New Year's Eve bash

New Year's Eve is tomorrow night! Do you have your plans set yet?

I was live at the fabulous Metropolitan Grill (in downtown Seattle) getting the scoop on how to make your bash stress-free and super posh.

Excutive Chef, Eric Hellner says that they key is small bites and easily prepped foods. Bruschetta, spanakopita, stuffed mushrooms, and ahi tuna are all great options. He stressed that you want to be partying like a rockstar, not slaving away in the kitchen.

As far as drinks go, you want to serve something that will go with all foods like a rose champagne. Head Sommelier, Thomas Price, suggests serving a couple of signature cocktails instead of a full open bar. Easier, more fun, and less stress for you. All good things.

If you really want to wow without the work, go to Metropolitan Grill and pick up one of their pre-prepared boxes. It comes with Chateaubriand, root veg, potatoes, and all the spices, etc. You will look like the best chef on the block and no one will know. It'll be our little secret.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH US AND LEARN SOME TIPS

With Head Sommelier, Thomas Price

With Executive Chef, Eric Hellner

The whole awesome crew!

Here's a recipe for your party tomorrow:

Bourbon Street Sidecar

2oz Woodford reserve Bourbon

1/2oz Southern Comfort

1/2oz Fresh Lime Juice

1/2oz Fresh Lemon Juice

Garnish

Sugar Rim, Orange Twist

Fill a shaker with ice. Pour in all ingredients. Shake until chilled. Pour into glass and garnish. Enjoy!

Happy New Year!! Be safe tomorrow night and enjoy yourselves!

Christie's Canadian Christmas #2

So there we were ... in Canada for Christmas ...

When my 7 month old puppy, Mocha Bean, got off the plane and stepped into 20 below freezing weather, he immediately started to cry. Picked up his feet one by one and refused to walk. So logically, I got out his winter boots that I had been saving and secretly wanting him to wear because they are so darn cute (he doesn't need them in Seattle of course). He looked adorable ...but...it was hilarious watching him try and learn how to walk in the stupid things.

If you need a good laugh today, watch this!

A Canadian Christmas ...

I haven't been on the air in a few days because I rode my dogsled home to Canada for Christmas. I hadn't been in my igloo for some time, worn a touque, had a Tim Horton's, or eaten any ketchup chips - and was in desperate need of all of them.

Check out this link! It's a house in the city I'm from, Edmonton, where the guy must take all year to decorate ... it's pure insanity ... Canadian style. So for all you haters out there ... TAKE OFF, EH, YOU HOSER! lol

MERRY CHRISTMAS! I wish all of you lots of health, happiness, success, and joy in 2011. Much love!

Christie, Jason and Mocha Bean.

Prevent Terrifying Holiday Fires

So I'm standing in a "burn tower" ... it's dark, it's smoky, and I'm wearing 80 lbs of gear. Sounds scary enough doesn't it. Well add on top of that the fact that we're going to start a fire and burn a Christmas tree to the ground on LIVE TV! Yikes! I'm just hoping that nothing goes seriously wrong and that I come back with my eyebrows in-tact.

The 'burn tower'

I had wanted to do this on the show to illustrate just how fast these suckers can go up. It's terrifying. South King Fire and Rescue were nice enough to pull this together for us. Plus, firefighters LOVE to burn stuff.

I've seen all of the videos online but when you're in the middle of the fire, the smoke and noise overwhelms you. SO SCARY! This was nerve wracking just because we were going to do it 'live' - there were no do-overs. The fire team was awesome and they lit the tree with a huge blow torch. These trees were still kind of fresh (it takes a bit to dry out a tree) but they still burned.

The incredible firefighters - check out my gear ... it seriously weighed like 80 lbs




Deputy Chief Gordie Olson and PIO Kirsti Weaver

Things went off just as planned. Thank goodness. The tree burned, Layne and I gave viewers tips on how to prevent this from happening and what every family needs to know (see below).

CLICK HERE TO WATCH US BURN A TREE TO THE GROUND ON LIVE TV

The poor, needlessly murdered tree. Sorry little guy. You fulfilled your Christmas destiny.

