Apartment Blog

We want to wish you and your family a happy and safe Easter!

We are dedicated to helping the consumer during and long after the apartment hunting process is over. We strive to be a resource for apartment renters, when looking for tips and advice during the apartment search, as well as in their daily life. As you can see with our numerous campaigns, we try to offer you recipes, tips/advice for decorating or entertaining, and movie reviews to help you during the season & always. So we hope that by our efforts you recognize us as your ultimate apartment listing service!

Thank you for being our friend, visiting our profile and searching for apartments on our website. Happy Easter!

Sincerely,

ForRent.com

If you feel like having a traditional Irish meal this St. Patrick’s day, what better way than having Steak & Guinness Pie? Exported from MasterCook, check out the below recipe to make your own…

Steak & Guinness Pie

Ingredients:
2 1/4 pounds of Round Steak
1 tablespoon of Flour
1 teaspoon of Brown Sugar
1 tablespoon of Raisins (optional)
5 Onions
10 fluid ounces of Guinness
8 slices of Bacon
Parsley Chopped
1 Recipe of short Pastry*

*For double-crust pie in deep pie dish, Cut the steak into bite sized cubes, roll in seasoned flour and brown in the lard with the bacon-chopped small.

Directions:
Place the meat in a casserole dish. Peel and chop the onions and fry until golden before adding them to the meat.  Add the raisins (if wanted) and brown sugar.  Pour in the Guinness. Cover tightly and simmer over a low heat or in a very moderate oven (325-350F) for 2½ hours.

Stir occasionally and add a little more Guinness or water if the rich brown gravy get too thick.  Meanwhile, line a deep pie dish with half the pie crust and bake it blind.  Then add the Guinness/beef mixture from the casserole dish, cover with the top layer of pie crust and bake until finished.  Probably about 10 more minutes.  Serves 4

Source: http://fp.enter.net; Exported from MasterCook

If you plan on celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day this year, make sure you do so with traditional Irish foods.  Here’s a great recipes for Corned Beef and Cabbage that you can make this holiday!

Corned Beef & Cabbage with Horseradish Sauce

Serving Size: 8               
Categories: Beef, Irish                            

Ingredients (Amount & Measure)
——–  ————  ——————————–
   1      Onion
   4      Cloves-whole
   4      pounds Corned beef
   2      Parsley sprigs
   8      Peppercorns-whole
   2      pounds of Cabbage
   1      cup Sour cream
   1      tablespoon Prepared horseradish

Work Time: 15 minutes   
Total Time: 3 hours 45 minutes

Directions:
Peel onion and stick with cloves.  Put corned beef, onion parsley and peppercorns in a large pot and cover with water.  Cover, bring to a simmer and cook gently until tender, 2-1/2 to 3 hours.  Cut cabbage into wedges and core. Add to the pot, cover and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. Combine sour cream with horseradish.  Serve the meat and cabbage with some of the broth ladled over all and the horseradish on the side.

Nutritional Value:
Per serving: 553 calories, 36g protein, 40g fat, 2808 mg sodium, 11g carbohydrates, 135 mg cholesterol.

*Exported from MasterCook*

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Source: http://fp.enter.net

I’ve always been fascinated by claddagh rings. I’ve seen them all over jewelry stores and a friend of mine from high school had one. So I decided to do a little research and let everyone, who didn’t already know, what it’s true meaning is!

This traditional Irish ring is a symbol of love, friendship and loyalty. It originated in the Irish fishing village of Claddagh, located just outside the walls of Galway. The designs of the ring give you its meaning: the heart symbolizes love, the hands represent friendship and the crown signifies loyalty.

Depending on how the claddagh ring is worn on the hand usually tells the wearer’s romantic availability, or lack thereof. When worn on the right hand with the heart facing out, the person is still searching for love. When worn on the right hand with the heart facing in, he or she is in a relationship or ‘someone has captured their heart’. When the claddagh ring is worn on the left hand ring finger, facing outward, it indicates the wearer is engaged, and when the ring is worn on the left hand, facing in, it generally means the person is married.

The claddagh ring is recognized worldwide and many people of Irish and non-Irish descent wear it. It is used as both a cultural symbol and as an engagement/wedding ring. What I found amazing was that there are many legends of how this ring came about, including gifts from the heavens for doing charity work and unforgettable love. However it came to be, this ring is truly valuable to the Irish culture and indeed signifies the cherished qualities of love: heart, friendship and loyalty.

Source: thecharmingtouch.com

ForRent.com would like to bestow a wish on all our friends with the following Irish Blessing this Saint Patrick’s Day!

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad.
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.

Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But never forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.

May your neighbors respect you,
Trouble neglect you,
The angels protect you,
And heaven accept you.

May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.

Source: corsinet.com & ireland-information.com

You have enough on your plate this month with Easter rolling around, pictures needing to be taken and baskets to be assembled. Why not have your little ones help you out this Easter dinner? Below are really easy and simple recipes for you and your little helpers!

