Your recipe of the day from King Kullen

What's for dinner tonight? That is the question that weighs heavy on your mind all day long. It loams over you like a black cloud. In most families, dinner is the is the most hectic time of the day. Everyone is tired from long hours at work or school and everyone is starving. You want to prepare a quick, delicious and nutritious meal that everyone will love. That may just be a fantasy, but you can get ideas for dinner everyday delivered to your in box from King Kullen when you sign up for their recipe of the day.

Go to the King Kullen web site and click on the green tab at the top "Weekly Specials". This page has a bunch of useful links to their weekly circular, recipe database, shopping lists and the button you want - sign up for savings and more. Here is where you create an account and select what information you want emailed to you, only on the days you pick. So you choose if you want a recipe delivered to your email every morning or just on Tuesdays. The recipes are easy and use products you can buy in King Kullen.

Always check out the web sites of stores you frequent a lot - local and national. There is useful information on these sites, especially when you sign up for their newsletters. They often will email you special coupons and let you know about deals before it is publicized in other places.

King Kullen in Blue Point is located at 29 Montauk Highway 631-363-9899.

Sand, not pumpkins - Long Island fall family activities

Fall is here and everyone loves to go pumpkin picking, jump on a hayride and run through a corn maze with the family. But on Long Island, one of the best things to do in the fall is to go to the beach.

Sitting on the ocean is not what first comes to mind with the crisp fall weather. This time of year may just be the best because the beaches are not hot, crowded and noisy. You will get to soak up the beautiful scenic views of the ocean in peace and quiet. The ocean is actually the warmest in the fall. It takes all summer for it to slowly heat up. So go and frolic in the waves.

It is best to dress in layers, especially for the kids. Your first layer should be your bathing suit. A bathing suit in October? Trust me - this Examiner has had her kids in bathing suits on the beach in the fall. With the warm ocean breezes and sun, it may get that warm. Plus, with very few beach neighbors, your kids will be doing lots of running and exploring without getting sand on someone else's blanket. Don't forget the sand toys for the kids. They will enjoy digging on an empty beach.

The other plus to enjoying Long Island's beaches in the fall, is you may not have to pay for parking. It depends on what ocean beach you visit. My fellow Frugal Examiner will like this. Smith Point in Mastic Beach is a county park and they do not charge for parking after Labor Day. It also has a boardwalk nature trail through the dunes, which is the perfect for a hike. There is no charge for the trail and your kids talk to the park rangers on duty.

Lots of town beaches that have restricted parking during the summer, have no parking rules in the fall. There will not be any lifeguards, so just splash around in the waves by the shore. Other beaches, like Robert Moses still charge $8 to park all year long, but that is a bargain afternoon out with the family. And a lot less stressful then getting stuck for hours in pumpkin traffic out east. Make some different fall memories this year and head off to the beach.