Blog Posts

Tips for Making Thanksgiving Dinner

This week is Thanksgiving, and the Liv Northgate Blog has some tips to help you get the turkey on the table without having major mishaps! This week, it’s time to pick up the perishables, plan the table settings and seating, make the pies (a day ahead of time), and be sure the turkey is thawed if it’s frozen (it can take up to three days!). For a light-hearted look at your Thanksgiving cooking timeline, check out The Pioneer Woman Cooks take on it. For something a little more straight forward, we like this Thanksgiving cooking schedule from Real Simple. Turkey & Sides There are basic directions to roast a turkey and there are directions for a variety of ways to prepare it, including stuffed, unstuffed, roasted in a cooking bag, brined, braised, and even grilled. When your turkey has finished cooking, be sure to let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes, which gives you time to make the gravy. The drippings can be used to make the gravy with just broth, or you can use the giblets from the turkey and make giblet gravy . If turkey just isn’t your thing, perhaps a Thanksgiving ham will do instead. We like this recipe for Golden Clove Glazed Ham from McCormick for a change of pace. This also works well if you will have a large group and want to have a second meat dish. Of course, you’ll need sides, and last November we shared some recipes for sides to go with your Thanksgiving turkey, so check them out. Dessert Pie is the traditional dessert for Thanksgiving, so we’ll share two variations to choose from. Of course, if you’d rather not bake, call your favorite Gilbert bakery to order your Thanksgiving pies (and rolls, too, for that matter). Pumpkin Silk Pie from The Gunny Sack Make the filling for this pumpkin silk pie with cream cheese, powdered sugar, pumpkin, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and whipped topping. We love how light, fluffy, and delicious this pie is. Finish this recipe off with homemade whipped cream. Pecan Streusel Pumpkin Pie from Chelsea’s Messy Apron Pecan streusel pumpkin pie combines our two favorite pies in one. The pumpkin filling is topped with a crunchy and delicious pecan streusel. Finish off this recipe with a scoop of maple whipped cream. You can make maple whipped cream with heavy whipping cream and your favorite brand of maple syrup. We hope that you enjoy your dinner and have a happy Thanksgiving in our apartment community here in sunny Arizona!

Decorating Your Apartment with Autumn Themed Crafts

Today, we’ve got some ideas to spark your imagination for decorating with a fall flair in your Gilbert, AZ apartment. Don’t see your favorite decor ideas on our list? Share them in the comments below for the rest of our Liv Northgate community! Go traditional. The classic cornucopia filled with mini pumpkins, gourds, colorful corn, and leaves and nuts is, of course, a perfectly acceptable way to decorate with a fall theme. We like how versatile Indian corn is when it comes to decorating. We love the ideas we found on the “B. Lovely Events” blog, including a corn husk garland or wreath, candle holders, and bouquets in their Rustic and Chic Indian Corn Decorations . Use lighting. Add some lamps that give off a warm, golden lighting to the make your space feel more relaxing and inviting. You can replace bright fluorescent light bulbs with ones that give off a less harsh light like a warm yellow, red, or orange. Lighting can have a powerful effect on mood and how comfortable you feel in a room. Use the light to spotlight a fall arrangement or centerpiece. Speaking of centerpieces, we’ve rounded up some examples to spark your imagination, or simply make one of these: Wood Block Pumpkins from Kruse’s Workshop These decorative woodblock pumpkins pop with a splash of color and a fun, playful pattern. Add a modern feel to your apartment with this fun fall craft. Fall Leaf Mason Jars from Sugar Bee Crafts These adorable fall leaf mason jars bring both color and light into any room! Follow the tutorial to make them. You’ll need a mason jar, craft or spray paint, a paintbrush or sponge brush, and contact paper or vinyl to make the decals. No-Sew Fabric Pumpkins from A Piece of Rainbow These fabric pumpkins look adorable and you won’t believe how incredibly easy they are to make. All you will need is a roll of toilet paper or two (depending on what size pumpkin you want), some hand towels, and a fun patterned scarf or shirt. Share your favorite ways to bring a fall feel into your apartment in the comments. Thanks for reading today’s post.

