Although summer doesn't technically start until June 20, most people consider the summer season to kick off just after Memorial Day. Schools are out and the focus is on enjoying the warm weather and outdoor grilling.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture offers food safety tips to ensure people have safe and enjoyable meals.

Bacteria can be spread throughout the kitchen and get onto hands, utensils, countertops and food. People in charge of food preparation should wash their hands with warm soap and water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food. Prep areas should also be washed down with soap and hot water.

Fresh fruits and vegetables should be rinsed under running tap water before preparing.

If marinating food before grilling, it should be marinated in the refrigerator, not on the counter. Poultry and cubed meat can be be marinated up to two days in advance of cooking. Beef, veal, pork, lamb roasts, chops and steaks can be safely marinated for up to five days.

Before grilling meat, poultry or seafood, separate it onto its own cutting board, away from fresh produce. Bacteria can be spread by cross-contamination.

After grilling, use a different plate than the one which previously held raw meat or seafood.

Food thermometers should be used to measure the internal temperature of cooked meat. Food is safely cooked when it reaches a high enough internal temperature to kill harmful bacteria that can create food borne illness. Generally, beef, pork, veal and lamb should be cooked to 160 degrees and poultry to 165 degrees. Color is not a reliable indicator of doneness. Fish should be cooked to 145 degrees or until the flesh is opaque and separates easily with a fork.

There's nothing better than a big barbecue feast with leftovers to nibble on later. Large amounts of leftovers should be divided up into shallow containers for quicker cooling in the refrigerator.

Never defrost food at room temperature. Food defrosted in the microwave should be cooked immediately.

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Food safety tips given for summer barbecuing

Quartz Surface Manufacturer Kicks Off National Countertop Makeover Contest

TORONTO, May 31, 2012 /CNW/ - Caesarstone, the original quartz surface manufacturer, officially announced their Countertop Makeover Contest, which kicks off nationally on Thursday, May 31st and will run for eight consecutive weeks.

Consumers are invited to enter the contest by submitting images of their damaged, boring or just plain bad countertops and simply tell them why they'd love a new one. The winner will be selected by a panel of interior designers and will receive a beautiful Caesarstone countertop makeover - a value of up to $10,000.

"If your kitchen needs a face lift, replacing your countertops is a great option", says Domenic Oppedisano, Chief Operations Officer of Caesarstone Canada". A new countertop can help revitalize an older kitchen, or give it a new look and feel - and Caesarstone quartz surfaces are one of the best choices for countertops", says Oppedisano. They are environmentally friendly, stain, scratch and heat resistant, strong and durable, and their minimal maintenance makes these surfaces ideal for kitchen countertops. They also offer a lifetime warranty, so homeowners can rest easy knowing that their investment is protected.

The contest is fresh on the heels of Monday night's episode of Top Chef Canada, where one of the competitors, Carl Heinrich, won his own custom Caesarstone countertop installation during the Quickfire Challenge. Caesarstone is a proud sponsor of the second season of the well-loved series which airs Monday nights at 10PM on Food Network Canada.

For contest details, please visit http://www.caesarstone.ca

About Caesarstone

Caesarstone, the original quartz surface, is a leading supplier of the finest quartz surfaces to the global marketplace. Caesarstone manufactures high-quality quartz slabs for a variety of uses and applications, such as kitchen countertops, bathroom vanities, flooring, wall paneling and more. Their unique variety of colours, patterns and textures, coupled with the brand's incredibly resilient characteristics, is quickly driving the Canadian demand for quartz surfaces and making Caesarstone the preferred choice for kitchen and bathroom countertops.

Annie Zeni Marketing Manager Caesarstone Canada T: 416-479-8437 azeni@caesarstone.ca

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Caesarstone Canada Presents: The Counter Offer

Collection buckets with Aryanna Schneeberg's face sit on countertops of businesses in Campbellsport.

The seven-year-old girl was struck in the back with an arrow while walking on Main Street Sunday evening. She's undergone surgery at Milwaukee's Children's Hospital and is listed in good condition.

What happened to the little girl is the talk of the town and beyond.

