Recipe Page on their blog:   http://sahalesnacks.com/blog/category/recipes/
The first recipe I chose to try- with a few little changes, of course!- was Roasted Butternut Squash with Maple Pecans Glazed Mix and Crispy Sage.
First I pan-friend the sage leaves in olive oil and set the oil aside, as the menu calls for. We used Acorn Squash, which we cut into large pieces, covered with the sage oil and chopped garlic, dusted with cinnamon and cayenne pepper, and roasted in the oven at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes until it was tender. Then we sprinkled it with a bit of Kosher salt, and topped it with Sahale Honey Almonds Glazed Mix  and the fried sage leaves- and it was DELICIOUS! We served it with roast chicken and it was a wonderful side dish! The cinnamon and cayenne was a really delicious combination that enhanced the sweetness of the squash, and the almonds and dried fruit (this mix has almonds, cranberries, toasted sesame seeds, sea salt and honey) added both crunchy and chewy textures, as well as taste, making it really special! Next time I will use even MORE sage! :-) 
Other spices that we'd like to try for this dish are nutmeg and ginger, Harissa and Ras El Hanout, Moroccan spice mixes, and Garam Masala, an Indian spice mix, which Chef Dan uses in many of his dishes. Squash and pumpkin can be made in a variety of ways, including Vietnamese and Korean ones...

Roasted Acorn Squash with Sahale Honey Almonds & Sage

The next recipe we used the Honey Almonds Glazed Mix for was to top Pasta with Ramp Pesto, and the honey-glazed almonds were a delicious, textured counterpoint to the garlic-y goodness of the pesto! (And yes, those are meatballs, because my hubs has to have meat balls with his pasta, even with pesto. LOL)

Chef Dan is planning to use the Pomegranate Vanilla Flavored Cashews Glazed Mix to top a salad and a shrimp dish he is thinking of, so that will be our next foodie experiment with Sahale Snacks!





I Love authentic Asian food, and I REALLY want to try the Thai Cashews Glazed Mix  which has soy-glazed cashews, peanuts, pineapple, sesame seeds, and is lightly glazed with sake, rice wine vinegar, and dried lemongrass- that sounds AMAZING to top shrimp, noodles, stir-fried veggies, and other dishes with!
The other Sahale Snacks I'm aching to try are the  Maple Pecans Glazed Mix,  Balsamic Almonds Glazed Mix, and Pomegranate Flavored Pistachios Glazed Mix - I LOVE pistachios! 
The "Crunchers", such as the Sahale Crunchers Almonds with Parmesan Cheese + Herbs  and Mango Tango Almond Mix (which has almonds, peanuts, lime-infused mango pieces, and chipotle chili, and makes my mouth water just thinking about it!) sound EXCELLENT for topping entrees, as well as different kinds of salads, which we always do for Dinners at the Elkhorn Inn! 

More recipe inspiration- for when we have fresh figs!

The only problem we have here is that the Walmart, Kroeger, and Food City in our part of southern West Virginia don't carry them- so we have to order them online- and fortunately you can do that on the Sahale website!









So YES- a big "two thumbs up" for Sahale Snacks from Foodie Elisse and Chef Dan- if you haven't yet tried them you absolutely have to! (And check out Crowdtap, too- it's an excellent site for anyone interested in new products and marketing- and you can win gift cards, too!)

The Landgraff Sweeps & Contest Queen Says "Thank You"!

As my faithful readers know, I am a bit of a “sweeper”, and enter a lot of contests and sweepstakes- usually late at night, when everyone else is apparently playing Candy Crush! LOL I have won a lot of wonderful things, and as 2015 comes to a close, I'd like to thank the individuals and companies responsible for the lovely things I've won- trips and things that Dan and I would seriously never have been able to enjoy if I hadn’t won them!

This spring Dan and I spent an amazing, wonderful month in Vietnam on the trip I won last year from Central Coast Vietnam Tourism on Facebook! My many blog posts earlier this year about Vietnam, and all the incredible things we got to do and see and eat and drink, were from that trip!

Emperor & Empress in Dalat!

Playing gongs in the Central Highlands!

Riding elephants at Lok Lake!

Water Buffalo Surfing: Wet Rice Farming!

Dan and I LOVE Vietnam, and when I entered this we were literally Dreaming about being able to go back some day- if we won Lotto- so my winning this trip was truly a dream come true!  









Please check out my posts on this blog, which have links to all sorts of great things to do in Vietnam, and also see www.centralcoastvietnam.com and "like" their page on Facebook for more incredible things you can do in Vietnam:  https://www.facebook.com/CentralCoastVN

This year I think my “bestest” win was THE most beautiful handbag ever- a $1200 cerulean blue Stella McCartney “Fallabella” Tote- from LoveGoodly, which, as their name makes clear, has truly lovely things, AND supports good causes: www.lovegoodly.com

I won a fabulous $200 Weber Grill in the #MyMahan sweepstakes from the PGA- and Dan got to pick it up at Ace Hardware in Bluefield. WV!