Edible Easter Bunny Salad



Ingredients:
Pear halves
Raisins
Miniature marshmallows or cottage cheese
Lettuce
Apple slices or Almonds

Directions:
Place a lettuce leaf on a plate. Add the pear half on lettuce, for body. Insert raisins for the eyes and nose. The ears are made from apple slices or almonds and a miniature marshmallow or cottage cheese become the bushy tail.

Banana Pops

Ingredients:
• 2 Bananas
• Honey (or melted chocolate)
• Dessicated Coconut (or rice krispies)
• Popsicle sticks
• Plates
• A baking dish lined with baking paper
Directions:
1. Peel the bananas, then cut them in half and push Popsicle sticks into the bottom of both pieces of banana.
2. First, Roll the bananas in some honey, and then in the coconut.
3. Place the banana pops on a baking tray lined with a sheet of baking paper and then freeze.
4. Your banana pops will be ready to eat the next day

Source: dltk-kids.com & amazingmoms.com

On Sunday we posted Single this Valentine’s Day? Here’s how to find a date, a blog about online dating and how to put your profile out on one of the sites. It seems that not only are generations x and y looking into online dating to find their special someone, but seniors are as well! In fact, seniors are the fastest growing segment of Internet users, and more and more of them are using the Internet to look for love. In fact, according to cbsnews.com, 16 percent of all those active on the top five Internet dating sites are 55 or older. A majority of the dating sites like eHarmony, Match.com and Date.com may cater to a slightly younger crowd, so there are senior specific dating sites popping up like SilverSingles.com and SeniorsCircle.com.

Whether you’re 28 or 57, everyone needs love in their life and online dating seems to be fulfilling a need for many. So why not try your hand at online dating? You never know who you may find!

Visit Find a Date on ForRent.com’s website and set up your profile today! You may even set upa date before this Valentine’s Day!

Source: cbsnews.com

Want to know how to make Toll House cookies from scratch? It’s really not that hard! Just take a look….

Items needed:
2 1/2 cup Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1 cup Butter
3/4 cup Gran. Sugar
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Water
2 Eggs

Process:
Mix well. Add 1 cup of Chocolate Chips (optional 2 cups of Oatmeal). Set your oven to 375 degrees and cook on a baking pan for 10-12 minutes!

And enjoy with a cold glass of milk!!

This is an old family recipe of mine. Hope you enjoy as much as I do!! J

Perfect-Every-Time-Fudge

Item s you’ll need:

3 6oz. packages of semisweet chocolate chips

¼ teaspoon of salt

1 cup of butter

1 7 oz. jar of marshmallow cream

1 13 oz. can of evaporated milk

41/2 cups of sugar

1 cup of chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Instructions:

Put chocolate, salt, butter and marshmallow cream into large bowl. Combine

evaporated milk and sugar in large saucepan; place over moderate heat. Bring to full rolling boil stirring constantly. Boil 15 minutes. If you use a candy thermometer, temperature should register 236 degrees. Pour milk mixture over chocolate mixture and beat until chocolate is melted and blended. Fold in nuts and vanilla. Spread into two greased 8×8 pans. Refrigerate until candy is firm. Cut into small squares-makes about 5 lbs of yummy goodness! J

Spicy Seven Layer Dip

Items you’ll need:

1-2 cans Refried beans

Container of Avocado Dip

1-2 tubs of Sour Cream

1 lb of ground beef/turkey/chicken

1 Green Pepper (diced)

Sliced Jalapeno Peppers

1 bag of Shredded Cheddar or Taco/Mexican Cheese

1-2 bags of Tortilla chips (recommended Tostitos Gold Tortilla Chips as they are thicker & will hold the dip better)

Process:

1. First Layer: Heat up the refried beans in the microwave until it becomes smooth (a few minutes), you’ll need to spread a flat layer on your pan. Then let it cool.
2. Second Layer: smooth over the avocado dip onto of refried beans layer leaving a ¼ to 1/8^th of an inch on the side.
3. Third Layer: smooth sour cream over the avocado dip, also leaving ¼ to 1/8^th of an inch on the side (so you can start to see the layers on the side of the pan).
4. Fourth Layer: sprinkle the ground beef onto of the sour cream layer. For a healthier alternative you can use ground turkey or chicken. Depending on your taste you can lightly sprinkle or pile on the meat. (or none for vegetarian dip)
5. Fifth Layer: add the diced green pepper on the ground meat
6. Sixth Layer: add Jalapeno peppers onto of the green peppers (more if you like extra spice, less if not too spicy)
7. Seventh layer: depending on your preference for cheese, you can sprinkle or just dumb the whole bag (evenly distributed) on top of the entire dip!

This dip can be refrigerated until needed, so you can do this in the morning, make all your preparations for the party and bring it out as guests start to arrive.