With Christmas behind us, many of us are looking at a very busy last week of the year: remaining Christmas and New Year’s parties to plan for, gift cards and certificates to use, returns to make, resolutions to draft, charities to donate to—we’re all trying to make the last days of 2011 count. Homeowners who find themselves hosting relatives and throwing parties certainly have plenty to do, so planning out your activities can help you save your time and your sanity.

Here’s a quick list of when important offices and departments in Bloomfield Township will be open from now until New Year’s Day, which will hopefully help you keep your errands in order:

All Bloomfield Township local government offices will be closed for New Year’s on Friday, December 30^th, 2011 through Monday, January 2^nd, 2012. Read more here.

Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit will be open Monday – Friday 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM for non-monetary donations, though if you have a special situation you can always call to make arrangements: (734) 981-1692.

The West Bloomfield Secretary of State is open 9am-5pm M-F, except Wednesday, when they are open 11am-7pm. They will be closed on New Year’s Day and the day after.

Finally, city waste collection will carry on as normal on New Year’s Day, and you can dispose of your Christmas tree by placing it on the curb outside of your home for pickup through January 20^th, 2012.

Hopefully this was helpful. Let us all have a productive week, and enjoy safe and happy New Year’s celebrations.

As December 20 edges closer and closer, many families are readying their frying pans and potatoes for another Hanukkah celebration filled with crispy potato pancakes (latkes) and cheese-filled, deep-fried crepes (blintzes). For those of us who don’t celebrate the eight-day Festival of Lights, these foods might seem appetizing, but also a little too intimidating to actually try plating. Fortunately, the Detroit Free Press was able to sit down with several experienced chefs from the Bloomfield Hills area to discuss some tips to help even the most inexperienced latke-fryer create some succulent masterpieces.

While some find the amount of oil necessary to fry latkes too messy to bother with, Zack Sklar of Cutting Edge Cuisine has some suggestions to make them more manageable. First, Sklar suggests salting the grated potatoes after mixing them with the onions, which both makes the latkes crispier after frying and also helps to preserve oil. Sklar also suggests really letting the pancakes cook once they’re in the pan, claiming that most people don’t cook their latkes long enough. “They should be flat and thin, but crispy around the edges and a dark, dark, golden brown,” he said in the article, referencing what cooks should watch for when deciding that their latkes are finished. For more experienced fryers, Sklar also suggested changing the flavor profile a bit a by adding shredded carrots or apples into the mixture to create a wide variety of flavor.

Shalom Shomer, the kosher division director for the Matt Prentice Restaurant Group, put in his two cents on crafting traditional blintzes. According to Shomer, frying is much easier with a little preparation beforehand. “Fill the blintzes and roll them and freeze before frying,” he advised, a tip which should help the blintze stay together while it fries in the pan.

West Bloomfield is a city of many different, robust traditions, and plenty of people willing to share them with others who follow different persuasions. So, if latkes and blintzes aren’t your traditional holiday “thing,” let your stomach try something new—and if you can’t cook it, you can always check out the restaurants where these knowledgeable chefs work!

While everyone loves putting their homes—and their minds—in the holiday spirit, actually doing the grunt work of holiday decorating can be daunting. Whether you’ll be enjoying your decorations in peace and quiet or sharing them with hordes of relatives and party guests, holiday decorating is a serious business. There’s always so much to choose from at the department store; what should you add to your already-overflowing holiday decoration collection?

Well, rest assured: holiday decorating doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive, if you follow these tips from HG TV.com and from designer Angelo Summeris. While each list contains plenty of great stuff to keep in mind as you start hanging holly, here are some highlights compiled from both lists that might serve as good general rules to keep in mind.

First, while you shouldn’t hold back on the amount of decorations you put up, you should try to show some restraint with the color palettes. Both articles suggest keeping your theme to two or three colors—and keeping this as consistent as possible throughout your home. Not only will this help you narrow down what decorations to put on your shopping list, it will also give your interiors a classy coordinated look. And don’t forget to incorporate focal points, like fireplaces and decorated trees; these elements are just as much a part of your home design as the art pieces or knick-knacks that you enjoy year round. Consider re-arranging your furniture, to better make space for those focal points.

