by Ryan Unverzagt Spring is in the air and hopefully all those heavy snow storms will be a distant memory. April is one of my favorite months because the weather is usually making a turn for the better (my birthday is in April too!). If you like the warmer weather, chances are you will be spending much more time outside, which means less time at the health club; but don’t let your fitness routine melt away like the winter snow! If you are a weekend warrior who loves to compete in various sports throughout the year, or just an Ordinary Joe who’s looking for something new, you should consider adding plyometrics to your exercise program. Plyometrics is a form of jump training that has been proven to increase the muscle’s ability to produce power. Why is this important? An increase in power results in an increase in speed, strength, or a combo of the two, which means you will have an advantage over your competition and be lighter on your feet. Another benefit of plyometric training is it can be performed outside (where it will soon be nice) with minimal equipment needed. There are a few things to remember before even trying plyometric exercises – age, strength, body weight, previous injuries and training experience. Because of the intense nature of plyometrics, the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) recommends a lower-body strength prerequisite before starting any jump training. A person must be strong enough to free-weight squat at least 1.5 times their own body weight. For example, a 180 lb person must be able to squat a minimum of 270 lbs! Don’t worry; you will need about six months of progressive resistance training to reach this strength guideline. The minimum age requirement depends on the physical and mental maturity level…
By Nicole Flanagan Spring is finally here! At last we can enjoy the longer daylight hours and the warmer weather. It’s time to pack away those heavy winter jackets and pull out our warm weather wardrobes. This month is a good time to focus on stepping up your workout and getting the results you desire for summer. Changing seasons is a great time for a fresh twist on an old routine. This spring do something different with your workout. Head outside, get some fresh air and try some of these exercises to target your arms, abs and thighs. The best part about this workout is that there are no weights required so you can exercise any time anywhere! Give your abs a killer workout in just fifteen minutes with these exercises. • Abdominal sit and hold- Start sitting on a chair and place your hands on the edge with your finger-tips facing forward. Tighten your abs and lift your feet a few inches off the floor then lift your butt off the chair. Hold this position for 15-20 seconds and then relax. Rest for ten seconds and repeat. Do this for 2minutes. • The plank-Start in full push-up position with your hands on the floor under your shoulders. Tighten your abdominal muscles and hold this position for 20-30 seconds. Relax for 10 seconds. Do a set of three planks. As you gain strength with this exercise hold it longer. • Oblique Crunch- kneel on the floor and lean all the way over to your right side, placing your right palm on the floor. Keeping your weight balanced, slowly extend your left leg and point your toes. Place your left hand behind your head, pointing your elbow toward the ceiling. Next lift your leg to hip height as you extend your…
By Carl Trevison and Stephen Bearce Stretch IRA Strategy and Your Estate Plan Most Americans understand an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) can provide a powerful way to save for retirement. But what many don’t know is an IRA can also be an effective estate-planning tool. If one of your goals is to transfer wealth to your children or grandchildren and leave a financial legacy that could potentially increase over time, the stretch IRA strategy may help you achieve this goal. With some planning on your part – along with educating your beneficiaries on how they need to manage their inheritance – you may be able to turn even relatively small balances into large payouts over time. The stretch IRA is a strategy, not a special type of IRA. It’s an approach to estate planning that attempts to maximize the tax-advantaged potential of the IRA assets by leaving them in the IRA as long as the law allows. That’s because when a non-spouse beneficiary inherits an IRA, he or she must begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from the IRA in the year following the original owner’s death to take advantage of the stretch IRA strategy. The term “stretch IRA” refers to the ability of the beneficiary who inherits the IRA to draw out the RMDs over his or her own life expectancy on a “term-certain” basis. “Term-certain” means the assets can’t remain in the account indefinitely; at the end of the “term” the account will be emptied. The younger the beneficiary is, the longer his or her life expectancy – resulting in a smaller RMD as a percentage of the IRA balance. This strategy minimizes how much must be taken out of the IRA each year and, more importantly, allows the funds remaining in the…