"Even in Fond du Lac, where the coverage was there, too, my neighbors were talking about it, too, that poor little girl that got hit by the arrow. So it has made quite a bit of news across probably I think the whole state," Bill Carey from Fond du Lac said.

People tell us it's not only that someone was shot by an arrow that has people talking but who it happened to.

"I thought it was a freaky thing. I mean you don't hear of an arrow just coming out of nowhere and hitting a little girl," Candy Hahn of Campbellsport said.

"I couldn't believe it. Well, you don't think for a town like this, things can happen like this," Keith Boettcher, who also lives in Campbellsport, said.

The randomness of the incident led investigators to offer a reward for help solving this case.

We're told it's an offer that's bringing in leads.

"We've received some support from the community, some information from the community that we're continuing to follow up on," Detective Nate LaMotte of the Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Department said. "And that was the reason that we did it the way we did it right now is that we need to get some stuff out to the community to get them involved in this, because that's what's going to assist in this investigation."

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Girl Shot by Arrow has the Community's Support

MILPITAS, CA--(Marketwire -05/23/12)- The Coyote Creek community by William Lyon Homes will offer buyers two brand new neighborhoods and a prime address in Milpitas, adjacent to one of the bustling Cisco Campuses. The Rows and The Courts have been designed with an impressive display of included features that will underscore the homes' contemporary appeal and value. Architectural style, modern amenities and a great South Bay location will put Coyote Creek on the map in the coming months and now is the time to get on the inside track by registering at Lyoncoyotecreek.com for a multi-media overview; prospective homebuyers can also Like the community on Facebook for the latest updates.

Buyers who appreciate the enduring value of included features will find Coyote Creek's interiors just the right balance of smart planning and contemporary style. The kitchens will be equipped with stainless steel appliances, creating the tone for a more modern environment, while granite countertops will be available in three distinctive shades from warm earthy tones to darker contemporary colors; European shaker styling in natural maple has been selected for the homes' cabinetry. The bathrooms at The Rows and The Courts will exude a bright, clean appearance and will have square edge white matte cultured marble countertops that are easy to maintain, as well as contemporary plumbing fixtures.

"When planning the 14 different floorplan choices at The Rows and The Courts, we took into consideration the lifestyles and expectations of prospective buyers. We determined that a very important factor is the presence of standard amenities that add beauty and value to each home, along with interiors that offer an overall look that is clean and clutter-free with a contemporary flair," said Lesley Pennington, Vice President of Sales for William Lyon Homes. "Today's buyers want new home opportunities that fit their lives and the architectural innovation that has been integrated into each floorplan will reflect those priorities. The availability of one, two and three-level attached designs will accommodate a variety of expectations and value-added features in each design will enhance the consumer experience of Coyote Creek."

The Rows at Coyote Creek will showcase seven townhome designs that will range from approximately 1,198 to 1,788 square feet, with up to three bedrooms plus a den and up to 3.5 bathrooms.

The Courts at Coyote Creek will introduce seven townhome and flat designs that will range from approximately 1,218 to 1,972 square feet of space, with up to four bedrooms plus a den and up to 3.5 bathrooms.

Coyote Creek's resort clubhouse will offer residents a private, convenient facility to exercise, socialize and relax. Homeowners can lounge by the swimming pool or work out in the fitness room, where high-tech cardio machines will each have their own monitors with cable TV, iPod hookups and internet access; the clubhouse will also have public restrooms with a shower. Other amenities will include an outdoor barbecue and stylish outdoor covered living room, plus a fire-pit lounge area, while the club room will have a plasma screen television. The fully equipped kitchen, which will offer residents a great setting for special events, can also be transformed into a studio for yoga classes and other fun activities. Animal lovers will even have access to the pet spa, where the family dog can get washed and pampered. The community will be walking distance to Cerano Park's half basketball court and tennis court, the ideal backdrop for a friendly pick-up game or doubles match with the neighbors.