Secondly, don’t neglect scent. Smell is one of the most powerful senses for your memory and emotions, so put yourself in a festive mood by using a liberal amount of potpourri—and by baking cookies! The yummy smell of baking is an amazing natural scent to fill your house, and you can enjoy your treats afterwards.

Finally, both articles agree: don’t do this alone. Make holiday decorating a communal event by involving all of your loved ones—not only will this reduce stress, but it will also be a ton of fun. Decorating makes a wonderful tradition for families to come together.

What do you think of this advice? What is your family’s approach to decorating for the holidays (any holiday)?

Bloomfield Hills’ own ENRG Power Systems wowed judges at Accelerate Michigan when the company took top prize in the Advanced Transportation category. According to Jon Zemke’s article at Model D Media, the company won $25,000 for their work on fuel-efficient car engine technology that will help reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the air.

The competition was fiercely competitive, as a large number of south-Michigan start-up firms were represented. The competition’s goal? To encourage and reward innovative business practices and endeavors, and promote economic growth for the entire state. A joint effort between several large organizations and coalitions—including the Business Accelerator Network for Southeast Michigan, Business Leaders for Michigan, the University Research Corridor, and the New Economy Initiative—over a million dollars were awarded in various cash prizes to the winners. It goes without saying that to be recognized at all is quite an honor—and to win a top prize is truly impressive!

But then, ENRG Power Systems is an impressive company. Their main claim-to-fame is the Plasma Drive Ignition system, an alternative ignition system that uses carefully-place magnetic fields to create highly-efficient combustions in car engine—as well short bursts of plasma, which lends the system its name. This highly-efficient combustion dramatically reduces the fuel-consumption and wear-and-tear on the engine, along with reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 15%-55%; in short, it’s not an innovation car drivers can scoff at or ignore. It helps you save money and save the planet—what’s not to lose?

ENRG Power Systems is just one of the many engaged, dedicated companies that make up the Bloomfield Hills community, and prove that it’s an economically-robust city to make a home in. So, if you’re a homebuyer looking for a driven community that’s ready to meet the world’s problems with as much creativity as they can muster, look no further—Bloomfield Hills is the city for you!

For many of us, Thanksgiving was spent at home with our families, gobbling up all the turkey and mashed potatoes and cranberry stuffing that we could fit into our bellies before passing out into a food coma. The more proactive might have passed on that last serving of stuffing so they could be ready at midnight to hit up the Black Friday sales, but it’s probably safe to assume a lot of us were more inclined to make it an early morning at the mall, instead, and just call it a night.

But, according to a recent article by Teresa Mask at Patch.com, some Bloomfield Hills residents were ready for the Black Friday sales days in advance. James Henderson reported claiming his place in line around 10 pm Wednesday night, and spent his Turkey Day camping on the asphalt, waiting to pick up a 42” LCD TV when the Best Buy sales started at midnight. He also intended to snag a PS3 and several video games, which would’ve cost about $400 on any other given day, but was marked down to nearly $200 for Black Friday.

While there’s some irony in spending your Thanksgiving in anticipation of getting things you don’t have yet, the sentiment is one that can appreciated by just about everyone: gift-giving gets expensive, and you want to make sure you can get everyone you care about something meaningful—and valuable. So bring on the sales!

But before you get too gung-ho at Nordstrom’s, I thought I’d share some Black Friday shopping tips courtesy of the National Crime Prevention Council. First, bring a buddy. Don’t bog yourself down with stuff you can’t easily carry; make it a social outing, and share some of the lifting load with a friend. Second, be careful with your cards. When shopping online, only shop via reputable websites, and, when shopping in real time, never take out your credit card before using it—savvy thieves can easily remember account numbers. Finally, don’t leave gifts unattended, or where someone might snatch it out of the car. Keep those windows rolled up!