By Doug Fabbioli Petit Manseng One of the parts I like best about my job as a winemaker is the culture of sharing information in order to make better wines and, hopefully, a better industry. We just had a Winemaker’s Round Table where we tasted Petit Manseng from the 2016 vintage – all made here in Loudoun County. We taste blind so we don’t know which wine is which. Also, the winemaker is usually in the room so diplomacy is important in critiquing a wine. The round table format is for learning, not sales, so the winemaker needs to have an open mind about styles and input in order to make the most out of the experience. In other words, please check your ego at the door. Our roundtables don’t often focus on one varietal, but with Petit Manseng being a sound varietal in the vineyard, we felt it deserved the winemakers focus addressing the styles, procedures, challenges and demand for these wines. Petit Manseng grapes are known for giving big fruit characters, high acid and high sugars that are converted into high alcohol. The balance of this wine is challenging, which leads this wine to be used as a blender rather than a varietal name on the bottle. When using a varietal name, customers have an expectation of style for the wine. For example, Cabernet Sauvignon is known to be a bold dry red wine. Riesling has had issues with its expectations because some are bone dry, others are very sweet and many are in between. We winemakers in Northern Virginia cannot define exactly what the style for Petit Manseng should be, but we can each find our own and see where it fits among the others. The other challenge is that we generally only…
By Steve Chaconas Hauling Bass Haul seining doesn’t come up in conversation unless you’re chatting with Potomac River guide Capt. George Martin. In 2015, Capt. Martin observed the practice of staking one end of a long net and dragging it out to the end and then making a loop to return to the stake. Fish are trapped in the net, containing a pocket to hold fish. Harvested by hand nets, non-target species are released. Haul seining is legal on the Potomac River. Local watermen opt for Maryland’s shorter regulation of 960 feet (VA allows 1000 yards). Initially, he didn’t pay much attention. However, after having successful fishing days in very clear water, Capt. Martin found his shallow area getting muddier, loaded with floating, chewed-up subaquatic vegetation, and fishing became difficult. Scrutinizing commercial fishing activity with boats churning the water and long nets ripping through grass, Capt. Martin determined this activity produced muddy water, chewed up SAVs and invaded prime spawning areas. Haul seining takes place from spring into June when SAVs emerge. Once grasses are destroyed, they take time to come back or they become overgrown with less desirable grasses. It’s also when bass move into shallow spawning areas. Martin contends any spawn taking place in these areas will be disrupted from the time nests are made, eggs are laid and bass are hatched. He also adds several spawns take place during this period. Destruction of SAVs has a continuing impact on the life cycle as any surviving bass are in open water, becoming easy prey. Food sources for growing fry disappear. With hundreds of pounds of catfish, carp and other species confined as they’re hauled in, Capt. Martin also feels the haul seining harvesting process is hard on bass already stressed from the spawning…
By Chester Simpson “Chef’s Special” with Chef Peter Durkin Hunting Creek 1106 King St. Old Town Alexandria 703-836-5126 Huntingcreeksteak.com When did you first become interested in cooking and what made you choose a culinary career? I was about twenty and I had friends that had gone to the Culinary Institute of America and so I followed suit. I have been doing it ever since. I also used to help my mother in the kitchen as well. Who or what has been your biggest inspiration during your career? I would say, what sounds outdated now but was called at the time, The California cuisine – fresh and seasonal. The culinary chef’s Alice Water’s inspired me. For four decades, Alice Waters, restaurateur and food activist, was at the forefront of the now flourishing locally grown, organic food movement. She is the owner of Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its organic, locally grown ingredients and for pioneering California cuisine. Dish on the menu you are most curious to see how it’s received? Steak Diane – it has just been added to the dinner menu. What do you feel sets your cuisine apart from others in your field? I have been a chef all of my life. I would say that my two favorite things in the world are food and beverages. You have to have the right purveyors, great people and organizations that supplies our restaurant with fresh seasonal ingredients. You have to insist on quality. We try to source local product, the fresher the better. I’ve always loved to cook and I’ve loved to eat and I like being around food. I’ve been around long enough to see a lot of changes.in cooking and the current rage, Farm to Table is a force to be reckoned with it. The…