Coyote Creek's convenient location will offer buyers the opportunity to enjoy a brand new home and live near work, leisure and recreation. Situated in the heart of the South Bay, the community will present residents with easy accessibility to the places they want to go. The 1-880/Milpitas Light Rail Station is less than a mile away, a convenient option for environmentally minded commuters to get to their office at Google's Main Campus in Mountain View or Yahoo headquarters in Sunnyvale. Close proximity to I-680, I-880 and Highway 237 is another benefit for homeowners who travel for business to Black Mountain, the Bay Area and downtown San Jose. Close to home, weekends can be spent unwinding with hikes or mountain bike rides along the adjacent Coyote Creek Trail or shopping and dining at the Great Mall or Milpitas Square.

William Lyon Homes means it when they say that they put themselves into their homes. They build each and every home as if it were their own and have earned a solid track record for constructing homes throughout the West since 1954.

Founded in 1995, Resmark is a leading national private equity firm focused on real estate and powered by core foundational discipline and focus. A fully integrated real estate investment group, The Resmark Companies' divisions -- Resmark Land and Housing, Resmark Apartment Living and Resmark Shopping Centers -- finance, acquire, develop and manage real estate in California and the Western United States and other select major metropolitan markets nationwide.

To learn more about brand new homes in this dynamic location, visit Lyoncoyotecreek.com.

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Standard Elegance Will Highlight Coyote Creek's Sleek Modern Interiors

A partnership involving Quad-City Realtors, home builders, skilled trades contractors and high school students has produced the 13th student-built home in northwest Davenport, replete with hardwood and ceramic flooring, granite countertops and a 10 1/2-foot-long kitchen pantry.

The 2,800-square-foot home at 6214 Fillmore St. was built over the past year by 13 students from the three Davenport public high schools and North Scott High School under the direction of Kirk Hakanson, an employee of Scott Community College.

Two classes of students worked on the house for a total of about six hours a day. Students were involved in every aspect of construction, and did the framing, roofing, siding, trim work and laying of the wood floor essentially by themselves, said Jon Yocum, the Quad-City Area Realtor Association representative.

The students worked alongside skilled tradespeople for the plumbing, electrical, insulation, ceramic, carpet-laying, drywall, masonry, painting and concrete work. That is either because the work must be performed by someone with a license or because it is extremely tricky for beginners to get right working entirely on their own, Yocum said.

For North Scott students Alex Grunder and Garth Larson, framing was the most memorable part of the build.

You could see the whole house just stand up within just a couple of weeks, Larson said.

He took the class because, beginning with his freshman year, he heard what an incredible experience it would be and how the knowledge he gained would help him in the future. So far, that has proven to be true, he said.

He hopes to build his own house someday and will begin classes in June at Scott/Western Illinois University in pursuit of a degree in mechanical engineering.

Everybody should sign up, he said of the class. Its a blast.

Grunder will put his knowledge into practice immediately by working this summer for a home builder. He took the class because he wanted to learn more about how the business works and how contractors get everything organized, he said.

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Quad-City students help build house with 'wow' factors

What do a countertop company and a surfboard company have in common? Both are run by Ken Trinder, whose novel anti-microbial countertop may soon be seen in hospitals.

A love of surfaces and materials motivates Ken Trinder, who runs both a countertop business, EOS, and a custom-made surfboard company, Shire. As Trinders countertops stand poised to enter new markets--a green product just hit Home Depot shelves, and he has hopes that an anti-microbial line will become a hospital fixture--he still finds time to let off steam by surfing and crafting custom boards (which can fetch up to thousands of dollars at auction).

FAST COMPANY: What is it about surfaces that gets you excited? Isnt that superficial of you?

KEN TRINDER: No, theres a creative element to both these concepts, making new proprietary types of countertops, and developing and handcrafting surfboards. They start as a hands-on process. There are things I do on the countertop side that tie back directly to things Ive learned making surfboards. Surfboards are made of resins, and the countertops have resins in them as well, so theres a tie-in there as far as understanding how those things work and react with each other. I know it sounds like those two things would be the most unrelated things in the world, but it all goes back to the same thing, the chemistry.

EOS has three countertop types, each of which is innovative in its own way.