At any rate, have a happy—and safe—holiday season everyone! Enjoy the turkey and the shopping!

Michigan weather this time of year can be unpredictable. One day, it might be warm and sunny, only an arctic cold front set in overnight, which, in turn, is followed by a series of grey, rainy days that, inevitably, break one morning to return to the sun-shining weather we started with in the first place. It’s all a bit confusing, and, at times, disheartening. But, no matter what the weather, one thing should remain a constant:

The only thing going down storm drains should be rain water.

No, that’s not exactly weather-related, but, according to a recent City of Orchard Lake Quarterly Newsletter, it should, nonetheless, be a lesson learned. Where am I going with this? Pollutants, like the ones that can get flushed down our storm drains, impact our communities and our ability to safely enjoy the outdoors–so a community like ours that prides itself for its beauty should sit up and pay attention.

The article describes how various pollutants from our roads invariably find their way into our ditches, and, through those very waterways, into our lakes—which is sort of unavoidable, short of reducing our reliance on automobiles for transportation. Instead, the article suggests an alternative, more manageable strategy: increase our pollution vigilance at home by carefully monitoring what gets flushed down the storm grating.

The article lists several tips for keeping the runoff safe, including some obvious ones: don’t put anything down a storm grating, and keep lawn wastes—such as clippings and fertilizers—well away from drains. The article also suggests keeping general waste to a minimum; avoid the problem altogether by only purchasing the fertilizers and plant treatment chemicals that are necessary, and letting nothing go unused.

Orchard Lake is a community that prides itself on being a place of pristine, natural beauty, and its residents are driven to make sure that the city stays that way for decades to come. The city’s water quality efforts are particularly indicative of this; the city spent over $21,000 to clear out invasive plant species from the lake, with continued efforts planned for the coming year. So the community asks that everyone try to do their part—a little care at home can save years of damage to the natural environments that make our homes so beautiful.

What do you want in your kitchen? A gas stove? A granite-top island? A French door refrigerator, with a bottom freezer? A three-foot wine rack?

How about a sliding cabinet shelf just to feed the dogs?

If that last bit doesn’t sound absurd to you, don’t doubt your sanity—you’re definitely not alone! According to a recent article on WestBloomfieldPatch, 22 percent of homeowners place pet-feeding as a top 3 kitchen luxury, above even wine racks. In fact, the Luciani family in Birmingham made a point to include a spot for man’s best friend in their kitchen when they contracted Glenda Meads, of Glenda Meads Architects, to renovate their home. The result? A “hangout space” for the dog and the Luciani boys to romp around in, and the afore-mentioned sliding doggie dish so that everyone in the family can share meal time.

In a recent Genshift study by Ann Arbor-based Masco Cabinetry, current homeowners (i.e. baby boomers and generation X) are thinking more and more about the future. In fact, nearly half of the people surveyed expected to live with their parents at some point in the future, and nearly two-thirds expected to live in a house long-term, likely ten years or more. This means that homeowners are designing for families, excluding no one—not even Spot, or Snowball. “Traditional” kitchen features—such as the neglected wine rack—are gradually losing priority to more practical design concerns, such as “Will Fido be able to maneuver around the kitchen, without making a mess?” Long-term accommodations are becoming the new chic.

So perhaps you’ve never come out and said, “Hey, it’d be really nice if there was a dog-cleaning space by the kitchen door,” but that doesn’t mean you haven’t thought it—and feel free to even suggest it, when home-searching! Let your imagination, and your pragmatism, run wild when looking for your perfect home; chances are, your plans are more than doable.

If you thought that Woodward Avenue was starting to look a little bleak, you’re not alone; this Sunday, the Bloomfield Hills City Commission announced the start of a brand new beautification program that would see Woodward lined with 150 new trees.

The effort is being fronted by City Commissioner Sarah McClure, whose fundraising efforts have raised over $65,000 dollars via donations from Bloomfield Hills residents and several local businesses, including landscaping company James C. Scott and Assoc. The donation money, combined with a $15,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation, will be used to plant and maintain the trees. When asked what types of trees were to be transplanted, Commissioner McClure said that “there’s quite a mix. Deciduous and evergreen.”