"Tweet-Ups" on Twitter (www.twitter.com) are a lot of fun, and this fall I got Really lucky & won a $250 Visa gift card and some great beauty products from UNT http://www.shopunt.com/eng/ a fine Taiwanese beauty brand, in the #UNTbeautytalk Twitter Party hosted by SheSpeaks www.shespeaks.com!

On Twitter I also won a $20 eBay gift card, from, yes, eBay! :-) And as I am a Total eBay Fanatic (if not for eBay, the Elkhorn Inn would look like Wally World!) this will Definitely come in handy!


I won a $50 gift card to C-A-L Ranch Stores http://www.calranch.com/  (got a cool, heated seed-starter kit for this winter!) for my photo of the Elkhorn Inn with our sunflower meadow that Dan planted... and then I won $1000 from Marlboro www.marlboro.com for two projects I submitted: Replanting our sunflower meadow across from the Inn, and building a photography platform for Railfans in McDowell County, West Virginia!

 

I won the #PSILoveYou box full of pumpkin spice yummies from the Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt Blog: http://cookiedoughandovenmitt.com And I have to say that Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter is DELICIOUS!

From Passports with Purpose passportswithpurpose.org I won a $169 Travelmate Deluxe Product Bundle provided by the blog Cloud Surfing Kids: http://cloudsurfingkids.com/

We also got to enjoy the three months of truly beautiful flowers from Bouqs www.bouqs.com that I won last year when I was awarded “Marketer of the Year” Runner-Up from www.bedandbreakfast.com  (The other parts of the prize were an award, which we have displayed at the Elkhorn Inn, and a $100 gift certificate to Lowe’s- which Dan used immediately!)

Labor day flowers from Bouqs!

 

Flowers from Bouqs!

My Award

As readers of this blog know, I participate in a number of market research projects, and one of the best is Crowdtap. As a Crowdtapper, Dan & I (and our guests) have been able to try (and then write about) some great new products, including the Litter Genie, delicious foods & sauces from Campbell's, Ricola cough drops, yummy Brookside Crunchy Clusters and Folger's Flavors, Johnsonville "Grillers" Sausages, Kleenex tissues, delicious "foodie" Sahale Snacks, Listerine, and Zep Cleaners- and this Valentine's Day Zep surprised me with a gift bag! Check out www.crowdtap.com and sign up!

I won a great Rose Face Mask from Elvis + Elvin from Beauty Undercover www.beautyundercover.com:

And I also won an Aqua Teen Hunger Force DVD set from Cartoon Network!

Since I started entering sweeps and contests in 2002, I have won us 6 fabulous trips with plane tickets (Vietnam, Chile, Israel, San Diego, Virginia, and Arizona), absolutely gorgeous  designer shoes, beauty products, makeup, and perfume, fine jewelry, clothing, kitchen things, books, gift certificates, cash, food, and lots of other cool stuff! (My friends all made fun of me until I started winning trips with plane tickets. LOL) Many of my friends insist I must be terribly lucky, but if you enter 100 sweeps and contests a night you'll get "lucky" too! :-) I always tell people interested in entering sweeps and contests my three key rules:
1. Read the rules! I cannot stress this enough, especially with regards to contests. If you are going to spend the time creating an entry, make sure you know the rules so you don't inadvertently disqualify yourself! One entry only, or daily entries? Are you eligible to win? Is it a skill-based, judged contest, or a random drawing? What are you supposed to write or photograph and how? You get the idea! 
2. Check your email- DAILY!  You often have only 24 hours to respond to a winning notification email, or the prize will be awarded to someone else! Thanks to entering sweeps and being on so many email lists, I now have to scroll through about 1800 emails a day, and yes, that it is pain, but the payoff has been pretty fabulous! Consider it part of your "job" and it will feel less onerous. LOL  
3. Only enter for things you Really want to win! Apropos this, my favorite sweeps story is about winning a giant box of condoms! Dan was incredulous- WHY, he wanted to know, did I enter to win stuff like that?! I had actually entered to win the $10K trip to Vegas- but instead of winning the Grand Prize, I had won the First Prize- and the sweeps had been sponsored by Trojan! :-) 
And I also always thank those responsible, and try to give the people and companies who sponsor the sweeps and contests I win publicity and promotion- a "bang for their buck", as it were- on this blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ etc., because sweeps and contests are created to SELL STUFF, and sharing is caring! :-) I learn about a lot of great products through entering sweeps and contests, and we do buy many of them!
Good luck, and have fun sweeping! 
Let me know in the comments if you've won something- whether it was wonderful or just hilarious!

Elisse