Miscellaneous

Great Websites for Unique Sandwich Recipes

March 25, 2014 by portofino

You use a recipe for pastas, soups and cakes, but you probably wouldn’t think of looking up a recipe for a sandwich. These helpful websites feature sandwich recipes that are much more elaborate than your usual grilled cheese, and you’ll certainly notice the difference in taste.

Food Network
The Food Network is home to some wonderful shows about sandwiches, and now you can learn to make them yourself. Their Top Sandwich Recipes page features everything from grown-up turkey sandwiches to hot, gravy-covered sandwiches that are more dinner than lunch. The Mahi Mahi Banh Mi is a Vietnamese sandwich that you might not have heard of, while the French Dip recipe will show you how to make this diner favorite right at home.

101 Cookbooks
Instead of updating the sandwiches you already love, try something completely new with the unique recipes on 101 Cookbooks. This beautifully-designed website is easy to navigate, and it makes for hours of inspiration for your next sandwich. 101 Cookbooks features an Avocado Asparagus Tartine, Vegetarian Lentil Burgers, and even an Egg Salad Sandwich with Greek yogurt instead of the usual mayonnaise.

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr/accidentalhedonist

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: Cooking, Food, Recipes, Sandwiches

Where to Shop American-Made Labels on the Web

February 25, 2014 by portofino

Whether you're seeking a high-quality product, you're ooking to spur the domestic economy, or you just relate to the look of certain label, opting for American-made apparel and accessories is always a commendable choice. Below, find five websites that sell American-made products.

Pendleton The Portland Collection
Incorporating wool milled in the company's Pacific Northwest woolen mills, Pendleton's entire The Portland Collection of men's and women's apparel and accessories is made in the USA.

Steven Alan
Stocking a laundry list of labels, including Steven Alan's eponymous designs, this website features many American-made finds, including men's and women's apparel from the likes of Filson, Band of Outsiders, and Black Crane.

Nate's American Made Store
From tools, toys, and baby blankets to apparel, backpacks, and bird feeders, every single item sold on this website is made in America.

Allen Edmonds
Since 1922, Allen Edmonds has been handcrafting American-made men's leather casual and dress shoes that undergo a detailed 212-step manufacturing process.

Catbird
With a brick-and-mortar location in Brooklyn, Catbird is renowned for a charming selection of handmade jewelry from independent New York designers.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: Apparel, Fashion, Made in the USA, Shopping

Track Your Exercise With These Running Logs

February 25, 2014 by portofino

If you love running and constantly try to beat your own best time, online running logs are incredibly helpful tools. Even if you’re a beginner runner, these handy logbooks can help you to keep track of your runs and praise yourself for a week with no days off. Here are two online running logs to help you find the motivation to keep on running.

LogYourRun
If you’re simply looking for a straightforward, no-nonsense running log, this one is for you. LogYourRun offers an exercise log where you can enter your runs, track your weekly times, distance, and pace, and even keep track of your weight. It offers maps of the best running routes in your area, and the impressive import feature allows you to import data from your mobile device or other websites.

MapMyRun
Specifically tailored toward your area, MapMyRun is a mobile app and online website that helps you train for an upcoming race or simply compare your personal runs. It allows you to create a challenge and alerts you once you’ve met your goal, and it also includes pre-made training plans that act just like a running coach. With a simple interface and a handy mobile platform, MapMyRun is a great tool for any tech-savvy runner.

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr/timtak

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: Exercise, Fitness, Running, Weight Loss

Happy Presidents’ Day

February 17, 2014 by portofino

Remembering the courage and vision of past and present leaders, we honor and share the spirit of Presidents' Day together as a nation.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous

Happy Valentine’s Day!

February 14, 2014 by portofino

Wishing everyone a day filled with fun and happy memories!

Filed Under: Miscellaneous

Four Innovative Sports Websites for Thinking Fans

January 28, 2014 by portofino

For sports fans, one of the best parts of the web has been the rise in the number of websites producing high-quality content about sports. Whether its by using statistics in inventive ways to offer new takes on our favorite sports to presenting thoughtful, nuanced, and well-written essays on the culture of sports, these sites go beyond simple box scores:

Grantland
Grantland is a website devoted to articles from beloved sports writer Bill Simmons and a team of talented contributors. This website makes predictions, discusses player trades, and examines sports culture as a whole in a smart, literary way.

Hoops Hype
Hoops Hype is a division of USA Today Sports that examines the sport of basketball in a way that you won’t find on any other media outlet. Made specifically for the most devoted basketball enthusiasts, Hoops Hype features long-form articles, player biographies, transactions, and statistics with impressive depth and detail.

Football Outsiders
With the goal of bringing objective analysis to the sport of football, Football Outsiders features new, in-depth statistics that you won’t find anywhere else. The site also releases articles discussing new approaches and challenging conventional ideas in football.

The Wages of Wins Journal
Run by a group of stats-centric sports fans, Wages of Wins attempts to explain how sports work in a new, innovative way. Wages of Wins contributing writers discuss their predictions and opinions with a keen analytical eye.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: Football Outsiders, Grantland, Sport, Technology

Stay On Top of the Weather With These Expert Blogs

December 23, 2013 by portofino

If you’ve ever wondered what a “cold front” really means in terms of the weather forecast or how a storm in the northern part of the country changes the weather in the southern part, these fascinating weather blogs are for you. You don’t need to have a background in meteorology to find these blogs interesting, and you’ll surely learn a thing or two about the weather!

AccuWeather.com Weather Blogs
Weather experts, including forecasters and meteorologists from a variety of different subfields, write AccuWeather.com’s weather blogs. These blogs cover subjects like jet streams and their effects on upcoming weather, weekend forecasts in certain areas of the country, and unseasonably mild air and its impact on winter temperatures. If you’re only interested in a specific region, you can also follow AccuWeather's regional blogs.

Live Weather Blogs
This site is packed with just about any weather tool you can imagine, keeping you one step ahead of even the most recent news forecast. Here you’ll find interactive maps of specific areas, national satellites and radars, and blogs tailored toward specific regions of the country. The Live Weather Blogs site also keeps readers informed about severe weather warnings from around the country, including potentially hazardous earthquakes and hurricanes common in certain areas.

Public Domain/Openclipart.org

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: AccuWeather, Blogs, Portofino at Biscayne, Weather

Learn Computer Science With These Free Online Courses

November 26, 2013 by portofino

Computer science knowledge is useful for just about any career nowadays, and these simple, affordable courses from Udacity can help you learn the basics of this interesting subject. With at-home lessons that you can complete at your own pace, you can master the basics of computer science in your free time with Udacity. Best of all, the courses are free to audit!

Introduction to Computer Science
Introduction to Computer Science teaches key concepts in computer science, as well as the basic steps for writing a computer program in the context of building a simple search engine. This course is split up into 11 lessons that you can complete whenever you’d like, and no prior programming knowledge is needed to enroll.

Web Development
If you’re a moderately experienced programmer who wants to learn the basics of how the web works, this course is for you. Throughout its seven lessons, Web Development will teach you how to build your own blogging application, process user input, use APIs, and much more.

Programming Languages
Programming Languages is a course designed to give students an introduction into the fundamentals of, you guessed it, programming languages. Over the course of seven lessons that you may complete at your own pace, you will learn how to specify and process valid strings, sentences, and program structures in order to build a simple web browser.