Paramount Granite Blog

De-stress Your Life

We all have stress in our lives, from work, children, family, household chores, etc., but sometimes we get so busy with structured events and activities that we actually lose ourselves and long for happiness. While most people can’t avoid stress entirely, there are ways to control it and make it less frequent.

I recently read the article, “Stress Queen,” found in the March 2007 issue of Body + Soul magazine, that shared the story of Kathleen Hall, a famed stress expert. She developed a “powerful but surprisingly simple mantra—SELF, an acronym for serenity, exercise, love, and food and started teaching it to others to great effect. These ‘four roots of happiness’ may seem almost too easy, but she insists they have a centering effect in even the worst of circumstances.” Making time for serenity helps us meditate and be in the moment and reduces stress. Exercise helps the mind, as well as the body. It helps release endorphins, which help us feel good. Love along with friendships nurture our soul and well being. Noursishing food sustains us. Food preparation can also be a means to share and gather with friends and family.

We will never be able to get rid of stress entirely from our lives, but we can certainly try to change the ways we react to it. How are you going to try to de-stress your life?

10 Secrets To A Stress-Free Life:
by: Kathleen Hall

Write it out—Grab a pen and paper to write down your negative thoughts as a way of releasing them.
Try a mini-meditation—Memorize a three to five word phrase, or mantra that you repeat when you are feeling stressed, or keep a peaceful image, or photo near by to reflect upon.
Love your commute—Use your travel time to work on patience. Take deep calming breaths.
Start small—Make small changes. The small changes will add up over time.
Own the news—Get the facts, but don’t dwell on the negative. Send positive thoughts, or prayers out to those in need. Do your part to help where you can.
Connect—Make love and friendship first in your life. Make it a habit to schedule time to spend with others. Feeling connected may help prevent health problems.
Focus on now—Being mindful of what you are doing in the present moment helps avoid stressful situations.
Walk Softly—When we are stressed, we tend to walk with firmer steps. By walking softly you can calm the mind.
Take stock—Make a list of things that bring you joy. Make another list of things that drain your energy. Compare the two to see how your life matches up.
Practice gratitude—Make it a practice to devote at least 5 minutes of your day to giving thanks for all of the gifts in your life.

Thanks for reading!

Barb

Posted in Business on August 14th, 2007 by Barb | | 1 Comments

Recipe: Caramel Corn

Here’s a tasty treat for you to try. It is great for any get together, and is fun to make. My kids love it.

Caramel Corn

8 quarts pop corn (popped)
2 cups brown sugar
2 sticks butter
1/2 cup white corn syrup

Place popped corn in large roasting pan sprayed with cooking spray.

Melt above ingredients in sauce pan on stove and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Remove from stove. Add the following to the boiled mixture.

2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. salt

Pour the mixture over the popcorn and blend in. Bake in oven for 1 hour at 200 degrees.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Barb
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Posted in Cooking in your kitchen on August 10th, 2007 by Barb | | 0 Comments

2007 BATC Golf Outing—A Success

This years RCTC, Remodelors Council of the Twin Cities, Golf Outing sponsored through BATC, proved to be another successful event. The outing was held Tuesday, August 7th, at Oak Glen Golf Club in Stillwater, MN and included a day of golf, dinner and a silent auction. PGC sponsored a hole and had a little fun with a hula hoop game, where Anita, our sales rep., proudly gave out prizes to the lucky golfers.

Following are some photos from the event:

Thanks for reading!

Barb

Posted in Company on August 9th, 2007 by Barb | | 0 Comments

Resined slabs—What are they?

Over the years, there has been a tremendous increase in the amount of colors available for granite countertops. This is partly due to the process of resining slabs.

What is resining you may ask? Resining is the process of applying epoxy resins to honed and dried slabs to help fill in tiny surface pitting and fissures. The slabs are then typically cured in large heated ovens and then sent off for polishing in polishing lines.

The resining process has gradually increased over the last 10 years and is now common place. Slabs that may once have been rejected for being too brittle, or broke in shipping, are now available. Consumers today have more color choices than ever and are able to choose just the right selection for their granite countertops, granite island, granite fireplace, etc.

Thanks for reading!

