By Farima Alavi

I love to celebrate national food and drink holidays because, well, I love to eat. You have National Margarita Day, Pi Day, Peanut Butter Day. I could go on, really. July is particularly my favorite because it’s National Ice Cream Month. What’s better than ice cream? Homemade ice cream creations! And we have recipes (including a sorbet for the health conscious) that will keep your sweet tooth satisfied all month long. You’re welcome.

Peanut Butter Cookie Ice Cream

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Toasted Almond & Vanilla Arancini

Ingredients

4 tablespoons mixed whole unsalted almonds and hazelnuts, chopped and toasted
1 tablespoon amaretti cookies, toasted and crushed
1/2 cup Breyers Natural Vanilla Ice Cream (1/4 cup each scoop to make two ice cream balls)

Instructions

1. Place both ice cream balls on a baking sheet in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.

2. Mix toasted, chopped nuts and amaretti cookies together in a bowl.

3. Dredge the frozen ice cream balls in the nut/cookie mixture and refreeze for another 5 minutes before serving.

Note: This may be made and stored in advance.

Blondie Confetti Ice Cream Sandwiches

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Banana Pudding Ice Cream

Ingredients

1 cup Breyers Natural Vanilla Ice Cream
1/2 of a large ripe banana, cut into 4 equal parts
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
1 teaspoon spreadable butter
4 vanilla wafer cookies

Instructions

1. On a baking sheet, sprinkle the turbinado sugar on the flat side of the 4 banana slices.

2. Sauté bananas in a small 6-inch nonstick pan with the unsalted butter.

2. To assemble, place 1/2 cup of the ice cream into a small wide-rimmed glass, then wedge 2 cookies on either side. Top with the sautéed bananas.

Frozen Clementine Sorbet

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From:: HGTV

Trading in all securities has been temporarily suspended on the New York Stock Exchange. The exchange posted the news on its website, saying “additional information will follow as soon as possible.” The halt began at 11:32 a.m. Eastern.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Greece’s banks will remain closed for the rest of the week and not open on Thursday as previously planned, media reports said on Wednesday. Capital controls that cap ATM withdrawals for Greeks at 60 euros a day ($66) will also stay in place through Friday. The extended bank holidays come after eurozone leaders gave the Greek government a deadline of Sunday to agree on a reform deal with lenders to stay in the eurozone. Leaders from all 28 European Union countries will meet for an emergency summit on Sunday to discuss the future for Greece. The Greek finance ministry is expected to issue an official decree on the extended bank holiday later on Wednesday.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

By Rachel Jefferson

There are both positive and not-so-positive things to consider before renting out your home and becoming a property manager. Pros include an increase to your income and a steady cash flow. But being a landlord may require you to go out of your comfort zone and deal with emergency maintenance or difficult renters. Before taking the next step, here are a few tips from Trulia to help smooth out the process.

Read the full article.

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From:: Property Management

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The marketers of dietary supplement Procera AVH will pay $1.4 million to resolve Federal Trade Commission charges related to deceptive advertising. Ads for the supplement claimed it would restore 10 to 15 years of memory loss. Jessica Rich, the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said Wednesday the defendants “couldn’t back up their claims that Procera AVH would reverse age-related mental decline and memory loss.” The defendants in the case include KeyView Labs LLC and Brain Research Labs LLC.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Oil prices turned lower after the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported an increase of 400,000 barrels in crude supplies for the week ended July 3. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a crude-stock fall of 1.1 million barrels. Gasoline supplies rose 1.2 million barrels and distillate stockpiles climbed by 1.6 million barrels last week, according to the EIA. August crude was at $51.66 a barrel, down 67 cents, or 1.3%, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices traded at $52.70 before the report.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — According to the Federal Aviation Administration, United has cancelled its grounding of its planes. The FAA notice said the “automation issue” was resolved. United had acknowledged in a tweet that it “experienced a network connectivity issue” earlier. Shares of United Continental were down about 2% on Wednesday.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

By Chelsea Faulkner

In case you missed it: A couple of weeks ago, the Design Happens team held a craft challenge here at HGTV Headquarters. We handed nine of your favorite D-Happ bloggers a basic, unfinished, square-shaped wood tray and let everyone’s clever and totally unique ideas take over. The only parameter? With the exception of a few general in-house supplies, each blogger had a $20 budget for materials.

At the start of spring, I planned to make and install these gorgeous hanging planters over my front porch. But I ran into an unfortunate problem: my porch’s overhang is solid wood and I can’t drill holes per my rental policy. A few weeks later, when I saw the tray we’d be transforming for the Design Happens blogger challenge, a light bulb went off. What if I hung my planter from my front door instead? The flat tray was the perfect size and shape for hanging. So I gathered some craft materials I had laying around the house and came up with a simple and easy design I loved. Here are the steps I followed to turn my plain tray into a fun hanging door planter.

What You’ll Need

Materials

• plain wooden tray
• potted plants
• 2 small galvanized buckets
• weather-resistant fabric of choice (I used burlap)
• extra-strength adhesive
• rope or twine
• pre-cut wooden house numbers

Tools

• drill
• 1/4″ and 5/16″ drill bits
• craft knife

Step 1: Prepare Your Tray

Clean your tray of any dirt or debris. Stain, paint or decorate tray as desired. I lightly stained mine with one coat of antiquing medium for a rustic look.

Step 2: Drill Holes for Hanging

On one side of the tray, measure in from the corner about 2 inches and mark the spot with a pencil. Repeat inwards from the corresponding corner on the same side of the tray and make another mark. Eyeball each mark to ensure uniformity. These will be the holes from which the planter will hang. Using a 5/16″ drill bit, drill a hole through each of the pencil markings. Dust away any debris.

Step 3: Dress It Up

Iron fabric if needed. Apply craft or hot glue to the inside perimeter of one side of the tray’s base. Attach fabric slowly, smoothing out creases or wrinkles as you go. Work in small sections until the entire tray bottom is covered. Use a craft knife to cut away excess fabric. Allow glue to dry. Tip: If using wide ribbon instead of fabric, apply one strip at a time, overlapping each new layer slightly to eliminate gaps.

Step 4: Prepare Planters

Using a 1/4″ drill bit, drill drainage holes in the bottom of each of the galvanized buckets.

Before gluing, stage the containers an equal distance apart on the bottom edge of the tray to determine desired placement. Apply a generous amount of glue to the back of one container …read more

From:: HGTV

United Continental Holdings Inc.’s stock dropped 1.6% in morning trade Wednesday, after the Federal Aviation Administration said all of the air carriers flight were grounded because of an outage with the check-in system. “We experienced a network connectivity issue this morning. We are working to resolve this and apologize to our customers for any inconvenience,” United said in a statement, as reported by the FAA. The FAA said the systems were coming back up. The stock has lost 20% year to date, compared with an 11% decline in the NYSE Arca Airline Index and the S&P 500’s 0.5% gain.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The crisis in Greece and the decline in China’s stock market need to be watched carefully but neither represent an immediate threat to the U.S. economy, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Wednesday. In an appearance at the Brookings Institution, Lew said he was convinced that Greece and its creditors could reach a deal but said it would be tough to achieve politically. Lew said that China’s stock market was still separated from world markets and the biggest worry for the U.S. was if the turmoil caused the country’s leaders to “slam the brakes” on needed economic reform.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News