Putting the Thanks in Thanksgiving

Welcome back to the Liv Northgate Blog! When was the last time a bouquet of flowers was delivered to your apartment for you? A thank you note? How about a letter of appreciation from your spouse or child? Chances are it may have been a while, which is why, with Thanksgiving coming up, we want to take some time to offer a few suggestion about giving thanks. It feels good to receive thanks, and it feels even better to offer gratitude. Here are some easy ways to incorporate an attitude of gratitude into your daily life here in Gilbert, AZ. Keep a Gratitude Journal Make it a habit to write down three things you are grateful for every day. Post on social media, jot it down in a journal, or keep track on your phone — it doesn’t really matter how you record it. Add the best part of each day to the entry. Over time, include the worst part of your day, and how you were, with gratitude, able to turn it around (or chalk it up to a bad day and wait for a new day to re-set). Practice Saying Thank You Take time to thank the person who bags your groceries, an employee or co-worker for the time and effort they’ve put into a project, or your child for doing a good job with chores. There are countless opportunities every day to say thank you. Re-connect Make an effort this month to reconnect with someone from your past who made a difference in your life. Send a note or an email explaining what they did and how it influenced you. If they live in the Gilbert area, make it a point to stop in for an in-person visit to offer your gratitude. If they’re out of the area, sending flowers and following up with a phone call would be a great way to say “thanks” for what they did. At the Thanksgiving dinner table, take a few minutes to share how expressing gratitude has benefited your sense of well being this month. What a great way to head into the holidays! Thanks for reading the Liv Northgate apartments blog today.

Ideas for Sushi From Your Gilbert Apartment

This month, the Liv Northgate Apartments Blog is bringing residents info about local sushi restaurants near your apartment in Gilbert, Arizona. Today we are featuring Sushi Ave, Kona Grill, Blue Wasabi, and Ryu Sushi & Teppanyaki. Read on to learn more about these in today's blog post. Sushi Restaurants Sushi Ave Grab some friends and get sushi for dinner at Sushi Ave! They have happy hour specials. Sushi Ave is a family owned local sushi and sake bar. They are located in the Phoenix and Gilbert areas. Sushi Ave is about a 7-minute drive from Liv Northgate Apartments. Kona Grill Craving sushi? Grab some dinner tonight from the Kona Grill. This restaurant offers an experience unrivaled in Gilbert. The unique combination of upscale American food freshly prepared in a scratch kitchen, award-winning sushi, and a modern bar provides an innovative restaurant concept. Come for lunch, dinner, or one of Gilbert's best happy hours! Kona Grill Gilbert in SanTan Village is conveniently located on Williams Field Road and the 202 (San Tan Freeway). You can find them between Best Buy and Barnes and Noble, next to Total Wine and Spirit. Parking is available directly in front of the restaurant. Kona Grill is about an 8 minutes drive from Liv Northgate Apartments. Blue Wasabi If you are looking for sushi in Gilbert, Arizona, Blue Wasabi Sushi and Martini Bar is the area’s most unique sushi destination. Launched in 2004 to rave reviews, the restaurant itself has a minimalist design featuring plush banquettes, a handcrafted granite bar and a spectacular light wall creating a bold palette of color, along with a sense of modern simplicity. Combined with signature sushi and fabulous cocktails, Blue Wasabi is the premiere spot in the valley for hip, contemporary dining. At Blue Wasabi, sushi chefs and bartenders work alongside each other in an innovative setting that provides an ideal environment in which to eat, drink and people watch. Blue Wasabi’s servers are friendly and attentive, and it’s not unusual for them to go table-to-table, introducing people to each other. On the menu are traditional and new age sushi rolls, with favorite selections having names such as Kiss My Bass, Marilyn Monroll, and PITA (Pain in the Ass), and over twenty signature martinis like the Wango Mango and the Strawberry Blonde add to the experience. Blue Wasabi is about a 9-minute drive from Liv Northgate Apartments. Ryu Sushi & Teppanyaki Have you tried Ryu Sushi & Teppanyaki? It is a local sushi restaurant worth trying. Consisting of traditional Japanese cuisines, bento boxes, unique rolls, fresh sushi, thirst-quenching cocktails, a fine selection of sake, and traditional Japanese cuisines Ryu Sushi & Teppanyaki is about an 11-minute drive from Liv Northgate Apartments. Where is your favorite place to eat sushi? Or if you don’t like sushi, what is your favorite steakhouse? Let us know in the comments and thanks for reading today’s blog post.