This is where burned trees end-up

Here's the deal:

1. WATER YOUR TREE DAILY

2. Make a fresh cut at the bottom of your tree when you get it home (allows it to drink better)

3. Never decorate with old, broken, or torn lights

4. Keep heat sources, like candles, at least 3 ft from your tree

5. ALWAYS have working smoke detectors

6. Have an evacuation plan and practice it

Other things to be aware of at this time of year

1. Never deep fry a turkey in the house or garage (do it in the backyard)

2. NEVER put a wet or frozen turkey in the deep fryer (exploding turkey is very dangerous ...lol)

3. Use flame less candles instead of real ones

4. Use new, LED lights if possible. Always make sure they aren't old or broken.

WISHING YOU A HAPPY AND SAFE HOLIDAY SEASON :-))

Holy Cow!

I just found out that our little adventure this morning with Coinstar on the streets of Seattle raised $131. Coinstar is going to match every penny. That means ....

$131 x 2= $262

Northwest Harvest can feed a family of three people for just 0.67 cents ... sooooo...

$262 / 0.67 = 391 (That's 391 FAMILIES)

391 x 3 people in each family = 1173 people

WE FED 1173 PEOPLE TODAY IN JUST 2 HOURS!!! Or ... dinner each day for a family of three for over a year

NOW THAT'S MATH I CAN GET ON BOARD WITH!!  Every little bit counts. It doesn't take very much to make a difference. 

Great job Coinstar and people of Seattle - I'm SO proud of us! 

Hitting the streets

Coinstar is one local company that's putting it's 'coins' where it's mouth is.

We are in the final push of Home Team Harvest and we hit the streets this morning to drum up some more support! We're trying to raise 2.7 million meals for hungry Washingtonians and I have faith that we're going to do it thanks to people like you!

What company do you know that would send it's President and a whole team of people to stand on the street corner at 6am and ask people for money? COINSTAR did! And they were awesome.

Coinstar is going to match EVERY SINGLE CENT donated through their Big Green Machines on Saturday, December 4th around the state of Washington. That's huge. They also agreed to match the money we were able to collect this morning (not to mention, they gave folks a free Red Box code for helping us out).

We were at Westlake Center and I must say, people were very generous with us. We need YOU to be generous too! Please come see us tomorrow (Sat, Dec 4th) all around the Puget Sound at different malls (check www.king5.com for those locations) and bring what you can. Food donations and money will all be happily accepted. It only takes Northwest Harvest 0.67 cents to feed a family of three. Donate a buck and you've already fed one and a half families. Well done!


CLICK HERE TO WATCH US HITTING THE STREETS THIS MORNING

Me & Mr. President, Mike Skinner

A generous commuter

The AWESOME team from Coinstar!!!

Thanks for coming out this morning - we really appreciate the support!

Text the word "Hometeam" to 85944 to make a $10 donation. That 10 bucks can feed 45 people ... that's huge! We need you Washington!

Sandwich Brigade

I was on sandwich duty. 2600 sandwiches to be exact.

We were live at the NW Harvest Cherry Street Food Bank location making turkey and cranberry/ cream cheese creations to feed Seattle's hungry. It felt good.

So many of us think about giving back but never get around to it. I'm too busy, I don't know where to do it, how do I start? Several volunteers get together for 3 hours per week to make sandwiches (they make 2600 per week) that go into bag lunches for people that otherwise wouldn't get lunch. In fact, that might be their only meal of the day.


Well it's easy to give back this year. King 5's Home Team Harvest is this Saturday and we're aiming to raise 2.7 million meals. We'll all be scattered around the Puget Sound area at different locations (check www.king5.com for those) collecting food but even before that, YOU CAN DONATE. Text the word Hometeam (one word) to 85944 and it will send a $10 donation. Do you know how many sandwiches that can make? 50!!!


CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF THOUSANDS OF SANDWICHES

Check out all that bread!

Sandwiches, sandwiches, & more sandwiches




Sandwich Brigade

What a great morning!

Please donate today! Text the word "Hometeam" to 85944