Barb

Posted in Granite on August 7th, 2007 by Barb | | 0 Comments

Hot Stone

Alright I admit it – I’m a total granite geek! Last weekend some fellow PGC employees and I were preparing our Imu and I saw something pretty cool – actually pretty hot. But first, let me explain what an Imu is. An Imu is a pit in the ground created for cooking. It is most often associated with a Luau – that is a Hawaiian Barbecue. We were cooking a pig Hawaiian style, under the ground in our Imu. The Imu was about 3′ wide x 6′ long x 3′ deep. We start with about 1/3 of a cord of hardwood (4′ x 4′x 32″) along with about 25 fieldstones 4″-8″ in diameter (which of course, are granite). We light it and wait about 2.5 hours for it to turn to hot coals (and hot stones). We took out about 5 stones and placed them in the chest cavity of the pig, and then added about 4″ of whole fresh corn stalks over the stones in the Imu. Next comes the 116 pound pig slashed, seasoned, and wrapped in chicken wire. Then comes about another 3″ of corn, wet burlap, a tarp, and finally just enough dirt to stop steam from escaping. 10 hours later…dig it up and eat it!

Anyway, in the 2.5 hours of waiting for the fire to turn to coals, and drinking a few beers, I realized that some of the stones were a blaze orange, like when you heat metal with a torch, or the burners on an electric oven set at 500 degrees. I have been working with granite countertops for almost 13 years and had no idea that you could heat a piece of granite up until it was blaze orange without it exploding, or disintegrating. I guess I never realized how incredibly well granite can withstand the heat! Of course my sometimes deviant mind made me laugh when I thought it would be funny to throw a piece of what they call “Natural Quartz” countertop next to the granite boulder and watch the plastic burn, but who would want to ruin a wonderfully tasting roasted hog!

Following are a few photos from the event:

Peace!

Chris

Posted in Granite on August 6th, 2007 by Chris | | 2 Comments

Recipe: Caramel Pecan Dream Bars

Here’s a good recipe to share for those get togethers. I made it last weekend at the cabin. It is easy to make and tastes similar to pecan pie. Very good!

Caramel Pecan Dream Bars

Crust:

1 box yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup butter (melted)

In bowl, mix together the cake mix, egg and butter. Press firmly in a greased 13″x 9″ pan.

Topping:

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 package Heath chocolate covered toffee chips
1 cup chopped pecans
(Note: You can use whole pecans and chop them on your granite countertop.)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix above ingredients together. Pour mixture over the crust. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and cut into squares and serve.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Barb

Posted in Cooking in your kitchen on August 3rd, 2007 by Barb | | 0 Comments

Volunteer Recognition Event

I wrote this blog yesterday and then, as most of you know, the terrible tragedy on the 35W bridge occured last night. Events like this always make me pause for reflection. The blog seems more appropriate now than ever! I hope that this finds your family and friends all safe.

I recently attended an event sponsored by NARI Minnesota to recognize volunteers. As stated several times throughout the presentation, NARI depends on volunteers to NARI function effectively and efficiently. Volunteering can be not only a learning experience, but also a personal growth experience.

One of the guest speakers that contributed to the event was Dave Kettering, who, along with his dog Sasha, uses dog therapy as a way to sooth those going through difficult times at local hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and drug treatment programs. His stories were not only heartwarming, but also inspirational.

We often times get so wrapped up in our daily lives, between work, laundry, cleaning, kids, and preparing for the next day of work, laundry, cleaning, kids and etc., etc., etc. that we forget there are those out there that could benefit from our time.

You can get connected to your community through activities that will help you grow personally and warm the hearts of those you touch.

Listed below are some links to some volunteer organizations:

Feel free to share…

Angie

Posted in Uncategorized, Company on August 2nd, 2007 by Angie | | 0 Comments

Hard At It In The Heat!

It’s another hot one out there today. How many 90 degree days have we had in a row now anyway? I’ve lost count. Rest assured though, our crew is still hard at it fabricating your granite countertops, granite islands, granite bathroom vanities, and let’s not forget…granite bar tops for those cool summer drinks to quench your thirst.

I’m certainly not going to complain about the heat, because you know what is just around the corner. When that snow is flying with record cold temps, we’ll all be missing the summer sun.

So drink some more water, eat some icecream, jump in the pool, go to the lake…Enjoy it!

Following are some photos of the PGC crew hard at it: