The History of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, isn't just a legendary Christmas figure but a symbol of what Christmas time is all about. While Santa Claus and his eight tiny reindeer were introduced in the 1800s, Rudolph didn't come into being until 1939. Created by Robert L. May for the Montgomery Ward department store, the ninth reindeer became an instant hit. Once the ninth reindeer was introduced, he became an instant success; selling over two million copies. While "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" wasn't turned into a song until 1949 by Johnny Marks and sung by Gene Autry. Since the stories release, it has been translated into 25 languages and 1964 a classic animated Christmas movie!

How to Make Hot Apple Cider

This warm apple cider is the perfect holiday favorite. Not only will will it's spicy flavor keep you warm but the cinnamon and apple will make you feel like your drinking holiday in a cup.

Ingredients: 

• 6 cups apple cider 
• 1/4 cup real maple syrup  
• 2 cinnamon sticks 
• 6 whole cloves  
• 6 whole allspice berries 
• 1 orange peel, cut into strips  
• 1 lemon peel, cut into strips 
• 1 washed square cheesecloth 
• Kitchen String

Directions: 

1. In a large steel saucepan, pour in the apple cider and maple syrup.
2. Then, place the cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice berries, orange peel and lemon peel in the center of the washed square of cheesecloth. Fold up the sides of the cheesecloth and tie off the bundle with a length of kitchen string and drop the spice bundle into the cider mixture.
3. Next, place the saucepan over moderate heat for 5 to 10 minutes, making sure the cider doesn't boil but gets very hot.
4. Discard the spice bundle and remove the cider from the heat. Ladle cider into big cups or mugs, adding a fresh cinnamon stick to each serving.

 

Worldwide Christmas Traditions: Mexico Feliz Navidad

While we have all seen the strategically placed bright red-and-green plant around the holidays, does anyone know where it originated from? In 1828, Joel R. Poinsett, the American minister to Mexico, brought over a plant from Mexico to America. Due to its bright red-and-green coloring, it seemed only fitting that it would be perfect for the holidays. After his arrival the plant, called a poinsettias after Poinsett, started showing up in greenhouses in 1830. Soon after, in 1870, New York stores began to sell them during Christmas time and by 1900 they became the universal symbol of the holiday we all recognize today.

The World's Most Dangerous Highways: Russia's Trans-Siberian Highway

Connecting Moscow to Yakutsk, the coldest city on Earth, Russia's Federal Highway system stretches about 1000-miles across Siberia. During winter the highway becomes an icy death trap, with frozen steppes, icy lakes, mountainous snowdrifts, and the bone-chilling temperatures. During the few summer months, July through August, the 700-mile-long stretch of unpaved road leading to Yukutsk turns into a mud wallow overflowing with traffic.

Winter Car Care Tip: How to Unfreeze a Frozen Lock

It's a fact of life, that with winter weather comes rain, sleet, slush, snow, and ice. Not to mention freezing temperatures that wreak havoc on your vehicle. If you wake up on morning to a frozen car lock, we have just the steps to help you unfreeze it. 

1. First and foremost, try opening and checking all the other doors on your vehicle. If one of your vehicles passenger doors opens, you can get inside and start it. Once inside, simply allow your vehicle to run until the car heats up enough to thaw the driver's-side door.

2. If all your vehicles locks are frozen, try using a deicer. Spray the deicer around the frame of the door and give a few minutes to start working. Once you let it sit for awhile, try to gently open the door.

3. Lastly, if your vehicle doesn't open, do not force it or you may damage your vehicles door. Try using a hair dryer and an extension cord, to blow warm air on the car door until it releases and unfreezes.

Winter Car Care Tip: Splurge on the Cold Weather Package

While the possibility of buying a new vehicle may seem like a distant dream, it is still a good idea to consider all the facts. If you plan on getting a new vehicle before winter hits, consider spending a little extra money on a cold weather package. While some vehicle include such amenities as heated seats, windshield deicers, heated steering wheel, and heated washer nozzles- the colder the weather the more important it is to be prepared. When your vehicles windshield is clearly thawed and you're toasty within minutes, you'll be glad you spent the extra bucks.

America's Haunted Highways: Route 666

Highway 666, also knows and the Devil's highway, stretches across four states and is rumored to be the site of numerous paranormal activity.  The legend goes that the road is haunted by the spirit of a young girl who is rumored to roam the roadside with a sad expression on her pale face. When vehicle stop to help the loan girl, she simply vanishes. Another tale speaks of a ghost vehicle known as "Satan's Sedan" that appears on nights when there is a full moon and charges at vehicles,  running off the road.  Others speak about hell-hounds that patrol the roadside, waiting for victims to pull over so they can shred their tires, leaving them stranded.

While Route 666 has been renamed in many areas, the stretch of desolate highway still remains the site of many unsettling events.

How to Make Festive Fall Spicy Pumpkin Dip

 

 

Sink your fangs into this ghoulish fall treat! Be careful though, this spicy dip comes with a bit of a bite, but don't worry it will still have everyone howling with delight.

 Ingredients:

•  8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened (you can also use regular)
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper, any color 

Directions:

1. Beat together the first four ingredients.  
2. Stir in the bell peppers.
3. Chill until serving!

 To make this dish even more festive, you can hallow out a small pumpkin and use it as a bowl for the dip itself!

5 Fun Fall Activities

1. Take a hot-air balloon ride
.
2. Go for a hayride.

3. Take a drive in the country.

4. Re-watch your favorite scary movie on Halloween.
 
5. Build a bonfire.

The Downtown Orlando Farmer's Market

This Sunday, October 6th enjoy the delicious delicacy of organic fruits and veggies from the Downtown Orlando Farmer's Market. A local tradition for over 35 years, the Orlando Farmers Market is the best place to find locally grown produce, handmade gifts and jewelry, fresh baked goods, homemade pet treats, and more. Located in the heart of Downtown, the Farmers Market is the perfect family outing.