Besides providing a bit of greenery (and gold and red in the fall) to the medians, the trees will provide a variety of other benefits to the community. According to the EPA, trees can drastically reduce the temperature of the area in their shade and help fight off urban heat island effect—something anyone who’s dug their palms into the soil around a tree can likely attest to.  This is due to a process called evapotranspiration that occurs around the base of the tree; water transpires, or is sucked up, by the roots, and the rest of the moisture evaporates naturally, reducing the temperature anywhere between 25 and 40 degrees. According to the USDA Forest Service, evapotranspiration also improves water quality by reducing water runoff, naturally filtering out dangerous chemicals.

This latest beautification effort is emblematic of the dedication that the city of Bloomfield Hills has towards the environment, and shows the community’s desire to preserve it for future generations. So the next time you’re enjoying the shady drive down Woodward, remember that the trees are more than just relief for the eyes; they’re just a small part of helping keep our neighborhoods pristine and healthy.

A few weeks ago, I made my first Community Feature post on the Cranbrook CEC, one of the many great institutions that make life in Bloomfield Hills vibrant, exciting, and educational—qualities that any homebuyer will want to look for when searching for their future neighborhood. Today, I thought I’d continue this feature, but also flip it on its head a bit; instead of focusing on the many science and learning opportunities offered by Cranbrook, I thought I’d do a feature on another important center of culture in Bloomfield Hills: St. Dunstan’s Theatre.

Located off Lone Pine Road where it intersects with Goodhue, St. Dunstan’s is a community theatre that can boast nearly a century of history. Originally built as the outdoor Cranbrook Greek Theatre in 1916, it was one of only a handful of such theatres in the state. The main playhouse, which now houses the majority of the Theatre’s events, was built later as a shelter in case the weather proved inhospitable for the outdoor shows, but has since stolen the limelight as the primary theatre. Although founded as a professional theatre, the theatre is now run by the St. Dunstan’s Theatre Guild of Cranbrook, a non-profit organization dedicated to “producing quality theatre” in the Cranbrook community.

And produce it does. Anyone is welcome to join the theatre, whether it be onstage or off, and the shows are widely acclaimed in the Detroit area. The current mainstage production is The 39 Steps, a comedy based upon Hitchcock’s 1935 spy thriller of the same name, and the show has only continued the St. Dunstan’s tradition of excellent theatre. In the spirit of Halloween, both shows on the 28^th and 29^th will be “costume” showings, so guests are advised to bring their favorite Hitchcock disguise and join the cloak-and-dagger atmosphere of the stage in their own seats! Disguise yourself well enough, and there might even be a prize to win at intermission…

The community of Bloomfield hills is one that’s dedicated to both the sciences and the arts, equally. Its residents understand the need to offer opportunities, no matter what the pursuit—which is exactly what your hometown should offer its homeowners.

The first Tuesday of every month, the Bloomfield Township Public Library arranges a FREE community movie event. This event features classic, award-winning movies and it is intended for an adult-only audience. No registration is necessary—just come as you are.

The next movie showing will take place on November 1^st. The movie will be Ball of Fire (not rated), which was first broadcast nationwide in 1941. This entertaining comedy featuring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck was nominated for five Academy Awards. It follows the comedic entanglements of several professors who are working to create an encyclopedia of human knowledge. During their research into how “normal people” talk, they become involved with a nightclub singer and her mobster boyfriend, who is under investigation for murder.

On December 6^th, the library will be showing Barefoot in the Park (rated G). Since its production in 1967, this film has grossed nearly $20 million. (source) It features Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, and Charles Boyer—an all-star cast. The story takes place in a small New York City apartment building and presents a combination of comedy and romance, following the story of two newlyweds who are simply trying to make a life for themselves in the Big Apple.

The movies are screened from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the Bloomfield Township Library, with free popcorn. Check out library’s website for further information.