We had the idea of making a new type of countertop that was polyester acrylic, and we took it upon ourselves to see if we could make it an inch-and-an-eighth thick all the way through. The typical thickness out there is a half-inch. But in the traditional half-inch thickness, you might have four or five hours of labor taking that half-inch sheet, cutting strips off it, and gluing up underneath it to have the illusion of it being an inch-and-a-half thick.

So you offer something thats thicker and more durable, but you save on labor costs.

In our industry, people always thought something with more product would make it more expensive. But it works out that we can do it in a way thats price competitive, when you factor in the labor savings.

Your second countertop is GEOS, a green product.

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Surf And Destroy (Old Business Models)

When it seemed like everyone was outfitting their kitchens with granite countertops and Sub-Zero refrigerators, Pam Kueber was on the hunt for steel cabinets.

Ten years ago, Kueber and her husband bought a 1951 ranch house in Lenox, Mass., with ugly plastic tiles in the bathroom and a 1970s kitchen that was showing its age.

But rather than bringing the house up to date, she wanted to take it back to its mid-20th-Century character.

A communications professional with a degree in journalism, she put her reporting skills to work on ferreting out sources of vintage materials to renovate her midcentury home.

Five years into her search, she struck gold: a set of aquamarine Geneva steel cabinets in what was once a cooking school run by nuns in New York City.

Her experience prompted her to start a blog to share her research with like-minded souls. Today her Retro Renovation blog, retrorenovation.com, attracts about 220,000 readers a month and is the go-to site for homeowners with a passion for restoring midcentury homes.

Kueber shares resources and tips on great finds, like the stash of 1960s tile a guy in Mansfield, Ohio, found recently when he was cleaning out a contractor's house.

"It's like Whac-A-Mole," she said of the constant chase of the latest bonanza.

The blog celebrates what Kueber calls "midcentury modest" homes, houses like hers that sprang up across the U.S. in the wake of World War II.

Unlike the chic, glass-walled atomic ranches that are revered as the epitome of midcentury modern style, these are the simpler Colonials, ranches and split-levels that housed a much larger segment of the postwar population.

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Blog writer helps owners restore their midcentury homes

VAN NUYS, CA--(Marketwire -05/17/12)- Caesarstone made a first-time appearance at EuroCucina 2012 in Milan, Italy April 17-22. The world-renowned event, EuroCucina, the International Kitchen Furniture Exhibition, is the only international kitchen tradeshow, and is known for bringing the biggest and best names in kitchen design and innovation together to showcase the latest in kitchen products, furniture, and accessories.

One of 150 stringently selected exhibitors, Caesarstone -- who was the only surfacing company in attendance -- showcased a remarkable and fully functional kitchen gleaming white with the embossed, textured surface, White Crocodile -- part of their Motivo line. At the heart of the kitchen, which was the main attraction of Caesarstone's nearly 1,000 square foot booth, was a massive 30-foot long island equipped with touch screen functionality which allowed for the three countertop surfaces and 12 massive drawers to slide open, revealing more space, and other functional aspects of the kitchen. Behind the island was the custom cabinetry made up of nine sliding doors all covered in White Crocodile.

"The kitchen accomplished so much more than simply functional yet elegant design. The technology built into the kitchen was truly innovative. With the press of a button you could reveal the sink and stove, as well as create a bar on the other side. All the drawers and cabinets were covered with 4mm thick Motivo White Crocodile using a technique which involved slicing a 2cm Caesarstone slab to 4mm thick pieces. EuroCucina really gave us a chance to shine. To show how far we've come as a global company and that we are leaders in innovation," said Maggie Amir, Brand Manager, Caesarstone USA, Inc.

Designed by Caesarstone, the kitchen made a lasting impression on the thousands of designers and international industry professionals in attendance. Hundreds stopped by the booth each day for Happy Hour to enjoy food and beverages prepared by top chefs and hosted by representatives of each of the 44 international Caesarstone divisions.