Event: Farmer's Market
Date: Sunday, October 6th
Time: 10:00am- 4:00pm
Location: Lake Eola Park (SE Corner)
Parking: Free on-street parking

It's the 7th Annual SHAMPOOCH!

Need a shampoo and style for your pooch? If so, make your way over to the 7th Annual Shampooch this Saturday. After your furry friend gets shampooed, enjoy the festivities with professional pet portraits, multiple raffles, music, food, and even a silent auction. All the benefits from this local event will go to help support five of the top rescue partners of Orange County Animal Service

 

Event: Shampooch 

Date: Saturday, September 28

Time: 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM 

Location: 804 East Washington St., Orlando, Fl 32801

Concept Car Spotlight: Laraki Motors Epitome Concept

The Laraki Motors Epitome Concept debuted earlier this week in Pebble Beach and is the product of the yachting industry's Abdesslam Laraki. Built from the chassis of a C6 Corvette, this vehicle contains an aggressive body style and two gas tanks, one for regular and one for octane. This beastly vehicle can put out 1,200 horsepower on gas alone and 1,750 hp using octane. While this supercar is a little out of our price range at $2 million, we can only hope that a more affordable production version may be in the companies plans for the future.

Good Eats: The Best Restaurant in Orlando

Winning the acclaimed tittle of "Best Restaurant" from Orlando Magazine, The Ravenous Pig isn't your typical southern food joint. Located in Winter Park, Florida; this groundbreaking restaurant is known for its unique twist on classic southern cooking. Using topnotch ingredients and the ability to reinvent traditional southern dishes into high-end masterpieces, this restaurant provides a carnivorous twist to fine dinning.

For more information on The Ravenous Pig, visit its website at:  http://bit.ly/13NPImn

Great American Drives: The Flordia Keys

The Florida Keys is a 113-mile drive along Highway 1 that allows road-trippers to experience the beauty of the Florida mainland and its tropical counter part, Key West, all in one journey.  This natural made wonder, allows families the opportunity to gaze upon the Gulf of Mexico on one side, and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Your whole family will be oohing and aahing after viewing the remnants of large coral reefs covering the Upper Keys and the sandy-type accumulations of limestone grains covering the Lower Keys. Take your family on this once in a lifetime adventure, with upland forests, shoreline zones, and inland wetlands- you wont forget it.

Credit Cars Inventory Spotlight- 2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo

At Credit Cars we pride ourselves on having an extensive assortment on pre-owned vehicles, ranging from Buicks to Chevrolets. In order to help our consumers learn more about the vehicles we offer, we will be blogging about a different used model in our inventory each week. This weeks inventory spotlight is a gorgeous cherry red 2004 Monte Carlo. This stunning vehicle features a 3.8L V-6 240HP supercharger engine, including a 4-speed automatic transmission with overdrive. If that hasn't sold you, this bad boy also contains anti-lock brakes (ABS) and driveline traction control. So what are you waiting for? To find out more information on this beauty, click on the following link: http://bit.ly/17ravgg

Saving Money and Miles Per Gallon

With the addition of a slew of fuel efficient vehicles to the market, many people have started to overlook the minor details that could potentially help them save at the pump. Below, is a list of easy and free tips on how you can make your vehicle more fuel efficient without spending a dime.

1. Don't overload your vehicle. To much weight can not only put extra wear and tear on your vehicles tires, but add extra pounds to your vehicle as well. The extra pounds may not effect a larger SUV or TRUCK, but in a small COUPE or SEDAN the extra weight could add upwards of a 100lbs, causing the vehicle to exert more gas then it would normally use during a drive.
2. Road rage is not a-okay. Aggressive driving can cause your vehicle to exert more gas due to excessive speeding, sudden breaking, and rapid acceleration. While road-rage is never a good idea, the wear and tear it puts on your vehicle is just another reason to slow-down while out on the road.
3. Avoid idling.  Excessive idling cause cause your vehicle to use about a half gallon of fuel per hour. While parked, simply turn of your engine, that way you're saving fuel. Plus, it only take a few second worth of fuel to restart your vehicle, instead of the half gallon of fuel during idling. 

While these are only a few tips to help you save more money at the pump, they can help you save a hefty chuck of change on fuel during your vehicles lifetime. If these DIY tips on how to save MPG isn't your style, check out the vast array of Hybrid and EV vehicles we have to offer on our website. 

Running out of ideas for summer fun?

The dog days of summer are upon us, so instead of sitting in front of the TV why don't you take the family out for the day?  A short drive away in Ocala is the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing, home to many of Garlit's own racers.  Get out there and learn something new!

www.creditcars.com

Happy Throwback Thursday!

Tell us, fans: who can name the year and model of the Kia pictured below?

Check out this 2004 Saturn Vue!

Adventures are always more fun when there are people to enjoy them with. Available with spacious and comfortable seating, this 2004 Saturn Vue has room for the whole family, their friends, and even their pets. To learn more about this 2004 Saturn Vue, click on the following link: http://bit.ly/1dfTHMv

Happy Mod-Monday, fans!

Today we’re sharing this chromed-out Lexus LFA. LIKE if you wouldn't mind taking this Lexus for a spin around the race track.

Here’s your Car Care Tip of the Week: Check Your Car's Oil Often.

The fact is, most of us do a lot of heavy driving during the summer when an engine is more likely to overheat. So at least check your oil before you head out on that road trip with the family. To check your oil, let your car run for a few minutes, then park it on a level surface and shut off the engine. Open the hood and locate the oil dipstick. You're looking for two things here: the level of oil and how the oil looks.