Pumpkin Spice Season

The calendar says it’s now October, and things have cooled down some, creating a pleasant atmosphere, which means it must be pumpkin spice time! Today the Liv Northgate Blog brings members of our apartment community a variety of recipes to celebrate all things pumpkin spice, plus some savory pumpkin dishes as well! So head out to your favorite Gilbert, AZ pumpkin patch to stock up on some cooking pumpkins (or to the grocery store for the canned variety) and let’s get cooking. Sweet Pumpkin chocolate chip cookie bars Bake a delicious backdrop to some cute and tasty bats with this pumpkin chocolate chip cookie bar recipe. You can keep the bars as they are if you don’t want to make the bats, but the little bats are an easy addition to making the treat extra sweet and Halloween-ready. Pumpkin Spice Monkey Bread from Lydi Out Loud Introduce a little bit of fall flavor into your October diet. Make it with Jiffy mix, International Delight® pumpkin pie spice coffee creamer, sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and melted butter. Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes from The Busy Baker Spice up these pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon, grated fresh ginger, sea salt, and cloves. The cream cheese frosting uses low-fat cream cheese (feel free to use full-fat cream cheese, if you’d prefer), unsalted butter, icing sugar, and whole milk. On the Cutestuff Cooks blog, we found several pumpkin-based recipes, a Turtle Pumpkin Pie , a Pumpkin Pie Cake recipe, plus a Pumpkin Roll recipes. We hit the pumpkin jackpot here! Savory Serve it in a bowl, made of bread or otherwise, or even in a pumpkin shell, but however you serve it, pumpkin soup can really hit the spot. Try one of these recipes from “Recipe Roundup” — 10 Ways to Make Pumpkin Soup . Or check out this one from The PIoneer Woman Cooks blog. We like her style. Pumpkin lends itself to the savory end of the spectrum as well as the sweet as evidenced by this Baked Parmesan Pumpkin Fries recipe. And the Huffington Post comes through with 39 Savory Recipes for Pumpkin Because It’s About More Than Just Lattes . We hope you enjoy pumpkin spice season, be sure to take some time to relax at your Liv Northgate apartment this month with a pumpkin spice latte! Thanks for reading today’s post.

Ideas for National Pizza Month From Your Gilbert Apartment

This month, the Liv Northgate Apartments Blog is bringing our apartment community suggestions for celebrating National Pizza Month in October. Check out local pizzerias like Geno's Giant Slice, Barro's Pizza, Zella's Pizza & Cheesesteaks, and Salerno's. We’ve got info on all of them in today's blog post. National Pizza Month Geno's Giant Slice We have the perfect way for you to celebrate National Pizza Month. Visit your local pizza, Geno's Giant Slice today! At Geno’s they provide more than smiles, they provide savings! Their $6 large pizza is a fan favorite and puts all other $6 pizza joints to shame. But maybe it’s not about the money for you. Maybe you consider yourself a real pizza lover who craves a challenge. Well (A) they've got just the thing for you, and (B) Good Luck! It’s their 24” Pizza Challenge – Many will attempt it. Few will conquer it. At Geno’s GIANT Slice, they have everything you're looking for in a pizza shop – and then some! From their secret sub sauce to their freshly baked Cinna Stix, Geno’s fresh and assorted menu satisfies you. They don’t want you to “curb” your cravings they want you to cure them! Geno's Giant Slice is about 10 minutes from Liv Northgate Apartments. Barro's Pizza How do you plan to celebrate National Pizza Month? We suggest visiting Barro's Pizza, one of our local pizza places. Check it out today! Barro’s Pizza, a family owned and operated pizza restaurant with numerous locations across the Valley, is Arizona’s award-winning pizzeria for wings, salads, deli-style sandwiches, pasta, and pizza. Your favorite lunch and dinner options are all available for dine-in, take-out and delivery at Barro’s Pizza! The secret family pizza recipe has been passed down through multiple generations, bringing the original thick, yet fluffy crust and the tangy, sweet and spicy sauce straight from Italy to you. Barro's Pizza is about 12 minutes from Liv Northgate Apartments. Zella's Pizza & Cheesesteaks We suggest visiting Zella's Pizza & Cheesesteaks to check out more local pizza. Zella's Pizza & Cheesesteaks has established a reputation for providing the highest quality food, excellent customer service, and speedy delivery to customers in the Gilbert area at the lowest possible price, too. They promise satisfaction because all dishes at Zella's Pizza & Cheesesteaks are freshly prepared daily using premium ingredients. Zella's Pizza & Cheesesteaks is about 2 miles from Liv Northgate Apartments. Salerno's Get out and visit Salerno’s to celebrate National Pizza Month this month! Vince and Ida Salerno wanted to live “the American dream” and succeeded by opening this wonderful restaurant. Salerno’s Restaurant and Pizzeria originated in Berwyn, IL in 1966. Starting as a small neighborhood bar, it quickly turned into a successful Italian Restaurant serving 95% homemade foods and Chicago style pizza. Salerno's is about 2 miles from Liv Northgate Apartments. These are just a few of the pizza places in the area. Did your favorite place make our list? Share your favorite pizza place in the comments! Thanks for reading today.