"I think this event really allowed Caesarstone to prove that we are not just a stone company. The kitchen reflected our vision of the company itself: Innovation, sophistication, forward-thinking design, and unique applications. We have always encouraged our customers to be inspired and to create their own extraordinary spaces. Being a part of such an internationally acclaimed event was truly an incredible experience," commented Sagi Cohen -- CEO, Caesarstone USA, Inc.

About Caesarstone USA Caesarstone is the original quartz countertops and surfaces manufacturer. Caesarstone is headquartered in Southern California with sales divisions and major distribution centers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Colorado, Miami, New York, Atlanta, St. Louis and Dallas. Caesarstone's Independent Distributors are located in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Philadelphia, North Carolina, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Arizona and Utah. Caesarstone's premium quartz countertops and surfaces complement any design, from traditional to contemporary, for both home and commercial applications. Caesarstone products are available through kitchen and bath retailers, fabricators, architects, designers, builders and distributors nationwide. Offering a Residential Lifetime Warranty, Caesarstone countertops and surfaces are nonporous, stain, scratch and heat resistant. Caesarstone has earned the respected Good Housekeeping Seal from the Good Housekeeping Research Institute and is in compliance with stringent international environmental standards including ISO 14001 (environmental management system), ISO 9002 (quality management standard), and NSF (public health and safety).

Using only sustainable materials, Caesarstone is GREENGUARD certified and is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). For more information about Caesarstone and its products, please visit the company's website at http://www.caesarstoneus.com, or call toll-free 877-9QUARTZ (877-978-2789).

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Caesarstone Makes a White Hot Debut at EuroCucina 2012

The Thermador MD24JS Built-in MicroDrawer Microwave installs directly into standard-depth cabinetry and slides open at the touch of a button.

The flush installation creates an attractive smooth presentation.

Kitchen countertops are busy landscapes. As with any endeavor, tools of the trade can sometimes clutter the work area. However, cutlery and cutting boards are much easier to store away and out of sight than appliances are. Usually.

The Thermador MD24JS Built-in MicroDrawer Microwave employs a creative use of space that allows it to always be at the ready while not being in the way. Installing directly into standard-depth cabinetry, the 24-inch built-in microwave slides open at a touch (no handle) and features a full-flush front for an attractive aesthetic that blends into the environment of the kitchen. With a MSRP of $1,649, the luxury appliance is designed for high-end home kitchens with a focus on sleek and sophisticated clean lines.

As a kitchen essential, the microwave is a central hub that is integral to meal-making and with a 1.2-cubic-feet capacity, the appliance is large enough to fulfill the demands common to everyday use. The full-featured microwave offers convenience as well as control with 10 cooking modes. In addition to popular one-touch settings like popcorn and defrost, the luxury appliance also includes sensor-based cooking programs that monitor humidity and adjust cooking time and power accordingly. And with all that open counter space up on top for food preparation, there will be plenty of room to explore all that it can do.

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Thermador microwave goes under the countertop

The Caso Hand Held Vacuum Sealer doesn't take up a lot of room and features cordless operation. The kitchen gadget can be used for food storage as well as for preserving wine.

Wine and dine with the Caso Hand Held Vacuum Sealer.

Cluttered kitchen countertops don't exactly scream out for new gadgetry. Even when the learning curve is small, space may simply be an issue. So when an interesting appliance comes along, sometimes it can fall upon deaf ears. Change it up and make it into a form factor that can be held in the hand and suddenly people might start to listen.

For many, the concept of a vacuum sealer is sound, but the space the large, blocky appliance normally requires makes it a no-go. The Caso Hand Held Vacuum Sealer features a rechargeable battery and cordless operation. Docking into a base station in order to recharge, the unit also features a slim design that allows it to stand by at the ready without taking up a lot of counter space.

Included with the unit are specialized, reusable zip bags that can be used in the microwave, the freezer or even for sous-vide cooking. Not only is food storage (and food preparation) improved with the countertop gadget, but the device also includes nozzles that allow it to be used to vacate air out of open wine bottles. With its ability to make food and wine last longer, the handy gadget might not take up a lot of space on the countertop, but refrigerator and freezer shelves are another matter entirely.

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With space, vacuum sealer makes some noise