By Lani Gering Castlebay Irish Pub – Great Eats, Good Craic and Guinness! We decided to step outside of the box a bit with this month’s column. Instead of the “white tablecloth order an appetizer, an entrée and a dessert and a glass of wine” format, we decided to spend an afternoon in an Irish pub! Every day is St. Patrick’s Day in an Irish establishment. While we are very loyal to our very own Old Town favorites – Daniel O’Connell’s and Murphy’s – we decided to kill two birds with one stone and combine the R&D for this month’s Road Trip to Annapolis and the Dining Out at the same time. Castlebay was established in October 1998. Like most of the areas Irish establishments, it is owned and managed by a native of Ireland. Vincent Quinlan, a native of Dublin, has reproduced a Dublin City pub in the heart of downtown Annapolis. Just like Vinny says,”Castlebay is a place where all will feel welcome, have lots of fun and enjoy great food and drink”. Not only is he a restaurateur, Quinlan has traveled nation-wide and throughout Canada entertaining guests as a professional singer. Many may remember him as a member of the popular “Celtic Folk” band that played in the DC metro area from the ‘70’s through the ‘90’s. He now performs with the house band – Murphy’s Law. Touted as a “local band with national aspirations”, we were happy to know that they would be entertaining us at some point during the day. We were lucky enough to be at Castlebay when they were hosting a fundraiser benefitting the Annapolis St. Patrick’s Day parade organizers. You know, the Annapolis version of Alexandria’s Ballyshaners. This meant that in addition to the normal Sunday…
By Chris Anderson Ryan Adams: Prisoner One of the more prolific artists of his generation, Ryan Adams has been cranking out masterpiece after masterpiece ever since his Whiskeytown days, over twenty years ago. Prisoner is his sixteenth solo album and one that often evokes the feel of classic Tom Petty, Bryan Adams, Mellencamp, that sort of dark 80’s heartland rock. Written and recorded while Ryan was dealing with a very public divorce (from Mandy Moore) this album is his own Blood On The Tracks, twelve tracks of catharsis, and some of the best work of his career. Kicking off with “Do You Still Love Me?”, the mood is set right off the bat. “I am a prisoner for your love”, he sings on the title track. While details of the split have never been explicitly discussed, it’s clear that this was a traumatic experience and one that can be read all over these songs. This sense of loss and loneliness can be found in “Haunted House” – “I live here alone and no one else….my friends all disappeared one by one”. “I miss you so much I shiver and shake”, he sings on the following song, while “To Be Without You” finds him confiding that “every night is lonesome and longer than before” and “I feel empty, I feel tired, I feel worn”. Musically, these songs are generally upbeat but these are words of defeat. The singer at the end of side one is, if not broken, then significantly marred. Side two finds bitterness bubble to the fore in “Anything I Say To You Now”, where he says that “anything I say to you is a lie” – communication is down. These are the sorts of feelings we all experience in a breakup, especially a tumultuous one….
Inaugural Maryland Wine Month Visit St. Mary’s County wineries By Bob Tagert This month marks the first ever Maryland Wine Month. To uncork the month, they will have a calendar on their website consisting of events and activities happening at wineries across the state. They will also launch the Wine Month Challenge! Participants can pick up a challenge card from local wineries. Each time a participant visits a winery they will receive a sticker to pace next to that winery. At the end of the month, members can send in their marked challenge card to the Maryland Wineries Association for prizes. The Maryland Wineries Association will be hosting a Winemakers Seminar Series in different regions throughout the month. Pick your weekend, region and a topic that interests you. With the incredible spring weather we have had, March appears to be the perfect time to sit back, sip and savor not only the flavor of the county, but also some of the wines being produced by Port of Leonardtown Winery and Slack Winery in nearby St. Mary’s County. Port of Leonardtown Winery is located on the beautiful grounds of Port Leonardtown Park in Leonardtown Maryland. The winery is right off of Route 5 and sits a few dozen yards from the beautiful McIntosh Run. There are kayaks and canoes on site for rental and the run empties into Breton Bay two miles away. Port of Leonardtown Winery is the end result of The Southern Maryland Wine Growers Cooperative and was formed in 2007 as the region began to transition away from tobacco production to other agricultural pursuits. The potential for the emerging wine industry to positively affect agriculture and tourism in southern Maryland was recognized and supported by the state of Maryland, the local government and farmers. Partnering with…
Beanie (A069887): Meet Beanie! Beanie is a neutered male Terrier mix, estimated to be about four years old. Beanie is a cute pup whose favorite activity is, by far, playing with toys! We think Beanie would do best as an only pet in an adult-only home, as he is a dog who values his personal space. Beanie will also need an owner who is willing to help him with potty training and other doggie manners. Tink (A070049): Say hello to our sweet Tink! Tink is a spayed female Pit Bull terrier, estimated to be about five years old. Like the Disney character she shares her name with, Tink is as loyal as they come (all she’s missing are her wings!)! Come to the AWLA to experience just how magical she is! Mimi (A068382): Her name is Mimi- so nice, they named her twice! Mimi is a spayed female Domestic Shorthair, estimated to be about five years old. She has been with us since last July when her family moved and could not take her with them. We have learned that Mimi sometimes plays favorites with her human friends, but once you’re in her good graces then she will never leave your lap! If you’re looking for a beautiful kitty who’s also full of personality, ask us about Mimi!
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